U.S. officials sound alarm on home-grown terrorism

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (L) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at a hearing on "Nine Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland" on Capitol Hill in Washington September 22, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters)

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- Top U.S. security officials on Wednesday sounded alarm on home-grown terrorism, saying threats from domestic extremists have spiked and are becoming harder to detect.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at a Senate hearing that the threat of terrorism "has become more and more diverse" over the past years.

While al-Qaida and its affiliate groups continue to target the United States, "a new and changing facet of the terrorist threat comes from home-grown terrorists," or U.S. persons radicalized on U.S. soil and receiving terrorist training either at home or elsewhere, according to Napolitano.

She conceded authorities "do not yet have a complete understanding of what would cause a United States person to become radicalized to the extent of violence."

FBI Director Robert Mueller, meanwhile, told the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs that since 2006, al-Qaida "has looked to recruit Americans or Westerners who are able to remain undetected by heightened security measures."

He said based on cases from the past year, homegrown extremists are "more sophisticated, harder to detect, and better able to connect with other extremists."

At the same Senate hearing, Michael Leiter, head of the National Counterterrorism Center, said plots against U.S. homeland during the past year suggested the threat has "in fact grown far more complex and underscores the challenges of identifying and countering a more diverse array of threats to the homeland."

Several terrorist plots against U.S. homeland were thwarted during the past year, including a New York subway attack plot, the Christmas plane bombing attempt, and the Times Square bombing scheme. Joe Leiberman, chair of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said since 2009, at least 63 U.S. citizens have been charged or convicted on terrorism or related charges.

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano (L) testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee at a hearing on "Nine Years After 9/11: Confronting the Terrorist Threat to the Homeland" on Capitol Hill in Washington September 22, 2010. (Xinhua/Reuters)

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