You know, this is the third post in the past month where I’ve had to say something to the government due to a horrific, gun-related tragedy. But are you surprised? I read an article today about how an analyst for Homeland Security wrote a report two years ago that said that domestic, non-Islamic terrorist elements were a real threat. However, the report was lambasted by conservatives, particularly Newt Gingrich, who said that the only real threat to national security, existential or otherwise, was Islamic in origin. Afterwards, DHS reduced the number of analysts tracking non-Islamic terrorist elements in the country to one, and made it clear not to pay too much attention to these non-threat threats.
Okay, first off, I don’t think you can be a Muslim, let alone Islamic, if you’re a terrorist. It just goes against Allah’s teachings, and I’ve studied enough of Islam to know that. Not only that, but did you see what happened in Wisconsin? Guys like Page, the neo-Nazi who killed several people at the Sikh temple, would’ve been watched carefully by Homeland Security if it weren’t for the fact that Homeland Security was told to focus only on Muslims who had radical leanings, Page might’ve been caught and stopped before this tragedy occurred.
Daryl Johnson, the man who originally wrote the report detailing these non-Islamic threats, says he wasn’t surprised that this attack happened, though he certainly is saddened by it. He even mentioned that if DHS had a unit to tracking these sort of people, Page might have been apprehended and no lives would have been lost.
Personally, I am very upset. Those in charge of the Department of Homeland Security showed discrimination in saying that only Muslim-Americans could be considered threats, and that everyone else could not possibly commit terrorism. Also, this man Page had a history of violence and arson, yet he still managed to get a gun somehow, and it would not surprise me if he got it legally. We have got to stop politicizing the gun control/right to bear arms debate and put in some stricter laws that prevent criminals and those with suspected criminal ties and tendencies to getting to guns, particularly guns you’d expect the military to have.
Congress, I’m calling you out now. You better do something about this now, or things are only going to get worse!
If you wish to read the article I was reading, please click on the link below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/07/right-wing-terrorism-sikh-attack_n_1752726.html
Now, I don’t know what you guys are up to, or how much attention you’re paying to the election (especially if you live outside the United States), but I think it’s important that if you support a candidate and you are able, you should go and try to help support their campaign. And that’s exactly what I’m doing: this evening I went to a house not too far from the Short North and did a phone bank, which basically means I called people during dinner for an hour and a half to see if they wouldn’t mind volunteering. Let me tell ya, the time seemed to fly!
Rami Ungar The Writer 