Five U.S. cities prime targets of radical Islamic jihadists

Obama must go for a knockout in Afghanistan to thwart major al Qaeda attacks on U.S.

By Bogdan Kipling
Wednesday, October 14, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. — There are many reasons for hunkering down in Afghanistan and adopting a tougher military strategy so Americans and their NATO allies can finally leave behind a more stable — though barely democratic —Middle East. New York City, Philadelphia, Denver, Springfield, Il, and the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia are high among those reasons.

All five cities were prime targets of radical Islamic jihadists, as emerges from plots the FBI and local police nixed in September.

Most of the would-be terrorists the FBI has identified and arrested had trained at various al Qaeda camps in or near Afghanistan. And all of them had gained cover in the U.S. by posing as normal members of moderate Muslim communities.

Insiders in the international intelligence community say there is suspicion that numerous Islamic terror cells hide in the United States, only waiting for signals to launch attacks that could be more lethal than 9/11.

This is reality-USA today and President Barack Obama would do well to heed the “don’t go wobbly on me, Georgeâ€