by Daniel Nardini
The Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks against civilians and innocent people in Paris can and should only receive the highest condemnations possible. I do not envy the French government having to still look for those who planned and executed this well-organized, cowardly string of attacks. However, as I said some time ago (especially after the attacks against the magazine Charlie Hebdo) that France has one major problem of not knowing how to assimilate their Muslim minority population—some of whom have been involved in extremist groups using their perverted ideology of what Islam is. While in the United States we are afraid of a terrorist attack similar to what happened in France, I doubt it will take place on the size and scale that happened in Paris.
The Muslim population is pretty well assimilated into American mainstream society. More than that, Muslim clergy work actively helping lawful authorities in this United States to thwart any possible attack by deranged and fanatically turned individuals who might try something strange and threatening. Nevertheless, there are members of the U.S. Congress—both Republican and Democrat—who are now proposing legislation and new laws to “counter” a possible Paris-like attack in the U.S. There are some House Representatives and Senators who are proposing legislation to postpone the USA Freedom Act and calling for more surveillance of Muslims and any and all suspects who “might” commit acts of terrorism on American soil.
These are BAD options. The USA Freedom Act is a necessary piece of legislation that seeks to protect the rights of Americans from unnecessary and warrant-less searches into their private affairs by the U.S. government. Delaying this Act could put Americans’ rights in jeopardy. More than that, we could be returned to the days of the early 2000’s when it was legal for the U.S. government under the Patriot Act to conduct warrant-less searches, phone taps, break-in of private residences, attempted seizures of library records of patrons, and yes torture. I for one do NOT want to see a return to those days, and any back-slacking by members of Congress on any of these things will put our civil liberties and U.S. constitutional rights at risk. The things that congressional members are proposing will not only not make this country secure, but will in fact make us less secure as we will lose the basic legal protections we have.
Preventing Knee-jerk Reactions to the Paris Attacks
by Daniel Nardini
The Islamic State-inspired terrorist attacks against civilians and innocent people in Paris can and should only receive the highest condemnations possible. I do not envy the French government having to still look for those who planned and executed this well-organized, cowardly string of attacks. However, as I said some time ago (especially after the attacks against the magazine Charlie Hebdo) that France has one major problem of not knowing how to assimilate their Muslim minority population—some of whom have been involved in extremist groups using their perverted ideology of what Islam is. While in the United States we are afraid of a terrorist attack similar to what happened in France, I doubt it will take place on the size and scale that happened in Paris.
The Muslim population is pretty well assimilated into American mainstream society. More than that, Muslim clergy work actively helping lawful authorities in this United States to thwart any possible attack by deranged and fanatically turned individuals who might try something strange and threatening. Nevertheless, there are members of the U.S. Congress—both Republican and Democrat—who are now proposing legislation and new laws to “counter” a possible Paris-like attack in the U.S. There are some House Representatives and Senators who are proposing legislation to postpone the USA Freedom Act and calling for more surveillance of Muslims and any and all suspects who “might” commit acts of terrorism on American soil.
These are BAD options. The USA Freedom Act is a necessary piece of legislation that seeks to protect the rights of Americans from unnecessary and warrant-less searches into their private affairs by the U.S. government. Delaying this Act could put Americans’ rights in jeopardy. More than that, we could be returned to the days of the early 2000’s when it was legal for the U.S. government under the Patriot Act to conduct warrant-less searches, phone taps, break-in of private residences, attempted seizures of library records of patrons, and yes torture. I for one do NOT want to see a return to those days, and any back-slacking by members of Congress on any of these things will put our civil liberties and U.S. constitutional rights at risk. The things that congressional members are proposing will not only not make this country secure, but will in fact make us less secure as we will lose the basic legal protections we have.