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"A.D. - THE BIBLE CONTINUES" June 15th Update - (: I was generally pleased by last night's 11th episode in the series. Not only did present the persecution of one believer for her faith, it showed Peter raising a young woman from the dead and Philip's reaching out to the Ethiopian eunuch. Thankfully, the violence depicted continues to be less graphic. Let's pray that these remaining episode will focus more on BIBLICALLY sound stories of the disciples and the early Church and will continue to be restrained in it's depiction of violence. - Stan
PRAYER MATTERS:"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and asking Him to accomplish His perfect and loving will." - Stan
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE ON HOMOSEXUAL MARRIAGE (The decision is expected by the end of June so let's be praying for this UNTIL it is announced.:
1) Pray that God will guide the Court to read, comprehend, and take to heart the sound warnings in briefs before them which make clear that no fundamental right to same-sex “marriage” exists in our Constitution! May our Justices keep their oath to uphold that Constitution. (2 Chr 32:22; Ps 32:8; Is 10:1; Mt 5:18)
2) May each of the Justices be gripped by the fact that only one of the very few world nations that presently allow same-sex “marriage” did so by judicial fiat. May they be convicted that judicial fiat is not the American way. (Exodus 23:1-3; Lev 26:45; 2 Kgs 17:11; 2 Chr 20:6)
3) May our Justices conclude and rule that only a sacred union between a man and a woman can be called a marriage. May they rule that no state is required by the Constitution to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed elsewhere that do not meet the requirements for marriage in their own state. (2 Chr 7:14; Pr 22:28; Jer 18:1-11; 2 Th 2:15)
"DON'T LEAVE AMERICAN PASTOR SAEED BEHIND " - (5/2) - The Obama administration has stated that they would veto any Congressional action to tie the proposed nuclear deal with Pastor Saeed's release! (4/1/) - A nuclear deal with Iran could come at any time, any hour, any day. But will American Pastor Saeed be freed? His health is worsening. He continues to suffer grave threats in an Iranian prison where torture and executions are commonplace. President Obama assured Pastor Saeed’s wife that freedom for this wrongfully imprisoned U.S. citizen would be a “top priority.” Now is a critical time to continue to pressure the Obama Administration to not leave Pastor Saeed behind and urge Iran to show goodwill. Pastor Saeed is imprisoned merely because he is a Christian. He deserves to be home with his family. We continue fighting for his freedom – working in Congress, with the State Department, and with leaders across the globe. We must not forget Pastor Saeed. Sign the Petition: "Don’t Leave American Pastor Saeed Behind".; http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/dont-leave-am
Urgent Petition: Defend Christians - Defeat ISIS. - Go to http://aclj.org/jihad/say-no-to-a-third-term-of-president-obamas-failed-foreign-policy?view=donFrmB&utm_expid=7567081-8.vdNbXkfzQUyJhpww3WXtYQ.1&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign= "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted...
Feb. 25 - "US Missionary Held for $300K Ransom in Nigeria" - CBNNews.com, February 25, 2015;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/February/US-Missionary-Held-for-Ransom-in-Nigeria----/ "Phyllis Sortor, an American missionary in Nigeria, has been abducted from the Hope Academy compound in Emiworo, Kogi State. Nigerian police say her captors are asking for $300,000 in ransom. The Free Methodist Church, Sortor's sponsoring denomination, reports that the U.S. State Department and FBI are working with Nigerian authorities to find and rescue her. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria and most victims are returned unharmed. It's also possible that the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram is involved, although it operates mainly in the northeastern corner of Nigeria and Sotor was kidnapped in the central part of the country..."
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.
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"HOW ISIS IS WAGING A ‘WARE OF IDEAS’ THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA" - Natalie Johnson / @nataliejohnsonn / June 08, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/08/how-isis-is-waging-a-war-of-ideas-through-social-media/
A photo posted online by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on April 7, 2015 showing the militants holding the group's flag in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. (Photo: Abaca Press)
One year ago this week, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria seized Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul—its first major land grab in a battle for territorial expansion that continues today. But the reach of the terrorist organization, best known as ISIS, extends beyond a geographic battlefield, bridging traditional war tactics to disseminate brutality online.
