New U.S. Strategy for Counterterrorism

On October 4, President Donald Trump announced a new counterterrorism strategy. “It outlines the approach of the United States to countering the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threats and represents the Nation’s first fully articulated counterterrorism strategy since 2011,” he said. "Radical Islamist terrorists remain the primary transnational terrorist threat to the United States and its vital national interests," according to the strategy. It includes guidance for dealing with global terrorist networks, organizations with state backing, and homegrown threats. “Today’s terrorist threats are more complex, fluid, and fast-moving than ever,” warned Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in a statement on the new strategy. The following are statements by President Trump and Secretary Pompeo with excerpts from the strategy.

President Donald Trump

As your President, I am committed to protecting the United States and its interests abroad from the threat of terrorism.  The National Strategy for Counterterrorism that I approved today will help protect our great Nation, enhance our national security, and guide our continued effort to defeat terrorists and terrorist organizations that threaten the United States.

Under my leadership, the United States has accelerated efforts to defeat terrorists.  Working with coalition partners, we have decimated ISIS in Syria and Iraq.  Likewise, I ended United States participation in the horrible Iran deal, which had provided a windfall for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, funding Iran’s malign activities throughout the world.  Importantly, I have also secured historic increases in defense funding to rebuild our Nation’s military.

The National Strategy for Counterterrorism is an important next step.  It outlines the approach of the United States to countering the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threats and represents the Nation’s first fully articulated counterterrorism strategy since 2011.  It provides the strategic guidance needed to protect the United States against all terrorist threats, while simultaneously fostering the agility to anticipate, prevent, and respond to new threats. 

Guided by the National Strategy for Counterterrorism, we will use all instruments of American power to protect our great Nation, and we will defeat our enemies with the full force of American might. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

Today’s terrorist threats are more complex, fluid, and fast-moving than ever.  Terrorist groups and networks such as al-Qa`ida, ISIS, and Iranian-supported terrorists continue to target us, our allies, and partners.  We must combat these threats through a comprehensive and coordinated approach.  Earlier today, President Trump announced a new National Strategy for Counterterrorism that brings to bear all facets of American power to protect our people and interests.  The President’s strategy emphasizes the importance of diplomacy and the role of international partnerships in combating the terrorist threats we face.  The strategy recognizes the need for all nations to equitably share the burden of confronting terrorism, to expand the counterterrorism capabilities of our partners, and to work collaboratively to defeat the terrorists of today and tomorrow.  As such, the State Department, in close coordination with other federal agencies, will continue to work with our allies and partners to implement the policies and tools necessary to eliminate our terrorist enemies and their networks of support. 

National Strategy for Counterterrorism of the United States of America

Executive Summary We Remain a Nation at War

Today's terrorist landscape is more fluid and complex than ever. For this reason, counterterrorism remains a top priority for this Administration. Our principal terrorist enemies are radical Islamist terrorist groups that seek to conduct attacks globally, violate our borders, and radicalize and recruit potential extremists within the United States and abroad. We continue to face threats from Iran, the most prominent state sponsor of terrorism, through its global network of operatives and its ongoing support to an array of terrorist groups. Terrorists motivated by other forms of extremism also use violence to threaten the homeland and challenge United States interests. These terrorist threats are different in many ways, but they all seek to use violence to undermine the United States and disrupt the American way of life.

Since September 11, 2001, we have learned that winning the war on terrorism requires our country to aggressively pursue terrorists. We have also learned, however, that we must do more than merely kill or capture terrorists. We must dismantle terrorists' networks and sever the sources of strength and support that sustain them, that allow them to regenerate, and that permit them to adapt. To securea lasting victory, we must also maintain sufficient pressure on terrorist organizations to prevent them from reemerging.

 • This strategy uses all available instruments of United States power to counter terrorism. We will defeat our enemies with the full force of America’s strengths.

