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American Supporters of Radical Islamic Al-Shabaab are Climbing Organizational Terror Hierarchy
By Ellen Cannon
It used to be that we could not imagine the growth of American supporters of Radical Islam a who would be willing to fight for the terrorists abroad as well as bring harm to the homeland. Current intelligence information, news reports,and FBI releases report that there is a growing concern and threat to the security of the United States by Americans who have moved to Somalia to join the radical Islamic group, Al-Shabaab. The Washington Post reported yesterday, that Americans are on the rise within Al-Shabaab’s formal organizational ranks as key recruiters and operatives.
According to Anders Folk, a former assistant U.S. attorney, “A handful of young Muslims from the U.S. are taking high visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an Al Qaeda linked insurgent force in Somalia known as Al-Shabaab. While most are recruited from the Somali community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, new American operatives working inside al- Shabaab, include a Californian and an Alabaman with no ancestral ties to Somalia.” (www.washingtonpost.com1/15/2012
According to The New York Times, ”Law enforcement officials theorized that Muslims in the U.S.- by comparison with many of their European counterparts- were upwardly mobile, socially integrated and therefore less susceptible to radicalization…America, however is now at a watershed. In the last year, at least two dozen men in the U.S. have been charged with terrorism related offenses. They include Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan immigrant driver in Denver who authorities say was conspiring to carry out a domestic attack; David Coleman a, A Pakistani American from Chicago who is suspected of helping plan the 2008 attacks in Mumbai; and five young men from Virginia.”
According to recent reports, all of these home-grown terrorists come from different backgrounds and socioeconomic strata, but they share much in common with Europe’s militants: “they tend to be highly motivated, even gifted people were reared in the West with one foot in the Muslim world.
Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago, an expert on terror behaviors, motivation, and underlying causes suggests that these American Muslims “envision themselves as deeply principled, possessing what he calls ‘an altruism gone wildly wrong. While their religious piety varies, they are most often bonded by a politically driven anger that has deepened as America’s war against terrorism continues.
Two American Muslims that do not come from Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S., are Californian Jehad Mostafa, 30, and Omar Hammanmi, 27 of Alabama. They are rising in the ranks of Al-Shabaab overseas in the areas of propaganda development, speech making, and recruitment. They support jihad and can be critical to radical Islamic efforts to attack U.S. targets in the future.
In a major report by Andrea Elliot for the New York Times, entitled “The Jihadist Next Door, the report states that Hammami made went to Somalia in 2007 and changed his name to Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki or “the American,” Elliot writes, that over time Hammami caught the attention of his superiors. He brought an unsual skill set: he was articulate, computer savvy, well organized, and fluent in Arabic…He came to be seen as a asset by two al Qaeda linked militants, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Selah Ali Saleh Nabhan.
Omar Hammami grew up in Alabama with a Baptist mother and a Muslim father. According to Fox10tv news, he dropped out of the University of South Alabama traveled the world, and became an ardent follower of Islam following the events 9/11. From Daphne, Alabama where he spent his formative years, he moved to Toronto to live among the Somali Canadian community. He eventually moved to Egypt where he hoped he would find more of an authentic religious Islamic life than he experienced in Canada. Steadily, he becomes immersed not only in Islamic religion, but in radical Islamic political ideology and would go on to become a top operative of Al-Shabaab.
According to terror expert Ben Venzke, of the Washington based IntelCenter, Omar’s “more accessible image and manner of speaking may prove a growing and significant threat to not just the region around Somalia but for future attacks on U.S. soil. Today, Hammami is highly ideological and in sophisticated English language recruitment videos for al-Shabbab, he articulates hatred for the West and America. Currently he is touted as a jihadi lecturer and Islamic scholar. Following the death of al-Awlaki, by a U.S drone, Hammami’s influence further increased.
He was indicted on terror charges in 2007. According to FBI reports , a superseding indictment was returned against Hammami in 2009 on terrorism violations for leaving the United states to join the Somalia based terrorist organization, al-Shabaab. He is alleged to have provided material support to terrorists as early as 2006. (www.fbi.gov/mostwanted)
According to the Washington Post, another American who has moved into a top operative position is Jehad Mostafa, 30, from San Diego California. He served as “a top lieutenant to Salah Nabhan, a senior al Qaida operative killed by Navy SEALS in a helicopter attack inside Somalia in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. According to Federal officials, it is believed that he met American militant al-Awlaki about ten years ago at a San Diego mosque. “Today he has a leadership role inside al-Shabbab and serves as a key liaison to Al Qaeda.” (www.washingtonpost.com)
The growing concern of the danger and sophistication of al-Shabaab is a growing concern, but the direct link between Al Qaeda and al-Shabaab remains unclear.
