While Europe is agog over a feared possible Muslim takeover, embodied in the myth of Eurabia, the US, on the other hand, ‘has no reason to fear terrorism from its own Muslim population.’ This is for the reason that ‘American Muslims are far less vulnerable to al-Qaeda recruitment than their brethren across the pond because they’re much better integrated—culturally and economically.’

It seems that some analysts surmise that Islamic religious extremism does not have a fertile ground in the United States. Perhaps, this is because the economic terrain is not conducive to the root cause of extremism which is rebellion against poverty and economic degradation. That is why the likes of Nidal Hasan will be characteristically unique cases. US Muslims are observed to be well-integrated and ‘devout capitalists,’ making US homegrown Islamic terrorism not a threat.

On the other hand, terrorist groups find a perfect recruitment environment and atmosphere in Europe. In Spain, ‘Muslim immigrants arrive poor and stay poor.’ In France, a ‘hijab ban fuels resentment.’ In Germany, ‘anti-Muslim prejudice hinders mosque-building.’ European governments are said to neither especially understand nor seriously sympathize with Muslims.

The US is ‘a society much more comfortable with both immigration and religiosity.’ It is a place where ‘most Muslims are mainstream, middle-class, patriotic, and, in many cases, happy: 38% are satisfied with the state of the US, compared to 32% of the general population.’

These are the reasons why US home-grown Islamic terrorism may not be considered a threat. The country’s ‘free and prosperous Muslim population’ remains its ‘most effective deterrent against Islamic terrorism.’

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Via The Atlantic

U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan massacred a group of soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas. He is U.S.-born Muslim who, as probing indicates, has had past contact with jihadists, including the radical Imam Anwar al-Awlaki. Al-Awlaki is a U.S.-born imam who champions a jihadist ideology. He was included at some length in the 9/11 commission report for his connection to the 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Midhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi. Al-Awlaki posted a message on his Web site on November 9 extolling what Hasan did.

The main thrust of the Hasan investigations is understandably related to national security, far beyond regarding the case as a mere violation of the law. Authorities want to know ‘whom the suspect is connected to and whom he is talking to or planning with.’ The ultimate objective in such investigations is to uncover the networks of jihadist actors working in association in the United States and possibly elsewhere.

Because Hasan is a member of the armed forces, his case will be handled under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). As it is, the FBI is conspicuously absent from the current investigation proceedings.

What is unusual is that ‘there are some who would like to see the Hasan case remain a criminal matter rather than a case of terrorism. Following the shooting death of Luqman Ameen Abdullah and considering the delicate relationship between Muslim advocacy groups and the U.S. government, some people would rather see Hasan portrayed as a mentally disturbed criminal than as an ideologically driven lone wolf.’

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Via STRATFOR

NATO Secretary-General Anders Rasmussen admits that the countries within the Mediterranean Dialogue and the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative share the northern alliance’s interests in stabilizing the situation in Afghanistan. This is for the reason that instability in Afghanistan will cause the spread of instability in the region. Pakistan, specifically, is of grave concern in terms of the stability equation because it is undeniably a nuclear power.

That is why, according to the NATO chief, the cooperation of Muslim countries is crucial in the war in Afghanistan. He says, “If it became visible that countries with a Muslim background also contributed to our mission in Afghanistan, then it would become even more clear, which is a fact, that this is not about religion but a fight against extremism and terrorism. Already now, a couple of countries with Muslim backgrounds contribute to our mission in Afghanistan. It is very important for me to stress that this is definitely not about religion; it is about protecting the Afghan people against terrorism and extremism.”

Rasmussen offers suggestions as to how Muslim countries can show their support to NATO’s counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan. He says that Muslim countries can contribute in terms of military requirements and financial aid. NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan is one important aspect that needs support. The training component may very well be the flagship of the NATO mission in the beleaguered country because it involves ‘the transition to an Afghan lead across the board from security to development.’

More specifically, the training mission in Afghanistan involves the development of the capacity of the Afghan security forces ‘to educate and train Afghan soldiers and Afghan police so that the Afghans can become capable to take lead responsibility for their own security.’

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Via The Christian Science Monitor

The debate over whether to close down the US detention facilities in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba involves two basic questions. What happens to terrorist suspects after they leave the detention center at Guantanamo Bay? Can Gitmo’s terrorists be rehabilitated?

