Rod Huff's Blog

How the Bowe Bergdahl Situation is Like a Homeland Episode

Press and social media have been buzzing about the negotiations the White House conducted with Taliban terrorists. The bottom line is that President Obama decided to release five of Taliban’s top captives from Guantanamo Bay and wanted to get something out of it – enter Bowe Bergdahl. I am not going to write about the legality of such a move or the fact that both sides of the aisle in Congress are upset by not being informed of the negotiations. I also think the President wanted to take some heat off of the growing VA hospital scandal.  I don’t want to rehash the victory that this swap meant to the Talban’s creditability among their peers or what kind of threat it poses for our troops in the future. All of those points have been covered and covered again. I’m going to take a look at something I haven’t seen discussed much – a comparison of Showtime’s Homeland and the real life escapades of Bowe Bergdahl.

Homeland focuses on the release of an American Marine, Nicholas Brody, who was held captive by al Qaeda for eight years. Brody was a war hero and made a triumphant return home where he was honored for his exploits and heroism. Bowe Bergdahl on the other hand apparently deserted his fellow soldiers and was picked up by Taliban soldiers walking alone, cursing, and acting confused in eastern Afghanistan near his post. He was held captive for five years.

Spoiler alert – if you haven’t watched the Homeland series I would highly recommend it and I’ll try not to reveal anything critical to the plot. If you want to watch it without knowing anything about it you may want to skip the rest of this post. The plot shows that Brody converted to Islam during his captivity. Fox News cited secret documents and reported Thursday that Bergdahl converted to Islam and declared himself a “mujahid” or warrior for Islam.

Summary

Different branches of the service – Marine vs Army.
Both were sergeants.
Brody was a war hero – Bergdahl left his post (the Department of Defense officially are reporting that he walked off his base in eastern Afghanistan with three afghan counterparts).
Both converted to Islam.
Both held captive for 5+ years.
Both became chummy with their captors – Brody babysat – Bergdahl played soccer.
They even resemble each other slightly – check out the pic.

Is the Brody/Bergdahl comparison purely a coincidence or is it an example of life imitating art? Whichever it is it was fun to dig into.

Should I Have Grieved bin Laden’s Death?

Those who have been following my posts are most likely surprised by this title and would anticipate a hearty ‘no’ as the answer but read on. I, like many other Americans celebrated the death of the evil leader of al Qaeda. He was a man who brought death and destruction to our homeland. In addition to the immediate devastation, the nineteen men who hijacked the three airplanes have changed our lives forever. These men were following the leadership of Osama bin Laden. His capture and death marked a psychological victory in our fight against radical Islam and most of us were happy. Now tell me something that I don’t know, Rod!

The reason I initially became interested in Islam was that I wanted to dig into a religion that would honor the suicide of their people in support of their radical cause. What motivates people to commit such drastic measures? Out of this research came the idea that spawned Deadly Beliefs – my first novel. As I researched, a dislike of their ideology grew to hatred. I also considered my study of the Bible and the teachings of Jesus and I found myself in a bit of a fog – a dilemma even. Jesus taught love and mingled with people that the ‘religious’ people of His day stayed away from. How are we dealing with Muslims we encounter?

My marketing company just completed a tour of twenty-five college campuses to raise awareness of a cause. I accompanied the tour on ten campuses talking with students about our cause. It was very energizing just being on the campuses and engaging with students and faculty. I tended to gravitate to conversations with Middle Eastern looking students. What I discovered (a dah moment) was that not all Muslims are radicals. I knew this intellectually but held onto the stereotype along with the images etched in my mind of the 9/11 attacks. Most of the students were conversational and enjoyed talking about Islam when I asked. They would ask mMy theory is that many Christians share my misunderstanding of Islam and are, in fact, concerned about reaching out to Muslims. Where is this rant headed?  It dawned on me that as Christ followers who truly believe God’s word we should be grieving the loss of any Muslim. Grieving that they will be spending eternity void of God. I have been convicted to reach out to Muslims that I see around town and open up discussions to build relationships. In addition, I have vowed to add Muslims in general and radical Muslims specifically to my prayers and pray that they find Jesus – Isa in their Quran. Please join me in the prayer endeavor.e what I knew about their religion and the depth of my knowledge surprised them. They were also delighted to hear me say that I have an interest in their religion. Eventually I would ask them what they knew about Christianity. I was shocked by the answers but the bottom-line was that they knew very little.

