Press Conference with Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) - Homegrown Terrorism

Statement

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SEN. LIEBERMAN: Good morning. Congratulations to those of you who are here, for your wisdom and insight in attending this announcement. History will record that you were here. Oh, Tom, that you're here! This makes it --

SEN. COLLINS: Now we can begin.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: (Chuckles.) Now we can begin.

Today Senator Collins and I are releasing a Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee majority and minority staff report, which is entitled: Violent Islamic Extremism: The Internet and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat. This is part of our ongoing investigation into homegrown terrorism; that is to say, terrorism that is planned and carried out within the United States by American citizens or long- term presidents.

This bipartisan report concludes that homegrown violent Islamist extremism poses an increasing threat to the safety of the American people. And the emphasis there, obviously, is on homegrown. And second, that sophisticated use of the Internet by terrorist organizations -- international terrorist organizations and their followers is increasingly a cause of this homegrown terrorism.

Our committee investigation found that terrorists are skillfully using the Internet to spread their propaganda across national borders and cultural barriers, permitting anyone with the inclination and an Internet connection to immerse themselves in the hate-filled messages of radical Islam, to receive training in weapons and tactics, and to build in super -- cyberspace the kind of group support that once required travel to overseas training camps.

The result is that America is now vulnerable, we conclude, not just to attacks plotted by terrorists from oceans away, as was the case on 9/11/01, but also to terrorism conceived right within our borders by disaffected Americans who may have no obvious operational ties to international organized terrorist groups.

The director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, testified recently that, and I quote: It is likely that such independent groups will use information on destructive tactics available on the Internet to boost their own capabilities, end of quote.

We would now like to show you a short video compilation of some of the material terrorists are disseminating over the Internet, because honestly, there's no substitute for seeing this, no matter how strong the adjectives we use to describe it.

So why don't we play the tape now?

(A video is shown.)

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, as you can see, the terrorists who some still mistakenly dismiss as people living in caves are as sophisticated in their communications abilities today as very sophisticated members of this generation. But the content, of course, is brutal.

Our report found, for example, that al Qaeda and allied violent Islamist organizations manage a multi-tiered online media operation consisting of several production units that create content consistent with the core message used to recruit and train terrorists. As you just saw, this can include videos of actual attacks, part of which was blacked out, or more intricate productions with graphics, sound effects, banners, subtitles, animation and, of course, music. Terrorists also use the Internet to publish official statements, news updates, articles, white papers and even radical poetry.

The content is then sent through a clearinghouse -- this is very well-organized, which stamps the material with a seal of authenticity before being sent out digitally to thousands of websites around the world. It may include subtitles to appeal to Americans of specific ethnic, religious and racial background. In fact, recently Charlie Allen, who's the top intelligence officer at the Department of Homeland Security, said that the terrorists are now making extremist podcasts that can be downloaded to iPODs.

As the threat of homegrown terrorism evolves, so, too, must our response. Today our government is engaged in a set of outreach programs, communication strategies and law enforcement, but they are disjointed and uncoordinated, and insufficient for the homegrown threat that we face. We need a well-coordinated national plan to counter terrorists' use of the Internet and to isolate and discredit their violent ideology. And of course, we need the means to stop them before they carry out their violent, hate-filled acts against our country and our citizens.

This report concludes that Congress and the administration must consider several important questions, which we will consider as our investigation goes on. For instance, what, if any, new laws, programs or tactics should be adopted to deter or combat homegrown terrorism? What should a communication strategy, both on and off the Internet, look like? And what role should the government, community and religious leaders play in implementing that strategy?

What's the purpose of the current outreach efforts that are being carried on, by some agencies of the federal government, particularly law enforcement? And how can those efforts be improved? What role should local officials and local police play, given their ongoing relations with their local communities?

Defense Secretary Bob Gates, I think, spoke the truth when he said recently that we are miserable at communicating, to the rest of the world, what we are about as a society and a culture; about freedom and democracy; about our policies and goals. "It is just plain embarrassing that al Qaeda is better at communicating its message on the Internet than America," end of quote.

This committee report finds that al Qaeda is also better at communicating its message on the Internet than America, to Americans in America. The Internet is the mass communications wonder of our time. In the hands of terrorist propagandists, it's being used as a weapon of vast reach and deadly consequences.

The United States must counter the influence of this ideology in order to deter homegrown attacks like the ones that have already been seen in cities like Madrid, London and Amsterdam.

This is the challenge that our report calls on the U.S. government to respond to quickly and aggressively. And that of course includes us here in Congress. And this committee will continue to try to do exactly that.

It's been as always a pleasure to work with Senator Collins and her staff on this. And I would call on Senator Collins now.

