Sunday, February 21, 2016

IO, CT, and Intel News

Bureau of Counterterrorism Renamed. The new name is the "Bureau of Counterterrorism and Countering Violent Extremism". This name (and mission) change reflects the emphasis placed on the new buzzword (or at least fairly new to me) of "Countering Violent Extremism" - sometimes called CVE. The new organization will look at combating terrorism, in part, by countering online extremism. Read more in "State changes counterterrorism unit to include online focus", FCW, February 16, 2016.

Worldwide Threat Assessment. The Director of National Intelligence, James R. Clapper, testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on February 9, 2016 providing an assessment of threats against the United States. You can read his 33-page prepared statement for the record in Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community. The information on Afghanistan is on page 26 and comprises about 3/4 of a page in this report.

More on Clapper. It appears that the DNI was aware that high intelligence officials at Central Command (CENTCOM) were cooking the books when it came to intelligence estimates of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Read more in "America's top spy reportedly was aware that analysts were cooking ISIS intelligence reports", Business Insider, February 16, 2016.

Assessing CT Actions. A 60-page report provides us with how to assess CT operations in Asking the Right Questions: A Framework for Assessing Counterterrorism Actions, CNA Analysis & Solutions, February 2016.

Resource on Global Islamist Insurgency. Robert Bunker and Dave Dilegge have provided us with a valuable resource about Al Qaeda and the Islamic State in Global Radical Islamist Insurgency: Al Qaeda and Islamic State Networks - A Small Wars Journal Anthology, iUnivers (February 11, 2016), 852 pages. http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/global-radical-islamist-insurgency

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.