How Significant a Threat Is ISIS Right Now? | Preventing a Dirty Bomb | Sharing Data to Tackle Terrorism, and more

Given All the Threats to the U.S., How Significant a Threat Is ISIS Right Now?  (Leila Fadel, NPR)
NPR’s Leila Fadel talks to Seth Jones at the Center for Strategic and International Studies about the threat from ISIS, and U.S. military operations that killed or captured some of its leaders. LEILA FADEL, HOST: The U.S. military confirmed the death of an ISIS leader in Syria last week. A drone strike killed Maher al-Agal. U.S. Central Command called him one of the top five ISIS leaders worldwide. This mission was the third U.S. counterterrorism operation in Syria in about a month. So how significant a threat is ISIS right now? I asked Seth Jones. He’s a senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. His team keeps a database of groups that pose active threats to the U.S. Right now, they’ve got white supremacists and anti-government militias at the top and groups like ISIS at the bottom. SETH JONES: I think, last year, there were three or 4% of the terrorist plots or attacks were coming from Salafi jihadist-inspired organizations like the Islamic State. So that threat has significantly declined in the last few years. FADEL: You know, a statement from the White House said the latest in a series of U.S. military operations significantly degraded the ability of ISIS to operate. And I just want to ask you if that’s true. Did it?

Terror Victims Feel Left Out After White House Order on Billions of Dollars in Frozen Afghan Funds  (CBS News)
In 2015, with bipartisan support, Congress created a fund to compensate all terrorism victims with final judgments against state sponsors of terrorism. The fund is funded through fines and penalties, and it has allocated more than $3 billion in claims. After the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan and froze $7 billion in assets from that country’s central bank, some families expected at least some of the money would go to the Victim Compensation Fund. Among them is 77-year-old Bob Essington, who in 1983 sustained permanent injuries when a suicide bomber used a car bomb to destroy the U.S. Embassy in Beirut — killing 63 people. The explosive force compressed Essington’s spine, permanently impairing his mobility. “I have a stimulator implanted in my hip with 14 plates on my spine. If I shut it off, I go into instant pain. And there’s nothing to stop the pain,” he told CBS News senior investigative correspondent Catherine Herridge. Essington and other families were surprised by President Biden’s order to earmark $3.5 billion to support “the urgent needs of the people of Afghanistan.” The remaining $3.5 billion was left for a New York court to decide compensation, with a small group of 9/11 families who have brought claims against the Taliban at the head of the line for the funds.

UK and US Sign Data Access Pact to Share Social Media and Phone Data to Tackle Terrorism  (Nicky Harley, The National)
The UK and US have signed a data access agreement to share social media and phone information to tackle major crimes, including terrorism. The new agreement will come into force in October and will allow either nation to immediately access phone and social media data to help in major investigations, Britain’s Home Office said. The Data Access Agreement (DAA) will be the first of its kind, allowing each country’s investigators to gain better access to vital data to combat serious crime. It will allow companies under US jurisdiction to share information which under American law they are not presently allowed to do. “The DAA will transform the ability of UK law enforcement to promptly and efficiently access data that is vital to helping keep people safe,” the Home Office said. “When a UK law enforcement agency is trying to prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute a serious crime, the UK law allows them to seek data relevant to the particular crime. In the case of data held by telecommunications operators, this could include information such as pictures or messages.” Many of the popular telecommunications services, such as social media platforms and messaging services, operate within US jurisdiction, the Home Office said.