The group has proved adept in its use of social media platforms, running a sophisticated propaganda campaign to broadcast its gruesome “successes” and recruit beyond the Middle East. From high-quality videos edited in chopped sequences—mirroring Hollywood previews—and posted to YouTube, to its use of trending hashtags coupled with gruesome slaughters shared via Twitter, ISIS has gripped onto Western media tools in waging a new type of battle.
“Unlike al-Qaida, which saw itself as a revolutionary vanguard and focused its propaganda efforts on like-minded Islamist militants, ISIS is a mass movement led by a new generation of Islamist revolutionaries who have developed a much broader propaganda effort,” said James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs.
This effort, Phillips added, is broadcast through a range of digital platforms, appealing to young Muslims who then embrace ISIS’ radical Islamist ideology and flock to the group’s so-called “caliphate.” Michael O’Hanlon, a Brookings Institution senior fellow specializing in defense and foreign policy, pointed directly to ISIS’ propaganda machine as key to its recruitment success. “There is no doubt in my mind that social media has helped ISIL enormously,” he said, explaining that the group still draws about 1,000 foreign recruits a month to Iraq and Syria from nearly 100 different countries. “Its glossy, glitzy, romanticized version of jihad and the caliphate it is trying to create—even if seriously perverted and twisted and brutal by any fair standard—is made to seem appealing by truly expert propaganda,” O’Hanlon said.
But some feel the group’s social media success has been overstated.
Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University specializing in insurgency and terrorism, said “social media alarmists,” those who focus too narrowly on ISIS benefitting from social media, fail to consider the drawbacks.“What the social media alarmists ignore is that social media can increase not just the recruitment rate, but also the attrition rate,” Abrahms said. “Not only are many Islamic State terrorists caught or killed via social media, but the propaganda can motivate governments into adopting a more robust counterterrorism response.” This social media backlash was most recently evidenced last week after a single selfie posted by a member of ISIS helped the United States Air Force identify and destruct a ISIS headquarters building in Syria within 24 hours.
Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said last week that airmen at Hurlburt Field, Florida, found the photo of “some moron standing at this command” and “bragging about the command and control abilities” of the terrorist group. Some 22 hours later, three Joint Direct Attack Munitions—guided “smart” bombs—destroyed the headquarters. The incident swept headlines as an undermining of the group’s typically savvy ability to use social media as a foundational piece in its recruitment and terrorism efforts.
While this case is certainly no black swan among ISIS’ social media downfalls, the group’s propaganda machine has proven a challenge as the U.S. struggles to redefine its counterterrorism strategy beyond the military. O’Hanlon said the problem lays in the U.S.’ inability to gain credibility within the groups ISIS is successfully targeting. We should do what we can to counter the message by pointing out ISIL’s flaw, if our critiques will be believed,” he said. “But since they often won’t be believed, we need allies throughout the broader Muslim world to send the same message. And of course, we can’t force them to do so at a pace or in a way they don’t like.”
Phillips said the U.S.’ counter-propaganda efforts would likely have limited appeal to those “most at risk” in ISIS’ recruitment campaign, but that the U.S. government should publicize the group’s atrocities, particularly those against other Muslims. He added the U.S. could covertly subsidize defectors who publicly criticize ISIS to counter its “radicalization” efforts.
“Military, intelligence and law enforcement efforts will always be key elements of counterterrorism campaigns,” he said. “But in the long run, the war of ideas is crucial to destroying the appeal of Islamist totalitarian ideology and reducing the flow of new recruits into terrorist organizations.”
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
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"There Have Been Six Terrorist Plots Since April Alone. How Concerned Should We Be?"
- James Carafano / @JJCarafano / June 14, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/14/there-have-been-six-terrorist-plots-since-april-alone-how-concerned-should-we-be/
"Two years ago, The Heritage Foundation conducted an exhaustive review of publicly available U.S. court and federal and state government records. The researchers documented at least 60 terrorist plots related to Islamist extremism following the 9/11 attacks—all aimed at the U.S. And the pace of plotting has only quickened. There have been nine additional plots since that report came out in 2013. Seven occurred this calendar year, six since April....
