By John Esposito

Recent terrorist plots and attacks have escalated calls for an expansion of American military intervention abroad and increased airport security and profiling of Muslims. However, thinking and working smarter rather than harder will prove more effective, less costly and risky.

The Christmas Day attempt by Nigerian Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner landing in Detroit once again raises a critical question: “What makes a seemingly normal, integrated, university-educated Muslim turn to terrorism?” This same question came up after five American Muslims from Northern Virginia were arrested in Pakistan on terrorism charges. Experts and pseudo-experts debate possible influences and breeding grounds: universities, mosques, and the internet, which a new breed of radical imams increasingly use for recruitment and indoctrination in a jihadist ideology. Each of these factors is important, but it is critical not to seek an easy one-size-fits-all solution.

Extremists and terrorist organizations are the product of a specific contexts and diverse circumstances. While many have ideological, leadership or tactical commonalities, they also have distinctive differences. As we have seen, while some terrorists come from occupied lands or have lived lives of desperate hopelessness, many others like Osama Bin Laden, his second-in-command, physician Ayman al-Zawahiri, or the 9/11 terrorists and now Nigeria’s Abdulmutallab come from upper and middle class, privileged and prosperous families. Many are well-educated and prior to their radicalization had been seen as integrated in mainstream society. However, if some are recruited and radicalized by preachers of hate, whether terrorist organizations or the radical imams, others become alienated and radicalized due to their own experiences and perceptions. This diversity is reflected in their use of the internet and terrorist websites.

Many recent cases have not resulted from a top down process of recruitment and radicalization initiated by al-Qaeda and its affiliates or radical preachers, but rather from a bottom up dynamic. Today, individuals like Nigeria ’s Abdulmutallab, Fort Hood ’s Maj.Nidal Malik Hasan, and the five American Muslims from Northern Virginia , are the initiators. They turn to radical imams — like the American-born and educated Yemeni radical preacher Anwar al-Alwaki, and the Jamaican-born cleric Abdullah El Feisal — for advice, justification and legitimacy. Would-be terrorists can also find a sense of solidarity and community in chat rooms.

Addressing issues of terrorism and framing de-radicalization programs requires paying attention not only to the war in cyberspace, but also to individuals’ psychological and identity problems and political concerns. The point here is not to excuse or explain away but, most importantly, to understand and prevent.

Many bright, talented and otherwise well-balanced individuals are profoundly affected and changed by what they see as endless oppression, corruption and injustice in Muslim regimes and failed states and Western foreign policies. They see Western powers, particularly the US , as supporting and aiding autocrats or as using power and military force to threaten, invade and “occupy” Muslim lands. The perception of occupation and injustice in Iraq , Afghanistan , Kashmir , Chechnya , and Palestine continues to be a catalyst heavily exploited in the rhetoric and ideologies of terrorist organizations.

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Tags: Domestic Extremism

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