DT e-Paper, Saturday, October 15, 2016

Why it matters:
Homegrown
extremism
• Tribune International Desk
Radical Islamic
militancy that
has sustained
itself for decades
overseas
has inspired a
series of attacks on US soil in
the last year and a half.
The culprits typically have
no ties to foreign terrorist
organizations, no explicit directions
from overseas and
no formal training, unlike
the operatives of 9/11. Instead,
they’ve blended into
American society and skated
beneath the radar of federal
investigators grappling with a
frenetic threat landscape and
hundreds of investigations
across the country.
The bombing in Manhattan
in September that injured
more than two-dozen people
crystallised the concerns- A
handwritten journal found
with Ahmad Khan Rahami,
the Afghan-born US citizen accused
in the explosion, praised
terrorists like Osama bin Laden
and warned the sounds of
bombs would be heard in the
streets, prosecutors allege.
Before that was the Pulse
nightclub massacre in Orlando,
the deadliest mass shooting
in modern US history, with
49 killed. In December 2015,
a husband-wife duo killed 14
people in San Bernardino, California.
A July 2015 shooting at
military sites in Chattanooga,
Tennessee, killed four Marines
and one Navy sailor.
Death counts mount. While
more people die in traffic accidents,
the fear of seemingly
random attacks has shaken the
American psyche. Some Americans
have turned inward. They
think twice about attending
large events. They view others
suspiciously on public transit.
Where they stand
Hillary Clinton says Muslim-Americans
may be the
best defence against extremism
in their communities. She
says they can prevent young
people from joining jihadis
and notify law enforcement
when they hear of planned
attacks or suspected radicalisation.
Clinton would prohibit
people on terrorist watch lists
from being able to purchase
weapons. She also wants
wider use of programmes to
identify signs of radicalisation
and counter jihadi ideology,
though the success of such initiatives
isn’t established.
Donald Trump had proposed
a freeze on foreign Muslims
entering the US, though
that would have done little to
stop radicalised American citizens.
Now, instead, he’s proposed
a hold on immigration
from areas of the world with
a history of extremist violence
against the US and allies.
Why it matters
The threat is real. The FBI has
said counter-terrorism agents
have open investigations
across the country. Director
James Comey said in May
there are north of 1,000 cases
in which agents are trying to
evaluate a subject’s level of
radicalisation and potential
for violence. Since late 2013,
more than 110 people in about
35 judicial districts have been
charged with trying to join foreign
militants overseas, plotting
violence domestically or
otherwise supporting the IS,
according to John Carlin, head
of the Justice Department’s
National Security Division.
The number of Americans
seeking to travel to Syria to
fight alongside IS has slowed
to a near trickle, through that’s
not necessarily comforting.
The IS has been using social
media to exhort supporters already
in the US to commit violence
locally with guns, bombs
or any easily accessible arms.
Tracking would-be jihadis
is especially challenging. Even
as investigators express confidence
in their ability to detect
and thwart a spectacular
9/11-style plot, there’s simply no
way to identify the untold number
of Americans inspired by IS.
Its supporters need not receive
training or vetting to be
adopted by IS. A simple public
pledge of support, as attackers
in San Bernardino and Orlando
did, is often sufficient.
Law enforcement has a difficult
job tracking would-be militants
and stopping them before
they attack. But it also is tasked
with taking down the network of
people promoting radical Islam.
The debate over how to
respond is framed by those
calling for more investigative
powers for law enforcement
and the intelligence community,
on the one hand, and
those trying to protect citizens’
right to privacy. •
World
11
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2016
DT