Every time a terrorist attack occurs outside of the Middle East (whether in America, Belgium, France, or anywhere else), some politicians and citizens seem to automatically disregard the provisions of the First Amendment and start to exhibit Islamophobia. Most recently, after the attack in Nice, former US Representative Newt Gingrich called for a test of every American with a Muslim background. To find out if they believed in Sharia law; and if they did, this would be grounds for deportation out of the United States. I will not list the many other examples of this behavior from numerous politicians, and I will also not digress into how I feel this infringes upon the people's right to freedom of religious expression. The scope of this writing will be about the underlying apprehension of the US by people in the Middle East and how Islamophobic behavior feeds the problem, which in my opinion is tantamount to letting the terrorists win.
First, I think some background is needed. I think that the foreign policy of administrations in America since the end of World War II has been convoluted and cantankerous, at best. I can list the many dictators that the US supported for the mere fact that the tyrannical leaders of these countries were anti-communists, such as in Central and South America. And the most poignant example of this poor policy is the CIA backed coup in Iran in 1953. This coup removed a nationalist Iranian leader (Mohammad Mosaddegh), and put into power an Iranian pro-US leader as Shah (Mohammad Reza Pahlavi). All in the interest of securing Iranian oil for America, regardless of the official statements on the matter. The nationalization of Iranian oil scared the US government to such a degree, that it caused the United States to make one of the worst mistakes in its history of foreign policy decisions.
And what, in the end, did the Iranian people see? A foreign power controlling the course of a sovereign nation and neglecting the will of the people, and placing Reza Pahlavi into a position of near absolute power. Who would then go onto to become an oppressive tyrant that terrorized the civilian population of Iran. This situation led to the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini, and the Iranian Revolution in 1979; which caused the American people to nervously watch their TV's for 444 days. Incidents like this, and others, have become the backdrop of distrust and aversion of many Muslims towards America, Europe, and the Western world in general.
This brings me to our current global problem with extremist Muslim factions. Daesh (and other organizations past and present) have a recurring theme in their propaganda, that Western civilization is completely incompatible with Islam. Using this line to convince young Muslim men and women that it is better to martyr themselves than to acclimate themselves into a Western society that could never accept them as equals because of their religious beliefs. And then turns these disillusioned individuals into cheap "smart" bombs, telling them to cause the most destruction and terror possible.
And every time a terrorist attacks, right-wing politicians drive this wedge in further; showing young and impressionable Muslims that they are not welcome or accepted in our American society. Making the recruiters of these extremist groups smile because it adds to the narrative they are already preaching to the disillusioned and disenfranchised Muslim people and more specifically the younger members. Enabling the leaders of these groups to convince more and more people to commit atrocities against the Western world in the name of the "Caliphate.
And how do we the people protect ourselves and our families from this menace? Do we need to put more boots on the ground in these hotspots in the Middle East, and risk the lives of more US troops? Increase the number of drone strikes against suspected operatives? Punish the families of individuals who commit terrorist acts? In the end these policies will only cause more and more collateral damage to civilians in the region; as well as damage the image of the United States diplomatically throughout the world. And will only serve to validate the message of the extremists.
Or should we as Americans lay down the trump card, and use the most powerful weapons available; assimilation, compassion, and understanding? An individual who feels like they are a part of a community will think twice before committing a criminal act against the people they know as neighbors and friends. Rather than ostracize the average Muslim, we should realize that these people want nothing more than to live their lives and see their children in a better world than they live in now. And is that not also what every red-blooded American citizen wants, to see their children living in a better world?