Each year, September 11th serves not only as a time of reflection for lost loved ones but also as a benchmark of sorts for America’s war against radical Islamic fundamentalism. The ongoing question of national security is now reflexively framed in the context of 9/11. Are we safer now than on 9/11? Is Al Qaeda stronger than it was on 9/11? Do we have the intelligence and the military resources to prevent another 9/11? And so forth.
The New York Police Department lives almost literally in the shadow of 9/11. Since that horrific day, the NYPD has steadily and consistently ramped up its counterterrorism operations in order to protect the city from more attacks. In fact, it is more heavily engaged in counterterrorism initiatives than any non-federal agency in the United States. It operates what is likely the most sophisticated and wide-ranging counterterrorism program of any municipal law enforcement agency in the world, and its work has drawn a good deal of controversy.
The NYPD’s success in foiling seven post-9/11 terror plots lies largely with a vigorous counterterrorism task force that actively engages in intelligence gathering and public monitoring. The task force’s actions have often drawn the ire of the American Civil Liberties Union. One of the ACLU’s most vocal stances was against the NYPD’s plan to use thousands of surveillance cameras in the downtown area of Manhattan. The cry that was raised was that this was an invasion of privacy. Nobody wants Big Brother watching over their shoulder, but what expectation of privacy should people really have in a park, on a street, or in any other public place? Just the same, the NYPD instituted public security privacy guidelines to address these concerns.
The Muslim-American community also filed grievances against the NYPD for a 2007 report it compiled entitled Radicalization in the West: The Homegrown Threat. This report addressed the theory of homegrown radicalism and spoke to the fact that more and more terrorist attacks and terror cells are originating within the target countries rather than from abroad. Muslim groups believed that the report unfairly portrayed all Muslims as dangerous people with radical tendencies. The NYPD re-released the report with a two-page statement that indicated that the Muslim community at large was not “intrinsically dangerous or intrinsically linked to terrorism.”
Just last week, the Muslim American Civil Liberties Union stated that the NYPD did not go far enough to publicize this statement.
I encourage you to take a look at the original report. See if you think it portrays all Muslims in a negative light or if it is simply reporting the facts about the terrorist onslaught that has plagued the world these past eight years.
10 responses so far
1 EscapeVelocity // Sep 14, 2009 at 2:38 am
Im anti islam…..full stop.
Its a vile supremacist religion that seeks to subjugate “the other,” and institute religious shariah law.
2 Moderate // Sep 14, 2009 at 6:50 am
Escapevelocity, it’s provincial bigots like you who are embarrassing the GOP and driving minorities away from conservatism.
I’m no bleeding-heart multiculturalist. It’s a big problem when 25% of American Muslims express some sympathy to terrorists. But Islam is far greater than these violent sects, and the vast majority of American Muslims are good, patriotic people.
3 jabbermule // Sep 14, 2009 at 8:04 am
moderate:
“It’s a big problem when 25% of American Muslims express some sympathy to terrorists”
Good God, that’s the understatement of the year. 25% of AMERICAN Muslims sympathetic to the perpetrators of 9/11??? Big problem??? It disgusts me to the core. How could anyone, after witnessing the incineration and mutilation of nearly 3000 people on that day, be sympathetic to anything those bastards stand for? .05% would be a big problem; 25% is alarming and quite frankly should be seen as a national emergency.
“But Islam is far greater than these violent sects, and the vast majority of American Muslims are good, patriotic people”
I’m sick and tired of these excuses for Islam. Bottom line – until moderate Muslims stand up as one voice and condemn these ongoing horrific acts of violence, I will NEVER see Islam as “far greater than these violent sects.”
Further, Islam is the most blatantly violent, jingoistic, anti-feminist, militaristic and supremacist religion on the face of the planet, and the Left is at best silent on this. At worst, the Left makes excuse after excuse after excuse for Islam’s contemptable behavior in the name of “multiculturalism.”
4 sinz54 // Sep 14, 2009 at 10:22 am
OK, I looked at the report.
No, I don’t think it implies any kind of stereotyping of all Muslims.
