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| Africa Horn |
| The Threat from ‘Minnesota Men’ |
| 2015-11-27 |
| If you get your news from the headlines, you can be excused for thinking that “Minnesota men” pose a special risk of taking up the terrorist jihad at home and abroad. As the Wall Street Journal reported this past April, for example, “U.S. charges six Minnesota men with trying to join ISIS.” The “Minnesota men” featured in such headlines are almost invariably drawn from Minnesota’s swelling population of Somali Muslim immigrants. The state—mostly the metropolitan Twin Cities area—is home to 35,000 such immigrants, the largest Somali population in North America. Starting in the 1990s, the State Department directed thousands of refugees from Somalia’s civil war to Minnesota. As Kelly Riddell pointed out in the Washington Times this past February, in Minnesota these refugees “can take advantage of some of America’s most generous welfare and charity programs.” Riddell quoted Professor Ahmed Samatar of Macalester College in St. Paul: “Minnesota is exceptional in so many ways but it’s the closest thing in the United States to a true social democratic state.” After a dip in 2008, the inflow of Somalis has continued unabated and augmented by Somalis from other states. If it takes a village, Minnesota has what it takes. Unfortunately, according to a September report of the House Homeland Security Committee task force on combating terrorist and foreign fighter travel, Minnesota also leads the country in contributing foreign fighters to ISIS. Reviewing the public cases of more than 250 Americans who had traveled to join ISIS, the task force found that 26 percent of them came from Minnesota. When it comes to exports to ISIS, we’re number one. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #6 I take it MN is NOT KEVIN-COSTNER'S "FIELD OF DREAMS" ANYMORE??? The movie's great community fight scene on the soundness of converting arable farmland into a private baseball park seems "quaint" in the 21st century. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-11-27 19:58 |
| #5 I live in Minnesota. I stay as far away from the Twin Cities as possible. Primarily for it's lack of parking, but also for it's high terrorist and sympathizer density. Thanks to weak leadership and virtue signalling being the numbers one and two factor in election success here, this will get worse before it gets better. |
| Posted by: Mike N. 2015-11-27 14:54 |
| #4 Lots of ISIS guys named Ole and Sven |
| Posted by: Richard AUbrey 2015-11-27 14:45 |
| #3 "Mohamed, Muhamad, and-- dirka! We-- I wish to visit Amerka!" "He finds it oppressive To be where the rest live. Fair welcome, three men in a burka!" |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2015-11-27 13:17 |
| #2 People making FDRs internment program looking more rational everyday. Seasoned with big helpings of WTF allowing these miscreants to actually return to the community after doing time in the ME. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-11-27 07:50 |
| #1 “can take advantage of some of America’s most taxpayer-onerous welfare and charity programs.” |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2015-11-27 05:55 |