How Many Jihadist Refugees Are Too Many?

"Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless plots here and overseas, and worked around the clock to keep us safe.

"I've ordered the Departments of State and Homeland Security to review the visa (waiver) program under which the female terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country." 

                            -- President Barack Obama, Dec. 6 Oval Office address.

In the wake of one Muslim terrorist attack after another, President Obama has two proposals: (1) Keep guns out of the hands of U.S. citizens, and (2) Bring 50,000 more Muslims "refugees" into this country. He promises they will be "thoroughly vetted."

How does the U.S. go about vetting refugees to insure that NONE are jihadist terrorists? Suicide bombers? Religious zealots intent on slaughtering American infidels?

A day after the president's address, the Trump campaign responded with this news release:

Syria is in utter chaos. Is it possible to get records from Syria? Can we rely on Syrian records to be accurate? Or do we have to take each refugee at his word?  Would a Muslim terrorist intent on killing Americans tell a fib to get into our country?

A day after the president's address, the Trump campaign responded with this news release:

"Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing '25 percent of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad' and 51 percent of those polled, 'agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah.' Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won’t convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women."

It quoted Mr. Trump as saying, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.”

Do you recall the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center? The 9/11/01 attacks? The Ft. Hoot Shooting massacre? The Boston Marathon bombings? The Chattanooga Recruiting Office? The San Bernardino  massacre? Were all perpetrated by Muslim terrorists? All done in the name of Allah? All justified by Islamic religious beliefs?

The president calls those religious beliefs a "perverted interpretation of Islam." But is it? Or is it the very form of Islam that made war against the "infidels" throughout the Middle East, North Africa and as far into Europe as Tours and Vienna? That conquered Constantinople, the Balkans and Greece?

It's clear that not all Muslims adhere to this jihadist strain of Islam. But a great many do. AND,  there are 1.57 billion Muslims in the world! 

A Nov. 20 Pew poll concludes that 63 million Muslims support ISIS in 11 countries. In Pakistan, 9 percent support ISIS; in Turkey, 8 percent, in the Palestinian Territories, 6 percent. Additionally, there are another 287 million in those 11 countries who "haven't formed an opinion on whether they support ISIS or not." The survey did not cover Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iraq or Iran.

 Mr. Trump also cites a June 155 poll by the Center for Security Policy in which 600 Muslims living in the U.S. were interviewed and 51 percent of U.S. Muslims polled believe either that they should have the choice of American or sharia courts, or that they should have their own tribunals to apply sharia. Nearly a quarter believe that, “It is legitimate to use violence to punish those who give offense to Islam by, e.g., portraying the prophet Mohammed.”

Nearly one-fifth said that the use of violence in the U.S. is justified in order to make sharia the law of the land in this country.

Even the liberal Daily Beast says that worldwide "only about 12 percent of Muslims support terrorism."

So is Mr. Trump hysterical? Or is he rational? Consider:

If only 1 percent of 50,000 Syrian refugees come to America to make jihad" we would be admitting 500 terrorists adhering to what the president calls a "perverted interpretation of Islam"

Mr. Obama  ridiculed Republicans for fearing women and children. He assures us we can properly vet Syrians then concedes that the San Bernardino woman terrorist was properly vetted. If the government can't vet one woman from Pakistan, how can we be confident we can vet 50,000?

Two great values are at stake in this debate.

First, our forefathers came to America for religious freedom. Our constitution guarantees to people of all faiths, absolute freedom of belief, but limited free exercise.

That free exercise is rooted in toleration. Free exercise does not go so far as allowing a professed cannibal to eat his neighbor, or a professed Muslim jihadist to fly jets into the Twin Towers.

Second, the idea of admitting immigrants who come to bomb and shoot us, or to eat us is insane. Our constitution is not a suicide pact.

The difficulty is telling in advance which Muslims are entering the country to wage jihad. If one Pakistani woman can kill 14, and if 19 Saudis can kill 3,000, it makes no sense whatsoever to admit 500 potential jihadists. Or even 50.

It comes down to a question of probabilities and risks. Is it probable if we admit 50,000, that 500 are terrorists? 50? Two? If so, is it worth the risk?

I think this is what Mr. Trump means. I hope that is what Mr. Trump means.

So what exactly does the president mean?

