December 7 - Tashfeen Malik's Background in Pakistan; The Exaggerated Role of Religion in Recruiting Terrorists; The DOJ Launches a "Pattern and Practice Investigation" Into the Chicago Police Department

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the investigation into the backgrounds of the San Bernardino terrorists, in particular Tashfeen Malik, and examine her time in her native Pakistan with Pakistan’s former Ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani. He joins us to discuss the role of Saudi Wahhabism in her radicalization, along with the possibility that she received military training in one of the many terrorist training camps in Pakistan that have yet to be shut down.

Part 2

Then we discuss President Obama’s address to the nation on dealing with terrorism and the self-declared Islamic State, and speak with Arun Kundnani, a Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University who also teaches terrorism studies at John Jay College. He is the author of “The Muslims are Coming! Islamophobia, Extremism, and the Domestic War on Terror” and we discuss the gulf between the major role that politics play in the radicalization of young Muslims who join daesh, compared to the minor role of religion which usually gets most of the attribution and emphasis.

Part 3

Then finally we examine the Justice Department’s launch of a “pattern and practice investigation” into the Chicago Police Department following the release of a video that showed a Chicago policeman shoot 17 year old Laquan McDonald 16 times. Craig Futterman, a Professor of Law at the University of Chicago and founder of the Civil Rights and Police Accountability Project of the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic joins us. He played a key role in getting the video released and we will discuss the DOJ investigation and the latest release of a video of a Chicago police shooting.