Our First Anniversary - Thanks to Contributing Experts & Readers - Some Perspectives

By Andrew Cochran

Yesterday was our first anniversary - you can read my opening post on January 5, 2005. This is the 1,121th article posted in the center column, and to date we have linked to over 7,100 news articles and columns in the "Today's News" box in the right sidebar. One site which measures blog popularity consistently ranks us in the top 200 of all blogs in the world. More importantly, I am told that we are "required reading" by leaders in the counterterrorism community, the news media, and policymakers in the U.S. and overseas, and that was my first goal when I envisioned and developed the site. I want to first thank the current and past Contributing Experts for their posts and advice. We also appreciate the invaluable assistance and support by Jeffrey Imm; Rachel Sullivan; the outstanding research staff at the Investigative Project on Terrorism; the leadership at the GAGE consulting firm; our interested and knowledgeable readers (especially those who send great ideas and links); and the many dedicated and professional reporters and analysts with whom we cooperate. We promise to continue to provide more top news, cogent analysis, and links to other good sites and important studies, and we might roll out some other products along the way. Some highlights, "firsts," and "bests" from our first year:

Beginning with the July 7th London attack, other blogs and websites turned to us for an up-to-the-minute news summary during and immediately after major terrorist attacks (e.g., London 7/21, Bali, Sharm el-Sheikh);

Steven Emerson's July 28 post, "The American Muslim Leaders' 'Fatwa' is Bogus," was the most popular and most linked post in the past year;

Douglas Farah and Dennis Lormel debated the issue of Al Qaeda's involvement in the west African diamond trade exclusively here, and Doug's groundbreaking work on Viktor Bout and his ties to terrorists (here's just one such post) significantly contributed to the Treasury Department's designation of Bout and his associates;

Bill West posted incisive commentary about the Sami al-Arian case, which he initiated as a federal agent, and about cases involving deportation of accused terrorists;

Evan Kohlmann posted evidence of the presence of foreign fighters in Iraq (despite some "experts'" denials to the contrary) and the facts on the leadership of the Al Zarqawi network, and he continues to be one of the leading experts in the world on the jihadists' use of the internet;

Michael Cutler continuously pointed to immigration cases as justification for tougher and consistent enforcement to prevent terrorist infiltration;

Lee Wolosky posted on the terrorist financing issues raised by the Arab Bank case;

Victor Comras posted about the continued operations of key terrorist financiers and the status of counterterrorism efforts at the United Nations and European Union;

Michael Kraft discussed the negative impacts of cuts in funding for State Department counterterrorism programs;

Zachary Abuza wasn't surprised by a major Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist attack in Indonesia, when other experts claimed that JI was dead;

Walid Phares provided insights into the jihadists' mindset, for instance after the 7/7 London attacks, that a native of the Middle East can best provide;

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross broke the story about the existence of radical Islamic literature in U.S. prisons on this blog;

Zeyno Baran posted new details about the activities of groups, such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir, which serve as an ideological training ground for would-be jihadists;

Olivier Guitta's European sources enabled him to post intriguing news about the status of terrorist groups and counterterrorism efforts there, for example the Tamil Tigers' "tax" on Sri Lankans in Paris;

Robert Charles, our newest Contributing Expert, recently broke the news that Afghan heroin has been found in the blood of killed Iraqi insurgents; and

I concentrated my posts on news and views about anti-terrorist financing efforts by the U.S. government, particularly the Treasury Department and the Congress.

We hope that we can close this site down someday for lack of terrorist activity. But until then, God willing, we'll be here. Many of the experts and I were able to visit the World Trade Center and the Pentagon sites after the 9/11 attacks. The vision of hell on earth that I saw at Ground Zero in New York City, and the tears of the victims' families standing next to me on the platform 100 feet from smoking rubble, drive me daily towards providing a single site to educate the world on the scope of the threats, our successes, and failures. So I want to especially dedicate my efforts here during the second year to the victims of terrorism, be they Christian, Jewish, Muslim, or expressing any other faith or creed, in any corner of the globe.

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