Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown

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Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 08, 2012
From the NYT - and totally in line with the FBI statistics about actual terrorist attacks in the USA. No surprises at all for those who've been taking note of the information about terror attacks. However, the study and findings do indeed put into perspective the relative numbers of and the relative risks in the USA.

Radical U.S. Muslims Little Threat, Study Says
By SCOTT SHANE
Published: February 7, 2012

WASHINGTON — A feared wave of homegrown terrorism by radicalized Muslim Americans has not materialized, with plots and arrests dropping sharply over the two years since an unusual peak in 2009, according to a new study by a North Carolina research group.

The study, to be released on Wednesday, found that 20 Muslim Americans were charged in violent plots or attacks in 2011, down from 26 in 2010 and a spike of 47 in 2009.

Charles Kurzman, the author of the report for the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, called terrorism by Muslim Americans “a minuscule threat to public safety.” Of about 14,000 murders in the United States last year, not a single one resulted from Islamic extremism, said Mr. Kurzman, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina.

The report also found that no single ethnic group predominated among Muslims charged in terrorism cases last year — six were of Arab ancestry, five were white, three were African-American and two were Iranian, Mr. Kurzman said. That pattern of ethnic diversity has held for those arrested since Sept. 11, 2001, he said.

Forty percent of those charged in 2011 were converts to Islam, Mr. Kurzman found, slightly higher than the 35 percent of those charged since the 2001 attacks. His new report is based on the continuation of research he conducted for a book he published last year, “The Missing Martyrs: Why There Are So Few Muslim Terrorists.”

The decline in cases since 2009 has come as a relief to law enforcement and counterterrorism officials. In that year, the authorities were surprised by a series of terrorist plots or attacks, including the killing of 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex., by an Army psychiatrist who had embraced radical Islam, Maj. Nidal Hasan.

The upsurge in domestic plots two years ago prompted some scholars of violent extremism to question the conventional wisdom that Muslims in the United States, with higher levels of education and income than the average American, were not susceptible to the message of Al Qaeda.

Concerns grew after the May 2010 arrest of Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen, for trying to blow up a sport utility vehicle in Times Square. Mr. Shahzad had worked as a financial analyst and seemed thoroughly assimilated. In a dramatic courtroom speech after pleading guilty, he blamed American military action in Muslim countries for his militancy.

The string of cases fueled wide and often contentious discussion of the danger of radicalization among American Muslims, including Congressional hearings led by Representative Peter T. King, a Long Island Republican and chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

But the number of cases declined, returning to the rough average of about 20 Muslim Americans accused of extremist violence per year that has prevailed since the 2001 attacks, with 193 people in that category over the decade. By Mr. Kurzman’s count, 462 other Muslim Americans have been charged since 2001 for nonviolent crimes in support of terrorism, including financing and making false statements.

The 2011 cases include just one actual series of attacks, which caused no injuries, involving rifle shots fired late at night at military buildings in Northern Virginia. A former Marine Corps reservist, Yonathan Melaku, pleaded guilty in the case last month in an agreement that calls for a 25-year prison sentence.

Other plots unearthed by law enforcement last year and listed in Mr. Kurzman’s report included a suspected Iranian plan to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States, a scheme to attack a Shiite mosque in Michigan and another to blow up synagogues, churches and the Empire State Building.

“Fortunately, very few of these people are competent and very few get to the stage of preparing an attack without coming to the attention of the authorities,” Mr. Kurzman said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/08/us/ra ... .html?_r=2

Cheers,
Shafique

shafique
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Re: Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 08, 2012
I think the report should have said that terrorism is over-blown.

But the report minimizes Islamic terrorism for political spin and ignores the fact that Islamic terrorism has been the most lethal terrorism in the world and US over the past decade.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 09, 2012
You have a point eh - the threat from Jihadist terrorism is only a fraction of the overall threat of terrorism, which itself is overblown. Same applies for the fear of airline crashes - overall, the threat/risk is low - but the fear factor is high.

