American Terrorism

Back in 2007 I felt pretty close to completely safe from terrorism. I lived in Salt Lake City, not exactly a terrorist target by any means. Also, I believed, with good reason, that the largest extremist threat came from outside the country. I remember reading a New York Times article which referenced a study that found that American Muslims assimilated better and were happier than their counterparts in Europe. Internal extremists bombed "The Tube" in England and attacked Spain but I felt that America was different. There was a much less serious home grown threat than in Europe. If we could effectively regulate who came into the country than the threat seemed manageable. I believe I was right at that time.

Now, after the failed Time Square bombing, my one time sense of security has taken a serious blow. The bomber, Faisal Shahzad, was an American citizen, naturalized on April 17, 2009. He earned his MBA from an American university and worked as a financial analyst. He married an Muslim American born in Colorado. He appeared to be completely naturalized. This was the type of well adjusted Muslim American that the New York Times referred to in their 2007 article. What happened?

Unfortunately, Shahzad is not the only recent example of an American extremist threat. David Coleman Headley was born in Washington DC and he helped plan the Mumbai terrorist attacks. Why does it appear that the threat of home grown extremist is higher now than it was three years ago?

The answer, I believe, has to do with the stability of our financial system. Shahzad struggled to make his mortgage payments soon after becoming a citizen. Eight months ago the bank foreclosed on Shahzad's home. Coincidence? Maybe, but I don't think so.

One of the principal new strategies in Afghanistan is to lure insurgents away with amnesty and a job offer. This strategy has worked in the past and it displays an profound reality: Financial security has a powerful, stabilizing effect. Unfortunately, the reverse is also true. Financial instability moves individuals toward extremes. The Nazi movement was born out of a financially crippled Germany. Communist Russian was born out of a economically troubled Russia. Even here at home in America we have seen the public move away from the middle and toward the poles during this financial crisis. In Utah Senator Bob Bennett, one of the most conservative Senators currently in the Senate, did not make it out of his own party's primary. The reason: He's not conservative enough. The same is happening on the left.

It is not surprising to see a once moderate, well assimilated Muslim American turn toward extremism when the American Dream lets him down for a few years. It is troubling and scary however. With the economy lagging in its recovery we could see more and more backyard disenchanted extremists. Obama has what appears to be a near impossible security task at hand. He must keep America safe at a time when terrorist threats are not just coming from abroad, but from our own backyard as well. As someone who works two blocks away from the tallest building in America, I hope he does good job.