Counterterrorism and the Costs of a Free Society

Posted: September 15th, 2017

By Carol Rollie Flynn

Carol Rollie Flynn is the President-Elect of the Foreign Policy Research Institute and a 30-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency where she held senior executive positions including Director of the CIA’s Leadership Academy, Associate Deputy Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, Executive Director of the CIA Counterterrorism Center, Chief of Station in major posts in Southeast Asia and Latin America, and a Clandestine Operations Officer in Africa and Southeast Asia. Ms. Flynn is also an adjunct Professor at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service/Security Studies Program and a member of the Advisory Board of the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC.

This morning’s detonation of an improvised explosive device onboard the London Tube has once again pushed the issue of online terrorist recruitment to the forefront of public debate. With manuals on how to build homemade explosives and radicalization sermons and videos readily available online, preventing individuals from gaining access to such material is extremely challenging for law enforcement and intelligence officials in Europe and the U.S. The Cipher Brief’s Bennett Seftel spoke with Carol Rollie Flynn, Cipher Brief expert and former Associate Deputy Director of the National Counterterrorism Center about today’s attack as well as how law enforcement and intelligence officials can more effectively combat terrorist recruitment on the Internet.

The Cipher Brief: An improvised device exploded on a London underground train, setting off a fire. There are wires coming from the device and there are reports there was a timing device found. What does that tell you about this attack?

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