Iranian Tankers in a Tanzanian Twilight Zone?
Trying to elude the reach of U.S. sanctions, Iran’s oil tankers have put on quite a circus this year, renaming, reflagging and at times switching off their onboard vessel tracking systems t...
Tanzania
A 40-Year US Embassy Crisis
The murders in Benghazi are the latest in a string of attacks on American diplomats to go unanswered by the US
Op-eds
State Department: Ansar al Sharia an Alias for AQAP
The US State Department announced today that it has amended its terrorist designations of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) "to include the new alias, Ansar al Sharia (AAS)." AAS...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda Ally Orchestrated Assault on US Embassy in Tunisia
On Sept. 14, the US embassy in Tunis came under assault. The American staff evacuated the embassy unscathed, but the attackers hoisted an al Qaeda-style black flag high above the emptied compound...
Op-eds
About Those Blacklisted Iranian Ships Calling at Libyan Ports…
The U.S. is looking for ways to beef up security in Libya, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack in Benghazi that killed U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Two warships an...
Op-eds
The Terrorists Fight On
Eleven years after the most devastating terrorist attack in history, some in America pretend that the threat of jihad or Islamist terrorism has waned to such an extent that it is no long...
Op-eds
Kenyan Muslims Riot After Murder of Shabaab-Linked Cleric
Kenyan Muslims in Mombasa have rioted for the second day in a row after a Shabaab-linked cleric who was recently added to the US's list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists was gunned d...
Op-eds
So You Want to Be a Sanctions-Buster
It’s easy -- if you try hard enough and have the right friends! Here’s a handy how-to guide to making moolah from the mullahs.
Op-eds
How Iran Steams Past International Sanctions
By reflagging and renaming its ships, Tehran keeps one step ahead of the law.
Op-eds
Bin Laden Loyalist Transferred from Guantanamo to Sudan
The Defense Department announced on Wednesday that Ibrahim al Qosi, a Guantanamo detainee who long served deceased al Qa...
Op-eds
Senior al Qaeda Ideologue Freed in Mauritania
Family members of top al Qaeda ideologue Abu Hafs al Mauritani have confirmed that he was freed this past weekend. Abu Hafs was transferred from Iran, where he had lived since late 2001, to Mauri...
Op-eds
Pariah State: Examining Sudan’s Support for Terrorism
***This article originally appeared in "State Sponsorship of Terrorism", a publication of IHS Defense, Risk and Security Consulting, in June 2012. Reproduced with permission © IHS (Global...
Op-eds
Obama’s Classified Leaks Are Probably Not Prosecutable
In my post over the weekend about the folly of pushing for a special prosecutor on t...
Op-eds
A Defense of Drone Attacks in Pakistan Under Humanitarian Law
Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, international law has had to grapple with the fundamental challenges that large-scale violence carried out by non-state actors pos...
Op-eds
Analysis: Spinning Iran and al Qaeda, Part 2
Editor's note: Part 1 of this series was published on May 5, 2012. In a recently released report on Osa...
Op-eds
The New McCarthyism
THE MEDIA has been quick to lionize Mary McCarthy, the recently fired 61-year-old CIA analyst who allegedly leaked classified information to the Washington Post's Dana Priest. According to s...
Op-eds
US Drones Kill 2 ‘Good Taliban’ Commanders in Pair of Strikes in South Waziristan
Unmanned US Predator or Reaper strike aircraft killed 15 Taliban fighters, including two commanders of a faction considered to be "good Taliban" by the Pakistani government, during a pair of stri...
Op-eds
Al Qaeda Honcho Probably Not in Egyptian Custody
This morning, there was a curious report originating with the Egyptian state press and then repeated throughout the Western media that Saif al Adel, a longtime al Qaeda bigwig, had flown from Pak...
Op-eds
Treasury: Iranian Intelligence Supporting al Qaeda
The US Treasury Department today designated the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) "for its s...
Op-eds
Report: New Leader of al Qaeda Network in Iran Named
A notorious Kuwaiti terrorist named Muhsin al Fadhli has reportedly taken over leadership of al Qaeda's network inside Iran. Sky News...