October 3, 2010:
Fears that radicalized Moslems in the West will provide a growing number of Islamic terrorists fails to recognize the desire of most Moslems in the West to avoid losing the opportunities they have found in their new homes. The expatriate Somali community, for example, responded positively when it became known that Islamic radicals had been recruiting young Somalis in the West to travel to Somalia and join Islamic terrorist organizations. The same thing is happening, with all Moslems, throughout the West, especially in North America.
But there are important differences between the attitudes of Moslem communities in North America and Europe. For example, the American CIA and FBI has been much more successful recruiting Arab and Iranian-Americans for counter-terrorism work, than have their counterparts in Europe. These agencies are especially eager to employ those with a good knowledge of the languages and cultures of the old country. Such recruiting has been a tricky business, because we are at war with an entity that identifies itself via culture and religion; not nationality. A polyglot nation like the United States has citizens, and non-citizens, from all parts of the world. This creates opportunities (for recruiting intelligence operatives) and dangers (spies in our midst) in wartime. And we are at war, with over a dozen Islamic terrorist attacks within the U.S. last year, but fewer so far this year. Intelligence operatives who understand Islam and Arabic were instrumental in detecting and neutralizing these attacks.
The war on terror is basically a struggle against an Islamic radical movement that believes the world should be one big Islamic dictatorship, run by Moslem clergy. This appeals to many Moslems, no matter where they live. Thus there have been dozens of terrorist attacks planned in Europe and North America (most of them aborted before they could be carried out) by Moslems living there. This is more of a problem in Europe, where there are far more Moslems, and a more hostile (to migrants) atmosphere that produces more angry Moslems willing to kill for the cause of Global Islamic Domination. But even in the United States, there are many Moslems who believe there is a war going on between Moslems and infidels (non-Moslems), and violence is needed to safeguard Moslems.
This has caused a certain amount of tension within the Moslem communities in Europe and North America. Many Moslems feel like they are not trusted by their fellow citizens, because their loyalty to their new country is doubted. Many Western Moslems are of dubious loyalty, and the best way to detect them is to have their loyal Moslem neighbors speak up. This happens to such a frequent extent in the United States that al Qaeda warns its operatives to stay away from Moslem-Americans. But it is the enemy within, the few Moslems in the West that believe is Islamic radicalism, and know to keep the extent of their radicalism secret, that pose the biggest danger.
One big advantage we have with fighting Islamic terrorism is that the Moslem countries are economic and political failures. This gives far more expatriate Moslems a reason to turn in other Moslems who are war with the West.
