9/17/16

It's been 15 years and one week since planes filled with armed terrorists and doomed passengers hit the World Trade Center in New York, part of the Pentagon in Washington and a field somewhere in Pennsylvania.  Nothing like that has happened in this country since.  But there have been a lot of smaller attacks carried out by "lone wolves" who, while not actual card-carrying members of al Qaeda or the Islamic State, were "inspired" through the internet to commit crimes against Western society.

Just last weekend, there were three such incidents:  An explosive device was found along the route of a New Jersey marathon.  An explosion in New York City's Chelsea district resulted in 29 injuries.  Eight people were stabbed at a shopping mall in St. Cloud, Minnesota.

The two suspects identified in these incidents have been apprehended.  The man in the St. Cloud attack was shot dead by an off-duty police officer who just happened to be shopping at the mall.

Even though federal officials have yet to classify these incidents as acts of terrorism, these two men have already been tried and convicted by those who believe they have no problem distinguishing whether they were acts or not.  All they had to know was that the suspects had names that suggested they're not "from here".  The New York suspect is of Afghani descent, while the alleged stabber from Minnesota came from Somalia. 

In the past 15 years, being a Muslim has become a liability.  Despite insistences that they meant no harm and want nothing more than to live in peace and make positive contributions to this country, a sizable number of people see them only as murderers who want to destroy the American Way of Life and just want them gone.  Muslims are criticized for the way they live, dress, worship, and why they need special rules instead of assimilating into American culture.

Politicians are no help, especially in an election year.  Some who are running for office want to build walls, devise restrictive regulations on citizenship (on top of the ones that already exist) ind increase surveillance instead of helping the new arrivals settle in.  You want to weed out the bad apples, sure, but that doesn't mean getting rid of the whole bunch.

What's also needed is a way to reverse the thinking of younger immigrants, who became dissatisfied with their new country (not to mention their families) and want to strike back.  So they watch internet videos from ISIS and others, promising a wonderful afterlife if they'll just take up arms and kill Western citizens.

Fifteen years and two wars later, there appears to be no end in sight to the conflict between jihadists and the West.  However simplistic it sounds, we must remember that not every Islamist is a terrorist  and a murderer.  And not every American is a race-baiting, flag-waving, gun-toting bigot willing to declare open season on those who don't look like them.  We must be prepared to face down the ones who perpetuate the stereotype.