COMPILATION OF HEARINGS ON ISLAMIST RADICALIZATION—VOLUME III HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 21 and JUNE 20, 2012 Serial No. 112–78 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ COMPILATION OF HEARINGS ON ISLAMIST RADICALIZATION—VOLUME III COMPILATION OF HEARINGS ON ISLAMIST RADICALIZATION—VOLUME III HEARINGS BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION MARCH 21 and JUNE 20, 2012 Serial No. 112–78 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 76–517 PDF WASHINGTON : 2012 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY PETER T. KING, New York, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi DANIEL E. LUNGREN, California LORETTA SANCHEZ, California MIKE ROGERS, Alabama SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas HENRY CUELLAR, Texas GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia LAURA RICHARDSON, California CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois TIM WALBERG, Michigan BRIAN HIGGINS, New York CHIP CRAVAACK, Minnesota CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana JOE WALSH, Illinois HANSEN CLARKE, Michigan PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts BEN QUAYLE, Arizona KATHLEEN C. HOCHUL, New York SCOTT RIGELL, Virginia JANICE HAHN, California BILLY LONG, Missouri VACANCY JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania BLAKE FARENTHOLD, Texas ROBERT L. TURNER, New York MICHAEL J. RUSSELL, Staff Director/Chief Counsel KERRY ANN WATKINS, Senior Policy Director MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S Page WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2012 STATEMENTS The Honorable Peter T. King, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security .................... 1 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security ................................................................................................................. 4 WITNESSES Mr. Mitchell D. Silber, Director, Intelligence Analysis, NYPD Intelligence Division, New York City Police Department: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 7 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 9 Mr. Christopher E. Swecker, Former Assistant Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 12 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 15 Mr. Michael A. Braun, Managing Partner, Spectre Group International, LLC: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 18 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 19 Mr. Matthew Levitt, Director, Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intel- ligence, The Washington Institute For Near East Policy: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 29 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 32 Mr. Colin H. Kahl, Senior Fellow, Center for a New American Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 42 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 44 WEDNESDAY, JUNE 20, 2012 STATEMENTS The Honorable Peter T. King, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 75 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 77 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 79 WITNESSES Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, President and Founder, American Islamic Forum for Democracy: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 81 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 83 Ms. Asra Q. Nomani, Private Citizen: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 91 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 93 (III) IV Page Dr. Qanta A.A. Ahmed, MD, FACP, FCCP, FAASM, Private Citizen: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 106 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 107 Ms. Faiza Patel, Co-Director, Liberty and National Security Program, Bren- nan Center for Justice: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 114 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 116 FOR THE RECORD The Honorable Laura Richardson, a Representative in Congress From the State of California: Statement of Charles Kurzman, Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ............................................................................ 131 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Statement of John Cohen, Principal Deputy Counterterrorism Coordinator and Senior Advisor to the Secretary, United States Department of Home- land Security ..................................................................................................... 148 The Honorable Peter T. King, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, and Chairman, Committee on Homeland Security: Report: ‘‘The Radicalization of Muslim-Americans: The Committee on Homeland Security’s Investigation of the Continuing Threat’’ ..................... 152 APPENDIX Questions From Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson for Qanta A.A. Ahmed ................................................................................................................... 173 Questions From Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson for M. Zuhdi Jasser ... 173 Questions From Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson for Asra Q. Nomani ... 173 Questions From Ranking Member Bennie G. Thompson for Faiza Patel ........... 174 IRAN, HEZBOLLAH, AND THE THREAT TO THE HOMELAND Wednesday, March 21, 2012 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to call, at 9:39 a.m., in Room 311, Canon House Office Building, Hon. Peter T. King [Chairman of the committee] presiding. Present: Representatives King, Lungren, Rogers, McCaul, Bili- rakis, Miller, Cravaack, Meehan, Quayle, Long, Duncan, Turner, Thompson, Jackson Lee, Cuellar, Richardson, Higgins, Richmond, Clarke of Michigan, Hochul, and Hahn. Also present: Representative Green. Chairman KING. Morning. The Committee on Homeland Security will come to order. The committee is meeting this morning to ex- amine the threat to the U.S. homeland posed by Iran and the for- eign terrorist organization, Hezbollah. The Chair wishes to remind our guests today that demonstra- tions in the audience, including the use of signs, placards and T- shirts, as well as verbal outbursts, are a violation of the rules of the House. The Chair wishes to thank our guests for their coopera- tion in maintaining order, proper decorum. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. We meet today at a perilous time. Since 9/11, America’s counter- terror officials have focused on finding al-Qaeda operatives inside America, as well as homegrown radicalized Islamist extremists ready to perpetrate violence against our people. Now, as Iran moves closer to nuclear weapons, and there is in- creasing concern over war between Iran and Israel, we must also focus on Iran’s secret operatives, and their No. 1 terrorist proxy force, Hezbollah, which we know is in America. That is right. We know Hezbollah operatives are here. The question is whether these Hezbollah operatives have the capacity to carry out attacks on the homeland, and how quickly they can become fully operational. More than 20 Federal investigations since 9/11, identified by the Majority’s investigative staff, offer a chilling view of Iranian and Hezbollah operations here inside the United States. In fact, just this week