Anne Speckhard, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION The decades of military efforts and loss of human lives on the part of western governments against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda, and most recently ISIS, have proven insufficient to eliminate the threat of militant jihadi terrorist…
By Anne Speckhard As published in Homeland Security Today: Last week’s U.S. airstrike on Iranian general Qassem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Quds force, was both decried and celebrated across the Middle East and in the West by many disparate groups.…
As published in Homeland Security Today by Anne Speckhard The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad was overrun today by hundreds of pro-Iranian militia demonstrators who were seemingly let into the embassy compound area without restrictions. There the demonstrators smashed the guard posts on U.S.…
by Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci as published in Homeland Security Today Rojava, Syria – In the past month, Islamic State fighters in Syria (and in Iraq) are increasingly being captured and their numbers are dwindling into the thousands, compared to only…
https://youtu.be/NyVdt1Jf8FI Anne Speckhard The People Live in Darknessis the 66th counter narrative video in the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brandseries. This video features 22-year-old Abu Valid, a Syrian defected ISIS fighter. Abu Valid was interviewed in December of 2015, in Southern…
https://youtu.be/zm278YURq6M Anne Speckhard Listen to and Obey the Islamic Stateis the 62nd counter narrative video in the ICSVEBreaking the ISIS Brandseries. This video features 19-year-old Syrian Ibn Ahmed, who was interviewed in November 2015, in southern Turkey, by Anne Speckhard and…
https://youtu.be/E1I98cD_lOg Anne Speckhard It is Jihad is the 74th counter narrative video in the ICSVE Breaking the ISIS Brandseries. This video features 27-year-old Abu Taha, an Iraqi ISIS guard. Abu Taha was interviewed in 2017 in prison in Baghdad by Anne Speckhard.…
Anne Speckhard, Ph.D.& Ardian Shajkovci, Ph.D. As published in Homeland Security Today PDF here Abstract: This paper is based on the research interviews of 101 ISIS returnees, defectors, and ISIS prison cadres conducted by the International Center for the Study…
by Anne Speckhard & Ardian Shajkovci As Published in The Washington Examiner The Syrian civil uprising, abuses by Syrian President Bashar Assad, and calls from terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and Jabhat al-Nusra, an offshoot of al Qaeda, resulted…
By Anne Speckhard & Neima Izadi PDF Here In 2017, ISIS suffered major territorial and military defeat in Iraq. Despite the achieved success, the group remains active and in control of small pockets of territory in Iraq. It also continues…