Report: al Qaeda poses changing threat to America

CNN Wire Staff

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/US/09/10/terror.threat.report/t1larg.towers.gi.jpg caption="Nine years after 9/11, al Qaeda remains a serious threat to the United States, a new report says." width=300 height=169]

Washington (CNN) - Nearly nine years after the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, Americans still face a serious threat from al Qaeda, according to a new report from a panel of top national security experts.

Among other things, the 42-page analysis warns of the expanding role played by U.S. citizens and residents within al Qaeda and allied organizations. It describes an increasingly wide range of "U.S.-based jihidist militants" who do not fit "any particular ethnic, economic, educational, or social profile."

The United States, the report asserts, now confronts "a dynamic threat that has diversified to a broad array of different attacks, from shootings to car bombs to simultaneous suicide attacks to attempted in-flight bombings of passenger aircraft."

Would-be terrorists are now likely to attempt more frequent and less sophisticated attacks compared to what transpired in 2001, the report states. Preventing such attacks will require greater involvement from state and local public safety officials, it says.

Full story