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The first multi-expert blog dedicated solely to counterterrorism issues, serving as a gateway to the community for policymakers and serious researchers. Designed to provide realtime information about terrorism cases and policy developments.
Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Archives

Suicide Bombs Target Salahadin Awakening Leader

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Yesterday, two suicide truck bombs targeted a leader of the Salahadin Awakening Council. (The Awakening movements that have sprouted up across Iraq during the past year are based on the model that experienced great success in the Anbar province.) The...

The Anatomy of a Betrayal

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

More information has recently emerged about the killing of Abdul Sattar al-Rishawi (also known as Abdul Sattar Abu Risha), who led the Anbar Salvation Front. The Associated Press reported on Saturday: [Lt. Col. Jubeir] Rashid said Friday that Abu Risha's...

On ISNA and DOJ: Response to Farah and Emerson

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Both Douglas Farah and Steven Emerson have taken issue with my Monday post on DOJ's attendance of the ISNA conference. This entry will deal with the issues raised in both of their posts. First, I again emphasize that the DOJ...

On the ISNA Conference and the DOJ

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

As Jeffrey Imm points out, Audrey Hudson of the Washington Times has reported that "[t]he Justice Department is co-sponsoring a convention held by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) -- an unindicted co-conspirator in an ongoing federal terrorist funding...

Somalia's National Reconciliation Conference Begins Amidst Rising Violence

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

A national reconciliation conference convened this week in the volatile Somali capital of Mogadishu, while local residents trickled out amidst mortar attacks, grenade explosions, and small arms fire. Chaos has escalated in Somalia over the past several months as the...

Middle East Quarterly: Jihad's New Leaders

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Over the past year, a number of prominent terrorists -- including Shamil Basayev and Abu Hafs al-Urdani -- were killed on the battlefield, and there have also been a host of less publicized kills and captures. But although the death...

No Significant Spike in Violence Following Latest Askariya Attack

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The day after the al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq was bombed for the second time in a year and a half, I wrote that the second bombing was "potentially disastrous." Analysts feared that, similar to the first attack on the...

Strategic Implications of the Attack on the al-Askariya Mosque

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Yesterday's attack on the al-Askariya Mosque in Samarra, Iraq is potentially disastrous. Suspected al-Qaeda bombers knocked down the minarets of the revered Shia shrine that was also struck by a dramatic bombing early last year. It is worth recalling the...

Baghdad: Embedded Provisional Reconstruction Teams

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

A few days ago, I spoke with a U.S. official working for one of the new embedded provisional reconstruction teams (EPRTs) in Iraq. Last year ten provisional reconstruction teams (PRTs) were created throughout the country to operate parallel to the...

Baghdad: Update on the Security Situation in the International Zone

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Shortly after arriving in Iraq, I blogged about the worsening security situation in the International Zone (IZ, also sometimes known as the "green zone"). In criticizing the media's coverage of the increase in mortar attacks against the IZ, I noted...

A Look at the Surge from Baghdad

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

This morning, I posted a comprehensive report about my time in Iraq at Bill Roggio's web site The Fourth Rail. Roggio's media company, Public Multimedia Inc., provided support and assistance for my embedded reporting. An excerpt: The Strategy: Virtually all...

Baghdad: Patrolling Yarmouk

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On May 23 and 24, I went on a couple of evening patrols in Baghdad's Yarmouk administrative district. I went with a platoon from the U.S. Army's 2nd Battalion, 32nd Field Artillery, with which I am embedded; they are working...

The Desert Heat

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today temperatures will be as high as 111 degrees in Camp Liberty, where I'm embedded. Even walking under the scorching sun can be tiring, and the desert heat will play tricks with your mind. At one point yesterday I forgot...

Baghdad: Iraqi Journalists Targeted by Militants

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The tragic kidnapping and killing of ABC News employees Alaa Uldeen Aziz and Saif Laith Yousuf last week brought the number of journalists killed in Iraq since 2003 to 104. While I was at the Coalition Press Information Center in...

Baghdad: Behind the Increase in Mortar Attacks in the International Zone

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

While drinking my morning coffee today in a small courtyard outside the Coalition Press Information Center in the International Zone (IZ, also sometimes known as the "green zone"), an alarm rang out. An automated voice declared, "Incoming! Incoming! Incoming!" Indeed,...

Kuwait: American Contractors on the Withdrawal Timetable

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

When I touched down in Kuwait on the morning of May 17, I was greeted by severe sandstorms. From the air, the sandstorm looked like a cloud covering -- except we touched down on the runway a few seconds after...

Daily Standard: Know Thy Enemies

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My associate Kyle Dabruzzi and I have a new article at the Daily Standard today that provides a detailed sketch of the factions we're fighting against in Iraq as well as their supporters. An excerpt: SOMETIMES WHAT WE DON'T KNOW...

Daily Standard: No Better Friend?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My new article at the Daily Standard discusses the fears of America's allies in Iraq as politicians debate whether to set a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. An excerpt: AS THE DEBATE HEATS UP about whether the United...

Iraq Embed

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

With the debate over setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq reaching a fever pitch, this is a critical time for Americans to have reliable information on the country. There are also a number of important developments...

Strategic Implications of the Arrests in Saudi Arabia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

As Andrew Cochran noted, there were major arrests in Saudi Arabia today. Reuters reports that Saudi Arabia announced that "it foiled an al Qaeda-linked plot to attack oil facilities and military bases, arresting more than 170 suspects, including some trainee...

Somali PM Claims Mogadishu Victory; Fighting Continues Throughout Country

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

After nine days of intense fighting over control of Mogadishu, transitional federal government (TFG) prime minister Ali Mohamed Ghedi claims that "the worst of the fighting against Islamists and clan gunmen was now over." The fighting has caused many citizens...

Daily Standard: Spinning the Fighting in South Waziristan

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In late March Mullah Nazir, a tribal leader in South Waziristan who is aligned with the Taliban, launched attacks on foreign militants from Uzbekistan who were in the region. Predictably, the Pakistani government tried to portray this development as a...

Washington Times: Finding the Moderates

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My new Washington Times column, which will likely ruffle some feathers, is about how to improve relations between counterterrorism experts and Muslims. An excerpt: In the counterterrorism world, we often demand accountability and self-criticism from Muslim leaders. I believe it...

Somalia Insurgency Gains Strength

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The insurgency in Somalia continues to gain strength as attacks have increased throughout the country, and fighting has returned to Mogadishu. A Hawiye clan-brokered ceasefire collapsed on Wednesday of last week in the face of clashes between Ethiopian troops and...

CBN News on the Anbar Salvation Front

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Last week CBN News terror analyst Erick Stakelbeck and I developed a story on the Anbar Salvation Front, a group that includes a broad mix of Sunnis who are united in their goal of expelling al-Qaeda from Iraq. An excerpt:...

New Academic Paper: The Convergence of Crime and Terror

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

By 1931, Al Capone was a celebrity criminal with a litany of offenses that included murder, bribery, and running illegal breweries. But the government would have had trouble proving his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt for his most notorious activities,...

Bajaur: When "Peace" Yields War

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Last year I wrote extensively about the Waziristan Accords, in which Pakistan surrendered a large geographic area to forces aligned with al-Qaeda and the Taliban. (See this blog entry written just after the Accords were signed, as well as this...

U.S. Fails to Act as Fighting Worsens in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The situation in Somalia has grown markedly worse over the past week as the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) insurgency gains steam -- so bad, in fact, that the Christian Science Monitor claims that the Somalis "haven't seen fighting this intense...

Major U.S. Military Operations Coming in Diyala

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Friday, CBN News ran a story that I helped develop about coming major U.S. military operations in Iraq's Diyala province. An excerpt from Erick Stakelbeck's report: The U.S. military has developed battle plans designed to clear al-Qaeda out of...

N.Y. Times: U.S. Engagement in Somalia Greater than Acknowledged

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today the New York Times has an article on Somalia reporting that U.S. military engagement there was greater than the government has acknowledged: The American military quietly waged a campaign from Ethiopia last month to capture or kill top leaders...

Washington Times: Changing Minds

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have a column in today's Washington Times about a promising initiative in the American Muslim community designed to promote civic engagement. This initiative picked up steam after the terrorist plot uncovered last month in which nine Pakistani Muslims living...

N.Y. Times: Al-Qaeda Gaining Strength in Pakistan, Waziristan Accord Has Failed

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

A report in today's New York Times discusses American intelligence and counterterrorism officials' view that al-Qaeda's senior leadership has "re-established significant control" over the worldwide terror network. Their operations hub is located in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal area: American officials...

Al-Qaeda Affiliate Urges New Attacks on Oil Facilities

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

The Associated Press reported yesterday that in the online magazine Sawt al-Jihad (Voice of the Jihad), the terrorist faction Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula called for attacks on oil facilities throughout the world. The terrorist group included Canada, Mexico,...

Musharraf's Inability to Control Pakistani Air Force is a Sign of Weakness

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

A new article on Adnkronos International by Syed Saleem Shahzad provides a glimpse of Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf's weakness. After last week's bomb blasts in Islamabad and Peshawar, Musharraf asked Pakistan's air force to carry out a strike on Islamabad's...

