The Threat of Homegrown Terrrorism

Lydia Khalil, a former counterterrorism analyst for the New York Police Department, and a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations looks at homegrown terrorism, recent plots and arrests and what they may signify.

The apprehension last week of Sudbury native Tarek Mehanna is the fifth terrorism-related arrest in the United States in as many months, putting homegrown radicalism back on the radar screen. But many question whether individuals like Mehanna are the “real deal.’’ Do they really pose a significant terrorist threat or are they acting out but lack the capability to inflict any real damage? How dangerous are homegrown radicals? Will the United States, like Europe, become more susceptible to native radicals rather than terrorist plots hatched abroad from organized groups like Al Qaeda?

Terrorism specialist Marc Sageman claims that we are facing a “leaderless jihad.’’ Al Qaeda central is not the driving force of terrorism as an operational machine but rather its ideology serves as an inspiration for self-organizing local groups to carry out their own attacks.

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Fighting The Fight Against Homegrown Terrorism

Recently, numerous headlines related to domestic or homegrown terror plots have caught the public’s attention and raised awareness to the threat.
Authorities have stated that there is no evidence the plots are related, so what are the concerns? Is this an anomaly, or are these telling signs that radicalization and the threat of homegrown terrorism in the U.S. is on the rise?

The Boston Herald takes a look at what may be fueling this activity and where we may need to look to stop it.

Keeping A Lid On Homegrown Terror

Authorities in Illinois arrested Michael Finton, a 29-year-old convert to Islam in an alleged plot to blow up a federal building in Springfield. The next day a 19-year-old Jordanian national was arrested for allegedly hatching a similar plot against a Dallas skyscraper. Finally, in what has been called by authorities the most serious attempt to strike the US homeland since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, authorities indicted Najibullah Zazi, a longtime US resident of Afghan descent who had allegedly planned to carry out bombings with chemicals he had purchased in beauty supply stores. These events seem to confirm what authorities have been saying for the last few years: while the overwhelming majority of the American Muslim community abhors terrorism, a small segment is not impermeable to radicalization.

European authorities have long struggled with the same issue, as hundreds of European Muslims have been involved in terrorist activities. Over the last few years US authorities have questioned whether the emergence of large numbers of radicalized Muslims could also take place here.

via Keeping a lid on homegrown terror – The Boston Globe.

Napolitano: Groups Want To Commit Domestic Terrorism

The head of homeland security said Sunday she regrets that some people took offense over a report warning that right-wing extremist groups were trying to recruit disgruntled troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

But Secretary Janet Napolitano added that “a number of groups far too numerous to mention” want to commit domestic terrorism attacks and are looking for new recruits.

She told a cable news network the warning report that went out to American law enforcement agencies was consistent with reports that were issued before.

“Here is the important point. The report is not saying that veterans are extremists. Far from it. What it is saying is returning veterans are targets of right-wing extremist groups that are trying to recruit those to commit violent acts within the country. We want to do all we can to prevent that,” she said.

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