From the Blog
Awlaki Death: Another Blow to Al-Qaeda
According to media reports, Anwar al-Awlaki, the Yemeni-American Islamist radical who played an increasingly influential role in the al-Qaeda network, was killed in a CIA drone strike earlier today in Yemen. Awlaki was reported to have been killed at least twice before, and one of his brothers reportedly already has denied today’s report of his death, but U.S. government officials and Yemeni officials appear to be certain of his death this time. An ultra-radical Islamist ideologue, Awlaki had played an important role in promulgating al-Qaeda’s violent ideology, recruiting young Muslims, …
Too Many Cooks in the Homeland Security Kitchen
Recently released information from the 9/11 Commission reveals that its original recommendation to condense and consolidate congressional oversight for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has yet to be implemented. This leaves homeland security at risk and bound by its own committees. In 2003, DHS was subject to oversight by 86 congressional committees and subcommittees. Today there are more than 108. Compare that to the 36 committees and subcommittees with oversight for the Department of Defense, which has a budget 10 times greater than DHS and millions more employees. This …
Confronting Terror: A Special Book Event on Remembering 9/11
With the 10th anniversary of 9/11, some touching remembrances have been written, but also an increasing number of op-eds, editorials and blog posts, the theme of which are “let’s stop looking back at 9/11 and start moving forward.” The second response is bad advice for several reasons. While I appreciate the need to move ever forward, we must not forget the vicious attacks of ten years ago. We must not forget that it was a calculated attack on Americans and a strike at our way of life. We must not …