14Charlie

The following infographic is an excellent data visualization product created by the Navanti Group.  It was originally published in October of 2012, but is still a useful tool for anyone looking for a good visual representation of terrorist organizations, as designated by the Department of State’s Foreign Terrorist Organization list.  There will have been a […]

According to recent reporting from the Long War Journal and SITE Intelligence Group, Ansar al-Sharia Libya has announced the opening of its first Twitter feed. And how did they make this announcement?  Take a long, hard guess.  Facebook.  From an analyst’s perspective, this reporting is significant for multiple reasons. First, Ansar al-Sharia Libya is the same […]

Author’s Note: This is the final instalment of a three-part series on AQAP in Yemen. Part I described the operating environment in Yemen, identified the basic capabilities and background information on AQAP, and summarized basic US counterterrorism efforts.  Part II highlighted the success of AQAP assassinations in Yemen, identified several E-TTPs, and discussed AQAP’s effect on US foreign policy. […]

According to statistics collected in May of 2013, there are over 554,000,000 active Twitter users.  These are people who use it constantly and rely more on hashtags than actual sentences.  Its reach spans across the globe, from your local Starbucks in the US, to the guy tweeting about suspicious activity near a compound in Abbottabad, […]

If you’re looking for some light reading or to get on one of the NSA’s watch lists, this is your opportunity.  Below is a link to Al Qaeda’s renowned training manual, affectionately referred to as the “Manchester Documents,” for your reading pleasure.  While by no means a new document, the intent here is to have […]

Author’s Note: This is Part II of a three-part series on AQAP in Yemen. Part I described the operating environment in Yemen, identified the basic capabilities and background information on AQAP, and summarized basic US counterterrorism efforts.  Part III will discuss the future of Yemen as it pertains to US counterterrorism efforts and the strength […]

As the US pursues joint counterterrorism operations in various hotspots around the globe, a shadow war in Yemen against Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is at the tip of US efforts.

The purpose of this article is to provide a strategic framework for a possible US course of action regarding intervention in Syria.  The strategic-level framing was used in order to provide readers with the most all-encompassing perspective; while tactical-level knowledge may be useful for understanding various actor TTPs (tactics, techniques, and procedures), it does little […]

In order to stay as current and informed as possible of both recent events and all other background knowledge in Syria, we wanted to provide a few resources that we find to be credible and on-point.  In the intelligence community, this is what is referred to as Open Source intelligence (OSINT)—publically available and overtly collected […]

After two years of bloody conflict, sectarian violence, and finally the unconfirmed use of chemical weapons in Syria last week (round two, allegedly), US options for direct military intervention in the war-torn region are finally coming to light. With extensive worldwide media coverage finally bringing the Syrian civil war into the limelight of American public […]

The war in Afghanistan lasted almost twelve years, took over 2,100 US military lives alone, wounded almost 19,000 more, cost over 630 billion US dollars, and mobilized a massive multi-national coalition force dedicated to establishing a secure and stable future for a region torn apart by decades of conflict and war. A few days ago […]

The White House announced last week that the U.S. would soon be directly (and finally, overtly) arming the Syrian opposition, the first step down a road of further U.S. military involvement, challenging fiscal requirements, and other third order repercussions in the Middle East. There are infinite variables to analyze in the context of Syria’s bloody two […]