Former FBI Counterterrorism Center instructor Kim Jenson joined SiriusXM host Stephen K. Bannon for a special edition of Breitbart News Sunday, dedicated to news and analysis about the Orlando shooting.
Jensen said the proper context for understanding this heinous atrocity is that “the War on Terrorism is not against Islam,” but rather against “a very specific ideology within the community of Islam.”
“That very specific ideology can be learned, and it can be studied, and it can be followed,” he said, adding that the “specific splinter groups” that follow this ideology are “definable and identifiable.” He listed some names familiar to everyone who follows the news, such as ISIS, al-Qaeda, and al-Shabaab.
“Basically, what happens is, these individuals that follow this specific ideology – to put a name on it, this is called Salafi extremism, as opposed to Salafi fundamentalism,” Jensen explained. “Now, I’ve lived in the Middle East for several years, principally in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. I can tell you that, specifically, the government of Jordan has a very good handle on this, and it’s because they put it in the proper context. For example, we in the United States today, because of what happened in Orlando, and what happened in Garland, Texas, and Major Nidal Hassan, and San Bernardino, we call these incidents extremism, terrorist.”
“Now, that is not, unfortunately, the correct context,” he continued, citing the approach taken by the authorities he worked with in Jordan and Saudi Arabia. “Their understanding of this — for example, you said, what would cause a person to go into a bar and start shooting that up? Unfortunately, the answer to that is very difficult to understand. It’s easy for me to explain, but it’s going to be very difficult for you to understand. And that’s where a lot of the disconnect comes in.”
“If you do not take the time to understand this, how are you going to identify them?” Jensen warned, after Bannon noted that many Americans grow weary of being told to study Islam more carefully after each atrocity. “By understanding them a hundred percent, completely, it’s very easy to identify them. It’s very easy to penetrate their organizations. It’s very easy to manipulate them.”
Bannon pointed out that FBI interviews of the Orlando shooter in 2013 and 2014 didn’t peg him as a threat, even though he was in the process of being radicalized at that time, suggesting that the federal government isn’t nearly as good at identifying, penetrating, and manipulating Islamic extremist groups as Jensen advocated.
“I wish I could tell you that there’s an extensive program, but there’s not,” Jensen replied. “There’s a semblance of a program to do that, but not an extensive one.”
“Fifteen years into this war, and a budget that’s $4.2 trillion, and you’re telling me there’s not an extensive program?” Bannon asked incredulously.
“No, in my opinion, there’s not an extensive program. There’s a semblance of one. But like I said, it’s easy for me to explain what’s happening. It’s very difficult to understand it,” Jensen repeated.
Breitbart News Sunday is broadcast live on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 Sunday evening from 7PM to 10PM EST.
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