Ismail Royer, was not born a Muslim. His birthname is Todd Royer. Royer converted to Islam in 1990’s. After converting he became actively involved in religious advocacy. His tilt towards Jihad and Jihadi networks started when he participated in Bosnian war. Now, Trump has empaneled him to be his advisor.
From fighting in the Bosnian war, he went on to Pakistan where he met and trained with LeT(Lashkar-E-Taiba). During his stint at LeT, Royer also fired at Indian positions along the LOC in Kashmir. Which as we from India know is a right of passage for all the Jihadi Militants around the world.
Thus, it came as a shock to everyone when The White House announced on their website that this very Ismail Royer has been named a member of the “Advisory Board Members to the Religious Liberty Commission” to President Trump’s administration.
The more shocking aspect of all this is – Royer was convicted of terrorism charges has served 14 years in US correctional facilities. Following 9/11, Royer played a significant role in the “Virginia Jihad Network,” which included people who wanted to aid the Taliban in their fight against American forces. Royer organized paintball training and made it easier for members to travel to LeT camps for weapons training.
Ismail even acknowledged in 2004 that he has facilitated others to take part in LeT training, Providing logistics and other support for the same.
This move is not only disastrous for the American war on terror efforts but also puts in question their commitment to actually look into enablers of terrorism. President Trump recently claimed that He mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan and he wants ‘Trade’ and not ‘war’.
This revelation is in direct contradiction to that statement and exposes how shallow the American promises are. The White House has now put a LeT trained Jihadist on its advisory board to the President. The same LeT which is responsible for numerous attacks, notably the Mumbai Attacks.
If Washington wants Delhi to consider them as allies and a partner in South – East Asia, then words are not enough, their actions should match their words. AS things stands now, their words and actions are indicating a complete different things. It is important to note that during the recent India-Paksitan escalation, Indian Armed Forces launched attacks on 9 different terrorist sites on 7th May and LeT hq was among one of them.