However here, the point is that 'jihadist' terrorism is only a small fraction of the overall terror threat in the USA. (You are predictable, when presented with US stats you always try and widen it to include conflicts that are taking place in other countries - try and focus eh, focus)

The statistics and facts can help us test out what is spin and what is reality. I don't think it is useful to reject statistics or facts because it doesn't agree with Islamphobic blogger theories - that's the tail wagging the dog. ;)

Anyway, here's the statistics in perspective:
Putting this into perspective, you as an American have a much greater chance of being struck or even killed by lightning than being killed by an Islamic terrorist. Using conservative estimates, at least 300 Americans are struck by lightning every year, and of them, 67 die–way higher than the whopping zero Americans that die every year from Islamic terrorists.

Another way to think of this is that you as an American have a much higher chance of dying from a peanut than an Islamic terrorist: at least 120 Americans die from an allergic reaction to peanuts every year. Should we wage a War on Peanuts?

The NYT article also fails to mention that many of those people arrested on charges of Islamic terrorism were in fact goaded into terrorism by the FBI, which has a habit of using entrapment as a means to orchestrate–and then foil–its own terrorist plots. (See Glenn Greenwald’s article: The FBI Thwarts Its Own Terrorist Plot.) That could explain why the number of arrests for Islamic terrorism do not match up with actual attacks and casualties.


A 'war on peanuts' anyone? ;)

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Shafique
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Re: Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 09, 2012
al shafique, our izlamic resident is suggesting that after all, all moslems are peace loving, they do not hate America, they do not hate Jews, and Homeland security should stop watching them, open the borders, stop security checks at the airports , stop profiling, stop watching mosques and other hotbeds for homegrown terrorists, stop listing moslem terrorists on their most wanted list and pay them an alimony instead.
And to avoid offending moslems when they spread on our land, we should adapt our standards to theirs, and those who disagree should be beheaded.
herve
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Re: Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 09, 2012
How 'bout letting us know what the likelihood of being killed by a Robert Spencer supporter while you're at it?

Or Israel?

No? Those "threats" are never analyzed in the way Islamic terrorism is in the silly NYT article?

Wonder why.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 09, 2012
Why the smoke and mirrors?

There's certainly more likelihood of being killed by a right-wing fanatic who supports Bob Spencer than being killed by a 'Jihadist' in the USA. The facts speak for themselves - the MLK bomb attack and the Hutaree Christian militia are two examples of right-wing terrorists in the USA.

Let's not forget that Brievik in Norway actually cites Spencer's rants in his manifesto!

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 09, 2012
There's certainly more likelihood of being killed by a right-wing fanatic who supports Bob Spencer than being killed by a 'Jihadist' in the USA.


I'd love to see you show the deaths from "Spencer" terrorism you have in mind. Muslims have killed three thousand Americans over the past decade in terrorism attacks.

Go ahead and prove that Americans are more likely to die from Robert Spencer supporterse than Muslims.

The facts speak for themselves - the MLK bomb attack and the Hutaree Christian militia are two examples of right-wing terrorists in the USA.


One was an alleged plot the other was an unsuccesful bombing by numpties.

I'm not aware that members of either "plot" were supporters of Robert Spencer as you claimed above.

I guess the professional liar needs to pad his stats with plots that don't fit his criteria.

Keep trying, liar.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
event horizon wrote: Muslims have killed three thousand Americans over the past decade in terrorism attacks.


No they haven't. (It is 2012 where you are, isn't it?). This is therefore factually wrong.

(Americans, on the other hand, have killed hundreds of thousands* of Muslims though, and you may want to revise your figure of Americans killed in 2001 as well.)

Bottom line is that you don't want to believe the evidence in the article. Fair enough. I'm struggling to remember a belief of yours that IS based on fact!


Cheers,
Shafique

*I agree with Tony Benn who said:
there is no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
(Americans, on the other hand, have killed hundreds of thousands* of Muslims though, and you may want to revise your figure of Americans killed in 2001 as well.)


Sure they have. But what's interesting is that you refuse to still prove your claim that Spencer supporters have killed more Americans than Muslims.

*I agree with Tony Benn who said:

there is no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons.


