Posted on 11/13/2006 7:14:34 PM PST by FairOpinion
Homeland Security: The FBI continues to claim America is free and clear of terrorist sleeper cells. But last week's startling announcement by Britain that it's tracking 200 cells casts doubt on that claim.
Is America really less radicalized, or is the MI5 simply looking harder than the FBI? One thing is for sure: British authorities appear more candid about the threat from Islamic radicals.
In a speech released Friday, the head of the MI5 said her agency had foiled five major plots since the 7/7 bombings in London — including last summer's al-Qaida plot to blow up 10 airliners over U.S. cities — and is tracking almost 30 terrorist plots involving a whopping 1,600 suspects.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Chertoff may recognize the obvious, but the FBI seems to be in denial.
Don't forget thri wild goose chase during the anthrax investigation, carefully ignoring all evidence that pointed to Al Qaeda and totally focused on Poor Hatfill isntead, remember the draining of the lake?
It is very likely IMO that one day soon we will wake up thinking we are in Madrid or London.
This is a disingenious article from IBD. IBD damn well know of what the FBI task force and BATF have been doing in NYC metro, there are easily 20 current syndicates interweaved here. Just in northern counties in NJ they suspect at least numerous fundraising cells, in the bedroom communities the IBD staff live near and drive in every day. This IBD editorial is a willful blindness.
As long as the FBI and law enforcement know where the cells are, the public doesn't need to know. It's better if the terrorists think they are invisible because then they will get careless and reveal themselves.
I think you're right.
I have never seen this or heard this. But a special agent I am aware of indicates they are working their butts off 24/7.
I just came back from a seminar about suicide terrorism with www.defender-consulting.com/. Friends, this is not a question of if, it is only when. we better be ready.
Never Forget - Freedom Is Not For Free
Hey, Tex, what brand you smokin', mate?
Real feel-good stuff, huh...? *S*
Cheers to all.
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress06/vanduyn092006.htm
Congressional Testimony
Statement of
Donald Van Duyn
Deputy Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Before the
House Homeland Security Committee
Subcommittee on Intelligence, Information Sharing, and Terrorism Risk Assessment
September 20, 2006
Chairman Simmons, Ranking Member Lofgren, and members of the Subcommittee, I want to thank you for this opportunity to speak to you on the topic of Islamic radicalization in the United States. I would like to emphasize before I begin that the issue is not Islam itself but how the religious ideology is used by violent extremists to inspire and justify their actions. The FBI does not investigate members of any religion for their religious beliefs, but rather focuses on investigating activities that may harm the United States.
Successes in the war on terrorism and the arrests of many key al Qaeda leaders have diminished the ability of the group to attack the U.S. homeland. At the same time, a broader Sunni extremist movement has evolved from being run entirely by al Qaeda central to a broader movement. This is demonstrated by the 2004 Madrid bombings, the July 2005 bombings and attempted bombings in London, and recent disruptions in the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada, Bosnia, Denmark, and elsewhere.
That said, core al Qaeda remains committed to attacking the United States and continues to demonstrate its ability to adapt its tactics to circumvent security measures and reconstitute its ranks. Al Qaeda is also attempting to broaden its appeal to English-speaking Western Muslims by disseminating violent Islamic extremist propaganda via media outlets and the Internet.
Although the most dangerous instances of radicalization have so far been overseas, the Islamic radicalization of U.S. persons, whether foreign-born or native, is of increasing concern. Islamic radicalization in the United States does not appear to be endemic, but it does exist nationwide. Key to the success of stopping the spread of radicalization is identifying patterns and trends in the early stages.
The FBI defines homegrown Islamic extremists as U.S. persons who appeared to have assimilated, but reject the cultural values, beliefs, and environment of the United States. They identify themselves as Muslims and on some level become radicalized in the United States. They intend to provide support for, or directly commit, a terrorist attack inside the United States. The threat from homegrown Islamic extremists is likely smaller in scale than that posed by overseas terrorist groups such as al Qaeda but is potentially larger in psychological impact. Several recent cases illustrate the nature of the issue.
Since August 2005 the FBI, other federal agencies, and our foreign partners have dismantled a global network of extremists who are operating independently of any known terrorist organization. Several individuals affiliated with this network were arrested for providing material support in connection with the plotting of a terrorist attack in the United States.
The apparent increase of cases involving homegrown Islamic extremists may represent an increased sensitivity of law enforcement to activities not previously regarded as terrorism, but we cannot rule out the possibility that the homegrown phenomenon is growing.
The FBI has identified certain venues, such as prisons and the Internet, that present opportunities for the proselytizing of radical Islam.
Particularly for Muslim converts, but also for those born into Islam, an extremist imam can strongly influence individual belief systems by speaking from a position of authority on religious issues. Extremist imams have the potential to influence vulnerable followers at various locations of opportunity; can spot and assess individuals who respond to their messages; and can potentially guide them into increasingly extremist circles.
Although the activities of radical imams are typically associated with Salafist-Wahhabi lectures given in the mosque, they are not limited to the mosque itself. Imams are often active and influential in other venues such as prisons, publishing, online forums, audio lectures, and at Islamic conferences and institutes. These various forums allow imams to reach new audiences and potentially susceptible followers outside of the mosque itself.
The propagation of radical ideas is not confined to Sunni Islam. Iran is committed to promoting Shia Islam activism.
