Terrorists Recruit Inside U.S. Prisons
TERRORISM
Bangor Daily News
Lauren Smith
Boston University Washington News Service
9/19/2006
WASHINGTON — The U.S. prison system has become a recruiting ground for Islamic extremists, a study by two academics released Tuesday shows.
Since Sept. 11, as the United States has made it increasingly difficult for potential terrorists to enter the country, the prison system, the world’s largest, has been spawning a new wave of home-grown potential terrorists.
“Our corrections facilities — federal, state, and local — provide fertile grounds for radicalization and recruitment efforts,” Sen. Susan Collins, chairwoman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said Tuesday before her panel heard testimony on the issue.
The experts referred not to direct recruiting by international terror organizations, but the spread of a radical ideology and tactics that groups like Al Qaeda inspire.
“The rise of domestic terror cells inspired by but not directly linked to Al Qaeda is an emerging threat to our nation’s security,” Collins said.
Many inmates convert to Islam to bring direction and purpose to their lives, Collins said. The problem sprouts from those who use prisons as a place to convert inmates not just to Islam but also to a “hateful ideology that incites adherents to commit violent acts,” she said.
Radicalization is not reserved for Islam but is also found among prison gangs and white supremacy groups, experts told Collins’ committee. Images of violence on television, and a general disconnect with the U.S. government all help to fuel inmates, panelists said.
A lack of Muslim chaplains is a large problem in many rural areas, the experts said. While more than 80 percent of religious conversions in prison are to some form of Islam only 10 of the 200 chaplains in the federal prison system are Muslims. Prisons use strict guidelines during religious meetings, such as allowing only English except for certain short prayers, and the presence of a prison official, to help keep watch over a group’s actions.
Prison networking, where officials on local, state and federal levels, can compare experiences in dealing with these issues, is key to stopping home-grown terrorism, the panelists said. Further study of social bonds, an increase in intelligence collecting and training programs for officials are also important, they said.
While panelists stressed the seriousness of the situation in California and New York prisons, smaller states, such as Maine, also have problems.
“It would be extremely difficult for officials in my state to track books,” said Collins, speaking about violent interpretations of the Koran that are sent to many prisons. She called on federal officials to compile and put on line a list of banned books.
“This is an issue with profound national security implications that reach into every state and a great many cities throughout America,” Collins said.
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