Arabsat Begins to Broadcast Insurgent Propaganda Station

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Nick Grace and I have been following the case of al-Zawraa TV, a 24-hour insurgent station that focuses on Iraq but is broadcast through the Middle East. Here's how we described the station in a Daily Standard article on January...

Blackhawk Up

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have an article entitled "Blackhawk Up" in this week's print edition of The Weekly Standard. The piece focuses on the efforts of Somalia's transitional federal government to secure funding in the wake of the Islamic Courts Union's retreat. The...

Eritrean Troops Have Been Active in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have an article at Pajamas Media today that contains new revelations about Eritrea's role in the war in Somalia: Eritrean troops were active on the Islamic Courts Union's side when hostilities began, and some Eritreans have been killed in...

Will the U.S. Win in Somalia?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

After yesterday's revelation that the U.S. military has played an active role in Somalia since the Ethiopian intervention began in earnest, now is a good time to take stock of the factors that will determine whether the U.S. mission succeeds....

America's Boots on the Ground in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Andrew Cochran notes that yesterday's targeting of suspected high-value al-Qaeda terrorists in southern Somalia was "the first publicly acknowledged military action against Somalian territory since 1993." However, the U.S. has taken other military actions in Somali territory that preceded yesterday's...

Islamic Courts Abandon Kismayo, Establish "Shadow Governments"

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I spoke with a military intelligence officer this morning about the situation in Somalia. He reported that the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU) has abandoned Kismayo and dispersed. Kismayo is one of Somalia's strategic port cities: after abandoning Kismayo, the...

Executing Saddam on Eid al-Adha is a Mistake

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Saddam Hussein was executed this morning (6:00 a.m. Baghdad time), on Eid al-Adha. The timing of his execution was a mistake. I don't expect a surge in violence in Iraq because pretty much all the remaining Ba'athists there have professed...

Somalia's Terrorists

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Recently two prominent left-wing bloggers, Matthew Yglesias and Spencer Ackerman, have questioned whether the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) -- the radical group that Ethiopia is currently battling in Somalia -- is really linked to terrorism. Yglesias writes, "What are the...

Pajamas Media: Why Ethiopia is Winning in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Wednesday, I had an article at Pajamas Media that discusses the reasons for Ethiopia's surprisingly successful military campaign against the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia. (The previous conventional wisdom that I received from trusted military intelligence sources...

Somalia: Battle for Baidoa Begins, Islamic Courts Employing Feint Tactics

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have been covering the situation in Somalia since early June, when Mogadishu fell to the radical Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The ICU has steadily gained control of strategic cities throughout the country since then, confining its secular rival, the...

Zawahiri Uses ISG Report to Call for Negotiations

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In the new tape from al-Qaeda deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri that was broadcast today by al-Jazeera, he references the Iraq Study Group report: Zawahiri said Washington was scrambling for an exit from Iraq and Afghanistan, but was approaching the wrong parties....

Pajamas Media: Iranian Uranium Prospectors in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Today I have a piece at Pajamas Media that reports on three overlooked aspects of the recent confidential report on Somalia produced by the United Nations. The three aspects that I explore are Iran's hunt for uranium in the Galgadud...

New York Times: "Taliban Mini-State" in Waziristan

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Since early September, I've been sounding the alarm about the dangers of the Waziristan Accord that essentially cedes the mountainous region of Pakistan to the Taliban and al-Qaeda. I first criticized the Accord on this blog on September 7, and...

Source: Baidoa Vulnerable, Islamic Courts Tactically Capable

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I spoke with a military intelligence officer yesterday about the situation in Somalia. (For background on Somalia, see the Weekly Standard article that I co-wrote with Bill Roggio.) He said that he expects Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG) to fall...

Suicide Bombings Underscore Terrorist Presence in Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

As my colleague Douglas Farah has noted, a State Department official has finally acknowledged that al-Qaeda is operating "with great comfort" in Somalia. This terrorist presence was underscored by three suicide car bombings that took place today outside the transitional...

Latest Targeting of Iraqi Oil Sources Perpetuates Trend

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Smoke covered the sky in Baghdad yesterday as insurgents bombed a pipeline in one of the city's southern suburbs and hit an oil distribution center in northern Iraq with mortar rounds. Both attacks caused fires, and CNN reports that the...

Daily Standard: Warrior of Love

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In September, I wrote an article for The Weekly Standard about Joko Anwar, an Indonesian director who is working on a movie that subtly yet directly criticizes efforts to establish sharia law in that country. Indeed, the Indonesian entertainment industry...

