Kevin Coleman is a senior fellow at SilverRhino and former chief strategist at Netscape.
The sobering reality is that we are at war with terrorists and have been since the events of September 11th, 2001. At this time, the United States recognizes about 68 terrorists groups with tens of thousands of terrorists worldwide. One figure put the terrorist count at 184,000, but many say that seems high even when you include the estimates for lone-wolf actors.
All this has led many organizations to recognize that terrorism is the number one threat we face. That being said, there is little doubt that the recent release of the Senate Intelligence report on interrogation techniques has intensified that threat and has other implications. Some implications include some of the U.S. allies expressing their objection to the practices, as well as a report that the United Nations (UN) is calling for prosecution of all those involved.
You can bet terrorist groups, particularly ISIS/ISIL, will use the contents of that report for recruiting propaganda on their web sites and in their publications – if that has not already happened. It is also guaranteed that in the event of a successful lone wolf (the hardest to protect against) act of terrorism on U.S. soil occurs ISIS/ISIL will capture the images and use that content in their online postings and activities. After all, ISIS/ISIL has clearly demonstrated their proficiency in leveraging the Internet and social media for communications, recruiting and propaganda. This continues even though the U.S. military took out the organization's electronic equipment and communications center in one of their air strikes. After all, it is not hard to find someone that speaks and writes English and someone who knows how to use social media.
Rep. Mike Rogers, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is quoted along with several others that they believe this report's release will cause violence and deaths. Now consider the fact that the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigations released a bulletin alerting law enforcement organizations nationwide to stay vigilant to the underlying threat from terrorist organizations and lone-wolf type actors. One has to wonder what the response of the U.S. public will be if a terrorist group successfully carries out an attack that results in the loss of life on the U.S. in retaliation for what was disclosed in that report? Guaranteed the terrorists will celebrate by posting their success online!
