The Friendly Face of Terrorism
By
David Kailer

Homeland Threats and the FBI’s Response

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the assassination of American President John F. Kennedy. Putting aside the persistent conspiracy theories as to who ought to be blamed for the assassination, it is generally accepted that Lee Harvey Oswald shot the President as the President’s motorcade drove through Dallas.
While the assassination is of course a noteworthy event and deserving of coverage in its own right, I wanted to use it as a springing board to discuss a “new” type of terrorism that threatens our national security interests. Director James Comey of the Federal Bureau of Investigation recently testified before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Among his remarks, Director Comey discussed the threats associated with a new type of terrorist, the Homegrown Violent Extremist, or HVE.
The recent Boston Marathon Bombings in April are indicative of just how dangerous and deadly HVEs can be. And unfortunately, Director Comey indicated they are much more difficult to identify before they can pose a threat than more “traditional” terrorists. Al Qaeda and its many branches consistently advocate acts of violence against America, its western allies, and the “American” way of life, if the diversity of the American people can be so oversimplified. When the people who would do us harm have formal, or even more tenuous, relationships with Al Qaeda, our national security personnel are skilled at tracking people down and vetting them to determine whether or not they pose a threat to the United States. But HVEs might have little or no interaction with formal terrorist organizations. The Boston Bombers are believed to have learned how to make the pressure-cooker bombs they used from an online magazine sponsored by Al Qaeda. Tracking visits to sites run by Al Qaeda or advocating terrorist views is not an efficient way to track potential threats, however, as many a wary political science student has been assigned to visit these same sites as part of lessons on other cultures, the use of propaganda, or as part of policy discussions.
With such dangerous threats coming from such low-profile individuals, how should the national security community go about using its limited resources to secure American interests at home and abroad? When terrorism and improvised explosive devices are available to people of all social and financial levels, what level of law enforcement scrutiny are we okay with as a nation in the effort to keep our towns and cities safe? These questions are certainly not new questions, and we have wrestled with the answers since before 9/11 or the U.S.S. Cole. But with homegrown terrorists recently playing a larger role in contributing to the threats our nation faces than previously believed, we can no longer be content with “protecting the borders” if some of the most dangerous wolves are growing up in the hen house.