The Trump Administration, pressing on with their Islam-oriented war mongering against terrorism, it keeps pushing the way forward. The new administration wants to rename a US government program CVE to Islamist Extremism, as revealed by five people who were in that briefing.
The Change in Program’s Name CVE
The program which was previously known as “Countering Violent Extremism” will be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Terrorism”.
This would mean that the terrorism program does not include groups like white supremacists carrying out shootings and bombings in the US.
Trump Promise in Election Campaign
As usual, Donald Trump is trying every trick of the trade to deliver to his campaign promise. He severely criticized the previous US President Barrack Obama for not being able to fight against terrorism with an iron fist and failing to use the phrase “radical Islam”.
The CVE program is said to work in collaboration with companies like Facebook and Google to deter groups or lone attackers. The program aims to use community partnerships and educational programs. It may also include counter-messaging campaigns.
Many who originally favored the program say that they fear this approach would further alienate the Muslim community in the US and wear off the trust already lacking for the Trump Administration.
Criticism on the CVE Program
The Republicans, for a long time, have said that the program is politically correct and ineffective. They are of the view that by singling out radical Islam, the program triggers many violent attacks.
Others say that by branding Islam it would isolate the Muslims even further, alienating them from the other communities in the US.
Community groups are already worried that this program could result in an increased surveillance and invasion of the privacy of individuals.
The Obama Administration’s approach was different from that of Donald Trump. The previous US government aimed to improve the relationships with the different communities. On the other hand, Trump Administration has singled out Muslims, portraying them as the biggest source of terrorism in the US and world over.
It may be too early for Trump Administration to actually measure the actual terrorist threats which prevail. Any terrorism related act carried out by the white supremacists would make Trump rethink of his strategy of tackling radicalism.
