The Orlando Massacre and Fighting the Enemy

With a heavy heart and condolences for the victims of the massacre in Orlando, I can only hope that this atrocity puts a fire under authorities to reconsider the rules concerning investigations of people that are suspected of having terrorist ties.  I understand that America is a free and open society, one that protects civil liberties and the rights of its citizens.  But at what point will we say that there needs to be some exceptions to these principals?

According to James Comey, the director of the F.B.I., Omar Mateen, the Orlando killer, had been on the bureau's watchlist from 2013 to 2014.  The F.B.I. knew about his trips to Saudi Arabia.  They were aware that he openly spoke of supporting terrorist groups to his co-workers. Yet, within six months of each investigation, the books were closed and Mateen was allowed to go about his business without being under the watchful eye of federal authorities.

It's almost exactly what happened with the Tsarnaev brothers.  In fact, as early as 2011, the FBI was made aware of the eldest brother's terrorists leanings by Russian authorities.  But in October of 2011, the C.I.A. cleared Tsarnaev of having ties to any terrorist groups.  The agency did, however, request that Tsarnaev's name be added to the watchlist of the National Counterterrorism Center, from which point other agencies were alerted.  But again, it was in that same year, that the F.B.I. determined that despite Tsarnaev's travels and the warning from Russia, there was not enough there, and the case was closed.

I'm not blaming the F.B.I. (I wanted to be an agent), but I am saying that the time has come to revise the criteria for dealing with persons suspected of having ties to terrorists.

As a nation, we must continue to be vigilant when it comes to protecting our rights as granted by the constitution.  But we have to stop kidding ourselves about the nature of the threat and that threat is radical Islam.  We have to accept the fact that supporters of radical Islam are people living among us and are willing to die in their quest to destroy us.

There are changes that should be done to shore up the homeland:

• If a naturalized American citizen from the Middle East comes on the F.B.I.'s radar, keep the case open for ten years.  Restrict travel to Middle East countries for persons on the list.
• Naturalized Americans from the Middle East should not be allowed to offer financial support to terrorist-related groups (not even humanitarian contributions).  It's been widely reported that Mateen's dad was a huge supporter of the Taliban--as are many people in Afghanistan...but this ain't Afghanistan.
• If a natural born American citizen comes on the F.B.I. radar, the case should remain open for 10 years and travel to Middle East countries would be restricted and highly scrutinized.   In both cases, one-way travel should be offered...if you go to a terrorist state, stay there.
• Mosques that preach hatred towards the United States or death to Americans should be closed. This is a touchy one, which is why there should be solid evidence before action is taken. Both Mateen and Moner Abu-Salha, the American-born suicide bomber in Syria attended the same Mosque in Florida.  It could be a coincidence that two terrorists, that both traveled to the Middle East and soon after became radicalized, attended the same place of worship.  But if anti-American hatred is not being taught there, it would remain open.  This idea is not as radical as you may be thinking.  It's exactly what former British Prime Minister Tony Blair moved to do after one of Britain's most deadliest terror attacts.  Blair moved to shut mosques that were teaching hatered and expel the clerics from his country.  Things had gotten so bad in England that the hate-filled clerics would actually place loudspeakers outside of their mosques so that everyone in the area could hear their hateful diatribes.  
• U.S.-based clerics that post hate-filled, anti-American videos should have to remove them.  In fact, any site that posts such videos from anywhere in the world should be blocked.  American-born cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki made numerous videos that helped influence many of the people that have committed acts of terrorism on U.S. soil including Nidal Hassan, the Fort Hood shooter, Umar Farouk Abulmutallab, who tried to blow up a jetliner over Detroit, Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, who killed several people at two military installations in Chattanooga (the F.B.I. found al-Awlaki videos on his computer), the two shooters at the Garland, Texas art contest were al-Awlaki fans, according to police, one gave his mother CDs of al-Awlaki, even the Tsarnaev brothers boasted of having learned bomb-making techniques from al-Awlaki videos and Dzhokhar, the younger brother tweeted a few weeks before the bombing in Boston, "you will gain an unbelievable amount of knowledge." speaking of al-Awlaki's videos.  As for al-Awlaki, he won't be making any more videos since the U.S. took him offline in a drone attack in 2011. 

• Family members and friends that have knowledge of plans for a terror attack and don't report it should face criminal action or deportation, or both.  And they certainly shouldn't be allowed to collect insurance benefits after a loved one commits an act of terror if evidence shows they may have had knowledge before hand.  There's a lawsuit now to prevent Rafia Farook, the mother of the San Bernadino terrorists from collecting on his life insurance.  

Would American Muslims be open to such changes?  I definitely think they would because they are Americans and they want to be safe.  Not much is said about what American Muslims have to say--not the political groups, but just everyday people.  However, polling data shows that most American Muslims oppose radical Islam (well, duh).  

This is a fight that we can win, but we have to do the things that will really make a difference, the correct things, not the politically correct things. But if we choose to play politics and continue to treat the enemy with kid gloves, the problem of radical Islam will only get bigger right here in the U.S.