The Real Threat of ISIS in the Homeland

Despite the best attempts of the Obama administration to declare ISIS a “regional threat” and label their ideology rootless, the truth has now penetrated the public consciousness: ISIS has global reach, largely because their ideology does as well.

The latest indicator that ISIS just the latest label slapped on the growing phenomenon of radical Islamism comes courtesy of Great Britain, where Palmira Silva, an 82-year-old great-grandmother, was beheaded, allegedly at the hands of a charming character called “Fat Nicholas.” Obese Nick is reportedly a Muslim convert.

This is not the first public beheading in Britain, unfortunately. In May 2013, two young British Muslims, Michael Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, ran over British soldier Lee Rigby in a car before Adebolajo attacked him with a machete, attempting to decapitate him. Adebolajo then stuck around to brag to passersby, threatening the rule of Islam. The day before, Adebolajo bought a set of five knives. A copy of the Koran was found on his person.

The dangerous ideology of ISIS – which is also the basic ideology of Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, al Qaeda, and a myriad of other terror groups and terror supporters – is gaining adherents all over the globe: 12,000 foreigners are currently fighting with ISIS, including 500 British citizens and at least 100 American citizens. Why are these Americans joining ISIS? Let ISIS-affiliated former cop and ex-Catholic Don Morgan, 44, explain:

My reason for the support of ISIS is because they’ve proven time and time again to put Islamic law as the priority and the establishment of an Islamic state as the goal… I would not classify myself as a radical, but by Western definition, I would be classified as a radical.

Many Americans are deeply and correctly concerned with the possibility of ISIS fighters crossing America’s borders to commit acts of terror; as we learned last week, ISIS’s plans to cross the southern border to commit terror attacks alerted the U.S. government to the possibility.

But the far more significant threat to America isn’t ISIS fighters coming to America. It’s homegrown ISIS sympathizers going Nidal Hassan, turning their guns on their fellow citizens. All ISIS really needs to do is keep their converts in their home countries and provide them the logistical and moral support to commit acts of terrorism.

Already we have seen the first early signs of ISIS sympathizers in the United States. Thus far, these sympathizers are largely sounding off via social media, tweeting out pictures of ISIS flags near potential terror targets. But the Department of Homeland Security is worried about the possibility of violent action by ISIS fans in the United States. DHS and the FBI have told local law enforcement: “because of the individualized nature of the radicalization process – it is difficult to predict triggers that will contribute to attempting acts of violence.”

That warning came just a few weeks after NBC News White House Correspondent Chris Jansing stated that the White House said, “there is nothing in the intelligence that suggests that ISIS is prepared or even interested in attacking the US homeland.” Within hours of that announcement, the feds arrested an alleged ISIS sympathizer at JFK Airport in New York for weapons trafficking and possession.

The threat of radicalization inside the United States is quite real – and we can only hope that ISIS recruits continue to stream to Syria and Iraq, rather than staying in the United States and attacking the American public. Just this week, we saw an alleged ISIS terrorist killed in Iraq after leaving the United States, where he worked at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Yes, he had security clearance there.

The Obama administration’s response to the threat of ISIS recruiting inside the United States has been to release an anti-ISIS video over the weekend, featuring images of ISIS beheading people, blowing up mosques, and executing Muslims. Which, coincidentally, is exactly the stuff that ISIS uses to recruit its friends, demonstrating once again that the disconnected Obama administration simply does not understand the attraction of the radical group to radical Muslims.

Ben Shapiro is Senior Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the new book, The People vs. Barack Obama: The Criminal Case Against The Obama Administration (Threshold Editions, June 10, 2014). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.