Texas: A Disaster Foretold | Terrorist-Reporting App | The Future of QAnon, and more

According to a letter dated February 11 from the French Ministry of Interior to GI’s president, the Al Jazeera investigation Generation Hate “revealed the reality of this organisation” where members “rejoiced at the assault of a woman of North African origin”. The letter cites a number of cases that highlight the group’s racism, violence, and the basis on which it is considered a “private militia” and goes on to say that “the comments made and the Nazi-inspired gestures … as well as the threats of further attacks, demonstrate the true face of this organisation and its activists”. The letter accuses GI of “openly hateful rhetoric” which “contributes to heightening tensions within the national community” and “provokes violent attacks.

Families of Pensacola Terror Attack Victims Sue Saudi Arabia  (Alexa Corse, Wall Street Journal)
The families of three service members killed and 13 others injured in a shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola in 2019 sued Saudi Arabia, alleging that the Gulf kingdom should have known the gunman, a member of the Saudi air force, was a threat. The complaint, filed in federal court in Pensacola, Fla., on Monday, asks the court to find that Saudi Arabia is liable and seeks damages for the attack. Mohammed Alshamrani, a 21-year-old second lieutenant in the Royal Saudi Air Force identified as the shooter, was stationed at the Pensacola base as part of a training program. He was killed during the attack. The three Navy men killed were Cameron Walters, 21, Mohammed Sameh Haitham, 19, and Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23. “Al-Shamrani was a Trojan Horse sent by his country, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” the lawsuit says. The suit also accuses the Saudi government of failing to follow through on a promise to compensate the victims. The lawsuit says that Saudi officials failed to act on warning signs about Alshamrani’s behavior, including anti-American social-media posts. It says that Saudi authorities failed to properly screen Alshamrani when they nominated him for flight training in the U.S.

Far-Right Incidents Surge in German Military  (Associated Press)
The number of suspected far-right incidents in the German military surged to 477 last year from 363 in 2019, parliament’s commissioner for the military said Tuesday. Eva Hoegl stressed as she presented her annual report that “soldiers are not under general suspicion and the absolute majority does a responsible job every day.” But she said the number of incidents involving far-right extremism are a source of concern and show that “there’s a lot to do.” “There’s no place for far-right extremism in the army,” Hoegl wrote in the report. “We need investigations, sanctions and prevention — in a consistent, complete and fast way.” Hoegl demanded that more staff be hired to speed up investigations. The report comes at a time of broader concerns that Germany has not done enough to tackle right-wing extremism within its Bundeswehr military in general. The country’s special forces, the KSK, have faced particular scrutiny after numerous allegations of far-right extremism in recent years. As a consequence of far-right scandals involving the special forces, the defense minister disbanded one of the KSK’s units in July and vowed to to further investigate extremism and implement reforms. The rise in far-right extremism in the army mirrors a growing overall number of anti-Semitic, anti-migrant or homophobic attacks in Germany.

New App Launched for Reporting Terrorist Material as Extremists ‘Exploit Pandemic’  (Lizzie Dearden, Independent)
A new app is being launched for the anonymous reporting of terrorist material found online. The project comes amid concerns that the coronavirus pandemic has created fertile conditions for isolated and vulnerable people, including children, to become radicalized. The iREPORTit app, which will become available on Wednesday morning, will allow users to flag online material to the national Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). Neil Basu, the head of UK counterterror policing, said: “Specialist officers are ready and waiting to look at each and every single referral sent via the app. “Where material breaches UK terrorism legislation, they will seek its removal, even if the website host is based in another country, because every piece that is removed from the internet is no longer out in the ether, potentially radicalizing vulnerable people and encouraging them to cause serious harm to others.” Developers Raven Science said the app was confidential and anonymous, and that no personally identifiable information would be collected. Reports will be seen only by the CTIRU. Jon, a former far-right extremist who did not want his full name published, said that terrorist material like Isis propaganda videos can be used by radicalizers on both sides of the spectrum.

Nuclear Warfare or Cyber Warfare: Which Is the Bigger Threat?  (John Powers. The Strategist)
A strategist provides the decision-maker with at least three options: the most likely option, the least likely option and the most dangerous option. This methodology applies to all strategists, regardless of their discipline—national security, diplomacy, economics, health care, home affairs. The essence of their tradecraft is to analyze, assess and advise so leaders can make informed decisions—and then act.
For those who grew up during the Cold War and its dogma of mutually assured destruction (MAD) between the Soviets and the US, nuclear weapons were the world’s most destructive threat. Without question, for most strategists, they were the most dangerous option and, on several occasions, also the most likely option.
Still today, there’s no denying the catastrophic effect of a nuclear weapon. However, to a nation such as Australia, is the detonation of a nuclear device our most likely threat? Our most dangerous threat?

Inside the New $65 Million Push from Progressives to Compete with Conservative Media  (Theodore Schleifer, Vox)
It’s called the Project for Good Information, and it raises big questions about the future of the information wars.

The Future of QAnon, Explained by 8 Experts  (Sean Illing, Vox)
QAnon’s prophecies failed to come true. Here’s why the conspiracy theory will persist anyway.

Texas Failed in 3 Big Ways  (Caroline Mimbs Nyce, The Atlantic)

The power is back on in most of Texas, but millions of residents still woke up without access to safe drinking water. How did things in the Lone Star State get so bad?

The Texas Blackout Is the Story of a Disaster Foretold  (Jeffrey Ball, Texas Monthly)
Those in charge of Texas’s deregulated power sector were warned again and again that the electric grid was vulnerable.