Appeal For International Organizations
Homegrown terrorists have an advantage in that they face less logistical problems such as entering the target nation, as well as familiarity with society and customs, and greater ease in identifying targets. This makes them lucrative assets to international terrorist organizations. Al-Qaeda recognizes the value of native citizens and led to an official tactical shift in operations toward homegrown terrorism, according to al-Qaeda’s U.S. born spokesperson, Adam Gadahn. This new strategy focuses on inspiring American-Muslims to become one-man terrorist cells.
Dispatching less experienced recruits decreases the amount of time that they have to be identified and detected by law enforcement. Some potential jihadists, like the perpetrators of the July 7, 2005 underground bombings in London, even stopped attending services at their mosques, as they were believed to be under surveillance.
Low-level members provide a low-cost option for terrorist organizations that are meant to consume the attention of law enforcement and intelligence organizations in the hope that one will succeed or a greater operation may go unnoticed. Additionally, democracies are challenged in handling internal dissent, such as terrorism. Hayden frames the problem facing democracies, "how do you build a security structure that guards you against American citizens who are beginning to change in their thinking up to a point where they become a threat to the security of other Americans? That’s a devil of a problem” because the next step that intelligence communities would take would be to infringe on the privacy of Americans.
Terrorism is a relatively inexpensive proposition for organizations. The minimal cost of orchestrating an operation means that foreign terrorist groups will likely continue to regard U.S. homeland operations as both desirable and a financially feasible option. Even failed plots, such as the Times Square bombing plot, can still pay vast dividends in terms of publicity and attention.
Read more about this topic: Homegrown Terrorism
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