The Threat Here -- 2008

By Madeleine Gruen & Frank Hyland

This is the first article in a series by Madeleine Gruen and Frank Hyland, portraying the seriousness of the threat of homegrown terrorism in the United States for readers of The Counterterrorism Blog.

Every American remembers and can identify with what happened on 9-11-2001; however, in the years since, America’s sense of urgency about terrorism has diminished. Few Americans realize the potential of reoccurrence in the United States because the incidents and indicators are spread out both geographically and over time. It is worth recalling and updating from time to time, then, the true scope of the threat within the US.

A lot of emphasis, and rightly so, is placed on the terrorist threat in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and similar locales. In contrast, we have not been hit in the Homeland since 9/11. Since those attacks, however, we have witnessed a series of major attacks and plots in Europe, and understand that the spread of Jihadi ideology by radical clerics and Islamist organizations in Europe is the primary cause.

The problem of radical Islamism in the United States is by no means as widespread as it is in Europe or in other parts of the world; we have a more diverse population, a unique sense of nationality, better opportunities for immigrants, and provide a more optimistic future for the children of immigrants. We also have many fine examples of rejection of radical ideology by American Muslim leaders and communities.

Nevertheless, there have been a number of cases of attacks and plots in the United States executed by individuals or small groups inspired by the same jihadist ideology that inspired the March 2004 Madrid train bombings, the July 7 and 21, 2005 London Transit bombings, and 2007 Glasgow Airport car bomb attack, as well as other major plots.

American examples include;

The 1993 World Trade Center Bombing;

The attack on the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill students by an Iranian-American who sought to “avenge the deaths of Muslims worldwide;”

The 2007 plot to kill American soldiers at Ft. Dix;

The 1997 shootings atop the Empire State Building by a Palestinian-American;

The July 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, committed by a lone American gunman of Pakistani descent as an act of retribution against the United States and Israel for their foreign policies.

While each case generally receives the intensive investigation it is due, there is a tendency for authorities to dismiss each case as a “one-off;” a stand-alone circumstance put to an end with an arrest and trial. Countless cases of attacks committed by individuals from every ethnic and religious background can be recounted, but the above-listed examples bear a common thread based on ideological motivation. That ideology exists in pockets in the US, and is rarely discussed, likely due to our sense of American exceptionalism and to our sense of political correctness that often prohibits analytical inspection of a minority population or religion.

Initially, exceptionalism and political correctness caused Western Europeans, too, to be dismissive about the spread of radical Islamist ideology, which enabled radicalizing agents to spread their influence further and more deeply until the problem became pandemic.

This analytic series will examine events of the past and spotlight current trends as a means of evaluating the Homeland threat in a levelheaded way, and, it is hoped, enhance awareness that will help obstruct the further spread of Jihadi ideology and the threat of a homegrown attack in the United States. Future articles will look at the individuals and organizations that have been accused of spreading radical ideology in the US, the hubs or nodes where radicalization shows signs of taking root, methods of operation, capabilities, intentions, and tactics.

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