Friday evening, a Somali-born teen was arrested in Oregon for attempting to blow up a car bomb at a Christmas tree lighting. Predictably, he screamed "Allahu Akhbar" before his plan was foiled. Fox News reports:
According to a federal complaint, Mohamud was in regular email contact with the "unindicted associate' in Pakistan's Northwest Frontier starting in August 2009.The complaint states that in December 2009 Mohamud and the "unindicted associate" used coded language in an email in which the FBI believes Mohamud discussed traveling to Pakistan to prepare for "violent jihad." The document says in the months that followed Mohamud made 'multiple efforts" to contact another "undicted associate" to arrange travel to Pakistan but had a faulty email address for that person.
Appropriately, I saw this report as I came out of 'Four Lions,' a British comedy about four painfully stupid terrorists in Sheffield. The film was absolutely hysterical. As Duane Byrge of the Hollywood Reporter observed, "[they] are straight out of the Three Stooges, embarking on their grand quest of blowing up a marathon or, more crazy, blowing up a mosque 'to radicalize the moderates.'" It's a hilarious take on the imbecility of fanaticism and mocks the idiotic rationale of terrorists. ("When their ramshackle car breaks down, the leader of the gang of four declares it's because the spark plugs were made by Jews, which is part of their plot to control global traffic.")
Terrorist threats are, of course, not something to be taken lightly. However, it still feels pretty nice to take a satirical look at the insipid worldview that these nefarious goons harbor. After all, being the butt of a joke is the last thing they want to incite.
Predictably, he screamed "Allahu Akhbar" before his plan was foiled.
ReplyDeleteOh, nonsense. He clearly yelled "in Jesus' name!" That had to have been it. Everyone knows that Christians are a rampaging mob of intolerant, violent knuckle-draggers, while the peaceful religion of Islam would never countenance such an atrocity.
Honestly, people! These transparent attempts at right-wing propaganda simply aren't fooling anyone!
(/sarcasm)
An observation, not a critique:
ReplyDelete"Somali-born teen" is an interesting description...almost everyone is using it...but I think "Islamic man" is a more appropriate, accurate and useful label.
Terrorist threats are, of course, not something to be taken lightly. However, it still feels pretty nice to take a satirical look at the insipid worldview that these nefarious goons harbor. After all, being the butt of a joke is the last thing they want to incite.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction to this post is mixed. It's true that Islamism is not a serious threat yet should we seriously apply our power against it. And it's true that mockery is a potent tool.
And yes, the attack on the World Trade Center was pretty pathetic.
The first attack, that is.