Counter Terrorism Blog

I am still shocked and deeply saddened by the brutal terrorist attacks in Paris. It was by far the most abhorrent attack (series of attacks) in Europe in a generation. Words fail me. Naturally, many tough questions were immediately asked in every intelligence and security department in the world. Well, it is blatantly obvious that the French Intelligence Services failed. There is no doubt that it is hard for the police/military to be everywhere and for intelligence to protect everything, mainly because it is usually difficult to track one or two people, especially lone wolves, but in this case, it seems like it was a big group of organized people that operated with high levels of sophistication (similar attacks have also taken place in Mumbai, Nairobi and Peshawar); this was clearly a military-style attack that had to be rehearsed, and there were at least eight terrorists involved, with weapons, explosives and suicide belts, acting in concert. Sadly, French intelligenc

Photo Credit : AFP                                       Well, there is no doubt that just about everyone agrees that the world would be a better place without this Orc-like swarm of black-flagged militants, a.k.a. ISIS, ISIL or simply the Islamic State, taken out of some kind of JRR Tolkien’s epic, high-fantasy novel. You all know about them, right? The execrable Muslim extremists affiliated with Al Qaeda until recently, when Al-Qaeda decided they were too extreme for their taste and cut off ties with them. You know you are too extreme when Al- Qaeda says you are too extreme. And while everyone agrees that this vicious, brutal and fundamentally abhorrent militant group must be eliminated, opinions vary widely on how this should be achieved. And don't assume they are fighting with sticks and rocks out there. These aren't some “quickly-rallied Ewoks” fighting the Empire. They are a legitimate rebel force, with a highly sophisticated social media outreach, we

Photo Credit : Flickr THE IRAN DEAL: NOT A NUKE BUT A FLUKE By most accounts, preventing a country –especially in the volatile Middle East- from obtaining a nuclear weapon, would be considered a masterstroke. Whilst Iran views the deal to be a victory for Tehran, other Middle Eastern countries are not going to light fireworks any time soon. Before ink had barely dried on the deal, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt voiced major concerns about the feasibility and effectiveness of this deal. And not without reason: Last week, The Associated Press reported that Parchin, the very same Iranian military site that has previously been linked to high-explosive work related to the development of nuclear weapons, will be subject to inspection – by the Iranians themselves. As part of a secret side agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran will provide environmental samples, photographs and videos of the site, “using Iranian authenticated