Tag: Terrorism & Security

The Takeaway

The End of the US-Pakistan Security Partnership?

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Since a NATO airstrike on November 26 accidentally killed 24 Pakistani soldiers at two military check points along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, the United States has had a difficult time maintaining its already strained relationship with Pakistan. "We’ve closed the chapter on the post-9/11 period," an anonymous senior United States official was quoted telling The New York Times. "Pakistan has told us very clearly that they are re-evaluating the entire relationship." 

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The Takeaway

After The Takeaway: John Hockenberry Reacts to the Oslo Terror Attacks

Monday, July 25, 2011 - 04:26 PM

The Takeaway’s co-host John Hockenberry reacts to today’s discussion of the Oslo terrorist attacks that took place on Friday. With nearly one hundred dead and the same number injured, Hockenberry questions the role of the internet in either fueling or deflating the hunger for violence in extremists such as Anders Behring Breivik, the confessed-suspect of the attacks. Does the passivity of the internet allow extremists to follow an easier path to violence? Hockenberry discusses this and freedom of assembly and expression in the digital age.

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The Takeaway

Norway Suspect Wanted to Wear Outfit, Deliver Public Message in Court

Monday, July 25, 2011

Today's arraignment of Anders Behring Breivik, the already-confessed suspect in terror attacks that left nearly 100 people dead across Norway on Friday, was closed to the press. So too will be Breivik's trial, a judge has ruled, preventing the Christian fundamentalist and apparent right-wing extremist who wanted to "defend Europe" from Muslim immigration and liberal governmental policies from wearing an outfit reportedly bearing a crusader's cross. 

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The Takeaway

Norway Attacks Spotlight Europe’s Extremists

Monday, July 25, 2011

As Europe struggles with issues of integration and assimilation, Norway’s attacks have exposed the danger of the continent's right-wing extremists. The suspect’s tirades against multiculturalism and Islam come at a time when governments across the continent work to ease immigration and cultural differences. The country must now face the prospect of more violence.

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The Takeaway

Your Take: The Challenges of Multiculturalism in The U.S. and Abroad

Monday, July 25, 2011

In the wake of twin terror attacks in Norway — apparently carried out by one Christian fundamentalist man who targeted liberal policies on immigration and Muslims — we've been asking you: What are the challenges of increasing multiculturalism in the U.S., and how do those challenges impact your life? Today we listen to and read your responses, as well as hear audio from one of the survivors of the attacks. 

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The Takeaway

After Oslo Attack, Challenges of Multiculturalism Brought to Light

Monday, July 25, 2011

The country of Norway observed a period of silence this morning for the victims of the attacks that took place on Friday. Anders Behring Breivik, an apparent right-wing extremist and Christian fundamentalist, is being held after apparently targeting Norway's government institutions for their liberal policies toward immigration. The combined death toll from the bombing in Oslo and shooting on the island of Utoya now stands at 93, with 97 injured. 

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The Takeaway

US to Try Somali Terror Suspect in Civilian Court

Wednesday, July 06, 2011

The Justice Department announced on Tuesday that it will prosecute a Somali man accused of having ties to two terrorist groups in a civilian court.

The man, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was charged with nine counts related to accusations that he provided support to the Shabab in Somalia and Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen. Though he is reported to be in his mid-20s and has not been charged with plotting any specific attacks, the Justice Department has called Warsame a "Shabab leader."

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The Takeaway

With Troop Drawdown, A More Clandestine War on Al-Qaida

Thursday, June 30, 2011

A week after President Obama announced the time line for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, his top counter-terrorism adviser, John Brennan, says the US war on al-Qaida is far from over. Immediately following the death of Osama bin Laden, Brennan said in an interview on NBC's Today Show that the US would continue to "pummel the rest of Al Qaida." Now that goal is being laid out in the form of official strategy, with the U.S. vowing to focus more on clandestine operations and attacks to take out key leaders of the terrorism network.

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The Takeaway

After Arrest of Imams, Florida's Muslim Community Shaken

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

In the first major case of homegrown terrorism in this post-Osama bin Laden era, six people were indicted by the FBI for funneling around $50,000 to terrorists in Pakistan. Two of those arrested were imams from south Florida. Nearly ten years out from the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, we evaluate how the relationship between federal law enforcement officials and Muslim communities has evolved in order to more effectively work together to prevent homegrown terrorism. Asad Ba-Yunus, a former Miami-Dade assistant state attorney who now serves as legal adviser for the Coalition of South Florida Muslim Organizations.

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The Takeaway

Two Florida Imams Arrested on Charges of Supporting Taliban

Monday, May 16, 2011

Monday afternoon, two Florida imams are scheduled to be arraigned in a federal court in Miami after being arrested for allegedly providing financial support for the Pakistani Taliban. Imam Hafiz Muhammed Sher Ali Khan runs the city's oldest mosque, the Flagler Mosque. He, in addition to his two sons, and three others in Pakistan, were indicted for supporting terrorist organizations in Pakistan. Jay Weaver, federal courts reporter for The Miami Herald, talks about the case and the role of the Khan family in Miami.

