Regular readers of this blog know that I covered the rise of homegrown jihad extensively in my book,The Terrorist Next Door: How the Government is Deceiving You About the Islamist Threat. I set out to write the definitive book on the subject, based largely on my on-the-ground experiences over the past decade in American and European mosques and Islamic enclaves, as well as my interviews with Islamic terrorists, radical imams and other assorted unsavory Islamist characters.
Chapter 5, titled "Freaks, Geeks and Jihadis," and Chapter 8, called "It's the Ideology, Stupid," focus heavily on the indoctrination/radicalization process and why more and more American-born Muslims and recent immigrants are turning to jihad--including some of the most unlikely folks you can imagine (Jihad Jane, anyone?).
Needless to say, the threat these days is literally in your backyard--and it's just a click of the mouse away. According to a new Senate report, it's all moving very fast--but then, some of us have been sounding that alarm that for years now. Here's more from the Washington Times, including a look at the case of white convert Zachary Chesser, who I also examine in my book:
Young American Muslims can become radicalized online very quickly and with few warning signs, becoming potential terrorists before federal agencies can identify them, a new congressional report warned Monday.
Zachary Chesser, a 22-year-old Virginia man now serving 25 years for terrorism crimes, took less than two years to transform “from an average American kid to a hardened supporter of terrorist organizations,” according to a study of his case by staff from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
The bipartisan report analyzes his prolific online writing and correspondence with staff investigators after his guilty plea October 2010 to three terrorism-related felonies. The charges included attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization through his efforts to join al-Shabab, the al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia.
“Chesser represents a growing breed of young Americans who have such comfort and facility with social media that they can self-radicalize to violent Islamist extremism in an accelerated time period, compared to more traditional routes to radicalization,” the report said.
Chesser, who converted to Islam after graduating high school in 2008, is “a harbinger, not an outlier,” according to the report.
It's nice to see a Senate Committee taking an interest in the threat, but I was completely disheartened at the reaction to news on Feb. 17 that a Moroccan illegal immigrant was arrested en route to the U.S. Capitol to detonate what he thought were live explosives.
So a Muslim jihadist plots to blow up the U.S. Capitol. Yet the story only captures about four hours of coverage in the mainstream media and is quickly brushed aside in favor of around-the-clock reporting from Whitney Houston's funeral? A sad commentary on the times we are living in: far too many are asleep.