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Goats: Unlikely Allies in California’s Fight against Wildfires  (Inès Bel Aiba, (AFP / Phys.org)
Their mission, should they choose to accept it, is simple: graze.

Countering Domestic Terrorism Requires More than a Counterterrorist Strategy  (Paul R. Pillar, National Interest)
No matter how much counterterrorist work is done through interagency task forces, information sharing, and some of the other measures the new strategy document mentions, the problem of domestic terrorism will remain as long as this larger underlying problem of political attitudes and loyalties remains.

No-Go Negotiations: Iran May Not Be in a Rush to Get Nuclear Weapons  (Mayumi Fukushima, National Interest)
There are reasons why rational nuclear latent states often want to stay non-nuclear.

The Base: U.K. to Ban U.S.-Based White Supremacist Group as Terrorist Organization  (Lizzie Dearden, Independent)
The British government is to ban US-based white supremacist group The Base as a terrorist organization. The neo-Nazi group, which was formed in 2018, has been attempting to recruit armed militants to launch terror attacks and prepare for a “race war”. The Home Office said The Base shared much of its ideology and mission with Atomwaffen Division, which it banned earlier this year. Priti Patel, the home secretary, said: “We continue to take robust action against evil white supremacist groups, who target vulnerable people across the world to join in their hateful ideologies and their sick promotion of violence. “I am committed to making it as difficult as possible for these organizations to operate in the UK, both by banning them and increasing the penalties for membership or support, in order to protect the public and our national security.” Proscription makes it a criminal offence in the UK to be a member of the group or invite support for it, with maximum prison sentences of 14 years for membership. The order was laid in parliament on Monday and, if approved by MPs, will come into force later this week. Officials said the ban followed advice from a proscription review group, including intelligence agencies and experts.

FBI Urges Monitoring of “Family Members and Peers” for Extremism  (huynh995, Interreviewed)
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned People over the weekend to keep watch over family and friends members for “indicators of mobilization to violence” as a part of the Biden administration’s continued deal with home extremism.
“Members of the family and friends are sometimes greatest positioned to witness indicators of mobilization to violence,” the FBI tweeted Sunday. “Assist stop homegrown violent extremism … discover ways to spot suspicious behaviors and report them to the FBI”
The tweet included a hyperlink to the 2019 version of the “Homegrown Violent Extremist Mobilization Indicators” report printed by the FBI, the Division of Homeland Safety and the Nationwide Counterterrorism Heart. The report defines Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) as “an individual of any citizenship who lives or operates primarily in America or its territories, and who advocates, engages in, or is making ready to have interaction in or help terrorist actions in furtherance of a overseas terrorist group’s aims, however who’s performing independently of overseas terrorist course.”

Homeland Security Watchdog Delayed Inquiry, Complaint Says  (Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Eileen Sullivan, New York Times)
The department’s inspector general delayed looking into a retaliation complaint by a former intelligence chief until after the 2020 election, according to officials and a whistle-blower.

Biden Warns Putin to Act Against Ransomware Groups, or U.S. Will Strike Back  (David E. Sanger and Nicole Perlroth, New York Times)
Mr. Biden’s phone call appeared to be a pointed ultimatum to stop the hackers, who have attacked computer networks in the United States with relative impunity.

Trump Administration Was Separating Migrant Families Earlier than Realized, Report Claims  (Gustaf Kilander, Independent)
Border Patrol agents used ‘Criminal Consequence Initiative’ program as justification for separating families.

Biden’s $1.3 Trillion ‘National Security’ Budget Won’t Make Us Safer  (Mandy Smithberger and William D. Hartung, Eurasia Review)
President Biden’s first Pentagon budget, released late last month, is staggering by any reasonable standard.
At more than $750 billion for the Defense Department and related work on nuclear weapons at the Department of Energy, it represents one of the highest levels of spending since World War II — far higher than the peaks of the Korean or Vietnam wars or President Ronald Reagan’s military buildup of the 1980s, and roughly three times what China spends on its military.
Developments of the past year and a half — an ongoing pandemic, an intensifying mega-drought, white supremacy activities, and racial and economic injustice among them — should have underscored that the greatest threats to American lives are anything but military in nature. But no matter, the Biden administration has decided to double down on military spending as the primary pillar of what still passes for American security policy.