The New York Post article below derides Obama’s diminishing of the seriousness of the lone wolf phenomenon. Obama dismissed Orlando jihad murderer Omar Mateen as “just another ‘lone actor’ operating in isolation, unconnected to any larger group of supporters.”
Those who minimize the gravity of jihadist ideology have been the ones busy chanting about gun control, claiming that Mateen was mentally ill as well as that he was a “lone actor.” Some even claim that he was no different from Thomas Mair – the alleged killer of British MP Jo Cox. Mair was a longtime supporter of the neo-Nazi National Alliance. What such chanters fail to realize is that the jihad ideology is active within our borders and violently drives the behaviors of those who adhere to it, whether they are mentally unbalanced or not. The Post article rightly says about Obama:
What he still doesn’t get is, “the enemies” aren’t just terrorists overseas but terrorists at home — along with their friends and relatives — and “the battlefield” is in our own communities. Until we grasp that shocking reality, we won’t be able to stop this cancer from spreading deeper into our own back yards.
This terrorist battlefield in our communities is ignited by the jihad ideology which is being regularly spread through commands from ISIS to terrorize and attack the West, calls from Al-Qaeda for lone wolf attacks, and calls to violence justified by Qur’anic invocations such as those that tell Muslims not to make friends with Jews and Christians (5:51), to “kill the disbelievers wherever you find them” (2:191), “to kill or crucify or cut the hands and feet of unbelievers” (5:33); to strike off the heads of unbelievers (47:4) and to instill “terror into the hearts of unbelievers” (8:12).
Traditional Islamic scholarship also divides the world in two: dar al-Islam and dar al-Harb; these terms have become a reference for jihadists. Dar al-harb (house of war) refers to non-Muslim land, as opposed to dar al-Islam (house of Islam), which is land already submitted to Islam. It follows that dar al-harb is land to be considered at war until that land finally becomes subjugated under dar al-Islam through conquest.
ISIS leader Abu Muhammad al-Adnani has stated:
The smallest action you do in their heartland is better and more enduring to us than what you would if you were with us. If one of you hoped to reach the Islamic State, we wish we were in your place to punish the Crusaders day and night.
Of course, in his call to terrorize the house of war he casts this jihad as defensive, ignoring the historic brutality of the global Islamic jihad.
Returning to Mateen’s rampage being minimized as that of a “lone actor”: a Reuters study demonstrated the not-so-lonely action of the “lone wolf”. About 90 so-called “lone wolf” Islamic State court cases since 2014 showed that three-quarters of those charged were alleged to be part of a group that met in person to discuss their plans. In those cases that did not involve meetings, defendants were almost always in contact with other sympathizers online. The Reuters investigation went on to declare that the “lone wolf” image “obscures the extent to which individuals become radicalized through personal association with like-minded people.”
FBI director James Comey said that there were strong indications that Mateen “was inspired by foreign terrorist groups” and that authorities were “highly confident” that Mateen was partly “radicalized” over the Internet. Meanwhile, the extent to which he was “radicalized” at home and at the Islamic Center of Fort Pierce has yet to be investigated. Mateen’s Afghan father, Seddique Mir Mateen, is anti-American, and posted on the Web that “he expresses gratitude toward the Afghan Taliban”, which stones homosexuals to death. Seddique Mateen called the Taliban “our warrior brothers.” Omar Mateen also cheered 9/11 while in high school.
“Why the ‘lone-wolf’ terrorist is a myth,” by Paul Sperry, New York Post, June 18, 2016:
President Obama says don’t worry, the Orlando terrorist was just another “lone actor” operating in isolation, unconnected to any larger group of supporters. In fact, these so-called “lone wolves” are running in packs, and suggesting otherwise gives the public a false sense of security.
Yet Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson echoed Obama, saying Omar Mateen was “self-radicalized” without any religious, ideological or operational support from friends, family or others in the Muslim community.
“What we do know at this point is it appears this was a case of self-radicalization,” Johnson said. “He does not appear to have been part of any group.”
A more accurate picture is that Mateen, an Afghan-American, was part of a disturbingly large Muslim family of sympathizers, supporters and even co-conspirators.
For starters, his wife could face criminal charges in the attack on the gay Orlando nightclub, the deadliest act of terrorism in the US since 9/11. Noor Zahi Salman, who wed Mateen in 2011, reportedly told the FBI she knew about her husband’s planned attack and even drove him to the site of the massacre as part of a scouting operation. She also is said to have helped him case the Disney Springs shopping complex. What’s more, Salman allegedly was with Mateen when he bought ammo and a holster used in the attack.
Prosecutors have convened a grand jury to present evidence against Salman, a Palestinian immigrant, who ultimately could be indicted as an accessory to the murders of 49 people and the attempted murders of 53 others. Possible other charges include failing to report a terrorist attack and lying to federal agents.
It appears the seeds of Mateen’s hatred were planted at home.
His Afghan immigrant father, who founded a nonprofit group to support the Taliban, preached gays should be punished. In a video Seddique Mir Mateen posted on the Web, he expresses gratitude toward the Afghan Taliban, who stone homosexuals to death, calling them “our warrior brothers.”
Other statements make it clear the elder Mateen could have passed anti-gay views onto his son.
“God will punish those involved in homosexuality,” the elder Mateen said in the wake of his son’s rampage. He seemed to rationalize the targeting of gays by pointing out that his son was offended by two gay men kissing in front of his 3-year-old son during a recent family trip to Miami.
Other Mateen videos are full of anti-US rhetoric regarding America’s military role in Afghanistan. That influence may have showed up in his 29-year-old son’s statement to a 911 operator during the mass shooting.
“He said the reason he was doing this was he wanted America to stop bombing his country,” said a survivor who overheard the conversation.
His father’s anti-American views may have seeped into the terrorist’s psyche at an earlier age. High-school classmates recall a 14-year-old Mateen jumping up and down and cheering the attacks on 9/11. “That’s what America deserves,” he reportedly exclaimed, while praising Osama bin Laden.
Mateen likely absorbed more anti-gay and anti-US messaging at the small Fort Pierce, Fla., mosque his father helped run. Authorities say the radical Islamic center has been a “breeding ground” for terrorists, including the first American suicide bomber in Syria, alongside whom Omar Mateen prayed. Mateen worshipped there for more than a dozen years, praying up to four times a week. State incorporation records show the senior Mateen served as the mosque’s vice president and sat on its board for several years.
Seddique Mateen insists he did not know his son was radicalized and was angered by his actions. “If I did know, 1 percent, that he was committing such a crime myself, I would have arrested him myself,” he claimed. Also serving on the board of his pro-Taliban nonprofit, The Durand Jirga Inc., are two daughters and an Afghan-born son-in-law, who’s also active in politics in Afghanistan.
Just weeks before the attack, property records I’ve obtained show Omar Mateen transferred his interest in a Fort Pierce condo over to one of the sisters and and the Afghan brother-in-law, a possible indication the family could have had some knowledge of his martyrdom plans. Authorities say the fatally wounded Mateen clearly was prepared to die in a gun battle.
The mysterious brother-in-law — Mustafa Abasin, aka Mustafa Aurakzai, who shows an intense hatred for Donald Trump on social media — has been questioned by federal investigators, along with other family members. I’m also told FBI agents have expanded the investigation overseas to family connections in Afghanistan. On Friday, both Mateen’s widow and father were placed on the federal no-fly list.
This family radicalization echoes other recent “homegrown terror” cases……