How Did Guns Get So Powerful? | Afghanistan’s Warlords Return | Boston’s Dangerous “Mapping Project,” and more

Afghanistan’s Warlords Prepare Their Comeback  (Lynne O’Donnell, Foreign Policy)
Exiled warlords, power brokers, and ethnic leaders who fled Afghanistan last year ahead of the Taliban’s victory are threatening civil war unless the Islamists start negotiating to let them return home and reclaim their power and authority as an alternative to the nihilistic rule of the terrorists currently in charge. The band that broke Afghanistan in the early 1990s and hobbled it for years after is, in other words, getting back together. Unlike their first time around in power—right after the Soviet pullout in 1989—this time the warlords might even seem appealing, so awful is the Taliban regime that took over in August of last year. The back-to-the-future moment for the old guard came in May when 40 of the like-minded converged in the Turkish capital, Ankara, to meet with Uzbek leader Abdul Rashid Dostum and his hangers-on. Dostum, like some of his fellow warlords, used the wealth accumulated during the 20 years of the U.S.-backed Afghan republic to build his own patronage network, the coin of the realm in Afghanistan’s political landscape. At the time, Dostum and men like him supported the reconstruction effort funded by the United States and allies and encouraged education for women, including the dispatch of thousands of Afghan students abroad to stud.

Australian Police Are So Focused on Islamic Terrorist Threats They Are Failing to Monitor Growing Risks from Far-Right Extremism, Inquiry Hears  (Callum Godde, Daily Mail)
A ‘myopic’ focus on Islamist extremism in Australia since the September 11 attacks has come at the expense of monitoring the far-right groups, a parliamentary inquiry has been told. Liberty Victoria President Michael Stanton has acknowledged the recent emergence of far-right extremism in the state, citing neo-Nazis gathering in the Grampians and gallows erected outside state parliament as pandemic legislation was debated last year. He told an inquiry on Tuesday that far-right extremism is real but argued Victorian politicians need to be careful not to blindly expand executive powers, surveillance and censorship to combat its influence. ‘We need to make sure that in responding to those confronting scenes in the Grampians - whether it be Nazi salutes or display of the swastika - or the erection of gallows outside parliament, that we do not have a legislative response that throws the baby out with the bathwater,’ Mr Stanton said. ‘Sometimes that involves tolerating speech that we find offensive or humiliating.’ The barrister said Australian law enforcement agencies’ focus has been drawn away from neo-Nazis and other far-right movements over the past 20 years by Islamist extremism. Both must be addressed, Mr Stanton said, but Victoria’s parliament should not cast the net too wide with any reforms.

Neo-Nazi Group Plasters VA Hospital With White Supremacist Propaganda  (Steve Beynon, Military.com)
A far-right group peppered white supremacist messaging at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Oklahoma, posting pictures to social media of a bathroom covered in racist slogans. A Wednesday post on Telegram from White Lives Matter, a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a neo-Nazi group, claimed one of its members placed stickers across a VA hospital in Oklahoma City with text including “Make White Children” and “White People First.” “It was brought to our attention Thursday that inappropriate and offensive stickers may have been placed at the Oklahoma City VA Health Care System,” Terrence Hayes, a VA spokesperson, said in an email to Military.com.” After a thorough search of the campus, remnants of stickers were found. At this time, it is unknown who placed these stickers and how long they were there” he added. “This conduct is absolutely intolerable and is an affront to our personal and organizational values. VA Police is investigating this matter.” It is unclear whether the stickers were placed by a patient, a member of the hospital’s staff, or a trespasser. White Lives Matter has more than 12,000 followers on Telegram, a platform with no active moderation efforts that has frequently been used for criminal activity such as child pornography and by terror groups including the Islamic State.

Boston-Area Jewish Groups Condemn ‘Antisemitic Attack’ from the Mapping Project; FBI Tracking the Website  (Rick Sobey, Boston Herald)
Boston-area Jewish groups are sounding the alarm about a “truly vile perpetration of hate against the Jewish community” as a new pro-Palestine website puts a bullseye on local Jewish organizations, schools and others. The “Mapping Project” interactive map went live last week, naming and listing the addresses for scores of Jewish groups — including the Anti-Defamation League, Combined Jewish Philanthropies, JCRC of Greater Boston, Synagogue Council of Massachusetts, Jewish Arts Collaborative, Jewish Teen Foundation of Greater Boston, and many more. The website also targets politicians, such as Gov. Charlie Baker, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, along with local governments, police departments, universities and corporations. The creator of the website is unknown, but the map has been promoted by BDS Boston — “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement in the greater Boston area in solidarity with Palestine.” “Our goal in pursuing this collective mapping was to reveal the local entities and networks that enact devastation, so we can dismantle them,” the Mapping Project website states. “Every entity has an address, every network can be disrupted.” The local Jewish community and partners are now condemning this website, coming together on Monday to speak out against the targeting.

‘Incel’ Who Killed 11 in Toronto Van Murders Sentenced to Life in Prison  (Tracey Lindeman, Guardian)
A self-described “incel” who killed 11 people when he plowed a rented van into a busy Toronto sidewalk in 2018 has been sentenced to life in prison. Alek Minassian – who was motivated by a hatred of women – was convicted in March of 10 counts of first-degree murder and 16 counts of attempted murder, after a judge found that he drove a white rental van on to the sidewalk with the intent to kill. At a hearing on Monday, he was sentenced to 20 years for 15 counts of attempted murder, which are to be served concurrently. Earlier, the Toronto court heard testimony from witnesses and victims, who recounted the horror of the attack, and their struggles with PTSD in the aftermath. “My world has changed forever,” said Janet Zhang, after describing the mental suffering she still experiences after her CPR efforts to save a victim were unsuccessful. First responder Charlene Mackay told the court that she still has panic-inducing triggers and night terrors, which she manages by drinking and not eating well. “I don’t feel like he should have a normal life,” she said of Minassian. Other victims detailed the extensive and life-altering injuries they incurred during the attack, with which they continue to grapple.