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The authoritative "terrorist trial report card" – produced by New York University Law School’s Center on Law and Security -- finds that in the top 50 plots prosecuted by the Justice Department following 9/11, more than 80 percent of the defendants can be defined as "homegrown."

According to the report, which will be released early next week, the past year has seen a greater number of "significant terrorism plots" alleged than in any single year since 9/11 -- including the attempt to blow up a plane over Detroit; two bomb plots in New York City; two bomb plots against federal buildings; the scheme to bring dozens of young men, mostly from the Minneapolis area, to join the Al-Shabaab organization in Somalia;  and the shootings at Fort Hood and at an Army recruitment center in Little Rock, which were the first killings attributed to jihadi terrorism on American soil since 9/11.

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Faisal Shahzad, 30, entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Manhattan just days after a federal grand jury indicted him on 10 terrorism and weapons counts, some of which carried mandatory life prison sentences.

Shahzad made the plea and an accompanying statement as U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum began asking him a lengthy series of questions to ensure he understood his rights. She did not immediately accept the plea.

Cedarbaum asked Shahzad if he understood he might spend the rest of his life in prison. He said he did.

At one point, she asked him if he was sure he wanted to plead guilty.

He said he wanted "to plead guilty and 100 times more" to let the U.S. know that if it did not get out of Iraq and Afghanistan, halt drone attacks and stop meddling in Muslim lands, "we will be attacking U.S."

The Bridgeport, Conn., resident was arrested trying to leave the country May 3, two days after a gasoline-and-propane bomb failed to ignite in an SUV parked near a Broadway theater.

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The official tells The Associated Press that Faisal Shahzad (FY'-sul shah-ZAHD') first considered Grand Central Terminal, Rockefeller Center and the World Financial Center in New York, and Sikorsky Inc., a Connecticut defense contractor.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

The official says Shahzad decided instead to drive the bomb-laden SUV into Times Square on a busy Saturday night. The official says Shahzad had not planned any attacks on the other locations after the May 1 botched bombing.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Appearing relaxed and obedient, the man accused of plotting to kill Americans with a car bomb in Times Square made his first appearance in a Manhattan courtroom where he was told by a magistrate judge that he had the right to remain silent.

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Ron Kuby sent a letter to a chief judge Tuesday that accused authorities of violating the rights of Faisal Shahzad (FY'-sul shah-ZAHD') by "squeezing information" out of him in secret.

The 30-year-old Shahzad has been held at an undisclosed location since his May 3 arrest on charges he abandoned a bomb-laden SUV in Times Square. Authorities say he has voluntarily waived his rights to an initial court appearance while he cooperates.

Kuby said he wasn't representing Shahzad. But he argued that since the suspect hasn't appeared in court yet, it was impossible to know if his rights are being protected.

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One person who was in the room for Tuesday's intelligence briefing said Bond appeared to fall asleep for 10 to 15 minutes, but that he and other senators had spirited exchanges with the briefers.

This sounds pretty embarrassing, but Orrin Hatch has an excuse. He was resting his eyes, because the lights in that room are just too bright.

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A decade after 9/11, it increasingly seems to have come to this: We have met the enemy -- and he is carrying an American passport.

For generations, assimilation has been the story told by the United States -- the recipe for making Americans. Irish and Italians, Catholics and blacks, Japanese and Jews joined the mainstream even as they maintained their unique cultures and traditions.

But today, with the world a mouse click away and most every country in the world accessible in little more than a day, globalization is competing fiercely with assimilation. People who have a foot in two strikingly different cultures no longer leave one behind for the other. Now they can move between them easily, fluidly, quickly.

Thus it becomes possible for a fanatical few Muslim-Americans, living in the belly of what they perceive as a hostile culture, to feel closer to a bombed Afghan village or a Pakistani madrassa than to the America outside their own front doors.

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There were plane tickets to and from Pakistan, living expenses, $1,300 for a used SUV, $95 worth of firecrackers and other small amounts for tanks of gasoline and propane.

The total could add up to as little as $7,000.

Shahzad's finances are under scrutiny as authorities try to learn whether he got cash from an overseas group.

A law enforcement official has told The Associated Press that investigators have identified -- and are looking for -- a person who helped courier money to Shahzad from overseas. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the investigation.

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The general who oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan tells The Associated Press that alleged bomber Faisal Shahzad was inspired by militants in Pakistan, but didn't necessarily have direct contact with them.

Authorities say Shahzad told investigators he went to a terror training camp in Pakistan, but they have yet to confirm that.

Shahzad is a U.S. citizen, accused of an attempted terror attack nearly a week ago in New York's Times Square. He was caught late Monday night trying to leave the country.

Eds: APNewsNow. CORRECTS that Petraeus said suspect apparently acted alone.

