Peter King's Terrorism Circus

Terrorism symp Peter King lets loose his anti-Muslim jihad

This morning Peter King, Long Island's last reactionary congressman standing-- and an author of largely unread but greatly self-aggrandizing Islamophobic pulp fiction-- began what is widely being called his "McCarthyite anti-Muslim hearings." As the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, he could have-- and certainly should have-- held hearings on the very real dangers of domestic terrorism or even on the very real dangers of religious domestic terrorism. But King-- well known one of the most prominent and avid supporters of terrorism against America's #1 ally (Britain) with his hysterical support for the then-violent and terrorist IRA-- had decided to target Muslim-Americans instead.

As Think Progress pointed out on the eve of the circus, there have been almost twice as many plots since 9/11 from non-Muslim terrorists. I recall when the Department of Homeland Security released a report on this early in Obama's Administration-- written entirely under the Bush Administration-- that criticized the kinds of far right militia-types that actually are most prone to carry out domestic terrorism-- the Republican Party reacted as though the were personally being accused.

When asked why he is singling out the Muslim American community and refusing to investigate other forms of terrorism, King has responded by saying that “it makes no sense to talk about other types of extremism, when the main threat to the United States today is talking about al Qaida.”

Yet as a January 2011 terrorism statistics report-- compiled using publicly available data from the FBI and other crime agencies-- from the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) shows, terrorism by Muslim Americans has only accounted for a minority of terror plots since 9/11. Since the attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, Muslims have been involved in 45 domestic terrorist plots. Meanwhile, non-Muslims have been involved in 80 terrorist plots.

In fact, right-wing extremist and white supremacist attacks plots alone outnumber plots by Muslims, with both groups being involved in 63 terror plots, 18 more plots than Muslim Americans have been involved in.

Beyond the partisan political games King and the GOP are playing here, Steve Benen brings up something just as scary-- the danger factor and how King is making the country "less safe with his little stunt."

Tom Parker, a counterterrorism specialist at Amnesty International, noted the other day that King, perhaps without realizing it, is "damaging cooperation from the greatest allies the U.S. has in counterterrorism." This basic truth seems to elude Republicans -- the Muslim-American community hates terrorism, and has played a critical role in bringing dangerous individuals to justice.

Most pernicious, [King] has claimed that American Muslims have generally refused to cooperate with law enforcement agencies on terrorism cases. He has cited no evidence for this, either, but a study issued last month by Duke University and the University of North Carolina found just the opposite. The American Muslim community has been the single largest source of tips that have brought terror suspects to the attention of authorities, the study found. (It also found that the number of American Muslims found or suspected to be part of terror operations dropped substantially in 2010.)

In all, 40% of all terrorism arrests in the U.S. came after a tip from the Muslim-American community.

Instead of celebrating this, and thanking the community for its life-saving vigilance, King is doing the exact opposite-- accusing his own counterterrorism allies of disloyalty, breeding mistrust of those who've helped prevent domestic attacks.

What Pete King is doing, in other words, is singling out his most important allies, and telling them, "I don't trust you and I don't want the rest of the country to truth you, either."

This isn't just offensive; it's counter-productive. What happens if members of the Muslim-American community, feeling unappreciated and disrespected, simply stop reaching out to law enforcement with counterterrorism tips? How will that make the country safer?

One of the reasons the United States has traditionally avoided the kind of religious strife seen in other countries is that America doesn't have a "radicalized" Muslim population. On the contrary, thanks to the fact that we separate religion and government, prohibit discrimination on religious grounds, have civil rights laws, and embrace the principle of equal opportunity, the United States is generally a model of how to avoid the radicalization of minority faith communities.

It's as though King has found two of the bleakest moments of contemporary American history-- the horrific internment of Japanese-American citizens and McCarthyism-- and melded them into some kind of partisan witch hunt he's hoping to use to advance a disgraceful and sordid political career, something heartily endorsed by sleazy Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor. Ironically, the most compelling image from King's circus yesterday was Keith Ellison's testimony:



An excerpt from Ellison's testimony:

Throughout human history, individuals from all communities and faiths have used religion and political ideology to justify violence.   Let’s think about the KKK, America’s oldest terrorist organization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the shooting at the Holocaust Museum by James von Brunn; and bombings at Planned Parenthood clinics. Did Congress focus on the ethnic group and religion of these agents of violence as a matter of public policy? The answer is no.

Stoking fears about entire groups for a political agenda is also not new in American history. During World War II the US government interned Japanese Americans and spied on German Americans. During John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign, his opponents portrayed a dire future for an America with a Catholic president. We now view these events of our past as a breach of our treasured American values.

Let’s talk about facts rather than stereotypes.  In fact, the Muslim American community rejects violent ideology. The RAND Corporation, a highly respected research organization, released a report last year that states the following:

given the low rate of would-be violent extremists [only 100 amongst an estimated 3 million American Muslims “…suggest[s] an American Muslim population that remains hostile to jihadist ideology and its exhortations to violence.”

The RAND report concludes that a mistrust of Muslim Americans by other Americans is misplaced.

The Muslim American community across this country actively works with law enforcement officials-- from dialogues with Attorney General Eric Holder to community meetings with local police officers in Minneapolis. Recently, tips from the Muslim American community foiled two domestic terror plots including the case of the Times Square Bomber and the Northern Virginia Five. Law enforcement officials depend upon these relationships.