Domestic threat

The threat of domestic terrorism is growing, the Obama administration has concluded.

Recent terror cases on American soil have made 2009 the most dangerous year for domestic terrorism since 2001, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Europe has experienced much more Islamic terrorist activity in recent years than the United States.

But this year may mark a turning point. Anti-terrorism officials and experts have cited the radicalization of some American Muslims as part of the trend.

Online appeals to U.S. extremists have increased.

The L.A. Times noted the arrests of "Americans accused of plotting with al-Qaida and its allies, including an Afghan-American charged in a New York bomb plot described as the most serious threat in the United States since the Sept. 11 attacks."

"Authorities tracked other accused militants joining foreign networks, from Somali-Americans returning to the battlegrounds of their ancestral homeland to an Albanian-American from New York who was arrested in Kosovo."

The FBI arrested suspected domestic extremists in Dallas, Detroit, Raleigh, N.C., and elsewhere. Plots targeted a synagogue, government buildings and military installations.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said: "We've seen an increased number of arrests here in the U.S. of individuals suspected of plotting terrorist attacks, or supporting terror groups abroad such as al-Qaida. Home-based terrorism is here. And, like violent extremism abroad, it will be part of the threat picture that we must now confront."

That is a disturbing trend, but one that must be faced.