The Appeal And Spread Of Radical Islam

Although the threat posed by foreign terrorist organizations is often foremost in the public consciousness as a result of al-Qaeda's attack on September 11th, 2001, the threat from domestic terror groups remains a central concern of those responsible for homeland security. In fact, while the United States has not suffered from another foreign attack in the decade since 9/11, research by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, along with non-governmental organizations, has found that the number of domestic terror groups has increased, a trend only exacerbated by the economic recession (U.S. Department of Justice, 2009, Domestic Terrorism). While there are a wide variety of individual groups and ideologies, most domestic terror groups falls into one of three broad categories: religious extremism, white supremacy, and anti-government and separatists movements, including the militia movement. Examining these domestic terror groups in greater detail will aid in better understanding the full spectrum of threats considered by homeland security personnel.

It is nearly impossible to go an entire day in the United States without hearing of some act of terrorism. Whether it be a shooting in a public place or threats against a group of people, this violent form of conflict is prevalent in every American’s life. These ruthless acts of cold-blooded murder demonstrate evil in its purest form, and leave death and mourning in their wake. The article “Homegrown Terrorism: Is There an Islamic Wave?” gives an overview of the rise of domestic terrorism since the tragedy of 9/11. Though it was written in 2011, the core message is the same today: terrorism in the United States still continues to grow at a sickening pace, with each new attack seeming more barbaric than the last.

With the emergence of the 21st century the necessity for a broader understanding of security have said present. The world has experienced a variety of new security challenges that have put at stake human safety and have made policymakers all around the world rethink their approach and strategies when it comes to the decision making process. The rise of terrorist organizations in the international arena as well as the development of extremist groups has offered extreme significance to the quest for power and the search for peace, while requiring us to look back and examine our achievements and failures in the analysis of terrorism, extremist groups and our counterterrorism efforts since 9/11. It is essential for all Americans to understand

Today, domestic terrorism is one of the major threats to the national security of the US. Since 9/11, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies viewed international terrorism as the major threat to the public security of the US but the threat of domestic terrorism has been underestimated. At any rate, American law enforcement agencies conduct active campaigns to prevent international terrorism but domestic terrorism become a serious threat to the national security of the US. In such a way, the US needs to develop effective strategies to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the US may face a threat of the consistent growth of domestic terrorism as do some European countries, such as the UK, for instance. Therefore, law enforcement agencies should focus their attention on the prevention of domestic terrorism because, even though domestic terrorism is unseen, it may be even more dangerous than international terrorism. Domestic terrorists undermine the country from within, while international terrorists attack the US from the outside and the US can raise barriers to protect Americans from the foreign threat, while domestic terrorism needs effective work of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Therefore, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the US and American law enforcement agencies along legislators and the public have to unite their efforts in the struggle against domestic terrorism.

Radicalization have various sources, from reactionary hatred of the freedom world, involvement in antigovernment militia movements in the U.S, to even mental illnesses. The main focus in this paper is to focus on Jihad-based radicalization in the prison system because according the FBI these groups are the biggest potential threats to American security. It is important to recognize all of the factors of why Americans are radicalizing in the prison system. First off, in prison, individuals associate themselves with other individuals or groups to protect themselves. They also tend to associate with those that are similar to them; share background similarities, family, ethnicity, religion, etc. Ever since 911, the government has increased its economic spending to combat and prevent domestic terrorism. In October 2003, the U.S Senate Subcommittee on Terrorism, technology, and homeland security held a hearing, that warned the threats of Islamic radicalization in the U.S prisons. The subcommittee concluded that radicalization in prisons is a real threat and “prisons are producing a formidable enemy within. Eight years later, in June 2011, the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security held another series of hearings on the issue. In his opening remarks, Committee Chairman Peter King claimed that prisons have created "an assembly line of radicalization," which poses a major threat to the safety and security of the

Tactics to induce terror in pursuit of a political goal have been utilized by a multitude of organizations across the globe. This method of power control is known as terrorism, and due to its impact and unpredictability, it is highly feared and monitored today in the 21st century. Attacks of this nature stem from radical beliefs of religion, ethics, or other politics, and have been carried out globally, ranging from the 9/11 attack in New York City to the 2015 shooting in Paris, France. Terrorism over recent years has grown despite an abundance of efforts by many nations and international organisations to stop development of such groups. This growth is partially attributed to advances in digital technology and the furtherment of communication techniques, such as social media and web-based content, which has allowed for the spread of these radical ideas across the planet making it difficult to control the advancement of these beliefs (Council on Foreign Relations, 2009). Terrorism will never be able to be fully stopped due to the abstract nature and ideology from which terrorism originates.

