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America's other extremism problem
This blog has previously noted the rise in the number of American militants.
How does the greater accessibility that American universal values are supposed to offer immigrants explain events at Ft. Hood? An isolated incident? Well, what about, Najibullah Zazi, who planned "Mumbai-on-the-Hudson" with help from extremists in Pakistan. Or, Byran Neal Venas, a Hispanic American convert, who was captured in Afghanistan and admitted to helping with initial plans to launch an attack in the US. Or David Hedley, an American who planned to kill an editor at the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Copenhagen. If he had managed, the US would have joined the list of nations that have become a launching pad for extremist violence.
Read Peter Bergen's Foreign Policy article where he outlines these cases and others in more detail and effectively makes the case that the US has basically just been lucky so far. And as we know, luck is no basis from which to argue for policy direction.
Recently, this new American problem managed to link up with a slightly older American problem; namely Pakistan. The Daily News reported:
"Police on Wednesday arrested five American nationals believed to have gone missing from the Washington DC area last month, officials from both countries said.
The five were arrested at the house of a member of the banned terrorist outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Sargodha, District Police Officer Usman Anwar told AFP."
Londonstani thinks that on the one hand this means American policy makers and commentators will be slightly less smug sounding when comparing community cohesion in the United States with Britain, but at the same time this case and others like it knock another presumption away from the general understanding of what causes extremism and radicalisation in the first place. If the US has a growing home-grown extremism problem, under the current logic, it means either that its social integration mechanisms aren't as good as it thought, or that social integration is not the key factor everyone thought it was.
Londonstani's money is on imperfect American social cohesion. That's not to say there aren't a whole host of other factors. But "social cohesion" as a phrase seems to have gained popular currency as part of the extremism/radicalisation discussion, whereas there's no reason it has to refer to Islamism at all. If the discussion is about "social cohesion" as a stand alone phrase, it refers to the interlinking of the various strands of your society. This can refer to religious or racial communities, but also people of different generations, income levels, geographical areas, sub cultures etc. From Londonstani's experience of working in the UK and various countries in the Muslim world, extremism since 9/11 takes root in the fissures between those strands. Muslim populations are the initial audience as the message is crafted to appeal to their fears, concerns and prejudices. But it has moved on to other groups too. And the US definitely has its fissures, as do other places.
Having said all this, Londonstani still maintains that extremists aren't getting the kind of recruits they'd really like to be attracting. And as evidence he submits below exhibit 1, a police mugshot of the Sargodha wannabe warriors.
This "social cohesion" talk
This "social cohesion" talk reminds me of Mark Ames' argument in Going Postal, to wit, that workplace shootings stem from profoundly unhealthy social relations in the working environment. Seems like a phenomenon that could be subsumed into the category of social cohesion as a very negative example.
The analogy doesn't hold very well, however. No room in that framework for radical Islam, unless you want to substitute it for economic pressures as the cause of anomie, alienation, poor social cohesion or what have you. Which is a big assumption. Seems to me likelier that Islamism constitutes an identity a Muslim can retreat into as/after their identity as an American breaks down.
I'm talking out of my ass, though, speculating. Maybe it's in our national security interest to spend a lot of money on empirical studies of the phenomenon. There's no shortage of questions to ask.
Also, I could swear that first on the left lived next door to me in the freshman dorms.
There are always exceptions
There are always exceptions to the rule. I'd still say that England has a larger problem with homegrown extremists than the US, per capita. However, I do wonder if the recent events in the US suggest the homegrown problem is on the rise here? And if this is the case, why? What environmental or social factors have changed that make this option more appealing now? It is not likely that "social cohesion" is the thing that changed. I'd suggest it exists or it doesn't. So, what is it?
If you were a sociopath, an
If you were a sociopath, an outcast, the guy that never seems to get laid, a true believer, all you have to read is the Holy Qur'an and you'll find all sorts of justification to play rebel warrior of old.
The solution is to get all these guys laid, as promised in all them Hollywood movies.
The solution is not to get
The solution is not to get them laid, the solution is to keep these types out of our country. Why import more problems?
I'm sure we can train Latin Americans to perform the jobs that Islamic emigrees perform here in America. Driving taxi cabs and clerking at newstands are not rocket science.
I would suggest that maybe
I would suggest that maybe if there is an arc to these things, then like the UK, the problem in the US starts with the frontline audience (ie. Muslim immigrants), moves on to the children of those immigrants and then moves onto disaffected - often criminalised - youth of non-Muslim backgrounds. A much ignored and very pertinent aspect of extremist ideology is its adaption and adoption by non-Muslims who also hold a grudge against wider society/the man/the establishment etc etc. In my experience, extremist ideology is 15-20 percent about the actual ideology while the rest of it is about finding *ANY* ideology that justifies your anger.Good post, good 202
Good post, good 202 observation. Of course the Unabomber didn't have a global organization to tap into...
One might suggest the solution to this particular problem is not to let the extremists organize, recruit, fund, dissemble, get lawyers, etc....you do realize you would have grown up speaking German if half this shit had been allowed in WW2? On the other hand, the Gestapo had a very effective COIN program...