My theory is that many Christians share my misunderstanding of Islam and are, in fact, concerned about reaching out to Muslims. Where is this rant headed?  It dawned on me that as Christ followers who truly believe God’s word we should be grieving the loss of any Muslim. Grieving that they will be spending eternity void of God. I have been convicted to reach out to Muslims that I see around town and open up discussions to build relationships. In addition, I have vowed to add Muslims in general and radical Muslims specifically to my prayers and pray that they find Jesus – Isa in their Quran. Please join me in the prayer endeavor.

Al-Qaeda: “We’re Coming After You”

I haven’t been blogging lately as I’ve been attending writing conferences and working on my next book, Deadly Borders but I couldn’t pass up today’s hottest news item without commenting and spreading the word. The story centers on a video that was widely distributed on jihadist websites chronicling a meeting of over 100 al-Qaeda fighters. Reports indicate that this highly produced video captures the outdoor meeting and threats made by the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabia Peninsula (also know as AQAP): Nasir al-Wuhayshi – threats like the title of this blog: “we’re coming after you”. He is believed to be the number two guy in al Qaeda worldwide and the err apparent to bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri. Wuhayshi is also quoted in the video saying: “We must eliminate the cross…. The bearer of the cross is America!”

His blatant disregard for his safety and possible drone attacks is disconcerting. I have two questions:

Did US intelligence not know of the meeting?
If they did why were there no drone attacks?

It certainly appears that Wuhayshi wasn’t looking over his shoulder or concerned in the least about the possibility of attacks. Are they feeling empowered and getting ready for another attack?

Most of the video and all of the shots of al-Wuhayshi were clear, high quality, outdoor shots. There were, however, many faces blurred out. Fox News noted that it appeared that many of the blurred out faces appeared to be lighter skinned. Fox speculated that they may be westerners al-Qaeda blurred to protect their identity. US intelligence is combing frame by frame through the video in hopes of figuring out what they are plotting. What was the reason for the show of force?

Despite our President’s claims that al-Qaeda is “on the run” from his most recent presidential campaign, CNN is reporting that al-Qaeda now controls territory that stretches more than 400 miles in the heart of the Middle East – more territory than anytime in their history.

Watch the video for yourself: CNN coverage of al-Qaeda meeting in Yemen.

Great Reviews Keep Coming In

Great reviews have been coming in on Amazon in 2014 – check them out and check out Deadly Beliefs:

Original and Refreshing!!!  By Peter S. on March 10, 2014 – The story as narrated by Rod is captivating, insightful and masterfully done. The background has been built on a great kernel of truth that is the spiritual, physical and mental war humanity is being sold on. The flow is amazing with well-researched facts that blend in nicely with the ideological drama that evolves in this great page-turner. As I have many friends that are Muslims, I was really intrigued to find how well this book delivers on facts. I highly recommend it, if you are looking for a great espionage, suspenseful read!!!

A Rollicking Good Read By Emma Parker on February 22, 2014 – Holy cow I hope none of this comes true and if does all those dooms day preppers are going to be the smart ones, instead of the crazy’s. Geopolitics under the microscope and the west has a virus It doesn’t know about. Finally a modern-day do or die book I can sink my teeth into. Some may need extra intestinal fortitude to digest the worrisome plots. A rollicking good read.

