Report: Homegrown terrorism a real threat

WASHINGTON, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A congressional report said homegrown Islamic terrorists who target U.S. military bases are a "severe and emerging threat" but critics called the report biased.

The report, released Thursday by the staff of Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, lists 33 "threats, plots and strikes" against military communities since Sept. 11, 2001, ABC News reported Wednesday.

"Military communities in the [United States] have recently become the most sought-after targets of violent Islamist extremists seeking to kill Americans in their homeland," King said at a committee meeting. "We cannot stand idly by while our heroes in uniform are struck down in the place they feel safest."

The report highlighted the November 2009 shootings at Fort Hood in Texas, where Army Maj. Nidal Hasan allegedly killed 13 people and injured another 29 despite an earlier FBI and Defense Department investigation of the suspect for communications with radical Yemeni cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.

Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., the leading Democrat on the committee, said the report paints a picture that is "not likely to be accurate, nuanced or subtle."

"Focusing on the followers of one religion as the only credible threat to this nation's security is inaccurate, narrow and blocks consideration of emerging threats," Thompson said. "A congressional hearing that focuses on religion and the military is likely to harm unit cohesion and undermine morale within our military."