I thought that this observation by Christopher Bolan at RealClearDefense was worthy of note:
As terrorism expert Peter Bergen recently pointed out, all fatal jihadist attacks in the United States since 9/11 have been perpetrated by U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents. Disrupting terrorist plots overseas will continue to be one critical component of any US counterterrorism strategy. But as the ISIS caliphate collapses, its leadership is calling on potential recruits to “stay put and carry out jihad at home†by conducting attacks using whatever means are available to include guns, knives, and trucks. Preventing these spontaneous attacks from self-radicalized terrorists inside the U.S. will require a coordinated domestic intelligence and law enforcement campaign heavily dependent on the willing cooperation of local Muslim communities who are closest to those most vulnerable to recruitment. Adopting policies that fully integrate Muslims into local communities and American society more broadly is the best insurance against this emerging threat of self-radicalization.
The emphasis is mine. What are those policies? Acceptance of people with drastically different backgrounds is probably higher now that at any time in our history even as the number of terrorist attacks with multiple casualties mounts. We are not Europe. I don’t think anybody knows what policies will prevent self-radicalization.
Yes, it’s a problem that technocratic solutions (ie. policies) can’t fix.
It’s the Underpants Gnomes as applied to counterterrorism.
Maybe not accepting Sharia courts in this country would be one component encouraging more muslm integration into the ways and values of the country these people chose to reside. The lack of doing this has been said to be a downside in Europe’s resettlement policies, as applied to their newly formed Muslim communities..
Jan,
Where are these Sharia courts?
To the best of my knowledge there are no Sharia courts operating in the United States. There’s at least one “arbitration board” and probably more but it has no official standing.
There are more than 200 diocesan canon law courts operated by the Catholic Church and a significant number of rabbincal court, not particularly controversial. They don’t have any official standing, either.
So, my long term discussion group is mostly conservatives. They all firmly believe that we have lots of Sharia courts up and running in the US. If you tell them we don’t, it is fake news.
Steve
How exactly are Muslims supposed to be integrated or assimilated when they are Muslim-Americans?
The Amish have a significantly different lifestyle than the majority of Americans, but they are not Amish-Americans. The non-Amish communities have adapted to accommodate them. I am sure that there are many prejudiced and bigoted people in the area, but the Amish seem to function, nonetheless.
In the US, there are many groups that self-regulate/police the group. As long as US courts are not enforcing these laws or bylaws, I do not see the problem.
I do not see the much predicted Islamophobia, and I do not see the substantial increase in terror attacks. In many of these cases, the perpetrator seems to have attached a reason to their crimes, and if the larger plots are being prevented, I do not understand the problem. Overall, Muslims with knives and truck seem to be as dangerous as white supremacists with ropes and lighter fluid.
Obviously, there are not a large number of Amish criminals, but they are a small group. And, they police their own community.