Fears Rise Over Homegrown Jihadism

Recruiting Station Rampage Sparks Concerns About Rise Of Radicals Born And Bred In U.S.

(AP)  Carlos Bledsoe's transformation from Tennessee youth to an American-born Islamic extremist charged in a bloody rampage outside an Arkansas military recruiting station may signal an ominous new wave of violent homegrown jihadists, counterterror officials say.

National security officials have long feared the emergence of a new breed of American militants who would raise little suspicion as they move in and out of the country carrying out the aims of terrorist groups like al Qaeda.

"It's the manifestation of a problem that the counterterrorism community has been worried about all along," said CBS News national security analyst Juan Zarate, a top counterterrorism official in the Bush administration. Their worries center on "a radicalized individual who decides to take matters into his own hands."

Abdulhakim Muhammad, who grew up in Memphis, Tenn., converted to the Islamic faith, changed his name from Bledsoe, and traveled to Yemen in 2007. He was later arrested for overstaying his visa and deported back to the U.S., where he slid quietly into life in Little Rock, Ark., apparently unnoticed by U.S. law enforcement.

Muhammad was charged with killing Pvt. William Andrew Long, 23, of Conway, Ark., who had just completed basic training and was volunteering at the west Little Rock recruiting office before starting an assignment in South Korea. He was shot dead on June 1 while smoking a cigarette outside the building. A fellow soldier, Pvt. Quinton I. Ezeagwula, 18, of Jacksonville, Ark., was wounded. And an FBI-Homeland Security intelligence assessment document suggested Muhammad may have considered targeting other locations, including Jewish and Christian sites in several eastern U.S. cities.

Muhammad, 23, told The Associated Press in a jail cell interview last week that the shootings were an "act for the sake of God, for the sake of Allah, the Lord of all the world, and also a retaliation on U.S. military."

Former West Point researcher and jihadist expert Jarret Brachman calls the Arkansas killing a landmark case and "a giant step forward for the global jihadist movement." Brachman, who wrote a book on global jihad, said Muhammad's case proves that the U.S. can no longer pretend that violent jihadism is a foreign phenomenon.

"It is being born and bred here on American soil," he said. "The seeds have all been sown over the past few years, between Iraq and Afghanistan on our side, and the increased propaganda and increased jihadi education materials on their side."

While Western Europe has long grappled with homegrown terrorists, the U.S. has only recently begun to see instances of American-born-and-raised citizens acting on Islamic terrorist motivations. Counterterror officials say Muhammad succeeded where other homegrown militant plotters have largely failed.

Earlier this year four Muslim ex-convicts were arrested in New York for allegedly plotting to bomb synagogues and shoot down military planes. While federal authorities foiled the plan, the incident inflamed concerns about the spread of Islamic extremism in prisons.

That fear has been exacerbated in recent months by the debate over transferring suspected Islamic terrorists from the Guantanamo Bay detention center to U.S. prisons.

Muslim converts who bonded in prison were also linked to a 2005 plot to launch jihad-style attacks against Jewish and military targets in California. Law enforcement authorities investigating a string of gas station robberies uncovered the plan when they found a list of targets including three California National Guard facilities, the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles and several synagogues.

In some ways, violence plotted or committed by a lone gunman poses a greater threat than the actions of a group of plotters because there are no conspirators to help expose or allow for infiltration of the plot, said Zarate, now a senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

At the same time, he said, an individual's attack may not have the same impact or widespread damage as one planned by a group against multiple, strategic targets.

Recent attacks by non-Muslims - including last week's shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington (left) and last month's slaying of an abortion provider at a Kansas church - have garnered nationwide attention.

"There are very few ways to prevent them ... short of assigning a police officer to every person in America," said the Southern Poverty Law Center's Mark Potok.

Counterterrorism officials warn that unless individuals attract attention either through criminal behavior or even threat-laced Internet postings, U.S.-born radicals - particularly those operating alone - could go unseen until they take action.

"One of the scariest things is that we don't have a profile for how someone becomes radicalized," said counterterrorism expert Matthew Levitt. "It's different for everybody."

"It can happen on the Internet. It can happen in prison. It can happen in a mosque," said Levitt, who formerly worked with the FBI and Treasury Department. "There are different ways it manifests itself and that demonstrates how serious a problem it is."

Muhammad, in recent comments, denied he was radicalized in Yemen, a lawless, violence-wracked country where extremists are known to seek safe haven. In his interview with the AP, Muhammad said he acted out of revenge for claims that U.S. troops had desecrated copies of the Quran and killed or raped Muslims.

Levitt, co-author of a recent study on radicalization by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the U.S. needs to ensure that agencies work to maintain positive relations with the Muslim community. He and others point to Britain's efforts to counter extremist messages with more moderate Islamic voices, particularly within those communities.

"We can create space for lots of multiple competing voices - religious voices, secular voices," said Levitt. "The more voices out there, the more there will be competition for people who may be upset or frustrated about something but need not necessarily express themselves in a violent nature."

[CMancos]

This is what happens when you let millions of the enemy into your nation. Men are being recruited by the thousands right out of US prisons. That's where terrorist get their "soldiers" from. It isn't about strength and honor, it's about numbers. It really makes you wonder, if there were civil unrest in this nation, just how many guys like this would there be roaming the streets?

