That Divine Mission

It's a stinker of a case, all right. A man of Moroccan descent, living illegally in the United States for the past ten years, after his original visa had expired. He'd come to the U.S. at the age of 16. Presumably, made a life for himself. Obviously, however, ever the outsider. Living with resentment and anger toward a country that he clearly saw as an enemy to his religion.

He is not alone. In North America and throughout Europe there are many like him. Convinced that the world of the West is engaged in a struggle with Islam, to devalue and hold it in contempt. That kind of religious discernment of bigotry directed toward a faith would never bother those of any other religion, but it certainly does devout Muslims.

To most people Islam is a mysterious religion, practised by people whose heritage and cultures are utterly foreign. Resulting in an aura of mystique and glamour, rather than resentment and anger. That certainly changed after the attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. When the world became aware that Islamism, political, violent Islam that demanded jihad of its faithful was on the march.

And that, through an agency called al-Qaeda, and its affiliates, and those whom they inspired, a new threat on a world scale was on the prowl. Hitting Spain, Britain, Indonesia, India and anywhere else they could spread terror. The many additional failed attempts at suicide bombing only served to heighten the alarm. And so, people of Middle Eastern origin became suspect in the public eye.

Interpreted by those same people as Islam-hating. How they fail to interpret events as they occurred in succession; Islamist-inspired jihadist attacks cautioning Western societies that they had become become bulls eye targets for an enraged and violent-prone religious fundamentalist ideology that felt it fair to sweep through the world leaving carnage and fear behind, naturally enough mistrusting Muslims.

On the Muslim side the backlash is young Muslim men convinced it is their duty to sacrifice themselves for the greater glory of Islam. Committing to suicide attacks. And then there are those who are recruited into the brotherhood of jihad by those who seek out the intellectually dull, those who live miserable lives and present as easy pickings, eager to join a movement they see as muscular and exciting.

When those recruiters are ardent Islamofascists it is understandable where they're coming from, what their purpose is. When they're undercover operators out to seduce resentfully stupid oafs to the belief that revenge is theirs when they do the work of Allah, it's something else again. the FBI sting operation that ensnared a Moroccan man, one of those little incidents.

American security agents posing as Muslim infiltrators, helping to secure the trust and dedication of a confusedly radicalized Muslim and bringing him carefully to the point of dedicating himself to the oblivion of a successful bomb attack on the U.S. Capital. It can certainly be said for this young man that he was ambitious; no lesser target in his book than the U.S. Capital.

"The brazen nature of this plot - targeting the U.S. Capital building with the aim of killing innocent people and desecrating a symbol of our democracy - is disturbing. While we are still learning details, this plot appears to be yet another example of radicalized extremists attempting to attack Americans from within our borders", fumed Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Between May 2009 and February 9, 2012 it seems that arrests were conducted concerning 36 home-grown plots by Americans or by legal permanent U.S. residents. So, without doubt, there is good cause for concern. And good reason for heightened and ongoing vigilance. Rooting out the presence and the plans of those radicalized, bitter enemies of the United States is imperative.

The Capital police explained that this arrest of the Moroccan would-be suicidist followed a "lengthy and extensive operation" by police and FBI agents. The arrest the result of the latest in a series of FBI sting operations targeting "lone wolf" wannabes. Amine El Khalifi, 29, believed he was in the presence of al-Qaeda operatives who were encouraging and mentoring him for a notable mission.

What is unclear is the statement that no one has yet been briefed on precisely how it was that the FBI became aware of this man, learning of his alleged intentions to attack somewhere in the United States, before they began grooming him for that divine mission.