Terrorism & Homeland Security

by Todd BensmanSpecial to IPT NewsApril 20, 2021 When Defense Department Arabic linguist Mariam Taha Thompson's love affair abruptly ended with her arrest last year, her own hurt feelings paled in comparison to other damage it wrought. The Rochester, Minn. widow's romance placed the lives of real American soldiers and intelligence informants in harm's way, disrupted U.S. military operations, … [Read more...] about Minnesota Military Linguist Ensnared in Honeypot “Abandoned Her Country” for Hizballah

A broader public understanding of just how often terrorist suspects like these Yemenis cross has become especially pertinent as the government's border management systems teeter under historic, sharply escalating numbers of largely Spanish-speaking peoples making illegal entry. So what can be truthfully said of this contentious threat issue? By Todd Bensman, special to the Investigative Project … [Read more...] about CBP Removes Press Release About Migrants on the U.S. Terror Watch List Who Crossed the Southern Border

CIA, DIA, FBI, satellites, military play major parts in US-based globe-spanning network A border security effort that is barely known to the American public, policy-makers and elected leaders: For more than 15 years, agencies of the U.S. intelligence community have been deeply involved in securing the southern border from terrorist infiltration. By Todd Bensman as originally published … [Read more...] about Spooks on the Rio: US Spy Agencies’ Little Known Homeland Security Role

By Todd Bensman as originally published March 16, 2021 by the Investigative Project on Terrorism More than six weeks have elapsed since a major American journalism scandal broke with the federal arrest of U.S. newspaper editorialist and frequent cable news commentator Kaveh Afrasiabi, who long sold himself as a neutral expert on Iran. The initial Department of Justice media … [Read more...] about The Afrasiabi Affair: Media Outlets Silent About Publishing Alleged Covert Iranian Agent

What differentiates some migrants from Mexicans and Central Americans – especially when they hail from a shifting 35-55 U.S. list of designated nations of national security interest like Iran, Syria, Afghanistan, Sudan, Somalia and Pakistan – is that American officials see a heightened national security risk in that they hail from areas where terrorist organizations actively recruit and … [Read more...] about Homeland Security Today PERSPECTIVE: ‘Extra-Continental’ Migrants Throughout Americas on Their Way Toward Southern Border

'It's the sort you'd get at a water park.' "What this means is that the cartels and the smuggling organizations have created a process because they are being so overrun with people that, even for them, it's difficult to keep up with who has paid and who hasn't. It goes to show the sheer challenge that even they are facing in trying to ensure that people don't overwhelm them." By Todd … [Read more...] about Overwhelmed Mexican Alien-Smuggling Cartels Use Wristband System to Bring Order to Business

Watch the February 25 panel here … [Read more...] about Texas Public Policy Foundation Panel: Border War, How a More Porous Border Will Endanger Americans