Obama DHS Secretary Says it Isn’t the Government’s Job to ‘Counter the Terrorists’ Message

by Warner Todd Huston | May 11, 2015 12:11 pm

Obama’s newly appointed Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, said that it really isn’t his job to counter the terrorist’s message.

Johnson appeared on ABC’s This Week on Sunday to discuss the growing threat[1] of ISIS and other terror groups on social media.

The “effective use of social media” by Islamic extremists poses new and serious threats to the U.S. homeland, but “it’s important to remember that a lot of the counter-narrative needs to come from within the community,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday.

“And so, when I meet with community leaders, I am asking them, what are we doing to counter this narrative? It is slick. It is effective,” Johnson said, referring to the terrorists’ Internet recruitment.

“But we need to get the message out, and that’s not necessarily a government objective, a government mission. It has to come from within the community. It has to come from Islamic leaders, who, frankly can talk the language better than the federal government can.

Johnson said since the 9/11 attacks, the federal government has “come a long way” in its ability to work with state and local law enforcement. “Just on my watch in the last 16 months, we’ve had to ramp up our communications with state and local law enforcement because of the manner in which the global terrorist threat is evolving. And the FBI and my department work every day together to get information out to law enforcement on the local level.”

Johnson noted that in the new threat environment, “the so-called lone wolf could strike at any moment. Which is why the FBI, in my judgment, has done an excellent job of interdicting those who are attempting to travel to Syria, who commit overt acts in furtherance of material support to terrorism. It is a new environment, but we are not discouraging Americans from doing the things they do on a daily basis.”

Johnson said the American public should be “vigilant” and “aware,” yet not hesitate to attend public events.

One is tempted to say that the reason Johnson thinks it isn’t the government’s job to counter the terrorists is because his boss sides with them.

Endnotes:
  1. discuss the growing threat: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/susan-jones/dhs-secretary-counter-terror-narrative-not-necessarily-government-objective

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