‘Largely slop’: Trump’s new counterterrorism strategy is scant on substance but heavy on enemies

When Donald Trump ’s counter-terrorism “czar”, Sebastian Gorka, introduced the Trump administration ’s long-awaited counter-terrorism strategy on a call with journalists on Wednesday, he also reportedly described critics of the administration’s war in Iran as “ testicularly challenged ”. The at-times bizarre 16-page memo Gorka authored is only slightly more subtle – taking rhetorically charged swings at the president’s enemies, the Biden administration, transgender people and some Islamist groups, while offering little clarity about the threat posed by political violence domestically or abroad or any specific plans to address it. “President Trump has affected a complete revision of how we defeat threats to America predicated on national sovereignty and civilizational confidence and the objective of destroying the groups who would kill Americans or hurt our interests as a free nation,” the document claims. “This applies to cartels, Jihadists, left-wing violent extremists, state actors and state sponsors, or any future terror threat.” Political and security analysts slammed the memo as “ largely slop ”, “ utterly unhinged ” and an “ exercise in gaslighting, partisanship and obsequiousness ”. “It’s the opposite of ‘speak softly and carry a big stick’. It’s more like ‘yell loudly to conceal your small stick’,” Colin Clarke, director of the Soufan Center, a security thinktank, wrote in a series of blistering posts about the document. …