Al-Shabaab is an affiliate of Al Qaeda. Since 2008, the U.S. has designated Al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization under U.S. law. Al-Shabaab has not only attacked Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia but has taken the lives of American citizens. In July 2010, an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber in Kampala killed 76 people, including an American citizen- 25 year old Nate Henn of North Carolina .Mr. Henn worked for the Invisible Children nonprofit organization. In addition, on October 25, 2011, Al-Shabbab kidnapped and is still holding another American citizen, 32 year old Jessica Buchannan, of Virginia.
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) , a leading expert on Al-Shabbab, has warned of their growing threat to the U.S. for months. Senator Kirk has noted, that based on the reports and hearings by the House Committee on Homeland Security, the domestic and international threat posed by Al-Shabaab recruiting efforts is sizable and very dangerous. “The committee found that (1) At least 40 or more Americans have joined the organization; (2) So many Americans have joined that at least 15 of them have been killed fighting for Al-Shabaab, as well as three Canadians; (3) Three Americans who returned to the U.S. were prosecuted, and one awaits extradition from The Netherlands; (4) At least 21 or more American followers of Al-Shabaab members overseas remain unaccounted for and pose a direct threat to the U.S.. Homeland; (5) Al-Shabaab has the intent and capability to conduct attacks or aid core Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen by striking U.S. interest and the U.S. homeland;(6) Al-Shabaab has not only openly pledged loyalty and support to Al Qaeda and AQAP in Yemen, but has cemented alarming operational ties to both groups.
By Ellen Cannon
It used to be that we could not imagine the growth of American supporters of Radical Islam a who would be willing to fight for the terrorists abroad as well as bring harm to the homeland. Current intelligence information, news reports,and FBI releases report that there is a growing concern and threat to the security of the United States by Americans who have moved to Somalia to join the radical Islamic group, Al-Shabaab. The Washington Post reported yesterday, that Americans are on the rise within Al-Shabaab’s formal organizational ranks as key recruiters and operatives.
According to Anders Folk, a former assistant U.S. attorney, “A handful of young Muslims from the U.S. are taking high visibility propaganda and operational roles inside an Al Qaeda linked insurgent force in Somalia known as Al-Shabaab. While most are recruited from the Somali community of Minneapolis, Minnesota, new American operatives working inside al- Shabaab, include a Californian and an Alabaman with no ancestral ties to Somalia.” (www.washingtonpost.com1/15/2012
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Anders Folk states, “The American Muslim supporters are being deployed in roles that appear to be shrewdly calculated to raise Al-Shabaab’s international profile and to recruit others, especially in the U.S. and other English speaking countries.” There is a growing concern among FBI agents that the emerging new form of Al-Shabaab can utilize these Americans to attack the American homeland. According to The Washington Post, U. S. military commanders fear that Americans inside al-Shabaab could train as bombmakers and use their U.S. passports to carry out attacks in the United States.”According to The New York Times, ”Law enforcement officials theorized that Muslims in the U.S.- by comparison with many of their European counterparts- were upwardly mobile, socially integrated and therefore less susceptible to radicalization…America, however is now at a watershed. In the last year, at least two dozen men in the U.S. have been charged with terrorism related offenses. They include Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan immigrant driver in Denver who authorities say was conspiring to carry out a domestic attack; David Coleman a, A Pakistani American from Chicago who is suspected of helping plan the 2008 attacks in Mumbai; and five young men from Virginia.”
According to recent reports, all of these home-grown terrorists come from different backgrounds and socioeconomic strata, but they share much in common with Europe’s militants: “they tend to be highly motivated, even gifted people were reared in the West with one foot in the Muslim world.
Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago, an expert on terror behaviors, motivation, and underlying causes suggests that these American Muslims “envision themselves as deeply principled, possessing what he calls ‘an altruism gone wildly wrong. While their religious piety varies, they are most often bonded by a politically driven anger that has deepened as America’s war against terrorism continues.
