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A series of arrests in the United States this week sheds light on a growing concern of law enforcement officials. Foreign terrorist organizations like al-Shabab in Somalia are receiving assistance from U.S. citizens. In some cases, those citizens are traveling abroad for terrorist training and are joining armed insurgencies. Experts say many of these citizens are ideal targets for terror recruitment.
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"Many of these people are in fact the children of refugees. They were probably born in Somalia or born soon after [their mothers] came to the United States," he said. "And they are not particularly in touch with their parents. And yet, neither are they particularly attracted to or accepted by mainstream American culture. So there is this kind of double alienation that makes them particularly prone to recruitment."
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Now, he says, Somalia is the destination of choice for those seeking to carry out a holy war.... "Somalia has become what Afghanistan was in the 1980s," said Mockaitis. "It is a failed state and it's a hotbed for [not only] conflict, but also the training and export of extremist activity."