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The Takeaway

Without New Leader, Future of Al-Qaida in Limbo

Friday, May 13, 2011

With the death of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaida is now calling on all its followers to prepare do-it-yourself plans of attack against America. And it’s a sharp contrast to the strategy taken on by bin Laden, which focused on long-term planning for one big attack on U.S. soil. This message from the terror network’s online presence is just among the first signs that a change in leadership will also mean a change in strategy. And it seems that without a prominent candidate, the future of the organization is in limbo. We talk with Scott Shane, national security reporter for The New York Times who broke this story for the paper.

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The Takeaway

Proof is in the Hard Drives: Bin Laden's Terror Tech

Friday, May 06, 2011

After poring over documents and hard drives taken out of the compound in Abbottabad where bin Laden was killed, intelligence analysts have surmised that the al-Qaida leader was consistently in touch with the terrorist network he helped create, and still intimately involved in plotting more attacks. A story in The New York Times details the data found and C.I.A. surveillance conducted before the mission to take out bin Laden was completed. We're joined by Scott Shane, a New York Times reporter who worked on the story. 

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The Takeaway

Bin Laden Death: Terrorism Killer or Creator?

Monday, May 02, 2011

How will the world react to the death of Bin Laden? Or perhaps more significantly, how will the world of terrorism react? We speak with Lydia Khalil, former counterterrorism analyst with the NYPD, as well as Christine Fair, assistant professor at the Center for Peace and Security, to learn more. 

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The Takeaway

As Europe Braces for Terror, US Escalates Drone Attacks in Pakistan

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Reports of a sudden up-tick of CIA drone attacks in the Waziristan region of Pakistan this morning coincide with what U.S. officials are describing as a "credible but not specific" terror threat in Europe this week. If these reports are true, it would bring the total number of drone attacks in September to 21, the highest number of drone attacks carried out in a single month yet. Information about the European threat reportedly comes from a suspected German terrorist, identified as Ahmed Sidiqi, in U.S. custody at Bagram air base in Afghanistan. The Washington Post's Greg Miller has been following this story and joins the program with the latest.

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The Takeaway

Pakistani Neuroscientist Sentenced to 86 Years

Friday, September 24, 2010

In the U.S., she's considered a terrorist. At home in Pakistan, she's a hero. Aafia Siddiqui, an M.I.T.-educated, Pakistani neuroscientist was convicted of attempting to kill American soldiers and F.B.I. agents in a Manhattan Federal District Court on Thursday. The BBC's Adam Mynott reports live from Islamabad.

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The Takeaway

The Life of Radical Cleric Anwar al-Awlaki

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

We are taking a closer look at the life of radical American-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki. In a video released over the weekend by al-Qaida in Yemen, al-Awlaki urged Muslims to take American lives. The cleric has a published discography to rival some rock stars, with over 100 CDs of readings and lectures to his name, not all of them incendiary. al-Awlaki was once known as a popular (and moderate) interpreter of Islamic texts on CD; speculation abounds as to exactly when and why he took a more radical turn. 

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The Takeaway

Alleged Pakistani Taliban Involvement in Times Square Almost-Bombing

Friday, May 07, 2010

The Pakistani Taliban are sending conflicting messages regarding their involvement with Times Square terror suspect Faisal Shahzad. A Taliban spokesman on Thursday denied the group's involvement with Shahzad, but said the Pakistani Taliban will expand their focus to include western targets, including the U.S.

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The Takeaway

NYPD Spokesman on the Arrest of the Alleged Times Square Would-Be Bomber

Tuesday, May 04, 2010

Federal authorities arrested a suspect allegedly responsible for a car bomb that was left to detonate in New York's Times Square on Saturday. The 30-year-old man, Faisal Shahzad was apprehended while trying to board an airplane to Dubai. NYPD Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Paul Browne explains the arrest.

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The Takeaway

Takeouts: Chicago Court Grapples With Classified Information in Mumbai Terror Case, Listeners Respond

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

  • TAKEOUT: Chicago Public Radio's Rob Wildeboer reports on the difficulty that a Chicago federal court is having as it determines how to prosecute Tahawwur Rana, who was accused of involvement in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Prosecutors have a considerable amount of information that they say will help tie Rana to the crime - but the evidence is classified.
  • LISTENER TAKEOUT:  Yesterday, we asked whether the American education system could take a lesson or two from highly performing schools overseas. Listeners from around the country called in and posted on the web with your takes on that question. While all of the advice is good, some of our listener's innovations will surprise you.

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The Takeaway

Questions Surround Increased US-Pakistan Cooperation

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Senior Pakistani officials, led by Pakistan's foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, are in Washington today for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. But there are some questions around who is really running the show.

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