Our counterterrorism blind spot: Stopping American terrorists
The FBI is investigating whether a man from Minnesota was the suicide bomber behind an attack in Somalia. If so, it would be the third known Minnesota native to do so. I addressed the US’ terror export dilemma recently in the International Analyst Network (excerpt):
This week the Department of Justice announced that our intelligence community foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador to the United States. While our counterterrorism strategy is successful at preventing terrorist plots from foreign sources, it fails to stop the flow of American citizens committing terrorist attacks abroad.
Since 9/11 the United States has prevented or disrupted 39 known terrorist plots – 40 counting the foiled Iranian plot. We have also curtailed the transfer of material support to foreign terrorist groups.
But the flow of potential U.S. terrorists is much harder to monitor and regulate. Increased airport security, increased law enforcement, intelligence liaisons abroad, and heightened citizen awareness of suspicious behaviors have been unsuccessful at stopping U.S. citizens from engaging in terrorist acts abroad.
On Oct. 29, 2008, 26-year-old Shirwa Ahmed drove his Toyota Land Cruiser through the streets of Hargesa, Somalia. Arriving at his target, Ahmed detonated his suicide truck bomb, killing 29. The naturalized U.S. citizen from Minneapolis became America’s first known suicide bomber.
Ahmed’s attack is far from an isolated incident.
In Sept. 2009, another Somali-American detonated another suicide truck bomb in Somalia, killing 21 UN peacekeepers and civilians.
Abdullahi Ahmed became the third Somali-American suicide bomber when he killed two soldiers manning an African Union checkpoint in June…