SEN. COLLINS: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

The bipartisan report that we're releasing today highlights an important element of the homegrown terrorist threat. And that is what is a highly coordinated effort, by al Qaeda and like-minded terrorist groups, to spread their message of hate and violence over the Internet.

And I want to emphasize that what you saw is not atypical. Our investigation has found that there are literally thousands of websites, chatrooms and private Internet forums where terrorists have turned the Internet into a virtual terrorist training camp.

As Senator Lieberman mentioned, it used to be that recruits would have to travel to training camps in Afghanistan or Pakistan, for their indoctrination and for their operational instruction.

Now the Internet is being used as a tool for training, indoctrination and even operational details. There, on the Internet, you can find information on how to construct a bomb, how to shoot down an aircraft with a soldier -- with a shoulder-fired missile. Using the Internet to infiltrate our borders also reduces the operational risk to terrorist plots. The very best, most effective border security does not protect our country from violence, hate and operational instructions being spread by the Internet.

Our investigation found that the United States lacks a cohesive and comprehensive outreach and communication strategy to confront the violent Islamist message and to reduce its appeal within the United States.

I want to point out another publication that we found on the Internet, a publication entitled, "39 Ways to Serve and Participate in Jihad." As part of that publication, there is an instruction to parents to have their children listen to tapes glorifying martyrs and encouraging them to grow up and be martyrs for the cause. That is how widespread the hatred is that we found on the Internet.

I want to emphasize that our report concludes that one of the most productive steps that we can take in the short run is improved outreach and communication efforts that would challenge the terrorist message. Our nation must promote more effective outreach to the Muslim American community and to religious leaders who can reject al Qaeda's violent message and help form a countermessage.

I look forward to continuing to work with Senator Lieberman on this important issue. Let me just end my comments by pointing out that the threat of homegrown terrorism is not theoretical.

If you look at the plot against the JFK Airport or against Fort Dix in New Jersey, these plots were the work of would-be homegrown terrorists who were not directly linked to al Qaeda, but who were inspired by al Qaeda's violent ideology.

So the threat is real, and the need to act is very evident.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Thanks, Senator Collins.

We'll be glad to answer any questions you have now.

Yes.

Q Isn't the Internet just impossible to use from a law enforcement point of view because -- just for example, to say obscenity laws -- and there's so much out there there's no way to really use law enforcement locally or federally to police the Internet?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, listen, this is such a phenomenal new means of communication, the Internet is, that we're dealing obviously both with exploiting its potential in a positive way and also trying to figure out how to govern it in some way that is consistent with our principles. And there are certain limits -- I mean, I think the case could certainly be made that if you're advocating violence over the Internet and you're doing it in a way that really represents a threat to safety, then there's a -- there may be a cause for action, legal action.

It's very complicated. For instance, we understand that you can force the taking down of one website of the extremists, the terrorists, and they'll pop up somewhere else. There are other things to do, which is including trying to -- and a little bit of this is going on, trying to infiltrate some of these websites that have chat rooms and to enter into the conversations to try to essentially give the nonviolent Islamic argument on those websites.

So it's a challenge, but we can't walk away from it, because what our report -- what our staff finds is that the use of the Internet is enabling people to self-radicalize. In other words, you don't have to go to a training camp in the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan anymore. You can go down to your basement and go on the Internet and you can get radicalized. You can find -- you can make contact with other people who are radicalized, which then may lead to meetings and group activities such as the one in the JFK and Fort Dix cases that Senator Collins talked about.

So the point is now that we have no real coordinated strategy to respond to this. The other thing -- I do want to highlight what Senator Collins said. Look, in the end, this is like what we say about the war on terrorism overall.

It's a battle ultimately for hearts and minds. And, you know, it's obvious that the mainstream -- the mainstream Islam is the majority -- overwhelming majority. The extremists are a small minority. But it's very important that the voices of the mainstream Muslim majority speak out.

And though the American Muslim community, fortunately, is generally speaking quite a well-integrated, patriotic American community, nonetheless it's clear from our investigation that some younger members of it particularly are being, for whatever the reason, being radicalized either by particular imams or over the Internet, and in some cases perhaps in prisons. And the religious leaders, the community leaders within the Muslim American community are in the end the best answer and defense against the extremism and violence that young Muslims can find on the Internet.

Did you want to answer that at all?

SEN. COLLINS: There are obviously important First Amendment issues. And in addition, one of our law enforcement witnesses described it as a game of Wack-A-Mole. If you take down one site, it's going to pop out elsewhere. And we found literally thousands of these kinds of sites; chat rooms, forums. So it's very difficult to try to curb them.

That's why I think the more effective approach is a counter- message, but we don't have an effective strategy for that. And the problem is that the use of the Internet allows al Qaeda to reach so many more people than ever before, that we ignore this at our peril.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well said.

