Are muslim extremists from the MENA region the main/only terroristic threat to the US

Since all (as far as i know, they used fake names) 9/11 hijackers were from the MENA region, so are most of al-qaedas leadership and troops, as are most of the outside insurgents in iraq this makes me wonder.

I’m pretty sure there are more muslims in Indonesia than there are in all the MENA countries put together (excluding pakistan and Iran, if those count as middle east at least). That includes, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc. However do Indonesian muslims produce the same extremists that Egyptian muslims can produce? i don’t know if i’ve heard much about malaysian muslim extremists or muslim extremists who were born in developed countries. Muslim extremists from southern or western Africa don’t seem to make the news either. 90% of the time its MENA muslims, who i think only make up abuot 20% of the worlds muslim population. Does anyone know why? Is it because of the proximity of Israel?

There was a story in the news a few days ago about a muslim extremist arrested in London. However he was originally from Egypt, which is a MENA country. He just moved to London.

Remember the Bali bombing?

They exist. There was a British guy who became a suicide bomber in Israel. And Richard Reid, the shoe-bomber. And there’s plenty more.

They also exist - google ‘nigeria sharia’ to see some of the thigns going on. But it’s localised, and doesn’t involved as much focus on international terrorism, so it doesn’t make the news.

Indeed, that’s the general problem - the news focuses almost solely on the middle east.

Well outside their countries most threats are limited… but I wouldn’t recommend americans or anyone middle class upwards from walking around Colombia for example :slight_smile:

Still “arabs” in general are the greatest terrorist “source”.

True the bali bombings were done by indonesians. However on a per capita basis more terrorists seem to come from places like Egypt, or Saudi Arabia, or Yemen than come from Indonesia. I can understand why they come from Saudi Arabia but not from Egypt or Yemen or other MENA countries. I doubt its just the news, the news will report on almost any terrorist act. But it seems places like Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc. produce more terrorists per capita than indonesia or the natural born muslim population in France.

Have you any evidence for that?

Its just an observation, i wouldn’t know how to objectively prove it. It seems the majority of Al-qaeda leaders and fighters, iraqi insurgents, and domestic islamic terrorists seems to come from the MENA region. I dont hear about many coming from anywhere else like individuals born in France or Indonesia nearly as much. Do you have evidence i am wrong?

Note against newspeak cognitive dissonance talk:

‘Insurgent’ does not mean the same thing as ‘terrorist’

Al-Qaeda is focused in the middle east simply because that was where it was formed - Bin Laden was a Saudi citizen (his citizenship now revoked), and the organisation was formed from the Afghan resistance to Soviet occupation. They do, however, recruit throughout the Muslim world. Naturally, countries which exist in near-anarchy (Afghanistan, Somalia), or with corrupt regimes (Sudan) are the easiest for terrorist organisations to function it.

And as for countries as varied as France and Indonesia not proving as fertile a source of extremists - maybe it has something to do with people having a higher standard of living, greater personal freedoms, generally being more content with the status quo.

  • “…to function in

i know. im not talking about the domestic insurgents, im talking about the foreign fighters who are going to Iraq to kill US soldiers. Most of them seem to be coming from the MENA region, but this could be due to geography more than anything else. Then again, all an Indonesian would need to do is board a plane to join the war.

Another point about Indonesia, Malaysia etc not being central to Al-Qaeda: The organisation’s fundamental aim is the establishment of an Islamic state encompassing the ‘historic’ Muslim kingdoms, stretching from Spain, through north Africa, and across the middle east. Far-eastern countries are not central to this plan.

There was a Frontline special on PBS a few montha ago chronicling the rise of terrorist activity in Southeast Asia. In many ways, it appears to be even more of a threat from groups in the MENA as the Indonesian government (along with other governments in the region) haven’t made any serious attempt to deal with it.

Here’s a CNN aricle I found regarding terrorist elements in Indonesia. While Al Qaeda itself isn’t a major component, other groups do seem to have a close ties with them.

Terrorism’s New Frontline