Commenting on the second hearing of King, Boston Globe argued after the death of Osama bin Laden, it is more difficult for King to whip up fears that the Obama administration is going soft on terrorism. "The issues before King's committee are for the Department of Justice and state and local corrections officials. The House Homeland Security Committee -- which oversees a vast department whose mandate covers immigration, tornadoes, flooding, and terrorism, to name a few -- would do better to stick to its jurisdiction. No matter how much -- or little -- public attention it garners in the process."
The Boston Globe pointed out: "In general, the prison conversion process, to any religion, is seen as making a meaningful contribution to prisoner rehabilitation. But in rare instances, that conversion turns to actual violence. The best solution would be to diversify corrections personnel, to address prison overcrowding, and especially to provide further training to staff on shifting power relations among prisoners and how they can lead to gang-related violence. But almost none of this has to do with terrorism or the Muslim-American community."
King announced Wednesday that the next hearing will likely be held in late July and will focus on reports of Americans joining Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based offshoot of Al Qaeda that has been linked to attempted attacks on U.S. targets, including the foiled Christmas 2009 bombing of an airliner over Detroit and explosives-laden parcels found on cargo flights last year.
"Dozens of ex-cons who became radicalized Muslims inside U.S. prisons have gone to Yemen to join an al-Queda group run by a fellow America, Anwar al-Awlaki, whose terrorists have attacked the U.S. homeland several times since 2008 and are generally acknowledged to be al-Queda's most dangerous affiliate," King said in his opening statements.
Interestingly, the White House, which pushed a message of religious tolerance ahead of King's first hearing on Islamic radicalization, had no comment for the second hearing.
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