From Homeland Security NewsWire:
Domestic threatsWhite House prioritizes domestic threats in new counterterrorism strategy
Published 30 June 2011
On Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled its new counterterrorism strategy that emphasizes protecting the United States from domestic threats; the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism said the new U.S. counterterrorism strategy will focus on "the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within"; the new policy "is not designed to combat directly every single terrorist organization in every corner of the world"; high administration officials said that the death of Osama bin Laden and the wide spread protests across the Middle East have left al Qaeda and other extremists "on the sidelines, watching history pass them by"
Malik Nidal Hasan, the accused Fort Hood shooter // Source: marianna-mykonos.com
On Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled its new counterterrorism strategy that emphasizes protecting the United States from domestic threats.
In a speech delivered at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., John Brennan, the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, said the new U.S. counterterrorism strategy will focus on “the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within.”
The new policy “is not designed to combat directly every single terrorist organization in every corner of the world,” Brennan said.” Indeed, this is the first counterterrorism strategy that designates the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counterterrorism efforts.”
The plan is a move away from some of the Bush administration’s policies which were aimed at defeating al Qaeda’s “grandiose vision of global domination through a violent Islamic caliphate,” which Brennan called “absurd.”
“We are not going to organize our counterterrorism politics against a feckless delusion that is never going to happen,” he added.
According to Brennan, the shift in philosophy comes after the death of Osama bin Laden and the wide spread protests across the Middle East, events that have left al Qaeda and other extremists “on the sidelines, watching history pass them by.”
The Arab Spring has meant “new challenges and uncertainty in the short term” but “repudiated” al Qaeda’s philosophy of change through violence.
Brennan said the government’s new strategy will not be a “one-size-fits-all approach” and instead recognize that “different threats in different places demand different tools” like drone attacks in Pakistan, training security forces, cutting off access to funding, and sharing intelligence with European allies.
In addition, the new approach emphasizes a strong relationship with Muslims and Arab-Americans to combat domestic radicalization.
“Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution,” Brennan said.
“When we show that Muslim Americans are part of our American family, we expose al Qaeda’s lie that cultures must clash. When we remember that Islam is part of America, we show that America could never possibly be at war with Islam.”
Domestic threatsWhite House prioritizes domestic threats in new counterterrorism strategy
Published 30 June 2011
On Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled its new counterterrorism strategy that emphasizes protecting the United States from domestic threats; the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism said the new U.S. counterterrorism strategy will focus on "the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within"; the new policy "is not designed to combat directly every single terrorist organization in every corner of the world"; high administration officials said that the death of Osama bin Laden and the wide spread protests across the Middle East have left al Qaeda and other extremists "on the sidelines, watching history pass them by"
Malik Nidal Hasan, the accused Fort Hood shooter // Source: marianna-mykonos.com
On Tuesday the Obama administration unveiled its new counterterrorism strategy that emphasizes protecting the United States from domestic threats.
In a speech delivered at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C., John Brennan, the deputy national security adviser for homeland security and counterterrorism, said the new U.S. counterterrorism strategy will focus on “the ability of al Qaeda and its network to inspire people in the United States to attack us from within.”
The new policy “is not designed to combat directly every single terrorist organization in every corner of the world,” Brennan said.” Indeed, this is the first counterterrorism strategy that designates the homeland as a primary area of emphasis in our counterterrorism efforts.”
The plan is a move away from some of the Bush administration’s policies which were aimed at defeating al Qaeda’s “grandiose vision of global domination through a violent Islamic caliphate,” which Brennan called “absurd.”
“We are not going to organize our counterterrorism politics against a feckless delusion that is never going to happen,” he added.
According to Brennan, the shift in philosophy comes after the death of Osama bin Laden and the wide spread protests across the Middle East, events that have left al Qaeda and other extremists “on the sidelines, watching history pass them by.”
The Arab Spring has meant “new challenges and uncertainty in the short term” but “repudiated” al Qaeda’s philosophy of change through violence.
Brennan said the government’s new strategy will not be a “one-size-fits-all approach” and instead recognize that “different threats in different places demand different tools” like drone attacks in Pakistan, training security forces, cutting off access to funding, and sharing intelligence with European allies.
In addition, the new approach emphasizes a strong relationship with Muslims and Arab-Americans to combat domestic radicalization.
“Muslim Americans are not part of the problem, they are part of the solution,” Brennan said.
“When we show that Muslim Americans are part of our American family, we expose al Qaeda’s lie that cultures must clash. When we remember that Islam is part of America, we show that America could never possibly be at war with Islam.”
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