I don't believe that they make the distinction between political and religious the same way westerners do (to make some very broad generalisations on both sides), but I believe you're basically right. IIRC, the 9/11 hijackers didn't fit in to American society at all well - it's just that nobody was looking for them at the time.
There's a large difference between intelligence gathering and terrorism, though. To gether intelligence well, you need to be able to "become" an insider in the target, but a terrorist is safer remaining an outsider. It's easier to kill people when you're not one of them.
There's a large difference between intelligence gathering and terrorism, though. To gether intelligence well, you need to be able to "become" an insider in the target, but a terrorist is safer remaining an outsider. It's easier to kill people when you're not one of them.