One Thing We Can Do to Combat the Increase of the Jihadist Threat
"It is simply no longer possible to maintain that the United States is
winning the war on terror. The number of terrorists is growing, as is the
pool of people who may be moved to violence, and the means and know-how for carrying out attacks, including catastrophic ones, are becoming more readily
available."The Next Attack The Failure of the War on Terror and a Strategy for
Getting It Right by Daniel Benjamin and Steven Simon
The extremist jihad threat to everyday individuals is growing worldwide, but there one specific thing that can be done to mitigate this increasing trend right now. Something, that even you can do, right now in your own community. Offer the Muslims you know, and greater Muslim community, the respect and acceptance that they need and deserve. Only a small portion, albeit a growing one, is responsible for the violence that is caused by Islamic extremists. Most followers of Islam are peaceful, righteous, law-abiding citizens, who love their respective countries, and believe that suicide bombers and the violent Islamic extremists are acting outside of the teachings of the Qur'an (their sacred book).
One of the biggest draws to "the extremist jihad" side for many young Muslims is they feel that they and the umma (Muslim worldwide community) are being humiliated and not respected for their religious beliefs. Because of this feeling of humiliation and perceived lack of status in communities, the desire to embrace change is strong. Through internet discussion groups and local peer groups, sometimes the movement to take action to regain "their place in the world" has taken hold -- and a bloody hold it is. This has propelled some Muslims who are seeking to live in the purity of their faith, right into the arms of waiting terrorist recruiters, ready to shape this discourse further in their training camps.
Many Muslins have perceived the treatment of prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo as humiliating and as an overt act of atrocity against the greater Muslim community worldwide. The treatment of the Muslim's sacred book in some of these incidents, the Qur'an, has been downright shameful to non-believers, and horrific from the viewpoint of Islamic believers.
Add to this the atrocities perpetrated by a small number of American soldiers in Iraq against Muslim civilians and families, fanning more feelings of degradation and humiliation that are imprinted on the greater Islamic group. Then, add open discrimination against Muslim immigrants in numerous European countries, and we wonder why there is a current of discontent in the greater Muslim worldwide community in regard to acceptance and respect for their faith, religious tenants, and way of life.
We need to reach out to the Muslim community. We need to work together to insulate ourselves collectively and our countries from further violence. If we work to help empower the Muslim leaders of mosques, leaders of young Muslim focus groups, and other members of the faith to openly discuss these topics with their followers and members, while we work together to change patterns of discrimination and abuse, we can emerge together strengthened and with the common focus of peaceful coexistence.
