the long war against radical Islam --- same as the long war against radical xians and jews.
the abrahamics are a violent lot that can't succeed in killing each other into extinction. On Thursday, August 25, 2016 at 1:57:21 PM UTC-5, Travis wrote: > > > > > > > > > *http://tinyurl.com/zgp65bq <http://tinyurl.com/zgp65bq>* > > > > Facing the New Reality of Homegrown Terrorism > > August 25, 2016 | David Shedd > > [image: Description: Description: > https://www.thecipherbrief.com/sites/default/files/styles/headshot/public/thumbnail_shedd_david.jpg?itok=SOspKds2&c=23caf78d5a3c59826a3d8b54ea617650] > > <https://www.thecipherbrief.com/expert/David-Shedd> > > > *David SheddFormer Acting Director, Defense Intelligence Agency > <https://www.thecipherbrief.com/expert/David-Shedd>* > > > > "If you know the enemy and know yourself," Sun Tzu once wrote, "you need > not fear the results of a hundred battles." When it comes to the War on > Terrorism, unfortunately, we have a lot to fear. > > The pace of these attacks has become so frequent that we risk gradually > becoming inured to their horror that has played out in Brussels, Paris, > Dhaka, Baghdad, Riyadh, San Bernardino, Orlando, and Nice. > > Each time, we mourn the loss of life, investigate the backgrounds of the > killers, and then move on to something else, because we truthfully don’t > want to face the hard reality of the spread of homegrown terrorism. > > The horrific attack in Orlando has begun to fade from memory. But what has > become yesterday’s news still holds critical questions for what we will > undoubtedly face in the future. > > A significant shift is underway in how Jihadists operate. Groups such as > ISIL (also known as ISIS) are encouraging isolated individuals to carry out > attacks against soft targets with whatever weapons they have at hand. > > Orlando demonstrated that we are unprepared for this new phase in the war > on terror. Hard questions have gone unanswered: How could 29 year-old Omar > Mir Seddique Mateen been under FBI investigation twice for Islamic > extremist ties, yet still manage to kill 49 people and wound 53 more? > > Despite clear signs of radicalization, Mateen dropped off the FBI’s radar > for the past two years. What warnings were missed? And what measures could > the Bureau have taken to thwart this attack? > > In the absence of better information from the Bureau, we don’t know > precisely why Mateen was dropped as a person of interest. What is apparent, > however, is that the FBI had information pointing to his radicalization. > > We can expect more terrorists such as Omar Mateen. Islamic extremist > groups have mastered the use of social media to inspire individuals, > including Americans, to commit violence on their behalf. These > decentralized attacks are orders of magnitude more difficult to interdict, > since they can occur anytime and anywhere without prior communications or > support. These “crowd-sourced” terror attacks have become more commonplace. > And while they are smaller in scale, the attacks are very effective in > spreading fear by the Islamic terrorists. > > To address this new threat, the U.S. must take painful but necessary legal > and policy measures to increase our domestic counter-terror capabilities. > The recent attacks provide three lessons that we should act on immediately. > > First, the FBI needs to have broader legal authority to keep a watchful > eye on potential homegrown terrorists. After 9/11, Congress amended the > Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to address so-called “lone > wolves,” who are not directly connected to a terrorist organization. > However, the law only applies to non-U.S. persons and requires probable > cause that a crime is about to be committed. > > Congress should further amend FISA to include U.S. persons who have > identified themselves to any degree with Islamic extremist violence. While > there are of course civil liberty concerns, the surveillance requests would > be subject to FISA Court renewals at least every 90 days (the same as the > current duration for U.S. citizens suspected of being an agent of an > international terrorist organization). > > It is critical that the FBI not only have the authority to electronically > observe someone with Mateen’s profile for short periods when necessary, but > also the flexibility to lightly monitor those suspected individuals over > longer periods. This capability is vital, since the radicalization process > can occur slowly over many years but then transition rapidly into violent > acts. > > For instance, given Mateen’s known proclivity for Islamic-inspired > violence, the Bureau could have maintained an active dialogue with Mateen’s > employers to identify further changes in his behavior. Mateen could also > have been placed on the “Known and Appropriately Suspected” (KRT) list, so > that his purchase of a firearm would have been flagged. > > Second, the FBI and other counter terror agencies must focus on > dismantling the eco-system that inspires homegrown terrorists. Contrary to > what many pundits claim, homegrown terrorists are not isolated “lone > wolves” acting independently out of deranged motives. They are deeply > connected to the violent Islamist ideology, which is promoted by terrorist > propagandists, radical Muslim clerics, and a network of followers that > promote violence by interpreting the Koran literally. > > The term “lone-wolf” therefore implies a false disconnect between the > would-be attacker and the source of inspiration. While it will remain > difficult to stop individual crowd-sourced attacks, it is far more feasible > to counter the network attempting to inspire them. > > The FBI and other counter-terror agencies must aggressively pursue and > dismantle this eco-system, both within the US and abroad, using all > capabilities at their disposal. > > Third, we need to dedicate the necessary resources to match the scope and > scale of the homegrown terror threat. > > The FBI currently faces a significant manpower shortage to face this new > phase in the war on terror – in fact, the NYPD alone has more officers than > the Bureau has agents – and terrorism, while still the top priority, is not > the only task on its overloaded plate. After the Orlando attack, the FBI > indicated that the volume of investigations into potential Islamic > extremist threats has been overwhelming. > > Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of tailoring our threats to our > resources. The government must look seriously at what’s needed to combat > homegrown terrorism. Whether it’s a problem of inadequate manpower, > insufficient “rules of engagement,” ineffective investigative techniques, > or some combination of the three, we need to figure it out and fix it – > fast. > > As Leon Trotsky aptly put it: “You may not be interested in war, > but war is interested in you.” Unless we recognize that reality and change > our approach accordingly, we won’t succeed in this new phase in the long > war against radical Islam. > > > > > ------------------------------ > [image: Avast logo] <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> > > This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. > www.avast.com <https://www.avast.com/antivirus> > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZXJxOTYzBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NzIxNDIxODk-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! 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