Al Qaeda's third wave

Gordon Cucullu:

The Fort Hood killings were no isolated incident, but part of al Qaeda's "third wave."

The 9/11 terrorists were the first wave: Their attacks culminated years of direct attacks on America and the West by al Qaeda operators -- a core group of Saudi, Yemeni and other identifiably Arab men. But Osama bin Laden and his key assistants had long realized we'd take measures to guard against such foreigners -- that future attacks would have to draw on a new "talent" pool.

"Zacarias Moussaoui was designated to be part of the second wave of attacks," terror mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammad testified in a deposition for Moussaoui's trial. Al Qaeda's leaders knew that, post-9/11, US security authorities would look at men from Arab countries as a potential threat. To circumvent expected security measures, they recruited terrorists with French, British and other countries' passports.

Witness shoe bomber Richard Reid, flying from Paris with a UK passport, and Jose Padilla, a potential dirty bomber who trained in al Qaeda's Afghanistan terror camps. Those attempts failed, but the second wave, to a certain extent, continues.

Yet the third wave was visible well before Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan hit the headlines. It consists of US citizens and residents (legal or otherwise) plotting attacks who can pass under the radar of measures designed to thwart first- and second-wave operatives.

Hasan may have acted alone, but his alleged actions prompt the question: How many are out there? There's excellent reason to think the answer is many, many more.

Even before Fort Hood, authorities in New York, Michigan, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio and other states recently had broken a rash of cases, arresting potential terrorists and disclosing their plots. Every time law enforcement kicks over one of these anthills, it uncovers an intricate underground network with paths leading into major cities, rural areas and even prisons.

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There is more.

Most of the other third wave plots were unsuccessful and the perps were caught. Hasan was not because the military was over sensitive in their pursuit of diversity and missed the many warning signs the guy exhibited.

Hasan is another example of what a wicked enemy we face that is still very much at war with us regardless of whether the Democrats want to fight it.