EDITORIAL: Radicalized right here at home

Failed Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad said he would plead guilty "100 times over" to attacking the United States, a statement all the more chilling because it came from the terrorist next door.

Shahzad, 30, immigrated here from Pakistan for all the benefits of a better life in this nation. He got his MBA, married a woman from Colorado, became a naturalized citizen, had "two beautiful children," bought a small condo, traded up to a large suburban home that he later lost to foreclosure, and tasted corporate life as an account analyst at Elizabeth Arden.

Yet on Monday he admitted that he was a "Muslim soldier" still seething to kill Americans.

When U.S. District Court Judge Miriam Cedarbaum asked him if he understood that his victims would have been civilians, Shahzad justified his plan by saying that innocent people are killed by drone attacks in Afghanistan. Certainly, the United States has made some horrible mistakes and needs to be more accurate in its military strikes. But for Shahzad, drones are just the excuse of the day to blame for irrational acts. Those who hate America have always found something to blame it on.

Shahzad has disgraced others who have come to the United States and worked hard to make a better life. He shouldn't be confused with them. Still, he is yet another frightening reminder, like the Fort Hood shooter in November, of terrorists who were radicalized right here. hN