Since 9/11/2001, the United States seems to have grown increasingly concerned with terrorism, but not all terrorism. We went to war specifically with Afghanistan and Iraq over the problem of Al Qaeda, an Islāmic militant group that organized that attacks on the Twin Towers and in the years since, have focused almost entirely on the radicalization of Muslims while ignoring the simple fact that terror is, and never was limited to jihadists around the world.
Even today, almost 10 years after 9/11, the United States government seems to focus their efforts entirely on Muslims, regardless of the fact that in the years since, substantial proof has been offered that terrorism is not the hallmark of a single faith or ethnic group but that the problem is broader and more deeply ingrained in the political turmoil around the world (whether in Israel, Pakistan, or Somalia) and the fight for autonomy in a modern era (Look at Israel again but also at the IRA in Northern Ireland and the rebels in Chechnya), not just religious war and conflict. Yet, despite this proof, the House of Representative held hearings last week in regards to the radicalization of Muslims in America. Peter King, head of the House Homeland Security Committee called these hearings simply to discuss how Mosques in America were becoming increasingly radical and, more importantly, hotbeds for recruitment into jihadist movements, especially Al Qaeda, playing on fears of attacks from within. Ironically enough, Peter King himself has had ties to the Irish Republican Army in the past, a group of militants recognized as a terrorist organization by several nations, the United States included.
These hearings have been labeled as ‘un-American’ and a ‘witch hunt’ against all Muslims as many see it as condemning an entire population for the actions of a few radical members. Indeed, King finds it easier to label an entire faith as violent and bloodthirsty rather than consider the individual cases of homegrown terrorism and consider the reasons for each. What he fails to realize is simply that these attacks against all American Muslims are what drive them to radicalism in the first place. Many who were born and raised in the United States now find themselves labeled as the enemy or worse, as a terrorist and so, in their frustration and anger, turn to violence and radicalism to help cope with the alienation. These hearings simply prove Al Qaeda correct – that America hates Islam – and are giving them the ammunition they need to win the ideological war launched at the start of the War on Terror.
What’s worse, this ideological war seems to have the same danger as these hearings – of labeling an entire population based on the views of the very few. Al Qaeda is unlikely to consider Melvin Bledsoe’s testimony that radicalization is rare in American mosques and that what happened to his son is the exception, not the rule. Nor are they likely to pay attention to the words of Representatives Keith Ellison or Jackie Speier, both of whom have defended Muslims in America and have attacked these hearings as being extremely biased.
The problem with ideological wars is that in a country as diverse as the United States, they are hard to win, simply because the radical opinions of the few tend to get the media attention and more importantly, tend to be the only ideas heard by many groups already prejudiced against the United States around the world.
For more information:
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE7280VB20110310
The International 
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