Politics is usually about compromise, so we should savor those rare policy
decisions for which every consideration—justice, morality, practicality—is

 

 


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Eye on Extremism


August 5, 2020

 

The Atlantic: The Families Of ISIS’s Victims Are Asking For Justice
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“Politics is usually about compromise, so we should savor those rare policy
decisions for which every consideration—justice, morality, practicality—is
neatly aligned. The Trump administration has a chance this week to reverse
itself and get one such decision right. There are indications that it will. The
underlying facts offer little to savor. The Islamic State kidnapped and
murdered four Americans in 2014 and 2015. Some of the people responsible for
those crimes are dead: Mohammed Emwazi—who allegedly held the knife that killed
the journalists James Foley, 40, and Steven Sotloff, 31, and an aid worker,
Peter Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26—was killed in a drone strike in 2015; Abu Bakr
al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State and its rapist in chief, was
killed last year. Another hostage, Kayla Jean Mueller, 26, was held separately,
kept as a sex slave of Baghdadi and then murdered. Two more alleged members of
the kidnapping cell, both British-born like Emwazi, are in custody in Iraq.
Testimony from surviving hostages ties them to the cell, and they have spoken
publicly from prison in ways that implicate them further. The United States can
bring them to trial in federal court, probably the Eastern District of
Virginia, whenever it likes.”

 

Voice Of America: Hundreds Of Domestic Terrorism Investigations Opened Since
Start Of George Floyd Protests, Official Says
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“The FBI has opened more than 300 domestic terrorism investigations since late
May and arrested nearly 100 people in Portland, Oregon, a focal point of the
George Floyd protests, a top federal prosecutor said on Tuesday. Erin Nealy
Cox, the U.S. attorney for the northern district of Texas and co-head of a
recently formed Justice Department task force on “antigovernment extremists,”
told congressional lawmakers that the investigations were opened after May 28,
three days after Floyd, an African American, died while in police custody in
Minneapolis, Minnesota. His death sparked nationwide protests. “That does not
include any potential civil rights investigations or violent crime associated
with the civil unrest,” Cox said during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on
the protests that have at times been marked by violence. Attorney General
William Barr announced the creation of the Justice Department task force in
late June, saying “antigovernment extremists” had “engaged in indefensible acts
of violence designed to undermine public order.”

 

The Washington Post: Hezbollah Operatives Seen Behind Spike In Drug
Trafficking, Analysts Say
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“At first glance, the shipping trailers that arrived at the Italian port of
Salerno appeared to contain only paper, rolled up on giant industrial spools as
tall as a man. But when an investigator sliced into one of the rolls with an
electric saw, he unleashed an avalanche of little beige pills. Police found
more caches inside other paper rolls, and by the time the search ended on July
1, customs agents had recovered 84 million tablets of the amphetamine Captagon.
It was a record haul, worth an estimated $1.1 billion, and even more jarring
was the suspect initially named by police as the likely source: the Islamic
State. Yet, within days, suspicions began to shift toward different Middle
Eastern groups. Intelligence officials concluded that the drugs did originate
in Syria, but in factories located in areas controlled by President Bashar
al-Assad’s government. The amphetamines departed Syria from Latakia, a coastal
city with dedicated Iranian port facilities, and a known hub for smuggling
operations by Tehran’s ally, Hezbollah. Italian police learned of the shipment
because they happened to be monitoring the communications of a local crime
family that was supposed to pick up the drugs, the authorities in Italy said.”

 

Iraq

 

Al Jazeera: Six Years On, Yazidis In Iraq Demand Justice For ISIL Persecution
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“A couple of hundred people gathered in Iraq's Sinjar to remember the ISIL
(ISIS) massacre and enslavement of the Yazidi people in August of 2014. During
the ceremony on Tuesday, the audience watched a play and listened to the
testimonies of the survivors. “It has been six years that we repeat this play
and this ceremony but in vain. If it had led to anything then at least my
brothers, my father and my uncle would be with us. We don't know anything about
them. We don't know if they are alive or dead,” said Badriya Faisal, a
survivor. The Yazidis are an ethnoreligious minority numbering approximately
550,000 in their heartland of northwest Iraq before ISIL swept through the
rugged region in 2014. Their belief combines elements of several ancient Middle
Eastern religions. ISIL, which considers the Yazidis heretics, slaughtered
thousands of Yazidi men and abducted women and girls. Yazidi children were
forcibly converted to Islam, taught Arabic and banned from speaking their
native Kurdish. After the ISIL fighters were chased out of Yazidi areas in 2015
by the Iraqi army and the US-led military coalition, little has been done to
heal the wounds or secure the minority group against a possible resurgence.”