Terrorism is an act of “political” violence. Terrorists are not just trying to kill people and destroy property. They are trying to undermine the political order and civil society. Thus, they represent a fundamental threat to the system that provides security, protects liberty and promotes prosperity. Terrorism is a danger to all members of the community, not just the specific victims. As a public policy problem, it does represent an outsize concern beyond just counting the number killed.
Plots are increasingly homegrown. That means they are hatched here by individuals who are self-radicalized and operating without formal ties or instructions to overseas terrorist organizations. Finding and upending these threats requires scrupulous, persistent and effective domestic intelligence and law enforcement operations.
While the terrorists are here, however, their inspiration is abroad. Increasingly, radicalized individuals are found to be inspired or in dialogue with extremists entities overseas. ISIS successes in the field, its sophisticated social network activities and its ability to recruit fighters globally are all real cause for concern.
What the U.S. faces now is a transnational terrorist threat more complex than the enemy that confronted America on 9/11. Terrorists are linking social networks and human webs, and that creates unprecedented opportunities to operationalize violence. Defeating this threat will require both continuing to disrupt plots here at home and defeating the overseas terrorists who inspire them."
"A.D. - THE BIBLE CONTINUES" June 15th Update - (: I was generally pleased by last night's 11th episode in the series. Not only did present the persecution of one believer for her faith, it showed Peter raising a young woman from the dead and Philip's reaching out to the Ethiopian eunuch. Thankfully, the violence depicted continues to be less graphic. Let's pray that these remaining episode will focus more on BIBLICALLY sound stories of the disciples and the early Church and will continue to be restrained in it's depiction of violence. - Stan
PRAYER MATTERS:"To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world." - Karl Barth; "Prayer is inviting God into a seemingly impossible situation and asking Him to accomplish His perfect and loving will." - Stan
PRAY FOR AMERICA: THANK GOD for His many blessings on America throughout it's history. May we then ask that AMERICA once again be a blessing TO GOD, by once again submitting to HIS will in our affairs - both personal and national - that He may truly "heal our land." (2 Chron. 7:14) Short of that, we should not be saying "God Bless America"but instead "God be merciful towards America!" (Feb. 24th - Rev. Franklin Graham delivered this insight to his Facebook friends yesterday, "I do know that the president defends Islam and chastises Christians, rebukes our allies and befriends our enemies, and fully supports gay marriages and abortion but denies the religious freedoms of those who don't agree. Our nation is ridiculed abroad and morally crumbling within. We are in trouble. We have turned our back on God.")
PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS: Let's be praying that the Congress and the the President will find a way to pass legislation and enact policies that will benefit America today and future generations and NOT do any lasting harm.
1) Pray that God will guide the Court to read, comprehend, and take to heart the sound warnings in briefs before them which make clear that no fundamental right to same-sex “marriage” exists in our Constitution! May our Justices keep their oath to uphold that Constitution. (2 Chr 32:22; Ps 32:8; Is 10:1; Mt 5:18)
2) May each of the Justices be gripped by the fact that only one of the very few world nations that presently allow same-sex “marriage” did so by judicial fiat. May they be convicted that judicial fiat is not the American way. (Exodus 23:1-3; Lev 26:45; 2 Kgs 17:11; 2 Chr 20:6)
3) May our Justices conclude and rule that only a sacred union between a man and a woman can be called a marriage. May they rule that no state is required by the Constitution to recognize same-sex “marriages” performed elsewhere that do not meet the requirements for marriage in their own state. (2 Chr 7:14; Pr 22:28; Jer 18:1-11; 2 Th 2:15)
For a list of 10 sermons you can download on the subject, click over to the website. - https://www.watchmenpastors.org/standformarriage/ I also refer you to my previous posts # 1210 - #1212. The Christian community needs to show up and send a message to the Court that we will not stand by silently while family and freedom hang in the balance!