Deadly Good By Michael Gagnon on February 19, 2014 – Original and intriguing, Rod Huffs Deadly Beliefs is taut with ideological drama. This book gives readers a real first hand feeling of being stuck not only in a physical war, but a spiritual war between Christian and Muslim societies. Thick with suspense and steeped in geopolitical insights, Deadly Beliefs is the book for any fan of realistic stories of espionage and terror.

Finally Something Refreshing AND Riveting By Nikki on February 5, 2014 – I loved this story! Just after the first few pages I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. Every turn was planned out successfully as the author appears to know a lot about the issues in the Middle East and portrays a story that really is terrifying to think of- Especially IF it actually ever happened. I was also inspired to read this novel due to the fact that the subject is that of a topic most people don’t want to discuss- as with politics and religion, it’s almost down right taboo! So I commend the author for “going there” and creating something extraordinaire. Great read and highly appropriate for people that are in need of something riveting with a splash of suspense!

Captivating! By Dana Mitchell on February 5, 2014 – In a time when America and the rest of the world fear for their safety from terrorists, comes the perfect novel based on a “what if” premise. The author has thoroughly done his research and not only does this book come packed with knowledge and information about the Islamic culture, but his writing is intriguing with just enough detail to keep you hooked and on edge. I’ve always enjoyed suspenseful stories with end of the world type scenarios and Deadly Beliefs, projects just that. I definitely recommend Huff’s novel to anyone looking for a page turner and not a putter-downer.

A Lively Book Entitled Deadly Beliefs By Jason Brueckner on January 29, 2014 – Business executive turned author-of-an-incredible-thriller (and husband of over 41 years!), Rod Huff has taken a relevantly terrifying topic and allowed his readers to sit dead-center in the midst of the story. If you have an interest of the ongoing situation between the States and the Middle East, and you like a solid “page-turner” novel, than I would encourage you to pick up Huff’s newest book … DEADLY BELIEFS. **Ahem… hint, hint… I heard there is a sequel to be on the lookout for as well** [see the closing pages of Deadly Beliefs]

Top Rate Thriller By D Hawksworth on January 29, 2014 – What an exciting and suspenseful story! Terrorism and politics throughout. I really did enjoy the writing style which is slightly different than the standard fare. I was engrossed in the story after 20 pages and read it pretty quickly. Some of the twists and turns were brilliant. I would definitely read more by this author – he seems to really know his stuff. Looking forward to the next one.

Great Plot And Well Written By alexifa on January 29, 2014 – This is a really fast paced thriller and the structure of the chapters is well designed to keep you hooked and wanting to know what happens next. By the time you get halfway in you can’t book the book down until you’ve got to the end. It’s well researched and has a lot of interesting technical information as well as a great insight into Muslim beliefs. A genuine page turner this is highly recommended.

The sequel is in the works – keep in touch for the release of Deadly Borders.

Sneak Peak of Deadly Borders

 

Thanks to all of my readers who have asked when the sequel to Deadly Beliefs will be released. I appreciate the interest. Here’s where we are.

Deadly Borders picks up four and a half years following the successful thwarting of al-Qaeda’s planned attack on the US and four of our non-Muslim allies around the world. It has taken Homeland Security and the other intelligence agencies to sort through the information collected from the terrorist who survived the attack. Most of the information came from the American recruits – their convictions and beliefs were not as ingrained as their Middle Eastern colleagues. They folded in the interrogations. The intelligence was extremely important to the US.

The book begins with a brief prologue that sets the background for the bad guys while chapter 1 sees our hero and resident nerd, Teddy Brewer sent to London to confer with the people he worked with during Operation Peace Shield and some much-needed rest and relaxation. The prologue and the first chapter are included here for download – these are in a rough draft stage but feel free to share it with friends and family.Sneak Preview 

Deadly Borders tells the story of an evil union between the Juarez drug cartel and the Lebanese Hezbollah. Hezbollah is considered one of the most powerful terrorist organizations in the world. They are skilled tunnel builders – skills they developed by tunneling under the Israeli border for terrorist activities against the Jews. Al-Qaeda cells that survived Peace Shield have pledged their support to Hezbollah – putting aside their Sunni-Shia differences in favor of destroying the hated Christians and Jews. Their plan in Deadly Borders is to use the cartel’s sophisticated drug distribution system to smuggle terrorists and their weapons into the United States to bring instability and chaos to our government and our citizens. Their vision is to see a Hezbollah flag flying over the White House.