 

Arab News: Iraq’s Powerful Militias Not Worried About Al-Kadhimi
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“Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi is set to visit Washington soon,
although he does not yet have a date or an invitation, so he is scrambling to
say all the right things in order to secure a meeting with US President Donald
Trump. Iraq is worse off than it was two weeks ago and this last week has
propelled two items to the top of the list for Al-Kadhimi’s visit to the US:
Kata’ib Hezbollah’s continued attacks on the US and Iraqis, and calls by
Al-Kadhimi for early elections that Kata’ib Hezbollah and its allies in Iraq’s
Council of Representatives won’t allow to happen. The top agenda item for Trump
is for Al-Kadhimi to do something about the militias that he supposedly
commands as Iraq’s commander in chief. The militias that fall under the
government’s security apparatus are attacking US personnel in Iraq, which are
there to partner with the Baghdad government to ensure the enduring defeat of
Daesh. The militias have now become more of a threat to the US and Iraqis than
Daesh. Trump wants to know if the US has a partner in Iraq. The president is
willing to pull US forces out of Iraq if this “partner” continues to
disappoint. Republicans and Democrats are looking for a reason to end this
experiment. And it won’t be without costs to Baghdad and Tehran.”

 

Afghanistan

 

Reuters: Afghan Grand Assembly On Fate Of Hundreds Of Taliban Prisoners Set
For Friday
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“Afghanistan will convene a grand assembly of elders, known as the loya jirga,
in Kabul on Friday to decide the fate of hundreds of prisoners the Taliban
insist should be released before entering peace talks with the government. A
pact reached by U.S. and Taliban negotiators in Doha in February had agreed
that 5,000 Taliban prisoners should be released from Afghan jails as a
precondition to the militant movement holding talks with the government.
President Ashraf Ghani’s government has released all but 400, saying their
crimes were too grave. On Sunday, it declared a loya jirga, a traditional
consultative gathering of elders, community leaders and politicians was needed
to debate what to do with the remaining prisoners. And on Tuesday, the
government fixed the date. “These 400 are those who have been convicted in
killings from two to 40 people, drug trafficking, those sentenced to death and
involved in major crimes, including kidnapping,” Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for
the president, said. He said a loya jirga, regarded in the constitutional as
the highest expression of the Afghan people, was required as the president was
not empowered to release prisoners convicted of such crimes.”

 

The New York Times: More U.S. Troops Will Leave Afghanistan Before The
Election, Trump Says
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“President Trump said that there would be fewer than 5,000 American troops in
Afghanistan by Election Day in November, signaling that the United States would
continue to withdraw troops from the country despite limited progress toward
the start of peace negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban.
“We’re going down to 4,000, we’re negotiating right now,” Mr. Trump said in an
interview with Axios that was filmed on July 28 and released in full Monday
night. The president’s statement seems to undercut U.S. diplomats’ repeated
assertions that any further troop reductions in Afghanistan would be based on
the Taliban’s commitment to the Feb. 29 peace agreement signed with the United
States. After the signing, the U.S. military is supposed to completely withdraw
from Afghanistan in 14 months, a move that senior military officials have
called “aspirational.” Mr. Trump’s drive to pull U.S. forces from war zones,
especially Afghanistan, has often put the White House at loggerheads with the
State Department, as American negotiators and military officials have tried to
keep an already shaky peace process on track. In the interview, Mr. Trump
called the U.S. involvement in the Middle East “the single biggest mistake in
the history of our country.”

 

Agence France-Presse: Islamic State Jihadists On The Run After Afghan Prison
Raid
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“Afghan authorities were searching Tuesday for about 270 inmates -- most of
them Islamic State fighters -- who remained on the loose after escaping during
a deadly prison raid. At least 29 people were killed when Islamic State (IS)
gunmen attacked the facility in Jalalabad on Sunday, with fierce fighting
lasting until Monday afternoon. More than 1,300 inmates tried to escape, a
senior Afghan security official told AFP on condition of anonymity, but most
were either swiftly re-arrested or surrendered when surrounded by security
forces. But some 270 prisoners are “still on the loose”, the official said.
“Most of those who escaped are from ISKP,” he said, referring to IS's Afghan
branch, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province. They included
militants responsible for several bloody attacks, a second security official
told AFP. Nangarhar provincial governor's spokesman Attaullah Khogyani
confirmed many prisoners were still missing, but couldn't say how many were IS
members. The brazen prison raid came a day after Afghanistan's intelligence
agency announced the killing of a top IS commander near Jalalabad.”