Yes?

Q Is there a role for educational organizations in the U.S., like colleges, secondary education, for talking about countering some of these messages which younger people who maybe are susceptible to these kinds of things might not get in the home or might not get with people they hang around with?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yeah, that's a good point, that institutional institutions do have a role to play.

Look, the best defense against this begins in the home, from parents who give their children the values and the belief that they can make it in America, just by the way so many other groups, that have come to this country, have made it.

And of course, that's the overwhelming majority experience of Muslim Americans. But, and there's things that law enforcement should do to deter and prevent and punish. But ultimately education has to play a role.

Look, the best defense against this kind of homegrown terrorism, in America, is America itself, the American experience, all the opportunity that the country provides. Sometimes people have to be reminded of that through educational institutions.

Tom.

Q How long do you figure that al Qaeda and other groups have been using the Internet? (Off mike) -- use of it has grown exponentially in the last few years?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yeah, we have. I'm going to ask the staff to answer that specifically, in terms of the timeline. It's been going on for a long time but it's grown, both in number of sites and in the sophistication of the presentation.

Now, Todd, do you want to answer that?

Todd Stein was active on this report.

TODD STEIN (Staff, Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs): (Off mike) -- tactical decision over the last year to target the English-speaking audience in the United States -- (off mike). They've ratcheted up their production levels.

The head of Intelligence & Analysis at DHS, Charlie Allen, documented -- (off mike).

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Can you date about how long this has been going on, that they've had anything, including primitive websites? Does it go back to the '90s?

MR. STEIN: They had a website before 9/11. (Off mike.) But they've been using Internet connections for years, to raise money and communicate with like-minded individuals throughout Europe. (Off mike) -- 12 months; 12, 13 months.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Okay. Good.

Yes.

Q Senator Lieberman, I was just wondering if you could clarify, are you concluding that, you know, people are becoming radicalized in the United States based on what they're seeing online? Or are you saying that this is a possible threat that's going to emerge?

Senator Collins, you mentioned the planning -- (off mike) -- JFK Airport. Are you saying that those who planned that got their radicalization from the Internet?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, I would say this, that we conclude that there are people in America who are now being radicalized through the Internet.

I don't want to overstate the dimensions of the problem, but what we're seeing here is that this sophistication of the al Qaeda and other websites is relatively recent, a year or 18 months. It's working with some people. And we've got to rise to defend against it and educate against it or it will grow.

So yes, it is a problem. And it's growing. But it's part of a -- obviously, there are other ways that homegrown terrorism occurs. There are cases where a particular imam may recruit people to it or in some cases -- in an investigation that Senator Collins began when she was chair -- this can happen in prisons in the United States. But what we're seeing is -- from our perspective, talking to a lot of law enforcement people, federal and state and local level, the Internet is rising as a causative factor in homegrown terrorism.

SEN. COLLINS: On the two plots that I mentioned, I'm not sure what the source of radicalization was, but I do know that in both cases the groups were not directly linked to nor controlled by al Qaeda, and that law enforcement -- particularly the New York Police Department and the LAPD believe that the Internet is increasingly being used to radicalize, recruit and even to provide operational instructions in some cases where there is a link to al Qaeda.

What makes this so troubling is we don't really know how many people are being radicalized because it's very difficult to track. With the Internet being used, the reach is endless. And that makes it much more alarming. It's going to be very difficult for the FBI or local law enforcement to infiltrate and discover a plot when people aren't meeting, when people aren't getting together to train. And that's the challenge.

And given the increase in the last 12 to 18 months in the number of violent extremist messages that are going out, you have to believe that al Qaeda believes this is a valuable tool to use to inspire and recruit.

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Yes. Maybe this will be the last question.

Q What would the communication strategy that you're talking about look like and who should lead that?

SEN. LIEBERMAN: Well, those are the questions. I mean, right now there's the sporadic participation by some law enforcement people on the chat rooms, but -- and there's kind of interesting outreach by people in law enforcement.

And one of the things that was surprising to the committee -- if I asked you what is the agency of the federal government that has the -- to our -- my -- at least my judgment, conclusion, the most extensive outreach to the Muslim American community, I doubt that many of you -- I certainly wouldn't have said the FBI. But that's what it is. They have quite an extensive, methodical outreach to the Muslim American community.

So this is something that -- it would seem that it should be within the Department of Homeland Security, because this is a homeland security matter. But this is broad-reaching, and involves education. And of course I think if you really wanted to put together an effective communications and outreach counterstrategy, leaving aside the other law enforcement tools, you want to, you have to include a representative group of Muslim Americans, because that's the audience.

Thank you all very much.

SEN. COLLINS: Thanks.

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