It's a good quote for idiots incapable of distinguishing between first and second degree murder, among other things.

I must have forgotten about all those stealth bombers that purposefully blew up markets, let alone their own people.

And note that I used the word "over" in my previous post.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
event horizon wrote:And note that I used the word "over" in my previous post.


Yes, you said:
event horizon wrote:Muslims have killed three thousand Americans over the past decade in terrorism attacks.


And this is not correct. Over the past decade, from 2002 to 2012, Muslims have NOT killed three thousand Americans in terrorism attacks.


Statistics really aren't your strong point are they eh?

Hundreds of thousands of Muslims have been killed by Americans over the same period though. There seems to be no dispute over the number, just excuses for the killings it seems.

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Shafique
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Re: Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 10, 2012
Sure they have. Prove it and we'll see if statistics are your strong suit.

And disagreeing over terminology isn't an issue of "statistics".
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
You're the one that made the claim that Muslims have killed 3000 Americans in terror attacks in the past decade. You are wrong.

FBI have handy statistics on terrorist activities in the USA - you can start there.

Your fail is complete. Yet again.

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
in != over.

Try again.

Now, Robert Spencer followers vs Islamic terrorists and Americans killed. Anytime now.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
Fail.

'over the past decade' does mean 'in the past decade'. If you meant to write 'before the past decade' - or 'before 2002' you could have done so - but you'd have looked silly.

event horizon wrote:Muslims have killed three thousand Americans over the past decade in terrorism attacks.


This is not correct. Over the past decade, from 2002 to 2012, Muslims have NOT killed three thousand Americans in terrorism attacks.

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
So how many Americans have been killed by Robert Spencer supporters vs Islamic Jihadists?
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
First correct your mistake. You're not having much luck with statistics these days are you guys?

shafique wrote:You're the one that made the claim that Muslims have killed 3000 Americans in terror attacks in the past decade. You are wrong.


What's the correct figure?

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
Why are you wasting time? You don't have to find three thousand Americans killed in Robert Spencer motivated terrorist attacks now.

You should be rejoicing.

So, how many Americans have been killed by Robert Spencer motivated terrorists vs Islamic terrorists?
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
I'm not wasting any time. You're the one that needs to correct your error (why is it that every statistic seems to be faulty with you?)

Stop trolling and correct your error.

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 10, 2012
I noticed a new trend with our izlamic resident, islamophobic, trolling, fantasy and loon don't make it enough anymore so he added correct your errors, when there are no errors to begin with.
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 11, 2012
Still failing to correct your statistics I see. When you do, then perhaps herve will realise how silly he looks when denying you made an error. ;)

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Shafique
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Re: Study Shows US Jihadist Threat Over-blown Feb 11, 2012
Spencer inspired terrorist fatalities vs Islamic.

Stop stalling and put up.
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Re: Study shows US Jihadist threat over-blown Feb 11, 2012
News and recent arrests demonstrate the extent of the threats associated with moslem terrorists.
A moslem from Uzbekistan who pleaded guilty Friday to plotting to kill President Barack Obama with an automatic rifle claimed he was acting at the direction of an Islamic terror group in his home country.
http://news.yahoo.com/uzbek-man-pleads- ... 11946.html

Recent Terror Arrests Make the Case for Hearings on Muslim Radicalization, Rep. Peter King Says
http://www.hstoday.us/briefings/today-s ... 69b70.html

and it goes on and on.

--- Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:42 am ---

US jihadist threat is more potent than ever. Underwear Bomber Abdulmutallab was awarded 5 five life sentences in prison.
During his sentencing, he said
"The Koran obliges every able Muslim to participate in jihad and fight in the way of Allah,"
and
"The United States should be warned that if they continue to persist and promote the blasphemy of Mohammad and the prophets," said Abdulmutallab, "the United States should await a great calamity that will befall them through the hands of the mujahedeen soon."
No moslems condemned abdulmutallab, or contradicted him.
The kran does in fact obliges every moslem to participate in jihad against us, the infidels, and this is why the jihadist threat is not overblown.
http://gma.yahoo.com/abdulmutallab-prou ... -news.html
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