 

India

 

Reuters: Militants Attack In Indian Kashmir As It Locks Down For Anniversary
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“Militants attacked Indian security forces with a grenade and gunfire in
Kashmir on Wednesday, defying a strict security lockdown on the first
anniversary of the government's scrapping of the disputed Himalayan region's
autonomy. There were no immediate reports of casualties, police said.
Authorities blanketed Kashmir with troops, who laid out barbed wire and set up
road blacks to prevent demonstrations a year after Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's government stripped India's only Muslim-majority state of its special
rights. The government said the change was necessary to develop the strife-torn
region and integrate it with the rest of India but it infuriated many Kashmiris
and neighboring Pakistan. Some critics saw it as part of a pattern by the
Hindu-nationalist government aimed at sidelining Muslims. The government denies
that. Kashmir is claimed in full by India and Pakistan, which have gone to war
twice over it, and both rule parts of it. Militants have been fighting Indian
rule in its part of Kashmir since 1989 in a conflict that has killed at least
50,000 dead, according to official figures.”

 

Lebanon

 

CNN: Beirut Explosion: Thousands Injured Across Lebanese Capital
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“A massive explosion ripped through central Beirut on Tuesday, killing dozens
of people, injuring thousands and blowing out windows in buildings across the
city. The blast near Beirut's port sent up a huge mushroom cloud-shaped
shockwave, flipping cars and damaging distant buildings. It was felt as far as
Cyprus, hundreds of miles away, and registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake in
the Lebanese capital. Lebanon's Prime Minister, Hassan Diab, said that 2,750
tons of ammonium nitrate, a highly explosive material used in fertilizers and
bombs, had been stored for six years at a port warehouse without safety
measures, “endangering the safety of citizens,” according to a statement. The
Prime Minister called the storage of the material “unacceptable” and called for
an investigation into the cause of the blast, with the results released within
five days, the statement said. Did you know that with just two ingredients and
a Mason jar, you can create your own ice cream? Lebanon's General Security
chief Abbas Ibrahim said the “highly explosive material” had been confiscated
years earlier and stored in the warehouse, just minutes' walk from Beirut's
shopping and nightlife districts.”

 

Middle East

 

Al Jazeera: Israel's Netanyahu Warns Hezbollah After Syria Attack
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“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a tough response to any
threats against Israel after it struck Syrian military targets in retaliation
for an attempted attack in the occupied Golan Heights. “We hit a cell and now
we hit the dispatchers. We will do what is necessary in order to defend
ourselves,” he said on Tuesday during a tour of a military facility in central
Israel. “These are not vain words; they have the weight of the State of Israel
and the (military) behind them and this should be taken seriously,” the veteran
premier added. Israel launched air raids on military targets in southern Syria
late on Monday. The army said it was retaliating after an attempt to lay
explosives in the Golan Heights, occupied by Israel since 1967. Syrian
state-run news agency Sana said Israeli helicopters attacked Syrian army
positions near Quneitra in the south but caused only material damage. It also
said air defences had gone into action near the Syrian capital. Several Israeli
media outlets reported that Monday's actions were in response to an increased
threat from the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, which has a significant
presence in Syria.”

 

Modern Diplomacy: Can An ISIS Terrorist Be Rehabilitated And Reintegrated Into
Society?
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“Debates across the world are raging, discussing the issues pertaining to the
repatriation of foreign terrorist fighters [FTFs] who left their home countries
to fight with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria [ISIS] or live under their
so-called Caliphate. Some died in Syria and some have made their way back home,
but nearly 10,000 male FTFs, approximately 2,000 of them from Europe, are
currently being held by the Syrian Democratic Forces [SDF] in prisons and camps
in Northeast Syria. Likewise, thousands of women who brought or bore children
into ISIS are now locked with their children in detention camps as well. It is
unlikely that the SDF will be able to hold the FTFs forever, especially with
frequent attacks by Turkey that pull guards away from their posts to assist in
the fighting or with bombs that even hit the prisons and camps themselves,
allowing the detainees to escape. Likewise given international challenges to
holding trials in SDF territory these prisoners currently are being held
without charges, except for those who were charged or tried in absentia at
home. Ergo, it is crucial to determine if the FTFs will make it home, whether
by entering stealthily, being extradited after crossing the border into Turkey,
or being properly repatriated by their home countries, and then to decide what
will happen with them.”

