OBJECTIVE ·· RELEVANT ·· RIGOROUS || JUNE/JULYAPRIL/MAY 2018 2021 · ·VOLUME VOLUME 11, 14, ISSUE ISSUE 6 4 A VIEWFEATURE FROM THE ARTICLE CT FOXHOLE A VIEWFEATURE FROM THE ARTICLE CT FOXHOLE TenThe Years Jihadi On: Threat Inside T h e J a n u a r y 6 LTC(R)Boost Bryan to Price theto Bin Indonesia Ladin Raid Accelerationism A Conversation with Admiral (Retired) Brian Former Hughes Director, and William H. McRavenKirsten and E. Schulze Nicholas Rasmussen CombatingCynthia Terrorism miller-idriss Center INTERVIEW Editor in Chief 1 A View from the CT Foxhole: Admiral (Retired) William H. McRaven, Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, and Nicholas Paul Cruickshank Rasmussen, Former National Counterterrorism Center Director, Reflect on the Usama bin Ladin Raid Managing Editor Audrey Alexander Kristina Hummel FEATURE ARTICLE EDITORIAL BOARD 12 Uniting for Total Collapse: The January 6 Boost to Accelerationism Colonel Suzanne Nielsen, Ph.D. Brian Hughes and Cynthia Miller-Idriss Department Head Dept. of Social Sciences (West Point) ANALYSIS Lieutenant Colonel Sean Morrow 19 The March 2021 Palma Attack and the Evolving Jihadi Terror Threat to Director, CTC Mozambique Tim Lister Brian Dodwell 28 The Revival of the Pakistani Taliban Executive Director, CTC Abdul Sayed and Tore Hamming Don Rassler 39 A New Approach Is Necessary: The Policy Ramifications of the April 2021 Loyalist Violence in Northern Ireland Director of Strategic Initiatives, CTC Aaron Edwards CONTACT Ten years ago, the United States launched Operation Neptune Spear, the Combating Terrorism Center May 2011 raid on Usama bin Ladin’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, U.S. Military Academy which resulted in the death of al-Qa`ida’s founder. In this issue, CTC Sentinel speaks with Admiral (Retired) William McRaven and Nicholas Rasmussen to compare 607 Cullum Road, Lincoln Hall vantage points of the operation from a military and policy perspective. A decade after the raid, the West Point, NY 10996 operation continues to offer practitioners, policymakers, and researchers valuable lessons for the Phone: (845) 938-8495 future. While some of their reflections pertain to counterterrorism policies and practices, others speak to the importance of leadership at times of uncertainty, discipline, interagency collaboration, Email: [email protected] and most of all, commitment to a shared mission. According to Rasmussen what makes it “such a Web: www.ctc.usma.edu/sentinel/ compelling story at the 10-year mark is that it has such an important operational story to tell, but also … it’s a remarkable window into presidential decision-making under extraordinary conditions of uncertainty and risk.” McRaven stresses the mission was about justice for the victims of 9/11 and SUBMISSIONS other al-Qa`ida attacks: “We were honored to have the opportunity to go on the mission, but make The CTC Sentinel welcomes submissions. no mistake about it, this was about 500,000 plus soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines that took this fight to al-Qa`ida.” Contact us at [email protected]. In this month’s feature article, Brian Hughes and Cynthia Miller-Idriss assess that the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, provided a boost to far-right extremists who seek total political and social collapse, an objective sometimes referred to as “accelerationism.” They write that The views expressed in this report are “although many disagreements and personality clashes continue to emerge within and among groups those of the authors and not of the U.S. since the storming of the Capitol, there are increasing indications that the typically fractious world Military Academy, the Department of the of the extreme far-right is becoming more unified toward an objective of overthrowing the country’s Army, or any other agency of the U.S. prevailing political and social order.” Tim Lister examines the jihadi threat landscape in Mozambique in the wake of an attack by Government. Islamic State-aligned militants on the town of Palma in March 2021. He writes: “for four days, they were rampant, killing at least dozens of local people and destroying much of the town’s infrastructure, Cover: A model of Usama bin Ladin's including banks, a police station, and food aid warehouses. The attack reverberated around the world because Palma was home to hundreds of foreign workers, most of them contractors for the Total compound is pictured at the "Revealed: liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on the nearby Afungi Peninsula.” Abdul Sayed and Tore Hamming The Hunt for Bin Laden" exhibition at warn that “after reabsorbing a number of splinter groups, and addressing internal tensions,” the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) has “intensified its campaign of terrorism in Pakistan and is again growing the National 9/11 Memorial Museum on in strength.” Aaron Edwards argues a new approach toward security in Northern Ireland is necessary November 7, 2019, in New York City. (Angela in the wake of the April 2021 loyalist violence. Paul Cruickshank, Editor in Chief