The terrorists are already here (as president knows)

Every person in every country in the civilized world wants to prevent terrorism. I have no doubt that stopping terrorism is something that President Donald Trump wants to do. So why isn’t he? After the terror attacks in London over the weekend Trump tweeted about his continuing desire for a travel ban against six Muslim majority countries. They are Libya, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Yemen and Somalia.

The president tweeted: “We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” He kept at it later. More tweets. But when fighting terrorism would we not be wise to look to the most recent attacks or imminent threats?

Terrorism must be confronted on multiple fronts. It isn’t simply a matter of keeping bad actors out of the country, but how to deal with those who already in the country. The selfradicalized, homegrown terrorists.

We’ve had plenty of examples of that. The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando. The mass shooting at a county office in San Bernardino. It goes on.

So, does Trump’s obsession with the travel ban fit with the facts?

Here are a few. Not fake news. Reality.

FACT: No one traveling to the U.S. from the six countries in Trump’s proposed ban has committed a terrorist act in our country since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

FACT: None of the terrorists involved in the 9/11 attacks were from those countries.

FACT: According to the non-profit organization New America, all of the life-taking jihadist attacks to have occurred in the U.S. since 9/11 have been executed by U.S. citizens or legal residents. In other words, people already here. Legally.

FACT: Neo-Nazi/white supremacists have killed more Americans inside our country since Trump became president than anyone traveling here from the countries upon which Trump proposes a ban. Most recently, two men were killed in Portland while trying to protect two young women, one wearing a hajib. The knife-wielding suspect is a white supremacist. A week before that an African-American Army lieutenant and college student was stabbed to death in Maryland. The suspect in that case is a by a neo-Nazi.

These kinds of attacks have been on the rise. The Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino showed an overall increase of 13 percent in hate crimes reported, with 1,812 incidents reported in 2016.

We all want to protect the United States from outside threats.

But if the president wants to do something about the terrorists who have struck Americans at home since he took office he should stop fixating over there and start looking and what’s going on … here.