Two American Muslims that do not come from Minnesota, which has the largest Somali population in the U.S., are Californian Jehad Mostafa, 30, and Omar Hammanmi, 27 of Alabama. They are rising in the ranks of Al-Shabaab overseas in the areas of propaganda development, speech making, and recruitment. They support jihad and can be critical to radical Islamic efforts to attack U.S. targets in the future.
In a major report by Andrea Elliot for the New York Times, entitled “The Jihadist Next Door, the report states that Hammami made went to Somalia in 2007 and changed his name to Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki or “the American,” Elliot writes, that over time Hammami caught the attention of his superiors. He brought an unsual skill set: he was articulate, computer savvy, well organized, and fluent in Arabic…He came to be seen as a asset by two al Qaeda linked militants, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed and Selah Ali Saleh Nabhan.
Omar Hammami grew up in Alabama with a Baptist mother and a Muslim father. According to Fox10tv news, he dropped out of the University of South Alabama traveled the world, and became an ardent follower of Islam following the events 9/11. From Daphne, Alabama where he spent his formative years, he moved to Toronto to live among the Somali Canadian community. He eventually moved to Egypt where he hoped he would find more of an authentic religious Islamic life than he experienced in Canada. Steadily, he becomes immersed not only in Islamic religion, but in radical Islamic political ideology and would go on to become a top operative of Al-Shabaab.
According to terror expert Ben Venzke, of the Washington based IntelCenter, Omar’s “more accessible image and manner of speaking may prove a growing and significant threat to not just the region around Somalia but for future attacks on U.S. soil. Today, Hammami is highly ideological and in sophisticated English language recruitment videos for al-Shabbab, he articulates hatred for the West and America. Currently he is touted as a jihadi lecturer and Islamic scholar. Following the death of al-Awlaki, by a U.S drone, Hammami’s influence further increased.
He was indicted on terror charges in 2007. According to FBI reports , a superseding indictment was returned against Hammami in 2009 on terrorism violations for leaving the United states to join the Somalia based terrorist organization, al-Shabaab. He is alleged to have provided material support to terrorists as early as 2006. (www.fbi.gov/mostwanted)
According to the Washington Post, another American who has moved into a top operative position is Jehad Mostafa, 30, from San Diego California. He served as “a top lieutenant to Salah Nabhan, a senior al Qaida operative killed by Navy SEALS in a helicopter attack inside Somalia in 2010. He is a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. According to Federal officials, it is believed that he met American militant al-Awlaki about ten years ago at a San Diego mosque. “Today he has a leadership role inside al-Shabbab and serves as a key liaison to Al Qaeda.” (www.washingtonpost.com)
The growing concern of the danger and sophistication of al-Shabaab is a growing concern, but the direct link between Al Qaeda and al-Shabaab remains unclear.
Al-Shabaab is an affiliate of Al Qaeda. Since 2008, the U.S. has designated Al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization under U.S. law. Al-Shabaab has not only attacked Uganda, Kenya, and Somalia but has taken the lives of American citizens. In July 2010, an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber in Kampala killed 76 people, including an American citizen- 25 year old Nate Henn of North Carolina .Mr. Henn worked for the Invisible Children nonprofit organization. In addition, on October 25, 2011, Al-Shabbab kidnapped and is still holding another American citizen, 32 year old Jessica Buchannan, of Virginia.
Illinois Senator Mark Kirk (R) , a leading expert on Al-Shabbab, has warned of their growing threat to the U.S. for months. Senator Kirk has noted, that based on the reports and hearings by the House Committee on Homeland Security, the domestic and international threat posed by Al-Shabaab recruiting efforts is sizable and very dangerous. “The committee found that (1) At least 40 or more Americans have joined the organization; (2) So many Americans have joined that at least 15 of them have been killed fighting for Al-Shabaab, as well as three Canadians; (3) Three Americans who returned to the U.S. were prosecuted, and one awaits extradition from The Netherlands; (4) At least 21 or more American followers of Al-Shabaab members overseas remain unaccounted for and pose a direct threat to the U.S.. Homeland; (5) Al-Shabaab has the intent and capability to conduct attacks or aid core Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen by striking U.S. interest and the U.S. homeland;(6) Al-Shabaab has not only openly pledged loyalty and support to Al Qaeda and AQAP in Yemen, but has cemented alarming operational ties to both groups.
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