Domestic terrorism has been a major threat in the US since the catastrophic event that took place during attack on 9/11. Following the aftermath of the terrorist attack, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies emphasized heavily on combating terrorism on global scale as international terrorism was views as the major threat to the public security of the US which caused the issue of domestic terrorism to be overlooked. We have seen many terrorist attacks since the attack on 9/11 that were planned and executed by individuals and groups born and raised in America. Some of those attacks include the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bombing. There has also been increasing number of mass shooting by individuals that were identified as to be radicalized by terrorist groups abroad, the most recent mass shooting that was identified as a terrorist act was in Orlando where more than 50 people were killed (Alveraz, p.1). The cases mentioned above will be discussed in detail later in the essay. Although, American law enforcement agencies are actively conducting intelligence and operational missions to prevent international terrorism, however, the US needs to develop efficient tactics to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the United States may face a danger of the unfailing growth of domestic terrorism similar to some of the European countries; such as the United Kingdom. Consequently, law enforcement agencies should concentrate on the preclusion

Ever since post 9/11 conflicts began and the United States became involved in the Syrian conflict, several homegrown radicalized terrorist have come extremely close to succeeding in highly destructive attacks. Currently, there are gaps in understanding the radicalization of homegrown Muslims in the United States. Therefore, it is imperative to understand paths towards radicalization through crime prevention strategies (Kamien, 2012). The sources listed below will aid in the psychological background of radicalization, and how radicalization happens to homegrown Muslim converts and non-converts (Schumacher, 2011).

Domestic terrorism has played a major part in shaping the societies of the United States. The ideologies of individuals can become radicalized. This can lead to a movement. This movement involves the infliction of fear upon the communities, in attempt to make it a better world. It is critical to examine the events created by one man’s extreme ideologies in effort to better understand.

This paper will discuss religious terrorism in particular. Religious terrorism can be defined as “the terrorism [is] carried out based on motivations and goals that have a predominantly religious character or influences.” (“Religious Terrorism”) An example of this will be the 9/11 attacks. It was “a series of four coordinated terrorist attack launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.”(“September 11 attacks”) This attack had led to a serious causality, “almost 3000 people dies in the attacks.” (“September 11 attacks”) Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, declared a “holy war against the United States” (“September 11 attacks”) In his “letter to America”, he stated the motives as follows: In opposition to western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia; supporting the Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir; the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon; the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia; U.S support of Israel and the sanction against Iraq. (“September 11 attacks”) The disastrous attack leads to a serious attention of re-constructing the old version of counter terrorism strategy, which had failed to protect the citizens against terrorism. However, ‘terrorism is far to complex for one solution to be effective in dealing with all the possible threats.” (Lygutas 146) Therefore, some of the measures have difficulties in balancing the rights of

King and Taylor (2011) stated that radicalization does not contain any singular specificity to ethnicity, nationality, political, religious or any association with an ideological group (p.63). There is not a one-fit-all explanation which makes terrorism mitigation efforts a significant challenge for law enforcement officials and further complicates the protection of National Security. Terrorism expert, Bruce Hoffman, stated: “The profile is broken, (and) it’s women as well as men, its lifelong Muslims as well as converts, its college students as well as jailbirds” (Sullivan, 2010, para. 29).

Ever since September 11, 2001 Americans along with the majority of the world’s population have been skeptical of Muslims. It’s a sad reality but it’s hard for people to think of a Muslim without linking them directly to terrorism. But these assumptions aren’t totally out of the blue—the Muslim’s religion, Islam, teaches a low tolerance for other religions and the Islamic government has no separation of church and state, so it’s only normal to assume that their government shall have a low tolerance as well—some however, immediately translate this into terrorism. Through the Islamic government and religion, relations with foreign countries, and separation amongst themselves it can be concluded that Islamic Fundamentalism is clearly a threat

Since 2001, domestic extremist have killed more people in the U.S. than foreign sources of Terrorism. In 2015 alone, 52 people were killed by domestic terrorism; the most killed by such terrorism in a decade (Berman, 2016). This leaves the United States of America no true face to fight, making it extremely difficult to find the perpetrators of terror. Fighting this form of terrorism is so challenging that the “U.S. Justice Department is considering legal changes to combat what it sees as a rising threat from domestic anti-government extremists,” (Harte, 2016). Over the past two years, 42 people have been charged with plotting attacks on America in the name of the Islamic state or anti-government fervor. All of these individuals will not face a life sentence, and will be let free in a couple of decades (Harte, 2016). With the little reform that happens in prison, these people will one day be out of prison, most likely with the same radical passion. Efforts are being made to make deradicalization facilities rather than let the convicted 42 go back into society with plenty of rage (Harte, 2016). The fight against radicalization has largely turned towards targeting the communities where they begin. Many

Counter-terrorism expert Steve Emerson, senior advisor to the RAND Corporation Brian Jenkins, Ryan Mauro and the Clarion Project have documented and exposed the reality of radical Islam in the United States. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1, English Standard Version). Since the attacks on 9/11, the American public has settled into a false sense of security while the internet has enabled homegrown radicalization and enlarged the footprint of radical Islam inside the United States. “Many law enforcement officials fear that a new style of jihadist group is appearing, a hybrid of foreign and homegrown terrorists” (White,

As a direct consequence of September 11, a number of substantial challenges lie ahead in the area of counter-terrorism..   The most prominent of these is the changing nature of the terrorism phenomenon.  In past years, when terrorism was largely the product of direct state sponsorship, policymakers were able to diminish prospects for the United States becoming a target using a combination of diplomatic and military instruments to deter potential state sponsors.  Today, however, many terrorist organizations and individuals act independently from former and present state sponsors, shifting to other sources of support, including the development of transnational networks.