War Imminent in Baidoa; Further Attacks Expected Outside of Somalia

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I recently wrote that the extremist Islamic Courts Union (ICU) may be preparing for a final push into Baidoa, where Somalia's transitional federal government (TFG) is hunkered down. There are now indications that this final push may be imminent. Mediators...

Source: Zawahiri Likely Alive, Bajur Accords on Hold

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I just spoke with a military intelligence source who confirmed that the Bajur airstrike (see Andy Cochran's post on it) was conducted by a U.S. Predator, adding that helicopters were also involved. The strike occurred around dawn, as people in...

Czech Report Shows Egyptians Probing Flight Defenses

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In a September 18 article for the Daily Standard, "Practice Makes Terror," (blogged about here) I argued that the "rash of false alarms" following the August 10 revelation of a foiled transatlantic air terror plot may not have been entirely...

The Islamic Courts Union Readies a Final Push Into Baidoa

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My most recent article for The Weekly Standard (co-authored with Bill Roggio of The Fourth Rail) details the alarming rise of the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) in Somalia. On June 5, the ICU won control of Mogadishu, and it has...

Weekly Standard: A New Terrorist Haven

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

In the new (October 30) issue of The Weekly Standard, Bill Roggio of The Fourth Rail and I have an article on the rise of the Islamic Courts Union in Somalia. The article is reprinted in full below. A New...

Daily Standard: Prison Jihad?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On September 19, I testified before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about Islamic radicalism in prisons. Today I have an essay entitled "Prison Jihad?" at The Daily Standard based on this testimony. An excerpt: BEFORE ENTERING THE...

Minneapolis Cab Ordinance Raises Questions About Religious Exemptions

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

A new proposed ordinance in Minneapolis has been garnering considerable media attention. For some time, hundreds of Muslim cabdrivers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport have been refusing fares that they know are carrying alcohol. These fare refusals happen frequently...

Stratfor: No "Satisfactory Military Solution" to North Korean Test

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Stratfor has issued an important new analysis examining U.S. military options against North Korea. It concludes that "an overt military strike -- even one limited to cruise missiles -- is not in the cards. The consequences of even the most...

North Korea/Iran Cooperation Shows Implications of Nuclear Test

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

North Korea conducted an apparently successful nuclear test today at 10:36 a.m. local time. The test has been reported in the North Korean media, and a seismic event at a suspected nuclear test site has been confirmed by Russian equipment...

U.S.-Turkish Relations on the Brink?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

For many years, Turkey -- a secular democracy with a predominantly Muslim population -- has been a staunch U.S. ally. Since Turkey has served as a bulwark of stability in the Middle East, it's important that the U.S. recognize the...

Possible Military Connection to New Indonesia Arrest

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Tuesday, an Indonesian woman who had a considerable amount of explosives in her bag was arrested at the Sidoarjo train station in Indonesia's East Java province. This was first reported in The Jakarta Post, which stated that the woman...

Cross-Border Raids into Afghanistan Accelerate

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have previously written about Pakistan's dangerous peace treaty with factions sympathetic to al-Qaeda and the Taliban. My most comprehensive treatment of this issue is the article that I co-authored with Bill Roggio in the most recent edition of the...

Weekly Standard: Pakistan Surrenders

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Bill Roggio and I have an article in the new (Oct. 2) Weekly Standard that explores Pakistan's remarkable retreat from the global war on terror. This retreat can be seen in the Waziristan Accord, which cedes the North Waziristan tribal...

Daily Standard: Practice Makes Terror

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have a new article in the Daily Standard today that examines the rash of "false alarms" on airlines since authorities announced that they foiled the transatlantic air terror plot on Aug. 10. In it, I argue that some of...

State Department Endorses Pakistan's Retreat

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

I have previously written about the major blow inflicted on the U.S. by Pakistan's peace deal that cedes Waziristan to terrorist factions, and the Pakistani government's subsequent decision to release 2,500 foreign prisoners. Both of these are serious developments that...

Pakistan Releases 2,500 Prisoners Linked to the Taliban and al-Qaeda

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Friday, the Telegraph published a distressing story that my intelligence sources have confirmed. Pakistan's descent into chaos (see my coverage of the government's surrender of the Waziristan region) is apparently continuing apace, with the latest incident being the release...

Kurdish Terror Groups Take Aim at Turkish Economy

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Although they're nominally independent of each other, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK) have each launched a recent series of attacks in Turkey that serve the same purpose: inflicting damage on the Turkish economy. At the...

Global Crisis Watch Podcast on the Fifth Anniversary of 9/11

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

On Sunday, the excellent Global Crisis Watch posted its new podcast, a roundtable discussion analyzing our position in the global war on terror as well as vital strategic trends five years after the 9/11 attacks. Guests include myself, CT Blog...