"DON'T LEAVE AMERICAN PASTOR SAEED BEHIND " - (5/2) - The Obama administration has stated that they would veto any Congressional action to tie the proposed nuclear deal with Pastor Saeed's release! (4/1/) - A nuclear deal with Iran could come at any time, any hour, any day. But will American Pastor Saeed be freed? His health is worsening. He continues to suffer grave threats in an Iranian prison where torture and executions are commonplace. President Obama assured Pastor Saeed’s wife that freedom for this wrongfully imprisoned U.S. citizen would be a “top priority.” Now is a critical time to continue to pressure the Obama Administration to not leave Pastor Saeed behind and urge Iran to show goodwill. Pastor Saeed is imprisoned merely because he is a Christian. He deserves to be home with his family. We continue fighting for his freedom – working in Congress, with the State Department, and with leaders across the globe. We must not forget Pastor Saeed. Sign the Petition: "Don’t Leave American Pastor Saeed Behind".; http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/dont-leave-am
Urgent Petition: Defend Christians - Defeat ISIS. - Go to http://aclj.org/jihad/say-no-to-a-third-term-of-president-obamas-failed-foreign-policy?view=donFrmB&utm_expid=7567081-8.vdNbXkfzQUyJhpww3WXtYQ.1&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign= "..An estimated 76 percent of the world's population live in countries where religious freedom is restricted...
World-Wide Prayer Requests:
4/17/2015 "US Missionary Injured in Apparent Terrorist Shooting" - By Abigail Robertson, April 17, 2015; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/April/Christian-Missionary-Wounded-in-Apparent-Terrorist-Shooting/ "A Christian missionary is fighting for her life after being shot in the head in Karachi, Pakistan, in an apparent terrorist attack. Fifity-five-year-old Debra Lobo was hit twice when four men fired shots from motorbikes as she was leaving work...The gunmen, who escaped, left a leaflet in her car with her name on it saying they had targeted her because she was American." Let's keep Debra in our prayers.
4/18/2015"Recant or Else: Saeed Faces New Psychological Torture" - By George Thomas, April 18, 2015; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/April/Iranian-Prison-Guards-Torment-American-Pastor/ "Naghmeh [his wife] says recent prisoner executions have also taken their toll on her husband. Despite the hardships, she writes that he continues to remain strong in the faith.'He wants you all to know that the Lord continues to move in that prison and lives are being transformed!' his wife wrote on Facebook. 'That they had a great Easter in prison,' she continued. 'Saeed desperately 'missed being with our family on Easter, but new Easter traditions were created in prison!' 'Over the years this journey has truly become more difficult and painful for Saeed and for the kids and I,' she wrote. 'Our family appreciates your continued prayers.'We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States.
4/17/2015 "US Missionary Injured in Apparent Terrorist Shooting" - By Abigail Robertson, April 17, 2015; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/April/Christian-Missionary-Wounded-in-Apparent-Terrorist-Shooting/ "A Christian missionary is fighting for her life after being shot in the head in Karachi, Pakistan, in an apparent terrorist attack. Fifity-five-year-old Debra Lobo was hit twice when four men fired shots from motorbikes as she was leaving work...The gunmen, who escaped, left a leaflet in her car with her name on it saying they had targeted her because she was American." Let's keep Debra in our prayers.
4/18/2015"Recant or Else: Saeed Faces New Psychological Torture" - By George Thomas, April 18, 2015; http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/April/Iranian-Prison-Guards-Torment-American-Pastor/ "Naghmeh [his wife] says recent prisoner executions have also taken their toll on her husband. Despite the hardships, she writes that he continues to remain strong in the faith.'He wants you all to know that the Lord continues to move in that prison and lives are being transformed!' his wife wrote on Facebook. 'That they had a great Easter in prison,' she continued. 'Saeed desperately 'missed being with our family on Easter, but new Easter traditions were created in prison!' 'Over the years this journey has truly become more difficult and painful for Saeed and for the kids and I,' she wrote. 'Our family appreciates your continued prayers.'We need to continue to pray for Pastor Saeed - that his health will improve and that he will be re-united with his wife and two young children who live in the United States.
