Who's to blame for British Muslims joining jihadist terror groups? Why, the West, of course . . .
Mary Anne Weaver appeared on today's Morning Joe to discuss her New York Times Magazine cover article "Her Majesty's Jihadists." On the one hand, Weaver paints a striking portrait of the radicalization of young Muslims in the UK, reporting for example that there are more British jihadists than there are Muslims serving in the British military. But when asked what could be done about the problem, did Weaver criticize the radical clerics preaching a poisonous strain of Islam? Nope. She pointed her finger at the West 1. criticizing insufficient "integration" of Muslims into British society; 2. criticizing a new security law in the UK clamping down on people joining jihadist groups; and 3. saying that Muslims feel they are "under attack" from "indiscriminate bombing led by the US," in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
JOHN MEACHAM: You've written about why they do it. What can be done about it?
MARY ANNE WEAVER: Well, I think first of all I think there's got to be more of a sense of you belong here, we belong with you. I think there's got to be integration, more integration. I think that bills like this new counterterrorism security bill that has recently been passed by the British Parliament, that is not the answer. That is even more exclusion. And, three, vis-a-vis their feeling that they and the Muslim community are under attack, they look at us, they see what they perceive to be indiscriminate bombing led by the United States, whether we're talking about Syria or Iraq or assistance in Yemen and they feel, again, it is Muslims under attack.
