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America Isn’t Immune to Homegrown Terrorism

by DR. LAINA FARHAT-HOLZMAN December 22, 2009
A nightmare scenario for America is terrorists in our midst, and unlike those who perpetrated the horror of 9/11, difficult to profile. Our security forces look for young men (aged 16-30) of Middle East or South Asian origin. This is no longer good enough; many wannabe terrorists are American born Muslims or converts recruited in prison and universities. Add to this the occasional woman, for whom we would not usually be on alert. The terrorist next door has become a big concern.
 
Ignorance and poverty might be true for the poor starvelings being brainwashed in Afghan and Pakistani Madrassas, but they are only good for cannon fodder in the hands of their keepers. This profile certainly does not match what we are seeing in the U.S., and unfortunately, more than we had expected.
 
First, consider Maj. Hasan, a native-born U.S. citizen, soldier, and psychiatrist whose education was paid for by the military. This man – neither young, poor, nor ignorant – cold bloodedly murder 14 or his colleagues and wound 34 more before he was wounded himself. All we know about him was that he was a religious fanatic and his “spiritual adviser” with whom he corresponded, was a jihadi who had fled from Virginia to Yemen (he himself born in the U.S.).
 
Then consider a new wrinkle – young Muslims, some native born and some born abroad, from immigrant families that seem to be integrating well – disappearing from the U.S. with intent to become jihadis. The five picked up in Pakistan (along with the father of one of them) are not the first to have been radicalized in the U.S. itself. These five supposedly said nothing to their families or friends about their intentions, but a videotape on Facebook by one of them was obviously a jihadi last will and testament, which frightened the families into seeking FBI help.
 
The community denials are hard to believe. One youth coordinator’s hope is that these “nice virgin young men” were probably in Pakistan to bring home brides. (Are there no Muslim brides for them in America?) The Alexandria, Virginia Islamic Center’s Imam claims there was no sign that these worshippers were radicalized. The same center was also the place of worship of Maj. Hasan, and its former cleric has fled to Yemen. Something is going on in that center.
 
The thriving Somali community in Minneapolis has also produced young men, some in college, who without a word of warning disappeared to return to Somalia and Yemen to become suicide bombers. At least one is dead, and we don’t know the condition of the others. What happens if these lost boys return to carry out a caper in the U.S. itself? They are citizens, and supposedly could travel freely. However, I would hope that traveling from Somalia or Yemen would trigger needed security attention.
 
How can one account for a “nice” immigrant Afghan coffee vendor in New York, Najibullah Zazi, going to Pakistan for explosives training with the intent to stage an attack in the US? He was picked up in Colorado trying to buy chemicals.
 
Most dangerous of all is the Chicagoan, David Coleman Headly, 49, who with that name, age, and money, would never have been profiled as a terrorist. Headly changed his name from Gilani to Headly, a name that would fly below the radar on his passport. He apparently had every advantage of upbringing (American mother), social status, and money. Yet he was a frequent globetrotter scouting sites for al Qaeda’s murderous rampages, the most successful of which was the attack on Mumbai that left 166 people dead. Most recently, he was scouting a planned attack on the Danish newspaper that published the Mohammad cartoons.
 
American officials are concerned that jihadis are being recruited for numerous small attacks on the United States so that a really major attack can progress unnoticed. Young wanabe terrorists like the five picked up in Pakistan behave stupidly and are not difficult to catch. More challenging will be visitors carrying European passports, converts to Islam, who do not match the Middle Eastern or South Asian profile. That will be trouble.
 
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author who also writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or http://www.globalthink.net/
 


FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is a historian, lecturer, and author of How Do You Know That? You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or www.globalthink.net.


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