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Jihadis in New Jersey?
The FBI arrested six men Monday over a plot to attack Fort Dix Army base.
from the May 10, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
Al Qaeda's number of targets
Jones has been tracking Al Qaeda attacks, and he says that through 2001, Al Qaeda averaged one attack per year. Since 9/11, he says, Al Qaeda has averaged about seven or eight attacks per year. "And they span a variety of places – in the Middle East, Asia, Europe," he says.
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Though no link between Al Qaeda and the New Jersey group has been established, the target allegedly picked by the group is a classic terror target: the military. "This is traditional terrorism," says Dave Brannan, who teaches terrorism studies at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. "It's a symbolic target coupled with the religious terrorism – the catharsis of killing many, not just one."
Dr. Brannan goes on to say, "This plot appears to be theologically motivated, not just generally religious: They make repeated comments about how their brothers, their religion is under attack."
For example, the affidavit quotes one of the accused, Eljvir Duka, as stating, "and at the end when it comes to defending your religion, when someone is trying [to attack] your religion, your way of life, then you go jihad."
Yet John Mueller, a professor of national-security studies at Ohio State University, says the arrests don't prove there are countless groups dreaming up plots.
"After all the sleuthing, there are just a handful of people, and it is much inflated and exaggerated," says Mr. Mueller, author of a recent book about how federal officials and the terrorism industry inflate national-security threats. "But there is no question these guys are dangerous and should be in the slammer."
The latest group made the mistake of taking a video of their training exercises into a Circuit City to be copied on a DVD. A vigilant clerk, observing on the tape the men firing automatic weapons, calling for "jihad," and shouting "Allah Akbar" (God is great), phoned the police. This quickly led to the FBI's investigation and infiltration of the group.
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