Thursday, May 27, 2010

In the Crosshairs?

I probably shouldn't flatter myself:
Vowing to continue to "underwrite global security" -- but not alone -- the Obama administration Thursday released its first National Security Strategy, a 52-page outline of the president's strategic approach and priorities.

The NSS, required by Congress of every administration to be prepared every four years, for the first time combines homeland security and national security, focusing not only on threats internationally but on the threat of home-grown radicals inspired and recruited by al Qaeda.

"We view this as an important and emerging challenge," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communication, told reporters. Al Qaeda, he said, is less capable of using safe havens for training abroad and is now "trying to inspire Americans to carry out attacks on the U.S."

Those Americans, he said, may have less direct contact with the terrorist organization but they carry American passports and know the strengths and weaknesses of the United States.

"Several recent incidents of violent extremists in the United States who are committed to fighting here and abroad have underscored the threat to the United States and our interests posed by individuals radicalized at home," the NSS states. "Our best defenses against this threat are well informed and equipped families, local communities and institutions."
Now, this is just a hypothetical, you understand. But I know this guy ... an American. He's a Christian, not a Muslim. He was born here, back around 1954 or so. He's not a happy camper. He's not in a militia or anything, but that's just because all the militias he knows about seem to be organized around disagreeable ideas, or -- more often -- around no coherent ideas at all. What I'm wondering is: suppose he thinks "al-Qaeda" is essentially a creation of the US government, which is now using the so-called "al-Qaeda" to strip Americans of their few remaining liberties; and so he heartily wishes the US government ill. Would that qualify him as a radical, inspired by al-Qaeda?

Remember, this is just hypothetical. It's not me I'm talking about, of course ... it's this guy I know.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hmmm. I would think this guy does not fit the profile (which was leaked from Missouri last year), and includes voting for third-party candidates. Hypothetically speaking, I'm pretty sure one would have to vote to qualify.

Anonymous said...

In addition, I'm pretty sure someplace in the fine print one would find that criticizing or disagreeing with the president would be another qualification. I don't know anyone like that, and I'm sure you don't, either.