by Mohamed Nimer

About the author: Mohamed Nimer is a political scientist specializing in Muslim and Middle East politics and is an independent consultant who has written research reports for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington, D.C.

In March 1994, a handful of militant Muslims were convicted in the February 1993 World Trade Center (WTC) bombing, leaving many questions in the minds of many Americans about the intentions of Muslims living in their midst. Some writers have sought to convince the public that there is a serious “Islamic terrorist threat to America.” (See for example: Yossef Bodansky, Target America: Terrorism in the U.S. Today, 1993.) Was the WTC bombing just the beginning of an Islamic campaign of urban terrorism directed at U.S. cities? Are speculations about a Muslim terrorist threat in...