posted on Jul, 19 2004 @ 09:15 PM
European security agencies fear a rising trend of Non-Arabic Islamic militants in world terrorism. Islamic terrorists have realized a need for
terrorist agents more able to slip by relatively unnoticed by security forces. This coupled with the fact that Islam is Europe's fastest growing
religion, has created an environment rife with opportunity for terror. Though only a small percentage of western convicts look upon terrorism in a
sympathetic light, and an even smaller number are actually recruited, police forces have realized this to be a growing threat worthy of increased
attention. Already a handful of cases have sprung up around the world and arrests have been made after terrorism attempts of varying degrees of
success.
Western Islamic Converts
The road from convert to jihadist can be remarkably short, terrorism experts say, because someone new to Islam does not have the cultural bearings or
religious grounding to resist radical interpretations of Islam, and many come with a romanticized notion of an Islamic conflict with the West.
"The problem is that the less you know about Islam when you come into it, the easier it is for someone to present you with the `forgotten
obligation' of jihad," said Steven Simon, a terrorism expert at the Rand Corporation.
Please visit the link provided for the complete story.
This article is precisely why the controversial concept of �profiling� is flawed. If we underestimate the intelligence of our enemies, security
failure is imminent. People always say that since �We know who the terrorists are� we should focus solely on Arabs and not people from �harmless�
ethnic groups. If the government were to do this, we would be opening ourselves up to a huge blind spot. Islamic conversion is also common here on the
United States. I am sure most people are aware of the large population of Muslims in the American penal system. Many of the converts mentioned in the
article converted after spending time in a penal institution, meaning Islamic zealots already have a huge ready pool of potential terrorists here in
our own backyard. How hard do you think it will be for them to find people with a grudge against our government in that environment? I suspect we will
soon be seeing a rise in similar activity here in the United States.
[edit on 7-19-2004 by Valhall]