If you “take the fight to the terrorists,” they eventually take the fight to you. Who knew? From Carey Wedler at theantimedia.org:
In 2012, the FBI conducted a secret survey to determine the driving factors behind acts of homegrown terrorism. The results, recently viewed by the Intercept, reveal why extremists appear to hate the United States and the West so much they will kill innocent people to express it.
Hint: it’s not because we’re free.
The final report, called “Homegrown Violent Extremists: Survey Confirms Key Assessments, Reveals New Insights about Radicalization,” found “anger over U.S. military operations abroad was the most commonly cited motivation for individuals involved in cases of ‘homegrown’ terrorism,’” the Intercept reported.
The report acknowledges that “[o]nline relationships and exposure to English-language militant propaganda and ‘ideologues’ like Anwar al-Awlaki,” who, along with his teenage son, was killed by a drone strike in 2011, were also “key factors” in the radicalization process.
The report notes that radicalization is a “highly individualized” process and it can be difficult, if not impossible, to predict who will turn to violent extremism.
Nevertheless, as the Intercept explained, “grievances over U.S. military action ranked far above any other factor, turning up in 18 percent of all cases, with additional cases citing a ‘perceived war against Islam,’ ‘perceived discrimination,’ or other more specific incidents.”
Further, “[t]he report notes that between 2009 and 2012, 10 out of 16 attempted or successful terrorist attacks in the United States targeted military facilities or personnel.”
The report was based on responses to over 100 questions from FBI agents in an FBI unit called the “Americas Fusion Cell.”
The Intercept explained:
“Agents were asked over 100 questions about their subjects in order to ‘identify what role, if any,’ particular factors played in their radicalization — listed as ‘known radicalizers,’ extremist propaganda, participation in web forums, family members, ‘affiliation with religious, student, or social organization(s) where extremist views are expressed,’ overseas travel, prison or military experience, and ‘significant life events and/or grievances.’”
The agents surveyed were responsible for “198 ‘current and disrupted [homegrown violent extremists],’ which the report says represented a fraction of all ‘pending, U.S.-based Sunni extremist cases’ at the time.”
The FBI declined to comment on its seemingly exclusive focus on Muslim extremism.
Though politicians and the media often blame the entire Islamic religion for these attacks, former CIA agent Marc Sageman disputes this explanation as a “red herring.”
“Politicians try very hard not to talk about foreign policy or military action being a major contributor to homegrown terrorism,” he said. He added that “government reticence to share raw data from terrorism cases with academia has hindered analysis of the subject,” the Intercept summarized.
According to John Mueller, a senior research scientist at the Mershon Center for International Security Studies at Ohio State University, “Insofar as there is an identifiable motivation in most of these cases it has to do with outrage over what is happening overseas.”
To continue reading: Secret FBI Report Reveals True Cause of Homegrown Terrorism
So, what did the FBI determine was the motivation behind the Jihad that took place in the thousand years before the US existed?