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Scott Stewart

Tactical Intelligence

Scott Stewart is STRATFOR’s VP of Analysis. He is a former Diplomatic Security Service Special Agent who was involved in hundreds of terrorism investigations, most notably the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the follow-on New York City bomb plot investigation, during which he served as lead investigator for the U.S. State Department. He led a team of Americans who aided the government of Argentina in investigating the 1992 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires, and was involved in investigations following a series of attacks and attempted attacks by the Iraqi intelligence service during the first Gulf War.

LATEST ARTICLES
Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez, the shooter killed by police in the Chattanooga attack, is the prototypical leaderless resistance assailant.
The pre-9/11 terrorism operational model shares many parallels with the current environment — the big difference between 1993 and today is we are now acutely aware of who the jihadists are
Islamic State spokesman Abu Muhammed al-Adnani published a message titled “Indeed Your Lord is Ever Watchful” in which he encouraged jihadists living in the West to conduct simple attacks
Such attacks are a sign of weakness rather than of strength and highlight the constraints jihadist groups face as they try to project their terrorist capability in the post-9/11 world
It is important to understand that, historically, the success al Qaeda has had in executing large attacks is not due to the professionalism of its operatives and attack planners
Domestic terrorists who can conduct spectacular, high-casualty attacks like those orchestrated by Timothy McVeigh or Anders Breivik are the exception rather than the rule
Most criminals are terrible at pre-crime surveillance, but they’re able to succeed despite their shoddy tradecraft because most people simply do not practice good situational awareness
Understanding the criminal planning cycle is important, because that understanding can then be used by potential victims and law enforcement officers to look for the various aspects of the cycle as it progresses
Efforts to detect surveillance are a critical means of spotting lone wolves during the target selection and planning stage
No matter how professional, well-equipped, and committed Vilayat Dagestan is, attacking the Olympic Games will be no easy task