7 November, 2002

THE AMERICAN al-QAIDA PART II: ANOTHER UNEXPECTED REALITY
By Dr. Saul B. Wilen, Consulting Editor, Government Security Times

The recent round of fatal shootings in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area are a grim reminder of how easy it is for cold blooded murderers to invade and seriously disrupt the lives of millions of people. While we do not know whether these shootings have any relationships to foreign terrorists and their motivations still remain unclear, they do illustrate how easily individuals and organizations with ill intentions can paralyze American society. This three-week ordeal was in essence a terrorist act on American soil, no matter the motivations.

Fear and disruption of basic daily activities quickly resulted in economic problems. This result is exactly what would be the goal of the Osama bin Laden terrorist war against America. The events of the October 2002 terrorist acts will continue to haunt the United States especially because this is the first major attack on American soil since September 11, 2001. The question of safety and trust are once again at issue. In each major attack, “unexpected” was the reaction by authorities and the people. As time passes additional information is surfacing, raising questions about the existing facts.

A key element relating to America’s preparedness to act hinges on being able and willing to share information to result in prevention or at least in early intervention to limit the consequences of terrorist acts. America has not learned to “expect the unexpected” as has been professed since September 11, 2001. What is the state of U.S. “domestic intelligence?” When will federal, state, and local law enforcement entities communicate effectively?

The targeting of American youth within U.S. borders for recruitment to terrorism by al-Qaida is frightening. This is another “unexpected” reality that America is yet to recognize.

The poster child for the al-Qaida recruitment process could be John Walker Lindh, who became known as The American Taliban. The assumption by United States authorities that Lindh’s situation was an anomaly misses the fact that his existence may represent the tip of an iceberg. A second “American Taliban” is presently being held in custody.

There is serious concern about the penetration of al-Qaida into America, which has been going on for many years by foreign terrorists. Now, it has become apparent that this includes recruitment of young, vulnerable Americans and that these efforts are greater than previously anticipated.

The presence of al-Qaida sleeper cells within U. S. borders made up of foreign nationals preparing to attack has been widely accepted by U.S. officials. But, the surfacing of a long-standing, well planned, effective recruitment effort aimed at young adult Americans demonstrates that the terrorist presence in the U.S. is not limited and that it is operating with wider objectives while waiting to attack. American al-Qaida cells made up primarily of American citizens exist. Only their extent needs to be determined.

The recent arrests of suspected terrorists in New York, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington State is positive. However, that these uncovered sleeper cells are composed primarily of American citizens confirms the existence of recruitment activity.

The urgent question stalking America’s consciousness is: “Why do American citizens, most of whom having lived in the U.S. their entire lives, hate America so fervently as to wage war against the United States in support of al-Qaida?”

The factors that contribute to the creation of the American al-Qaida are manifest in those individuals and groups within American society who feel disenfranchised; who are stuck in the disparities between the “haves and the have-nots”; who feel powerless and hopeless in a “society of plenty”; and who feel excluded from sharing in the “American dream”. These groups are often drawn to counter western cultural beliefs.

Where are these fertile recruitment grounds found? The potential for recruitment of American citizens to al-Qaida style terrorism is present within many of our societal institutions including schools, religious centers, jails, prisons, the dynamics of interactions existing within neighborhoods, and community economic and social realities. These institutions of American society may have to become the focus of markedly enhanced scrutiny.

For example, juvenile gangs in American neighborhoods and schools thrive through attracting vulnerable and highly impressionable youth whose needs for structure and affiliation are unmet. Acceptance, security, and safety are the tradeoffs gangs offer in exchange for loyalty and obedience. This is also true of cults. The creation of an American al-Qaida is likewise a movement in America, in which the most vulnerable young people in the country can be targeted for recruitment as terrorists. They are adolescents and college-age youth with low self-esteem; disaffected from mainstream culture and values; and who are desperately searching for role models and a sense of belonging.

Jails and prisons in the United States present concentrated hostile environments that parallel and amplify the root problems existing in American communities and society. Prisons were once thought to be an opportunity to separate those with deviant behavior thereby protecting society while offering behavioral rehabilitation and a potential for acquiring employable skills. In actuality, overcrowded jails and prisons draw their populations from juvenile gangs and produce an institutional structure with absolute divisions along racial, ethnic, religious, cultural, and ideological lines. Prisoners face the loss of their individual identities. The lessons inmates learn stem from intra-prison antisocial interactions, and the skills developed are negative and potentially destructive. Hate, fear, rivalry, and conflict create an environment in which one must survive. Therefore, affiliation with an identified group becomes necessary. The vast majority of prison converts to Islam initially embrace the religion for reasons of survival. The realities of prison then create a fertile breeding ground for recruitment by Islamic fundamentalists who then have the opportunity to develop potential political extremism.

According to the American Correctional Association in 2001 the number of Islamic inmates in the federal prison system tripled over the previous nine years, and in some states, such as Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania, make up approximately twenty percent of the incarcerated population. This includes the thirty percent of all African-Americans who have embraced Islam in prison. Prison experts and experienced correctional facility administrators recognize that prisons offer radical fundamentalists such as al-Qaida a pool of potential recruits who can be prime targets for a religion advocating the overcoming of oppression with violence.

The existence and growth of American al-Qaida cells significantly frustrates our present strategies for fighting terrorism and urgently raises the need for developing a new focus for terrorism prevention. In part any prevention strategy will require the basic reassessment of our educational and economic systems with the incorporation of required changes to support positive and attainable American values and beliefs, especially targeted to our children from their formative years and throughout their school experience.

America has again underestimated its enemies. Any attempt to dismiss the importance of this youth recruitment process allows the seeds of America’s destruction to be sown from within.