Wednesday, January 14, 2015

After #ParisAttacks, Obama to Enlist 'Social Service Providers' to Fight Terrorism

Because at base, it's a law enforcement and social welfare issue --- and that's not a joke!

My god we're doomed.

At the Washington Examiner, "After attacks in France, White House enlists 'social service providers' to fight terrorism":
On Sunday the White House announced that President Obama will convene a "Summit on Countering Violent Extremism" on Feb. 18. By "violent extremism," the White House means the Charlie Hebdo and kosher grocery attacks carried out in Paris last week by Islamic jihadists.

The White House has long made a point of leaving the word "Islamic" out of discussions of Islamic terrorism, choosing instead to refer to it as "violent extremism." For example, an April 2010 New York Times article on White House efforts to reach out to Muslims noted that top counterterrorism adviser John Brennan and others "have made a point of disassociating Islam from terrorism in public comments, using the phrase 'violent extremism' in place of words like 'jihad' and 'Islamic terrorism.'" A May 2010 Times article noted that "Mr. Obama avoids the word 'Islamic' in his discussions of 'violent extremism."

So the upcoming White House summit, spurred by radical Islamist attacks, will be devoted to countering a mysteriously-motivated "violent extremism." The summit will emphasize the soft side of the problem, seeking social scientists and other professionals to address the root causes of what administration officials refer to as a "really negative" ideology.

"Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) efforts rely heavily on well-informed and resilient local communities," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in the announcement Sunday. "Boston, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-St. Paul have taken the lead in building pilot frameworks integrating a range of social service providers, including education administrators, mental health professionals, and religious leaders, with law enforcement agencies to address violent extremism as part of the broader mandate of community safety and crime prevention. The summit will highlight best practices and emerging efforts from these communities."

Attorney General Eric Holder confirmed the "root causes" orientation of the summit during an interview with CBS Sunday. "The president has announced that on February the 18th, we will host a summit in Washington, DC," Holder said, "so that we can come up with a way in which we can deal with the root causes of this. Countering violent extremism is what we call it, that we can deal with the new causes of what it is that attracts these young men to these really negative ideological groups."
Yes, let's really nail it down to "root causes," which is of course everything but radical Islam.

0 comments: