[Infowarrior] - WH unveils new strategy to combat homegrown terror

[Richard Forno]

Dec 08, 2011
White House unveils new strategy to combat homegrown terror

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/12/white-house-unveils-new-strategy-to-combat-homegrown-terror/1?loc=interstitialskip

By Aamer Madhani, USA TODAY
Updated 14h 2m ago
Updated 6:38 p.m.

The White House unveiled a strategy Thursday aimed at battling homegrown terrorism that emphasizes better coordination with local authorities.

The United States has made significant progress in degrading al-Qaeda's capabilities in recent years—President Obama noted today that 22 of the top 30 al-Qaeda operatives have been killed or captured under his watch. Intelligence officials suspect the terror organization is increasingly focused on seeking U.S.-born collaborators to carry out attacks. There have been 33 plots involving homegrown terrorists uncovered since 2009, according to the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

"Protecting our nation's communities from violent extremist recruitment and radicalization is a top national security priority," according to the strategic document. "It is an effort that requires creativity, diligence and commitment to our fundamental rights and principles."

The strategy draws broad outlines for fighting extremism and follows up on the White House's National Strategy for Counterterrorism, which was released in June.

In a speech timed with the release of the counterterrorism strategy, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, John Brennan, said the United States needed to avoid playing into al-Qaeda's strategy that "seeks to bleed us financially by drawing us into long, costly wars that also inflame anti-American sentiment." Brennan stressed that the White House would emphasize combating al-Qaeda's efforts to inspire people within the USA to carry out attacks on American soil.

One interesting facet of the new document is a call for teaching local officials to recognize violent extremism. The strategy suggests federal and local authorities tweak the way they approach the American Muslim community on the issue.

"Just as we engage and raise awareness to prevent gang violence, sexual offenses, school shootings and other acts of violence, so, too, must we ensure that our communities are empowered to recognize threats of violent extremism and understand the range of government and non-government resources that can help keep their families, friends and neighbors safe," the report says.

Sen. Joe Lieberman, ID-Conn., said he was disappointed that the Obama administration isn't designating one agency to coordinate operations. He also expressed frutration by the White House's reluctance "to identify violent Islamist extremism as our enemy."

" To understand this threat and counter it, we must not shy away from making the sharp distinction between the peaceful religion followed by millions of law-abiding Americans and a twisted corruption of that religion used to justify violence," said Liberman, who is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security committee.


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