DR. LAINA FARHAT-HOLZMAN
December 17, 2013
As a historian with a long view, I avoid alarming predictions
of doom and gloom. Although Militant Islam is very dangerous, I don't
think it has longevity. Wherever Islamists take over, they arouse the
intense hatred of their subject people. Muslims in Mali, for example,
celebrated when the French Army chased out the jihadis.
It is
one thing to fantasize about a restored Islamic Caliphate (religious
dictatorship) but quite another to live under it. Like all other
meteoric phenomena, this one will undoubtedly crash and burn too.
However,
we are in for a very nasty run with this Islamist meteor. Joel
Brinkley, a cool-headed foreign policy columnist for the
San Francisco Chronicle, claims
the "the Al Qaeda terror network is spreading like a cancer" (October
6, 2013). Al Qaeda is now threatening Americans in Europe, the Middle
East, North Africa, South Asia, Africa and Central Asia---as he notes,
practically the entire world. The Senate Intelligence Committee warns
the naïve fools among us who believe that this is not a war, but just a
criminal issue. We should rethink our hostility to our spy agencies
keeping tabs on wanabe jihadis.
One particularly deadly group
is al-Shebab, in Somalia, which carried out the attack on the Westgate
mall in Nairobi, Kenya last summer. The many jihadi groups can work
independently, says Brinkley, but most coordinate their carnage with
Ayman al-Zawahri, Bin Laden's successor, whom we have not yet managed
to kill with a drone. We will get him sooner or later.
The State Department warns that "extremists have targeted and
attempted attacks on subway and rail systems, aviation, and maritime
services; such attacks have already occurred in Moscow, London, Madrid,
Glasgow, and New York City. One anonymous Islamic cleric who posts on
line predicts that the black Islamic flag will one day fly over the
white house. He may also believe that the moon is made of green cheese.
Most
alarming is the rise of fifth columns in our midst. Generous,
immigrant-welcoming Canada, is now having indigestion. The same is true
for the EU countries that have done the same. Thousands of young men
are heading to Syria where they hope to die for Allah. I saw one
Anglo-Iraqi interviewed on camera who could scarcely sit still, he was
so excited to die in Syria "for Allah." Many of the Islamists are
converts, which makes them even more fanatical as jihadis. The Canadian
Security and Intelligence Service has reported that Islamist extremists
are now radicalizing Canadians in mosques, dinner parties, and even in
the family home.
The Canadian Broadcasting Company notes that
with the exception of the United States, there are more terrorist
groups active in Canada today than in any other country in the world.
Since 2006, 25 individuals have been involved in plots against Canadian
targets (happily unsuccessful). They plotted to behead Canada's prime
minister, were caught making bombs, planned to bomb an Amtrak train
running between New York and Toronto, and planned to celebrate Canada
Day (July 1) with pressure cooker bombs to blow up the legislature in
Victoria.
The majority of attacks, however, are currently abroad:
in Syria; bombing a courtroom in Somalia; joining a Hezbollah attack
on a bus in Bulgaria filled with Israeli tourists; and an attack on a
gas plant in Algeria. In addition are the usual financial crimes, honor
killings, human smuggling, and establishing safe houses for future
capers. Most alarming are attempts to establish Sharia law in Canadian
society, which a former attorney general, Marion Boyd, actually
supported!
Germany is alarmed because 170 German Muslims have
gone to join al Qaeda groups in Syria. If they do not die there, they
might well return to do mischief in Germany.
French Interior
Minister Manuel Vallis estimates that more than 300 French Muslims are
fighting with Syrian rebels. Russia reports that 200 fighters have done
so as well; the UK claims 100, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and the
Netherlands each number their Muslim nationals at 50-100. This Jihadi
Tourism may well come back to bite their hosts. Without the NSA
eavesdropping, we might be sorry.
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