Purpose Statement: In 2010, Secretary Janet Napolitano addressed the U.S. Senate Committee and highlighted the “main ways in which the terrorist threat to our country is changing - ways that increasingly challenge law enforcement and the intelligence community.” She continued to address the ways that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was moving to address these issue in the ever evolving threat of homegrown terrorism. Since the tragic events of 9/11, which led to the creation of the DHS and its sub agencies to fight the continuing battle against terrorism, especially against another devastating attack on U.S. soil, has brought a new definition of terrorists: the home-grown variety. The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) defines homegrown terrorism as “extremist violence perpetrated by U.S. citizens or legal U.S. residents, and linked to or inspired by al Qaeda’s brand of radical Sunni Islamism.” And homegrown extremists as: “A growing number of Muslims—both naturalized citizens and American-born—have …show more content…
He spoke about how the U.S. has destroyed al Qaeda training camps and disrupted their central operations and means of funding those operations and that through these efforts, the U.S. “has transformed al Qaeda (AQ) from a strong hierarchy that plans and executes attacks to being a decentralized and amorphous group. Unfortunately, while AQ may be weakened, it is not dead. The convergence of globalization and technology has created a new brand of terrorism. Today, terrorist threats may come from smaller, more loosely-defined individuals and cells who are not affiliated with al Qaeda, but who are inspired by a violent jihadist message. These homegrown terrorists may prove to be as dangerous as groups like al Qaeda, if not more