A Response to Donald Trump’s Politicizing Terror in NYC
Yesterday, we blogged about Donald Trump’s attacks on the diversity visa program and Senator Charles Schumer in the wake of the tragic violence in New York. President Trump’s response is generating controversy (see here, here, and here). I thought that the editorial board of the Baltimore Sun ran an effective response. Here are parts of the editorial:
“The driver, identified by police as Sayfullo Saipov, came legally to the U.S. in 2010 from Uzbekistan. He had a green card granting him permanent residency. He reportedly gained entry through a 27-year-old “diversity” program that is intended to allow people from countries with historically low rates of immigration to the U.S. to relocate here. That program has been criticized before, but it’s not an especially large one, with just 50,000 visas distributed each year.
Under the circumstances, the president could have just as easily attacked Home Depot for renting out the pickup truck. That enabled Mr. Saipov’s actions, too. But the real problem isn’t immigration, and it wasn’t a hardware store’s truck rental program. Uzbekistan wasn’t even on Mr. Trump’s list of Muslim-majority countries from which travel should be restricted. Domestic terrorism doesn’t require the perpetrator to be an immigrant — or even to be Muslim, as Stephen Paddock demonstrated when he shot to death 58 people and wounded hundreds more in Las Vegas.
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A more honest president would recognize that fighting terrorism requires a much broader, more thoughtful approach and that Americans must understand that not all violence can be prevented. The recent spate of vehicle-related attacks from Berlin to Barcelona should demonstrate that it doesn’t take any more than a grievance and the keys to a car or truck to make headlines around the world. Cities can hire more police, the FBI can infiltrate extremist groups, physical barriers can be installed or other preventive measures taken, but it’s not going to spare a nation from the reality of “lone wolf” attackers who are not controlled by al-Qaida or ISIS but operate more like a disorganized fan base.