They look exactly like the guy next door. They talk “American.” They eat in our restaurants, send their kids to our schools, go to the movies, and hold down well-paying jobs. Many have advanced college degrees, work in high tech or white collar jobs, and are pleasant and friendly. And they want to kill you. And your wife and kids. In their world, killing unbelievers is not a sin, but a holy duty.

Yes I am talking about Islamic extremists. The terrorists who blow themselves up in Israel, fly jetliners into buildings and plot the destruction of as many men, women and children as they can. And they have us in their cross-hairs.

They are already here. They have arrived in the past one, two or ten years. Many have even married “American” girls. Many are naturalized citizens, have served in our armed forces and many are even “native born.” The six terrorists in Lackawanna New York were “born in the USA,” for example.

Al Qaida is here. In the Pacific Northwest. In Seattle. In Oregon. Six were arrested on Portland. An American citizen was arrested four months ago in Hong Kong, attempting to buy surface-to-air missiles to sell to Al Qaida.

Rick Wilson is an agent in NCIS (Naval Criminal Investigative Service) who is working Force Protection, which includes counter-terrorism. According to agent Wilson, the statistics are grim. In a civil population of about 280 to 290 million in the US, a bit less than 800,000 are law enforcement; Federal, State and Local. That is less than three tenths of one percent. Which means they cannot do the job alone. Which means that each of us has to be much more aware and sensitive to what goes on around us, and especially for businesses to be alert for the unusual.

Wilson emphasizes that the threat is not from the average Muslim, here or around the world. The threat is from extremist radicals, who pose just as much a danger to other Muslims as to the rest of what the radicals consider “infidels.” They are not a tiny group of a few hundred or even a few thousand. Some estimates run as high as at least 30 million fundamentalist extremists worldwide.
There is good news, however. Many of the arrests being made are a result of moderate Muslims, law-abiding Muslims, turning in the radicals, according to Agent Wilson. The “Lackawanna 6” arrest was a direct result of the Muslim community getting involved.

Radical Muslims declared war on the US in about 1978. The written documents since recovered state in part that organizations were to infiltrate the target nations, marry “natives” and to use our system against us. And that is precisely what has happened and continues to happen.

Andre Andersen, aka Abdu Raheem Al Archad Ali, former US Marine, Gulf War veteran, arrested for alleged ties with Al-Qaida, entered guilty plea. Then there is James Ujaama, aka James E. Thompson. They were affiliated with a Mosque in Seattle. The majority of members of the Mosque were opposed to their radical views. Or Semi Osman, aka Sami Samir El-Kassem. UK Citizen born in Sierra Leone, entered US in 1988. US Army, US Navy Reserve. Note that many have served in the US Military, have military training thereby, and are members of terrorist organizations in the US and abroad. There is a deliberate effort to recruit former military members.

An Al-Qaida training tape was taken in Afghanistan that is chilling. It described how to fight in a city environment, including assaults on building and attacks on freeways. Note that there are NO six-lane freeways in Afghanistan to film. The particular points to note are that all scenarios that involved the taking of prisoners ended in execution of the prisoners. None of the scenarios included a plan for exfiltration (escape.)

Where do you come in? Agent Wilson has a few suggestions and comments. It is YOUR neighborhood. It is YOUR business. It is YOUR life experience. If something does not seem right, if it does not give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, then something may well be wrong. Report it.

What to do? Do not confront the person or persons. Do get a good description including location, individuals, activity, vehicle, boat or aircraft involved if any. Immediately report the suspicious activity to your local law enforcement agency. Call 911. After hours contact is through Cencom.

In a very real sense we are returning to the original meaning of the term “militia” which meant all able-bodied men. Now it means that all of us have a role to play.