PrintJune 19, 2007
How to grow a terrorist at home
The mechanism producing the home grown London Tube bombers, and presumably other radicals, has been identified, and it depends on two social factors in particular: drug addiction and marriage, with a big helping of Saudi money.
Tantor of the blog Conservative Propaganda flags an article of interest, describing the journey of Mohammad Sidique Khan, from his birth in Leeds to organizer of the London Tube bombings. Published by Propsect Magazine, "My Brother The Bomber" is a long and worthwhile read he tells us. From the Prospect article:
About a dozen and a half of them formed themselves into a gang called the "Mullah Boys" who kidnapped addicts and held them until they kicked their habit, cold turkey. The Mullah Boys grew more religious and righteous as they went. Khan was one of their leaders. He went Wahhabi in his Islam about that time.
Rebellion against the imposition of a traditional marriage served to solidify the group's solidarity, by isolating it from traditional society. This became a recruiting mechanism.
When, instead of marrying his cousin, [Islamist recruiter Hassan] Butt tried to marry his sweetheart, he found himself deploying the arguments of his Islamist recruiter against his own father-that compulsion in marriage is un-Islamic and that forced marriages were a cultural import from Hindu India. And when the forces of traditionalism refused to give consent, Butt, like many of his friends, ended up a pariah within his own community.
"When you're cut off from your family," Butt explained, "the jihadi network then becomes your family. It becomes your backbone and support." He added that when you join it becomes impossible to leave because there is nowhere else to go. The network starts operating like a cult."
Saudi Arabia's funding of Wahhbist mosques also plays a role. Tantor's analysis is good and worth reading on its own, and the longer article no doubt also worth a read.
Recruitment and indoctrination are two key processes that must be interrupted everwhere in the free world.
Recruitment and indoctrination are two key processes that must be interrupted everwhere in the free world.
The implications for Britain are pretty obvious, too. Stopping this process is a matter of vital importance, and the UK does not have the same constitutional restrictions the US., though it has been suffering from acute political correctness. For starters:
1. Pass laws now banning the use of money from a foreign state to build a mosque if Saudi Arabia refuses to stop the flow.
2. Enforce laws regarding marriage and compulsion, pass new ones if necessary, and treat the matter as one of national security.
3. Go after the drug trade in Muslim communities with a vengeance, and grab addicts for rehabilitation or whatever before the Mullah Boys get to them.
