That’s the BBC’s title for a report yesterday about the on-going investigation into the Somali (former refugee) missing youths case that we began following last November, here.
My immediate thought on reading the title was that the FBI completely MISSED the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11—the massacre at Ft. Hood!
I don’t really see anything new in this dramatic telling but what follows are some sections I want to comment about. This is how the article begins:
Newsbeat has been given exclusive access to one of the biggest anti-terrorist operations in America since the 9/11 attacks.
The FBI is worried a group linked to al-Qaeda is training up a new generation of terrorists.
They’re thought to be targeting young Somali immigrants, radicalising them to carry out attacks on their home country and possibly the US in the future.
It is not clear why they gave up their good life in America? Sure it is, Allah told them to do it and we have that directly from one of the now-dead “youths.” And, by the way, there are 6 dead now (that we know of).
It’s not clear why teenagers like these are giving up their comfortable lives in America and returning to their war torn homeland.
But over the past three years, authorities believe 20 young Somali men have gone back to fight in the bitter civil war, which is reported to have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
None of them have come back and three are thought to be dead.
None of them came back? That is wrong too. At least two who returned have been indicted and plead guilty, here. Update: Today, November 20th, we learn there are 6 arrested or indicted.
I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for the future of our country for people to grasp the concept that Islamic fundamentalists don’t care about nice stuff and nice lives. What the Koran (and their Imam!) tells them to do trumps everything. When I said in my post earlier this morning that we had made a grievous error in admitting so many Somalis to the US, that is what I mean.
Where on earth did the BBC reporter get this number—35,000?
According to census figures there are 35,000 Somalis living in America but the figure is almost certainly a massive underestimate as many live in the country illegally.
Some of them came to the US as refugees looking for a safer place to settle and raise families. [Edit: Some did and some didn’t come for a safe place; some came to change America and promote Shariah law.]
We have resettled over 80,000 Somali refugees in the last 25 years. That number does not include all the Somalis who have illegally crossed our borders or who successfully applied for asylum. Somalis also have large families and although I have never seen official figures the number is estimated to be well over a quarter of a million now. Thankfully the US State Department, having uncovered widespread immigration fraud among Somalis and some other Africans, suspended the family reunification program well over a year ago, but it is expected to re-open soon.
The FBI is likely shaking in its boots over the big question, will more of the trained Somali jihadists return to the US?
The FBI were reluctant to spell out the threat, but they do believe something sinister is happening in the local Somali community.
They’re calling it their biggest terror investigation since 9/11.
Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the civil war in Somalia
They’re not just concerned about those who may be travelling from America to Somalia either.
They’re also worried about who may come back, war hardened and perhaps prepared to plot attacks on American soil.
EK Wilson, one of the special agents investigating the case, says they have to consider all possibilities.
You can bet they are being radicalized in the US, where else?
Agents won’t say if mosques or religious leaders are involved but they do think victims are being radicalised in America before being trained as fighters in Somalia.