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Militia Members Indicted for Conspiracy to Murder Border Patrol Officers, Illegal Immigrants
Two members of the self-styled 2nd American Militia who conspired to go “to war with border patrol” have been indicted two weeks ago by a federal grand jury on charges related to a conspiracy to murder Border Patrol officers and kill illegal immigrants crossing the border. The plot was thwarted by a shootout with FBI agents who arrested them.
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Training for Nuclear Incidents and Preparing WMD Responses
“Radiological material can end up in almost any location or any place and take on almost any shape and form,” an expert told participants a few weeks ago at the first Sandia Lab’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Counterterrorism and Incident Response Showcase. Preparing for nuclear incidents is not dealing with hypotheticals. “It is not practice. It is not an exercise. It is real life stuff,” he said.
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American Extremists Serving as “Sources of Inspiration,” Says U.S. Counterterror Official
There is a sense among senior U.S. counterterrorism officials that the actions of a handful of Americans are helping to drive the growth of racist and far-right extremist groups around the world. Specifically, these officials point to mass shootings and other high-profile attacks in the United States, which have helped to turn the perpetrators into martyrs for like-minded groups and individuals.
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U.S. Former General: Russia Benefits from Dam Blast, Putin 'Likely' to Use Nuclear Weapons Rather Than Lose in Ukraine
“I’m not the first to warn [Putin’s] threats [to use nuclear weapons] are serious. Many people say that his threats are serious, but then they quickly say, “However, they are not likely. I’m one of the few people who has said that these threats are not only serious but they’re likely to happen. That makes a threat urgent — something which others are not saying. If these threats are recognized as urgent, then the governments will do something about it; if they’re not urgent, or if they’re not likely, then the governments have many other things on their plate that they want to take care of that are urgent”: Brigadier General (Ret.) Kevin Ryan.
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Teachers' Views on School Safety
What are the most common safety concerns that teachers have in schools? How do teachers feel about arming teachers at school? Do they believe that arming teachers will make schools more or less safe? How do teachers’ opinions vary by individual and school-level characteristics? Would teachers choose to carry firearms at school if they were allowed? What impact do physical security measures (e.g., cameras, metal detectors) have on school climate? There is a consensus on many security measures, but stark division about arming teachers.
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Gun-Related Deaths in U.S. Reach Record High
CDC data for 2021 shows that there were 48,830 firearm fatalities in the United State in 2021 — 3,600 more than the previous record high set in 2020. More than half of those lives lost were due to suicide. Guns continued to be the leading cause of death for children and teens ages 1–19, as well as young adults under the age of 25. Black people were nearly 14 times more likely to die by gun homicide than their white counterparts.
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China Extends Its Lead Over U.S. in Key Technologies
Western democracies are losing the global technological competition, including the race for scientific and research breakthroughs, and the ability to retain global talent—crucial ingredients that underpin the development and control of the world’s most important technologies, including those that don’t yet exist.A new report from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) finds that China’s global lead extends to 37 out of 44 technologies that ASPI is now tracking. These findings should be a wake-up call for democratic nations, who must rapidly pursue a strategic critical technology step-up.
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Needed: Ground Rules for the Age of AI Warfare
The time has arrived form an international agreement on autonomous weapons. Lauren Kahn writes in Foreign Affairs that AI is at an inflection point: the technology is maturing and is increasingly suitable for military use, while the exact outlines of future AI military systems, and the degree of disruption they will cause, remain uncertain and, hence, can be, at least somewhat, shaped.
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The Iran Threat Geiger Counter: Moving Toward Extreme Danger
The Iran Threat Geiger Counter from the Institute for Science and International Security measures on a regular basis Iran’s hostile intentions toward the United States and U.S. allies, and its capability to turn these hostile intentions into action. As with the radiation levels measured by a Geiger counter, any level above zero represents a degree of danger, and over the last six months, the threat posed by Iran has increased. As of May 2023, the Institute assigns Iran a total threat score of 140 out of 180, up from 130 in October 2022, and assessed as High Danger.