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According to the criminal complaint, Shahzad "admitted" to receiving training in Waziristan. But McClatchy quotes an FBI spokesman:

"Did somebody encourage him to try to do this? That's possible, given where he was and for how long and his financial circumstances," a third U.S. official said. "But did anybody show him how to do it? Nothing we know points in that direction, and I don't know why some people are talking as if we had something solid. Inspired, maybe. Trained? Not in any serious sense of the word."

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The real dilemma occurred, however, when we were debating her surname. Typically, the father's surname is passed down to children, making it the "family name." My husband's surname is Shahzad. (No other shoe will drop: His first name is not Faisal.) Shahzad means "prince" in Persian. My husband's parents gave him that name despite the fact that his family name is actually Sheriff. Faced with whether to pass on "Shahzad" or "Sheriff," we chose the latter. I felt passing on the true family name would give her a sense of continuity and place. On Tuesday, as I watched the news channels announce the arrest of Faisal Shahzad, it felt like the best decision of my life.

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Lieberman originally said American citizens should be "deprived automatically of their citizenship ... when they are apprehended and charged with a terrorist act," which, even for Lieberman, is pretty insane. He's moderated that a bit, though it's unclear how his new citizenship-stripping bill would actually work. You're a non-citizen if the State Department is really sure you're aiding a foreign terrorist organization? If you're actually convicted of aiding foreign terrorists? (The aim of the bill seems to be to send these sudden non-citizens to tribunals instead of civilian courts, though it looks like accused terrorists would be able to fight the attempt to revoke their citizenship.)

But Joe, having quickly lost support from Chuck Schumer, has literally named this affront to the Constitution the "Terrorist Expatriation Act" -- or, "the TEA Act." Hey, I wonder which reactionary white populists he's looking to appeal to with a name like that?

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"Please don't let it be a Muslim or Pakistani dude. Please don't let it be a Muslim or Pakistani dude."

Back then, it wasn't. They had footage of a suspicious white guy. 

"Phew! Thank God!" I said out loud.

But I had to invoke the mantra repeatedly over the next few days, as details emerged and the truth became all too clear: The terrorist was a recently naturalized U.S. citizen from Pakistan named Faisal Shahzad. A Muslim Pakistani.

"No! Not again! Why, God, why??"

A Muslim born and raised in America with Pakistani parents, I was the "token" at early age. Growing up, I was like any other socially awkward, overweight, dorky American kid who wanted to date Alyssa Milano and beat Contra on my Nintendo without using the secret, unlimited life code -- except my T-shirts were smeared with turmeric and lentil stains instead of PB and J, and in place of Lunchables my mom fed me homemade, green-colored, lamb patty burgers. I was the kid comfortable with all his identities -- Muslim, American, Pakistani -- and as such, I became the one people consulted when uncomfortable questions had to be asked, or misconceptions and stereotypes needed to be explained.

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In fact, he's done it twice this week. First, Beck became the only voice on the right to express discomfort with the idea that Times Square terrorist Faisal Shahzad, an American citizen, might not be read his rights after being arrested. "We don't shred the Constitution when it is popular," said Beck. "We do the right thing."

This put Beck notably at odds with a number of supposedly reasonable Republicans, most prominently including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. As Jon Stewart suggested the other night, this isn’t really a comparison that anyone ought to go looking for.

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Pilots are pretty far out of the loop so far as enforcement of watch lists and no-fly lists goes, but it would appear that somebody dropped the ball. Though in fairness to Emirates, Shahzad had not been added to the no-fly list until only hours before departure. Adequate procedures were not yet in place for short-notice cross-checking of passengers. They are now, thanks to changes introduced over the past few days.

You can make the argument, as some have, that the system worked more or less as it should have. The plane never made it into the air, and Shahzad was taken safely into custody. Even if Flight 202 had become airborne, that would not have been the end of the story. There would have remained ample opportunity to detain Shahzad, either at the destination airport or at a diversion point somewhere along the way. There are international protocols for such things.

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Of course, when Republicans bemoan the fact that Shahzad was read his rights, what they're really complaining about is that he was not tortured.

There's good news for the serious adult Washington consensus on terrorism, though. Roll Call reports:

There is a glimmer of bipartisanship to come, however. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) announced plans to introduce legislation to strip the citizenship rights of Americans who commit acts of terrorism, a proposal already drawing support from both parties.

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At the Weekly Standard, Stephen Hayes and Thomas Joscelyn have an article called, "Not A One-Off Event." It’s Bill Kristol’s rag, so you get the idea: the Obama administration wants to downplay the massive threat embodied in Shahzad, and this would be a grave mistake.

Why does the Obama administration -- and its allies on the left -- go to such lengths to portray these kinds of attacks as the work of isolated extremists?

One possible explanation: an attack conducted by an "isolated extremist" would be almost impossible to stop. The more people involved in a plot, the easier it is to disrupt it.

And that’s one important area where the investigation should be focused now: on the other terrorists who assisted Shahzad.

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