Anti-Americanism Pried Its Way into New Jersey (Sen. Joe Lieberman)

The Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing today, our fourth on Islamist radicalization, took on a special sense of urgency with the arrests Tuesday of six would-be terrorists who are accused of plotting to force their way into Fort Dix, New Jersey, with automatic assault rifles and kill as many American soldiers as possible.

The perpetrators thought the death toll could reach into the hundreds if they timed it right, according to the FBI’s affidavit. These six were not radicalized in faraway extremist madrasahs, nor did they receive their weapons or tactical training at Al Qaeda camps. The accused terrorists were radicalized and eventually developed their plans of attack right here in the United States, according to the FBI. They were propagandized and trained with videos either downloaded from the internet or passed from computer to computer on DVDs.

Though there is no evidence at this time of an operational link to Al Qaeda, there is quite clearly an ideological link — Osama bin Laden’s radical message reached across cyberspace and traditional borders and poisoned the hearts and minds of these six men in New Jersey.

This is not the first terrorist plot against the U.S. since 9-11 to be stopped before it could be carried out, and it most surely will not be the last to be attempted. But it is another wake-up call to the American people that there are people in this world who so hate our American way of life that they are intent on wantonly killing Americans.