There have been reports that answer the first question. Many of the former so-called terror suspects detained at Gitmo simply slid back to a life of terrorism. ‘According to a Pentagon report leaked in May, 14 percent are engaged in terrorist activity. While many of their identities remain unknown, details are available about a handful of high-profile recidivists.’

Answering the second question is more crucial as this anticipates ‘the next chapter of the fight against terrorism.’ While closing the US prisons in Guantanamo Bay erases ‘a deeply resented symbol,’ the much-lobbied move will ‘not address the enduring challenge of dealing with incarcerated militants.’

Saudi Arabia is said to have ‘a relatively successful effort to rehabilitate terrorists, though there are still no comprehensive and objective assessments,’ but records show a 100 percent success rate. To reintegrate former militants, Saudi applied the following strategies: ‘intense religious discussion, followed by generous financial support, employment assistance, and long-term monitoring.’

Of utmost concern right now are the detainees from Yemen that ‘pose an especially difficult problem.’ They account for 40 percent of the remaining detainees at Guantanamo. Yemen is ill-equipped to deal with their return. ‘The escape of 13 Al Qaeda suspects from a Yemeni prison in 2006 undermines confidence in the country’s ability to secure dangerous inmates if the US were to send them home.’ Add to this is the fact that ‘al-Qaeda has a growing presence in Yemen, underscored by the attack last September on the US Embassy.’

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Via The Christian Science Monitor

The massacre at Fort Hood occurred at a time when US President Barack Obama is at the final stage of decision-making about what to do with the US war in Afghanistan. The Afghan war has been proving to be a failure in the US antiterrorism mobilization, as well as its counterinsurgency campaign. US troops in Afghanistan are said to be disillusioned, confused, weak, tired, at a breaking point, and with their morale broken.

In US homeland, as the Fort Hood mass murder proved, the US also failed to stop a supposed terrorist attack on home soil.

US generals are boasting of their strategy to win the good Afghan Muslims over. To do this, they have to know the Afghan Muslims well enough. At the very least, they must know Muslims, period. If the US ‘army cannot  be trusted to recognize a Hasan in its own ranks, then how will it figure out who the “good” Muslims will be as the US tries to build a “stable” state (whatever “stable” means) in a country that has never had a functioning central government?’

If US ‘troops cannot be protected from seemingly friendly Muslim American brethren in Killeen, Texas, what are the odds of survival for the 40,000 more troops the hawks want to deploy to Kabul and sinkholes beyond? Members of the best trained, best equipped fighting force on the planet were gunned down by a guy who said a few goofy things no one took seriously. And that’s the problem: America has the best troops and fiercest firepower, but no strategy for throttling the ideology that drives the enemy — in Afghanistan and in Texas.’

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Via The New York Times

There are fears about a rising phenomenon called ‘Eurabia’ that is anti-US and anti-Western values, and pro-Islam. This myth is mere rabblerousing, at the very least. The fear stems from the thought that Europe ‘has allowed decades of mass immigration,’ is ‘too feeble to defend their own values,’ and is where ‘governments have been ready to appease Muslim opinion.’

The bigger fear is that Europe ‘has already become an incubator for worldwide terrorism,’ basing it on the Islamophobic assumption that Islam followers are terrorists. If the alarmists are to be believed, there seems to have been a ‘creeping Islamification’ of Europe, particularly of British society.

One of the misleading points of alarmist propaganda is that ‘the number of Muslims in Europe could increase from roughly 20 million today—about 5 percent of the population—to 38 million by 2025.’ However, more logically calculated projections reveal that ‘even if it’s accurate, it would still mean the number of Muslims will represent just 8 percent of the European population, estimated by the EU to be 470 million in 2025.’

The paranoia behind the myth of Eurabia rests on the suspicion that there exists ‘a united Islam, a bloc capable of collective and potentially dangerous action. The truth is that there are no powerful Muslim political movements in Europe, either continentwide or at the national level, and the divisions that separate Muslims worldwide, most obviously between Sunnis and Shiites, are apparent in Europe as well.’

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Via Newsweek

The most sought after terrorist Osama bin Laden has resurfaced and has delivered a message to the Europeans via the internet. The authenticity of the message that it is the Al Queda leader is yet to be established. The voters in Germany are threatened. The polls are scheduled this Sunday.

