Five would-be terrorists, ages 19 to 25, who lived in the northern Virginia area, were captured last week in Pakistan on their way to a terrorist training camp. Pakistani police in the city of Sargodha have charged the American Jihadists with violating Pakistan’s laws regarding foreigners and the use of computers as part of a criminal enterprise.

According to the FBI and Pakistani security officials, the five suspects attended a madrasa, or radical Islamic school, and proclaimed that they wished to join the jihad, or Muslim holy war, against the US and its allies. Unfortunately, this was just one of several cases of US citizens becoming radicalized and seeking to wage war against their own country.

US government and other terrorism experts continue to report that Islamic extremism is on the rise and that the spread of Islamic extremism is the preeminent threat facing the United States. In addition, various sources alleged that Saudi Arabia has supported and funded the spread of Islamic extremism globally, including here in the United States.

The intelligence agencies, the Department of Defense, the State Department, and the US Agency for International Development are implementing various efforts to identify, monitor, and counter the support and funding of the global propagation of Islamic extremism. The intelligence agencies and DOD are carrying out identification and monitoring efforts, primarily in counterintelligence and force protection.

According to reports, the State Department and USAID are carrying out efforts to counter the global propagation of Islamic extremism, with State’s efforts focused primarily on traditional diplomacy, counterterrorism, and public diplomacy and USAID’s efforts focused on development programs to diminish underlying conditions of extremism.

According to the General Accountability Office, they are preparing a classified report to be subsequently released with a more complete description of US efforts to address the global spread of Islamic extremism. A number of sources have reported that Saudi private entities and individuals, as well as sources from other countries, are allegedly financing or supporting Islamic extremism.

For example, a Treasury official testified before Congress that Saudi Arabia-based and -funded organizations remain a key source for the promotion of ideologies used by terrorists and violent extremists around the world to justify their agenda. However, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, the Commission found no persuasive evidence that the Saudi government knowingly supported al Qaeda.

The government agencies also told GAO staff that Islamic extremism is being propagated by sources in countries other than Saudi Arabia, such as Iran, Kuwait, and Syria. The agencies are still examining Saudi Arabia’s relationship, and that of other sources in other countries, to Islamic extremism.

The Saudi government has announced and, in some cases, undertaken some reform efforts to address Islamic extremism. For example, the government is undertaking educational and religious reforms, including revising textbooks and conducting a 3-year enlightenment program, to purge extremism and intolerance from religious education. However, US agencies do not know the extent of the Saudi government’s efforts to limit the activities of Saudi sources that have allegedly propagated Islamic extremism outside of Saudi Arabia.

Jim Kouri

Sources: General Accountability Office, US Department of State, US Department of Defense, National Security Institute, National Association of Chiefs of Police Terrorism Committee