Waco were terrorist? Do they just make this crap up? *NM*
random thoughts Send a noteboard - 02/02/2010 02:00:40 PM
CNN recently published an article entitled Study: Threat of Muslim-American terrorism in U.S. exaggerated; according to a study released by Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “the terrorist threat posed by radicalized Muslim-Americans has been exaggerated.”
Yet, Americans continue to live in mortal fear of radical Islam, a fear propagated and inflamed by right wing Islamophobes. If one follows the cable news networks, it seems as if all terrorists are Muslims. It has even become axiomatic in some circles to chant: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims.” Muslims and their “leftist dhimmi allies” respond feebly, mentioning Waco as the one counter example, unwittingly affirming the belief that “nearly all terrorists are Muslims.”
But perception is not reality. The data simply does not support such a hasty conclusion. On the FBI’s official website, there exists a chronological list of all terrorist attacks committed on U.S. soil from the year 1980 all the way to 2005. That list can be accessed here (scroll down all the way to the bottom).
According to this data, there were more Jewish acts of terrorism within the United States than Islamic (7% vs 6%). These radical Jews committed acts of terrorism in the name of their religion. These were not terrorists who happened to be Jews; rather, they were extremist Jews who committed acts of terrorism based on their religious passions, just like Al-Qaeda and company.
Yet notice the disparity in media coverage between the two. It would indeed be very interesting to construct a corresponding pie chart that depicted the level of media coverage of each group. The reason that Muslim apologists and their “leftist dhimmi allies” cannot recall another non-Islamic act of terrorism other than Waco is due to the fact that the media gives menial (if any) coverage to such events. If a terrorist attack does not fit the “Islam is the perennial and existential threat of our times” narrative, it is simply not paid much attention to, which in a circuitous manner reinforces and “proves” the preconceived narrative. It is to such an extent that the average American has no image of his head of any Jewish or Latino terrorist; why should he when he has never even heard of the Jewish Defense League or the Ejercito Popular Boricua Macheteros? Surely what he does not know does not exist!
The Islamophobes claim that Islam is intrinsically a terroristy religion. The proof? Well, just about every terrorist attack is Islamic, they retort. Unfortunately for them, that’s not quite true. More like six percent. Using their defunct logic, these right wingers ought now to conclude that nearly all acts of terrorism are committed by Latinos (or Jews). Let them dare say it…they couldn’t; it would be political and social suicide to say such a thing. Most Americans would shut down such talk as bigoted; yet, similar statements continue to be said of Islam, without any repercussions.
The Islamophobes live in a fantasy world where everyone is supposedly too “politically correct” to criticize Islam and Muslims. Yet, the reality is the exact opposite: you can get away with saying anything against the crescent. Can you imagine the reaction if I said that Latinos should be profiled because after all they are the ones who commit the most terrorism in the country? (For the record: I don’t believe in such profiling, because I am–unlike the right wing nutters–a believer in American ideals.)
The moral of the story is that Americans ought to calm down when it comes to Islamic terrorism. Right wingers always live in mortal fear–or rather, they try to make you feel that way. In fact, Pamela Geller (the queen of internet Islamophobia) literally said her mission was to “scare the bejeezus outta ya.” Don’t be fooled, and don’t be a wuss. You don’t live in constant fear of radicalized Latinos (unless you’re Lou Dobbs), even though they commit seven times more acts of terrorism than Muslims in America. Why then are you wetting yourself over Islamic radicals? In the words of Cenk Uygur: you’re at a ten when you need to be at a four. Nobody is saying that Islamic terrorism is not a matter of concern, but no more so than the acts of terrorism committed by people of other faiths. So calm the bleep down, and continue living your life.
UPDATE:
A reader by the name of Dima added:
The FBI Terrorism Report shows…[that] the highest number of terrorist incidents in the U.S. by region (90) took place in Puerto Rico.
SECOND UPDATE:
An Islamophobe commented on this article, saying that the statistics are flawed because they would count small acts such as “stealing rats from a lab” as an act of terrorism. Of course, this is patently false. Here is a breakdown of the terrorist attacks by type (the pie chart is from the FBI’s official website and can be accessed here)
Pictures, etc. in the link. Worth checking out, especially before commenting.
Obviously there's a pretty overblown left-wing bias, but I'm more interested in the statistics.
Yet, Americans continue to live in mortal fear of radical Islam, a fear propagated and inflamed by right wing Islamophobes. If one follows the cable news networks, it seems as if all terrorists are Muslims. It has even become axiomatic in some circles to chant: “Not all Muslims are terrorists, but nearly all terrorists are Muslims.” Muslims and their “leftist dhimmi allies” respond feebly, mentioning Waco as the one counter example, unwittingly affirming the belief that “nearly all terrorists are Muslims.”
But perception is not reality. The data simply does not support such a hasty conclusion. On the FBI’s official website, there exists a chronological list of all terrorist attacks committed on U.S. soil from the year 1980 all the way to 2005. That list can be accessed here (scroll down all the way to the bottom).
According to this data, there were more Jewish acts of terrorism within the United States than Islamic (7% vs 6%). These radical Jews committed acts of terrorism in the name of their religion. These were not terrorists who happened to be Jews; rather, they were extremist Jews who committed acts of terrorism based on their religious passions, just like Al-Qaeda and company.
