In April 2009, the Department of Homeland Security published an “Assessment” of the threat of Right-Wing extremism. One section identified returning military veterans as a particular danger:
DHS/I and A assesses that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to exploit their skills and knowledge derived from military training and combat. These skills and knowledge have the potential to boost the capabilities of extremists–including lone wolves or small terrorist cells–to carry out violence. The willingness of a small percentage of military personnel to join extremist groups during the 1990s because they were disgruntled, disillusioned, or suffering from the psychological effects of war is being replicated today.
Meanwhile, two detainees released from Gitmo plan an attack culminating in a situation where an individual on the terror watch list, whose own father has reported to US officials, gets a visa to visit the United States, purchases a ticket with cash on the day of travel, takes no luggage, flies without a passport and carries on his body enough explosives to bring down an airplane.