I thought I was reliving the McCarthy era in this Sunday morning's news programs when I heard Congressman Peter King (R-NY) is launching hearings to remind us of the danger of radical Muslims.
It is his goal to advocate for his position that Congress should not cut funds he wants for Homeland Security. Instead of the Red Scare of McCarthyism, we now have the Green Scare of the 21st century.
This criticism of the King hearings in no way means we should stop being vigilant in seeking out those home-grown radicals or nipping their violent plans in the bud. They do present a threat.
However, the hearings solely focusing on what we should fear could also cause us to take action again that would actually increase the threat to us both internally and externally.
There could be some other unintended consequences … and that is to paint the law abiding, loyal Muslim-Americans, 0.6 percent of the US population, with the same broad brush of the radicalism of a few. In a sense, this approach is as dangerous as the McCarthy era, which destroyed anyone who had a slightly pinko tinge.
Many careers were unfairly ruined because of black-listing. However, if it got out of hand, searching for a few bad actors within a group of adherents of a religion could give already fearful Americans more cause to view all Muslims as a danger.
It would further undermine our values of tolerance and our Constitutional protections. Blind, fear-driven, anti-Muslim legislation in Oklahoma and Tennessee already has been proposed or passed.
The winner in the King approach could be exactly the one King views as the enemy: al-Qaida and their ilk. Al-Qaida so far has failed to launch a major attack against the U.S. since Sept. 11, but to fight the devil of America by scaring the wits out of Americans helps them meet their goal of a small number's ability to terrorize us.
We should be careful that we do not empower al-Qaida by exaggerating their influence. Bin Laden must be sitting back in his Pakistan cave feeling emboldened by thinking so few can have so much of an impact on us.
Dangerous too is losing perspective as we develop national policy. If we are driven by an atmosphere of irrational fear, we might support policy decisions that that gets result opposite from what we intended. The King hearings could contribute to ginning up such fear.
The neo-cons in the Bush administration saw Saddam as their real enemy long before Sept. 11. They were able to convince us with a campaign of fear and misinformation that Iraq had something to do with 9/11 when there was no evidence. Their ruse rallied Americans in support of a diversionary action which permitted a resurgence of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and renewed Muslims' hatred toward the West, fueling the cause of jihadism for years.
The same neo-cons responsible for the Iraq invasion are at it again, urging us on cable talk this week to intervene in Libya , agreeing with Gadhafi, it appears, that the rebellion would lead to resurgence of al-Qaida there. There is far more evidence that the goal of the insurgents is for the end of corruption and a reign of terror. Like the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the rebels have not made anti-Americanism the cause of their uprising or supported the goal of jihadists to replace one dictatorship with a tyrannical Islamic state . American policy should work to keep it that way.
If not handled carefully, any American military intervention could play into the radicalization of many more Muslims outside the U.S. who already see us as the invaders, and it would further inspire our home-grown jihadists to action.
As we tune into King's hearings, let us keep the Green Threat grounded in reality and not be stampeded into ill thought out action by an atmosphere of irrational fear.
For more commentary, visit www.mufticforum.com. To comment, visit www.skyhidailynews.com
It is his goal to advocate for his position that Congress should not cut funds he wants for Homeland Security. Instead of the Red Scare of McCarthyism, we now have the Green Scare of the 21st century.
This criticism of the King hearings in no way means we should stop being vigilant in seeking out those home-grown radicals or nipping their violent plans in the bud. They do present a threat.
However, the hearings solely focusing on what we should fear could also cause us to take action again that would actually increase the threat to us both internally and externally.
There could be some other unintended consequences … and that is to paint the law abiding, loyal Muslim-Americans, 0.6 percent of the US population, with the same broad brush of the radicalism of a few. In a sense, this approach is as dangerous as the McCarthy era, which destroyed anyone who had a slightly pinko tinge.
Many careers were unfairly ruined because of black-listing. However, if it got out of hand, searching for a few bad actors within a group of adherents of a religion could give already fearful Americans more cause to view all Muslims as a danger.
It would further undermine our values of tolerance and our Constitutional protections. Blind, fear-driven, anti-Muslim legislation in Oklahoma and Tennessee already has been proposed or passed.
The winner in the King approach could be exactly the one King views as the enemy: al-Qaida and their ilk. Al-Qaida so far has failed to launch a major attack against the U.S. since Sept. 11, but to fight the devil of America by scaring the wits out of Americans helps them meet their goal of a small number's ability to terrorize us.
We should be careful that we do not empower al-Qaida by exaggerating their influence. Bin Laden must be sitting back in his Pakistan cave feeling emboldened by thinking so few can have so much of an impact on us.
Dangerous too is losing perspective as we develop national policy. If we are driven by an atmosphere of irrational fear, we might support policy decisions that that gets result opposite from what we intended. The King hearings could contribute to ginning up such fear.
The neo-cons in the Bush administration saw Saddam as their real enemy long before Sept. 11. They were able to convince us with a campaign of fear and misinformation that Iraq had something to do with 9/11 when there was no evidence. Their ruse rallied Americans in support of a diversionary action which permitted a resurgence of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and renewed Muslims' hatred toward the West, fueling the cause of jihadism for years.
The same neo-cons responsible for the Iraq invasion are at it again, urging us on cable talk this week to intervene in Libya , agreeing with Gadhafi, it appears, that the rebellion would lead to resurgence of al-Qaida there. There is far more evidence that the goal of the insurgents is for the end of corruption and a reign of terror. Like the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the rebels have not made anti-Americanism the cause of their uprising or supported the goal of jihadists to replace one dictatorship with a tyrannical Islamic state . American policy should work to keep it that way.
If not handled carefully, any American military intervention could play into the radicalization of many more Muslims outside the U.S. who already see us as the invaders, and it would further inspire our home-grown jihadists to action.
As we tune into King's hearings, let us keep the Green Threat grounded in reality and not be stampeded into ill thought out action by an atmosphere of irrational fear.
For more commentary, visit www.mufticforum.com. To comment, visit www.skyhidailynews.com
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