Brave voice warned us of Islamic extremism
Twenty-three years ago, Steve Emerson founded the Investigative Project on Terrorism, which investigates the funding and operations of extremist networks. It has been a reliable source for law enforcement agencies, congressional committees and others. Though Emerson himself would never endorse the comparison, he has been something of a modern-day Paul Revere, warning the West that radical Islam was not only coming, but already here. Unlike Revere, however, Emerson has sometimes found himself vilified by those he was attempting to warn. The vilification has typically originated with a kind of Islamism lobby, funded by Middle Eastern entities and their allies, who have had a pronounced self-interest in shutting off any spotlight on the spread of extremist ideology and the tactics of those responsible for it. Whether it has been death threats or lawsuits leveled against him, or defamation of him, Emerson has declined to be cowed.