Posted: Saturday, December 12, 2015 12:00 am - QCOnline.com

By John Donald O'Shea


Copyright 2015

John Donald O'Shea

Getting to ther Root of Why Mass Murderers Kill

 

What does America need to do to prevent mass murders? How do we prevent a future Columbine? Sandy Hook?

The immediate focus has been on banning assault weapons. But even given the availability of guns, I can't help but wonder if any of these murders would have occurred if that was the only factor present.

Ask yourself what common factors you see in three recent mass murders. See if you see what I think I see.

In discussing contributing factors to the violence at Columbine High School by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, researchers Dr. Craig Anderson and Dr. Karen Dill stated:

"Harris and Klebold enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-'em-up video game Doom, a game licensed by the U.S. military to train soldiers to effectively kill. The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which tracks Internet hate groups, found in its archives a copy of Harris' website with a version of Doom that he had customized. In his version there are two shooters, each with extra weapons and unlimited ammunition, and the other people in the game can't fight back. For a class project, Harris and Klebold made a videotape that was similar to their customized version of Doom. In the video, Harris and Klebold dress in trench coats, carry guns and kill school athletes. They acted out their videotaped performance in real life less than a year later. An investigator associated with the Wiesenthal Center said Harris and Klebold were 'playing out their game in God mode.'"

Norway's mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, testified during his trial that he played video games as a way to train for his shooting spree that killed 77 people last summer. In particular, Anders Behring Breivik said at his trial, he played "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" for shooting practice, according to CNN's report. That military action game sold more than 10 million copies upon its 2009 release.

"Breivik ... testified that he spent hours playing Call Of Duty instead of socializing with any friends. He had spent the preceding New Year's Eve on his computer."

"The game is described as a 'first person shooter video game' and Breivik admitted by using it he honed his gun and targeting skills.
"He would use those same 'skills' to kill 69 innocent people on the island of Utoya."

"On the opening day of the trial prosecutors read the names of the dead ... Most of them had died after taking two or three shots -- and sometimes more -- directly to the head.

"Cross examined about the game, Breivik told the court: 'The game teaches about target acquisition and you have to practice within a specific time. It's a war simulator that shows you how to shoot at people. It helps you acquire experience of sights and targeting.

"The game uses a 'holographic sight' similar to the one that Breivik attached to his hunting rifle when he stalked his victims on the island with unerring accuracy." (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2132002/Anders-Behring-Breivik-trial-Norway-killer-wanted-behead-prime-minister-live-online.html#ixzz2FHKiuQpT)

Adam Lanza, 20, forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School at Newtown, Conn., and murdered 20 children and six adults before committing suicide, after murdering his mother, Nancy Lanza, in their home by shooting her in the face. Lanza used a .223 semi-automatic rifle, fired from close range.

Lanza is reputed to have been mentally ill, aggressive with an baleful obsession for violent computer games. His favorite was said to be a violent fantasy war game called "Dynasty Warriors". That game is thought to have given him inspiration to act out the murders. He is said to have suffered from antisocial disorder and was known for being unable to empathize or socialize with others, suffering child-like violent tantrums. His condition was so extreme that his mother would never leave him alone in a room.
Lanza's mother was said to be a "survivalist". She was honing her skills, including her shooting skills.

The killer's aunt, Marsha Lanza, said Nancy "was stockpiling food ... getting ready for the economic collapse. I think she had (legally procured) the guns for self-defense because she lived alone." It was apparently for that reason that she had acquired the weapons and "dum-dum" bullets used by Lanza to kill the teachers and children in Newtown. Lanza appears to have had access to his mother's arsenal. He learned to shoot when his mother took him to a local gun range. (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/365190/Killer-Adam-Lanza-obsessed-with-violent-video-games)

Unquestionably, guns were present in each of these situations. But would any of these shooting have occurred in the absence of the violent video games that trained the murderers, and inspired them to replicate mass killings they saw in the videos? Without mental illness — insanity? Or if any of the murderers had a strong belief in God? In the commandment that says, "thou shall not kill?" Or a belief that if they took innocent life they might well face an eternity in Hell?

Or is it the gun alone that causes a person to drive to a grade school and take innocent life? If so, why weren't the Columbine and Sandy Hook murders the work of policemen?


Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2013, 3:03 pm - Quad-Cities Online
by John Donald O'Shea

Copyright 2012
John Donald O'Shea