"If the US has a growing home-grown extremism problem, under the current logic, it means either that its social integration mechanisms aren't as good as it thought, or that social integration is not the key factor everyone thought it was..."
By which you mean not perfect? Of course they're not. They just work damn well, and have for centuries. The chief assimilation mechanism being...work. Being forced to work forces you to get along. On the other hand being put into welfare will alienate and render vulnerable to pathology any, any, any group or person anywhere. Welfare gets nearly uniform outcomes across all groups and societies and governments over all of human history from Athens on, in fact the dole may be the most successful form of social engineering in terms of universally replicable results. That and it's subsidized "bride" of illegitimacy.
There's also the question of national identity - which has eroded here but is still strong. In Britain no longer as strong we are informed. That's not going to help with the social cohesion problem. That just might tie into the entire identity issue. If they were taught to be British instead of being left at sea looking for who they are...perhaps little Oliver wouldn't have listened to Fagin.
the solution is to convert
the solution is to convert these sinners to the way of Christ. you will never find any provisions for violence in the New Testament. try to find it, there is only peace in Christianity, God assures you.
Good point. But I want to
Good point. But I want to share another angle: I am Jewish and went on the free Birthright trip to Israel. Today I received a mailing from the Birthright people calling "Anti-Zionism... The New Anti-Semitism."
http://bloggingthecasbah.blogspot.com/2009/12/anti-zionism-new-anti-semi...
I've shared this with a few American Jews and more than a few have found this tactic to be offensive. While I'm NOT suggesting that non-Zioinist American Jews are going to pick up arms in this, I AM suggesting that the Zionist are going to lose the moderate voice and many I know are getting to a "to hell with it" kind of mentality with there more radical brethren. This will allow the government of Israel to move to the far right, as it already has--perhaps even further. And, it will do things that will help to trigger more of this homegrown extremism.
Catch my drift? I think this problem goes beyond the Stans'.
Hard way to say birds of a
Hard way to say birds of a feather flock together......
http://www.soc.ucsb.edu/faculty/friedkin/Reprints/ARSCohesion.pdf
To turn the tables around,
To turn the tables around, if you look at the net and all the hate-rhetoric against Islam, it seems to me a wonder that you dont have more homegrown terrorists of islamic bent. especially among the previously imprisoned segment of the population. I think Abu Guerilla has an excellent point, though, since the radicalization seems to be a mutual spiral, as seen in the rise of the BNP in britain.
@abu G, "...if you ask this
@abu G,
"...if you ask this blogger, the idea of sending impressionable, on-the-fence American Jews to Israel is utter genies.."
utter genies ??
Indeed it may be. Good thing you got your award winning entry for unwitting irony of the year in before 12/31.
genie n. A supernatural creature who does one's bidding when summoned. A jinni.
Let's riff on this.....
As I am of an age where I'm still carrying a torch for Barbara Eden circa genie years....oh no, here we go again..
OK. Back in the cage. Does this mean we revert to our Zionist Golem mode when summoned by receipt of the white arrow from Gondor?
==================
@Fnord - how much anti-Islam sentiment was out there prior to certain events of the last 9 years? Come on. Anti-Semitism on the other hand goes a lot deeper...and lo and behold!! The Europeans return to type. UK "Human Rights Court" has ruled Judiasm if practiced strictly is racist!! Surprise, Surprise.
Longshanks, DeTorquemada, and Der Reich would be proud.
I haven't read the flyer Abu G refers to...as I prefer to circulate and develop my own nuttiness. However I had reached the same conclusion awhile ago....that "anti-Zionism" is merely a stratagem or pretense to advance antisemitism under the veneer of anti-colonialism or Human Rights. Human Rights of course has become a complete Leftist farce and tool of the worlds worst dictatorships and most repressive and reactionary elements for years now, most particularly at the UN.
--with reference to social
--with reference to social cohesion in America...although we usually call it assimilation over here - 90% of Immigrants required to take the US Citizenship test to gain Citizenship - test is on civics and current events - usually pass it. Surveys have shown only about 3% of native US High School students can pass the same test.
My favorite quote of all time on this was from a US born co-worker: when asked what the 3 branches of American Govt were he responded " I was never very good at American History " .
I think you just might get a similar response in the UK. At least on the low and discouraging end of the scale.
There was a saying in the 19th century: Education is in a race to civilize Democracy before it takes over.
A race Civilization is losing, in no small part due to the educators no longer believing in it.
I agree a bit with Elf, that
I agree a bit with Elf, that if you are working, you don't have much time to get "alienated" from society.
Today's prolonged adolescence (12 to 18) has exacerbated this problem, because we have a bunch of people spending 6 years of their lives, many learning very little from school, most having plenty of time to waste. College just tacks on another 4 years of free time to get radicalized, for some.
Part of this radicalization comes from "Future Shock", as the Tofflers remarked 20 years ago. But another part, I think, comes from the inherent contradiction of the Western Culture(tm) post-Enlightenment: "People Follow Rules" vs "You Can Do Anything".
