Sue Myrick : Today, there is no doubt that radicalization is taking place inside America.

Gertz:

Al Qaida in Gulf region assessed as new top security threat to U.S.

WASHINGTON — Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has determined that Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has emerged as the greatest national security threat.

They said AQAP, which operates in Saudi Arabia and Yemen, has replaced the direct threat from Al Qaida leadership along the border of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“I actually consider Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula [to be] probably the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland,” National Counterterrorism Center director Michael Leiter said.

A poster of wanted Al Qaida operatives on display in a police station in San’a, Yemen. Adam Reynolds/The Washington Times

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In testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee on Feb. 9, Leiter cited repeated AQAP plots to attack U.S. passengers and cargo aircraft over the 14 months. He linked AQAP with the killing of 11 U.S. soldiers by a Muslim officer in 2009.

“They’ve been quite successful at being innovators,” Leiter said.

On Feb. 10, National Intelligence director James Clapper said Al Qaida was not believed to have recruited many Americans. But Clapper, responsible for the intelligence community, said these recruits were more dangerous than other non-Americans because of their access to and understanding of U.S. critical sites.

“We’re especially focused on Al Qaida’s resolve to target Americans for recruitment, and to spawn affiliate groups around the world,” Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee. “We also see disturbing instances of self-radicalization among our own citizens. Last year, the intelligence community helped disrupt plots and provide information that led to the arrest of homegrown violent extremists here in the United States.”

Officials said Al Qaida has increased its threat to the United States to the highest level since the suicide air attacks on New York and Washington in 2001. They said AQAP and other Al Qaida networks were recruiting Americans and other Westerners for mass-casualty suicide operations.

“This shift, as far as I’m concerned, is a game changer that presents a serious challenge to law enforcement and the intelligence community,” House Homeland Security Committee chairman Rep. Peter King said. “The committee cannot ignore the fact that Al Qaida is actively attempting to recruit individuals living within the Muslim American community to commit acts of terror.”

Congress has urged the administration of President Barack Obama to respond to the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community. Leading members have called for a review of the American Muslim community, which the government had long asserted was immune to radicalization.

“We believed American Muslims were immune to radicalization because, unlike the European counterparts, they are socially and economically well-integrated into society,” Rep. Sue Myrick, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said in a letter to Obama. “There had been warnings that these assumptions were false but we paid them no mind. Today, there is no doubt that radicalization is taking place inside America. The strikingly accelerated rate of American Muslims arrested for involvement in terrorist activities since May 2009 makes this fact self-evident.”

BUSTED! CAIR Memo Plotting Infiltration of Congress Uncovered

And the other good news is that Paul Sperry has a new book out!

FOX is reporting...

GOP Lawmakers Accuse Muslim Advocacy Group CAIR of Planting Spies on Capitol Hill
Four congressmen are asking for an investigation into the Council on American Islamic Relations after discovering an internal memo noting the group's strategy.

Four House Republicans on Wednesday accused the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group of trying to "infiltrate" Capitol Hill by placing interns in the offices of lawmakers who handle national security issues.

The four lawmakers, members of the anti-terror caucus, asked for an investigation into the Council on American Islamic Relations after discovering an internal memo noting the group's strategy. They also highlighted a new book by Paul Sperry titled "Muslim Mafia," scheduled for release on Thursday, which claims the group has been
actively infiltrating Congress.

Reps. Sue Myrick of North Carolina, Trent Franks of Arizona, Paul Broun of Georgia and John Shadegg of Arizona asked the Internal Revenue Service to determine whether CAIR deserves its nonprofit status. They also are asking their colleagues to review a summary of findings that led the Justice Department to name CAIR as a co-conspirator in a terrorism case.

The internal memo, provided to FOXNews.com, stated that CAIR would "focus on influencing congressmen responsible for policy that directly impacts the American Muslim community." The memo cited three House committees -- Homeland Security, Intelligence and the Judiciary -- as panels on which lawmakers preside over policy affecting American Muslims.

"We will develop national initiatives such as a lobby day and placing Muslim interns in Congressional offices," the memo read.

Earlier this year the FBI severed its once-close ties with CAIR as evidence mounted of the group's links to a support network for Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization.

"It's frightening to think that an organization with clear-cut ties to terrorism could have a hand in influencing policy -- especially national security policy -- within our government," Myrick said. "The investigations that we're asking for are simple, and I'm hopeful that they will bring to light any and all information regarding the goals of CAIR."

Franks called on CAIR to renounce its ties to terrorist groups and state publicly that it does not support Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood. "I take the charges levied against CAIR and laid out in this book very seriously because they affect our national security," Franks said in a statement. "This Congress must be deliberate in taking a strong stance against those groups and organizations that align themselves with terrorists."

"We live in a post-9/11 world where the coincidence of nuclear proliferation and Islamic terrorism pose a very dangerous combination and real threat to America's national security," he said. "That is why it is critical, in light of the well supported documents and information, that the U.S. Congress take this issue seriously."

CAIR, much to our amazement, accused the four lawmakers of --- wait for it ---

CAIR decried the call as a "racist" and "insidious" attack on Muslims and mocked
the allegations.

"If it wasn't so insidious, it would be laughable," CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper told FOXNews.com. "What are their charges? CAIR seeks political participation of Muslims. I'm shocked." Hooper said the evidence proves only that the group is trying, like every other minority group, to engage Muslims in the political process.

"Why is it evil when Muslims seek political participation?" he asked.

In the book "Muslim Mafia," a six-month sting appears to link CAIR to an organized crime network made up of more than 100 other Muslim front groups that make up the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood. The book claims the group is bent on destroying Western civilization. Hooper said Sperry's efforts only proved the group's good intentions.

SEVERE VERTIGO WARNING issued for the spin Hooper puts on this one...

"The guy spied on us for months, stole documents -- and the most they came up with is CAIR seeks to work with policymakers on Capitol Hill?" Hooper said.

"I see it as a stamp of approval."