“Known wolf” syndrome

The hostage taking in Australia is over now, and the name of the hostage-taker has been released. He was an Iranian-born Islamic cleric named Man Monis, aka Shiekh Haron.

If the past is any guide, Monis will be described as a “lone wolf” terrorist because, as far as we know, he acted on his own, not on orders from a terrorist organization.

But Patrick Poole of PJ Media argues that Monis is better described as a “known wolf” terrorist. Why? Because authorities had good reason to know of the danger he posed.

Monis came to Australia in 1996 from Iran and his immigration status was that of political refugee. He has since had other well-known run-ins with law enforcement. In 2009, he sent a series of hate messages, which he deemed as “flowers of advice,” to the families of Australian military members who had been killed in action. He likened their deaths to the deaths of Hitler’s soldiers, as well as to families of Australian victims of international terrorism attacks. He was given 300 hours of community service.

In another case, Monis was charged with 50 counts of sexual assault, where it was claimed that he lured victims in and assaulted them claiming it was a “spiritual healing technique.”

Worst of all, Monis was out on bail on murder charges related to the stabbing and setting on fire of his ex-wife, with whom he had a heated custody dispute.

This means that the hostage-taking incident, which resulted in the loss of innocent life, was preventable. The authorities simply needed to deny bail to a known anti-Australian Islamic extremist charged with murder. This they failed to do.

Can we expect better in America? I don’t think so. According to Poole, virtually all incidents of domestic terrorism in the U.S. have been perpetrated by “known wolves.” Poole provides a long list of them. It includes Boston Marathon bombers, the underwear bomber, and the Fort Hood killer.

Political correctness plagues America, just as it apparently plagues Australia. And here, as there, it is a serious impediment to protecting citizens from terrorism.

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