Since my story develops while I write, I’m not certain how it will end so you don’t have to worry about a spoiler. But I will tell you that I am enjoying how it is unfolding and look forward to writing it daily. My hope is to have it published by this time next year.

Thanks again for your interest and support of Deadly Beliefs and thanks in advance for helping me to continue to spread the word about it and seeding the market for Deadly Borders!

Another Day, Another Jihad Plot in America

Brigitte Gabriel is one of the leading terrorism experts in the world and the founder and CEO of  ACT! for America which is the only grassroots organization dedicated to national security and terrorism.  We have over 875 chapters across the country and 279,000 members. To learn more about this organization visit their website.

Brigitte’s blog from earlier this week mirrored the premise of my novel, Deadly Beliefs  and was eerily representative of my plot that I decided to share it in it’s entirety. Terrorists are living next door.

Here is Brigitte’s blog of December 16, 2013:

Something scary happened on Friday the 13th, but you’d hardly have noticed from the news reports.

The Joint Terrorism Task Force in Wichita, Kansas, arrested a 58-year old airport employee in a plot to carry out a suicide bombing at the city’s Mid-Continent Airport.

The man, Terry Lee Loewen, was a white convert to Islam who authorities say became “radicalized” over the Internet.

Loewen planned to drive a vehicle laden with explosives onto the airport and explode it—and himself—at the terminal where hundreds of unsuspecting travelers went about their normal business.

Luckily, the FBI had intercepted Loewen and his vehicle contained only dummy explosives planted by an FBI agent that Loewen believed to be a collaborator.

This plot received a great deal of exposure on the Drudge Report, but none of the major news agencies thought it worthy of an email news bulletin—except for Fox News.

A plot like this would have stopped the presses just 15 years ago. Today, it’s just another news story on a busy news day. In another week or so, very few people outside of Kansas will even remember Terry Lee Loewen’s name, or that he was arrested for attempting to carry out mass murder in the name of Jihad. America is becoming desensitized to jihadi terrorism and that is unfortunate. Islamic Jihad is becoming a customary part of our everyday lives.

What is frightening about the homegrown terrorism that we’ve been seeing the last few years is that those terrorists—or would be suicide bombers—seem to be normal Americans.

Loewen lived in a quiet, middle class, suburban neighborhood in a modest, one-story ranch-style home. In the local newspaper The Wichita Eagle, his neighbors described him as “normal:”

 Constance Reed and her daughter, Kyia, lived down the street from Loewen on the 3900 block of East Funston in southeast Wichita.

  “I can’t believe it,” said her daughter, Kyia. “We just went trick or treating down there a month or so ago. It’s a normal house, normal decorations. We saw him and his wife; both normal people.”

Americans need to understand that this is the pattern—not the exception—when it comes to the homegrown Jihadist terrorists. They don’t stand out—by design. In my first book Because They Hate, I discuss watching a news interview of Mohammad Atta’s landlord. Atta as you recall was the 9/11 terrorist attack’s ringleader. To hear the landlord describe Atta and his roommates and guests, you’d have though Atta and his roommates were Boy Scouts. The landlord got that impression because Atta cultivated that image; he knew how to blend in with suburban America and he made a deliberate effort to do so.

Mohammad Atta wasn’t the only one.

• Faisal Shahzad, the Jihadist terrorist who attempted to set off a bomb in Times Square in New York City on May 1st, 2010, lived in suburbia and was often seen walking his neighborhood with his two little girls.

• Najibullah Zazi, who pled guilty in a plot to bomb the New York City subway system, lived a quiet life in Flushing, New York , attended Flushing High School and, for 5 years, operated a coffee and pastry cart on Wall Street, complete with a “God Bless America” sign on display.

