Latest D.C. Terror Arrest Points to Unpredictability of Radicalization
GSN Magazine, 10/28
The latest terror bomb plot, this time to the Washington D.C.’s Metrorail system, involves another radicalized U.S. citizen, emphasizing the growing, but unpredictable, menace of homegrown terrorism.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation announced Oct. 27 it arrested Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, for planning multiple bombings at Metrorail stations near the Pentagon in Arlington, VA. Ahmed planned to simultaneously detonate suitcase bombs at four metrorail stations near the military facility, according to the Federal Bureau of Inivestigations. His co-conspirators, however, were FBI agents that had been watching him for months and had set up a sting operation to thwart his plans.
Ahmed appears to be another in a growing crowd of radicalized Western terrorists that have moved to act without much, or any, direct assistance from Al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations. Ahmed lived quietly in the Washington D.C. suburb of Ashburn, in Loudon County VA for years, according to news reports, never giving neighbors a hint of his radical thoughts. The FBI was first alerted by an acquaintance of Ahmed’s who had heard him talk about violent acts against U.S. interests, according to reports.
Immediately after the arrest, Congressional officials, the White House and law enforcement were quick to point out that the public was never in danger during the sting operation. Officials also pointed to the growing domestic threat and law enforcement’s continued vigilance against it.
“It’s chilling that a man from Ashburn is accused of casing rail stations with the goal of killing as many Metro riders as possible through simultaneous bomb attacks,” said U.S. attorney Neil H. MacBride. “Today’s arrest highlights the terrorism threat that exists in Northern Virginia and our ability to find those seeking to harm U.S. citizens and neutralize them before they can act.”
Ahmed is the latest in a line of Westerners with no solid ties to terrorist organizations that have moved to take drastic actions against their home countries. Another recently-released study shows the threat from radicalized Western terrorists is growing, but they are a bewildering, difficult-to-predict group with no reliably predictable personality profile or motivations.
The study titled “Enemies Among Us: Domestic Radicalization Cases After September 11,” released by American Security Project, a non-profit, bipartisan public policy and research organization that follows national issues, examined 132 cases of domestic radicalization in the U.S. since September 11, 2001.
Homegrown terrorists, it said, are all over the board when it comes to age, nationality and motivation.
“Some of the homegrown radicals lacked direction and meaning in their lives and, seeking community and emotional fulfillment through a new religious, social, or political identity, eventually found it in radical Islam,’ it said. “Others were simply angry, depressed, or psychologically imbalanced and through exposure to radical Islam found a vehicle through which to purge their personal demons. Some were introduced to radical Islam through the Internet, others at mosques with an extremist bent, some through friends,others through recruiters. Some were radicalized in prison, others in their parents’ basements,” it said.
It did find some commonality in ages among homegrown radicals, but even that was relative. It said indicted homegrown radicals’ average and median ages hovered in the late 20s and 30s, but some were well into the3ir 40s and 50s and even 60s.
“Similarly, though some of the radicalized individuals were first or second generation children of immigrants from Middle Eastern countries, Somalia, or South Asia, domestic radicalization cases have also included several African- and Caucasian- Americans, and multiple individuals of East European descent,” it said.
