by Mustang

This business of Mid-eastern radicalism has been going on for far too long — too many hundreds of years of depraved behavior.  Some people stand up to radicalism; most do not — so it continues.  A few years ago, someone observed that dealing with radical Islam is quite curious.  Whoever said this, if anyone ever did, uttered an understatement.  

Dealing with Islam is much like dealing with viruses: the virus mutates as soon as one thinks they have a handle on the problem.  Curious indeed.  We have plenty of time to react to depravity, but apparently, none to prevent it. 

Radical Islamists are 13th Century barbarians with iPhones.  These people are clever and resourceful.  They are no longer stopping by the recruitment desk in the local mosque; in 2022, radical Islamist recruitment is taking place via text messages, i-messages, and WhatsApp.  

Once contacted, the Islamist can become part of a larger group or become a lone-wolf murderer.  According to one study completed by George Washington University — the only similarity today among radical Islamists is that 80% are under 30 years of age. 

What are we talking about? There are more than 900 active investigations against radical Islamists in all fifty states. Fifty-six Americans were arrested, including teenage girls and college students, arrested as petty criminals stealing to provide goods and cash to other radicals with more serious intentions.  In 2019, 250 American Islamists traveled to Syria and Iraq to join the ranks of radical fighters (or become their sexual objects). 

Do their parents or young brides know about this radicalization?  Sure, they do.  Are they doing anything about it?  Yes, of course — they’re encouraging it or turning a blind eye to it — but they aren’t doing anything to arrest it.  Why?  Because these “children” are doing Allah’s will. 

Image source

After several hundred arrests among young radicals attempting to leave the United States to join terrorist fighters in the Middle East, American techno-terrorists now encourage home-grown Islamists to carry out attacks inside the United States.  

Now enter the usefulness of social media.  Remember all those ethnic “flash mobs” from a few years back?  Right, these modern flash mobs aren’t interested in robbing department stores.  They prefer instead to kill your children as they make their way to school in the morning. Don’t worry, though. They’ll only murder your children in the name of Allah. 

Social media multiplies the effect of radicalization.  It not only mobilizes them but also incites and encourages radicalization.  One cannot help but wonder, “What makes these children, born and raised in the land of the free, so utterly stupid?” Adventurism, their twisted religion, the flattery of their recruiters, nice gifts — perhaps, even all of the above.  

There is even an online travel guide for would-be terrorists.  There are helpful tips for crossing into Turkey, contacting representatives of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and writing farewell letters to their parents or other significant persons.  The barbarians have arrived in modern society, but oddly, their mission of foisting depravity on the world is unchanged. 

The entire subject is problematic.  The George Washington University study offers a framework for intervention, but the problem is that until these miscreants break the law, they haven’t broken any laws.  Police only respond to broken laws, not to darkened hearts. 

Dangerous Deliveries 

Every year, twenty-million travelers visit the United States.  They arrive carrying visas with far less security than the legal immigration system.  Thirty-eight countries have simplified/expedient visa systems and radical Islamists take full advantage of these “streamlined” systems.  This system has become, in the words of some, the soft underbelly of the United States.  

Maybe this is true, but it couldn’t be “softer” than President Joe Biden’s open borders policy.  It may be “profiling,” but why is that a bad thing with the safety and security of the nation, and its people, is at stake? 

ISIS hosts more than 25,000 foreign-born fighters from more than 100 nations worldwide.  Five thousand of those are Europeans.  There is a question about how many of them are Americans.  The Director of National Intelligence “thinks” that close to 1,000 are from the United States.  No one is sure.  

One of the problems in identifying these blackguards is that ISIS agents have stolen equipment and blank passport books to make fraudulent passports (Source: Wall Street Journal).  In the world, only ten people are expert enough to spot fraudulent passports: none work as border guards in any western country. 

ISIS poses the greatest threat to western societies.  Former President Trump claimed to have defeated ISIS, but it wasn’t true.  An American general recently opined, “We may have killed some ISIS fighters, but we have not killed the idea.  We don’t even understand their idea.” Altogether, this is not good news.  Why?  Because ISIS is now here, in America — well-entrenched, and there is damn little anyone is willing to do about this problem.  

We can’t see into anyone’s darkened heart.  We can’t read their mind.  We do not understand how anyone can hunger so much for genocide, murder, and mayhem.  We can only suffer their perfidy and wonder how such a thing could happen to innocents, no matter where they live.  Well, it’s happening here now. 

In the film The Untouchables, actor Sean Connery played the part of Chicago police officer Jim Malone (a fictional character).  Kevin Costner played the role of Eliot Ness (a real person).  The context of the following conversation was the arch-criminal Al Capone was essentially running all over the law, terrorizing local citizens — doing what he wanted, when he wanted, and impervious to legal sanctions.  He was paying off local police officials, judges, and prosecutors. 

What do you think about this, reader?  What should Americans do about these home-grown sandbox critters?

Mustang also blogs at Fix Bayonets and Thoughts From Afar