The Ban

Donald Trump has not banned Muslims from entering the US. A ban based on religion would violate the US constitution. Instead, Trump has banned people from Muslim countries from entering the US. What, you can’t see the difference? Neither can most people.

Trump’s ban covers seven countries: Syria, Iran, Iraq, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen. But no one from any of those countries has ever committed a terrorist act in the US. That is, with one exception: in 2006 an Iranian-American drove his SUV into students at UNC. That attacker was born in Iran and brought to America at the age of two and is a naturalized US citizen. However, a two-year-old child is obviously not a jihadist, and the most extreme vetting could not have predicted the toddler would commit an act of terror 20 years in the future.

Where do terrorists come from? The 9/11 hijackers were from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, and Lebanon. The failed “shoe bomber” is British. The failed “underwear bomber” is Nigerian. The Boston marathon bombers came from Chechnya when they were less than 10 years old. Other attackers are Pakistani or Pakistani-American and Palestinian or Palestinian-American. Several attackers were born in America.

Terrorism has a long, hateful history in America. Rarely are acts of terror in America committed by Muslims. Most acts of terror are committed by Americans against Americans. In 1838, a law was passed making it legal to kill Mormons in Missouri. That law (known as the Extermination Order) was on the books until 1975. Terror attacks in America have been committed by anti-abortionists, “sovereign citizens”, racists, homophobes, anti-police, anti-government, and mentally disturbed individuals. Even the list of school shootings in the US is a long one, dating back to the Enoch Brown school massacre of 1764 – before America was a country. The 1999 Columbine shooters killed 13 and wounded 21 for no particular reason; those shooters were non-Muslim Americans. The 2007 Virginia Tech shooter killed 32 and wounded 17 for no particular reason; that shooter was a non-Muslim Korean. Most school shooters do have a reason for their deadly acts, but – as is true of terrorists in general – their reasons are as varied as the killers themselves.

In 2014, according to the CDC, there were 15,809 homicides including 10,945 homicides by firearms. If Trump truly wants to protect Americans, he should start with the obvious. A ban on immigrants from seven countries that have never sent us terrorists is illogical, will not help anyone, and may even bring about acts of terror just because the ban is good jihadi propaganda. It writes itself: “The ban proves America hates Muslims and is trying to destroy us, so join our fight to destroy America.”

Jihadists won’t destroy America, but Trump and his cronies may succeed at doing something the jihadists could never do: destroy America’s values.