America's Underrecognized Ally in the Fight Against Terrorism: Geography by Philip Bump – Washington Post

When a bomb exploded on a London subway train Friday morning, President Trump was quick to put the incident to his own political use.

“Another attack in London by a loser terrorist,” he said on Twitter.  He continued: “Must be proactive! The travel ban into the United States should be far larger, tougher and more specific — but stupidly, that would not be politically correct!”

Trump’s assertion, mirroring similar ones in the past, was that the attack demonstrated the need to curtail new immigrants to the United States. Never mind that, when Trump tweeted, it wasn’t clear who’d planted the bomb (a missing bit of information that British authorities pointedly noted in response to Trump). Never mind, too, that recent attacks in the United States by individuals inspired by radical ideology were committed by American citizens.

And never mind that there’s a significant and often unmentioned protection the United States enjoys that Europe doesn’t: the Atlantic Ocean.

Dan Byman is a professor at Georgetown University and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who served as a staff member on the 9/11 Commission. He spoke by phone with The Washington Post to explain how the geography of the United States offers us a distinct advantage.

That advantage isn’t only about the relative difficulty of getting to the United States from the Middle East as compared with getting to continental Europe, but that’s a lot of it.

“Europe has all of these land entry points,” Byman said. “And especially when you’re taking about the Islamic State — notionally, you could drive from Syria to Paris. You wouldn’t drive, technically; you’d cross borders, take buses and all that, but even so, it’s just harder to secure.”

To get to the United States is much harder…

Read on.

In Libya, Islamic State Seeks Revival in Gateway to Europe by Hassan Morajea and Benoit Faucon – Wall Street Journal

A year after losing its main Libyan stronghold, Islamic State has formed a number of clandestine cells around the chaotic North African country as the militants seek to regroup on Europe’s doorstep.

The small cells, some comprised of up to several dozen fighters, have set up new bases outside Libyan towns in the past several months and started making money by hijacking commercial trucks and extorting migrant smuggling rings, according to Libyan and European security officials.

Islamic State has also told fighters to go to Libya from Syria, where a U.S.-led coalition is pushing the terror group from its de facto capital of Raqqa, according to a defector and security officials.

“They consider Libya to be the main entrance to Europe,” said Abu Baara al-Ansari, a Syrian who defected from Islamic State in June. Mr. al-Ansari said he worked in Raqqa for Islamic State in the office that tracked visitors to the group’s territory. He is now in Turkey, and was interviewed via the Telegram messaging system…

Read on.