 

Somalia

 

The Conversation: Public Outrage Deters Al-Shabaab More Than Counter-Terror
Efforts. Here’s Why
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“In September 2014, a US drone strike killed Al-Shabaab’s most influential
leader, Ahmed Abdi Godane. The immediate assumption was that Godane’s death
would weaken the group and reduce its capacity to carry out further terrorist
activities. Al-Shabaab, which is Arabic for “the youth”, is the Al-Qaeda-linked
militant group that seeks to create an Islamic emirate in Somalia. The killing
of its longest-ruling leader was thought significant enough to cause disarray
and eventual collapse. Indeed, the White House touted it as “a major symbolic
and operational loss” for the group. What followed, however, was confounding.
Al-Shabaab quickly replaced its fallen leader, and conducted more
suicide-bombings than ever before. From Godane’s death to September 2017, the
group carried out 91 suicide bombings. This was an almost doubling of its
attacks. Then on 14 October 2017, the terrorist group carried out one of the
world’s deadliest suicide-bombings in Mogadishu. The airport compound which
houses the United Nations, several foreign embassies and African mission troops
was the intended target. But the attack didn’t reach its intended target.
Instead, close to 600 civilians were killed in what still ranks among the
world’s deadliest acts of terrorism since 11 September 2001 (9/11).”

 

Africa

 

Voice Of America: Africa’s COVID-19 Chaos Opens Door For Opportunistic
Extremists
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“As a pandemic rages and weakens fragile societies, terrorists lie in wait to
pounce on vulnerable people, especially on the African continent, says a top
U.S. military commander. U.S. military officials say their work on the
continent has continued unabated, but that extremists are actively seeking
every opportunity to gain a foothold, from Senegal to Somalia. Violent
extremist organizations, or VEOs, are seizing on Africa’s coronavirus chaos to
advance their goals in vulnerable societies, from Nigeria to Mozambique, says
the head of U.S. Special Operations Command Africa, Maj. Gen. Dagvin Anderson.
He spoke to reporters via Zoom video conference from AFRICOM headquarters in
Stuttgart, Germany. “I do believe the extremists will look to exploit any
opportunity they get, and COVID presents those opportunities, because COVID
stresses any government. ... we know the governments and the nations of Africa
are also feeling that stress, and the VEOs will look to exploit that. I can't
tell you exactly how, because that will manifest itself in different ways in
each of these countries. But these VEOs are very dynamic and they're very
flexible, and they will look to see where those weak points are, where that can
be exploited, and they will go after it,” he said.”

 

United Kingdom

 

Daily Mail: Security Services 'Underestimate' The Risks Posed By Female ISIS
Recruits Because Of Gender Stereotypes, UN Counter-Terror Chief Warns
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“The security risk posed by female ISIS recruits is being 'underestimated' due
to gender stereotyping, the head of the UN's counter-terrorism body has said.
Michele Coninsx warned that security services often see female terrorists only
as 'victims' and called for a more 'nuanced' approach to dealing with them. It
comes as Shamima Begum, a British 'jihadi bride' who fled her family home in
east London in 2015 to join ISIS in Syria, fights to return to the UK so she
can stand trial. Begum, who married an ISIS fighter and had three children by
him, was reportedly a member of ISIS's armed military police and enforced its
strict sharia laws. She insists that she did not take part in any violence. A
report by the agency that Ms Coninsx runs - the Counter-Terrorism Committee
Executive Directorate - warned that some UN member states are failing to
properly investigate the roles played by women in ISIS.”

 

Technology

 

Forbes: Study: Facebook Allows And Recommends White Supremacist, Anti-Semitic
And Qanon Groups With Thousands Of Members
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“Despite efforts to curb hate speech and misinformation, Facebook still hosts
a number of hateful and conspiratorial groups, including anti-Semitic and white
supremacist groups with hundreds of thousands of members, and regularly
recommends users join them, according to a study published Tuesday by the
Anti-Defamation League. Though Facebook groups can be banned for repeatedly
posting items flagged as false news, it’s possible to circumvent the
regulations, leaving Facebook groups as largely self-moderated spaces ripe for
bigotry and misinformation. Among the groups profiled in the study are “QAnon
News & Updates” and “Official Q / QAnon Public Group,” whose over 200,000
combined members believe the conspiracy theory that a “deep state” of federal
bureaucrats, Democrats and celebrities are plotting against President Trump and
his supporters, while running an international sex-trafficking ring. In the
groups, members frequently make anti-Semitic posts, theorize that the
coronavirus pandemic is a hoax and speculate that the Black Lives Matter
protests following George Floyd’s death were paid for by outside actors like
China, the Democrats or George Soros.”



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