Support from US Muslims is the Key to Homeland Security

In an earlier post, I pointed out that support from Muslims in the US was our best defense against homegrown terrorism.  As a result, it is crucial that we continue to engage Muslims in the US and maintain, build, and/or cultivate their support. 

According to a report in the NY times, however, the opposite may be occurring. 

Since the terror attacks of 2001, the F.B.I. and Muslim and Arab-American leaders across the country have worked to build a relationship of trust, sharing information both to fight terrorism and to protect the interests of mosques and communities.

But those relations have reached a low point in recent months, many Muslim leaders say. Several high-profile cases in which informers have infiltrated mosques and helped promote plots, they say, have sown a corrosive fear among their people that F.B.I. informers are everywhere, listening.

“There is a sense that law enforcement is viewing our communities not as partners but as objects of suspicion,” said Ingrid Mattson, president of the Islamic Society of North America, who represented Muslims at the national prayer service a day after President Obama’s inauguration. “A lot of people are really, really alarmed about this.”

And some law enforcement experts warn of a farther-reaching consequence: the loss of a critical early-warning system against domestic terrorism.

This is a startling trend.  And, unfortunately, this negative trajectory will be very difficult to reverse.  But without re-doubled efforts to ameliorate the situation and address the Muslim community’s concerns, the potential for terrorism in the US will only increase. 

Declining support from the Muslim community undermines the effectiveness of the so-called “early warning system” , further complicating US intelligence and law enforcement’s already complex and painstaking efforts to thwart terrorist attacks before they materialize.  Hopefully, the FBI will take this trend seriously and deal with it in a responsible, effective, and efficient manner. 

If you haven’t already, read some of the other posts on this blog about homegrown terrorism.

Update: Also read a blog post by Dawud Walid, a prominent Muslim leader in Michigan.