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San Bernardino And The Islamic State

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On the ground in San Bernardino, with the latest on what we are learning about the husband and wife mass murderers and their motives.

This undated combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook. (FBI, left, and California Department of Motor Vehicles via AP)
This undated combination of photos provided by the FBI, left, and the California Department of Motor Vehicles shows Tashfeen Malik, left, and Syed Farook. (FBI, left, and California Department of Motor Vehicles via AP)

There is still so much we don’t know about the full means and motivation of the husband and wife killers in San Bernadino. But it appears at this point to have been, at least in some substantial part, the worst nightmare of security planners: terrorism in the United States inspired by, but not directed by ISIS. That is very hard to sniff out in advance. She posted allegiance to the Islamic State on Facebook, but too late for a heads up. Now the president’s talking about the “dark path of radicalization” in the USA. This hour, On Point — ISIS inspiration, American death, and the killers in San Bernadino.
-- Tom Ashbrook

Guests

Abby Philip, national political reporter for the Washington Post. (@abbydphillip)

J.M. Berger, research analyst and writer. Non-residential fellow at the Brookings Institutions’ Project on U.S. Relations With the Islamic World. Co-author, with Jessica Stern, of “ISIS: The State of Terror.” Author of “Jihad Joe.” (@intelwire)

Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the program on extremism at the Center for Cyber and Homeland Security at George Washington University. (@SeamusHughes)

From Tom’s Reading List

Los Angeles Times: San Bernardino massacre probed as terrorism, FBI says — "San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook had contact with people from at least two terror organizations overseas, including the Nusra Front in Syria and Shabab in Somalia, a federal law enforcement official said Friday. The revelations came as the FBI formally announced it was investigating the shooting rampage as an act of terrorism."

Washington Post: MSNBC’s terrible live tour of the San Bernardino attackers’ apartment -- "This is a case in which MSNBC, being a cable network, had time to fill and a live opportunity on a hot story — and just decided to go for it. In doing so, it put itself in a situation where it encountered editorial calls more quickly than they could be processed."

GWU Program On Extremism: ISIS In America — "ISIS-related radicalization is by no means limited to social media. While instances of purely web-driven, individual radicalization are numerous, in several cases U.S.-based individuals initially cultivated and later strengthened their interest in ISIS’s narrative through face-to-face relationships. In most cases online and offline dynamics complement one another."

This program aired on December 7, 2015.

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