Feb. 25 - "US Missionary Held for $300K Ransom in Nigeria" - CBNNews.com, February 25, 2015;http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2015/February/US-Missionary-Held-for-Ransom-in-Nigeria----/ "Phyllis Sortor, an American missionary in Nigeria, has been abducted from the Hope Academy compound in Emiworo, Kogi State. Nigerian police say her captors are asking for $300,000 in ransom. The Free Methodist Church, Sortor's sponsoring denomination, reports that the U.S. State Department and FBI are working with Nigerian authorities to find and rescue her. Kidnappings for ransom are common in Nigeria and most victims are returned unharmed. It's also possible that the Islamist insurgent group Boko Haram is involved, although it operates mainly in the northeastern corner of Nigeria and Sotor was kidnapped in the central part of the country..."
Save Christian Mom Asia Bibi from Execution - A Christian mom has been sentenced to death in Pakistan for her faith. Asia Bibi was falsely accused of “blasphemy” – speaking against the prophet Muhammad. Now this wife and mother of five will hang for her Christian faith.She would be the first woman executed under Pakistan’s Shariah blasphemy law.This is the ultimate human rights violation. We’re mobilizing our international affiliate – the European Centre for Law and Justice – and its partner in Pakistan to stop this atrocity. Add your name to our letter to the government of Pakistan demanding Asia Bibi’s freedom.Go to http://aclj.org/persecuted-church/save-christian-mom-asia-bibi-from-execution; please add your signature to mine and over 35,000 others AND pray for Asia Bibi.
Of course, let's CONTINUE PRAYING FOR AN END TO THE EBOLA CRISIS IN WEST AFRICA AND THE HEALING OF ALL THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN INFECTED.
PRAY FOR THE CRISIS HAPPENING NOW IN IRAQ (see post #907) Pray that allied forces will be able to drive the group ISIS back (see post #964)
/PRAYER ALERT- UKRAINE: As the Lord leads, please pray:
*For God to suppress President Putin’s ambitions to "restore" the Soviet empire.
*For the people of Ukrainen [esp. for the church 'to be THE church'] as they wait to see if the Russian troops will advance.
*That President Obama would use wisdom in crafting our foreign policy, and wisdom for his advisers.
Continue to Pray for EGYPT - Continue to pray for the tense situation in Egypt and especially for the Christian believers who are being targeted with violence by Muslim Brotherhood members.
"HOW ISIS IS WAGING A ‘WARE OF IDEAS’ THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA" - Natalie Johnson / @nataliejohnsonn / June 08, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/08/how-isis-is-waging-a-war-of-ideas-through-social-media/
A photo posted online by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria on April 7, 2015 showing the militants holding the group's flag in a suburb of Damascus, Syria. (Photo: Abaca Press)
One year ago this week, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria seized Iraq’s second largest city, Mosul—its first major land grab in a battle for territorial expansion that continues today. But the reach of the terrorist organization, best known as ISIS, extends beyond a geographic battlefield, bridging traditional war tactics to disseminate brutality online.
The group has proved adept in its use of social media platforms, running a sophisticated propaganda campaign to broadcast its gruesome “successes” and recruit beyond the Middle East. From high-quality videos edited in chopped sequences—mirroring Hollywood previews—and posted to YouTube, to its use of trending hashtags coupled with gruesome slaughters shared via Twitter, ISIS has gripped onto Western media tools in waging a new type of battle.
“Unlike al-Qaida, which saw itself as a revolutionary vanguard and focused its propaganda efforts on like-minded Islamist militants, ISIS is a mass movement led by a new generation of Islamist revolutionaries who have developed a much broader propaganda effort,” said James Phillips, The Heritage Foundation’s senior research fellow for Middle Eastern affairs.
This effort, Phillips added, is broadcast through a range of digital platforms, appealing to young Muslims who then embrace ISIS’ radical Islamist ideology and flock to the group’s so-called “caliphate.” Michael O’Hanlon, a Brookings Institution senior fellow specializing in defense and foreign policy, pointed directly to ISIS’ propaganda machine as key to its recruitment success. “There is no doubt in my mind that social media has helped ISIL enormously,” he said, explaining that the group still draws about 1,000 foreign recruits a month to Iraq and Syria from nearly 100 different countries. “Its glossy, glitzy, romanticized version of jihad and the caliphate it is trying to create—even if seriously perverted and twisted and brutal by any fair standard—is made to seem appealing by truly expert propaganda,” O’Hanlon said.
