A Senate homeland security committee report set for release Thursday details a growing threat from terrorists' use of the Internet as a recruiting and training tool. The report concludes that the U.S. government should consider its own outreach program as a counter to the Web strategies of groups such as al-Qaida.

A draft of the staff-generated report obtained by The Courant says that "radicalization is no longer confined to training camps in Afghanistan or other locations far from our shores; it is also occurring right here in the United States." The homeland security committee, led by Sen. Joseph Lieberman, has investigated "the threat of homegrown terrorism" in several hearings since last year.

This report paints Internet use by terrorists as having an unlimited reach, including into English-speaking communities in the United States. Al-Qaida, it says, runs a "a multi-tiered online media operation in which a number of production units associated with [al-Qaida] or allied violent Islamist organizations produce content consistent with the core terrorist enlistment message."

The "thousands" of terrorist-operated websites have become "an effective distribution system for the core enlistment message and other content," the report contends. There is no longer as much of a need, it suggests, for physical training camps.

The recently minted "independent Democrat," Lieberman, has been an uncompromising advocate of the war against terrorism, putting that issue above all others in his political life. So terrorism has also become a focus of his committee.

His committee's report lists a number of domestic plots foiled by U.S. law enforcement that it says were inspired by Islamist extremism, though not actually affiliated with existing terrorism groups. Those attempts so far haven't been very sophisticated, intelligence officials say.

According to February testimony from Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, "Their efforts, when disrupted, largely have been in the nascent phase, and authorities often were able to take advantage of poor operational tradecraft." But material on the Internet could give future groups "opportunities to build relationships and gain expertise that previously were available only in overseas training camps," he said.

The report details four stages of developing a vulnerable person into a terrorist, as taught by New York Police Department specialists. "Left unchallenged, it is very possible that the core terrorist enlistment message espoused over the Internet will drive more individuals in the United States all the way through the four stages of the radicalization process," it says.

So, how would it be challenged? Right now "there is no cohesive and comprehensive outreach and communications strategy in place to confront this threat," the report says. Several agencies have existing, narrow missions, but the report argues for a more comprehensive approach. "We must isolate and discredit the violent Islamist ideology as a cause worth supporting."

According to the report, new laws should be considered "to prevent the spread of the ideology." And those looking for solutions need to act "quickly and aggressively."

The report concludes: "The safety of the American people depends on it."