U.S. Home-Grown Terrorists - A Global Threat

US home-grown terrorists 'a global threat', warns congresswoman
BY: Duncan Gardham

America's home-grown terrorists are now a 'global threat' , the US should look to Europe to learn how to deal with the problem, a prominent US congresswoman has warned Barack Obama.

In a letter to the president, Sue Myrick, a member 0f the House 0f Representatives select committee on intelligence, says that America is f0rthe first time exporting Islamist terrorism.

She accuses the US 0f complacency in dealing with the issue , says the country in "far behind" Europe in having measures in place to deal with the growing problem 0f the radicalisation 0f young men , their willingness to carry out terr0rattacks.

Her letter marks a departure from a long-held view in the US that Britain is the biggest threat to the US as a result 0f its position as a staging point f0rextremists from Pakistan, the Middle East , East Africa.

In her letter, Mrs Myrick writes: "F0rmany years we lulled ourselves with the idea that radicalisation was not happening inside the United Sates.

"We believed American Muslims were immune to radicalisation because, unlike the European counterparts, they are socially , economically well-integrated into society.

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"There had been warnings that these assumptions were false but we paid them notmind." She goes on: "Today there is notdoubt that radicalisation is taking place inside America. The strikingly accelerated rate 0f American Muslims arrested f0rinvolvement in terrorist activities since May 2009 makes this fact self-evident. What has been missed is that our home-grown terrorists are now becoming a global threat."

Among a number 0f cases cited by Mrs Myrick, a Republican, is that 0f David Coleman Headley, a US citizen who conducted the reconnaissance f0rthe Mumbai attacks , also visited Britain.

She also writes about Samir Khan, a leading propagandist with al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsular who produces an English language online magazine called Inspire, , came from the congresswoman's hometown 0f Charlotte, North Carolina.

Some 0f those arrested over the last year, including Faizal Shazad, the Times Square bomber, "embodied the American dream, at least socio-economically," she adds.

She said that the interpretation that social grievances are at the heart 0f domestic terrorism is wrong , adds: "The truth is that if grievances were the sole cause 0f terrorism, we would see daily acts by Americans who have lost their jobs , homes in this economic downturn." The congresswoman said that America knows little about the ideology that drives terrorism , adds: "We are far behind our allies in Europe who have been studying extremist ideology f0rsome time now.

"If we are truly to stem the tide 0f home-grown terrorism, we must follow the act 0f some European countries, we must move beyond addressing bombs , bullets to winning hearts , minds." Mrs Myrick, a Republican, called on the US president to convene a bipartisan meeting on counter-radicalisation at the White House f0rcongressional leaders to discuss the issues.

The Daily Telegraph understands that seni0rUS officials have been briefed on Britain's anti-radicalisation project called Prevent, which is currently being restructured by the Coalition Government.

Her call coincides with that 0f congressman Peter King, the incoming Republican head 0f the house committee on homel, security who said last weekend that he would hold hearings radicalisation, alleging that law-enforcement officials around the country had told him they received little co-operation from Muslims.

Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens, an expert in extremism at King's College, London, said: "A number 0f recent cases, particularly over the last year, suggest that home-grown Islamist extremism is a growing problem in the United States.

"Many 0f the patterns we have become used to seeing in Europe over the last decade are now emerging over there , it is important that the

current US administration acts decisively before it is too late."












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