From the AP:Efforts by terrorists abroad to radicalize and recruit U.S. residents are an evolving problem, three top Obama administration officials told Congress on Wednesday.
The threat posed by homegrown extremists shows that the battle against terrorism has become more complex in the past year, underscoring the challenges of pinpointing and blocking terrorist plots, said Michael Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center.
"Groups affiliated with al-Qaida are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures," FBI Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
"It appears domestic radicalization and homegrown extremism is becoming more pronounced," Mueller said.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said al-Qaida has inspired an array of terrorist groups.
"We are all seeing more diverse activity" by a more diverse collection of groups, Napolitano said.
From the Daily News:
Homeland security officials will hand New York $18.5 million today to keep the city's prototype dirty-bomb detection system running, the Daily News has learned.
New York lawmakers had to battle the Obama administration for the money, putting it in the federal budget last year after homeland security officials stripped it.
Run out of an operations center in the city, the effort features more than 4,500 pieces of radiation detection equipment, many equipped with GPS locators.
It's all aimed at sniffing out a nuke or dirty bomb before it can get across a bridge or tunnel and be detonated in the city.
Terrorism experts warn that the Holy Grail for violent extremists is getting their hands on a weapon of mass destruction.
Even a dirty bomb, which does little explosive damage, could be devastating to the city and economy if it contaminates vital areas with radiation.
Wow, I feel so much safer now!
18 comments:
"Groups affiliated with al-Qaida are now actively targeting the United States and looking to use Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures,"
Wait. I thought that, for the last 10-yrs, we've been waging a war against terror. Weren't they always targeting us? Isn't that why they had those color-coded alerts? Isn't that why we have the Patriot Act and all those other liberty-curtailing edicts?
And they say we are not at war with Islam? Check your premises. Then get your head out of the sand.
I have to laugh at Gen David Petraeus. He tells us that if the Florida pastor burns the Koran, it will endanger the troops.
For what reason are the troops fighting in Afghanistan? To spread the Bill of Rights or not? We build schools there so that they can teach the revulsion known as the Koran?
Make your choice: The Koran or the Declaration of Independence.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said al-Qaida has inspired an array of terrorist organizations.
"We are all seeing more diverse activity" by a more diverse collection of groups, Napolitano said.
There's that "D-word" again!
Well Janet, as a representative of the intellectually superior "Left", looks like you've finally achieved the diversity that you've been looking for all these years!
Be careful what you wish for!
Since 2009, at least 63 American citizens have been charged or convicted for terrorism or related crimes, "an astoundingly high number of American citizens who have attacked - or intended to attack - their own country," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the committee's chairman.
Hmmm.....63 "American Citizens"?
Are these guys named: O'Malley, Bronstein, Jones, Gupta, Kowalski, Chang, Liebowitz, Park, Kim, Dupre, Von Braun, Schmidt?
A year ago, the FBI arrested Michael C. Finton in Illinois and Hosam Smadi in Texas in connection with unrelated bomb attempts.
Several U.S. residents from Somali-American communities in Minneapolis were recruited to fight with the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabab.
Omar Hammami, an Alabama man now known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki, or "the American," has become one of al-Shabab's most high-profile members and appeared in a jihadist video in May 2009.
Leiter said plots by homegrown Sunni extremists were disrupted in New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alaska, Texas and Illinois in the past year and point to "a collective subculture and a common cause," even though the plots were unrelated.
Napolitano said U.S.-born, Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki is an illustration of an English-speaker spreading propaganda over the Internet, an approach she said could be helping to increase the number of homegrown extremists.
Now we're getting closer - but wait - "Michael C. Finton"? That sounds like a regular "Joe Six Pack" American guy?
Or is it?
A quick internet search reveals -
Michael C. Finton, 29, who also went by the name Talib Islam
Ah ha!!!! Now we're getting somewhere!!
Talib Islam ("Michael C. Finton" HAHAHAHA!!!)
Hosam Smadi
Several U.S. residents from Somali-American communities in Minneapolis
Omar Hammami, an Alabama man now known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki
Homegrown Sunni extremists
Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki
What could possibly be the common thread here? I'm not quite sure?
Maybe Sherlock Bloomberg could tie it all together for me?
He did a great job speculating on the identity of the Times Square bomber!!!
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said al-Qaida has inspired an array of terrorist organizations.
"We are all seeing more diverse activity" by a more diverse collection of groups, Napolitano said.
There's that "D-word" again!
Well Janet, as a representative of the intellectually superior "Left", looks like you've finally achieved the diversity that you've been looking for all these years!
Be careful what you wish for!
Since 2009, at least 63 American citizens have been charged or convicted for terrorism or related crimes, "an astoundingly high number of American citizens who have attacked - or intended to attack - their own country," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., the committee's chairman.
Hmmm.....63 "American Citizens"?
Are these guys named: O'Malley, Bronstein, Jones, Gupta, Kowalski, Chang, Liebowitz, Park, Kim, Dupre, Von Braun, Schmidt?
A year ago, the FBI arrested Michael C. Finton in Illinois and Hosam Smadi in Texas in connection with unrelated bomb attempts.
Several U.S. residents from Somali-American communities in Minneapolis were recruited to fight with the Somali-based terrorist group al-Shabab.
