Donald Trump has become ISIS’ greatest asset as it seeks to promote its radical views throughout the western world. Complicit in Trump’s rise as an ISIS recruiting tool…the Republican Party…which stands idly by in silence.
Yesterday Donald Trump delivered his response to the Orlando shooting. In a fearmongering speech full of racist rhetoric, factual misstatements and outright lies, Mr. Trump renewed his call to ban all Muslims from entering the country.
Mr. Trump referenced the Islamic beliefs held by both the Orlando and San Bernardino shooters as validation for his ban. Apparently lost on Mr. Trump, the fact that both the Orlando and San Bernardino shooters were American born US citizens.
It is noteworthy that Mr. Trump’s comments were delivered in a prepared speech read from a teleprompter. These were not the off the cuff rantings that we have come to expect from the nominee. The remarks we well thought out and rehearsed. We can therefore safely say that they represent Mr. Trump’s true feelings on the subject. No misquoting here.
Afterward Mr. Trump returned to his alternate universe and offered his belief that the President of the United States was somehow complicit in allowing the Orlando attack to occur. Mr. Trump seemed to equate the President’s refusal to refer to the perpetrators of these violent acts as “radical Islamic terrorists” as evidence of the President’s desire to see the attacks succeed.
One would expect that Mr. Trump’s outrageous accusations would bring a firestorm of condemnation from members of the Party that he has been chosen to lead. Instead Republicans remained silent; their only response a moment of silence on the House floor out of respect for the fallen.
ISIS has taken a different approach to recruiting new jihadists.
Two years ago, when ISIS was gobbling up territory in Syria and Iraq, the caliphate would recruit western born sympathizers to come to the Middle East to train and then send them back to Europe and the US to carry out their attacks.
Two years later, ISIS forces in Syria and Iraq are being decimated by US bombing runs. ISIS infrastructure is in ruins and their leadership in hiding. Rather than recruit western sympathizers to the Middle East, ISIS calls on the “believers” to carry out attacks in the west wherever and whenever they can. These “lone wolves” are encouraged to attack and kill civilians because the killing of innocents will “hurt them the most and cause the most fear.”
There are roughly 7 million Muslims living here in the US. 99.9% of them are peaceful followers of Islam who want to live fruitful lives in this country. The FBI and US intelligence agencies are charged with rooting out the small number of radical terrorists who wish to do us harm. It is an impossible job.
The only way to defeat radical terrorism is to defeat the ideology behind it; to defeat the idea that those who do not follow the faith are determined to persecute all those that do.
There are two facets to defeating this radical ideology. The first is by showing members of the Islamic faith that they are respected and welcomed in this country. The second is by calling on law abiding members of the Muslim community to call out the radicals who would do harm to this county in the name of their religion.
US intelligence agencies cannot defeat radical terrorism in this country without the cooperation of the Muslim community. And they will never get that cooperation if the Muslim community feels threatened or marginalized.
Donald Trump and his hate filled rhetoric threatens the Muslim community, emboldens the radicals and hampers our intelligence agencies’ efforts to keep us safe.
That is why Donald Trump is ISIS’ most valuable recruiting asset.
A close second…the Republican Party…who sit idly by on the sideline while Trump pours fuel on the flames.
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