Amidst the global economic crisis, the first US citizen to be confirmed as a ` er. Shirwa Ahmed, a naturalized US citizen from Minneapolis, was discovered to have participated in attacks in Somalia this last October. "It appears that this individual was radicalized in his hometown in Minnesota," stated by FBI director Robert Mueller. In effect, he was recruited in the USA. What's more, the FBI suggests that the situation in Somalia may soon contribute to "the global jihad," that extremist groups in Somalia may soon merge with Al Qaeda. Well, ok... if you say so...
Shirwa Ahmed participated in extremist activities, but it was not directed against the United States; the United States is fighting a War on Teror. Can we really call it treason? Did Ahmed essentially bite the hand that feeds him? It is hard to determine, since there doesn't seem to be any hatred directed towards the United States. Nor are Somalia and the US close allies: the U.S. Embassy in Somalia has been closed since 1991.
I don't approve of the extremist activities in Somalia, but I wonder if the FBI is being too cautious. It kind of seems like they are trying to lump together two different groups, too quick to jumpt to conclusions. I don't know what to think, actually.
Pete & Joe
1 hour ago
4 comments:
Sorry, but some of the words in this post were automatically erased: the title should read "American Terrorist" and Ahmed was a suicide bomber.
i feel like since 9/11 we can never be TOO cautious. the FBI are probably very on edge about anything that is linked to terrorism, suicide bombings, etc
I don't think the FBI is overreacting to this. Most Islamist terrorism is related or connected via Al Qaeda "affiliates" around the world, most recently in Algeria, where the anti-government rebel group announced an alliance with Bin Laden's group. Somalia, with its anarchy (the reason for a lack of an American diplomatic presence), is a fertile breeding ground for terrorists to train, arm, base, and then launch themselves at ships (through piracy), the moderate Arab world (like nearby Saudi Arabia), or even farther afield like Israel, Iraq, and the West.
Just as a response to what Selina said, i would like to say that we definitely can be too cautious when we cross the line between safety and human rights violations as occurred with the prisons at Guantanamo bay.
Also i do not believe that Ahmed committed treason if you define treason as acts against the country you live in as he did not attack Americans. Of course that does not in any way make what he did more excusable and the group should be brought to justice.
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