Two Problems: 1. America's out-of-control Weapons of Mass Murder; 2.The Metastasis of ISIS

by Tom Kando

Following the San Bernardino massacre on December 2, many Americans feel that “something has changed,” that “something new has happened.” That’s because this time, the perpetrators were a Muslim couple who are said to have been radicalized, presumably by Isis propaganda.

However, As Marcos Breton noted in his December 6 article in the Sacramento Bee, San Bernardino does NOT open a new chapter. As Breton writes, “Some may say that terrorism is back in America. But it has already been here for quite some time.” San Bernardino may drive Americans even deeper into fear, and this may become “the new normal,’ but this is not logical.

This year alone, 462 people have been killed in mass shootings in America. San Bernardino was just the latest rampage. Some of the assailants have been native-born white supremacists or right-wingers, some have been Muslims, and most of these aberrant individuals’ motives are unclear. That’s why I suggested in my previous blog that we should try to capture more of them alive, so as to find out what makes them tick. Almost all of them have been native born, including the Fort Hood mass murderer Nidal Hasan and now Syed Farook (but the Tsarnaev brothers, Boston Marathon attack, were foreign-born). So far, it is wrong to say that much of the mischief in this country is caused by (Muslim) immigrants.

Breton is right when he writes that we have been terrorized for a long time. The ONE thing that all of these terrorists have in common is that they obtained weapons of mass murder easily and usually legally, be they abortion clinic murderers (Colorado Springs’ Robert Dear), Islamic zealots (Farook), racists (Charleston’s Dylann Roof) or something else.

Americans once again react in panic, running to gun shops and adding to a national arsenal which will, far from making them safer, only INCREASE the already astronomical rate of deaths by guns. 

Congress can’t even pass legislation that would expand background checks at gun shows and purchases from online dealers, or limit gun ownership for people on no-fly lists and other watch lists. A few decades ago, such laws would have been possible. Today, no more.

Consider the following astounding statistics:(Sacramento Bee, December 6, 2015; New York Times; FBI Uniform Crime Reports; Murder in the US; Suicide by Guns):

Since the 9/11 attacks:

Number of deaths on American soil from jihadi terrorism: 45;

Number of murders by white supremacists and other right-wing extremists: 48;

“Conventional” murders: 220,000 - of which 155,000 by guns.

Add to this suicides: 600,000 of which 385,000 by guns.

Plus accidental gun deaths: 7,000.

Total number of gun deaths in America since 2001: 547,000 That’s more deaths than those in World Wars I and II combined.

These statistics mean that the main problem of mass violence in this country is NOT Muslim terrorism, or terrorism of any sort. So far, it is MURDER and generalized gun violence, aided and abetted by fear-mongering media and politicians who drive the public to panic and to acquire ever more weapons of mass murder....

....and then I was reminded of the metastasis of Daesh (=Isis). In one year, the number of western recruits to Isis has more than doubled, to over 30,000. There is a consensus among experts about this estimate. (See: European Fighters in Syria More than Double).

Here are some specifics:
From Tunisia:          6,000
From Saudi Arabia: 2,500
From Russia:           2,400
From Turkey:          2,100
From France:          1,700
From the United Kingdom: 760
From Germany:         760
From Belgium:          470
From the US:             250
From 77 other countries: 13,060
Total:                               30,000

Because nearly a third of these people RETURN to their western countries of origin, some countries now have a nightmare on their hands, including  France and Belgium. Most of these people  are not even radicalized Muslims, but criminalized youngsters who seek meaning, belonging and adventure. The largest increase, by the way, is from Russia.  So, yes, Europe has a problem.

In 2014, the world suffered a frightening outbreak of Ebola. Through swift international action, that epidemic was successfully contained. The Daesh outbreak reminds me of that event. I hope that the world is as successful in its response to the current crisis. leave comment here
© Tom Kando 2015