[sayfud-deen]

stuart 2012 you should watch your mouth! if you don't do drugs then you are really in trouble! you have the nerve to call me a mental midget after the incoherent foolishness you have written! and to call a Muslim a neo-fascist freak is a contradiction. a Muslim can't be both! but then you are too stupid to know that! and the only freak in this dialogue is the one that allowed you to come into this world! and you ain't no tough guy! so,stop trying to come off as one.

[Livinontheedge]

CBS site is even worse than before as far a posting goes.

[sayfud-deen]

let's see, the last time i checked if you failed to pay your taxes you may go to jail,lose your property,pay exorbitant fines, and so forth. you are forced to pay taxes. what do you call this army of twelve? also,muslims also pay the same taxes. lack of knowledge is not bliss! left socialist,we believe in all of Gods books,all of his prophets,ect. you can't make that statement! if you knew what you were talking about you would know that the arabic word Allah means the God. we are monotheist. we worship only God! and who told you that we worship some moon god? Qadar is the word for moon. i think you have us mixed with your Greek mythology! our God and your God are the same! lack of knowledge is not bliss! and kill them where ever you find them, has to do with war situations! i've been a muslim for 16 years and iam still learning and studying islam! this includes but is not limited too the hadiths,tafseers,tawhid,islamic law,arabic, and a assortment of mannerisms! so, it irks the hell out of me when you people read a page from the quran,or some article,or some hearsay, and think that you know islam! NO! what you do is distort islam to what you want it to be not what it is! none of you would buy a book and read a couple of pages and consider yourselves knowledgeable on the subject? yet this is what you do with islam. and this makes you very ignorant! by the way,we believe in the gospel of Christ,the injill,the torah,the palms of david,the old testament in addition to the quran! if you want to talk about islam in an intelligent manner,you need to read the books and talk to real muslims. otherwise,maybe you should keep your ignorance to yourself!

[sayfud-deen]

let's see, the last time i checked if you failed to pay your taxes you may go to jail,lose your property,pay exorbitant fines, and so forth. you are forced to pay taxes. what do you call this army of twelve? also,muslims also pay the same taxes. lack of knowledge is not bliss! left socialist,we believe in all of Gods books,all of his prophets,ect. you can't make that statement! if you knew what you were talking about you would know that the arabic word Allah means the God. we are monotheist. we worship only God! and who told you that we worship some moon god? Qadar is the word for moon. i think you have us mixed with your Greek mythology! our God and your God are the same! lack of knowledge is not bliss! and kill them where ever you find them, has to do with war situations! i've been a muslim for 16 years and iam still learning and studying islam! this includes but is not limited too the hadiths,tafseers,tawhid,islamic law,arabic, and a assortment of mannerisms! so, it irks the hell out of me when you people read a page from the quran,or some article,or some hearsay, and think that you know islam! NO! what you do is distort islam to what you want it to be not what it is! none of you would buy a book and read a couple of pages and consider yourselves knowledgeable on the subject? yet this is what you do with islam. and this makes you very ignorant! by the way,we believe in the gospel of Christ,the injill,the torah,the palms of david,the old testament in addition to the quran! if you want to talk about islam in an intelligent manner,you need to read the books and talk to real muslims. otherwise,maybe you should keep your ignorance to yourself!

[armyoftwelve]

by captsgdiver June 15, 2009 7:11 PM PDT
kill them all .. extremist like these are like a virus... just kill them all

Any citizen who wishes to destroy the US should be treated like former members of the Confederacy after the Civil War: can't own property, can't vote, can't own a gun, etc...

The exception should be NATURALIZED citizens. If we catch a naturalized citizen at a mosque or comunist rally or whatever screaming "death to America" we should consider that person's naturalization null and void. If you want the US to die then you obviously perjured yourself during your naturalization ceremony.

These people should be sent back to where they came WITHOUT the money and property they earned while living here under false pretences.

[captsgdiver]

kill them all .. extremist like these are like a virus... just kill them all

[armyoftwelve]

guess all those ads we aee that people click on CBS runs for free?
by stuart2012 June 15, 2009 6:54 PM PDT

I thought they only got paid if someone clicks...
In response to your last question: deen means religion. Can't recall
what sayfud is but want to say it means "star" or "star of"....my arabic is awfully rusty.

[armyoftwelve]

let's get this straight once and for all! in islam you are presented with the right to live as a non-muslim,pay taxes,and fall under the protection of the muslims
by sayfud-deen June 15, 2009 6:31 PM PDT

It isn't protection--IT'S EXPLOITATION! And it is a choice FORCED on nonmuslims by muslims. That's what is wrong with it--it's always FORCED. Those aren't God's rules, they're mohammed's and he is the one who is really the problem.

[sayfud-deen]

left socialist,please stop misleading people with your ignorance of islam! first, you need to learn to read. i never said that the quran,commanded muslims to kill non-muslims! and whoever put that statement in for this guy is an ******. let's get this straight once and for all! in islam you are presented with the right to live as a non-muslim,pay taxes,and fall under the protection of the muslims! or you can become a muslim if you wish,or you can wage war against the muslims! those are the rules,and have been for the last 1429 years! by the way the Holy Quran is spelled just like i wrote it. with a Q not a K! and speaking of the crusades,we don't have to go back in time you are just as perverted and barbaric today as you were then! most of you wouldn't know a muslim if they were right in front of you! this is one of the reasons that you confuse culture with islam! we don't honor kill,our wives don't have to walk behind us. we are not allowed to beat our wives. this is just a few of the negative mannerism that are attributed to islam but have nothing to do with islam. i guess it is easier to just stereotype people,than educate yourself on what is fact or fiction!