14 plots, 65 arrests, 300 million citizens & illegal aliens.
PDF: Terror Snapshot (Homeland Security Committee)
Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Homeland Security Obsession with Terror to Exclusion of All Else”
14 plots, 65 arrests, 300 million citizens & illegal aliens.
PDF: Terror Snapshot (Homeland Security Committee)
Continue reading “Berto Jongman: Homeland Security Obsession with Terror to Exclusion of All Else”

The next attache from DHS will have their work cut out for them.
In Mexico, escaped ‘El Chapo’ is folk hero no. 1
For many Mexicans, he is an unusual combination of Robin Hood and billionaire.
He fought the law, and he won. He beat what many Mexicans see as a corrupt and feckless governing class.

American military bases encircle the globe. More than two decades after the end of the Cold War, the U.S. still stations its troops at nearly a thousand locations in foreign lands. These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, a little-noticed part of the Pentagon's vast operations. But in an eye-opening account, Base Nation shows that the worldwide network of bases brings with it a panoply of ills–and actually makes the nation less safe in the long run.
As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy towards the United States. They also undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the U.S. into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship in territories like Guam. They breed sexual violence, destroy the environment, and damage local economies. And their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon underplays the numbers, Vine's accounting proves that the bill approaches $100 billion per year.
The book is available for pre-order now; all book proceeds will go to non-profit organizations assisting military veterans and their families and other victims of war and violence.
Links to Article, Chapters, & Media Coverage Below the Fold
Is Flawed Terrorism Research Driving Flawed Counterterrorism Policies?
More than thirteen years after the U.S. intelligence community named the prevention of terrorism its number one goal, it seems to have little understanding of what drives terrorism, or how to counter it. And, if the recently increasing criticism is correct, the government’s investment in academic terrorism research isn’t helping. It may be because the government is continuing to fund research supporting discredited theories of terrorist radicalization, rather than objective empirical analyses.

We have grossly inadequate funding for schools, infrastructure, elder care, child-care, and a host of other programs and projects that create a more compassionate and life-affirming society. But, boy, the dollars fall like a blizzard on the military industrial security industries. Here is the real truth of where you tax dollars are going. The sums are so large I think they are essentially incomprehensible to ordinary people.
America’s Real National Security Budget — A Trillion Dollars a Year

More Small Wars: Counterinsurgency Is Here to Stay
Max Boot
Foreign Affairs, November/December 2014
Since Washington doesn’t have the luxury of simply avoiding insurgencies, then, the best strategy would be to fight them better. Drawn from more than a decade of war, here are ten lessons for how to do so, which U.S. policymakers, soldiers, diplomats, and spies should keep in mind as they try to deal with the chaotic conflicts to come.
Continue reading “Eagle: Max Boot on Ten Lessons for Counterinsurgency”