By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID – 19 hours ago
BOSTON (AP) —
When it comes to fears about a terrorist attack, people in the U.S. usually focus on Osama bin Laden and foreign-based radical groups. Yet researchers say domestic extremists who commit violence in the name of their cause — abortion or the environment, for example — account for most of the damage from such incidents in this country.
These homegrown groups are seven times more likely than overseas groups to commit some kind of violence in the United States, a panel reported Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
In many ways, actions by these domestic extremists can be termed "terrorist" cases, the researchers indicated. "The typical 'terrorist' is an alienated guy, usually a young male," said Brian Forst of American University in Washington.
"They take comfort in like-minded souls and develop an idea they think will make a splash," he said. They do not always carry it out, but sometimes they do, he said. "They are not lunatics."
More research is needed into these domestic extremists and what leads them to commit violence, said Gary LaFree of the National Center for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism in College Park, Md.
"It's just as important to understand the bomb-maker as it is to understand the bomb," he said.
The rest after the click ...
My comment:
How much money are we spending to thwart terrorists from outside and how much are we spending to thwart those among us who are terrorists? I bet we're spending an awful lot on the smaller threat. On the bigger threat ... seven times bigger? Not so much ...
Personally, I thought this paragraph was pretty telling:
"Damphousse said right-wing extremists spend the most time meeting, preparing and planning before committing a violent act — some 480 "events," whether that is a telephone call or some other form of plotting."
(Emphasis added)
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