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A Strait Too Far: How a Deliberate Campaigning Approach in the Pacific Can Make Beijing Think Twice
Military planners say that March through May is one of two ideal windows of meteorological opportunity for cross-strait amphibious operations, with the other occurring in September and October.Benjamin Van Horrick writes that “for the U.S. joint force, the spring campaigning season in the Indo-Pacific is thus essential for strengthening regional partnerships, increasing multinational lethality, and instilling doubt in Chinese leaders’ minds about whether they could successfully invade Taiwan.”Van Horrick adds: “All of this means that with the right preparations, Washington does not have to be playing an away game.”
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Four More Oath Keepers Sentenced for Seditious Conspiracy
Four members of the Oath Keepers were sentenced last week on seditious conspiracy and other charges for crimes related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The four defendants were found guilty of seditious conspiracy, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of an official proceeding and conspiracy to prevent Members of Congress from discharging their official duties.
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The Executive Order on Commercial Spyware: Implications and Prospects
The growing national security threat from misuse of commercial spyware is increasingly being recognized. The US has been taking the lead in addressing the growing menace of unregulated spyware companies and the proliferation of intrusive tools. The Biden administration’s latest Executive Order will ensure that commercial spyware firms will be subjected to unprecedented scrutiny.
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What Does the U.S. National Guard Do?
The National Guard is a special part of the U.S. military that answers to both state governors and the president, as it routinely responds to domestic emergencies such as natural disasters. It also supports military operations overseas. It began as a “strategic reserve,” but the guard has grown into a pivotal partner in military operations. An intelligence leak by a National Guardsman has raised concerns over the guard’s role in critical military functions, including surveillance and intelligence work.
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Taiwan: China Sees Invasion of Ukraine as “Test Case” for Its Own Designs
For Taiwan, which has been under the threat of an invasion by China for decades, the fate of Ukraine is closely linked with its own. China views the war in Ukraine as a “test case” for its own designs on Taiwan, according to Taiwanese Deputy Foreign Minister Roy Chun Lee.
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Two Oath Keepers Leaders Sent to Jail for Seditious Conspiracy, Other Charges Related to Jan. 6 Attack on the Capitol
Two leaders of the extremist group Oath Keepers were sentenced Thursday for seditious conspiracy and other charges related to the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Their actions disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress which was in the process of ascertaining and counting the electoral votes related to the November 2020 presidential election.
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More headlines
The long view
Tantalizing Method to Study Cyberdeterrence
Tantalus is unlike most war games because it is experimental instead of experiential — the immersive game differs by overlapping scientific rigor and quantitative assessment methods with the experimental sciences, and experimental war gaming provides insightful data for real-world cyberattacks.
Using Drone Swarms to Fight Forest Fires
Forest fires are becoming increasingly catastrophic across the world, accelerated by climate change. Researchers are using multiple swarms of drones to tackle natural disasters like forest fires.
Testing Cutting-Edge Counter-Drone Technology
Drones have many positive applications, bad actors can use them for nefarious purposes. Two recent field demonstrations brought government, academia, and industry together to evaluate innovative counter-unmanned aircraft systems.
European Arms Imports Nearly Double, U.S. and French Exports Rise, and Russian Exports Fall Sharply
States in Europe almost doubled their imports of major arms (+94 per cent) between 2014–18 and 2019–23. The United States increased its arms exports by 17 per cent between 2014–18 and 2019–23, while Russia’s arms exports halved. Russia was for the first time the third largest arms exporter, falling just behind France.
How Climate Change Will Affect Conflict and U.S. Military Operations
“People talk about climate change as a threat multiplier,” said Karen Sudkamp, an associate director of the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program within the RAND Homeland Security Research Division. “But at what point do we need to start talking about the threat multiplier actually becoming a significant threat all its own?”
The Tech Apocalypse Panic is Driven by AI Boosters, Military Tacticians, and Movies
From popular films like a War Games or The Terminator to a U.S. State Department-commissioned report on the security risk of weaponized AI, there has been a tremendous amount of hand wringing and nervousness about how so-called artificial intelligence might end up destroying the world. There is one easy way to avoid a lot of this and prevent a self-inflicted doomsday: don’t give computers the capability to launch devastating weapons.