Al Shabaab capable of attacking inside the US
Posted by Ann Corcoran on July 6, 2011
In March of 2009, I sat in a Senate hearing room in Washington, DC and heard our supposed intelligence “experts” tell the Senate Homeland Security Committee that the Somali youths, former refugees to the US, who went back to Somalia for Jihadist terror training were there only to defend Somalia from African invaders, like the Ethiopians. (Readers, we began following the news of the Somali missing youths, here in 2008.)
Senators Lieberman and Collins seemed relieved (giddy really) in March 2009 to hear the testimony from the “experts” that Al Shabaab had no capabilities outside of the Horn of Africa. Even I could tell they were delusional then!
[Incidentally, these same Senators will be hearing how the Iraqi refugee terror suspects came to be in the US, here, next week.]
Now comes news, oops!, Al Shabaab has joined with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to become a threat to the West—mostly because of their ability to recruit Somali immigrants and others living in the West! Hat tip: Richard Falknor at Blue Ridge Forum.
From AEI Critical Threats (emphasis mine):
The terrorist threat to America from the Gulf of Aden is metastasizing as the most dangerous al Qaeda affiliate, Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), appears to be partnering with Somalia-based militant Islamist group al Shabaab in attacking the West.
On June 23, an American drone strike targeted two senior al Shabaab leaders in Qandal, outside the al Shabaab-controlled southern port city of Kismayo.[1] Somalia’s defense minister said on July 1 that U.S. military forces retrieved the two men; it is unclear whether they were killed in the strike.[2] The identities of the militants have not been released, but a senior American military official said that they had “direct ties” to Anwar al Awlaki, the Yemeni-American radical cleric who has been operational within AQAP.[3] The official added, “They were planning operations outside of Somalia.”[4] The reported links between Awlaki—whose primary focus has been on attacking the American homeland—and the al Shabaab leaders targeted in the strike suggest that AQAP and al Shabaab have established operational ties. Such an alliance would enable the two groups to leverage their joint resources, including AQAP’s bomb-making expertise and al Shabaab’s recruitment and hosting of militants from the West, to conduct spectacular attacks in the West.
[.....]
An AQAP-Shabaab partnership based on the proximity of their safe haven networks and a shared global militant Islamist ideology constitutes an increasingly complex and dangerous threat. The recent drone strike in Somalia may fortunately have disrupted any AQAP-Shabaab operational planning to attack the American homeland, albeit temporarily; the tasks of dismantling and defeating AQAP in Yemen and al Shabaab in Somalia merit a heightened sense of urgency.
For New Readers! Stories like this one always bring new readers to RRW and you should know that the US State Department brings in thousands of Somalis every year as refugees. Groups like Catholic Charities, the Hebrew Immigrant Aide Society, Church World Service and World Relief (among others) are paid with your tax dollars to resettle them in your towns.
We have admitted well over 100,000 Somali refugees to the US. To check out the numbers visit this post, one of our most widely read posts over the last few years. In FY2010 which ended September 30th the US State Department resettled 4,884 Somalis (here) to towns near you. The “teen” would-be bomber in Oregon was one of the refugees.
Also, after being closed for nearly two years, the US State Department is on the verge (has been on the verge for months and months!) of resuming the fraud-ridden family reunification program that admitted as many as 36,000 Somalis fraudulently to the US between 2003 and 2008. See the latest on new regulations, here.
Now, also, Somalis are coming illegally across our borders and ironically asking for asylum because of the radical Islamic Jihadists (including Americans!) in Africa.
8 Responses to “Al Shabaab capable of attacking inside the US”
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Somali terrorist defense: the Ethiopians made us do it « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] And, what do you make of the announcement earlier this month that Al Shabaab is capable of attacking within the US, here? [...]
Ben said
I’m a brand new reader, just found your site on a google search. I disagree with your opinions, but that’s not that important–it’s your right to have an opinion. I’m sorry that other people who disagreed with you have insulted you.
I wanted to suggest that you get involved in your community with refugees. On your “about” page, you commented about these people coming to a new country and not being properly cared for. If you see that they need help, you can help them. Most of them want to learn English–who better than a native English-speaker to teach them? Even more than that, many of them want friends to be able to feel comfortable in this new place, and they would be grateful to have an American friend.
Jesus said, “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44, Luke 6:27). If there is truly an increased threat of terrorism from refugees, love and friendship will soften their hearts and prove to them that we are not their enemies. Even if they don’t receive your kindness, you’ll be no worse off for offering it, and it may go further than you’ll see.
You could bake some cookies to give to your refugee neighbors. You could send them a card welcoming them to your city and country. You could ask them out to tea or coffee and ask about their lives before they came here. You could cut some flowers from your garden to give them. If you wanted to get more involved, you could volunteer teaching English or adopt a family. There are lots of options, and most of them are really simple.
By reaching out to these new neighbors, we do so much to protect and serve our communities. It builds the unity that we need. I hope this encourages you to take a step in that direction.
Another Somali terrorist going to trial in New York « Refugee Resettlement Watch said
[...] Posts Al Shabaab capable of attacking inside the USThree Bhutanese refugees missing in Washington StateYale professor defends lying asylum-seeking maid [...]
C.Mills said
The man accused of planning the bombing in Oregon wasn’t resettled in 2010 as your writing implies, but came here as a young child in the early 1990s, and spent the majority of his life growing up in the US. Another item of information that you’ve left out is that his family (yes, who are also Somali) assisted authorities in the case….it was his father who reported him to the FBI in the first place.
Why don’t you mention these things?
acorcoran said
Frankly its even worse that he grew up here and still turned to an Islamic Jihadist ideology thumbing his nose at the opportunities the tax payers of America gave him. Nice to hear that his Dad had some good sense, but that has not much to do with Somali Jihadists targeting us.
C.Mills said
It’s an awful case. No one who knew him (friends at school –not all somali –, teachers, etc) knew him as being religious…People at an area mosque said he attended maybe once a month. It appears that he was radicalized via the internet. If you look into information about his family and close community, they did everything right and everything they could. His dad was a university professor before the war and worked at a bottle factory here in order to get the family settled, they weren’t living off other people’s dimes. I think this is worth acknowledging.
MetalMusic said
“ironically asking for asylum because of the radical Islamic Jihadists (including Americans!) in Africa.”
Why is it ironic? Do you think all Somalis are sympathetic to al-Shabaab?
acorcoran said
I think many coming across the border illegally are sympathetic to Al Shabaab and know that they can say they are running from A-S and our NGO’s /US officials will say ahhhh, poor babies… no questions asked, like where the H*** did you get the approx. $10,000 to get to the US border in the first place.