Remarks by Dr. Liz Sherwood-Randall for the Soufan Center’s Global Summit on Counterterrorism and Political Violence
Good morning. I’m delighted to be here with you at the Soufan Center’s inaugural Global Summit on Terrorism and Political Violence. Thank you for the introduction.
It’s a privilege to speak on the same program with so many of my closest colleagues, including Christy Abizaid and Nick Rasmussen who are tough acts to follow! Each of you has provided extraordinary service in the Biden-Harris Administration and in prior administrations.
The day before yesterday, I accompanied the President and Vice President to Ground Zero, Shanksville, and the Pentagon to commemorate the solemn anniversary of the heinous attacks of September 11th, 2001. And standing here—in this place, on this day— I want to take a moment to honor and recall the lives of those we lost and the generations of Americans who have served and sacrificed over the last 23 years to ensure we would never again see a day like September 11th.
As you all know, this was the precipitating event for transformation in our national security enterprise and the motivation for so many careers in public service. Indeed, it was the catalyst for the creation of the role of the White House Homeland Security Advisor.
I live in a windowless office in the basement of the West Wing, which my staff and I call the “The Cave,” and it has housed the Homeland Security Advisor since the days immediately following 9/11. During each year of my service in the office, this solemn anniversary has marked an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come as a nation and what more we still have to accomplish.
That is what I hope to discuss with you today—starting with how the threat has evolved.
Evolution of the Threat Abroad and at Home
Since that catastrophic and transformational day, the counterterrorism community has succeeded in significantly hardening American defenses and degrading foreign terrorist groups’ capabilities to attack the American Homeland.
However, the threat we face today is more fluid and quickly evolving than it has ever been. Defining events in recent years—such as the killing of Iranian General Qasim Soleimani, January 6th, 2021, and especially October 7th—have layered atop gradually shifting trendlines to change the character of today’s threat landscape—both abroad and at home. I’d like to reflect on several of these defining events and trends.
Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack on Israel almost a year ago demonstrates how quickly the terrorism landscape can change and the far-reaching consequences of terrorists’ actions both domestically and internationally.
The Intelligence Community has warned that images and messaging emerging from the conflict are energizing networks and expanding the pool of individuals who are susceptible to mobilization to violent acts, whether as lone actors or as new recruits to terrorist groups from across the ideological spectrum.
Terrorist groups such as ISIS and al-Qaida are exploiting the Israel-Hamas conflict and calling for attacks against the West, including in the U.S. Homeland.
This occurs within the context of an important trend—the weakening of these groups by our counterterrorism pressure that has forced them to decentralize and scatter across the globe. Yet, they remain linked by enabling technologies. This has created vulnerabilities in their networks—introducing communications and logistics challenges. But it has also increased the burden on the global counterterrorism community to detect threats emanating from a wider range of locations where the thrust of our effort has not previously been focused.
This key trend is enabled by another—terrorists’ growing use of encrypted communications platforms. Although these technologies serve the vital purpose of protecting the privacy of our citizens online and safeguarding journalists, dissidents, and vulnerable people around the world, they also complicate the work of law enforcement in identifying and holding accountable those using these platforms to do us harm. This tension will become more acute as technologies evolve.
Another defining event—the killing of Soleimani in 2020—has added a new dimension to the Homeland threat landscape. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, known to most of us as the IRGC, seeks to target former U.S. officials that it deems responsible for Soleimani’s death. In addition, they continue plotting attacks against dissidents in the United States. This is a persistent reality that we are confronting and disrupting.
A third trend I will discuss is perhaps the most fundamental threat our nation faces—which is a growing normalization of violence—brought into stark relief in the wake of defining events like January 6th and domestic terrorism attacks in places like El Paso, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Poway, Colorado Springs, and Charleston.
Racially or ethnically motivated violent extremism and anti-government or anti-authority violent extremism are on the rise. Due to the proliferation of these ideologies online, they are reaching a growing number of mostly young people who are influenced to believe that violence is an acceptable response to ideological and political grievances.
And as this threat evolves online, we have seen its “domestic” dimensions become increasingly global. Successful attackers in the Homeland have drawn inspiration from those overseas who espouse the “great replacement theory.”
Earlier this week the FBI and Department of Justice arrested and charged two leaders of the Terrorgram collective in the United States. These individuals created a global community of white supremacists to communicate online with like-minded individuals, disseminate violent propaganda, and encourage violent attacks on minority communities and government officials.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s Approach
So—in this increasingly interconnected world, where borders matter less, and global communities form and draw oxygen online, we have to tackle both domestic and international threats simultaneously—not as distinct categories, though always with legal authorities and tools.
Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has pursued a rigorously calibrated, integrated approach to countering foreign and domestic terrorism threats that is aligned with our values and complementary to our broader national security interests. We have done this by crafting and implementing strategies that focus our system on addressing the threats of today while being flexible and creative enough to adapt to emerging threats for which there may be no evident precedent.
First, I’ll cover this in the overseas context, and then I’ll describe our work domestically.
Addressing terrorism overseas
Our approach to countering foreign terrorist organizations was codified in the National Security Memorandum to Counter International Terrorism Threats, called NSM-13. The guiding principles of the policy include: focusing on the most acute threats to the United States; investing in our partnerships; promoting civilian-led, nonlethal approaches wherever possible; and executing the counterterrorism mission in a manner consistent with U.S. values.
I previewed this policy in a speech to the Atlantic Council in September 2021, and today I’ll describe three years later the real progress we have made in realizing its objectives—and also be candid about the unfinished business that we all have to do going forward.
I’ll make three points about the ways in which we have implemented this approach.
First—when necessary to protect the Homeland, the President has directed decisive action to protect Americans from terrorists who seek to harm us at home or elsewhere.
- In February 2022—a ground raid resulted in the death of ISIS’s emir and his deputy in Syria.
- In July 2022, an airstrike removed al-Qa’ida’s overall leader in Afghanistan.
- In January 2023, a raid resulted in the death of a key operative and facilitator for ISIS’s global network in Somalia.
- And, most recently in late August, an airstrike killed the emir of Hurras al-Din—al Qaida’s associated force in Syria.
These examples represent only a narrow slice of our counterterrorism work. This is by design. We have generally reserved our use of our direct-action capabilities for only those circumstances in which other options are unavailable, the impact is substantial, and the risk of civilian casualties can be minimized. This issue is of paramount importance to President Biden.
The second dimension of our approach—is the work we do with international partners. These efforts reach every corner of the globe and represent a much wider share of our counterterrorism efforts than direct action.
We work with Five Eyes and European partners to prevent and disrupt threats in the West, benefitting from their unique capabilities and accesses to develop a shared intelligence and operational picture. As just one recent example, the United States shared information with Austrian partners to enable the disruption of a threat to Taylor Swift’s concerts in Vienna. And we cooperated closely with France and other partners to enable safe Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris for athletes and spectators from around the world.
This extends well beyond Europe to partners in Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and Asia.
This leads to my third point—We have been agile enough to pursue these threats whenever and wherever they emerge because we have reconceptualized our global counterterrorism footprint to align it with the principal threats we face.
In August 2021, President Biden made the difficult decision to end the war in Afghanistan. We continue to mourn those who lost their lives over the two decades of our presence and in the terrorist attack on Abbey Gate. But it is because President Biden understands what it means to ask Americans to put their lives on the line that he was unwilling to send another generation to fight in a war that he believed should have ended long ago.
This enabled us to redirect our resources to confront the current threats we face, not historic ones. The Intelligence Community assesses that Al-Qa’ida is weaker today than it was in 2001 or 2021.
In the 36 months since we withdrew, we have continued to implement a whole-of-government approach to ensure that Afghanistan does not once again become a haven for terrorists to freely operate and plot attacks against the United States or our allies.
Core to this approach is retaining the capability to address threats from over the horizon, most notably exercised with the removal of the world’s most wanted terrorist, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in downtown Kabul 11 months after our withdrawal. Another component of the over-the-horizon approach is building the counterterrorism law enforcement and military capacity of South and Central Asian partners to address the threat in their neighborhoods.
Many of you as experts will be tracking this evolution – but for some, it may be novel. The most salient threat emanating from the region today is not from Al Qa’ida, but from ISIS-Khorasan. In countering it we have mobilized a coordinated international effort to raise awareness of and share information about the threat—including with Russia, Iran—and even the Taliban. This intelligence sharing has enabled us to catalyze individual and collective action to disrupt the threat ISIS-K poses.
Let me briefly mention several other regions.
In Iraq and Syria, our forces are operating alongside Iraqi and Syrian Kuridsh-led partners to aggressively suppress threats to our interests, prevent ISIS from rebuilding its so-called caliphate, and ensure that the remnants of al-Qa‘ida cannot threaten our Homeland and allies.
In two weeks, I will participate in the 10th Anniversary of the Defeat ISIS Coalition Ministerial in Washington. Over 90 nations and organizations will be present as we discuss the evolution of operations in Iraq to address the evolving threat, and the work that is still to be done in Syria.
