Warren Jeffs & national security
First of all let me say that I am VERY glad that the Nevada Highway patrol caught Warren Jeffs. I have no sympathy for polygamy and even less for those that force under age girls into it. Jeffs should be behind bars and should not see parole. He needed to be off the streets and behind bars for his blatant denial of US law and regulation.
With that said and understood, on to the point of this post. Was /is Warren Jeffs really one of the top ten threats to US security? I think not.
Thousands of pounds of illegal drugs (and goods) come into the US daily. Those that traffic in such items are far more of a risk to America, it’s security, and it’s future then one Warren Jeffs. The same is true of those that traffic in illegal works and immigrants. Coyotes (those that bring illegals across) and the work that they do are far more of a risk to America then some Mormon nut job with a few compounds and no more then a few hundred supports.
Those are examples of groups, so maybe some would contend that though the groups of people are more dangerous then Jeffs, the individuals that comprise such groups are not. I would disagree with that view as I think the individuals that comprise the above groups are more dangerous then Jeffs, but I will now move on and deal with individuals.
A few weeks ago, a man walked into a Seattle Jewish center as the war between Israel and Humas began. He shot a few people, and said that he was there to kill Jews. Yes he was arrested immediately, but he as a individual is a far greater risk to America and Americans then Jeffs, or at least I think so. The same is true of the self proclaimed “terrorist” that hit 13 people yesterday in San Fran before coming to a stop and declaring himself to be a terrorist. Last year a man tried to enter a football game with a bomb, he was denied admittance. He then went to a nearby parking lot and blew himself up. Though called a suicide of a depressed man at the time, the evidence left at his home showed he was indeed a terrorist.
The above are just some examples of stories, events, individual acts, and entire movements that go, and have gone, largely unreported and unfocused on. Yet, a sole man that supports and arranges multiple marriages, including those which involved underage girls, in a small separatist sect is considered one of top ten most dangerous men in the nation. Again I am not trying to belittle the impact of polygamy, and arranged marriages for underaged girls, is good, but I do not think that these are things are as dangerous to the overall US as some other issues.
I am simply point this out situation as a prime example of how America, and it’s news, has reached a point where we take minor issues and individuals and make the huge stories, while largely ignoring issues and individuals that are far more of a risk to the greater good and security of the country. Just something to ponder and think about.
