Terrorism in the USA:threat & response

[davidbfpo]

In my initial post I said:

It will be interesting to see if there was any community or public involvement in alerting the authorities - parallel to email interception.

Thanks to LWOT:

According to the indictment filed against Mohamud, the suspect came to the attention of the FBI after someone (possibly his father) alerted them to his suspected radicalization.

Possible downside:

Friends and neighbors expressed surprise at the arrest, with community leaders condemning the planned attack but also raising questions about the FBI's tactics in the investigation.The New York Times looks at the recent rash of sting operations against alleged terrorist plots, which some have suggested toe the line between investigation and entrapment. The arrest also prompted fears of radicalization and retribution in Somali and other Muslim communities in Oregon and elsewhere, and a mosque where Mohamud worshipped was targeted by a suspected arsonist this past weekend.

The link has the links to cited reports e.g. NYT:http://www.foreignpolicy.com/article...ks_reveals_inf

[davidbfpo]

A BBC TV report on the five US-Pakistanis who left for the Jihad and were arrested in Pakistan, under the title 'The rising threat of home grown extremism in US' and a chunky quote:

Five US citizens accused of plotting jihad, attempting to join Al-Qaeda and planning terrorist attacks are due to appear in court in Pakistan's Punjab province on Tuesday. Peter Marshall considers whether a lack of opportunity for open debate in the US might have led these young Muslims to extremism.

When five US students were reported missing in November last year, their relatives had no inkling they had left the country. Yet nine days later the young men had turned up on the other side of the world in deep trouble.
So how did these young men go from quiet lives in a Virginia suburb to terrorism charges and a prison cell in Pakistan in little more than a week?

Link:

[Jedburgh]

CSIS, 8 Mar 10: A Growing Terrorist Threat? Assessing "Homegrown" Extremism in the United States

The five “cases” discussed in this paper—which were part of a larger trend of heightened domestic extremism during 2009—proved so unsettling, in part, because they seemed to contradict much of the recent thinking concerning radicalization and terrorism in the United States. Both policymakers and the public have tended to classify extremist violence as a problem with origins outside the United States. This trend gained momentum after the September 11, 2001, attacks, when President George W. Bush invoked the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars as part and parcel of the United States’ counterterrorism strategy. As the president said in a June 2005 speech, we were focused on “taking the fight to the terrorists abroad, so we don’t have to face them here at home.”

But what if the terrorists we face already live here at home? As this report shows, the acceleration of domestic extremism poses a number of serious considerations for U.S. policymakers and officials in charge of counterterrorism and homeland security. Had they successfully linked up with militants in Afghanistan, for instance, the “Northern Virginia Five” could have used their fluency in English and understanding of American culture to aid Taliban attacks on U.S. troops. David Coleman Headley appears to have utilized his U.S. passport to gain access to India to undertake preparations for the Mumbai attacks; his alleged coconspirators, operating with Pakistani documentation, faced far more significant barriers to entry.

Najibullah Zazi offers the clearest example of an oft-discussed hypothetical—namely, that U.S. legal residents and citizens might travel abroad to receive explosives or weapons training in terrorist camps, then return here to plan and execute attacks. Given the United States’ largely effective post-9/11 efforts to prevent foreign terrorist infiltration, these sorts of homegrown recruits may represent the best chance for al Qaeda and other global terrorist organizations to launch a major attack in the United States. Of course, would-be domestic extremists need not acquire training abroad to inflict substantial harm at home, as the Fort Hood shootings revealed. The threats posed by homegrown extremism, then—even if not widespread—demand a close examination....

[davidbfpo]

Jedburgh,

A good catch the CSIS paper, although I note many of the cited examples have featured here - in other threads. Descriptive part aside tackling the Jihadist narrative is acknowledged to be key and then IMHO is not grasped.

I do wonder if the 'home grown threat' has just become more visible. IIRC there was a period when this threat was far greater, during the Vietnam War era with almost daily bombings and the militia movement's antics (including Oklahoma City '95).

[davidbfpo]

The issue of community assistance in CT re-appeared in the USA, during the furore over the Rep. King hearings and this struck me as good quotation:

Rep. Peter King (R-NY), the new chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, says he wants the upcoming hearings in Washington to focus on “Muslim radicalization”, but Baca says the burden of proof rests on the congressman, not the Muslim community at large.(My emphasis)If he has evidence of non-cooperation, he should bring it forward ... We have as much cooperation as we are capable of acquiring through public trust relationships. King has said that retired law enforcement officials are more likely to voice their concerns — albeit privately — about the reluctance of many Muslim community leaders to cooperate with law enforcement, but also notes that active duty officers are much more hesitant to go on record about the issue.

