Letter to the Editor: Justice

2 mins read

Though the FBI investigates about as many threats of domestic terrorist attack as they do attacks inspired by foreign elements (about 1000 at any given time), republican lawmakers continue to oppose the introduction of resources that could help state, federal, and local agencies combat this growing threat.

Unfortunately, this is nothing new. I saw the same tendency when I returned from the far east in 1994. While there I trained to protect American military personnel from extremists. Here in the United States I was asked to ignore them, unless Muslim.

Every time an agency requests aid in this area a question of race arises. Republican politicians simply aren’t willing to approve these requests if it involves recognizing white supremacists as a threat. Like their Middle Eastern counterparts, they were reluctant to shed light on this problem if it meant admitting religion was being used to advance it.

I harp on this point because I know Osama bin Laden, and the other former Mujahedin he relied upon to prep al Qaeda operatives, wouldn’t have been successful if our allies in the Middle East had frozen assets, made arrests, and deterred those who traveled to Afghanistan for “militia” training. I place emphasis on that word because it’s the one Saudi Arabia used when it wanted to convince us nothing needed to be done about those Muslims.

I always thought this was just an excuse, but it may be they were as reluctant to see their religion dragged through the mud as we are. I mean, let’s face it, we know these extremists weaponize religion, but we can’t be certain that if we expose it others won’t blame the religion itself. I think that’s why Republican leaders continue to withhold the support that might allow us to contend with a problem that is costing us billions in lost revenue each year.

Yes, domestic terrorism is not just a threat to those targeted but to us all, financially. A terrorist attack prevented is less costly than a terrorist attack that must be cleaned up. Providing law enforcement officers the tools they need to prevent them is less costly.

Jamie Beaulieu
Farmington, Maine

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