Posted on 06/13/2006 7:28:31 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities are discovering new home-grown cells of Islamist radicals in the United States that draw inspiration and moral support from al Qaeda, officials said on Tuesday.
Like local terrorism cells that have recently come to light in Canada and Europe, officials said the groups are comprised of disaffected young men in their teens and 20s who rely on the Internet to try to organize and plan potential attacks on the U.S. homeland.
Concern about attacks inside the United States gathered pace after the arrest earlier this month in Canada of 17 men -- all Canadian citizens or residents -- accused of planning al Qaeda-inspired attacks across densely populated southern Ontario.
Scott Redd, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in a written statement to the Senate that the emergence of home-grown terrorist groups is posing "real challenges" for U.S. authorities despite law enforcement successes at disrupting potential attacks.
"We are grappling with a whole new set of questions: what forces give rise to this violent ideology in immigrant communities that may appear otherwise to be quite well assimilated? ... What signs should we be looking for to try to draw early warning of potential problems?" the statement said.
In later oral testimony, Redd said home-grown cells were a new domestic phenomenon for which the FBI and law enforcement agencies had no "baseline" for measuring the scale of the problem.
Redd declined to discuss details with senators in public but cited recent arrests of terrorism suspects in California and Georgia.
"That's three in a little over a year, and there are obviously other investigations ongoing," Redd told the committee.
Sen. Joseph Biden (news, bio, voting record) of Delaware, the panel's ranking Democrat, said the emergence of home-grown U.S. terror cells is widely recognized within the intelligence community.
"Everyone I've spoken to in the intelligence community says there are more cells now in the United States, there's more activity in the United States," Biden said.
Intelligence officials have long warned the international battle against al Qaeda had encouraged Islamist militants to operate in small groups like the cell that carried out bombings in London in 2005.
The Bush administration has also pointed to the flexibility of al Qaeda operatives as justification for President George W. Bush's domestic spying program, which has caused an outcry by allowing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens without a warrant while in pursuit of militants.
Biden noted that word of new cells inside the United States comes at a time when the Bush administration has proposed 40 percent cutback in counterterrorism funding for New York and Washington -- the two cities hit in the September 11 attacks.
He also blasted the administration for not meeting security funding recommendations by the September 11 commission.
"We're spending $740 million for the whole shooting match and the recommendation is $44 billion over five years," the Delaware senator said.
"I find it absolutely on the verge of criminal."
A U.S. Capitol police officer guards the West steps of the U.S. Capitol building, May 26, 2006. U.S. intelligence and law enforcement authorities are discovering new home-grown cells of Islamist radicals in the United States that draw inspiration and moral support from al Qaeda, officials said on Tuesday. (Yuri Gripas/Reuters)
Simplest solution is to outlaw Islam and deport them.
And Saudi Arabia funds them all (along with mosques, schools, prison chapliancy programs and think tanks).
Yet the Sauds somehow escape the "either you're with us or with the terrorists" decree.
I feel the same way about your 9-11 commission, Hairplugs..
flush 'em out ping
duh. we still have mosques and madrassas. QED.
Where is the outcry Muslims? Where is the outcry repatriated Middle Easteners and natural born Americans of Middle Eastern origin. Where? Where? Darn this just pisses me off.
it will not go well with these cells....just one hit and bye-bye moderate Moooslims!
The border will be closed north and south within 24 hours with shoot to kill orders and the money will flow for protection!
Hey CAIR...wise up...let us know who the snakes are. Or you won't be yapping on Larry King anymore..you'll be heading out of the country and doing your talk shows on Al Jeers.
They're just now figuring that out?
As a matter of curiousity, does any one know what Joe Biden did before his brains fell out???
Is it possible for an elected democrat to even speak into the mike at a drive-thru window without taking the opportunity to somehow find fault with the administration?
Actually, yes I can answer that question for you.
I was a teenager in Delaware when Biden was first elected to the Senate, and our Social Studies teacher gave us a quick rundown on how Biden established himself once he got the seat.
Basically, He kissed A LOT of Senate ass until he'd acquired enough seniority to demand others kiss his ass.
So, apparently he started out with the intention of becoming a career politician. I suppose he figured he wouldn't need a brain so he ditched it somewhere along the way.
Chuckie, the lieing sack of sh!t makes these comments for political purposes.
Of course, as Rush pointed out, the likes of Biden failed to mention that the $40b allocated to NY has been consumed and the capital reconstruction had been completed.
Personally, I think NYC is no more longer more of a target than San Fran, Boston, or the Hoover dam.
And a few hundred legislators in DC.
Ya took one hit too much in school? LOL. Series, the ACLU will defend these animals, even if they met this guy:
(Muslim) Informants in American Service
The Strategy Page ^ | June 4, 2006 | The Strategy Page
http://freerepublic.com/focus/news/1643576/posts
Posted on 06/05/2006 7:56:30 AM CDT by Little Ray
A recent terrorist trial, and conviction, of an Islamic terrorists in New York City brought out the extent to which police have infiltrated Moslem communities in order to uncover terrorist plots. While most of this counter-terrorist activity within Moslem communities is kept secret, enough information has leaked out to make it clear that it's no accident that the United States has not suffered another terrorist attack since September 11, 2001.
There is an extensive informant network within Moslem communities all over the United States. The FBI was pleasantly surprised right after September 11, 2001, by the number of calls they got from American Moslems, reporting suspicious events in their communities, or volunteering to keep an eye on things. It turned out that there was a substantial number of American Moslems, most of them recent immigrants (legal and illegal) that were pro al Qaeda. These attitudes had been causing distress among American Moslems since the 1990s. There had been violence, and even some murders, as the Islamic radicals tried to take control of Mosques, and other Moslem immigrant organizations. While Arabs have been migrating to the United States for over a century, until the 1960s, most of those migrants were Arab Christians, or Jews. Once Israel was founded, the Middle Eastern Jews generally went to Israel, while Arab Christians continued to head for America. Then came the large waves of Arab Moslems. The established Arab-Americans did not have close ties with the growing number of Arab Moslem migrants. There were some pan-Arab organizations, but the Arab Moslems tended to keep to themselves. This was no surprise to the Arab-American Christians, as their ancestors had come to American to escape persecution by Moslems back home. Old animosities die hard.
(Snip)
If you can see them, then you can destroy them
Joe Can't Remember Either!:
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.