U.S. Secretary Of State John Kerry: Terrorists Need ‘More Economic Opportunities’

Kerry: Potential Terror Recruits Need ‘More Economic Opportunities’ -- CNS News

(CNSNews.com) – Launching a new global counter-terror fund, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke of the importance of “providing more economic opportunities for marginalized youth at risk of recruitment” – although much research has debunked the notion of a link between poverty and Islamist terrorism.

At a meeting in New York Friday of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF), Kerry and his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu unveiled a $200 million initiative designed to leverage public and private funding in support of what the GCTF calls “countering violent extremism” (CVE) efforts.

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My Comment: Osama Bin Laden was a multimillionaire .... the current head of Al Qaeda is Ayman al-Zawahiri, a doctor .... they had all the opportunities in the world but this did not stop from becoming hard-cord Islamists. And while I do agree that economic conditions may have an influence, this is also an ideological/religious conflict .... and for a good number of Jihadists this is more important than having a job.

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Last Months Leak Of An Intercepted Al Qaeda Communication Has Resulted In Severe Damage To American Counterterrorism Efforts

Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence -- New York Times

WASHINGTON — As the nation’s spy agencies assess the fallout from disclosures about their surveillance programs, some government analysts and senior officials have made a startling finding: the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda in August has caused more immediate damage to American counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.

Since news reports in early August revealed that the United States intercepted messages between Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of Al Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, discussing an imminent terrorist attack, analysts have detected a sharp drop in the terrorists’ use of a major communications channel that the authorities were monitoring. Since August, senior American officials have been scrambling to find new ways to surveil the electronic messages and conversations of Al Qaeda’s leaders and operatives.

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Update #1: Reports: Al-Qaeda Has Gone Quiet Since Surveillance Leaks -- Atlantic Wire
Update #2: Experts: Media Leaks Make Tracking Al Qaeda Terrorists Harder -- Arutz Sheva

My Comment: My understanding is that Al Qaeda has always worked on the assumption that their communications were always being intercepted by U.S. intelligence .... so for them to all of a sudden stop because of one leak is a surprise.

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Meet The Counterterrorism Specialist Who Is Also A Billionaire

Photo: Nathan Myhrvold. Wikipedia

Meet The Microsoft Billionaire Who's Trying to Reboot U.S. Counterterrorism -- Shane Harris, Foreign Policy

Nathan Myhrvold's a king of computer science, intellectual property, and extreme food. Can he teach Washington how to fight bad guys too?

Add to Nathan Myhrvold's already eclectic résumé -- which includes ex-chief technology officer of Microsoft, co-founder of one of the world's largest patent-holding firms, and author of a $625 cookbook -- a new credit: terrorism expert.

Myhrvold, a famous autodidact, recently published a 33-page paper that he rousingly calls, "Strategic Terrorism: A Call to Action." The core of his argument is easy enough to understand, and probably true: The United States is more focused on stopping a guy who blows up an airplane and kills 300 people than on a guy who intentionally spreads smallpox and kills 300,000.

"In my estimation, the U.S. government, although well-meaning, is unable to protect us from the greatest threats we face," Myhrvold writes. "[M]odern technology can provide small groups of people with much greater lethality than ever before. We now have to worry that private parties might gain access to weapons that are as destructive as -- or possibly even more destructive than -- those held by any nation-state."

Myhrvold to Washington: National security … you're doin' it wrong.

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WNU Editor: His concerns are also mine .... the U.S. has forgotten what catastrophic terrorism is all about. His 33-page paper "Strategic Terrorism: A Call to Action" can be read here.

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