The emerging homegrown terrorist threat

November 13, 10:58 AMNY Law Enforcement ExaminerFred Hetner

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Photo-courtesy of FBI.gov

Violent Islamist ideology and the terrorism it inspires pose a substantial threat to America's homeland security. The ideology calls for the pursuit and creation of a global Islamist state - that unites all Muslims and is governed by Islamic law. Violent extremists are not only encouraged to attack those who are not committed to their ideology but are obligated to do so. The first World Trade Center bombing in 1993, the attacks on the Unites States embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, the attack on the USS Cole in 2000 and the devastating attacks of September 11, 2001 were carried out by well-organized, well-equipped and well-trained individuals indoctrinated into violent Islamist ideology.

The committee on homeland security has found that the violent Islamist threat to the homeland has evolved and expanded.

The United States has not been immune from homegrown threats. In December 2006, Derrick Shareef, a resident of Illinois was alleged to be part of a terrorist organization but was inspired by violent Islamist ideology and was charged with attempting to acquire explosives as part of a plan to attack Cherry Vale Mall in Illinois. In May 2007, a group of men were arrested as part of an alleged plot to attack the Fort Dix base in New Jersey.

On October 21, 2009 Tarek Mehanna was charged in a Massachusetts Federal Court with conspiring to provide material to support terrorists. In September 2009, several men were charged in separate plots to bomb a Federal building, a 60-story skyscraper, a major city's transit system and a U.S. Military base.

These incidents and others form part of a growing threat that has raised concerns within the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement communities. Authorities report that "homegrown" extremists inspired by militant Islamist ideology will remain a threat to the United States or against U.S. interests overseas and, according to FBI Director Mueller the U.S. faces the challenges by a third group and that is self-radicalization, homegrown terrorists in the United States.

If you are interested in this article, please see the related article "The terrorist internet campaign"

A series of articles will be following on the increasingly concern over terrorism in the United States.