A recently published study tries to put the threat posed by Muslim American terrorists into perspective,
“Muslim American Terrorism Since 9/11: An Accounting,” published February 2 by the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, found that only 20 American Muslims were named as suspects in terror plots in 2010 and only 47 in the year before.
Of last year’s 20 Muslim American terrorist suspects, only five actually carried out their plots. The terror plots of two other Muslim-Americans were disrupted after late-stage arrests. The other 13 suspected plotters came to the attention of authorities in Washington during the early stages of the reported plots, before weapons or explosives had been obtained.
Charles Kurzman, a professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the study’s author, said: “Of course, even a single terrorist plot is too many. But this trend offers a challenge for the American public: If we ratchet up our security concerns when the rate of terrorism rises, should we ratchet down our concerns when it falls?”
The study also found that since 9/11, Muslim American terror plots have claimed the lives of 33 people—less than three people per year. The most notable of the attacks were that of John Allen Muhammad’s 2002 “Beltway Snipers” attacks around the nation’s capital, which claimed the lives of 11, and Nidal Hasan’s 2009 Fort Hood shooting in Texas, which claimed the lives of 13.
The study also found:
• The number of Muslim Americans engaged in terrorist acts with domestic targets declined from 18 in 2009 to 10 last year.
• 75 percent of the Muslim Americans engaged in terrorist plots in 2010 were disrupted in an early stage of planning—consistent with the pattern of disruption since 9/11. In other words, the terrorists are not getting more skillful.
• Only 11 Muslim Americans have successfully executed terrorist attacks in the United States since the 9/11 attacks, killing 33 people. There have been approximately 150,000 murders in the United States since 9/11. According to the FBI, there were approximately 15,241 murders in the United States in 2009.
• Tips from the Muslim American community provided the source of information that led to a terrorist plot being thwarted in 48 of 120 cases involving Muslim Americans.
David Schanzer, Director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, said, “This study puts into perspective the threat presented by domestic radicalization of Muslim Americans.”
Schanzer said, “Is this a problem that deserves the attention of law enforcement and the Muslim American community? Absolutely. But Americans should take note that these crimes are being perpetrated by a handful of people who[se] actions are denounced and rejected by virtually all the Muslims living in the United States.”
The study concluded: “Out of the thousands of acts of violence that occur in the United States each year, an efficient system of government prosecution and media coverage brings Muslim-American terrorism suspects to national attention, creating the impression—perhaps unintentionally—that Muslim-American terrorism is more prevalent than it really is.”