Yet notice the disparity in media coverage between the two. It would indeed be very interesting to construct a corresponding pie chart that depicted the level of media coverage of each group. The reason that Muslim apologists and their “leftist dhimmi allies” cannot recall another non-Islamic act of terrorism other than Waco is due to the fact that the media gives menial (if any) coverage to such events. If a terrorist attack does not fit the “Islam is the perennial and existential threat of our times” narrative, it is simply not paid much attention to, which in a circuitous manner reinforces and “proves” the preconceived narrative. It is to such an extent that the average American has no image of his head of any Jewish or Latino terrorist; why should he when he has never even heard of the Jewish Defense League or the Ejercito Popular Boricua Macheteros? Surely what he does not know does not exist!
The Islamophobes claim that Islam is intrinsically a terroristy religion. The proof? Well, just about every terrorist attack is Islamic, they retort. Unfortunately for them, that’s not quite true. More like six percent. Using their defunct logic, these right wingers ought now to conclude that nearly all acts of terrorism are committed by Latinos (or Jews). Let them dare say it…they couldn’t; it would be political and social suicide to say such a thing. Most Americans would shut down such talk as bigoted; yet, similar statements continue to be said of Islam, without any repercussions.
The Islamophobes live in a fantasy world where everyone is supposedly too “politically correct” to criticize Islam and Muslims. Yet, the reality is the exact opposite: you can get away with saying anything against the crescent. Can you imagine the reaction if I said that Latinos should be profiled because after all they are the ones who commit the most terrorism in the country? (For the record: I don’t believe in such profiling, because I am–unlike the right wing nutters–a believer in American ideals.)
The moral of the story is that Americans ought to calm down when it comes to Islamic terrorism. Right wingers always live in mortal fear–or rather, they try to make you feel that way. In fact, Pamela Geller (the queen of internet Islamophobia) literally said her mission was to “scare the bejeezus outta ya.” Don’t be fooled, and don’t be a wuss. You don’t live in constant fear of radicalized Latinos (unless you’re Lou Dobbs), even though they commit seven times more acts of terrorism than Muslims in America. Why then are you wetting yourself over Islamic radicals? In the words of Cenk Uygur: you’re at a ten when you need to be at a four. Nobody is saying that Islamic terrorism is not a matter of concern, but no more so than the acts of terrorism committed by people of other faiths. So calm the bleep down, and continue living your life.
UPDATE:
A reader by the name of Dima added:
The FBI Terrorism Report shows…[that] the highest number of terrorist incidents in the U.S. by region (90) took place in Puerto Rico.
SECOND UPDATE:
An Islamophobe commented on this article, saying that the statistics are flawed because they would count small acts such as “stealing rats from a lab” as an act of terrorism. Of course, this is patently false. Here is a breakdown of the terrorist attacks by type (the pie chart is from the FBI’s official website and can be accessed here)
Pictures, etc. in the link. Worth checking out, especially before commenting.
Obviously there's a pretty overblown left-wing bias, but I'm more interested in the statistics.
All Terrorists are Muslims… except the 94% that aren’t.
- 01/02/2010 10:42:12 PM
1714 Views
Lot of BS in there
- 01/02/2010 11:33:08 PM
516 Views
I'm afraid I have to agree with this.
- 01/02/2010 11:46:02 PM
469 Views
Well, no. Robbery accounts for a very small percentage of those attacks. Look at the chart.
- 01/02/2010 11:50:39 PM
427 Views
I found the so-called Islamophobic reply... allow me to quote it in its entirety.
- 01/02/2010 11:52:37 PM
446 Views
It's a valid complaint. *NM*
- 02/02/2010 01:49:08 AM
183 Views
I did note the rampant bias.
- 01/02/2010 11:48:55 PM
524 Views
- 01/02/2010 11:48:55 PM
524 Views
Most of the Iraq violence isn't against the foreign occupier...
- 01/02/2010 11:54:44 PM
441 Views
Um, since when is all Mid-East terrorism against foreign occupiers?
- 02/02/2010 12:33:13 AM
594 Views
I would agree with this.
- 02/02/2010 02:33:47 AM
515 Views
It was bound to happen sooner or later.
- 02/02/2010 04:10:13 AM
540 Views
- 02/02/2010 04:10:13 AM
540 Views
This is the only problem I have with "definitions"
- 02/02/2010 04:51:00 AM
421 Views
You're conflating two types of fighters who shouldn't be, I believe.
- 03/02/2010 06:16:21 AM
411 Views
I think you missed the point.
- 05/02/2010 05:15:40 AM
416 Views
One of us did. 
- 05/02/2010 08:26:07 AM
590 Views
- 05/02/2010 08:26:07 AM
590 Views
Churchill's justification of bombings cited civilians as the targets, IIRC
- 03/02/2010 12:46:16 AM
608 Views
I did say, "deliberately, " and for a reason.
- 03/02/2010 04:23:44 AM
556 Views
WTF? Are these people serious?
- 02/02/2010 02:19:05 AM
460 Views
Ah, good. I've driven you out of lurking. Now recommend me operas. *NM*
- 02/02/2010 02:41:30 AM
173 Views
Waco were terrorist? Do they just make this crap up? *NM*
- 02/02/2010 02:00:40 PM
363 Views
So I presume the article meant to highlight that Muslim American citizens aren't all that violent?
- 03/02/2010 04:17:06 AM
510 Views
How many other attacks killed almost 3,000 people of over 90 different nations?
- 03/02/2010 06:26:23 AM
494 Views