BRINGING IT HOME – AT 9:30 A.M. ET:  There is a great deal of worry, in a number of Western countries, that individuals are leaving these countries to fight as jihadists in the Mideast, and will then bring their "skills" back home to commit acts of terror.  This is an American example.  From Minnesota Daily: 

Agents from the Minneapolis office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are collecting information from Cedar-Riverside residents as part of an ongoing investigation spurred by recent allegations of American citizens joining Syrian rebels overseas.

Rumors that neighborhood residents are illegally fighting in conflict overseas prompted agents from the FBI to ramp up their already-existing presence in the neighborhood earlier this month, said Minneapolis FBI spokesman Kyle Loven.

He said agents are actively interviewing residents and informing them about the allegations, while also trying to figure out if anyone in the community is involved.

“We’re looking for information that would indicate that someone intends to travel to a country where there’s armed conflict,” Loven said.

Since Somalian military forces invaded Ethopia in 2006, Loven said at least 22 Somali immigrants — who were mostly young men — have left Minnesota to join al-Shabaab, a Somali terrorist organization. He said the FBI is continuing investigations into those incidents.

“Our information and history here in Minneapolis indicates that these recruitment efforts are being directed primarily at young people,” Loven said.

Citizens are allegedly joining rebel forces in going against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s government.

The Minneapolis FBI kicked off its investigation into potential Syrian ties in the Cedar-Riverside area earlier this month when two FBI agents met with community members at the Brian Coyle Center. Loven said the FBI will continue to work with city and state Somali groups in an attempt to gain a better understanding of what might be attracting young men to foreign countries.

“Our liaison … met with leaders to determine as many facts as they could,” Loven said.

The meeting followed a notice posted on the Minneapolis FBI’s website, which was shortly after the first death of an American suicide bomber acting on behalf of a militant group in Syria, late last month.

COMMENT:  There will be the usual cries of fascism, violation of civil liberties, racism, Islamophobia, and the rest of the checklist.  But this kind of surveillance must be done.  I'm not sure, though, how successful it will be, since the "community" is already alerted to an FBI presence.

I wonder if the Bureau is permitted to use census data to determine if anyone has gone bye-bye. 

There's going to be more about this concern in the future.  Remember the Boston Marathon attack.

June 18, 2014