But some feel the group’s social media success has been overstated.
Max Abrahms, a political science professor at Northeastern University specializing in insurgency and terrorism, said “social media alarmists,” those who focus too narrowly on ISIS benefitting from social media, fail to consider the drawbacks.“What the social media alarmists ignore is that social media can increase not just the recruitment rate, but also the attrition rate,” Abrahms said. “Not only are many Islamic State terrorists caught or killed via social media, but the propaganda can motivate governments into adopting a more robust counterterrorism response.” This social media backlash was most recently evidenced last week after a single selfie posted by a member of ISIS helped the United States Air Force identify and destruct a ISIS headquarters building in Syria within 24 hours.
Gen. Hawk Carlisle, commander of Air Combat Command, said last week that airmen at Hurlburt Field, Florida, found the photo of “some moron standing at this command” and “bragging about the command and control abilities” of the terrorist group. Some 22 hours later, three Joint Direct Attack Munitions—guided “smart” bombs—destroyed the headquarters. The incident swept headlines as an undermining of the group’s typically savvy ability to use social media as a foundational piece in its recruitment and terrorism efforts.
While this case is certainly no black swan among ISIS’ social media downfalls, the group’s propaganda machine has proven a challenge as the U.S. struggles to redefine its counterterrorism strategy beyond the military. O’Hanlon said the problem lays in the U.S.’ inability to gain credibility within the groups ISIS is successfully targeting. We should do what we can to counter the message by pointing out ISIL’s flaw, if our critiques will be believed,” he said. “But since they often won’t be believed, we need allies throughout the broader Muslim world to send the same message. And of course, we can’t force them to do so at a pace or in a way they don’t like.”
Phillips said the U.S.’ counter-propaganda efforts would likely have limited appeal to those “most at risk” in ISIS’ recruitment campaign, but that the U.S. government should publicize the group’s atrocities, particularly those against other Muslims. He added the U.S. could covertly subsidize defectors who publicly criticize ISIS to counter its “radicalization” efforts.
“Military, intelligence and law enforcement efforts will always be key elements of counterterrorism campaigns,” he said. “But in the long run, the war of ideas is crucial to destroying the appeal of Islamist totalitarian ideology and reducing the flow of new recruits into terrorist organizations.”
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There Have Been Six Terrorist Plots Since April Alone. How Concerned Should We Be?"
- James Carafano / @JJCarafano / June 14, 2015 /http://dailysignal.com/2015/06/14/there-have-been-six-terrorist-plots-since-april-alone-how-concerned-should-we-be/
"Two years ago, The Heritage Foundation conducted an exhaustive review of publicly available U.S. court and federal and state government records. The researchers documented at least 60 terrorist plots related to Islamist extremism following the 9/11 attacks—all aimed at the U.S. And the pace of plotting has only quickened. There have been nine additional plots since that report came out in 2013. Seven occurred this calendar year, six since April....
Terrorism is an act of “political” violence. Terrorists are not just trying to kill people and destroy property. They are trying to undermine the political order and civil society. Thus, they represent a fundamental threat to the system that provides security, protects liberty and promotes prosperity. Terrorism is a danger to all members of the community, not just the specific victims. As a public policy problem, it does represent an outsize concern beyond just counting the number killed.
Plots are increasingly homegrown. That means they are hatched here by individuals who are self-radicalized and operating without formal ties or instructions to overseas terrorist organizations. Finding and upending these threats requires scrupulous, persistent and effective domestic intelligence and law enforcement operations.
While the terrorists are here, however, their inspiration is abroad. Increasingly, radicalized individuals are found to be inspired or in dialogue with extremists entities overseas. ISIS successes in the field, its sophisticated social network activities and its ability to recruit fighters globally are all real cause for concern.
What the U.S. faces now is a transnational terrorist threat more complex than the enemy that confronted America on 9/11. Terrorists are linking social networks and human webs, and that creates unprecedented opportunities to operationalize violence. Defeating this threat will require both continuing to disrupt plots here at home and defeating the overseas terrorists who inspire them."
[bold, italics, and colored emphasis mine]
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