The AP got a hold of a DHS paper of future threat assessment, and it contained no surprises for citizens equipped with common sense.

The terrorism threat to the United States over the next five years will be driven by instability in the Middle East and Africa, persistent challenges to border security and increasing Internet savvy, says a new intelligence assessment obtained by The Associated Press.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear attacks are considered the most dangerous threats that could be carried out against the U.S. But those threats are also the most unlikely because it is so difficult for al-Qaida and similar groups to acquire the materials needed to carry out such plots, according to the internal Homeland Security Threat Assessment for the years 2008-2013. [...]

Terrorists will continue to try to evade U.S. border security measures and place operatives inside the mainland to carry out attacks, the 38-page assessment said. It also said that they may pose as refugees or asylum seekers or try to exploit foreign travel channels such as the visa waiver program, which allows citizens of 34 countries to enter the U.S. without visas.

Long waits for immigration and more restrictive European refugee and asylum programs will cause more foreigners to try to enter the U.S. illegally. Increasing numbers of Iraqis are expected to migrate to the U.S. in the next five years; and refugees from Somalia and Sudan could increase because of conflicts in those countries, the assessment said.

Because there is a proposed cap of 12,000 refugees from Africa, officials expect more will try to enter the U.S. illegally as well. Officials predict the same scenario for refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Intelligence officials predict the pool of radical Islamists within the U.S. will increase over the next five years due partly to the ease of online recruiting means. Officials foresee "a wave of young, self-identified Muslim 'terrorist wannabes' who aspire to carry out violent acts."

The U.S. has already seen some examples of these homegrown terrorists. Recently five Muslim immigrants were convicted of plotting to massacre U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix in a case the government said demonstrated its post-Sept. 11 determination to stop terrorist attacks in the planning stages.

Homeland Security forecasts 5-year threat picture, AP, Decembr 26, 2008

I don't know how the press can get away with calling Muslim immigrant terrorists "homegrown" but the MSM does it all the time. In fact, three of the Fort Dix terrorists recently convicted were illegal aliens. (See Muslim Terror Trials Update.)

Here's what Dictionary.com has to say about the word homegrown:

1. grown or produced at home or in a particular region for local consumption: homegrown tomatoes. 2. native or indigenous to or characteristic of a region: homegrown musicians.

"Homegrown" is the opposite of "foreign", is it not?

But beyond the usual media malfeasance, consider the policy choices that are dangerous for America's national security, starting with refugees (and the number of them should be ZERO in this economy).

The article suggests that terrorists will "pose as refugees or asylum seekers" or will enter illegally if they can't get in as refugees. Obviously the refugee program is understood by the bad guys as an easy gateway to the hated home of infidels.

DHS is admitting that the refugee program is inherently hazardous, but does not recommend its curtailment.

As far as the "Muslim terrorist wanna-bes" already residing in the United States, the DHS probably read the 2007 Pew survey (Muslim Fifth Column Polled) which found that around 100,000 young Muslims believe in a jihad ideology in which deadly attacks against western targets are acceptable.

Muslim immigration has no benefit and poses unlimited danger. We should end it immediately.