Terrorists Groups attract young Americans for Jihadist Fighting

Quds Force Members on Parade in Tehran, Iran

Many analysts and subject matter experts on terrorism and terror related activities have sounded whistles and bells regarding the recruiting of disenfranchised young American men into Jihadist Movements and organizations. At present there is absolutely no doubting that the warnings have been proven correct. With the recent guilty pleas by three American young men on terror related charges and even more recently discovered internet-based recruitment activities aimed at English speaking American men the threat of "home grown" terrorists and terrorist acts has increased a hundred fold in less than six months.

As was stated in an earlier article regarding the Five Elements of a Terrorist Attack, terrorist leaders are not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. They are highly intelligent, analytical, and quite deliberate in their planning and actions. For some time it has been rather easy to detect and detain terrorist operatives in that they were virtually always foreign. The indicator factors through communications taps and informants, along with the occasional documents seized in raids elsewhere, often pointed the general direction of the enemy out and then it was a matter of looking for the loner group of mostly Middle Eastern origined people.

In the law enforcement and civil rights circles such was known as "profiling." The civil rights people declared it inaccurate and discriminatory and the law enforcement and intelligence communities first declared it accurate and useful then denied using it altogether (even though they did and do) in order to avoid bad liberal press and frivolous lawsuits. The reality is that it is a little of what both sides call it. Profiling is discriminatory, is based on behavioral characteristics indigenous to certain types of criminals, is very useful in detecting the bad guys, and has been very accurate even though liberal activists insist that it wasn’t. However, with the morphing of attention by terror groups towards indigenous American young men profiling is definitely becoming obsolete in regards to accuracy.

Just ten years ago a hardly noticeable rag-tag outfit of radical Islamists in Mogadishu, Somalia called the al-Shabab was running around the streets engaging in a number of violent activities under the flag of radical Islam. In fact, it would have been looked at more as a gang than a serious Jihadist Organization. In the mid to late 1990’s Al-Shabab had an estimated membership of less than twelve people who were poorly disciplined, poorly organized, barely funded, and grossly under equipped to wage any form of serious Jihad. But, somehow al-Shabab has exploded in membership, money, and equipment. The caliber, skill, and discipline of its members have also improved greatly.

The explosion in size, skill, personnel, activities, funding, and materials of al-Shabab can be easily traced to the involvement of an Iranian military outfit known as the "Quds Force." Their involvement and enhancement of the Somalia-based terror group is no surprise at all. In fact, it is expected given Iran’s declared international goals and the primary mission of the Quds Force. It is the means of recruiting and the geographic origin of the recruits that has stirred surprise and tremendous worry in the minds or American National Security experts.

Al-Shabab is recruiting fighters from within the United States by exploiting the internet. Recruiting videos can be seen all over the internet at various popular video .coms and other underground sites. They prey on young American men who, for one reason or another, have become disenfranchised with the mainstream American Judeo-Christian culture. At least twenty young men were recruited by al-Shabab from the state of Minnesota. Three American Jihadists are known to be dead with one of them being labeled as "America’s first suicide bomber." Of course, there are the aforementioned three men who recently plead guilty to terrorism related charges, too.

Initial contact is made through the internet as young men surf around looking for something to "fit into." Communications occur and the potential recruit is lured into attending key mosques and receiving digital and hardcopy literature such as the Koran and Jihadist propaganda. After being "indoctrinated" stateside they are encouraged to travel to Somalia where they can receive training and assist in the fighting for Islam. Once in Somalia intense mental, academic, and physical training takes place. In the end, the process will generate a well trained, committed, disciplined, and skilled American terrorist. Usually, they are re-assigned to the U.S. after a stint of fighting to build their confidence and skills. Once in the United States they become part of a cell that will perform a specified mission when called upon.

There is more resulting from these developments than the mere reduction in profiling accuracy. Indeed, there is much more to be worried with than that. Al-Shabab is one of two extremely dangerous Jihadist groups in Somalia. Today, the terrorist organization is very well organized, trained, disciplined, equipped, and funded. It has resources and facilities in which heavy and constant training takes place. Many of the trainees are non-Somalian and there is a group of Middle Eastern advisors there. There is no doubting that al-Shabab is Quds Force’s latest training and indoctrination resource element and that planning for future attacks definitely involves the deployment of American English speaking operatives.

When comparing these developments to the Five Elements of a Terrorist Attack, the possibility of non-military infiltration strategies for a WMD attack, the mysteries surrounding events such as the Arctic Sea incident, and the direct involvement of the Quds Force there is seen a mounting and compartmentalized effort to execute another massive and debilitating attack inside the United States. The questions now are what, when, where, and how massive? "IF" is no longer a question worth pondering. The issue at hand now is how to go about detecting and thwarting attempts to lure young American men into an assured dead-end for their life. In as much as we all strive to protect our teen and young twenties aged young men from religious cults we must prevent them from falling into the hands of Jihadists as well.