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 […]
Search: “Iraq”
We found 568 results for your search.
When it comes to Islamist terrorism there is a lot we know and a lot we don’t. We may not be able to predict – ever – why and when a given individual chooses to adopt the violent radical ideology that leads him or her to engage in acts of extremism, but we do have […]
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 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 – […]
Word association test time! Quick, what is the first thing that comes into mind when I give you the word…..Iran. Rogue state? Terrorist sponsor? Religious fanaticism? How about terrorist victim? Wait, what? Iran as a victim and not a sponsor of terrorism? No, that can’t be! You must have your facts wrong or you must […]
A very interesting report was just issued by the START center of excellence on terrorism at the University of Maryland on violent extremist trends in 2017. It is worth a read. Here are some good news highlights: The total number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2017 decreased by 23 percent and total deaths due to […]
What is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word ‘mercenary’? My guess is nothing good. Mercenaries tend to evoke images of men who fight for all the wrong reasons – lucre/money, a need to be active, perhaps a love for violence. They certainly do not have a great reputation, at […]
So what are YOU afraid of? Snakes? Sharks? Public speaking? For me it is heights. I have a hard time even climbing a ladder to clean out the eavestroughs at home. Seriously, a metre off the ground and I get weak in the knees. Yeah, I know, what a wimp! What about terrorism? Does it […]
Categories
Another IS threat – ho hum
You have to hand it to Islamic State (IS) and its leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi – whose demise by the way has achieved Mark Twainian status (“rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated”). Despite the loss of the Caliphate, the deaths of thousands of its members, the virtual drying up of its fighter pipeline […]