• About the Current Issue: Homegrown Islamic Terrorism: How Great a Threat?

Lead Essay

• An Exaggerated Threat by Risa Brooks

  Risa Brooks argues that the threat of homegrown jihadist terrorism has often been exaggerated. U.S. Muslims have generally shown little inclination toward terrorism. The small minority who feel differently have proven themselves startlingly inept. The Muslim community has proven itself eager to report suspected militants, and many plots would never have progressed beyond fantasy without the "help" of FBI sting operations. Worrying too much about this threat diverts resources from other valuable FBI endeavors, foments suspicion in the Muslim community, and erodes our civil liberties.

Response Essays

• Jihadist Recruiting is Widespread by Douglas Farah

  Douglas Farah draws our attention to the recruiting efforts and propaganda of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is profoundly violent, anti-western, anti-Semitic, and pro-terrorist. The group's propaganda is widespread in American mosques, he warns, and the Muslim Brotherhood exerts significant influence over Islam in America. Although American Muslims may not generally be inclined to violence, it is clear that some of them are, and we should not underestimate the threat when we can see it so clearly stated in the available recruitment and propaganda literature.

• Incompetent Terrorists, Courageous Airline Passengers, Vengeful Wives by Michael German

  Michael German calls attention to the civil liberties violations that have sprung up as a direct result of our antiterrorism policies. Federal agencies have investigated tens of thousands of innocents and collected data on many more; the surveillance industrial complex has grown enormously, and traditional privacy protections have been removed. Meanwhile, we still often stop terrorists through a combination of their own incompetence, courage on the part of ordinary civilians, and plain good luck. This suggests that our surrender of civil liberties has done us little good, if any.

• Response by Brian Michael Jenkins, June 11

The Conversation

• Conversation to follow June 11

Related at Cato

• Article: "A False Sense of Insecurity?" by John Muller, Regulation, Fall 2004.
• Op-ed: "Terrorism Law Lowers Bar on Justice," by David Rittgers and Julian Sanchez, Politico, May 18, 2010.
• Book: Terrorizing Ourselves: Why U.S. Counterterrorism Policy Is Failing and How to Fix It, Benjamin H. Friedman, Jim Harper, and Christopher A. Preble, eds (2010).
• Podcast: "The Risks of Terrorism," by Gene Healy, September 12, 2011.