This includes encouraging countries to repatriate their nationals who traveled to Syria to join ISIS and are now being held in prison or living in refugee camps. Since we began this process, we have assisted nations with bringing home over 12,000 of their citizens from the Syrian desert.
However, the threat remains. The population in these prisons and camps is over 50,000 and provides ISIS with a ready reserve cadre and a breeding ground for its next generation of terrorists. This threatens to undermine the hard-fought progress we have made against ISIS since dismantling its physical caliphate and must be an area of intensive focus moving forward.
In Africa, President Biden recommitted to a persistent military presence in Somalia, to provide consistent support to Somali partners who are bravely struggling to resist al-Qa‘ida’s largest and wealthiest affiliate, al-Shabaab.
Our counterterrorism efforts in Somalia are ongoing, and they underscore the reality that this work is hard, and it requires continuous reassessment. There are limits to what our partners can achieve, even with U.S. assistance. Nevertheless, modest investments in carefully chosen partners can pay dividends for the security of our citizens at home and abroad and, over time, help countries to resist further destabilization by terrorist groups.
These commitments must be conditioned on the severity of the threat to the United States and firmly rooted in the consent of our partners. And we must be clear-eyed when those conditions change.
For example, last summer in Niger, an unanticipated and unconstitutional transition of power overthrew a democratically elected government and rapidly upended a counterterrorism partnership we had worked for the last decade to build. Niger had provided relative stability in a tough neighborhood, but pernicious forces eroded trust in its government.
As a result, Sunday, September 15, is the deadline before which we will have withdrawn all U.S. troops from Niger. The Department of Defense is working to establish a more geographically diverse set of counterterrorism relationships Central in West Africa, in order to help vulnerable partners who are facing rapid expansion of ISIS and al-Qa‘ida-aligned groups.
Confronting terrorism at home
Now I want to shift to our work at home. As we have worked to counter the threat overseas, a dynamic global threat environment reverberates here in the United States. This is especially true in the post-October 7th landscape, in which we have seen an increase in domestic hate crimes and credible threats.
We have met the dynamism of the threat by driving unprecedented cooperation between our intelligence and law enforcement communities to identify and counter specific threats when they have emerged. Just last week, the Department of Justice announced criminal charges against a Pakistani national arrested in Canada who was planning to travel to New York City to attack a Jewish Community Center on the anniversary of October 7th.
Behind each headline about a threat or arrest, there are many dedicated law enforcement and intelligence professionals harnessing the full force of the U.S. counterterrorism enterprise and our partnerships around the world to disrupt and hold accountable those who seek to do us harm.
This spring, as a result of extraordinary cooperation across the U.S. Government, we identified, located, and disrupted eight individuals with potential ties to ISIS. Our law enforcement professionals took swift and effective action to reduce any possible threat associated with these individuals. This disruption was enabled by cooperation among DOJ, the FBI, DHS, the National Counterterrorism Center, and other elements of the intelligence community.
My point is that our adversaries are dynamic, which requires us to be even more dynamic. The systems we have built and refined since 9/11 to keep the Homeland safe are working, and we have also continued to innovate based on what we have learned and how the threats are evolving.
Key to that is ensuring that our tools are honed to meet the challenges of today and of tomorrow.
To that end, we worked with Congress to renew and reform Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act—one of the United States’ most vital intelligence collection tools. This gives us essential authority to understand and prevent a wide range of dangerous threats to Americans, while protecting privacy and civil liberties.
In addition, where we have identified gaps in the authorities required to protect Americans in an evolving threat landscape, we have pushed to close them. For example, recognizing the growing threat from the use of Unmanned Aerial Systems by our adversaries—including terrorists—we have been working since 2022 to persuade our partners on the Hill to pass a legislative proposal to enhance our domestic defenses against the pernicious use of this proliferating capability.
In parallel with those tireless efforts to thwart foreign terrorist groups using all available tools, we have been determined to counter domestic terrorism using different tools that are consistent with our laws and values. This is built on the President’s core belief that domestic terrorism strikes at the very foundation of our democracy.
On his first day in office, President Biden directed me to lead a 100-day comprehensive review of U.S. Government efforts to address domestic terrorism. This led to our release of the first-ever National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism.
Since the launch of the Strategy in June 2021, we have deepened our understanding of domestic terrorism and taken concrete actions to counter it by increasing information sharing, expanding prevention efforts, enhancing disruption and deterrence, and confronting the long-term drivers.
