2009 was the coming out year for homegrown terrorists in America. 10 cases in all. There’s been a total of 30 cases since 9-11 and a third of them have been in 2009 alone….and they’re just getting started.
Look for that number to go even higher in 2010.
An undated picture shows a young man identified as Ramy Zamzam, who police say was one of the five Americans arrested in Pakistan in a terror plot.
The five young Americans accused last week of traveling from Washington to Pakistan to wage jihad cap what appears to be a record year for homegrown terror plots, exposing a dangerous trend that experts say poses the biggest challenge America’s security officials have ever faced.
Not including the Pakistan case, the Rand Corporation says that of the nearly 30 homegrown terror plots uncovered in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001, 10 surfaced in this year alone, including two actual attacks — in Little Rock, Ark. and Fort Hood, Texas.
That puts “the level of activity in 2009 much higher than that of previous years,” Rand Senior Adviser Brian Jenkins told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee last month.
“There’s definitely a rise in jihad recruits and volunteers in the United States, whether they’re concerning plots here in the U.S. or whether they involve material support to terror plots overseas,” says counterterrorism analyst Steve Emerson, author of “American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us.”
*Update* Naturally, CBS has this thoughtful explanation of why there’s a rise in Jihadism in the US:
On the CBS Evening News on Saturday, correspondent Kimberly Dozier reported on a recent rise in homegrown Islamic extremism in the United States and explored the motivation behind it: “… terrorism experts agree militant Islam is becoming an American problem….the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan make potent recruiting tools. They’re portrayed by the militants as America’s war on Islam.”
Dozier went on to cite American bigotry as another cause: “Muslim community leaders here say young people are also being driven to extremes by post-9/11 anti-Muslim propaganda like this.” An obscure anti-Muslim video was played as she continued: “And rising incidents of genuine anti-Muslim discrimination. Civil rights complaints have jumped 10 percent in just the past year, according to the Council on American Islamic Relations.” (Citing CAIR as a source is about as laughable as the original point made – ed)
While using C.A.I.R. as a credible source, Dozier only briefly mentioned the organization’s radical ties: “There’s been tension between the FBI and the Council over alleged links to militant groups which it denies.” She then offered a dismissive statement from C.A.I.R.: “It says U.S. authorities should start using the Muslim community as a resource, not an adversary, to help it police its own.”
Related posts:
- 3 Islamic terror plots in one day, Where is the Muslim outrage?
- Pakistan: Detained Muslim-Americans Admit Jihad Plans *Update* Video of CAIR press conference
- Obama blames Gitmo for Al Qaeda’s rise in the Arabian Peninsula
- Muslim attorneys should also rise for judge, says Dutch minister
- Austria: Vienna teacher suspended for distributing anti-semitic propaganda to children
- Shocker: As muslim populations increase, so does anti-semitism
- Muslim leader speaks on Fort Hood: Blames attack on “resentment of US Government” and nothing to do with Islam
- Experts: Judeophobia on the rise
- 3 British Muslims found guilty in “deadly terror attack”
- UK: Islamist Hijack plot from India caused yesterday’s “severe” terror alert
