The Dangers and Pluses of Homeland Security Threat Analysis

by smkovalinsky | October 5, 2009 at 02:29 pm

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Brian Levin, Judicial Doctorate, of Huffington Post gives the heads up on Homeland Security state of the union now. Levin asserts that "danger has always lurked South of the border" in the Union, and that Joe Wilson's "You Lie!" was tame as compared to historical anecdotes. Extremism, he reminds us, is also part of the show and carnival of American folk culture politics.

"Intense political jousts like the raucous one over healthcare mostly involve peaceful mainstream folks, but the presence of real extremists should not be ignored either. Several key, though non conclusive, indicators of extremist philosophy to look for include an embrace of violence, opting out of preexisting communal social and political bonds, a distinct historical narrative, and a rigid embrace of falsehoods and conspiracy theories. " Brian Levin for Huffington Post

Attempting to draw the line between those who engage in passionate political discourse and extremist incitement is one fraught with risk for American terrorism analysts. After partisan talk radio and the blogosphere went ballistic over some awkward wording in an overall excellent prescient report on right-wing extremism, DHS apparently disconnected the printers in their Homeland Environment Threat Analysis Division. There hasn’t been much output from them since. Pundit Michelle Malkin, nominated for a Pulitzer in bigotry for her magnum opus book “In Defense of Internment: The Case for ‘Racial Profiling’ in World War II and the War on Terror” was highly critical. She called the report an embarrassingly “shoddy” piece of “propaganda.”
Following complaints about their report on Islamic radicalism the NYPD quietly issued a clarification two years after its release and right before the city’s most recent plot, that rightly said: “NYPD's focus on al-Qaeda inspired terrorism should not be mistaken for any implicit or explicit justification for racial, religious or ethnic profiling.” The FBI and certain Muslim groups are trying to resolve disputes about the extent of FBI monitoring of mosques. And after a January 2009 government report on eco-extremism that movement retaliated by exporting valuable arsons and explosive producing crimes to pipelines in Canada and drug companies and banks in Mexico.

Monitoring for potentially dangerous folks based on wide ranging political affiliations, as well as geographic origins, or religious belief for that matter can ensnare innocent folks and alienate potential allies when it is overbroad.