SaddleBrooke Republican Club » terrorism

Ignatius on Pakistan: Actually, We May Have Only Had One Year

Malou Innocent — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:51:28 +0000

By Malou Innocent

In today’s Washington Post, David Ignatius writes that Pakistan is reaping the whirlwind of homegrown terrorism by having “squandered the opportunity presented” with a large-scale U.S. troop presence next door and for refusing to work with Washington to stabilize its mountainous tribal region. Recent history suggests a more complex reality. Mr. Ignatius is correct when [...]

Ignatius on Pakistan: Actually, We May Have Only Had One Year is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Africa’s Sahel Region Spirals into an Extremist Hell

Morgan Lorraine Roach — Sat, 12 May 2012 15:00:02 +0000

Last year, the fall of the Qadhafi regime spurred a domino-like effect across Africa’s Sahel region. When approximately 2,000 well-armed Tuareg rebels loyal to the former dictator left Libya and returned to Mali, they escalated the destabilization of the country’s north. At the same time the Malian military, reportedly frustrated by the government’s inadequate resourcing for the fight against the northern rebels, overthrew the democratically elected president, Amadou Toumani Toure. Approximately two weeks later, a Tuareg rebel group known as the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) declared … More

Pakistan Needs U.S. Help to Fight Terrorism

Lisa Curtis — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:15:42 +0000

Pakistan’s military has lost more than 3,000 security personnel in the fight against terrorism. Such sacrifices are often overshadowed in the U.S., where the media (rightly) focus on Pakistan’s lack of action against groups like the Haqqani network that targets U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba, responsible for the terrorist atrocities in Mumbai in November 2008. While Pakistani military leaders seem to believe they can handle the terrorist threat to their own country without targeting all of the terrorist groups that find sanctuary there, the recently released Osama bin … More

Washington Post Defines Worst Fears Down

Benjamin H. Friedman — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:15:54 +0000

By Benjamin H. Friedman

“Al-Qaeda bombmaker represents CIA’s worst fears.” That’s the headline of a Washington Post story on Yemeni terrorists’ attempt to down a U.S. bound flight by placing a bomb on the body of an operative that turned out to be a CIA and Saudi agent. By straining to alarm readers about the bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, [...]

Washington Post Defines Worst Fears Down is a post from Cato @ Liberty - Cato Institute Blog

Online Chat on Terrorism

Todd Thurman — Thu, 10 May 2012 14:00:33 +0000

With the 51st terrorist plot foiled since 9/11, the question still remains: is Al-Qaeda still a threat? Join us on Friday May 9 from 12-1 for our “Lunch with Heritage” online chat. We will be joined by Homeland Security expert Jessica Zuckerman. She will be taking your questions about Al-Qaeda and the war on terrorism. If you cannot make the chat, leave a question in the comments and we will try and answer it for you. If you would like to RSVP for the chat leave your email address in thwe … More

Al-Qaeda Plot Disrupted: The War Goes On

James Phillips — Tue, 08 May 2012 19:32:39 +0000

Yesterday, U.S. national security officials announced that the CIA and other U.S. agencies, working with foreign intelligence services, had uncovered and disrupted an al-Qaeda plot to bomb civilian aircraft. The terrorist operation, hatched by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has launched several high-profile attacks in the past, involved an improved version of the “underwear bomb” that was built without metal parts to make it more difficult to detect. The sophisticated bomb is believed to have been built by Ibrahim al-Asiri, an accomplished AQAP bomb maker responsible … More

Seven Terrorist Groups Affiliated with al-Qaeda

Steven Bucci — Mon, 07 May 2012 16:45:32 +0000

Recently certain experts opined that the war on terrorism is over. This statement is ludicrous. It is true that al-Qaeda Central (AQ) has been badly wounded, but it is not dead. It has grown hydra-like heads with new affiliates, which are cause for significant concern. Below is a primer of the major AQ affiliates. In the Middle East we find both the most potent “son of AQ” and one of its oldest affiliates: Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Al-Qaeda’s Saudi Arabian and Yemeni branches merged in 2009 to form … More

Anticipating the Next Terror Threat

Scott Erickson — Thu, 03 May 2012 14:00:43 +0000

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 inside the bodies of would-be terrorists. Such a disturbing image reminds the world of the extent to which Islamist terrorists will go to attack the U.S. or its interests abroad. The idea is not new. It is, however, a byproduct … More

Obama’s Afghanistan Misstep

James Carafano — Thu, 03 May 2012 13:07:06 +0000

Mark McKinnon, a former Bush advisor, doesn’t get it. “GOP Attacks on Obama’s bin Laden Ad Misguided,” declares his piece in the Daily Beast. Of course, the President has a right to crow over getting bin Laden. But sorry, Mark—there is a difference between highlighting a decision to burnish the image of presidential leadership and a crass exploitation that demeans the office of the President. It’s true that there has been too much focus on the politics of the speech and not enough on the policy. Obama must have a … More

Morning Bell: Bin Laden Dead, but the Mission Remains

Mike Brownfield — Wed, 02 May 2012 12:53:21 +0000

One year ago today, Seal Team Six landed in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and succeeded in bringing Osama bin Laden to ultimate justice. Though some may wish to bask in the glow of that success, now is not the time to celebrate or lay down arms. Bin Laden may be dead, but serious threats against the United States live on, both here in the homeland and around the globe. President Obama, though, is using the occasion to boost his re-election efforts with a self-congratulatory campaign ad. Heritage’s James Carafano writes, “If Lincoln had spent … More