No, this is not an article about President Obama. It is an article in response to the ruckus about Peter King's Congressional Hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims.
Marc Thiessen at the Washington Post posted an article today about three of the most powerful leaders in Al Qaeda--all of whom were at least partially raised in America.
Anwar al-Awlaki was born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and lived there until he was seven, moving to Yemen. He returned to America to go to college, studying at Colorado State University and San Diego State. Mr. al-Awlaki is the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). He consulted with two of the September 11 hijackers and was in contact with the Fort Hood shooter.
Omar Hammami, aka Abu Mansoor al-Amriki ("the American"), grew up in Daphne, Alabama, just outside of Mobile. He is the military commander of Al-Shabab/al-Qaeda in East Africa. He converted to Muslim in high school, left for Somalia, and rose through the ranks of jihad. He is thought to have recruited more than 20 Americans as suicide bombers.
Adnan Shukrijuman is the current operational commander of al-Qaeda (replacing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed). He is a Saudi-born naturalized American who lived in Brooklyn for part of his youth and attended college in Florida.
According to the article:
"Shukrijuma left the country before the Sept. 11 attacks, and trained at an al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan alongside Jose Padilla for a KSM plot to blow up apartment buildings in a major American city using natural gas. In 2002, the CIA began asking al-Qaeda detainees, "Who will be picked to lead the next big attack on America?" Abu Zubaydah, KSM and other detainees all pointed to Shukrijumah. Press reports at the time described Shukrijumah as the "next Mohammed Atta," was believed to have been "anointed the head of a new cell with orders to attack targets inside the United States.""
Mr. Thiessen concludes:
"Bottom line: When three top leaders of the three most virulent al-Qaeda networks are American citizens, it is ridiculous to suggest that the chairman of the House committee responsible for homeland security is out of line to investigate the subject of radicalization in the American Muslim community. Rep. King is not "stoking irrational fears" or "providing fuel for bigots." He is doing his job."
We can either stick our heads in the sand and ignore the facts or we can deal with the problem. It's better to deal with the problem.
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