Weiss/AFP via Getty Images) APRIL/MAY 2021 CTC SENTINEL 1 A View from the CT Foxhole: Admiral (Retired) William H. McRaven, Former Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, and Nicholas Rasmussen, Former National Counterterrorism Center Director, Reflect on the Usama bin Ladin Raid By Audrey Alexander Editor’s note: To commemorate the 10th anniversary of Operation Admiral William H. McRaven is a retired U.S. Navy Four-Star Neptune[’s] Spear, the May 2011 raid on Usama bin Ladin’s admiral and the former Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer of compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, CTC Sentinel spoke with the University of Texas System. During his time in the military, he Admiral William McRaven (U.S. Navy Retired) and Nicholas commanded special operations forces at every level, eventually taking Rasmussen to compare vantage points of the operation from a charge of the U.S. Special Operations Command. His career included military and policy perspective. A decade after the raid, the covert combat during Desert Storm and both the Iraq and Afghanistan operation by CIA with Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) wars. He commanded the troops that captured Saddam Hussein and targeting al-Qa`ida’s leader continues to offer practitioners, rescued Captain Phillips. McRaven is also credited with developing policymakers, and researchers valuable lessons for the future. the plan and leading the Usama bin Ladin mission in 2011. While some reflections here pertain to counterterrorism policies and McRaven is a recognized national authority on U.S. foreign practices, others speak to the importance of leadership at times of policy and has advised Presidents George W. Bush, Barack uncertainty, discipline, interagency collaboration, and most of all, Obama, and other U.S. leaders on defense issues. He currently commitment to a shared mission. serves on the boards of the Council on Foreign Relations Additionally, as these recollections will highlight, the process (CFR), the National Football Foundation, the International and planning of the raid in Abbottabad was relatively paperless Crisis Group, The Mission Continues, and ConocoPhillips. due to operational security concerns, which is an important McRaven graduated from The University of Texas at Austin consideration when looking back 10 years later. In our discussion in 1977 with a degree in Journalism, and received his master’s after the interview, Admiral McRaven and Mr. Rasmussen degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey in 1991. discussed how personal accounts from this period, including their McRaven is the author of The Hero Code: Lessons Learned own, may inadvertently blur some details like the precise scope and from Lives Well Lived, SPEC OPS: Case Studies in Special sequencing of events in the months leading up to the operation. Both Operations Warfare, and two New York Times best-sellers, Make Admiral McRaven and Mr. Rasmussen have sought to reconstruct Your Bed: Little Things That Can Change Your Life and Maybe those events to the best of their recollection. the World and Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations. CTC: I’d like to ask you both to talk about where this story Nicholas Rasmussen is the inaugural Executive Director of the begins for you. At the time, then Vice Admiral McRaven served Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT). A national as JSOC (Joint Special Operations Command) Commander, security professional with more than 27 years in U.S. government whereas Mr. Rasmussen worked as Special Assistant to the service, Rasmussen held senior counterterrorism posts at the White President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism at the House and in the U.S. Intelligence Community from 2001 to 2017. National Security Council staff at the White House. We know He concluded his government career as Director of the National that the hunt for Usama bin Ladin was ongoing, but what do you Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), leading more than 1,000 see as the turning point in that search? And when did you start professionals from across the Intelligence Community, federal exploring more actionable options? government, and federal contractor workforce. Rasmussen served in senior posts across three administrations, including as Special Rasmussen: I remember exactly when I first became aware of the Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism idea of Abbottabad as a ‘maybe.’ The CIA director came over to at the National Security Council staff under Presidents Bush and brief President Obama on September 10, 2010—so several months Obama before being appointed Director of NCTC by President before the operation ultimately happened—and basically said Obama and continuing his tenure at the request of President that the Agency and the intelligence community had identified a Trump’s administration. From 1991-2001, he served in policy compound of interest in Pakistan. The briefing made it very clear positions at the Department of State, focused on the Middle East.