Although Nick Rasmussen, former Director of America’s National Counter-terrorism Center has emphasized the escalation of “right wing extremists” to Australians, he also mentioned a point which is more significant:
“Even though the horrific attacks tied to domestic terrorism have received more press attention in recent weeks, not too many weeks go by in the United States where there isn’t an arrest of an individual for terrorism-related activity related to ISIS or Al Qaeda.”
This point is not captured in the headline below, since Rasmussen mostly zeroes in on the topic of “right wing extremism.” He stated: “It is certainly the experience we are having in the United States right now and there are signs that this is happening in other countries.” Ilhan Omar also claimed that “white men” are a greater threat than jihadis. There has been a concerted effort to make this appear to be the case, as a Government Accountability Office report shows that “the count of fatalities committed by ‘far right wing extremists’ and ‘radical Islamist extremists’ begins on September 12, 2001.” Why didn’t they go back one more day?
An additional point: it is not sufficient to look at statistics only from Western countries to assess the threat of “extremism” to Western citizens. One must look at the total tally of jihad attacks (including the persecution of Christians and minorities) in Africa and the Middle East as well, which is astronomical. This is an important part of threat assessments to the West, precisely because of open-door immigration, which has and will continue to see an increasing number of migrants from these locations relocate to the West, and a number of these migrants will bring their values with them.
“US National Counterterrorism Centre’s former director Nick Rasmussen says right-wing terrorism is a growing threat”, by Stephanie Borys, ABC Australia, August 12, 2019:
The world has witnessed a number of right-wing extremist attacks this year, and a former director of America’s National Counterterrorism Centre fears there will be more.
Nick Rasmussen, who served under both Barack Obama and current President Donald Trump, has warned that right-wing extremism is becoming more prevalent.
“It is certainly the experience we are having in the United States right now and there are signs that this is happening in other countries,” he told AM.
“Individuals who share these views, whether they are tied to white supremacy or anti-Semitism or some other hate-based ideology, are finding each other across the globe.”
Mr Rasmussen is visiting the Australian National University’s National Security College to talk on a range of issues including terrorism, and said the threat of right-wing extremist attacks was just as high as the threat of an attack by Islamic extremists.
“I think there is a certain equality in the United States, at least in terms of case load,” he said.
“Even though the horrific attacks tied to domestic terrorism have received more press attention in recent weeks, not too many weeks go by in the United States where there isn’t an arrest of an individual for terrorism-related activity related to ISIS or Al Qaeda.”
ASIO boss Duncan Lewis has previously confirmed that intelligence agencies are keeping an eye on right-wing extremism in Australia.
Asked about the threat during Senate Estimates in October last year, Mr Lewis said the problem was “coming off a very low base” but certainly re-emerging…..