2009: The Year of Homegrown Jihad

From the Fort Hood massacre to the failed attempt to blow up an airliner on Christmas day, Islamic jihadists have never been more active in their attempts to attack the U.S. Many of the plots were hatched by U.S. citizens -- homegrown jihadists.

Exibit A: Five middle class friends from the Washington, D.C., suburbs: one was a dental student at a local university, all were praised as "good kids" by leaders of their northern Virginia mosque.

"I have always known these kids as fun loving, career focused children that had a bright future ahead of them," said Mustafa Abu Maryam, youth coordinator of the young men’s mosque in Alexandria, Va.

CBN News Terror Analyst Erick Stakelbeck talked with Pat Robertson on Tuesday's "The 700 Club" about the growing threat of homegrown jihad. Click play for the interview.

Now, a good part of that "bright" future may be spent behind bars. The men traveled to Pakistan in November to link up with Islamic terrorist groups and wage jihad against U.S. troops.

Their capture by Pakistani authorities capped a full year of terrorist plots, attacks and arrests involving U.S. citizens

Terrorism experts say the rise of homegrown terrorism has left the U.S. more vulnerable to attack than at any time since 9/11. (...)