I was surprised that the report did not talk about the Black Muslim movement. I believe that another reason why American Muslims are less susceptible to calls to jihadism is because about one-fourth of American Muslims are Black Muslims (Malcolm X, Mohammed Ali, Nation of Islam, etc.), who have a significantly different agenda. They are as much Black Nationalists as they are Muslims. They have more solidarity with Africa than with Afghanistan or Iraq.
5 SFTor1 // Sep 14, 2009 at 1:10 pm
The only recipe I see is to include the Muslim community while striking hard at terrorists among them. We need American Muslims to stand up for their country and help protect against homegrown terrorism.
In the other hand must be the sword. We must strike precise, hard blows at terrorists, homegrown and otherwise. Terrorists are the most hideous criminals, and must be dealt with swiftly and harshly.
As far as domestic terrorism is concerned the most likely source today is the extreme right. That is the segment that is openly airing irrational grievances, that is armed, and demonstrably violent. There are many Timothy McVeighs in the making right now. Law enforcement absolutely has to find ways to infiltrate those environments and be ready to stop whatever is headed our way.
6 EscapeVelocity // Sep 14, 2009 at 1:41 pm
I’m no bleeding-heart multiculturalist. It’s a big problem when 25% of American Muslims express some sympathy to terrorists. But Islam is far greater than these violent sects, and the vast majority of American Muslims are good, patriotic people. —moderate
Am I free to voice my stance as anti Islam. Are anti Christianity folks provincial bigots? Or is that a one way street?
I know full well that most Muslims are peaceful people, most are peaceful in spite of Islam, not because of it. They are even more supportive of Shariah law implementation in Western countries.
Islam is not your friend, though some Muslims may be. Inviting them into your country in large numbers is a huge mistake, and one the Europeans will be paying for in the most regretable fashion for a long, long time. They already are.
Lets put it this way. There were certainly Nazis that werent the most vile sorts of supremacists and violent aggressive subjugators. But that doesnt make them, not your enemy, or a danger to you.
7 EscapeVelocity // Sep 14, 2009 at 1:57 pm
The funny thing is, that in Europe, no matter how they coddle Muslims, they are still going to end up in a similar position that Israel is in. The same Israel that Leftwingers have been bashing as racist imperialist oppressors. They will have to implement “Apartheid Walls,” security checkpoints, and the whole shebang. Not because every Muslim is the most vile sort, but because Islam itself is, and thus a large chunk of Muslims will be aching to wage violent Jihad. Others will be waging political and legal Jihad promoting Shariah, and through democratic institutions promoting Muslim supremacy, special respect rights, protections, etc for Mohammad and Allah and Islam and Muslims….which promotes dhimmitude for the other.
You need to wake up and smell the stink that is Islam.
As many as go on tirades against Christians on the Left and also on the Right, you aint seen nothing until youve seen the Islamic Right in action. The West was founded upon Christian metaphysics, Christians built the most liberal and free-est progressive nations on Earth.
A cursory preview of Muslim Majority countries on this Earth is not inspiring.
8 agentprovocateur // Sep 14, 2009 at 8:55 pm
It’s a big problem when 25% of American Muslims express some sympathy to terrorists.
Well, if we are going to judge American Muslims on criterion like this, perhaps we should ask what percentage of Southern Whites are sympathetic to the Confederate Cause.
9 Roddy66 // Sep 14, 2009 at 10:07 pm
You must be kidding me. Every Terrorist was islamic, almost all of the 14,000 ( Fourteen thousands) terrorist attacks in the world after sept 11 has been conducted by islamic supremacist. Must hate literature and hate speeches are coming from mosques, must human right violations, woman denigration, gay killing is coming from islamic mosques and countries.
So I Say we pay 100 attention to muslim in this country. udos to the NYP for doing their job
10 jreb // Sep 16, 2009 at 4:08 pm
No, Richard, I believe the report did the exact opposite of what the Muslim-American community accused the NYPD. Rather than try to paint the entire community as radical extremists it attempted to discover the influences within the community which served to radicalized certain members to become terrorists. Instead of trying to use the bigot card as an excuse for the behavior of radical members of their community, this should be an opportunity for the peace loving members of the Muslim community to loudly voice its condemnation of the members of the community who have perverted their religion and expound on their desire to live in peace with their fellow human beings.
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