An American Lion

As much as it pains me to admit it, the Bush Administration fought terrorism the wrong way. Leaving a big footprint around the world has bloodied us badly and emptied the treasury. A lighter footprint, an emphasis on law enforcement techniques, and discounting the blind alley of political correctness seems to be the way to go:

For those of us who have tracked Islamic militancy in Europe, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan’s actions are not extraordinary. Since Muslim militants first tried to blow a French high-speed train off its rails in 1995, European intelligence and internal-security services have increasingly monitored European Muslim radicals. Whether it’s anti-Muslim bigotry, the large numbers of immigrant and native-born Muslims in Europe, an appreciation of how hard it is to become European, or just an understanding of how dangerous Islamic radicalism is, most Europeans are far less circumspect and politically correct when discussing their Muslim compatriots than are Americans.

A concern for not giving offense to Muslims would never prevent the French internal-security service, the Direction de la Surveillance du Territoire (DST), which deploys a large number of Muslim officers, from aggressively trying to pre-empt terrorism. As Maj. Hasan’s case shows, this is not true in the United States. The American military and especially the Federal Bureau of Investigation were in great part inattentive because they were too sensitive.

Moreover, President Barack Obama’s determined effort not to mention Islam in terrorist discussions—which means that we must not suggest that Maj. Hasan’s murderous actions flowed from his faith—will weaken American counterterrorism. Worse, the president’s position is an enormous wasted opportunity to advance an all-critical Muslim debate about the nature and legitimacy of jihad.

European counterterrorist officers know well that jihadists can appear, self-generated or tutored by extremist groups, inside Muslim families where parents and siblings lead peaceful lives. Security officials live in fear of the quiet believer who quickly radicalizes, or the secular down-and-out European who enthusiastically converts to a militant creed. Both cases allow little time and often few leads to neutralize a possible lethal explosion of the faith.

Quiet radicalization. I think that is a term we need to acquaint ourselves with.

Overall, we need to adopt the European techniques—not because they are so much more effective, but, rather, because they are effective in ways that we have not given any consideration towards. We need to be familiar with the methods and comfortable in their application. Terrorism can still strike anywhere, and no one has the absolute, sure-fire solution. I see the wisdom in the European model, however. I think we also need to remember that our right to privacy in this country is quite a bit more pronounced than in Europe. Modifying the European model of counter-terrorism to allow us to maintain some privacy is almost impossible perhaps. I don’t have the answers there. I do know this—Americans seem more and more willing to part with privacy rights.