Megan,+Bridget,+and+Natalie

Al-Shabaab: International Terrorist Group
-The Al-Shabaab is the militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts that took over southern Somalia in 2006. The group was defeated by the Somalian and Ethiopian governments, but the group still continues acts of violence and terrorism. The Al-Shabaab uses guerilla warfare and terrorist acts to assert temporary control of regions in southern Somalia. The Al-Shabaab’s senior leadership is affiliated with Al Queda and the group has trained and sent men to fight in Afghanistan. The group has claimed responsibility for several bombing attacks in North Somalia and against the Somalian government. Most recently, Al-Shabaab has launched suicide car bombings in Somalia and Uganda which have caused a multitude of deaths in both regions. The group is also responsible for the assassination of several Somalian peacekeepers. We predict that their next move will continue to be against the Somalian government and those who align with it. The group does not seem to be pertinent danger to the US, but is a threat to Somalia and Africa.

**First Attack**: Three men associated with the organization held Hector Zevallos, an abortion doctor, and his wife, Rosalee Jean, hostage. **Other attacks:** Mailed over 500 letters containing white powder to 280 abortion providers in 2001. The group is also associated with a number of mostly unnamed assassinations of abortion providers. However, an assassin that was identified with the group, Shelley Shannon, was imprisoned for shooting Dr. George Tiller in both arms outside of his abortion clinic.
 * Army of God (AOG) ** is a domestic Christian terrorist anti-abortion organization that sanctions the use of force to combat abortion in the United States.
 * Impact of Religion: **As extremist Christians, members agree to a Second Defensive Action Statement that states: //“We the undersigned, declare the justice of taking all Godly action necessary, including the use of force, to defend innocent human life (born and unborn). We proclaim that whatever force is legitimate to defend the life of a born child is legitimate to defend the life of an unborn child.”//

Hizballah:International Terrorist Group
-The group was formed in 1982 as a response to an Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Hizballah means “Party of God” and is a Lebanon based Shia terrorist group. They have participated with the Lebanese government since 1992 training Pakistan rejectionist, Iraqi Shia militant groups, and attacking Iraqi coalition forces. The Hizballah has also been active in terrorism against the United States involving suicide bombing attacks against US Embassies and US Marine barracks. Most recently, the group has devised attacks against Israeli Embassies and has plotted several attacks against Israelis in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Cyrpus, and Turkey. In 2011, the UN indicted four members of Hizballah and the terrorist group blames the United States and Israel for the act. We predict the groups next attacks will involve these two countries, but most likely involve their embassies rather than on our domestic front.

The ** Ku Klux Klan (KKK) ** use threats, violence, arson, and murder to further its white-supremacist, anti-Communist, anti-semitic and anti-Catholic agenda. **First attack:** The first attack was in 1866, even before Reconstruction, used public violence against blacks as intimidation. They burned houses, and attacked and killed blacks, leaving their bodies on the roads.
 * Other attacks: **Throughout the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the Klan formed independent groups and made several violent demonstrations. The Klan attacked innocent victims such as teenagers, a mother of five children, and the leader of the NAACP, Vernon Dahmer.
 * Impact of Religion: **The KKK took action to “reestablish Protestant Christian values in America by any means possible.” The believed the Jesus was the first Klansman and they burned crosses to demonstrate their respect for him.


 * Leader: ** Osama bin Laden


 * Overall: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A radical Islamic terrorist organization that endeavors to implement Islamic laws in the governments of mostly Muslim nations. Al-Qaida began as the Afghan Service Bureau. Also known as MAK, this organization was founded in Peshawar, Pakistan in 1984 by Osama bin Laden


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Terrorism activities: **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">2012 underwear bomber
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sept. 11, 2001 attacks against the United States.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">the bombing of the //USS Cole// off the coast of Yemen in 2000
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">the simultaneous bombing of American embassies in Dar es Salaam
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">the destruction of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia in 1996
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">an assassination attempt on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 1995
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">2005 London bombing


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Goals and objectives: **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Establishing the rule of God on earth
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Attaining martyrdom in the cause of God
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Purification of the ranks of Islam from the elements of depravity
 * <span style="font-family: 'arial','sans-serif';">to drive out Western influence from all Muslim nations, destroy Israel, and eliminate all pro-Western dictatorships from the Middle East
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">it was the duty of all Muslims to kill US citizens-civilian or military-and their allies everywhere
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">to establish a pan-Islamic Caliphate throughout the world by working with allied Islamic extremist groups to overthrow regimes it deems "non-Islamic" and expelling Westerners and non-Muslims from Muslim countries

