Houston — and Everywhere Else — We've Got a Problem

What can the US do about a metastasizing Islam within the country?

When Israel bolted from southern Lebanon, it had many problems. “Barak Barach” in Hebrew means Barak—that is, Ehud Barak—ran away. Israel was having lots of problems with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, and memories of those bad days are part of the reasons that Israel does not want Hezbollah to reestablish itself south of the Litani River. Israel’s destruction of Hezbollah’s leadership and fighting capabilities is a victory that Israel does not want to lose in the current ceasefire. Israel’s assassination of the terror group’s chief of staff in a precision strike in Beirut was a sign that Israel will not settle for a return to the threatening status quo.

One of the major problems faced by Israel as she fled Lebanon was what to do with the Lebanese who had worked side-by-side with the IDF against the PLO, Hezbollah and other threats to the Jewish state. In the end, some families of the South Lebanon Army (SLA) were relocated to Israel, while others were left in Lebanon to await their fate. Israel had neither the time nor the program to organize an orderly transfer of fighters to Israel. Like in Hanoi and Kabul, it was helter-skelter, which was an invitation for errors in both directions.

The man arrested for shooting two National Guard members in Washington, Rahmanullah Lakanwal, would have been the most logical candidate to bring to the US after the departure of American forces from Afghanistan. He had worked with American soldiers and the CIA for a decade and, as such, would have been a prime target for the Taliban in its retribution against those who worked with the Americans. So while many unvetted Afghans came to the US via Joe Biden’s disastrous exit and evacuation, this guy would have aced any vetting process due to his direct work with US forces for an extended period of time. And this is the place where the US joins Europe in having a problem: how do you keep Muslims in the country without risking non-Muslims who want to live in peace?

In Dearborn, Michigan, a speaker at a local mosque intoned, “Death to America!” Saying such things in the US is no doubt protected speech, so one would not expect an arrest and trial. But what can the US do about a not insignificant portion of the Muslim population wanting a Sharia state in place of a constitutional republic? Not all actions have to involve shootings, bombings, or planes flying into tall buildings. Pushing blasphemy laws that outlaw any insult to Islam or demanding Halal food in schools are two ways to get to a Sharia state without firing a single shot. There used to be a joke that Bin Laden gets to heaven, where George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and others pummel him. He asks about the promised 72 virgins and is told that there had been a translation problem. It was 72 “Virginians”. And truth be told, those Virginians of yore would have fought tooth and nail to protect the Republic they birthed through blood and hardship. Just as they fought a foreign despot, they would have fought locals who wanted to change the direction of the US. But today’s Virginians or Americans more generally do not smell a danger and don’t see flashing red lights as to the threats to America.

When Bin Laden’s men killed 3,000 Americans, they represented 20 people out of a Muslim population that today stands at 4.5 million in the US. Yes, they were foreigners, and yes, they overstayed their visas. But the guy in Dearborn, like the Imam demanding an end to pork sales at a Houston restaurant, is not a foreigner—yet they also hate the Great Satan, a country we love and care about deeply. Israel also faced a crisis with its Arab population during the second intifada. Imagine an Arab town in 1948. The post-war demarcation line goes right through Main Street. One side is Israeli, with all of the benefits of living in Israel, while the other side is Palestinian, with all of the hatred and incitement of the PLO, and later the Palestinian Authority. Similar phenomena occurred in other divided countries like Germany and Korea—where one side was free and capitalistic, while the other side was card-carrying communist. Some Arab Israelis participated in attacks against Jews. There was a push in the Knesset for a requirement for citizens to swear loyalty to the state of Israel. The Arab Knesset members put a kabosh on the effort, so it never came into effect. But how does one guarantee a loyalty to the United States that allows for free speech but guarantees the safety of the broader population?

People like Tucker Carlson like to accuse American Jews of having dual loyalty—to the US and Israel, with the presumption that the greater loyalty is to Israel. Such sentiments are a lie, but they are a very useful vehicle for Jew haters. The argument they always brought was should there be a war between the US and Israel, many Jews would side with Israel. Again, such claims are baseless, but there is one key point: nobody has ever accused Jews of trying to install Jewish law in place of common law. Many religious Muslims are very clear that they do not like the US and will only be satisfied when a Sharia state exists in place of the country that has existed for 250 years.

And this has always been the blind spot of Democratic nations. Hitler did not outright win the 1933 German elections, but he was chosen to form a government, which he did. He then used his position to ban all other political parties and end elections in Germany. Dearborn has a very large Muslim population, and they are using their position to advance positions favorable to Islam but not necessarily to the United States. They named a street after a Hezbollah supporter. We have Chinatowns and Little Italy, but in the past, no immigrant group—however large—tried to use its position to weaken or overthrow the United States government. Immigrants proudly became Americans, keeping features of their culture like names, cuisine, holidays and dress. Many Muslims have a very negative view of the US and its perceived permissiveness. They have no interest in integrating or becoming “Americans”. They want America to become Pakistan and do not recognize or respect local laws and customs that do not fit in with Islamic teachings. The occasional “honor killing” in the US is a shocker for the locals, but would be considered standard fare for the practitioners—if they were still home in their own country.

Donald Trump has paused immigration from Muslim countries and has ordered a review of the vetting of Afghans brought in during the Biden free-for-all withdrawal. The Executive Order against the Muslim Brotherhood noticeably ignores key branches in Turkey and Qatar. The growth of Islamic efforts on campus and in cities against the United States is externally funded, and one cannot close his eyes to the nefarious efforts of Qatar and others to weaken American institutions. The US should ban all foreign donations to American institutions of higher learning. Like everything that needs to be done to strengthen the country, such a decree will never happen. There are too many on the dole or who have alternative allegiances to actually make such a rule come into effect.

Unlike in Europe, the US is not hurtling towards self-destruction. Rather, it is slowly walking towards it as it fails to recognize and deal with a portion of the local Muslim community that is dedicated to destroying the US as a free, democratic country. Let’s hope action is taken before it is too late.