President Obama has a new adviser on Terrorism. His name is Quintan Wiktorowicz. He is a Rhodes scholar and an expert on Islam and Terrorism. In his book "Radical Islam rising: Muslim extremism in the West" Mr. Wiktorowicz talks about a study which shows that the people least likely to become radicals (of Islamic faith) are "very religious Muslims". This means that the people with the highest understanding of the Koran and the greatest devotion, are the least likely to commit acts of terrorism.
Mr. Wiktorowicz has done a lot of work in the U.K. and has had success by using outreach programs for Muslims which make them feel like part of the society which they live in. This is in stark contrast to America where at every turn we alienate those of Muslim faith by protesting mosques and giving them the Juan Williams treatment. Not only is this not affective in limiting terrorism, it actually creates more terrorist out of those who feel marginalized by the majority.
In the end Islam is not the problem, Americans attitudes towards Islam is. Failing to understand and appreciate those of different backgrounds only serves to further exasperate the problems that you want to solve.
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