Radical Islamism and Al Qaeda Essay

In that view, Islamic radicals do not hate us because of who (or what) we are, but only what we do in their lands (Scheuer, 2004). Other Western observers believe that view is naive and that while radical Islamists certainly do hate us because of what we do, they also hate us for who we are because the typical Western way of life if offensive to God and to good Muslims regardless of where it occurs in the world. The most important distinction between these two views is that if the latter is accurate, then, the Jihad against the West will not end with the eventual withdrawal of the U.S. from Iraq and that radical Muslim extremists are committed to the complete destruction of any society (including ours in particular) that does not practice Shari 'a Islam.

Dealing with al Qaeda Appropriately:

The domestic and worldwide terrorist threat against Western interests is neither a law enforcement problem nor a military problem exclusively. Rather, it is a tremendously complex and multi-dimensional problem that incorporates many elements of criminal activity as wells as many elements of military actions (Dyer, McCoy, Rodriguez, et al., 2007). In that regard, there are major threats such as the escalating hostilities near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border regions and the involvement of state sponsors of terror like Iran that absolutely require military actions to the extent we decide to protect ourselves against those threats.

Domestically, many of the manifestations of terrorism fall squarely within the parameters of civilian law enforcement authority, mainly because the specific activities that fund and provide tactical or logistical support to terrorists constitute violations of applicable federal, state, and local laws. In that regard, one of the fundamental responsibilities of the law enforcement community is to eliminate the difficulties (still) associated with the efficient transfer and sharing of important intelligence in the counterterrorism effort. Since 2001, federal, state, and local authorities have established numerous joint terrorism task forces (JTTFs) as well as law enforcement information fusion centers, for the specific purpose of integrating and centralizing the collection, analysis, and appropriate dissemination of information important to the effectiveness of the counterterrorism effort.

However, even the best-designed law enforcement response to the current radical Muslim/al Qaeda terrorist threat requires military readiness and response to eliminate the terrorist training facilities and the international weapons black market. Should Iran acquire the capability of providing al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden with highly-enriched uranium to implement Osama bin Laden's "American Hiroshima" (Scheuer, 2004), the only possible response on our part will be military and not law enforcement.

Works Cited:

Dyer, C., McCoy, R., Rodriguez, J., Van Duyn, D. "Countering Violent Islamic

Extremism." The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, Dec. 2007: 3-9.

Scheuer, M. (2004). Imperial Hubris: Why the…