Will New York allow Washington to track white extremists as it did with Muslims after 9/11?

Will American politicians allow counterterrorism experts to track white extremists as they did with Muslims after the September 11, 2001 attacks?

That is the phrase Newsweek chose to make a headline for an article written by its political editor Nicole Goodkind.

Goodkind began her article by referring to President Donald Trump's promise on Monday to give US law enforcement officials "everything they need" to combat the "worsening domestic terrorism" of white nationalists.

not easy
However, the author believes that what is needed to ward off this kind of violent hatred is not easy, as Trump's remarks aimed at covering up some aspects of the phenomenon may suggest.

Since the September 11, 2001, attacks on US soil, the federal government has devoted "enormous resources and money" to combating Islamic terrorism, the author said.

Former US President George W. Bush has passed the National Anti-Terrorism Act, which gives the NSA the power to eavesdrop on US citizens and monitor their communications to expose Islamist extremists.

Double standard
However, these same resources and legal procedures were not devoted when it came to combating extremism related to white supremacy, according to Goodkind.

It says the number of people killed in attacks by the "extreme" right and Islamist "terrorists" since 2002 has been roughly equal, ranging from 104 to 109, according to the Modern America Foundation.

The writer notes that the possession of weapons has become an issue that attracts the attention of the American political arena, but six senior former counterterrorism officials at the National Security Council believe that the country needs to reconsider the way in which money is spent on fighting terrorism, and quickly divert resources to counter terrorism The local committed by white nationalists.

Excessive increase
Goodkind goes on to recall that white extremists killed more people in 2018 than in 1985, when Timothy McAfee blew up the federal government building in Oklahoma, killing 168 people.

In Goodkind's view, the question arises: Will politicians allow monitoring and follow-up of white nationalists in the same way that Muslims followed in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks?

The writer cites human rights lawyer Martin Stoller as saying that if politicians "do the same thing with Muslims, then they will consider every white person a potential terrorist."

But Stoller said American politicians would not be able to do so with white citizens because "the negative reaction would be violent."