The War on Terror: It's Not All Uneducated Muslims and Attacks on America

"It is a certain fact that not all Muslims are terrorists, but it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims."
(" 'Innocent religion is now a message of hate' " Telegraph (UK) (April 9, 2004))

I would put more emphasis on the "almost" in that statement, but it's essentially true.

There are non-Islamic terrorists, of course, like

• Ireland's IRA (now rather inactive)
• Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka
• ELF (Earth Liberation Front) in America
• Individuals like the late Timothy McVeigh

And there are non-Islamic groups like the white-supremacist National Alliance, and the militia that inspired Timothy McVeigh, which teach intolerance as much as Al Qaeda or the Taliban.

Even so, jihadist Muslims have earned Islam a reputation for having a near-monopoly on terrorist attacks.

The terrorist-on-the-street also has a reputation for being an uneducated loser, and American news media may give the impression that America is almost the only target of terrorism.

Recent events, starting with the London/Glasgow attacks last year, show that terrorists aren't necessarily ignorant, uneducated, and on the low end of the economic ladder. And, although I think that the "great Satan America" is a major target of Islamic terrorists, it isn't their only target. For example, "The Times of India" discussed the recent arrests of several Islamic terrorists:

• Muzammil Sheikh
  software engineer
  (2006 train bombings in Mumbai)
  Arrested after police learned that his brother, Faizal Sheikh was an LeT (Lashkar-e-Toiba ("Army of the Pure")) leader
• Sabeel Ahmed
  MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor of Surgery, I think)
  (London terror plot and attack on Glasgow (UK) airport)
• Kafeel Ahmed
  PhD scholar in aeronautical engineering
  (London terror plot and attack on Glasgow (UK) airport)
  Died of burns suffered in Glasgow attack
• Mohammed Asif
  MBBS student
  (Unspecified terrorist activity)
• Asaduallah Abubaker
  MBBS student
  (Unspecified terrorist activity)
• Yahya Khan¹
  engineer
  (Unspecified terrorist activity)

Another Indian Muslim proved the point that not all Muslims are terrorists:

• Mohammed Haneef
  a physician in an Australian hospital
  (London terror plot and attack on Glasgow (UK) airport:
  accused courts found no evidence and freed him: (is a cousin of the Ahmed brothers, but not linked to terrorism otherwise))

Dr. Mohammed Haneef was detained by Australian authorities in a display of inept buffoonery worthy of Arthur Conan Doyle's Inspector Lestrade. (I harangued about that debacle in "Cool Heads, Lukewarm Brains, And Dr. Haneef" (July 30, 2007).)

The Times of India's article discussed what is still regarded as something of an oddity: These accused terrorists are well-educated men, not the sort of 'poor, uneducated, and easily-led' person that a terrorist is supposed to be.

More of my view on this assumption in

• "Doctors, Terrorists, and the Proletariat: What's a Person to Think?" (July 3, 2007)
• "Attack of the Killer Doctors: Not a Joke, Now" (July 4, 2007)
• "A Better Class of Terrorist" (July 8, 2007)

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¹Yahya Khan's activity gets a little more attention in "Terrorists as an Oppressed Class: That was Then, This is Now" (February 23, 2008).

"The Times of India" articles referenced in this post:

• "Bangalore engineer with terror designs held"
  The Times of India (February 23, 2008)
• "New face of terror: Educated & tech-savvy"
  The Times of India (February 23, 2008)