ISIS Threat Never Left

New Year’s terror in New Orleans: 14 people dead and dozens wounded after a 42-year-old man drove a rented pickup into a celebratory crowd on Bourbon Street. Police killed the terrorist in a shootout before he could wreak further havoc. The truck bore an ISIS flag, the banner of the global jihad. In a cruel irony, revelers had gathered to welcome a new beginning. The attack was a horrible reminder of ancient evils and enduring threats.

At such moments our attention turns inward. The media provide updates, profile victims, and explore how the assailant, U.S. citizen and Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Houston, Texas, became a radical Islamist. It’s tempting to fixate on Jabbar’s crooked path to mass murder while neglecting the broader movement to which he belonged. Such temptations should be avoided. What happened in New Orleans was larger than one man’s pathology. It was the latest atrocity committed in the name of a sick ideology.

About the Author

Matthew Continetti

Matthew Continetti is director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism.

Featured Tags

New Year’s terror in New Orleans: 14 people dead and dozens wounded after a 42-year-old man drove a rented pickup into a celebratory crowd on Bourbon Street. Police killed the terrorist in a shootout before he could wreak further havoc. The truck bore an ISIS flag, the banner of the global jihad. In a cruel irony, revelers had gathered to welcome a new beginning. The attack was a horrible reminder of ancient evils and enduring threats.

At such moments our attention turns inward. The media provide updates, profile victims, and explore how the assailant, U.S. citizen and Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar of Houston, Texas, became a radical Islamist. It’s tempting to fixate on Jabbar’s crooked path to mass murder while neglecting the broader movement to which he belonged. Such temptations should be avoided. What happened in New Orleans was larger than one man’s pathology. It was the latest atrocity committed in the name of a sick ideology.

About the Author

Matthew Continetti

Matthew Continetti is director of domestic policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute and author of The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism.