By Jerry Brewer

Can America be defeated from within? The simple fact is, that there is an underground terrorist apparatus inside the United States, along with foreign support and leadership. The essential ideology of this movement by a shadowy enemy with no visible armies or countries, within small enclaves, is “anti-imperialism.”

All this on top of perceived — quite possibly real — threats of terrorists entering the United States overland from Mexico or Canada, along with the fear that Latin American or Caribbean staging areas could be used to ultimately attack this country.

Similar in country sleeper-cell terrorists, or homegrown extremists, recently were defeated in the United Kingdom after British officials strategically utilized proactive intelligence methods to learn of aircraft terrorism plots by what was described as “British born Muslims.” This successful operation by British officials, against an unconventional and nontraditional cadre of criminals, was a textbook example of terrorism interdiction.

The sad truth is that much of the U.S. law enforcement community, with the exception of a few federal agencies, has yet to grasp the concept of “anti-terrorism policing.” Many of the progressive strategies of this discipline come from within the intelligence community, and they are known as “tradecraft.” Too, the intelligence apparatuses in terms of targeting acquisition, analysis and product/dissemination are well removed from traditional law enforcement methods.

Last August, a police terrorism conference in New York for U.S. police officials heard complaints about a reduction in Department of Justice (DOJ) funds for local crime fighting. Funding had been reduced from US$4.4 billion in 2001 to US$2.5 billion in 2006. Much of this funding for traditional policing and community oriented policing initiatives. However, funds soared for anti-terrorism in the form of specialized equipment and training.

In October police chiefs asked President George W. Bush for more anti-crime funds. Many claimed to be under pressure from their local governments and communities. According to the DOJ, violent crime rose 2.3 percent in 2005, the largest crime increase since 1991. The slight increase still weak since the overall crime rate is the lowest in more than 30 years, this according to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Complaints to Gonzales included juggling “terrorist hunting needs” with competing demands for traditional policing. One police official from Central Florida stated that a priority must be the “crime people feel everyday — not terrorism.” A former sheriff’s candidate in Florida recklessly accused the incumbent sheriff of spending “too much time and money on counter-terrorism and not enough dealing with crime.” DOJ statistics did show some large metropolitan areas with decreases in violent crime.

Justice Department investigators have decided to visit police departments across the country to accurately assess actual needs. They must be diligent in focusing on whether or not these departments understand the metamorphosis of anti-terrorism policing and the level of sophistication of this new and deadly enemy.

The information sharing elements of intelligence gathering; the tradecraft of the terrorist; and the critical nature of understanding a surveillance detection program; as well as other critical components of counter-terrorism, must be determined.

The al Qaeda and similar extremist groups are known for exceptional planning; intense training; repetition of successful tactics; superior weaponry; and spectacular attacks. Their work regularly includes professionally conceived plans that are well executed with patience and thoughtfulness. Law enforcement must train and prepare for these types of threats and learn to recognize what essentially is a paramilitary, special tactics, adversary.

A serious potential source of homegrown recruits for acts of terrorism is the U.S. prison system. This potential requires serious attention and an alliance between traditional law enforcement and correctional systems including parole. Prison gangs offer a powerful organizational base of hierarchy by which convict-soldiers can be politicized. Revolutionary groups within prison walls are known to actively run criminal operations on the streets with their soldiers proficient with weapons and explosives.

Most of the splintered Latin American gangs in custody, from the Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) to Mexican drug cartel members and hit men, assimilate in prison into the Mexican Mafia. Elements of the Aryan Brotherhood and other neo-Nazi groups are also well represented. Too, their powerful links run large networks of street operatives in drugs and violence.

This extraordinary growth of a potentially operational infrastructure and force of homeland terrorists, with frightening capabilities, poses a clear danger to the United States — and law enforcement must look to the need of fighting a more sophisticated enemy on the streets, and prepare for this properly and diligently.

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Jerry Brewer, the Vice President of Criminal Justice International Associates, a global risk mitigation firm headquartered in Miami, Florida, is a guest columnist with MexiData.info. He can be reached via e-mail at Cjiaincusa@aol.com.