Targeting Domestic Violent Extremism | Biden Squeezed on Immigration Policy | The Tyranny of Distance, and more
“While we continue to lawfully protect against threats posed by foreign terrorist organizations, we also must ensure adequate focus and funding is provided to combat domestic terrorism, some of which is motivated by false narratives and extremist rhetoric spread through social media and other online platforms,” Mayorkas said in a statement. Acting U.S. Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testified Thursday before Congress that members of militia groups who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 “want to blow up the Capitol and kill as many members as possible” when President Joe Biden addresses Congress.
Germany Bans Salafist Muslim Group (Reuters)
German authorities carried out raids in several locations in Berlin and Brandenburg on Thursday after banning a Berlin Salafist Muslim group, police said. Berlin’s senate department for interior affairs on Thursday said it had banned a “jihad-salafist” association Jama’atu Berlin, also known as Tauhid Berlin, and that police had undertaken the raids, without giving further details. German newspaper Tagesspiegel said the group glorified “Islamic State” fighting on the internet and called for the killing of Jews, adding that criminal proceedings were pending against some of its members. The newspaper added that the group had contact with Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, who hijacked a truck and drove it into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people in 2016. Salafists - strict Sunni Muslims - include peaceful private people, activists seeking the implementation of Sharia law and militants advocating violence to establish states they might regard as representing true Islam. The number of Salafists had risen in Germany to an all-time high of 12,150 in 2019, Germany’s domestic intelligence said in its annual report last year, listing them among “Islamist extremists.
The Insurrection Highlights the Need for Civics Learning(ADL)
What if the insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol, attacked police officers and threatened legislators’ lives had received robust civics and anti-bias education in high school? Would it have made a difference?
Biden Squeezed on Immigration Policy, Bracing for Border Crisis (Maria Sacchetti and Nick Miroff, Washington Post)
President Biden promised to restore the United States’ reputation as a “beacon for the globe” by reopening the nation’s doors to immigrants and refugees. But he has infuriated some supporters by expelling tens of thousands of migrants, restoring an unlicensed shelter for migrant children and struggling to implement policy changes without a full staff in place.
After barely a month in office, Biden is scrambling to explain to some Democrats that his “Day One” promises for a gentler immigration system will take more time with health and economic crises engulfing the United States.
The risks of an early political backlash for Biden are growing. Former president Donald Trump dispatched his deputies to the Hill on Wednesday to lobby against Biden’s immigration overhauls, and Trump plans to blast those changes in a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference on Sunday.
Don’t Knock Yourself Out: How America Can Turn the Tables on China by Giving Up the Fight for Command of the Seas (Paul Van Hooft, War on the Rocks)
The United States should give up its quest for command of the maritime commons in the Western Pacific. The struggle is based on a false premise — that if the United States loses command of the seas, China will step in the fill the vacuum. In fact, even if the United States loses command of the maritime commons, China is not positioned to gain it. However, by positioning China as an existential threat, the United States is boxing itself in politically. The United States courts disaster when it overextends itself by seeking military primacy in the region. There is one fundamental reason: the tyranny of distance.
