NCJ Number
191295
Date Published
1998
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This chapter assesses the threat of militant Islamic fundamentalism.
Abstract
After the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York, the initial assumption by law enforcement was that the immediate national security threat was confined to a small band of extremist followers of an obscure Islamic religious leader. Since the bombing, law enforcement officials have discovered that militant Islamic extremists have established extensive networks throughout the United States. Radical Islam is not synonymous with mainstream Islam. Those who practice radical Islam are practicing their totalitarian interpretation of a religion. The leadership of the primary Islamic groups in the United States support militant Islamic causes and groups tied to the Middle East, such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Turkish Welfare Party, and the Muslim Brotherhood. The fact that radical fundamentalists control major Islamic organizations is largely obscured through deception, political correctness, or a suspension of disbelief by Western journalists. Even with the known location of front groups, Islamic militants pose a more difficult challenge to law enforcement than any other terrorist group operating in the United States because they are hiding under a religion, do not have a linear hierarchy, speak a foreign language, and push the limits of the law without being tracked. A major void has been created in the ability of law enforcement to preempt or prevent terrorists from using the United States to plot attacks because of legal restrictions and the limitations of cultural and linguistic expertise. Islamic radicals have used the United States primarily as a safe haven to carry out activities they would be prohibited from carrying out in their homelands. These groups recognize the fact that they should not draw too much negative attention to their activities because it might jeopardize their status and freedom to operate unimpeded. 7 notes