Ka Leo O Hawaii - 'Lone wolves' FBI's top terror concern

As the nation marks the 10th anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing today, the threat of domestic terrorism is overshadowed by foreign terrorism, even though domestic terrorists have greater access than ever to knowledge they could use to kill large numbers of people. "It's much easier now to get the know-how and material for bombs and other devices, and it's almost an insurmountable task to track these unrestrained independent operators," said Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University. The cases of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph, the anti-abortion terrorist who pleaded guilty last week to four bombings, demonstrated that "lone wolves," with little help and loose ties to organized groups can wreak havoc and even inspire copycats. "Paradoxically, as some extremist groups lose steam, individuals become more desperate to take action on their own," said Bruce Hoffmann, a terrorism expert with the RAND Corp., a think tank that offers strategy advice to the government. "An individual or small cell is capable of enormous damage." Larger hate groups that advocate violence often are foiled by internal rivalries, incompetent planning and informants or the fear of them, Levin said. But individuals and small groups can be harder to uncover and stop. Some experts worry, for example, that an 11-page manifesto Rudolph wrote, describing his personal war against abortion, may encourage others to resort to violence. siehe auch: US radical right remains a threat. The Oklahoma City bombing shocked the United States in 1995 and brought to light the shadowy world of radical rightwing paramilitary groups known as militias