Sleeper Cells Waiting To Strike?

Latest Arrests In California Raise Speculations About U.S. Operatives

(CBS/AP)  Before, the operatives were controlled centrally. Now, "they're trained locally and get some funding, but then they return to their own country and decide what attacks they carry out on their own timetable," said Larsen.

In the California case, the son, Hamid Hayat, was interviewed by the FBI last Friday and at first denied any link to terror camps. But the next day he was given a polygraph test and admitted he attended the camp in 2003 and 2004, according to an affidavit by FBI Agent Pedro Aguilar.

Larsen told CBS News Early Show co-anchor Reneé Syler this is "a success story."

"They've been tracking this guy for a while. It resulted in this arrest. And pretty likely, I would say, a conviction, because he's admitted to all this," Larsen said.

Hayat said photos of President Bush and other American political figures were pasted onto targets during weapons training, the affidavit said. At the end of training, participants were given the opportunity to choose the nation where their attacks would be carried out.

"Hamid advised that he specifically requested to come to the United States to carry out his jihadi mission," according to an affidavit released through the Justice Department in Washington. "Potential targets for attack included hospitals and large food stores."

The father, Umer Hayat, lied about his son's involvement and money he sent for the son's training, the affidavit said.

"It sounds like a pretty sophisticated training program," said Larsen. "The question is, these few cases we're seeing now, these three or four cases going on, are they the tip of the iceberg or is this a bit of an aberration? The concern right now in the intelligence community is that there may be a lot of these."

In Washington, President Bush said he had been briefed on the matter.

"I was very impressed by the use of intelligence and the follow-up," Mr. Bush said. "And that's what the American people need to know, that when we find any hint about any possible wrongdoing or a possible cell, that we'll follow up — by the way, honoring the civil liberties of those to whom we follow up."