Do Muslims Help Foil Any US Terror Plots? from Planck's Constant

Photo Credit: P U L S E

At the end of my article Reel Bad Arabs - Conclusion, I wrote: "... many Arabs and Muslims complain when newspapers and TV shows label Muslims who commit terrorist acts as "Muslim Terrorists." These whiners are addressing the wrong audience. They should not be complaining to those who report the news, they should complaining to those who make the news."

In response, a reader calling himself mr100percent from Ontario, Canada left this comment:

Hey fool, what do you think we Muslims have been doing? Do you think I'm any better at finding and stopping terrorists than the FBI is? It's not like these people go waltzing around in the community.

Heck, your idea is foolish. Every terrorist plot involving Muslims in America since 9/11 has been broken up because a Muslim somewhere tipped off the police. Lackawanna, Fort Dix, Times Square, etc.

Why do Muslims say these silly things? Muslims tipping off the police? Now that's funnier than any of my Muslim Jokes.

Since June 2001, at least 31 planned terrorist attacks have been foiled, all but five of them prevented by law enforcement [PDF]. The notable exceptions:

June 2001: an anonymous letter from an Arab-American alerts authorities to the Lackawanna Six.

22 Dec 2001: luckily, the passengers and flight crew subdued Richard Reid, the "shoe bomber."

31 January 2006: luckily, the Fort Dix plotters took a video of themselves shooting weapons and yelling "Allah Akbar" to the Circuit City in Mount Laurel, NJ to convert it to a DVD. An employee of the store, Brian Morgenstern, alerted authorities.

25 Dec 2009: luckily, passenger Jasper Schuringa jumped on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the "underwear bomber" and subdued him as flight attendants used fire extinguishers to douse the flames.

1 May 2010: luckily: Manhattan street vendor Duane Jackson spotted the car bomb in Times Square parked by Faisal Shahzad.

In the Lackawanna Six case, if the Arab-American were a Muslim, he would have proudly said so, to show that Muslims were helping in the war on terror.

In not one of the foiled cases did a Muslim father, uncle, wife or Imam come forward with suspicions that the terrorist was acting funny or about to commit a terrorist act.

To my Muslim readers, let me give you some hints about what to look for in your fellow Muslim to determine if he should be reported to the FBI:

He begins praying 5 times a day, when he didn't pray that often before.
He criticizes the US.
He begins asking daughters, sisters or wife to wear the hijab.
He takes a trip to Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan, or the Palestinian territories for personal reasons.
He watches Youtube videos of fabricated Palestinian clips alleging Israeli atrocities.
He curses at American women for the disgusting way they dress.
He tries to raise money for Islamic charities.
He blames the Jews for all his troubles or the troubles of the world.
He begins reading chemistry books.
He denounces Israel.
He only reads the Quran.
He quits his job for no reason.
He often gets money from Western Union.