As Londonstani said in his earlier article, most non-Westerners have this idealized image of the West as a place where things work, and bureaucracies functions. At the same time, the West also spreads the message of "You can do anything, be anyone" through its Hollywood messaging machine. Taken to the extreme, you get the hedonism in today's music videos.
Many people have difficulty handling this contradiction, especially in unfamiliar surroundings (colleges, cities). So you see fundamentalism and retreat to identity groups, as the many ethnic and religious groups on campus attest. You also have people open to cults and conspiracy theories. People who are looking for human connections and ending up in a cause.
http://americanmohist.blogspot.com/2009/12/alienation-culture-and-welfar...
Fnord, albeit your reasoning
Fnord, albeit your reasoning about hate-speech and extremism sounds logical at the first hearing, it does not hold when you start thinking about it thoroughly and taking contradicting factoids into account. For example:
1. Islam is not the first sociopolitical entity to be systematically scorned in public. In the last 100 years, Slavs (in German-speaking countries), Chinese (in Western USA), Armenians (Turkey), Jews (almost everywhere in the world), "bourgeoise class" (in Communist countries) were targets of systematic hate campaigns, sometimes going from verbal and printed attacks to actual restriction of civic rights and physical oppression (anything from ethnic cleansing to enslavement and mass killings). It is remarkable that most such groups did not produce significant militant movements that would engage in outright terrorism against civilian population(s) of the "enemy".
2. Very clearly, the greatest problem with Islamic terrorism is in Islamic countries themselves, where no one really dares to mock Islam or preach hate against it. The whole "takfir" concept is an awful beast of Islamic ideological origin that feeds on Muslims right now.
My take is that the Islamic world is infected with a wave of chiliastic religious extremism fed from a) the Iranian revolution and its subsequent export, b) the fact that austere and aggressive wahhabi salafism got immense world-wide leverage by the obscene amounts of money produced by the oil industry in the Arabian peninsula (indeed some of the jihadis view the oil discovery as a sign of Allah), c) the youth bulge that currently features in demographics of Middle Eastern nations.
In my opinion, Westerners are rather misguided if they try to blame themselves for the state of things (critical thinking is a good tool, but when it outgrows reasonable limits, it turns into rather awful self-flagellation. In this, the modern Western left adopted some antics of the medieval Church - everything is mea culpa). By and large, this Islamic extremism development is self-contained and self-sustained, and will probably wear out once the demographic transition is complete in the Middle East. If this theory is right, we should expect a significant rise of violent extremism in Yemen, Gaza and Sudan, while the extremism in Morocco, Tunisia and Gulf States should fade to almost zero in the next generation.
Very good points Marian K.
Very good points Marian K. Especially about self criticism becoming self flagellation.
(Ahem, ah Fnord? May have you in mind).
Elf, Jimmy W Social
Elf, Jimmy W
Social cohesion, even if successful, is NOT enough. Working is not the antitode to radicalization. Remember, many individuals -- particularly the leadership -- are middle-class, educated, and working individuals prior to joining a terrorist organization.
I have dedicated many posts to this issue recently:
The “Consensus” on American Muslims Continues to Unravel
http://pakaf.wordpress.com/category/homegrown-terrorism/
Torkham, No, not enough on
Torkham,
No, not enough on it's own. However if you have a society with a strong work ethic that helps to force "social cohesion" (quotes as I am not sure I'd use that term, but not being derisive) than you have a lot less fertile soil to plant jihad in.
I am going to check out your link, thanks. I haven't yet, but as far as a "Consensus" = received PC dogma - unraveling, yes I am afraid so...just at the wrong moment. AQ is at a low ebb in their fortunes and popularity (they're not only repulsive, their losers) ....and now would be the time to consolidate gains amongst the Muslim world. Instead we chose to revitalize AQ - and if you think they're coming back now, wait until that NYC trial. Rejuvenating AQ almost back from the dead, with their champion KSM holding court in Manhattan, beard and robes flowing as he fearlessly declaims against the infidels, standing triumphant on their corpses, at the scene of his Signal Victory.
Brilliant Liberals. Brilliant.
Meanwhile over the last year we have not only seen a string of attacks which have so far peaked with Ft Hood, but a general unease that we've got a Creampuff in the Captains Chair. And the fact that Hasan basically gave the game away ten times over before it happened but was let go due to PC - ness.....
Casey had a point in worrying about backlash. Although he displayed his usual exquisite timing and deftness at putting that statement out before the goddamn gunfire had stopped.
With American society
With American society increasingly becoming addicted to violence as the method of choice for resolving problems in international affairs, you have got to expect a certain amount of the type of extremism discussed in this post. Yes, it is a problem, but the larger problem about which we Americans are still mostly in denial is the endurance of neo-con policy shifts such as preventive war, ignoring the murder of innocent bystanders during our Predator attacks, and very assumption that war is the proper solution to socio-political problems we face around the world (e.g., Iran's legitimate desire to play by the same nuclear rules as Israel, the desire of Palestinians to free themselves from Israeli oppression, or the post-1990 unwillingness of Saddam to play ball with his Republican friends). There are many ways in which one pays when one allows one's own morals to degrade.
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