Friday, May 16, 2008

More recommended reading

If you want a chilling update on how violent Islamists are using cyberspace to subvert Americans and train them to be jihadists, read "Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat." It's a majority and minority report of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, dated May 8, 2008. You can find it here.

As to how various Muslim organizations responded to the Senate report, here's a summary provided by Zuhdi Jasser's organization, the American Islamic Forum for Democracy (AIFD). AIFD praises the report, while criticizing the condemnation of it emanating from 'mainstream' Muslim organizations like the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Just for the record, Europeans are also concerned about the ways in which the internet contributes to Islamist radicalization. Dealing with this problem raises issues connected to freedom of speech, but both the United States and Europe need to figure out a strategy to combat it. As AIFD points out, any strategy must have a substantive component as well as a technical one - you need competing visions to persuade young people that radical Islam is not the answer. Shying away from clearly identifying and analyzing 'radical Islam' only helps the 'bad guys.'

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