Homegrown Terrorism and 'Bunches of Guys'

Making News

Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki Criticized in DC, Baghdad ()

From the North American Leaders' Summit in Canada today, President Bush acknowledged frustration with the government of Iraq's President Nouri al-Maliki, but said it's up to the Iraqis to determine who governs their country. Michigan Senator Carl Levin, who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, is the latest American to call for al Maliki's removal. Farah Stockman covers foreign affairs for the Boston Globe.

Guests:

• Farah Stockman: Foreign Affairs Correspondent, Boston Globe

Main Topic

Homegrown Terrorism and 'Bunches of Guys' ()

The train bombings in Madrid and London exposed the threat of "homegrown terrorism." Now the focus of law enforcement has changed from disaffected lone wolves to what the FBI calls "BOG's" or "bunches of guys." The New York Police Department pinpoints small groups of "unremarkable people" it says can be transformed into willing killers. The NYPD report calls the process a "road map" of radicalization which creates both opportunities and problems for law enforcement. Can local law enforcement take preventive action against BOG's without violating constitutional liberties? Why do the cops need satellite surveillance?

Guests:

• Richard Falkenrath: Former Deputy Homeland Security Advisor to President Bush
• John Mueller: Professor of Political Science at Ohio State University
• Frank Cilluffo: Director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, George Washington University
• David Cole: Professor of Law at Georgetown University, @DavidColeGtown

Links:

• Mueller's 'Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them'
• Cole's 'Less Safe, Less Free: Why America Is Losing the War on Terror'

Reporter's Notebook

US Scholar Held in Iran Freed on Bail ()

Haleh Esfandiari is one of four Iranian-Americans detained in Iran. Last December, the Director the Middle East program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars was en route to the airport from Tehran, where she'd been visiting her 93 year-old mother. Three masked men detained her and threatened to kill her, after which she was interrogated for as long as eight hours at a time. Today, she was released from prison, but only on bail.  She still cannot leave the country. Borzou Daragahi, who often reports from Tehran for the Los Angeles Times, joins us from Irbil in Northern Iraq.

Guests:

• Borzou Daragahi: Reporter, Los Angeles Times, @borzou