America: Be on the look out

On Wednesday, Attorney General Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller held a press conference to warn Americans that there is "disturbing intelligence" that points to "al Qaeda’s specific intention to hit the United States hard."

According to Attorney General Ashcroft, "It is possible al Qaeda will attempt to infiltrate young Middle Eastern extremists into America, as they did before September 11th." In addition, he announced that "Intelligence sources suggest that ideal al Qaeda operatives may now be in their late 20s or early 30s and may travel with a family to lower their profile. Our intelligence confirms al Qaeda is seeking recruits who can portray themselves as Europeans. Al Qaeda also attracts Muslim extremists among many nationalities and ethnicities, including North Africans and South Asians, as well as recruiting young Muslim converts of any nationality inside target countries."

Newsweek revealed this terror recruitment tactic in a June 2003 article titled "Al Qaeda in America: The Enemy Within." According to documents obtained by Newsweek, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM) reportedly revealed to his interrogators that al Qaeda overhauled its "approach to penetrating America" after 9/11. Specifically, "al Qaeda began to rely on operatives who would be harder to detect. They recruited U.S. citizens or people with legitimate Western passports who could move freely in the United States. They used women and family members as ‘support personnel.’ And they made an effort to find African-American Muslims who would be sympathetic to Islamic extremism. Using ‘mosques, prisons and universities throughout the United States,’ according to the documents, KSM reached deep into the heartland, lining up agents in Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, and Peoria, Ill."

The Justice Department and the FBI should also consider investigating another suspect group of individuals — the Islamist terrorist support networks that have penetrated the American political system, a problem the Center has addressed repeatedly.