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The group also has named the United States as a primary enemy of Islam. The United States' presence in Saudi Arabia from 1991 to 2003 was a major source of contention for the group, which sought to free Islamic holy sites from foreign control. And now even more so because we killed Osama bin Laden.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Why the US? **



Phineas Priesthood:Domestic Terrorist Group
-Christian identity movement that opposes interracial intercourse, abortions, the mixing of races, and homosexuality. The group is known for anti Semitism, anti multiculturalism, and opposing taxation. The group is not considered an organization because it does not have a governing body or meetings. To join the priesthood one must simply adopt the same beliefs and act upon them. The Phineas Priesthood has been known most recently to blow up FBI buildings, abortion clinics, and rob banks. The group has no orders which makes it hard to predict its next move. Additionally, the group operates in small groups and attacks are spontaneous making it difficult to identify the violence as part of the Priesthood. It is hard to predict upcoming acts of the group due to the lack of leadership. We do believe that this groups is a threat to the US because it is not affiliated with any region making it apt to attack where members reside.

===** Al-Jihad a.k.a. Egyptian Islamic Jihad ** <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">is an underground terrorist group who main goal is to overthrow the Egyptian government and replace it with an Islamic state. Their goals also include attacking U.S. and Israeli interests in Egypt and abroad. === <span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**First attack:** Assassination of the Egyptian President, Anwar Sadat. <span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Other attacks:** In 1998 a planned attack against the US Embassy in Albania was created by a roundup of suspects who are now called the Returnees from Albania. <span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The group is now also combined with Al Qaeda and assists in all attacks since 2001, including the terrorists attacks of 9/11. <span style="font-family: 'times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">**Impact of Religion:** Extremist Islamic beliefs emphasize the importance of the elimination of non-Muslims and the presence of Western society in the Muslim world.

Ford Hut Shooting: Domestic Group

 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Leader: **<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;"> Maj.Nidal Malik Hassan

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Description **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">**:** An Army psychiatrist opened fire at Fort Hood, Texas, killing 12 people and wounding 31 others, was then shot and captured alive. He is now [|paralyzed] from the chest down. ======

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Reaction **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">: The U.S. President's initial response to the attack came during a scheduled speech at the Tribal Nations Conference for America’s 564 federally recognized Native American tribes. Obama was criticized by the media for being "insensitive", as he addressed the shooting only three minutes into his prepared speech. ======
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Religion: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> He said “fighting against the U.S. army is an Islamic duty". Hasan is an American Muslim of [|Palestinian descent] . Within the Army had discussed what they characterized as Hasan's tendencies toward radical Islam since 2005.

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Motivation: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Hasan was upset about his deployment to [|Afghanistan] on November 28. Noel Hamad, Hasan's aunt, said that the family was not even aware he was being sent to Afghanistan. Much of his motivation was religious based. ======

Kahane Chai (Kach): International Group

 * Overview:** <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Founded by Meir Kahane’s son Binyamin following his father’s 1990 assassination in the United States, were declared terrorist organizations in 1994 by the Israeli Cabinet under Israel’s Terrorism Law. This designation followed the groups’ statements in support of Dr. Baruch Goldstein’s attack in February 1994 on the Ibrahimi Mosque and their verbal attacks on the Israeli Government.

**<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Activities: **

 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Organized protests against the Israeli Government.
 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Kach has harassed and threatened Arabs, Palestinians, and Israeli Government officials, and has vowed revenge for the death of Binyamin Kahane and his wife.
 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Kach is suspected of involvement in a number of low-level attacks since the start of the al-Aqsa intifada in 2000. In 2005 a nineteen-year-old Israeli Army soldier affiliated with Kahane Chai deserted his unit, later opening fire on a bus killing four Arab-Israelis.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Palestinian gunmen killed Binyamin Kahane and his wife in a drive-by shooting in December 2000 in the West Bank.
 * <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Religion: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Kach’s stated goal is to restore the biblical state of Israel. Kach, founded by radical Israeli-American rabbi Meir Kahane, and its offshoot Kahane Chai.

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 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Location/Area of Operation: **<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Israel and West Bank settlements, particularly Qiryat Arba’ in Hebron. ======

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 15px;">Conclusion **
<span style="font-family: 'Times','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The threat of terrorism mostly lies outside the borders of the United States. Although there are minor domestic threats, international terrorist groups outside of the US are much larger than those that attack from within. Al Qaeda has thousands of members plotting to harm any US citizen, while most domestic terrorist groups are only a threat to smaller groups and tend to be followed by American agencies. Most of the attacks are based off of their religion, but their interpretations are incredibly conservative and strict. As a US citizen, I am biased to threatening organizations to national security.