Homegrown Threat

A Marine Corps reservist, Yonathan Melaku, was arrested last week for suspicious activity near the Pentagon. When Melaku was approached by law enforcement in Arlington National cemetery on Friday, he fled, dropping his backpack in the chase. The backpack contained a number of suspicious items including 9 mm shell casings, clear plastic bags with a powdery substance (later found to be ammonium nitrate), and a notebook with references to the Taliban, al Qaeda, and other terrorist groups.

Documents discussing bomb-making were found in a search of his home, as well as a videotape of Melaku shouting “allahu Akbar” after firing shots at the US Marine Corps museum. Forensic evidence linked him to five shootings at four military buildings in the fall of 2010.

Reports show that Melaku, like many other would-be-terrorists, radicalized himself through the internet. He reportedly watched countless videos on YouTube describing atrocities in the Muslim world and accusing America of attacking Muslims. 

Two men were arrested last week in a plot to attack a military recruiting station in Seattle. Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, (Joseph Anthony Davis) and Walli Mujahidh (Frederick Domingue) had planned use machine guns and grenades to attack the Military Entrance Processing Station, a site that houses many civilians, military employees, and a daycare.  The plot was foiled when a potential accomplice contacted authorities. 

Todd Hinnen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security was quoted saying, "Driven by a violent, extreme ideology, these two young Americans are charged with plotting to murder men and women who were enlisting in the Armed Forces to serve and protect our country. This is one of a number of recent plots targeting our military here at home.”

Abdul-Latif had said that if a single gunman at Fort Hood could kill 13 people, three gunmen could kill many more. He added, “Imagine how fearful America will be, and they’ll know they can’t push Muslims around.” 

"To young, conservative Muslims, Yasir Qadhi is one of the most influential clerics in America. The 36-year-old Houston native has preached before tens of thousands of Muslims, drawing a strong following on Facebook and Twitter. Law-enforcement agents have also tracked his rise among a subset of Muslims considered vulnerable to radicalization. After a former student tried to blow up a plane, Qadhi found himself caught between a suspicious government and a young following he could lose." - The New York Times

Learn more about Yasir Qadhi, An American Cleric through footage and photos at the New York Times. 

According to a new Rasmussen Reports survey, only 10% of U.S. voters believe American Muslims are “speaking out enough against potential terrorist attacks in the US,” and only 17% believe American Muslims are treated unfairly. 

So 57% of voters think Muslims in America should more loudly criticize potential homegrown and domestic terrorism (34% were unsure).

A majority of voters worry about homegrown terrorism, and believe the government does not give enough attention to this potential threat. So maybe we need more hearings like the House Committee Homeland Security hearings on the potential danger of domestic Islamic terrorism…

Read more here. 

Today, Rep. Peter King (R-NY) held his congressional panel on homegrown terrorism in America, in which he said the American Muslim community is not doing its part in stopping terrorism. 

Homegrown terrorism is rising in America, with al Qaeda inspiring American Muslims to commit acts of violence. 

However, the Obama administration has expressed concern that “general statements” about and entire religion play into al Qaeda’s belief that America is at war with the Islamic religion.

What do you think?

You can read more about the panel here. 

Where do the “bad” Muslim children in Britain go?

More and more Muslim parents are sending their “problem kids” to Islamic religious schools in Kashmir, and according to Wikileaks, these kids are at a “high risk of radicalization,” and are increasingly likely to be recruited by al Qaeda.  

And the threats of homegrown radical Islam in Britain continue to grow…

A grandmother from Indiana, Kathie Smith, who recently converted to Islam and married a suspected German jihadist, is being investigated for possible links to suspected and convicted
international terrorists.

Smith has denied being anti-American but has also praised American-born radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and liked his Facebook page, called 9/11 an “inside job”, and claimed that the United States is a terrorist organization.

 Yeah…sounds like a real patriot to me…

More on this here.

According to Attorney General Eric Holder, Americans must "be prepared for potentially bad news."

In the last 18 months, over 50 Americans were charged with planning terror attacks. Many of these individuals were influenced by U.S. Citizen and al Qaeda member, Anwar al-Awlaki, who according to Holder, may be as great a threat as Osama bin Laden.

"The threat has changed from simply worrying about foreigners coming here, to worrying about people in the United States, American citizens -- raised here, born here, and who for whatever reason, have decided that they are going to become radicalized and take up arms against the nation in which they were born," Holder said in the interview with ABC News.

Watch the interview here.

For the second time in 2 weeks, a U.S. citizen attempted to use weapons of mass destruction on American soil.

Antonio Martinez, a recent convert to Islam who goes by the name Muhammad Hussain, attempted to detonate a fake bomb at a military recruitment center in Baltimore. His stated reason for choosing the recruitment center was his anger at the U.S. military for waging what he called, a “war on Muslims”.

2 in 2 weeks! These would-be-terrorists are living amongst us – we must ask ourselves what we can do to prevent further attempts to attack America from within.

For more infromation on the bomb attempt, click here.

In 2005, out of concern for the civil rights of its residents, Portland, Oregon’s city council refused to take part in the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Friday night, the FBI prevented a massive terror attack from taking place at Portland’s crowded tree-lighting ceremony.

This event attests to the potential disastrous consequences of Portland’s politically correct decision.

The city must now ask itself: Was forgoing security in exchange for civil liberty a wise decision? Was it correct to be politically correct?

For more information on Portland’s 2005 decision, see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/us/29portland.html?scp=1&sq=Portland&st=cse
And http://www.jihadwatch.org/2010/11/portland-oregon-refused-to-participate-in-joint-terrorism-task-force-in-2005.html

For the full story of the thwarted bomb attempt, see: http://video.nytimes.com/video/2010/11/27/us/1248069382734/oregon-bomb-plot.html?ref=terrorism