WASHINGTON – Counterterrorism officials say the suspects in the Boston Marathon attacks are examples of the increasing role of online jihadist forums in promoting radicalization in the U.S.
In the past, terrorists often went to camps run by al-Qaida and similar groups in countries such as Pakistan or Yemen. But the elder of the two Tsarnaev brothers accused in the Boston bombings instead had visited online jihadist forums and read Inspire, the English magazine published by al-Qaida, as well as posted videos praising violent jihad on his personal YouTube channel.
Experts say it’s more likely now that people living in the U.S. will become radicalized online.
Mohamed Elibiary, an expert on homegrown terrorism who advises the Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Enterprise, said it’s like becoming part of a virtual gang.
“You know there are other people that think the way you do,” he said. “It’s feeling like you’re part of a global identity.”
But Elibiary emphasized that while the concern is growing, there are still relatively few radicals in the U.S – about one in 10,000.
“It’s an area of concern, but it is not a pandemic,” Elibiary said. “When we look at all the different forms of violence that our law enforcement community is preventing, the number of incidents that are associated with homegrown terrorism is pretty minuscule.”
While there are methods to monitor some of this activity, it is impossible to know when someone has become at risk of being radicalized. But the U.S. is taking a number of steps to decrease the likelihood of radicalization to the point of violence.
The Department of Homeland Security works with federal, state and local law partners to gain a better understanding of the behaviors, tactics and other indicators that could point to potential terrorist activity within the country. Since its creation, DHS has spent billions of dollars researching ways to lessen such activity, according to its website.
“DHS operates with the understanding that the greatest terrorist risk to the homeland is posed by violent extremists inspired by al-Qaida and its affiliates,” said DHS spokeswoman Nicole Stickel. “DHS has designed a CVE (countering violent extremism) approach that applies to all forms of violent extremism, regardless of ideology.”
Since the release of the Obama administration’s national CVE strategic plan to prevent violent extremism in 2011, DHS has produced more than 75 case studies and assessments through its Office for Intelligence and Analysis and more than 14 reports through its Science and Technology Directorate on the behaviors and indicators of violent extremism.
As part of the effort, counterterrorism experts target the behavioral indicators that develop in violent extremism by trying to forestall alienation, one of the stages that people pass through on the road to radicalization, according to Elibiary.
“You have to disengage yourself from the society you live in,” Elibiary said. “You have to look at the society as your enemy – if you can’t achieve that, then you’re not going to go blow up something.”
In attempt to minimize such alienation, integrating immigrants into society is crucial. And, according to Elibiary, the government has been sending out indirect messages to do just that through public messaging by senior policymakers. He cited as an example President Barack Obama stating that the U.S. has never been, nor will it ever be, at war with Islam.
DHS and the Justice Department also have trained hundreds of thousands of law enforcement officials to use suspicious activity reports to combat efforts by radical recruiters to entice young people to join them and eventually engage in terrorist activities. They also have trained more than 3,000 state and local law enforcement personnel to better understand Muslim religious and cultural practices.
“Professional recruiters are trained to turn beginning terrorist sympathizers into deadly killers in a short period,” Elibiary said.
Additionally, in 2012, DHS launched a new CVE web portal through the Homeland Security Information Network for CVE law enforcement training practitioners. It currently has more than 670 users and contains more than 300 CVE training resources, according to Stickel.
The second part in countering violent extremism works to combat topics that jihadists discuss online through counter-narratives.
The government does not participate in efforts to control online discussions, and shouldn’t, according to Elibiary.
“In the U.S. we don’t have a ‘program,’” he said. “But in nearly every major region of the country, there have been forums and speeches by major American Muslim groups and leaders so youth have a place to go – whether in physical space or in cyberspace.”
One example is the project “The JWord,” launched by students at AlMaghrib Institute, the largest Islamic studies educator in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. Students had prominent conservative and Orthodox Islamic scholars take on the narrative of the jihadi movements directly. Their articles were then issued to the Islamic communities, where those same jihadi movements have been put on the defensive over the issue of attacking the U.S.
Elibiary said the U.S. radicalization prevention efforts are adequate. Daniel Byman, a counterterrorism expert at Brookings who served as a staff member of the 9/11 Commission, noted that there have been no major terrorist attacks since 9/11, another indicator that the U.S. is doing enough.
“We’re trying less than we used to be trying,” he said. “But that’s because people disagree about the level of risk we should be taking.”