• This strategy will protect the United States against all terrorists that threaten our country. We will not focus on a single organization but will counter all terrorists with the ability and the intent to harm the United States, our citizens, and our interests abroad.

• This strategy places America First and emphasizes protection of the homeland—building strong borders, strengthening security at all ports of entry into the United States, protecting its critical infrastructure, and facilitating preparedness.

• This strategy recognizes, however, that America First does not mean America alone. We will broaden our range of partners to combat radical Islamist terrorism, Iran-sponsored terrorism, and other forms of violent extremism; encourage capable partners to play a larger role in counterterrorism efforts; and assist other partners so that they can eventually address terrorist threats independently.

This Administration has already taken significant steps to address the terrorist threat. Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the United States has accelerated efforts to defeat those terrorists who pose a threat to the United States. For instance, working with coalition partners, we have liberated nearly all of the territory once controlled by the self-declared Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria. While we have made much progress, additional challenges remain. We must continually work to stay ahead of an adaptive enemy. This means that we must undertake additional efforts to prevent terrorists from acquiring or using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and other advanced attack capabilities. We must prevent terrorists from exploiting new technologies in today’s dynamic information environment, and we must counter terrorists’ ability to recruit and radicalize online and through other means.

Likewise, experience has taught us that preparedness and prevention must be integral parts of our counterterrorism strategy. We must protect the homeland against the terrorist threat by building strong borders, securing United States infrastructure, and enhancing the preparedness of the American people.

Experience has also highlighted the importance of strong partnerships in sustaining our counterterrorism efforts. Whenever possible, the United States must develop more efficient approaches to achieve our security objectives, relying on our allies to degrade and maintain persistent pressure against terrorists.

This means collaborating so that foreign governments take the lead wherever possible, and working with others so that they can assume responsibility in the fight against terrorists. Domestically, we must empower our frontline defenders—our state and local law enforcement professionals—as well as many other government, civil society, and private sector partners to prevent and counter terrorism in the United States.

Building on the National Security Strategy and the Administration's progress to date, the National Strategy for Counterterrorism outlines how the United States will combat terrorism at home and abroad and keep America safe. Acting in accordance with this strategy, we will defeat our enemies, just as we have defeated the purveyors of oppression, fascism, and totalitarianism in previous wars. We will always remember September 11, 2001, and the sacrifices made by so many brave patriots in defense of our country against the evil scourge of terrorism. With that same spirit of service and self-sacrifice, we will safeguard the homeland, protect our way of life, and eliminate our enemy’s ability to threaten our country. We are a nation at war—and it is a war that the United States will win.

National Strategy for Counterterrorism at a Glance

The strategic objectives are critical to reaching the desired end states, and the lines of effort are the means for achieving them.

The Terrorist Adversary

Radical Islamist terrorists remain the primary transnational terrorist threat to the United States and its vital national interests. Prominent terrorist organizations, particularly ISIS and al- Qa'ida, have repeate dly demonstrated the intent and capability to attack the homeland and United States interests and continue to plot new attacks and inspire susceptible people to commit acts of violence inside the United States.1 These groups stoke and exploit weak governance, conflict, instability, and longstanding political and religious grievances to pursue their goal of eliminating Western influence in majority Muslim countries and remaking Islamic society.

Radical Islamist terrorist groups have developed and used methods that have challenged United States counterterrorism efforts, including establishing state-like governing institutions within their safe havens, deploying sophisticated explosive devices to defeat aviation security measures, and using high-quality media products to recruit extremists in the West. Future radical Islamist terrorists and other terrorists will continually adapt these and other tactics to their circumstances and the technological advances of the age. It is, therefore, critical that the United States counterterrorism posture be agile enough to adapt as well.