• Nineteen-year old Hosam Smadi, who was convicted in a plot to blow up a Dallas skyscraper in 2009, was described by many that knew him as “one of the nicest men they had ever met.” The NBC affiliate in Dallas/Fort Worth described him in a story: “He was a mixture between wannabe gangster and wannabe rock star”… “Everybody loved Sam. He liked to hang out and have fun.” Part of the fun Smadi had in mind was committing mass murder in the name of Jihad.

And I can go on and on…

Jihadist terrorists are all too often your normal next-door neighbor. They are not abnormal looking and typically do not stand out. It takes a well-informed person about the ideology of Jihad to spot the changes of behavior and ask the right questions. The problem we are facing as a society is that we have the blind leading the blind. This willful blindness is coming from the top down. From the office of the president who has purged all terms of Islamic Jihad, Jihadism, Islamic terrorism out of our national language lest we offend Muslims.

Case in point was the Boston bombing. The Russian intelligence turned in a recorded phone conversation between Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his mother discussing Jihad to the FBI to alert them to the coming threat. The FBI didn’t understand the seriousness of that conversation because, since the purge by President Obama in 2009, the FBI is taught that Jihad is basically Islamic Yoga to better yourself.

We as Americans must come to grips with the fact that we now have an enemy that is living and working amongst us. We must become educated as to their ideology and doctrine and accept the fact that they hate us because of that doctrine and ideology. It’s not a pleasant thought, but whether we want to admit it or not, those are the facts and it is their reality. As a result, it has now become our reality too. It is also our national duty as American citizens to identify the threat, create an open national dialogue about the ideology of Jihad and do whatever we can to protect our citizens against it. Anything less than that would be a betrayal to all the great American leaders who came before us and gave their all to create the greatest, most powerful nation on the face of the planet.

P5+1 Iran Nuke Deal

Saturday, November 30th was a great day for watching college football, but while we were all glued to our TV sets, Secretary of State John Kerry along with diplomats from Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China (the P5+1 group) signed an agreement with Iran to stop their nuclear weapons program. This sounds like a good thing, but as a layman interested in world affairs and especially interested in the Middle East I decided to dig into it and form my own opinion. I have no real agenda except I want to see our homeland remain free and vibrant as a world power. I want my children and their children, etc., to be able to grow up with the liberty and freedom that I have enjoyed in my life.

First off, the premise of preventing Iran from continuing to develop nuclear weapons is a good one, but not everyone is happy about it. Two of the biggest opponents of the agreement are unlikely bedmates, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It appears that the only unanimously supportive group is Iranians, although both sides are claiming a victory. What’s going on here?

To set the stage – there are four key provisions of the deal:

Iran will no longer enrich uranium to 5% U-235 and all 20% U-235 that they have stock piled has to blended down to 5% or less so it can not be used in weapons.
Three-fourths of the centrifuges (used in the processing of uranium) at Fordow and half of the centrifuges at Natanz will be made inoperable. No additional centrifuges are to be installed.
All work must stop on the heavy-water reactor at Arak that could be used to produce plutonium that could be used to make a different type of nuclear weapon.
Allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors full access to all Iran’s nuclear facilities that includes daily visits to their Fordow and Natanz facilities as well as continuous camera surveillance of key sites.

What is this visibility costing the P5+1? The public press is that the group will release the economic sanctions that will provide $7 billion into Iran’s floundering economy – $4.5 will come from oil with the balance in coming in aid over the six months. I say the public press, because I have found where secret back room diplomatic negotiations have resulted in the release of prisoners from both sides – these releases included one of the top Iranian nuclear scientists, Mojtaba Atarodi, who was arrested in the US in 2011 for attempting to acquire equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Interesting…

Iran is known to be a hotbed for radical terrorists and is given the right in the Quran to lie to infidels – all six countries involved in our side of this agreement are considered infidels. In reality, there are two forms of lying to non-believers that are permitted under certain circumstances, taqiyya (saying something that is untrue) and kitman (lying by omission).  These circumstances are typically those that will advance the cause Islam – in some cases, by gaining the trust of non-believers, in order to draw out their vulnerability and defeat them. Certainly, a nuclear armed Iran could and mostly likely would “advance the cause of Islam”.

