As the first anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden came to pass, European and American officials openly lamented the possibility of al-Qaeda operatives using creative ways to avenge their erstwhile leader’s demise. One idea provoking concern among national security experts surrounded the idea of using surgically implanted bombs …
A recent assessment by senior U.S. intelligence officials shows that while the current threat associated to al-Qaeda central—i.e., Ayman al-Zawahiri and his immediate acolytes—has significantly diminished, the threat nonetheless remains. Richard Cardillo, an official with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, argues that a high-impact terrorist event emanating …
When Representative Paul Ryan (R–WI) released the House Republican budget earlier this week, one thing was certain: It takes seriously the constitutional responsibility to provide for the common defense. Eschewing the Obama Administration’s call for higher taxes, the Ryan budget succeeds in restoring America’s defenses while restraining the federal government’s …
This October marks the 10-year anniversary of the Beltway sniper attacks, a series of killings that gripped the Washington, D.C., metro area with fear. Until being brought to justice, John Allen Muhammad and Lee Boyd Malvo methodically gunned down nearly a dozen innocent civilians. This past week, citizens in the …
On July 27, 2005, Ahmed Ressam was sentenced to 22 years in prison for attempting to detonate explosives at the Los Angeles International Airport on the eve of the new millennium. Although Ressam intended to murder hundreds of innocent civilians under the auspices of a jihad against the United States, …
When 22-year-old Zachary Chesser was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison this past year, many casual observers wondered aloud how a middle-class kid from Virginia could have descended into a world of Islamist-inspired fundamentalism, promoting violence and extolling the virtues of Islamist propaganda. Within America’s counterterrorism community, however, examples …
On Christmas Day 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab nearly succeeded in murdering almost 300 civilians aboard Northwest Flight 253. As the plane approached its final destination of Detroit, Michigan, Abdulmutallab was seen entering the lavatory, returning to his seat, and placing a blanket over his head. Moments later, passengers noticed a …
In 1987, the United States and the Soviet Union negotiated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), which was designed to eliminate their nations’ respective intermediate range, ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers. In discussing INF negotiations with the Soviet Union, President Ronald Reagan famously …
Earlier this month, Sami Osmakac, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the former Yugoslavia, was arrested near Tampa, Florida, after federal officials uncovered his plan to unleash terrorism upon the United States. After receiving an anonymous tip, undercover FBI agents met with Osmakac and learned the details of his terror …
A recent analysis of data accumulated by the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) at the University of Maryland reveals a disturbing depth to the level of extremism and violence perpetrated within the United States over the past decade. In sum, START’s Global Terrorism …
