Radical Islamist Threat in America

Too many of our leaders and media do not grasp this threat properly. Indeed, many of our newest representatives cannot even correctly name and identify the star players or their orientation. We face a very real and imminent threat from Islamic terrorism within our borders.

BACKGROUND: For eight years I served as an intelligence officer, focusing my efforts in the European, Middle Eastern and Southwest Asian theaters. My work involved counter-espionage, -sabotage, -terrorism investigations and operations, together with other taskings for the Department of Defense. What follows is based on my years of personal experience and a study of the basic tenets of Islam as expressed in their four "holiest books," to include the Kuran.

In the 1970s and 1980s terrorism was primarily politically based. What we observed during the 1980s was a gradual change in nature to religion-motivated terrorism. This "breed" was completely independent of international boundaries and far more difficult to combat. Clearly the most virulent and challenging for government leaders and the media to understand is the most prevalent of all, the terrorism born of devout Islamic fundamentalism.

Only those on the fringe and recent converts embrace the mistaken notion that Islam is a peaceful religion of community and coexistence. The truth goes all the way back to Mohammad and his original followers when they were run out of Mecca to Medina. Prior to that, his teachings indeed were peaceful in nature. At the time he lacked any military strength. In Mecca they became radicalized. From then on Mohammad spread Islam with the point of the sword and used his "revelations" to justify his actions.

Keep in mind, the "holy" books of Islam contain the principle of nasikh, that the most recent proclamations supersede all previous. Everything depends upon how the terms are defined and by whom. The usual practice is to cite the earlier writings to emphasize the alleged peaceful nature of Islam. Indeed, this is about as far as the majority of followers get into their studies.