I heard an interview with the President’s Deputy National Security Advisor, Denis McDonough, on NPR last night, about the new “Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States.” Michele Norris was great, as usual. McDonough, however, was not.
Maybe he was being “folksy” on purpose but the total failure to speak in anything other than cliches, broad brush strokes about “Al-Qaeda” this and “terrorists” that. There was no nuance, no sophistication, no granularity. I walked away from that interview thinking that the fate of America’s ability to stop homegrown mobilization rested on my football coach.
I expected a lot more from a senior policy official unveiling a major strategy on National Public Radio. But you can listen and decide for yourself.
And here’s the original CVE strategy if you want to read what McDonough was actually discussing.