It has been reported that earlier this month, the Al Queda leader also accused US President Barack Obama of not keeping his promise concerning the withdrawing the US troops from Iraq. The video appeared in the radical Islamist websites in the internet. The occasion to release the tape was carefully chosen. It appeared just after two days the US marked the eighth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the twin towers of World Trade Center. The message delivered to the US citizens was that it was reminder of the reason behind the 9/11 attack. The US ties and support to Israel and some other grievances cited as the main cause behind the attacks.

The video has also been played with the image of the Osama bin Laden, and the US flag in the background, and the twin towers of the World Trade Centre still standing prior to the 9/11 attacks.

Via: CNN

The Al-Qaeda he/she threatened to avenge the death of Muslims Uigures in the week passed in the area autonomous Chinese of Xinjiang, attacking citizens and Chinese interests in Algeria and other areas of Africa, according to a report of the company of analysis of safety and intelligence Stirling Assynt.

The British company bases its information on people that affirm to have seen the instructions given in that sense by the Al-Qaeda in Islamic Magreb, branch of the terrorist group in the north of Africa, with operates in Algeria. It is the first time that the terrorist network of Osama bin Laden returns its attention directly to China.

According to Stirling, the revenge headquarters due to the repression that the Uigures denounces to be suffering in Xinjiang is extending among the jihadistas community all over the world. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese work at Middle East and in the African continent, among them 50 thousand in Algeria.

Qin Gang, spokesperson of Chinese State department, asked on Tuesday the world Muslim understanding on the administration of the crisis denied the Turkish prime minister accusations, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, that the Chinese government is accomplishing “a type of genocide” in Xinjiang.

Qin affirmed that the genocide accusation is an absurdity, since according to him most of the deads in the disturbances is Han in Xinjiang.

He also indicated that the authorities took measures to protect the Chinese interests in the exterior.

Via: El País.

To say that the present conflict in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier Province is bloody is an understatement. While more than a thousand have been killed, there are at least 2 million people displaced.

All these sacrifices will be for naught if Pakistan does not restrategize its ambitions in Afghanistan and Indian Kashmir. The country also has to reform its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) that has earned the reputation of being a double-dealing two-edged sword. Also, Pakistan should exert efforts in overhauling its educational system that promotes hatred towards non-Muslims.

In other words, Pakistan should stop existing in the service of religion while being a political entity, even if it’s the only nation on earth that was created solely out of religious reasons. The consequences are dire. Pakistan, today, is known as the heartland of terrorism that is associated with religious fanaticism. It has been harboring a conducive and fertile ground for radical Islam to be elevated to the heights of ideology.

The intense conflict in Pakistan’s Northwest Frontier will only be an exercise in futility if it does not serve as a springboard for transformation in Pakistan. Should the country rise above its personal tragedy and prove to the world that it can shun radicalism on its grounds, it would be sending off a most crucial message to the rest of the Islamist-addled world: that militant Muslims will not prosper for long if populations reject them.

Should Pakistan fail in this current campaign against militant Muslims, there is more than the possibility of nuclear armaments falling in the hands of the Taliban. There is the much-feared about morale boost among radical Islamists that have been forming contingents in other parts of the world, from Somalia to Sumatra, even to the UK.

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Via Forbes

The think tank group called Open Society Institute, an organization promoting democracy and funded by billionaire George Soros, has released a report resulting from a study on ethnic profiling. The report ‘Ethnic Profiling in the European Union’ asserts that ‘profiling is both ineffective and counterproductive.’ 

The report states that the “stops and searches conducted under counterterrorism powers in Europe have produced few charges on terrorism offenses and no terrorism convictions to date.” The report also avers that ‘targeting specific communities alienates them, contributing to a growing sense of marginalization in minority and immigrant communities.’

The organization behind the study believes that racial profiling of Muslims is nothing but a PR tool that is meant to assuage people’s fear of a possible terror attack. A database of ethnic profiles gives the impression that action is being taken by the supposed public safety insurers regarding the stemming of terrorism. 

The researchers and writers of the report strongly claim that profiling is not effective and is only counterproductive because “It misdirects law enforcement resources and alienates some of the very people whose cooperation is necessary for effective crime detection.” Racial profiling also merely contributes to lazy police work.

Ethnic profiling only produces stereotypes by boxing criminals into trite categories that hardly explain, much less extrapolate, criminal behavior. Besides being a nuisance at airports, this profiling effort may also be considered a violation of basic human rights as ‘the practice of stopping people based on their appearance or religion is illegal.’ 

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Via salon.com