Experts Agree: Islamist Terrorism Has Officially “Gone Viral”

The rise of the Islamic State (ISIS) has resulted in a surge in terrorist activity across the Middle East. Just as strikingly, it has also prompted an uptick in domestic terror plots against the U.S. homeland this year. Law enforcement officers have already foiled a total of 10 terrorist plots in 2015, making it the most active period since 9/11. All the attacks, moreover, have been inspired or directed by ISIS operatives.

Representative Michael McCaul (R-Texas), Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, joined Heritage policy analyst David Inserra, former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese III and former Homeland Security adviser Kenneth Rapuano to discuss the upswing in terrorist activity and its implications for U.S. national security.

All the panelists agreed that the strength of Islamist terrorism lies in its radical ideology. Would-be terrorists, said Representative McCaul, are inspired by “an evil and twisted ideology that drives vulnerable minds into unconscionable acts of violence and hate.”

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Finally, there was a broad consensus that U.S. law enforcement can and should do more to halt the spread of radical Islam in local communities. An agency within the Department of Homeland Security must be assigned the lead role in countering violent extremism (CVE) efforts.

By increasing CVE coordination among federal, state and local forces, officers on the ground will be better able to gather information from community leaders and transmit it to the proper authorities.

Terrorism has indeed “gone viral” around the world—and that includes the U.S. homeland.

Full article: Experts Agree: Islamist Terrorism Has Officially “Gone Viral” (The Daily Signal)