Neither side trusts the other so the agreement is built on a shaky foundation. Iran has vowed to destroy Israel and have stated it publicly numerous times. Israel is witnessing their biggest ally, the United States, actively negotiating with their biggest enemy. Israel has committed to taking unilateral military action if the nuclear weapon development continues in Iran. We cannot trust them.

It’s obvious why Israel is opposed, but why Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia is the spiritual leader of Sunni while Iran is the leader of Shia Muslims – for more information on these two sects read my post on it, A Divided Islam.

Iranians are celebrating, and they see this as a victory for their president, Hassan Roubani, who ran for the position on restoring economic stability – primarily by having the sanctions removed. The sanctions were working. Iran is experiencing rampant inflation (30%) and unemployment (20%). The Iranian currency, the rial, has collapsed but has seen an immediate improvement this week since the agreement was signed. We clearly had our foot on their throats. I know there are millions of innocent people suffering as a result of these sanctions, but there was nothing built into the agreement to address the elephant in the room – terrorism. Iran has been identified by our State Department as an “active state sponsor for terrorism”- they have been the central banker for terrorist activities throughout the region.

Form your own opinions but dig into the facts. The fact, as I see it, is that this agreement does nothing to settle the Middle East but rather seems like it’s stirring it up. A nuclear-armed Iran is a dangerous proposition. I hope and pray that this agreement works but as you can see I have my doubts.

Al Qaeda in Bowling Green

I was talking with a friend yesterday discussing the topic of this blog. Al Qaeda operatives were found in Bowling Green, Kentucky – roughly an hour north of Nashville, where we are living. Nashville has become a very popular city with many people moving in from around the country – even the world. There are 170,000 refugees in Nashville that have settled from all over the world. Nashville has one of the largest refugee populations in the states.

My friend jokingly said, “What if a terrorist group set up operations in our city?” He had just read Deadly Beliefs and began smiling. That is exactly what happens in the book.

ABC News broke a real-life story this week in which they released video footage and photos of two refugees from Iraq (Waad Ramadan Alwan and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi) demonstrating arms to an undercover FBI agent. Watch the entire ABC News report here. The weapons included a Russian PKM machine gun, a Stinger missile launcher and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) launcher among others – serious weapons! The surprising thing is that these terrorists (with known connections to al Qaeda) came into the country via the government’s Iraq War refugee program.

The story of the arrest of these two terrorists in May of 2011 was lost in the headlines of bin Laden’s capture and death. As a result, however, the FBI, like looking for a needle in the haystack, is going through 100,000+ pieces of bombs, detonators, cell phones, etc. looking for finger prints of other immigrants who may have escaped detection as well. A six-month ban of any refugees coming here from Iraq was suspended as procedures were tightened and improved.

In a frightening quote during an interview on ABC News programs the House Committee on Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul stated, “I wouldn’t be surprised if there were many more than that and these are trained terrorists in the art of bomb making that are inside the United States; and quite frankly, from a homeland security perspective, that really concerns me.”

This is scary stuff and not fictional – having it happen an hour from where I live makes it very real. In fact it’s probably happening much closer. I need to point out that the vast majority (nearly all) of the refugees coming to the US are peace-loving, hard-working people looking a safer place to raise their families but we do need to be on the lookout for suspicious activity in our neighborhoods. Report those activities to local authorities – we need to keep out eyes open!

Where is the Obama Care Girl?

If our president didn’t have enough problems with the roll out of his affordable health care plan and problem-plagued heathcare.gov – now the poster girl from the website’s home page has turned up missing. The nation’s news organizations are pounding the pavements to report on the mystery of the home page girl – each with their own tongue-in-cheek explanations and theories.

