Terrorists on al Qaeda web forum have posted a hit list of prominent politicians, military officials, and individuals in what government officials fear is an attempt to spur lone wolf attacks; on Ansar al-Mujahideen, an al Qaeda run website that is among the top ten outlets for distributing jihadi propaganda, terrorists posted a list that contains the names of Pentagon officials, defense contractors, Congressional members, and private individuals
Terrorists on al Qaeda web forum have posted a hit list of prominent politicians, military officials, and individuals in what government officials fear is an attempt to spur lone wolf attacks.
On Ansar al-Mujahideen, an al Qaeda run website that is among the top ten outlets for distributing jihadi propaganda, terrorists posted a list that contains the names of Pentagon officials, defense contractors, Congressional members, and private individuals.
In response, last week the FBI and DHS issued a terror bulletin listing potential targets that had been mentioned on the site.
Religious extremists began compiling the list after Adam Gadahn, the chief spokesman for al Qaeda, released a video message urging jihadists to take attack Americans and other infidels.
In the video, Gadahn mentioned how easy it was to purchase a weapon in the United States, citing Major Nidal Hasan, the gunman behind the Fort Hood massacre, as an example of a hero executed a successful attack.
Terrorists have been contributing to the list all week and are currently discussing which targets or leaders should be added to the list.
Officials believe that the list could be in retaliation for the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
A federal law enforcement official speaking anonymously to CBS News said that the chatter on the forum was largely aspirational and that no specific threat has emerged.
Another source speaking anonymously added that the forum seems to suggest a shift in philosophy within al Qaeda that prefers smaller attacks carried out by individuals acting as lone wolfs rather than the complex mass casualty attacks like 9/11.
*** This is why the NARRATIVE is so important - we talk about "winning hearts & minds" but we do NOTHING in support of it. Now, we're dealing with ideologues who are capitalizing on the fact that NO significant counter narrative exists. In fact, society is given them ammunition by constantly demonizing Islam any chance the lamestream media can get. HOW is it humanly sensible to counter the jihadist narrative that the West is out to destroy Islam by fuelling the narrative through constant demonization?
Quick: let's all act surprised when radicalization is deemed to be completely out of control - maybe that will deflect the fact that the blame lies with US in not doing anything about it. MS ***
