Trump Wants Terrorism Defense To Focus Exclusively On Islam Not White Nationalism

COLUMBIA, SC - JULY 18: A member of the Ku Klux Klan gives a Nazi salute as the Klan members fly the Confederate flag during a demonstration at the state capitol building on July 18, 2015 in Columbia, South Carolina. Hundreds of people protested the demonstration as law enforcement tried to prevent violence between the opposing groups.
President Donald J. Trump has taken an incensed sense of national pride and growing concern with national defense and is successfully molding them into a public fear and condemnation of Islam.
As evidence, this past weekend, he signed an executive order that “temporarily” banned travel into the U.S. from seven Muslim countries. America has become that country and the rest of the world knows it.
To further his agenda, Reuters reports that multiple sources have confirmed that the president plans to switch the focus of a U.S. government program meant to fight against all forms of violent extremism to solely focus on Islam.
The sources report that the organization currently known as “Countering Violent Extremism,” (CVE) would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism.”
In short, extreme anti-government groups and white supremacists will no longer be treated as terrorist organizations by the organization.
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This refocusing places blame and suspicion of terrorism exclusively on Muslims despite numbers from American law enforcement officials that show that the risk of American citizens being a victim of foreign terrorist attacks is incredibly slim.
From 1975 to 2015, less than 1 percent of refugees allowed into the United States were ever convicted of terrorism charges, according to Bustle.
“Including those murdered in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 (9/11), the chance of an American perishing in a terrorist attack on U.S. soil that was committed by a foreigner over the 41-year period studied here is 1 in 3.6 million per year,” said the CATO Institute.
However, President Trump is still looking to capitalize on the “radical Islam” rhetoric that he used to entice his base during his campaign.
Hoda Hawa, director of policy for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, was told about how the Trump administration was floating the idea around last week.
“That is concerning for us because they are targeting a faith group and casting it under a net of suspicion,” she said.
While moves such as the Muslim ban are bold and easy to protest, smaller ones such as changing the focus of a government organization are just as important and should be brought to public attention as well. If enough of them go unchecked, they can have just as detrimental of an impact as the former.