First—We have made prevention a core element of our strategic approach and prioritized support for state-led efforts to prevent acts of targeted violence and terrorism. For example, following the tragic terror attack on the Tops Market in Buffalo, the Department of Homeland Security rapidly ramped up support to New York State to build out a statewide prevention capability. This program has already seen 1,200 requests for assistance, has stopped terror plots well before any harm came to the community, and is serving as a model for others.
Second—We have prioritized domestic terrorism-related investigations and prosecutions at the Federal, state, and local levels. From 2020 to 2022, the number of FBI domestic violent extremism and domestic terrorism investigations more than doubled, with the FBI indicating it has more than 2,700 open investigations on domestic violent extremists. In support of the strategy, the Department of Justice created a specific domestic terrorism unit within its National Security Division to handle these investigations and prosecutions.
Third—We have also significantly expanded cooperation with foreign partners to identify and address the transnational dimensions of the threat posed by racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists, which have become global in nature and in reach.
And fourth—we have continued to build up efforts to address targeted and hate-fueled violence that so often catalyzes individuals to domestic terrorism. These actions have proven especially important in the post-October 7th landscape, in which we have faced a substantial rise in hate crimes and violent acts targeting Jewish, Muslim, Arab and other Americans.
In 2022, President Biden hosted the United We Stand Summit that mobilized communities across the country to make commitments towards advancing an inclusive and bipartisan vision for a more united America.
That led to an ongoing effort that I co-lead with the White House Domestic Policy Advisor to craft a whole of society approach to address Antisemitism, Islamophobia and related forms of bias and discrimination. This effort resulted in the release in May 2023 of the first-ever U.S. National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, which we have worked to implement and adapt as threats have evolved.
Currently, we are finalizing a national strategy to counter Islamophobia and related forms of hate. This work will continue as we deal with the far-reaching implications of October 7th.
Lessons Learned for the Future
These nearly four years have confirmed that the terrorism threat will persist and that it will not remain static. Given our zero tolerance for a terror attack at scale in the homeland or against Americans overseas, this is a no fail mission for many across the Federal system and our state and local partners—from the intelligence community, to our operating agencies, to law enforcement at all levels.
We must continue to be resilient, nimble and flexible to respond quickly to emerging trends. We need the resources and tools that support that kind of resilience and agility. And our approaches must be built on the humility to test our assumptions and change course when circumstances require it or our efforts prove inadequate.
The three ingredients to build a sustainable, nimble, and creative approach to counterterrorism are enduring—1) an unwavering commitment to our values; 2) trusted partnerships and convening power to bring the world together to solve the hardest problems; and 3) the talent of dedicated public servants who work 24/7, 365 days a year to keep our nation safe from harm. We must continue to invest in and nurture each dimension, and in doing so we will ensure that America is prepared to tackle the evolving terrorism threat well into the future.
Before I close, I will make one final point that broadens the frame.
In heeding these lessons learned from twenty-three years in the fight against terrorism since 9/11, we have positioned ourselves to tackle new transnational challenges with the same commitment to information sharing; operational disruption; and international partnerships.
There is no challenge more urgent in the Homeland than countering illicit fentanyl that is driving overdose deaths like a weapon of mass destruction.
In July, President Biden issued a National Security Memorandum that declared fentanyl-related deaths a national security threat.
In practice, this transforms how our government will approach the synthetic opioid epidemic for years to come, breaking down silos between law enforcement and intelligence that were a hallmark of post-9/11 reforms.
We are drawing lessons learned from detecting and disrupting terrorists by pursuing a network-driven approach.
The policy also prioritizes collaboration with the private sector, including express cargo shippers and social media platforms, to stop fentanyl before it gets to our border, just as we have collaborated with the private sector to share information about harmful terrorist content online.
This builds domestically on what the Administration has done globally to elevate this issue on the world stage, using trusted partnerships to deliver life-saving disruption of the fentanyl supply chain.
In the coming weeks, the President will convene a summit of the Global Coalition to Counter Synthetic Drug Threats—just as the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS launched under President Obama’s leadership in 2014.
We know from these experiences that we are stronger and more capable when we come together in acknowledgment of a grave threat, unite the tools and resources across our vast Government, and join forces with partners overseas to tackle it.
Those of you with decades of expertise in countering terrorism and political violence—who have dedicated your lives to public service and to fighting hate wherever it exists—are essential to our success. Thank you for what you do, and thank you to the Soufan Center for the opportunity to speak to you today.
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