US to face a 'brand-new form of terrorism': Are they ready?

Terrorism, normally associated with Islamist Jihadist movement, now seems to alter its appearance into a 'brand-new form of terrorism', which is more dangerous and more untamed than ever before, branded as 'Home-grown'.

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The new form of terrorism engages lesser, more loosely defined groups that usually have no direct links to al-Qaida or some other big brands but are motivated by its ideology. These self-radicalized groups may appear too weak to lend a big blow independently; they become far more dangerous when they stretch out for support from more established terrorist groups.

Homegrown terrorists are the latest breed of buffoons in a crowd of amateurish and mentally challenged, who gets the desired importance and opportunity to accomplish their 'sick operations'.

What makes these homegrown attacks more deadly are their wider scope in picking target areas that are not only limited to large cities but also include small towns, local communities and inhabited areas of any dimension.

Over the period, the US has become prone to 'home-grown' terrorist plots that possibly have no direct connections with overseas groups but rising within its own periphery. Charles Allen, the Chief Intelligence Officer with the Department of Homeland security, told a Congressional panel,

We are increasingly facing the threat of homegrown terrorists. The US-UK aviation plot, occurring a year after the subway attacks in the United Kingdom, was a wake-up call to the British in terms of the breadth and depth of Islamic radicalization there.

American Muslims and homegrown terrorism

Most of the people may argue that largely Muslims have been responsible for plotting terrorist attacks in the United States but Islamic radicalism and religious motivations are not evident in every attack.

In fact, the major terrorist threat comes from those opportunists who 'exploit Islam and use terrorism for ideological ends'. Some other social or economics factors, such as unemployment, feelings of isolation and desire to be part of a bigger faction, instigate youth to adopt a terrorist ideology.

• Not only this, one can clearly see the emerging picture of radical Islam - reinforced by the 7/7 attacks in 2005 - that this is an ideology with homegrown roots.

• Also, the alleged plot to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago last year was aspirational, rather than operational.

How war on terror is responsible for homegrown terrorism in the US?

War on terror could have been a success if it was limited to Afghanistan but as soon as it reached Iraq, it failed to achieve its goals. It played the central role in widening the wave of anti-Americanism that further aggravated the homegrown terrorism.

'It is better to fight terrorists abroad than to fight them at home.'

This is the continued argument made by George W Bush and his cronies for the presence of US troops in Iraq. I wonder if they still feel the same way.

Is there any plan to counter homegrown terrorists?

I do not think so, as the US administration is too busy in carrying out its 'war on terror' in Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover, the agencies involved in tracking down terrorism are yet to come up with precise answers on why it is that America has yet to come up with a national assessment of the problem.