Counter-terror intelligence expert tops off Homegrown Jihad documentary lineup
Counter-terrorism expert Dr. Peter M. Leitner topped off the expert lineup of leading voices featured in Homegrown Jihad, Christian Action Network president Martin Mawyer said Friday, March 7.
Leitner, Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center president, has 30 years service history, 18 with the U.S. Department of Defense, bringing the Christian Action Network documentary project depth and credibility.
Mawyer said Leitner’s expertise comes from his help in training more than 7,000 law enforcement, first responder, military, FBI, and CIA personnel in intelligence analysis, Islamic terrorism, terror cells, weapons of mass destruction and Arab and Islamic culture.
Leitner also leads the Washington Center for Peace & Justice, a non-profit organization assisting terrorism victims and families.
What struck Mawyer right away in interviewing Leitner recently was his strong grasp of the situation America faces in dealing with homegrown terrorists, the Muslims of America camps specifically.
“His understanding of the situation is outstanding, he gave outstanding information,” Mawyer said. “I found his insight to be an immense contribution to the documentary, especially in linking Muslims of America to international terrorism.”
The Muslims of America name is simply an intelligence operation method for Jamaat al-Fuqra to operate more openly in the United States, Leitner explained.
“It‘s your classic pattern of espionage, of organized criminality, they don‘t parade in their own name [but use] normal sounding, legitimate sounding names,” Leitner said.
He added Jamaat al-Fuqra, a.k.a., Muslims of America, uses what he called “cut-outs” or front organizations such as private investigations firms and security businesses.
“That is extraordinarily dangerous,” he said, adding as terrorists check at a facility gatehouse, “the guy who is checking their ID is the bad guy…they guy with a key to the building is a bad guy.”
And background checks into some security and private investigative businesses with access to government facilities is alarmingly shallow, according to Leitner.
So is the level of communication between federal intelligence agencies and most local law enforcement offices - putting America’s homeland defense behind on some simple math.
“It’s that failure of communication, that failure of information sharing, that threatens Americans in their bedrooms, in their communities,” Leitner said.
With the FBI, for instance, having thousands of agents, and local law enforcement agencies nationwide employing more than 640,000, “how hard is it to do the math and see the kind of assets we’re completely wasting?” he added.
In further comments, to be included in upcoming exclusive PRB News feature stories, Leitner links Muslims of America founder, Sheikh Mubarak Ali Gilani, to Pakistan’s ISI, notes how MOA camps are a “fifth column” and suggests RICO statutes are tools against the insurgency.
Leitner’s comments are thoroughly explained by Leitner himself…“This is all part of the cat-and-mouse game of counterterrorism,” he said.
Dr. Leitner holds power of attorney for the John O'Neill family and estate - former head of counterterrorism for the FBI who was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center.