With the arrest of two New Jersey men on their way to Somalia to become jihadists, the role of the counterterrorism unit at the New York Police Department (NYPD) took center stage. The counterterrorism officer who infiltrated the small cell and recorded key communications is a proud member of the NYPD. We don’t know his identity — nor should we learn it if our media friends can respect the need to keep such information out of the public sphere — but we should loudly applaud his efforts and the efforts …
Attempted terrorist attacks are on the rise and we should expect more to come according to a recent memo from the Department of Homeland Security. Three weeks after the country saw the attempted Times Square bombing, an unclassified DHS intelligence memo asserts not only that “the number and pace of attempted attacks against the United States over the past nine months have surpassed the number of attempts during any other previous on-year period,” but also that terrorists can be expected to attempt attacks on the U.S. with “increased frequency.” With …
Yesterday the White House unveiled its national security strategy. It came in basically three parts. Part One is the “anything but Bush” part. Where the goal is to put as much distance between Obama and Bush – even where there is not a lot space. Renaming the War on Terrorism, the war on al Qaeda is a case in point. Did the Bush administration not know it was fighting al Qaeda? Did Obama stop doing Predator strikes? Part Two is an overwhelming desire to substitute soft power for hard power. …
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a blockbuster opinion that vindicates both the Bush and Obama administration’s positions regarding whether detainees captured overseas and held in Afghanistan have the constitutional right to challenge their detention via habeas corpus. The appeals court, in a methodical opinion reversing a lower court decision, said no. The opinion will have wide-ranging implications in the war on terror, and if it holds (i.e. is not taken up by the Supreme Court and overturned), it gives the green light to an administration which has, …
The names of war do not matter all that much. After all we won the Cold War even though it sounded like a battle against hypothermia. Some wars don’t even get named until after the fact…like the 30 Years war (which was actually longer than 30 years). Renaming a war does matter, however, when the act of naming becomes an act in advertising to disguise a really bad strategy. The Atlantic‘s Marc Ambinder notes “If you blinked, you might have missed it. The Obama administration has unofficially rebranded “war on …
It is being widely reported that the Director of National Intelligence has resigned. Much of the speculation over the resignation revolves around his role in directing counterterrorism operations. Regardless, of this speculation the conduct of global counterterrorism operations by the Obama administration is a legitimate concern. Thirty-one terrorist plots have been foiled since 9/11—two out of the last three in this administration have been by shear luck. The White House continues to deemphasize the threat of Islamist terrorism and the Long War against al Qaeda. It has also failed to …
The United States is winning the Long War against al-Qaeda. Despite hair on fire headlines, heated presidential political rhetoric, and conventional wisdom that so often points to the contrary, a simple look at the evidence shows that the war against terrorism is actually going better than the chicken-littles would have us all believe. Between 1998 and 2001, a three year period, the US suffered three major terrorist attacks. One against the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, one against the USS Cole warship, and the 9/11 attacks against the World Trade …
There is lots of news in the battle against transnational terrorism—a lot of it not good. AP wire stories highlight one of the conclusions in the recently released State Department annual report on the state of terrorism in the world. According to the news service, al Qaeda “has rebuilt some of its pre-Sept. 11 capabilities from remote hiding places in Pakistan, leading to a spike in attacks last year in that country and neighboring Afghanistan.” Meanwhile, a Los Angles Times headline highlights that April was bad month in Iraq with …