Omar Hammami, an Alabama man now known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki, or "the American," has become one of al-Shabab's most high-profile members and appeared in a jihadist video in May 2009.
Leiter said plots by homegrown Sunni extremists were disrupted in New York, North Carolina, Arkansas, Alaska, Texas and Illinois in the past year and point to "a collective subculture and a common cause," even though the plots were unrelated.
Napolitano said U.S.-born, Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki is an illustration of an English-speaker spreading propaganda over the Internet, an approach she said could be helping to increase the number of homegrown extremists.
Now we're getting closer - but wait - "Michael C. Finton"? That sounds like a regular "Joe Six Pack" American guy?
Or is it?
A quick internet search reveals -
Michael C. Finton, 29, who also went by the name Talib Islam
Ah ha!!!! Now we're getting somewhere!!
Talib Islam ("Michael C. Finton" HAHAHAHA!!!)
Hosam Smadi
Several U.S. residents from Somali-American communities in Minneapolis
Omar Hammami, an Alabama man now known as Abu Mansour al-Amriki
Homegrown Sunni extremists
Yemen-based Anwar al-Awlaki
What could possibly be the common thread here? I'm not quite sure?
Maybe Sherlock Bloomberg could tie it all together for me?
He did a great job speculating on the identity of the Times Square bomber!!!
The wave of terrorism started with Carter's appeasement of Iran. The United States has been a target for a long time. It's good to see at lest one person in the Obama administration Michael Leiter name its source "radical Islam".
"Michael C. Finton" looks like someone thought that "Michael C. Fina" was Jewish-sounding because it is the name a jew-l-ry company.
Well, we know what must be done...
Ban photography. Ban public speech. Ban smoking in parks. Increase stop and frisk. Increase time allowed to be put in a cell without being charged with a crime. Increase warrant-less property searches. Close down 3rd party political groups. Install red light cameras. Install CCTV systems. Let the government tap into your PCs webcams. Give a full copy of your laptop hard drive to the TSA agent at the airport. No electronic carry-ons of any type on planes. Get to the airport 12 hours early. Frisk the 93 yr old in the wheelchair. No alcohol on any flights. GPS tracking in your cars with black-box data recording. Speed limiters on all transmissions. Get rid of tax breaks for economy cars. Microchip your kids.
There. Feel safer now?????
The wave of terrorism started with Carter's appeasement of Iran. The United States has been a target for a long time. It's good to see at lest one person in the Obama administration Michael Leiter name its source "radical Islam".
Actually, the first act commited by a foreign terrorist on American soil was when Palestinian Sirhan-Sirhan assassinated Sen. Bobby Kennedy for Kennedy's pro-Israel position.
Anonymous, you forgot ELIMINATE CASH.
Oh wait, MasterCard and Visa are already working on that one so that they can get a cut of every transaction.
the n.y.c. authorities know we are at war with islam radicals. try to drive through wall st. or broad st.,around the federal court buildings ,enter the holocaust museum,enter the underground garage at lincoln center,drive the former thru entrance to penn, station/l.i.r.r./madison sq.gdn at 31st street.
most citizens only notice the airports. the private airports no longer allow limo's to p/u at the plane on the field.
one police plaza is more secure than the u.n.in irag.
but bloomie and status cuomo must have their freedom of religion mosque at the w.t.c. islam radical attack site.
we do not need these two QUISLINGS( traitors) in government.
Anonymous said...
Well, we know what must be done...
Ban photography. Ban public speech. Ban smoking in parks. Increase stop and frisk. Increase time allowed to be put in a cell without being charged with a crime. Increase warrant-less property searches. Close down 3rd party political groups. Install red light cameras. Install CCTV systems. Let the government tap into your PCs webcams. Give a full copy of your laptop hard drive to the TSA agent at the airport. No electronic carry-ons of any type on planes. Get to the airport 12 hours early. Frisk the 93 yr old in the wheelchair. No alcohol on any flights. GPS tracking in your cars with black-box data recording. Speed limiters on all transmissions. Get rid of tax breaks for economy cars. Microchip your kids.
There. Feel safer now?????
-----------------------------------------
Well said and bore repeating!
So what your saying is the hipsters from astoria are working with Alquida now?
I'll make sure to throw their free range fair trade organic muffins on the ground the next time I see them.
Ok everyone....BREATH!!!
So what your saying is the hipsters from astoria are working with Alquida now?
The "hipsters' are in Billy Bourgeois Burg.
the 'hipster wannabees' are in Astoria, trying desperately to get directions to Williamsburg.
"the 'hipster wannabees' are in Astoria, trying desperately to get directions to Williamsburg."
I don't know about that...I think the real indie hipster snobs want us to believe that the radicals live in williamsburg...but the true radical ultra vegan hipsters live in Astoria but pretend to be wannabees.
Are 'hipsters' Hip To Be Square?
Did you ever notice a 'hipster' is really not so hip since they all want to look alike?
And what's with the ridiculous Chairman Mao hat? I wouldn't be caught dead looking like Chairman Mao.
Is it really 'hip' to not know what Chairman Mao did to his people?
I guess ignorance is bliss and is also 'hip'
- MY ASS!
How about Che Guevara?
Post a Comment