Intelligence agencies continue to keep America safe, stopping 51 terror plot since 9/11

CLEVELAND - Marking the one year anniversary of the death of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, a new report details America's successes against potential terrorist attacks.

America's intelligence agencies have been busy keeping the country safe. Their successes are well-documented. A new report released this week by The Heritage Foundation provides a detailed account of each foiled plot.

Since the horrific and tragic terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 51 terror plots have been stopped, including Cleveland's foiled bridge attack. Those 51 are just the attacks released to the public by The Homeland Security Department, CIA and FBI. From those 51 failed attacks, five were planned in Ohio.

* April 30, 2012:  Planned attack on the Route 82 bridge in Brecksville.  Five suspects -- - Douglas Wright, 26; Brandon Baxter, 20; Anthony Hayne, 35; Connor Stevens, 20 and Joshua Stafford, 23 -- were arrested and charged in Federal Court with conspiracy and attempted use of explosive material to damage physical property affecting interstate commerce.

* June, 2008:  Christopher Paul, a U.S. citizen from Columbus was arrested and charged with conspiracy to use a weapon of mass destruction.  Paul joined al-Qaida in the 1990s and was involved in plots to target Americans in the U.S. and overseas.

* February, 2006:  Mohammad Zaki Amawi, Marwan Othman El-Hindi, and Zand Wassim Mazloum were arrested in Toledo for conspiring to kill outside the U.S., including American troops serving in Iraq.

* November, 2003:  Nurandin M. Abdi, a Somali citizen living in Columbus, was arrested and charged with plotting to bomb a Columbus-area shopping mall.

* May, 2003:  Iyman Ferris, a naturalized American citizen was living in Colubus when he was arrested for conspiring to use blowtorches to collapse the Brooklyn, NY Bridge.  

What this report reveals is that terrorists, both inside the United States, and overseas, continue to plot and plan to harm American citizens. 

The Heritage Foundation's report concludes that out of the 51 foiled attacks, 43 of those can be categorized as "home grown" plots, meaning the suspects are either U.S. citizens, or foreign nations who came to America, live here legally, and in many cases, become naturalized citizens.

To read the complete report from The Heritage Foundation, click on this link: http://on.wews.com/IDuPVW