While this may strike some people as arrogant and dismissive I have to confess that when I listen to ‘experts’ talk about national security issues in the media I first look at who is speaking. Some of those who offer opinions are journalists, others are politicians or political junkies, still others are academics. All have […]
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Have you ever been to Singapore? I have, several times. Nice city, clean, ordered, not really a lot to do there though. Capable intelligence services from my perspective. What has always struck me on arrival at Changi Airport is the location of very, very big signs in English that tell you in bold letters what […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on October 8, 2018. How many of you recall the terrorist attack in San Bernardino back in December 2015? An Islamist terrorist couple went in to a California health sector office’s Christmas party and opened fire, killing 14 and wounding 22. The two were later killed in a […]
Sometimes you read something in the news that leaves you shaking your head. Here is an example. The government of Nepal has banned pornography – again – in order to, wait for it, ban rape. To this end, it has added harsh fines or prison sentences for internet service providers who refuse to comply with the […]
Well, the Saudis may have really put their foot in it this time. The mystery surrounding the disappearance of vocal Saudi critic and journalist Jamal Kashoggi at the Kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul ten days ago is deepening. Saudi claims that he left of his own accord are laughable: his fiancee was waiting for him outside […]
The stories of so-called ‘foreign fighters’ – outsiders who left their homelands to hook up with terrorist groups like Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda (AQ) and others – are a dime a dozen. Literally. As estimates range up to 40,000 who joined IS alone over the past five years or so, one can be excused […]
This post appeared in The Hill Times on October 1, 2018. In 1964 US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart came up with a now famous comment that has become a meme (not there were memes back in 1964). During a threshold case on obscenity he stated “I shall not today attempt further to define the […]
On November 13, 2015 I was in France, Paris to be precise. If that date reminds you of something, let me refresh your memory. That was of course the day – or more accurately the evening – when a group of Islamist terrorists struck in the core of the country’s capital, attacking the national sports […]
This piece appeared in The Hill Times on September 24, 2018. We are now in year 17 of the ‘war on terrorism’. After the catastrophic terrorist attacks on the US on September 11, 2001 the US, and many of its allies, declared war on violent extremism. The initial effort to locate and punish the perpetrators […]
I am trying very hard not to sound like a broken record (maybe it is time to update that analogy: like a CD that skips – or does no one besides me listen to CDs anymore?) but a recent news item has me very angry and makes me have to talk – once again – […]