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Better to produce your own lighting, right? If that means you have to live without television or the internet, well, those are just the trade-offs required to achieve self-sufficiency.”

Left Behind After U.S. Withdrawal, Some Former Afghan Spies and Soldiers Turn to Islamic State  (Yaroslav Trofimov, Wall Street Journal)
Some former members of Afghanistan’s U.S.-trained intelligence service and elite military units—now abandoned by their American patrons and hunted by the Taliban—have enlisted in the only force currently challenging the country’s new rulers: Islamic State. The number of defectors joining the terrorist group is relatively small, but growing, according to Taliban leaders, former Afghan republic security officials and people who know the defectors. Importantly, these new recruits bring to Islamic State critical expertise in intelligence-gathering and warfare techniques, potentially strengthening the extremist organization’s ability to contest Taliban supremacy. An Afghan national army officer who commanded the military’s weapons and ammunition depot in Gardez, the capital of southeastern Paktia province, joined the extremist group’s regional affiliate, Islamic State-Khorasan Province, and was killed a week ago in a clash with Taliban fighters, according to a former Afghan official who knew him. The former official said several other men he knew, all members of the former Afghan republic’s intelligence and military, also joined Islamic State after the Taliban searched their homes and demanded that they present themselves to the country’s new authorities. A resident of Qarabagh district just north of Kabul said his cousin, a former senior member of Afghanistan’s special forces, disappeared in September and was now part of an Islamic State cell.

A Canadian Neo-Nazi Was Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Trying to Start a Civil War in the US  (Sarah Al-Arshani, Business Insicder)
A Canadian neo-Nazi was one of two people sentenced to nine years each in prison for plotting civil war in the US, the Associated Press reported. Canadian Armed Forces reservist Patrik Mathews and US Army veteran Brian Lemley Jr. were sentenced on Thursday. NBC News reported that FBI agents arrested Mathews, Lemley, and William Bilbrough, members of a fringe neo-Nazi group called The Base, a few days before a January 2020 pro-gun rally in Virginia. The FBI at the time said they were under surveillance for months, NBC reported. Surveillance equipment that was installed in their apartment in Delaware recorded Mathews and Lemley discussing an attack on the Virginia State Capitol, the AP reported. Mathews crossed into the US without proper documents and was a main recruiter for The Base, The New York Times reported. He was discharged from the Canadian Army after they learned he had ties to white supremacists. According to the Counter Extremism Project, an organization that tracks far-right extremists, The Base works to train members to fight in a race war and also encourages the “onset of anarchy so it can then impose order from chaos.

‘There Will Be a Next Time’: Anti-Hate Groups Warn More Radicals Like Patrik Mathews Are Out There  (CBC)
Joshua Fisher-Birch, with the Counter-Extremism Project in New York City, said while the sentence is shorter than what the prosecution was asking for, it’s important to remember that Mathews did receive the additional sentencing with the terrorism enhancement. “This is incredibly important because of the intention behind the crimes that Mathews [pleaded] guilty to and his association in a violent neo-Nazi organization that being The Base,” said Fisher-Birch. “I think that this is a good precedent going forward for members of violent white supremacist groups.” Fisher-Birch called this case a win for the FBI and federal law enforcement. “They were able to disrupt this plot, they were able to arrest these members of this violent group,” he said.  Fisher-Birch noted that The Base is still recruiting and there are still multiple similar organizations to The Base that exist. “The threat certainly is not over,” he said.

Police Warn of Threat of Pre-Christmas Terror Attacks in London  (Aisha Harris, Independent)
Londoners have been warned to be on alert to the potential threat of a pre-Christmas extremist attack, as Cressida Dick described the murder of Sir David Amess “a chilling reminder” of the continuing terrorist danger. Writing in the Evening Standard, the Metropolitan Police commissioner said it was important the public showed the “courage and confidence” to report suspicious behaviour and said contacting police “won’t ruin lives, but it might just save them”. The warning came with the number of counter-terrorism investigations across the UK at a record level, with 800 probes currently live, on top of 31 foiled plots since 2017. A significant proportion of the alleged plots are connected to London. “We recently saw in Essex yet another terrorist attack with the terrible murder of Sir David Amess MP, and with it, a chilling reminder that the threat of terrorism is very real,” wrote Ms Dick. “So it’s vitally important that Londoners continue to be alert and vigilant. This is particularly true as we continue to enjoy regaining our freedom in the run-up to Christmas,” she added. “This is particularly true as we continue to enjoy regaining our freedom in the run-up to Christmas. If you see or hear anything suspicious then I urge you to report it to us.” On Friday, Ms Dick and City of London Police commissioner Ian Dyson attended a ceremony in the capital to honour emergency workers and members of the public for their courage in responding to the Fishmonger’s Hall attack on 29 November 2019.

CISA Wants to Identify the Most Vulnerable Critical Infrastructure  (Samantha Schwartz, Cybersecurity Dive)
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is identifying what critical infrastructure would most impact U.S. national security and economy if hacked, according to CISA Director Jen Easterly during a virtual Center for Strategic and International Studies event. CISA is basing its analysis on economic and network centrality, and “logical dominance in the national critical functions,” she said. 
CISA joins the Cyberspace Solarium Commission (CSC) in efforts to identify systematically important critical infrastructure (SICI), which CISA refers to as primary systemically important entities (PSIE). CSC recommended that Congress “codify the concept of” SICI, in its inaugural report last year.