Angela,don't excuse terrorisme by talking about mental illness.
http://forward.com/opinion/325260/the-problem-with-attributing-islamic-terrorism-to-root-causes/
In fact, the common theme of Islamic terror — whether it targets France or America or Israel, whether it targets Christians, Jews or Muslims — is a goal to destroy those who represent a desire to lead a different kind of life simply because they want to live their own lives.
I'm not excusing anyone driving a 60 ton truck into a crowd of families, Gyms. Surely you know that. However, if we're going to fight this thing we have to understand what's going on, and that includes getting a sort of "profile"of the perpetrators. That's something with which I have some experience.
What I'm trying to explain is that in the west
many, if not most, of these "home grown" terrorists seem to have long histories of mental illness and/or criminality and violence. I think that may be because, at least in the U.S., the majority of Muslims are integrated into our society to some extent, so these are the only people who can be influenced enough by the propaganda to take these kinds of actions.
The problem is with the ideology, the propaganda. My major concern, frankly, is not that any significant number of American Muslims will be persuaded to commit these kinds of atrocities. Not as things stand now. My concern is because there is a concerted effort by these propagandists to preach this ideology in our prisons, to a heavily black population already somewhat inured to violence, many of whom are indeed alienated from "white" society, and many of whom do indeed, in my opinion, suffer from mental illnesses.
What I fear may happen, if a too heavy handed approach is taken, is that "normal", average, law abiding Muslim Americans will also become radicalized. This is indeed possible. Since you reference "The Standard", I think the continued Israeli tolerance of the building of settlements on the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and particularly the bulldozing of the homes of the families of terrorists is incredibly misguided as well as inhumane. They just increase the hatred already festering there. France is walking a thin line in this regard. I have a feeling it's very different in Sweden, although you would know better, but the French are very tough in terms of policing and counter-terrorism and they've gotten a lot tougher in the last year. Speaking to people who have some knowledge of it, the interaction with the Muslim population has gotten much more intrusive; it makes our now discredited stop and frisk procedures look like a child's game. However, go too far, and it could devolve into civil war.
I don't, to be clear, agree with Davef that the Muslims who would do this constitute .1% of the population. The number who have some sympathy with them is even higher, particularly in Europe.* What Europeans should be asking themselves, in my opinion, is why is that the case, why the discrepancy? Yes, I know, we've gotten different kinds of immigrants to some extent. However, in my opinion, it's also because while they were allowed to immigrate when times were good and they could be useful doing menial work, or in Scandinavia perhaps out of humanitarian motives, there was never any real effort to integrate them. Now, the jobs have dried up, and they sit in their isolated housing units, virtual ghettos you built for them, and the young, especially, who are in limbo because they're not accepted as Europeans, but they're also not Somalis or Algerians or whatever, either, are ripe for this kind of propaganda. I don't understand how this couldn't have been foreseen, but then I think that a lot as I see the stupidity exhibited by the people in charge of these decisions.
It's easy to react emotionally to horrific events. but if we're to solve these problems we have to react rationally, instead.
*
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34967994
Btw, in terms of immigration, yes, I think immigrants should be intensively screened. When my family and I went to the U.S., the American consulate investigated my parents' political associations to a quite incredible degree, to see if they had any questionable associations. There were health checks as well, for TB and other infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted ones. In addition to all of that, my father had to have work skills. I don't see why immigrants now should have more lenient standards applied to them. In terms of questionable associations I would include membership in extreme right wing, quasi-Nazi "white" organizations like those all over eastern Europe and even in countries like Hungary, and people from the Balkans who had any association with the ultra nationalist organizations there which were involved in violence against their neighbors. I don't want you in any country of mine.
@Arvistro,
I find it hard to believe that
every Muslim resident of Brussels is a terrorist in waiting. I think there's a lot of hyperbole going on.
