"The document is a mess, replete with typos, hyperbolic assertions, and an obsession with former President Joe Biden. The bigger problem, however, is that it's not an actual strategy. It's more a long set of notes for a campaign speech, a repackaging of President Trump's various preoccupations and prejudices that frames everything the administration doesn't like as "terrorism" and any actions it has already taken as "counterterrorism.""
"Such reports used to be serious documents meant to "guide our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies," as well as inform "the citizenry, including state and local leaders." This report, unfortunately, is anything but serious, and good luck to anyone trying to make sense of it. But someone has to figure it out, because it is still an official product of the United States government, and it is still supposed to serve as a guide to policy."
"The fact pattern under the Biden Administration was clear: individuals at the highest level of the U.S. Government used their significant powers to politically target individuals in the interests of those they favored, wanted to keep in power, or to help win elections."
"With that in mind, I read the report-it's mercifully short-and I offer here a few samples of what readers are up against in trying to understand it. The document is described as not an actual strategy, but as campaign-style notes that reframe political grievances as counterterrorism."
The 2026 United States Counterterrorism Strategy is described as poorly written and lacking coherent substance. It is characterized as filled with typos, exaggerated claims, and a fixation on former President Joe Biden. The document is portrayed as not being a real strategy, but instead as notes resembling a campaign speech. It is said to repackage the administration’s priorities and biases by labeling disliked actions as “terrorism” and prior actions as “counterterrorism.” The piece contrasts this with older counterterrorism reports meant to guide intelligence and law-enforcement agencies and inform state and local leaders. It also claims the Biden-era record involved politically targeting individuals using government power.
#counterterrorism-policy #us-government-strategy #political-targeting #national-security #election-interference
Read at The Atlantic
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