How many more terrorist bullets must we dodge before we finally come to our senses and deploy every possible legal tool against our jihadist enemies? Two news stories from earlier this month got somewhat lost in the turmoil surrounding the presidential election and the excitement of the Olympics, but together they tell us both about the bullet we just dodged and about the ones we can expect to face if Congress doesn’t act more aggressively in defense of the American people. In one story, the FBI announced the arrest of Nicholas Young of Virginia for trying to provide material aid to ISIS. In the other, the New York Times laid out the activities of the so-called “Emni,” a branch of ISIS that oversees its program to plant jihadists in western Europe and the United States.

Young’s history is sobering. A Metro cop since 2003, he was a convert to Islam who ventured twice to Libya to fight with the so-called rebels against Muammar Qaddafi — the same rebels who were later revealed as radical Islamic terrorists affiliated with ISIS. He stockpiled weapons and traveled with military equipment (which we apparently know because his baggage was searched) and had subsequent contact with terrorist sympathizers in the United States, as well as FBI agents posing as terrorist sympathizers. In addition, our allies clearly saw him as a threat — the Egyptian authorities actually prevented him from entering Libya on one trip, although he subsequently gained access through Tunisia. Still, for the six years the FBI had him under surveillance, there does not seem to have been an effort to restrict his movements or raise concerns about his work as a Metro cop, despite the havoc he could have wrecked given his position and jihadist training. The consensus seems to have been that he was kooky but not really serious about committing a terrorist act. Only when he was caught red-handed trying to provide untraceable communications cards to ISIS was he finally arrested for providing material support to a known terrorist group.

While we can all breathe a sigh of relief that this human time bomb is no longer a threat to the innocent commuters of our nation’s capital, the New York Times article should eliminate any sense of false security. Nicholas Young was not just crazy and he was not a lone wolf — he was the forerunner of a gathering pack, a “global network of killers,” that ISIS is mobilizing to attack America and our allies abroad. He is also flesh-and-blood evidence that United States citizens are traveling overseas, contacting terrorist groups, and returning here to plot against us.

For the past three years, our attention has been riveted by the horrific acts of violence carried out by ISIS in its claimed caliphate. Critics of the Obama administration’s ISIS policy have frequently pointed out the anemic pace and intensity of the air strikes against ISIS, and have urged a more rigorous, concerted campaign to actually destroy them. While there have been some recent advances, reports about the activities of a secretive branch of ISIS called “Emni” suggest that even the dissolution of the caliphate will not end the ISIS threat. Indeed, ISIS is already planning for the next phase of this long war, which will shift to their agents in the West — some infiltrating the waves of refugees pouring out of the Middle East, some radicalized online, and some our own citizens who have gone abroad to train with terrorist groups.

There are many red flags around the Young case that need to be addressed. If the Obama Administration continues to refuse to recognize the threat that he represents, hopefully Congress will start to take action on legislation to address the influx of refugees from the Middle East and the ability of the State Department to make joining with a terrorist group overseas grounds for denying re-entry into the United States. In light of the terrorist threat we face, these steps are only the most basic common sense and should enjoy bi-partisan support.

In the case of Nicholas Young, our law enforcement officers were able to keep track of him until he tipped his hand about his intentions. We got lucky in this case, but ISIS has taken note of our vulnerability. The threat is growing, not receding and we might not be so lucky the next time. (For more from the author of “We Dodged One ISIS Bullet. But Will America Be as Lucky Next Time?” please click HERE)

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For over two decades, the radical Islamic cleric Anjem Choudary has been preaching hate to British Muslims and encouraging acts of extremism. He also was made several contentious appearances on Fox News’ Hannity program.

Now a London jury has found Choudary guilty of supporting the terrorist group ISIS.

The maximum prison term he faces under the United Kingdom’s Terrorism Act is 10 years. Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 6.

The 49-year-old Choudary had made a series of YouTube videos in which he actively promoted ISIS and encouraged Muslims to join the cause.

In 2014, he pledged allegiance to Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Choudary and his associate, Mohammad Mizanur Rahman, were found guilty of motivating others to support the terrorist group between June 29, 2014, and March 6, 2015, in violation of Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000.

Many people connected to Choudary were later convicted of terror offenses, including Michael Adebowale, who killed British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013.

Dean Haydon, who heads the London Metropolitan Police Service’s counterterrorism unit, considers the conviction a significant victory.

“These men have stayed just within the law for many years, but there is no one within the counterterrorism world that has any doubts of the influence that they have had, the hate they have spread and the people that they have encouraged to join terrorist organizations,” Haydon said.

“Over and over again we have seen people on trial for the most serious offenses who have attended lectures or speeches given by these men,” he continued. “The oath of allegiance was a turning point for the police — at last we had the evidence that they had stepped over the line and we could prove they supported ISIS.”

The radical cleric has been on record saying: ‘We initiate the jihad against the kuffar [disbelievers] to make the name of Allah in the highest. He never considered defending yourself part of jihad. He said you need to send in the army. … It is about time we resumed conquering for the sake of Allah.”

Choudary also encouraged his followers to tell their children that Islam would eventually conquer the world.

“Next time when your child is at school and the teacher asks, ‘What is your ambition?’ they should say, ‘To dominate the whole world by Islam, including Britain, that is my ambition,’” he said. (For more from the author of “Radical Muslim Cleric Found Guilty of Supporting ISIS” please click HERE)

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By Philip Obaji Jr. The so-called Islamic State has different strategies in different parts of the world, but in Africa and in Europe, certainly, its core objective is becoming clear: to kill Christians. Its long-term goal: to provoke a new Crusade, reviving the holy wars of many hundreds of years ago in the belief that this time around Islam will win.

In practical terms, this focus on a single pervasive, easily targeted enemy is useful to a “caliphate” under pressure that is trying to keep its troops in line.

The way ISIS has handled its Nigerian disciples in the terror organization called Boko Haram, best known for kidnapping girls and using women and children as suicide bombers, is a perfect case in point.

Earlier this month, a man named Abu Musab al-Barnawi announced that he had taken over the infamous Boko Haram organization. And his first message as Boko Haram’s leader was as clear as it was concise—on his watch, the group’s main focus will be killing Christians.

According to an interview published this month by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (ISIS), al-Barnawi threatened to bomb churches and kill Christians, but will no longer attack places used by Muslims. (Read more from “ISIS Orders Its Franchises to Kill Christians” HERE)

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Nigeria Chibok Girls: Boko Haram Video Shows Captives

By BBC. The Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram has released a video showing some of the schoolgirls they abducted from the northern town of Chibok.

Some 50 girls are shown with a gunman who demands the release of fighters in return for the girls, and says some girls died in air strikes.

The government says it is in touch with the militants behind the video.

A journalist who had contact with Boko Haram has been declared a wanted man by the Nigerian army.

The group is said to be holding more than 200 of the 276 final-year girls it seized from a school in April 2014. (Read more from “Nigeria Chibok Girls: Boko Haram Video Shows Captives” HERE)

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