Source: CNN
By Dean Obeidallah,
A former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM’s weekly program “The Dean Obeidallah Show,” a columnist for The Daily Beast and editor of the politics blog The Dean’s Report. Follow him on Twitter: @TheDeansreport. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
(CNN)On the day that Donald Trump released a new campaign ad in which he promised to keep us safe from Islamic terrorism, an armed group of American extremists was waging a battle against the federal government in Oregon.
But don’t hold your breath for Trump to put out an ad condemning right-wing terrorists even though they have taken more lives on American soil in the past 15 years than Islamic terrorists. Of course, if those militants occupying a federal preserve in Oregon were Muslims, Trump would be talking about this siege nonstop. (As would the media, but non-Muslim terrorists appear not to be as much of a ratings boon as Muslim terrorists.)
Let’s not mince words: The siege of the Oregon federal wildlife preserve is an attack upon the United States of America by people who oppose the authority of our nation’s federal government. As the Oregon police stated Sunday, the goal of these men is: “To overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States.”
Simply put, this is a terrorist act. And that’s not just my view. CNN’s national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, who served as an assistant secretary in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, penned an article Sunday spelling out why this is a terrorist act based on her experience as an expert.
And in reviewing the federal statute that defines “domestic terrorism,” it would appear the actions of these people fulfill the key elements. Specifically, the armed group has committed an act dangerous to human life with their standoff and are seeking “to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion.”
Just so it’s clear, this was not a spur-of-the-moment action. As Ammon Bundy, one of the leaders, noted:“This is not a decision we’ve made at the last minute.” Bundy also declared they are prepared to stay on the land as long as it takes to compel the federal government to give in to their demands.
Categories: America, Extremism, Islamophobia, Terrorism, The Muslim Times, USA