The European and American experience shows that prisons are venues where extremists have radicalized and recruited among the inmate population. Prison radicalization primarily occurs through anti-U.S. sermons provided by contract, volunteer, or staff imams, radicalized inmates who gain religious influence, and extremist media. Ideologies that radicalized inmates appear most often to embrace include the Salafi form of Sunni Islam (including revisionist versions commonly known as "prison Islam") and an extremist view of Shia Islam similar to that of the government of Iran and Lebanese Hizballah.
Most cases of prison radicalization appear to be carried out by domestic Islamic extremist groups with few or no direct foreign connections, like the Sunni Islamic extremist group in California, the Jam'iyyat Ul-Islam Is-Saheeh, identified in July 2005. I would like to emphasize that not all prison radicalization is Islamic in nature. Domestic groups such as white supremacists also recruit in prisons.
In response to this possible threat, the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons have been actively engaged in efforts to detect, deter, and interdict efforts by terrorist and extremist groups to radicalize or recruit in U.S. prisons since February 2003. As part of these efforts, we have identified best practices for correctional institutions to combat the spread of radicalization.
The Internet is also a venue for the radicalization of young, computer-savvy Westerners—both male and female—who identify with an Islamic extremist ideology. An older generation of supporters and sympathizers of violent Islamic extremism, in the post-9/11 environment of increased law enforcement scrutiny, have migrated their radicalization, recruitment, and material support activities online.
Radicalization via the Internet is participatory, and individuals are actively engaged in exchanging extremist propaganda and rhetoric online which may facilitate the violent Islamic extremist cause. These online activities further their indoctrination, create links between extremists located around the world, and may serve as a springboard for future terrorist activities.
Overseas experience can also be a significant element in facilitating the transition from one who has a proclivity to be radicalized and who may espouse radicalized rhetoric, to one who is willing and ready to act on those radicalized beliefs. Although radicalization can occur without overseas travel, the foreign experience appears to provide the networking that makes it possible for interested individuals to train for and participate in operational activity. The experience may vary from religious or language instruction to basic paramilitary training.
We assess that the overseas experiences of John Walker Lindh played a pivotal role in his involvement with the Taliban. Once overseas, he was directed by radicalized individuals to attend extremist universities and ultimately training camps in Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Lindh, after pleading guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to supporting the Taliban in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and carrying an explosive during the commission of a felony, was given a 20-year prison sentence.)
The FBI approaches the radicalization issue on two levels:
We are attempting to understand the dynamics of individual and organizational radicalization to identify early indicators as to whether individuals or groups are demonstrating the potential for violence.
We are engaged in extensive outreach to Muslim communities to dispel misconceptions that may foster extremism.
Thank you for the opportunity to address this important issue. I am happy to answer your questions.
There are probably plenty of mooselimb terror operations going on in the U.S. at this time, it's just that the f.b.i. is too incompetant to figure it out.
To busy covering up all Clintons misdeeds.
They have a much higher proportion of Muslims, mostly Pakistani, but also from other parts of the former Empire.
Mueller's apointment was rightly opposed by th eWall Street Journal , he is either cooupt or incompetent.
Mueller was in deep with BCCI, and let/facilitated the cancer of corruption in our government continue - unabated.
Unfounded fear, for now anyway. Another attack on US soil could change that. Especially if it's on a "soft" target, such as a shopping mall, a school, or a packed sports stadium/arena.
If they don't want to live like Jiahdists, they shouldn't live like them, but many continue to do so after coming to the US. Many do not as well, especially outside the high Muslim concentration areas.
If the FBI knows where they are, they have already revealed themselves. The only reason not to arrest them is to get more information on other cells, so as to eventually roll them up. I suspect that if there was enough information to do that, it would have been done *before* the election. OTOH, maybe not, given other things that would have better been done before the election, but weren't.
You are so right.
My contractor brought in a carpenter to do some work at my place about a year or two before 9/11. He said he was from Saudi Arabia and appeared to be very Americanized. He claimed he liked Christians and Jews and couldn't understand why there was such friction between the religions.
All of a sudden he announced he was taking a vacation with his brother. He went to the Phillipines for 3 months and when he returned he claimed he was looking at farmland there with his brother. (Looking to buy the farm?) He gave the contractor a different story, said he was looking for a girlfriend.
The FBI statement is ridiculous. I think the British are probably better on this. They work on it. To think there are no more sleeper cells, how could they know ? I think we haven't been hit again is more out of luck than anything. I suppose the FBI knows everyone who has crossed the southern border.
"Doesn't give you a warm feeling about the FBI's competence, does it?"
The FBI is one of the most PC bureacracies in this country.
I said to Pan_Yan (husband) that at times it is hinted that we have captured or killed half of al-Qaeda. I can go with those figures. But I do wonder about what the actual numbers are.
He reminded me that McNamara's fascination with the death toll, and the premise that if we were killing more men than we were losing... that that meant we were winning in VietNam, was a fallacy. And because of that, our gov't is loathe to talk about a body count.
That being said, I do believe that even if you discount al-Qaeda, there will forever be another group in line. They may not be as strong or organized as al-Qaeda was on September 11th, 2001. But they WILL always try to replace the terrorists that came before them.
This is NEVER going to end. And it reminds me of Netanyahu's statement before Congress in the fall of 2001. He said we are all Israelis now.
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