Radicalizing the "Homeland"

by WIlliam Norman Grigg
Mar. 09, 2011

"We're talking about a radicalization in this country that is linked to an overseas enemy," insists former IRA fundraiser and current head of the House Homeland Security Committee Pete King, in defense of his planned hearings into terrorist recruitment among American Muslims. A recent incident here in Idaho illustrates the connection King is talking about, albeit not in the way he intended.

Shortly before last Christmas, a resident of Twin Falls, Idaho was accosted by a stranger at a local Wal-Mart, who threatened to kill her. That threat was made credible by the fact that the snarling would-be assailant was armed and had killed people overseas during an armed conflict in the Middle East.

The terrorized victim is a law-abiding American citizen whose only offense was to commit an act of peaceful commerce while wearing a head covering attesting to her Muslim faith. The aggressor, John C. Larsen, is a veteran of Washington's illegal war against Iraq.

"My friends were killed by you!" Larsen reportedly screamed at the woman, who was accompanied by two small children. "I was blown up by you!" At some point in his tirade, Larsen also told the woman that she "didn't belong in the U.S." Leaving aside the fact that the target of his rancor was a U.S. citizen who had as much right to be here as he does, it apparently never occurred to Larsen that he and his gun-toting friends had no legitimate business being in Iraq.

...Continued