Federal efforts to counter violent extremism “aim to educate and prevent radicalization before a crime or terrorist act transpires, and differ from counterterrorism efforts such as collecting evidence and making arrests before an event has occurred,” according to the Government Accountability Office, or GAO. In 2017 GAO noted the programs had suffered from a lack of...
Category: Counterterrrorism
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The U.S. Capitol Police Are Ill-Prepared for Another Assault
BARRING SOME unforeseen and dramatic changes in the dynamics of American politics, we are headed for another wave of violence pivoting on the 2020 and 2024 elections, when Trump-Republican state and local officials are widely expected to protest Democratic victories at the polls and move to nullify the results. In place after place, according to...
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Addicted to Drones: The Overhyping of ‘Over the Horizon’
In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the Biden Administration has announced the United States has adopted “Over the Horizon” strategy for intervening against suspected terrorists, “We can’t kill our way to success,” notes former CIA officer Douglas London in Just Security. ” Perhaps the greatest flaw in an “Over the Horizon” strategy,...
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A Beginner’s Guide to ‘The Blob’–and the American Way of War
Why has American been at war for the entire 21st century? What accounts for the reality of “endless wars,” a phrase that even President Biden used to justify U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan? One obvious answer is that the Washington foreign policymaking class–a community now known as “the Blob” to critics–favors military interventions and rejects non-military...
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DHS Failed to Designate Jan. 6 as a Protected Event in Advance of Attack
The lack of designations is seen as an important link in the chain of security failures that contributed to the Capitol being overrun in a violent insurrection that sought to stop the certification of the Electoral College votes. Other failures include the absence of an intelligence bulletin specifically warning of threats to the Capitol that...