In early 2011, the White House decided to confront the threat of homegrown Islamic radicalism. In the two years since President Obama had taken office, several young Muslim Americans had plotted terrorist attacks at home; one nearly exploded a car bomb in Times Square. White House aides concluded that the government's efforts to combat radicalism in U.S. Muslim communities were a disjointed mess, says Politico. A plan issued that summer focused on creating closer partnerships with community leaders to help identify budding radicals and steer them to a peaceful path. After a recent string of attacks by Islamic radicals on their fellow citizens, including Wednesday's massacre in Paris by a pair of French nationals, critics complain that the plan has been halfheartedly implemented, with bureaucratic turf fights and a lack of funding.
They say it does little to make Americans safer at a moment when the Islamic extremist message is more prevalent than ever. “I don't think we have a strategy,” said House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul. “We don't see a lead agency, there's no line item in the budget. There are no metrics to measure success. We don't even have a common definition for what it is.” The White House announced in September that it would host an October summit dedicated to the issue. The event has since been postponed twice, and a firm date has not been set.