Friday, May 21, 2010
Associated Press
WASHINGTON
The failed Times Square bombing exposed the unsolved threat hidden among the massive flow of Americans going abroad: Homegrown jihadists who travel undetected to terrorist havens, link up with insurgents and carry back plots aimed at the homeland.
As the U.S. and other countries put more pressure on militants overseas, terror groups are more actively wooing Americans, who don’t face as much scrutiny when they travel, U.S. authorities say.
“I think there is a calculated decision being made by some in the al-Qaida leadership to look for people who might have more access” to the U.S., said Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, former head of U.S. Northern Command, in an interview with The Associated Press.
“Al-Qaida is having difficulty growing jihadists in some of the areas where they have safe haven because of the pressure that has been put on them, so they seem to be looking for people who have no previous connections and trying to radicalize them,” said Renuart, who retired this week after 39 years of military service.
The Times Square case is reinforcing concerns in Congress about gaps in the government’s patchwork system to find and track homegrown militants on the move.
These citizens, who quietly take on jihadi beliefs but have no apparent terrorist background or ties, set off no alarms as they cross in and out of the U.S.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens go back and forth to countries known to house terror groups and training camps, such as Pakistan, Somalia and Yemen.
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