Link:http://topics.npr.org/quote/01X9fKvbPic25?q=CBS

[davidbfpo]

For those who are following this plot, some details on the device / IED and after a long day not perused:http://www.spokesman.com/stories/201...-bombs-makeup/

[AdamG]

New CIA Theme Song

WASHINGTON – CIA director Leon Panetta is warning his employees that leakers will be investigated and possibly prosecuted after a flurry of reports in the media about the technology and methods used to track and ultimately kill Osama bin Laden.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110518/...us_cia_leaks_1

[AdamG]

(CNSNews.com) - As the United States Postal Service looks at ways to cut budgets and deal with declining revenue, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers is going against the grain by suggesting the agency should be increasing the services offered, including thwarting terrorists.
President of The National Association of Letter Carriers Fredric Rolando, has several ideas to increase the responsibility of some postal workers. Among them is to outfit postal trucks with sensors so letter carriers can thwart biological terrorist attacks, according to recent reports.

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/...uld-thwart-ter

[Firn]

Militia Charged With Plotting to Murder Officers

In an indictment against the nine unsealed on Monday, the Justice Department said they were part of a group of apocalyptic Christian militants who were plotting to kill law enforcement officers in hopes of inciting an antigovernment uprising, the latest in a recent surge in right-wing militia activity.

The court filing said the group, which called itself the Hutaree, planned to kill an unidentified law enforcement officer and then bomb the funeral caravan using improvised explosive devices based on designs used against American troops by insurgents in Iraq.

I have a hard time to fit this in, but it sounds rather dangerous than mere idiotic. Any thoughts on that matter?


Firn

[davidbfpo]

Firn,

This reported plot does fit in with open source comments, some of which are on the Law Enforcement thread.

It will be interesting when in the court documents are in the public domain how the plot was discovered, especially if the group were infiltrated by law enforcement.

In contrast most extreme right wing plots here are discovered by chance encounters with the police, along some investigations, although there is a history of infiltration years ago.

[Schmedlap]

I don't know if you were suggesting it, but I don't think this fits into the "right wing" category any more than Earth Liberation Front fits into "left wing". While they were targeting law enforcement (which, I guess could be considered "anti-government" and thus closer to the "limited gov't" right wing), the motivation seemed to be not political, but rather some kook supernatural belief that, unfortunately, they think is justified in scripture.

Earlier today I had the pleasure of hearing people talk about this incident as though this is mainstream Christianity (or even substantially similar to Christianity). It's moments like these when I can better relate to Muslims who get annoyed when their religion gets a bad name from terrorists. Start with an ideology, go find a religious text, skim through it to find selected passages taken out of context that you can twist to fit your ends and then, presto, you're now a representative of that religion. Awesome.

[davidbfpo]

As if by magic:

An undercover agent played a role in the investigation that led to Monday's indictments. Grand jury testimony by a law enforcement officer referred to an "undercover FBI agent" who worked on the case.

Less certain and an opinion:

At first "they just seemed like a down-to-earth hillbilly family," he said. "After 20 minutes into the meeting, I realized these guys are not dealing with a full deck.

Link:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...DDLETopStories

[JPS]

The operational and strategic mistakes of the Hutaree are almost comical. Based on the open source material available and assuming that the reports of the indictment are accurate, they have shown exactly how not to run a sectarian cell.

[Ken White]

that are 'plotting' evil acts. Funny how so many of those publicized are like that, flakes that possibly pose some potential danger but also seem likely to never do much more than think grand thoughts -- and do little...

[Bullmoose Bailey]

Ironically enough this case proves that there are WMDs in Iraq, ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutaree

[davidbfpo]

Ironically enough this case proves that there are WMDs in Iraq, ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutaree

That statement is puzzling. Where in this unqualified, if useful Wikipedia source is the proof there were WMDs in Iraq?

[Sumtingwong]

The definition of WMD, which is linked.

[davidbfpo]

The definition of WMD, which is linked.

How does a US criminal code definition of WMD prove their presence in Iraq?

[Kevin23]

Last night in Times Square New York City, a vehicle was found to be equipped with what appeared to be a possible car bomb after arising the suspicions of the vendor in the area.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8657161.stm

[davidbfpo]

I've watched the CNN footage and listened to some "talking heads" passing comment. Compliments to NYPD and others on the response after a member of the public called in.

Some interesting comments - at a strategic level - by Steve Coll:http://www.newyorker.com/online/blog...terrorism.html

The country’s vulnerability arises not so much from the damage terrorists will cause but from American society’s self-defeating inability to see such violence in perspective and to find leadership and language to define national resilience.

Further away and from a CT viewpoint:

..what strikes me about it all is the problem that repeatedly faces terrorists…actually getting something to go boom.

Link:http://allthingsct.wordpress.com/201...-times-square/