veiled4allah: fifth column appears to be missing in action (or maybe it never existed)

The evidence thus far, however, indicates that Muslims living in America have not constituted a social base for al-Qaeda. It is striking, in fact, that so little illegality has been uncovered in a population so thoroughly investigated and watched. The prosecutions of alleged terrorist-related activities, which should represent the most definitive picture of how the government views the internal threat, have established very little -- if anything -- that could be described as evidence of al-Qaeda cells operating in the United States. Nothing else in the publicly known record of this massive law enforcement and intelligence effort suggests that a conspiracy exists, a remarkably clean bill for these communities. Notably, the 9/11 Commission itself found no evidence of a domestic social base prior to 9/11 that was knowingly aiding the hijackers. Some of the 19 conspirators received some minor assistance from an individual or two, but those individuals have not been identified, described or prosecuted; if they existed, they may also have been here, like the attackers, on temporary visas from Saudi Arabia or elsewhere. They were very likely not rooted in local communities, and indeed the hijackers stayed clear of such attachments as well.

If al-Qaeda did not have such a support base in the United States prior to the attacks, it is even less likely they have one now. That does not mean there are no operatives here; they could, like the 9/11 cabal, sneak into the country and keep to themselves. But the supposition of many in the U.S. government is that American Muslim communities are likely to harbor, support or perhaps even initiate terrorism.

This suspicion is rocking these very communities in ways that not only challenge their civil liberties but also may be counterproductive in numerous ways.