In Wake of ID of Boston Bombers, a Look at Jihadist Terror

With the news that the Boston Marathon bombers may have Chechnyan roots, attention is turning to the threat of "self-radicalized" Muslims in the United States. In the fall of 2011, the Intelligence Report ran a cover story and several sidebars on that phenomenon that may be useful to readers.

Our lead story explored the changing nature of the jihadist threat as extremists living in the country have become at least as dangerous as operatives from abroad. We also published a timeline of 30 attacks by homegrown jihadists since 9/11 and profiles of 10 extremists. I also wrote an accompanying editorial.

At the same time, the fact that the two suspects, one of whom died in a shootout with police, may be Muslim has prompted serious concerns about a backlash against Muslims in this country. We explored issues of Islamophobia in a cover story in our Summer 2011 issue. Accompanying that story was a look at the anti-Muslim inner circle. We also reported recently on the rise in  anti-Muslim hate crimes that began in 2010. Pro-immigrant activists are also worried that the fact that the two suspects were immigrants may harm or even derail efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform in the near future.