Focus on Infiltration not Radicalization of Muslims

Focus on Infiltration Not Radicalization

Based on the past history of Muslim terrorists’ cells and knowing that terrorists are being radicalized in places such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria and many other places, our citizens have been worrying about the wrong priorities when it comes to terrorism and the national security of our country.

Most citizens already accept the fact that peaceful Muslims can be radicalized by extremism. What they want are government assurances that there is no possible way for American Muslims as well as foreign Muslims to become an unstable element in our government and society. To carry this threat one step further, the infiltration does not have to be performed by a Muslim, for it can be a spouse or relative or sympathizer to the cause of Islam converted or radicalized.

Mr. Syed R. Farook was a health inspector. He had a government job and access to government buildings as well as public buildings such as colleges and K – 12 schools. In addition, he had access to many restaurants in the San Bernardino County area. His ability to move around unrestricted was basically unlimited in the nature of his scope of work as a health department inspector.

Now that it has been exposed both Tashfeen Malik and Farook were radicalized, America is worried about radicalization when in fact, they should be worried about infiltration. Regardless how the FBI resolves this mass shooting, this couple had access to heartland America through his job. His mission was easily accomplished merely based on his occupation and access to various areas within the county.

Infiltration is easy – all these men and women have to do is acquire a skill, trade or occupation with the military, police or government and gain access to sensitive areas vulnerable to terrorism. Because our laws are designed to such a fact we must not discriminate, this opens up more opportunities in safety sensitive areas including security, law enforcement, transit and airline positions. The list is endless.

The second element of this infiltration is their ability to acquire or gain access to government identification cards to gain access to weapons without any restrictions. The fact is, if someone is on a mission, there are no boundaries for them to overcome under our social and justice systems as designed. This creates an open season on terrorist-endangered Americans.

To reduce infiltration, Muslims or American Muslims must police themselves in order to avoid being radicalized by extremism or individuals who have a “death wish” against America.  This requires an entirely different honor system than the one they are used to as Muslims – they must in fact be taught to snitch off each other if suspected of a crime or extremism.

America must rely on family members, neighbors and co-workers to detect infiltration and covert work to undermine the safety of our communities. This means noticing different behaviors, ideologies, and hints of changed mindsets that focuses on carnage rather than healthy reasons in our societies.

We, as Americans, have to rely on the Muslim community to report their own to avoid terrorism. There are means established for reporting suspicious behaviors or activities but the social cult does not allow free exchange of information without severe consequences by their own as treason towards their own religious members or targeted by law enforcement to cover up potential crimes.

At the moment, such self-reports are the most reliable means to prevent a crime or act of terrorism and is not yet firmly established to be the right thing to do by fellow Muslims who hesitate to report their own as they must live in the Muslim community as a tight knit group due to social pressures and religious demands.

It would be unreasonable to report someone who has become radicalized by another group or extremist who is co-existing within the same culture or ethos group and who has adopted this radicalized ideology in the name of Islam. Yet, the truth is, if this is not done, people will die needlessly and more hate and fear will be propagated in this community. Hate and fear spread causes mistrust and alienation.

The Muslim community cannot risk such fragmentation thus it is likely they would not report anyone of such infiltration or radicalization. It’s a common sense concept we all understand – peer pressure and social contagion of such extremism is silently controlled and not shared outside the mosque or community. That is a fact we have to deal with today.

The answer to domestic and foreign terrorism relies on the Muslim communities, American and refugees, to accept this responsibility to police their own. They must accept this responsibility if there is to be harmony and trust in our communities.

We can work on identifying Islamic terror attacks coming from outside our borders but the greatest threat is the infiltration and destabilization of our infrastructures that keeps our communities safe and orderly.