fatman17
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US must deal with domestic radical problem
* No federal agency has been charged with identifying radicalisation or working to prevent terrorist recruitment of US citizens
* United States should have learned from Britains experience
WASHINGTON: The United States was slow to take seriously the threat posed by homegrown radicals, and the government has failed to put systems in place to deal with the growing phenomenon, according to a report compiled by the former heads of a panel that investigated government activities before and after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The report says US authorities failed to realise that Somali-American youths travelling from Minnesota to Somalia in 2008 to join extremist groups was not an isolated event. Instead, the movement was one among several instances of a broader, more diverse threat that had surfaced across the country.
Our long-held belief that homegrown terrorism couldnt happen here has thus created a situation where we are today stumbling blindly through the legal, operational and organisational minefield of countering terrorist radicalisation and recruitment occurring in the United States, said the report. As a result, there remains no federal agency specifically charged with identifying radicalisation or working to prevent terrorist recruitment of US citizens and residents, said the report, released on Friday by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Centres National Security Preparedness Group.
The group, headed by former 9/11 commission leaders Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, laid out a detailed description of domestic terror incidents such as the Fort Hood shooting spree last year in which 13 people died; the attempt to crash an airliner in December as it was landing at Detroit, Michigan; and Mays botched vehicle bombing in New York Citys Times Square.
During the past year, terrorism experts and government officials have warned of the threat posed by homegrown radicals, saying terror recruits who go abroad could return to the United States to carry out attacks. But the United States, the report said, should have learned earlier from Britains experience. Before the 2005 suicide bombings in Londons transit system, the British believed that Muslims there were better integrated, educated and wealthier than their counterparts elsewhere.
Similarly, US authorities believed that its melting pot of nationalities and religions would protect it from internal radical strife, the report said. The terrorists, it said, may have discovered Americas Achilles heel in that we currently have no strategy to counter the type of threat posed by homegrown terrorists and other radicalised recruits.
US officials have acknowledged the need to address the radicalisation problem, and for the first time, the White House added combating homegrown terrorism this year to its national security strategy. The FBI, meanwhile, has worked to reach out to the Somali communities in an effort to counter the radicalisation of the youth.
The report also points to an Americanisation of the leadership of al Qaeda and its allied groups, noting that radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who encouraged the US soldier accused in the Fort Hood shooting and others, grew up in the state of New Mexico. And Chicagoan David Headley played a role in scooping the targets for the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba attacks on Mumbai in late 2008 that killed more than 160 tourists and others. Abroad, al Qaeda, its affiliates and other extremist groups have splintered and spread, seeking havens in undergoverned areas of Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and places in North and East Africa. That diversified threat has intensified as militants reached out to potential recruits through the Internet.
Assessing future threats, the report lists potential future domestic targets, including passenger jets, Western or American hotel chains, Jewish or Israeli sites and US soldiers, even at their own bases in America.
It also warns that it is no longer wise to believe that American extremists will not resort to suicide bombings. They point to Maj Nidal Hasans alleged shooting spree at Fort Hood as an example, saying he had written about suicide operations in e-mails, and that his attack appeared to be one. ap
* No federal agency has been charged with identifying radicalisation or working to prevent terrorist recruitment of US citizens
* United States should have learned from Britains experience
WASHINGTON: The United States was slow to take seriously the threat posed by homegrown radicals, and the government has failed to put systems in place to deal with the growing phenomenon, according to a report compiled by the former heads of a panel that investigated government activities before and after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
The report says US authorities failed to realise that Somali-American youths travelling from Minnesota to Somalia in 2008 to join extremist groups was not an isolated event. Instead, the movement was one among several instances of a broader, more diverse threat that had surfaced across the country.
Our long-held belief that homegrown terrorism couldnt happen here has thus created a situation where we are today stumbling blindly through the legal, operational and organisational minefield of countering terrorist radicalisation and recruitment occurring in the United States, said the report. As a result, there remains no federal agency specifically charged with identifying radicalisation or working to prevent terrorist recruitment of US citizens and residents, said the report, released on Friday by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Centres National Security Preparedness Group.
The group, headed by former 9/11 commission leaders Tom Kean and Lee Hamilton, laid out a detailed description of domestic terror incidents such as the Fort Hood shooting spree last year in which 13 people died; the attempt to crash an airliner in December as it was landing at Detroit, Michigan; and Mays botched vehicle bombing in New York Citys Times Square.
During the past year, terrorism experts and government officials have warned of the threat posed by homegrown radicals, saying terror recruits who go abroad could return to the United States to carry out attacks. But the United States, the report said, should have learned earlier from Britains experience. Before the 2005 suicide bombings in Londons transit system, the British believed that Muslims there were better integrated, educated and wealthier than their counterparts elsewhere.
Similarly, US authorities believed that its melting pot of nationalities and religions would protect it from internal radical strife, the report said. The terrorists, it said, may have discovered Americas Achilles heel in that we currently have no strategy to counter the type of threat posed by homegrown terrorists and other radicalised recruits.
US officials have acknowledged the need to address the radicalisation problem, and for the first time, the White House added combating homegrown terrorism this year to its national security strategy. The FBI, meanwhile, has worked to reach out to the Somali communities in an effort to counter the radicalisation of the youth.
The report also points to an Americanisation of the leadership of al Qaeda and its allied groups, noting that radical cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who encouraged the US soldier accused in the Fort Hood shooting and others, grew up in the state of New Mexico. And Chicagoan David Headley played a role in scooping the targets for the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba attacks on Mumbai in late 2008 that killed more than 160 tourists and others. Abroad, al Qaeda, its affiliates and other extremist groups have splintered and spread, seeking havens in undergoverned areas of Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and places in North and East Africa. That diversified threat has intensified as militants reached out to potential recruits through the Internet.
Assessing future threats, the report lists potential future domestic targets, including passenger jets, Western or American hotel chains, Jewish or Israeli sites and US soldiers, even at their own bases in America.
It also warns that it is no longer wise to believe that American extremists will not resort to suicide bombings. They point to Maj Nidal Hasans alleged shooting spree at Fort Hood as an example, saying he had written about suicide operations in e-mails, and that his attack appeared to be one. ap