FBI: Missing the newest trend in terrorism?
By John Loftus, President of The Intelligent Summit
Special Agents in the street grumble that Al Qaeda is evolving again, while the Bureau's bosses pat each other on the back over yesterday's victories. Al Qaeda was a different beast before. First it was an alumni organization, recruiting combat veterans who had been schooled in the Afghan wars. Once the school rosters fell into American hands, the alumni were systematically hunted down, captured or killed. Good work.
But while the FBI applauded itself, Al Qaeda switched over to its second tier of recruits. Waiting in the wings were members of nationalist groups like the Moroccan madmen who bombed Madrid or the Jordanian fanatics of Al Zarqawi. These second tier terrorists were more like Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisees: they were independent operators who only borrowed the Al Qaeda name but were not subject to Al Qaeda control. As the EU and Arab states consolidate their anti-terror operations, the franchise terrorists are slowly becoming neutralized, isolated or exterminated. Ask Iraq.
In desperation, Al Qaeda has now devolved into its third iteration: a teenage fan club whose members correspond with each other over the internet as if they are playing a video game. But, as the London subway passengers discovered last July, sometimes the video games are a deadly dress rehearsal for the real thing.
For too long, western intelligence has dismissed the third tier of recruits as kiddy crime, the harmless posturing of Al Qaeda wannabees. The teens' twin terrorist organizations, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al Mujaharoun ("Hut/Muj" for short) were laughed at as propaganda outlets of Sheik Bakri, a harmless little lunatic based in London at the Finsbury Mosque. But, as Bakri himself admits, during the 1990's both he and his assistant worked with the British Secret Intelligence Service setting up the Kosovo Liberation Army. They are not exactly virgins at recruiting kids to kill.
Hut/Muj usually targets 15 to 19 year olds, and indoctrinates them with private religious lessons for several years. Their na?ve ?migr? parents think the kids are going to some sort of Islamic Sunday school, while they are actually attending Bin Laden's version of the Hitler Youth. After several years of bonding and brain washing, the kids, now in their early twenties, are ready for terrorist operations. Some live near you.
Hut/Muj cells have spread like a cancer to California, New York, Virginia and Oregon. Despite the fact that local police have made several arrests for planned subway bombings and terrorist training, the FBI still laughs the whole Hut/Muj phenomenon off. This, the feds assert, is protected freedom of speech, mosque based religious education, entirely harmless. That is what the British used to say before 7/7. The mental calendar of the FBI's top leadership seems permanently stuck on 9/10. It is time they faced a clear and present danger.
Special Agents in the street grumble that Al Qaeda is evolving again, while the Bureau's bosses pat each other on the back over yesterday's victories. Al Qaeda was a different beast before. First it was an alumni organization, recruiting combat veterans who had been schooled in the Afghan wars. Once the school rosters fell into American hands, the alumni were systematically hunted down, captured or killed. Good work.
But while the FBI applauded itself, Al Qaeda switched over to its second tier of recruits. Waiting in the wings were members of nationalist groups like the Moroccan madmen who bombed Madrid or the Jordanian fanatics of Al Zarqawi. These second tier terrorists were more like Kentucky Fried Chicken franchisees: they were independent operators who only borrowed the Al Qaeda name but were not subject to Al Qaeda control. As the EU and Arab states consolidate their anti-terror operations, the franchise terrorists are slowly becoming neutralized, isolated or exterminated. Ask Iraq.
In desperation, Al Qaeda has now devolved into its third iteration: a teenage fan club whose members correspond with each other over the internet as if they are playing a video game. But, as the London subway passengers discovered last July, sometimes the video games are a deadly dress rehearsal for the real thing.
For too long, western intelligence has dismissed the third tier of recruits as kiddy crime, the harmless posturing of Al Qaeda wannabees. The teens' twin terrorist organizations, Hizb ut-Tahrir and Al Mujaharoun ("Hut/Muj" for short) were laughed at as propaganda outlets of Sheik Bakri, a harmless little lunatic based in London at the Finsbury Mosque. But, as Bakri himself admits, during the 1990's both he and his assistant worked with the British Secret Intelligence Service setting up the Kosovo Liberation Army. They are not exactly virgins at recruiting kids to kill.
Hut/Muj usually targets 15 to 19 year olds, and indoctrinates them with private religious lessons for several years. Their na?ve ?migr? parents think the kids are going to some sort of Islamic Sunday school, while they are actually attending Bin Laden's version of the Hitler Youth. After several years of bonding and brain washing, the kids, now in their early twenties, are ready for terrorist operations. Some live near you.
Hut/Muj cells have spread like a cancer to California, New York, Virginia and Oregon. Despite the fact that local police have made several arrests for planned subway bombings and terrorist training, the FBI still laughs the whole Hut/Muj phenomenon off. This, the feds assert, is protected freedom of speech, mosque based religious education, entirely harmless. That is what the British used to say before 7/7. The mental calendar of the FBI's top leadership seems permanently stuck on 9/10. It is time they faced a clear and present danger.
posted by Marko at 9/19/2005 05:43:00 PM
<< Home