By Brigitte L. Nacos
Terrorism experts have long recognized that the next terrorist act in the United States was a question of when, not whether it would happen. To the counterterrorism community it did not come as a surprise that another lone wolf or lone actor, presumably infected by violent online extremist propaganda, struck last weekend in the most horrific way killing 49 persons and injuring several dozens.
Donald Trump’s post-Orlando claim that he was right in predicting more terrorism within our borders is childish--at best.
What, then, was the most deadly mass shooting in this country ever and the most lethal terrorism strike within U.S. borders since the catastrophic 9/11 attack?
In my view, the attack in Florida was an act of terrorism perpetrated by a self-declared jihadist who most likely believed that he killed in the name of ISIS and his religion.
While it is wrong to blame Islam and cast suspicion over all Muslims here and abroad, it is also wrong not to recognize a powerful strain within Islam, in more recent times especially espoused by Wahhabism, as potent fuel for terrorism against non-believers in their violent religious fanaticism.
Young Muslims in the Western diaspora, especially those with problems, such as social isolation, mental health issues, and criminal records, are particularly susceptible to jihadists’ hate propaganda.
European researchers found that among would-be foreign fighters, first for Al Qaeda and then for ISIS, mental health problems, past criminal activity, and societal alienation were more prevalent than in the general population.
According to the FBI, the Orlando killer did not have a criminal record. But his former wife and a former co-worker noted his bi-polar and instable personality, his hate toward others, his violent words and, in the case of his former wife, his violence.
While we do not yet know about Omar Mateen’s activities on social media, perhaps on the dark web, we do know that he was clueless with respect to the leading Islamist terrorist organizations; otherwise he wouldn’t have claimed at different times his admiration for Hezbollah, a Shia group, and ISIS, a Sunni organization—two deadly enemies.
That the Islamic State now celebrates Mateen as a soldier of the Caliphate does not mean a direct link between ISIS and terrorist Mateen. But to the extent to which he embraced ISIS-style jihadism and the so-called Islamic State’s repeated calls for Muslims to attack in their Western environment, ISIS propaganda may well played a role in the Orlando shooting.
The attack in Orlando was also a hate crime. According to the perpetrator’s father and former wife Mateen expressed hate of gays. This hate informed the selection of a gay nightclub and the LGBT community as targets.
A combination of motives is not unusual, when it comes to hate crime and terrorism. Eric Rudolph, the Olympic Park Bomber at the Atlanta Olympics, was driven both by his White Supremacist prejudices and his hate of gays and of abortion providers. Thus, the Atlanta bombing was directed against the influx of non-white competitors; subsequent bombings targeted gay bars and abortion clinics. Rudolph’s deeds were both acts of terrorism against societal norms and policies and hate crimes against particular target groups.
Neither lone wolf Jihadists nor lone actor White Supremacists are easily spotted by law enforcement or by people in their daily environment. But Omar Mateen was twice on the FBI’s radar and found twice not suspicious enough for further attention.
We do not know how far the FBI investigations went concerning those two alerts. What we do know is that in the case of the Tsarnaev brothers who were responsible for the Boston Marathon Bombing, neither the FBI nor CIA deemed warnings by Russian intelligence agencies enough to dig deep into the older brother Tamerlan’s suspicious behavior and Internet activities.
FBI Director James Comey’s promised thorough review is much needed.
The National Rifle Association and its adherents are right when they claim that guns do not kill people, people do. But some weapons kill more and quicker than others.
A society that allows its people to legally buy semi-automatic attack rifles and automatic weapons plus most penetrating ammunition should not wonder why one sole terrorist or hate crime perpetrator can shoot close to one hundred people in a short time.
Why, in heaven, are civilians allowed to have these military types of weapons? They are neither needed to hunt nor to protect against a burglar or some other threat.
In the case of the Orlando terrorist, one wonders about federal and state policies that allow someone who has been subject to terrorist investigations to buy an assault weapon and ammunition without notification to law enforcement agencies.
While these and other questions will probably be part of this year’s presidential campaign debates, don’t hold your breath that in the end reason prevails.
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