Nadia and Paul Rockwood were arrested by the FBI and last week pleaded guilty to charges of domestic terrorism 
which involved plotting the assassination of more than a dozen targets. The targets were people whom Paul, a convert to Islam and a follower of Anwar al-Awlaki, had identified as having desecrated Islam. It was to be his violent contribution to the Jihadi war against America.
This is a disconcerting story. One wonders gee, which of my neighbors or colleagues is other than what they seem? Heaven forbid we start spying on our neighbors and in any event, as the Rockwood case illustrates, it would not have helped. According to friends and neighbors, nothing in their demeanor or conversation would have given them away.
The thread that no doubt lead the FBI to Alaska was the al-Awlaki connection. The cleric casts a mesmerizing spell and Rockwood wasn’t the first to fall for it. Keeping tabs on webs woven by the al-Awlakis of our world, scouring all sources for good intelligence and learning all we can about the fanaticism that fuels terrorists seems to be the best path for mitigating the threat of domestic terrorism.
What sort of parenting could have led to people as amoral and psychopathic as these? The bounty of this nation favors all who work hard and apply themselves to one degree or another. Not hurting others, especially those with whom we share our survival, is something one learns in kindergarten. That such people can exist proves evil exists.
I wrote a peper back in 2009 about the increased threat from ‘homegrown’ terrorists, particularly those that are self indoctrinated.
It poses some signifigant challenges to the IC and LE agencies.
For example when you talk about intel, how will this be collected (legally)?
The NSA, CIA etc. do not have legal authority to collect intel on US citizens that live in the US.
This could prove a major challenge.
Eric,
Check out what a Terrorist Fusion Center does. There is a lot of conspiracy around what a Terrorist Fusion Center really does, however it’s designed to link together information from various Agencies to find patterns. You may find this to be interesting.
Also, lookup a government program in the United States called ADVISE. This is also run by the Dept. of Homeland Security much like Fusion Centers. Very interesting.