Homegrown terrorism a growing concern for US intelligence

Still, there have been several domestic terror plots in the past few years, points out Rick Nelson, an expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a
think tank in Washington, in an analysis. In the past year, these include:

* Last September, Najibullah Zazi, an Afghan living legally in the US, was arrested on charges of conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. Authorities claimed he traveled to Pakistan to receive training.

* Eight people were charged in November for allegedly recruiting more than 20 Somali-Americans to join Al Shabab, a local group in Somalia linked to Al Qaeda.

* In December, the FBI charged US citizen David Coleman Headley with conspiring with operatives of Pakistani terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Taiba, in the attacks in Mumbai in 2008.

* Also in December, five Northern Virginia men were arrested in Pakistan and were alleged to have traveled there to train with Taliban militants.

Why they radicalize

Poverty and social marginalization are some reasons why some individuals self-radicalize, Mr. Nelson writes in an analysis for CSIS. However, some of the alleged terrorists are from well-off families, including the five from Northern Virginia.

Many individuals may also self-radicalize or radicalize with the help of an inspirational figure in the context of the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which appear to some as a war on Islam.

“The US needs to counteract this narrative,” Nelson said. US policymakers must build stronger partnerships with states threatened by extremist violence.

“Cooperation, rather than large-scale intervention, ultimately offers a surer path to mitigating terrorism,” he writes.

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