It's typically not every day that Americans hear about "influence operations," though recent history has been an exception to that rule as news outlets and government officials have aggressively hyped the alleged threat of Russian covert ops aimed at swaying the U.S. election, or at least at causing chaos leading up to it. Indeed, much … Continue reading Anti-ISIS influence ops drill reveals parts of U.S. deception strategy
Tag: isis
Federal Bureau of Investigation officials warned this week that despite predictions of military defeat for the Islamic State extremist group's "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria, terrorist attacks inspired by the organization can be expected to continue. While the Islamic State (also known as ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh) will inevitably be "crushed," FBI Director James … Continue reading FBI warns of post-ISIS blowback as EU tries to export its refugee problem
Recent polls showing disproportionate active duty military support for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson versus that among the overall population may represent more than simple dissatisfaction with this year's regrettable major party candidates. Signs increasingly point to a U.S. military that is broadly dissatisfied with the direction of the country, along with its politicians' decisions … Continue reading Military polls show dissatisfaction with U.S. politics beyond election
Late last week reports surfaced that France and Germany, in the wake of recent terror attacks and Britain's vote to leave the European Union, are forming a joint plan for a potential "relaunch of European defence," which would involve greater security coordination among E.U. countries. The goal of the project is to restructure Europe's defense … Continue reading E.U. eyes security, surveillance centralization in wake of Brexit, terror attacks
Earlier this month, NBC News published a "heat map" leaked from the National Counterterrorism Center that purported to show that the Islamic State extremist group has expanded to "fully operational" status in 18 countries and is spreading to several others. Writing in The Hill this week, however, counterterrorism researcher Anhvinh Doanvo argues that it is … Continue reading Fuzzy math, the ISIS brand, and America’s foreign military presence
The news media has recently focused much attention on the supposedly imminent collapse of the "caliphate" of the Islamic State extremist group (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) in the main area it has controlled in the past couple of years in Iraq and Syria. Developments elsewhere, however, show that ISIS and the broader Islamist extremism … Continue reading ISIS “caliphate” collapse won’t bring end to War on Terror
In the wake of the killing of more than 80 people in Nice, France, by a disturbed man driving a truck, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have said the U.S. is at "war" with the Islamic State extremist group, while IS (a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) itself has claimed responsibility for the attack. … Continue reading The hypocrisy of ISIS railing against the West
In an opinion piece in the Washington Post yesterday, columnist Josh Rogin revealed what he said was potentially a "bad deal" that the Obama administration is pitching to Russia about increased cooperation in Syria. But it's hard to know what to make of the news, which the Russians won't comment on, and which comes amidst … Continue reading Russia and the US in Syria: Deals, disinfo and deception
The Department of Defense recently announced that its "Hack the Pentagon" pilot program that invited hackers to find cybersecurity vulnerabilities was successful and the DoD will continue pursuing similar initiatives, even as reports emerge that the Islamic State group has obtained information on more than 70 US and NATO air force bases. Hack the Pentagon … Continue reading Black and White Hat Hackers Target Pentagon
With a renewed focus on countering ISIS following the Orlando massacre, new tactics are being suggested for defeating the terror network and those it inspires. Among the suggestions are technologies to allegedly predict terrorist attacks and to automatically censor social media, although neither method is fully developed. The idea of predicting terrorist attacks using an … Continue reading Anti-Terror Algorithms Raise Ethics, Effectiveness Questions
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