General: al-Qaida Making New Cells in US

U.S. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, gestures during a news conference at Central Command Center, Doha, Qatar in this April 10, 2003 file photo. Renuart, the military commander in charge of defending the U.S. homeland said Tuesday, July 24, 2007, that he believes there are al-Qaida cells in the U.S. or people working to create them. (AP Photo/Richard Lewis, File) (Richard Lewis - AP)

WASHINGTON -- A top U.S. military commander said Tuesday he believes there are al-Qaida cells in the United States _ or people working to create them _ and the military needs to triple its response teams to counter a growing threat of attack.

Air Force Gen. Victor "Gene" Renuart, who heads U.S. Northern Command, said that as the terrorism threat within the nation's boundaries has increased officials have strengthened intelligence sharing, particularly in an effort to shore up security at ports.

"I believe there are cells in the United States, or at least people who aspire to create cells in the United States," Renuart said in an interview with The Associated Press. "To assume that there are not those cells is naive and so we have to take that threat seriously."

As for attacks, he added: "Am I concerned that this will happen this summer? I have to be concerned that it could happen any day."

Other U.S. officials said last week they did not know of al-Qaida cells in the United States.

Renuart, who took over at U.S. Northern Command just four months ago, said the military has one brigade-size unit available to respond to nuclear, chemical and biological incidents at home. That number, he said, needs to grow to three. A brigade is about 3,500 troops.

Renuart's comments came in the wake of a national intelligence report released last week, which concluded that al-Qaida is using its growing strength in the Middle East to plot attacks on U.S. soil. The general is in Washington this week to attend meetings with Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Peter Pace, and a number of other top military commanders.

Port security has long been identified as a key weak point for terror attacks, including the need to scan cargo containers coming into the country by ship.

Renuart said officials are expanding their use of sensors and other technologies that allow them to track ships, including their location, their speed and other commercial information. And, while he would not provide details, he said there has already been "real payback" in terms of identifying vessels of concern and either checking or boarding them well before they entered U.S. waters.

In addition, he said he is increasing the number of Coast Guard personnel assigned to U.S. Northern Command to help during port security incidents or hurricanes. Currently there are 20 active duty personnel, and a new team of five reservists was created in April. Another five reservists are being added to that team by the end of the year.

"Because the national intelligence estimate talks about the vulnerability of ports, and because of the importance that we place on the movement of a variety of goods through those ports, finding ways to improve that is a really important element of our day-to-day work," Renuart said.

Improving communications between federal agencies and among emergency responders _ including intelligence, homeland security and defense _ has been an ongoing struggle. Officials identified significant communications failures during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and found that there were continuing problems during the hurricanes that devastated the Gulf Coast in August 2005.