Muslims For A Safe America

While many Americans of various faiths have opposed the U.S. government’s domestic and international “War on Terror,” American Muslims who have expressed their criticisms and doubts about these policies have often had their loyalty questioned.

Many Americans wonder why a large number of American Muslims oppose monitoring mosques and Muslim charities, phone wiretapping and airport profiling. Is it because American Muslims are unwilling to tolerate any personal inconvenience or intrusion on their privacy, even if it makes the country safer? Is it because American Muslims sympathize with terrorists, and they don’t want terror plots disrupted?

And many Americans wonder why many American Muslims opposed the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Is it because American Muslims put the safety of their fellow Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq over the safety of their fellow Americans here at home? Is it because American Muslims want al-Qaeda to have bases it can use to strike America again? Read the rest of this entry »

Some Americans worry that American mosques may be teaching hostility to America and encouraging terrorist attacks on the U.S. They want mosques to be watched by the government.

Since 2002, FBI undercover agents have been authorized to visit mosques to gather information about what’s going on in the Muslim community, even when there’s no evidence of illegal activity. However, electronic wiretaps can only be used when there is evidence of illegal activity.

In 2003, the FBI decided to count the number of mosques in various regions of the country, in order to help determine how many terrorism investigations and wiretaps were needed in each region.
Read the rest of this entry »

Nine years after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan, the U.S. has failed to defeat the Taliban (partly because the Bush Administration focused on Iraq, not Afghanistan). Thousands of American soldiers have died (along with thousands of Afghan Muslim civilians), and America has spent billions of dollars, in Afghanistan. The American public is tiring of the war in Afghanistan. Many Americans now think the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting, and they don’t want to keep sending more American troops and American money to Afghanistan to finish the job.

After 9/11, the Bush Administration blamed Al Qaeda for the 9/11 attacks, and blamed the Taliban government in Afghanistan for providing a base for Al Qaeda. The U.S. then invaded Afghanistan, overthrew the Taliban government, helped set up and support an elected Afghan government, and continued to fight Taliban forces.

Now, nine years later, President Obama has tripled the number of American troops in Afghanistan to 95,000, but they are spread thin in some regions, and they cannot hold on to territory. The Afghan police and army are developing very slowly. The Obama Administration warns that the Taliban are taking back territory and making a serious comeback.

U.S. officials warn that if the Taliban retake Afghanistan, then Al Qaeda would again have a stable base from which to plot attacks against targets inside the U.S. In addition, U.S. officials warn that the Taliban and Al Qaeda would be in a better position to expand their control and influence into other parts of Asia.

American allies have announced that they are not willing to leave their troops in Afghanistan indefinitely.

Many Afghans, and the Taliban, believe the U.S. will eventually abandon Afghanistan, just as the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan after the Soviet withdrawal, opening the door to a Taliban takeover in the 1990s.

American Muslims are a unique American community when it comes to the issue of Afghanistan. While most Americans supported the American invasion of Afghanistan, most American Muslims believed the invasion was unjustified. In addition, many American Muslims feel a religious connection to the Afghan people, as fellow Muslims.

Should America continue to send more troops to Afghanistan in an attempt to defeat the Taliban once and for all? Or should America cut its losses and begin to pull back? Read the rest of this entry »