As details emerge regarding Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s 2012 trip to Dagestan and Chechnya, which his family has insisted was merely to visit with relatives, fresh questions arise as to how that trip may have influenced either his motivation or preparation for the Boston Marathon bombings. The frequency with which American-born or …
On March 12 the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) released a report on the “Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community.” The report stated the following: Senior personnel losses in 2012, amplifying losses and setbacks since 2008, have degraded core al-Qa’ida…. However, the group has held essentially the same …
The Heritage Foundation will be holding a public event on February 13 to discuss the role of social media in the Arab Spring with experts from Heritage, Freedom House, and the Department of State. Social media showed its political potential during the Arab Spring, allowing “crowdsourcing” and the coordination of …
Earlier this week, Somalia’s prime minister and presidential hopeful Abdiweli Mohamed Ali announced that his government seeks to establish a marine task force to stop “foreign countries and companies from taking Somalia’s resources illegitimately.” Ali is getting ahead of himself. Instead of looking to expand the government’s use of force, …
Earlier today, President Obama confirmed the death of Anwar al-Awlaki, the U.S.-born Islamist radical and an important leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). As a high-value target, Awlaki is said to have elevated AQAP to one of the most dangerous wings of the organization. He was a key …
On August 5, more than a dozen Somali-Americans, variously located across several states, were arrested on charges related to providing material support to the terrorist organization al-Shabaab. The arrests of these individuals represents the latest in a string of incidents in which U.S. citizens, or foreign nationals living within the …
On Monday evening, Dutch authorities detained Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al Soofi (of Detroit) and Hezem al Murisi when their United Airlines flight from Chicago landed in Amsterdam. It’s always a big mistake to jump to “instant analysis” based on preliminary press reports. But it shouldn’t come as much of a …
Back in January, President Obama said that he has no intention of sending U.S. troops into terrorist havens. However, in addition to working with regional partners to support the Dijbouti Peace Process, the administration is currently playing a direct role in providing Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) with increased support …