In addition to not knowing where she is the next big question is about her identity – who is she? Call it a slow news day or whatever but at least it’s giving us a reprise from the democratic/republican battles going on over everything. It seems that both parties are concerned about this Obama Care Girl.

There are numerous theories surfacing on what happened – here are a few:

She was the first victim of the death panels.
She was thrown under the bus to take the blame for the website.
She ran off with the former Facebook guy.
She isn’t real and was a composite made by Photoshopping several pieces of images together.
She was an al-Qaeda seductress.
She’s having plastic surgery to change her identity.
She’s a relative of Kathleen Sebelius.
She’s Betty Crocker.
She’s in hiding until the website is working.
She’s moving to a red state that has a functioning state-run exchange.
She’s writing a book.
She was fired because her website wasn’t functioning.

This all good fun and, as I said above, a welcomed diversion from the seriousness of our government over-spending and their inability to reach a compromise on anything. But the disheartening fact is that heathcare.gov’s original contract was granted for $93.7 million. That in itself is a ridiculous number for a website but it gets worse. Estimates now suggest that the price tag is in excess of $678 million and guess what? It still doesn’t work.

Here is a screen shot of my attempt to get on the website moments ago:

 Should we expect it to work for this price tag? What does this say for their management of our health care system if they can’t even launch an effective website at these astronomical prices. If you agree with my thinking please share this blog post with your family and friends. We should all be up in arms with this irresponsible spending of our tax dollars!

Terrorist Recruiting in the US

Al-Shabab, a Somalia based radical Muslim terrorist group, has claimed responsibility for the attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya. CBS is reporting 71 victims but the death toll is expected to increase as the rubble is cleared. The attacks were specifically targeted at non-Muslims – in the words of al-Shabab they “carried out a meticulous vetting process” to not harm Muslims. The “vetting” included asking people to recite passages from the Quran or other key elements of their faith – unable to do so meant death or severe injury to the non-Muslim victims.

Al-Shabab (means ‘the youth’) was designated as a terrorist organization by the US in 2008 but has been around since the mid 2000’s. They are estimated to have between 7 and 9,000 fighters and foreign jihadist. The group merged with al-Qaeda in February 2012 and has been known to recruit widely in the United States. The merger with al-Qaeda has offered al-Shabab it’s training facilities, tactical strategy and communication expertise. CBS also reported that they have recruited two-dozen Somali-Americans from the Minneapolis area over the past few years. They actively recruit in Somali neighborhoods throughout the US.

One of the recruits from America worked his way through the ranks of al-Shabab leadership and was apparently killed when he defied al-Shabab. He attained the highest position ever for an American – his nationality became his nickname: ‘the American’. His name was Omar Shafik Hammami who was born in Daphne, Alabama. He was president of his sophomore class at Daphne Hugh School and as a child was raised a Baptist but practiced his father’s Muslim culture at home. Hammami converted to Islam, left high school early to attend college at the University of South Alabama where he served as president of the Muslim Student’s Association.

A report from Kenya’s foreign minister, Amina Mohamed, indicated that the initial reports are that there were two young Americans (between 18 and 19) of Somali or Arab origin that lived somewhere in the US who participated in the mall attack.

Here’s my concern – it’s a rather short leap from al-Shabab/al-Qaeda recruiting radicals from the US to go back to their native Somolia to join the fight for global caliphate – to recruiting these same radicals to strap bombs on and attack our shopping malls in middle America. Vetting won’t be as tedious as Muslims will be a small minority of the shoppers. They conducted a precise attack in Nairobi. They rented a kiosk weeks before the attack and learned the details of traffic flow and mall layout – it was well orchestrated, planned and executed. I hope not, but was this a dry run to future attacks on our homeland?

Learn more about how the radical Islamic mind thinks in Deadly Beliefs – download the first three chapters here.First Three Chapters Free