Radical Islamist terrorists have a violent extremist ideolog y that serves to create a common identity and sense of purpose for those susceptible to its core message. This vile ideology is used to indoctrinate new recruits to accept terrorist groups' goals and directives without question, and also allows these groups to maintain cohesion, ensure conformity, and justify the use of violence to meet the ideology's goals. It avails terrorists of a worldview that helps unify their efforts by fomenting conflict and attempts to legitimize terrorism by elevating the social status of group members and absolving individuals from culpability for their participation in violence. Because of this, we must ensure that our efforts will undermine the appeal of this ideology of hate. Its resilience, power, and appeal make it a grave danger to not just our own nation’s security but also that of our allies across the globe. Without the appeal of this ideology, radical Islamist terrorism has no foundation.

ISIS remains the foremost radical Islamist terrorist group and the primar y transnational terrorist threat to the United States, despite ongoing United States and coalition civilian and military efforts that have diminished the group's footprint in Iraq and Syria, killed thousands of its members, and curtailed its global expansion. ISIS retains the financial and material resources and expertise to launch external attacks—including against United States interests—and its senior leaders continue to call for attacks against the United States. The group's global reach remains robust, with eight official branches and more than two dozen networks regularly conducting terrorist and insurgent operations across Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Despite many setbacks, ISIS maintains a sophisticated and durable media and online presence that allows it to encourage and enable sympathizers worldwide to conduct dozens of attacks within target countries, including the United States. The increase in attacks by persons mobilized to violence in the United States underscores the ability of ISIS to inspire terrorist attacks.

ISIS has been innovative and determined in its pursuit of attacks in the West. The group has exploited weaknesses in European border security to great effect by capitalizing on the migrant crisis to seed attack operatives into the region. For instance, two of the perpetrators of the 2015 ISIS attacks in Paris, France, infiltrated the country by posing as migrants. Further, ISIS is continuing its efforts to circumvent European efforts to shore up border security by identifying new routes. Europe's struggle to screen the people crossing its borders highlights the importance of ensuring strong United States borders so that terrorists cannot enter the United States.

In addition, the savagery of ISIS has caused a massive movement of millions of innocent refugees. Our battlefield successes, meanwhile, have given way to the flight of thousands of terrorists seeking to evade justice. As defeated fighters and their families disperse, the United States and our partners must remain vigilant to ensure that terrorists cannot evade our security measures to threaten our people and way of life.

Meanwhile, al-Qa'ida's global network remains resilient and poses an enduring threat to the homeland and United States interests around the world. Consistent United States-led counterterrorism pressure has removed many of its senior leaders and reduced the group’s ability to operate in South Asia, but its affiliates continue to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against the United States and our allies, as well as raise funds from individual supporters through the international financial system. Affiliate resources are primarily focused on local and regional conflicts, but key operatives and elements within the network continue to seek out new opportunities to strike the homeland and United States interests and to inspire attacks inside the United States. Veteran al-Qa‘ida leaders are working to consolidate and expand the group’s presence in several regions, including in Syria, from which it aspires to launch new attacks against the United States and our allies.

Both ISIS and al-Qa'ida have inspired people susceptible to their malign influence to conduct terrorist attacks inside the United States. This will probably remain the most frequent form of radical Islamist terrorism in the United States for the next several years. Such attacks, motivated by a wide range of factors, will continue to be conducted primarily through the use of simple tactics against predominantly soft targets. ISIS is likely to remain the main inspiration for such attacks, particularly if the group can retain its prominence and use social and mainstream media coverage to promote its violent message.

In addition to ISIS and al-Qa'ida, dozens of other radical Islamist terrorist groups are working to advance more locally focused insurgent or terrorist campaigns, while still posing a threat to United States persons and interests overseas. These groups, including Boko Haram, Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, and Lashkar-e Tayyiba, employ a range of political and terrorist tactics to undermine local governments and conduct attacks. These organizations will probably prioritize regional goals over attacks against the homeland or United States interests because of resource constraints or political considerations. However, many of these groups are hostile to the United States, maintain networks of sympathizers around the world, and retain ties to ISIS or al-Qa'ida, underscoring their potential threat to United States interests.­

Click here for the full text.