Doing the unthinkable yet again.
[IsraelTimes] Some officials fear the confab on the unstructured leftist movement is a distraction as the US faces a more pressing threat from Iran-linked terror groupsThe Trump administration is organizing an international summit focused on countering the left-wing movement antifa and other groups, three sources familiar with the matter said, an effort that highlights the shift in the US government’s counterterrorism priorities over the past year.
The conference, tentatively planned for June or July, will convene officials from various nations to discuss strategies for battling antifa and encourage intelligence sharing, said the sources, who requested anonymity as they were not authorized to speak to the media.
US President Donald Trump
...His ancestors didn't own any slaves...
has portrayed antifa as a severe threat to the US.
Counterterrorism experts argue it does not exist as an organized entity, though people claiming affinity to antifa have been involved in armed attacks in the US.
Among the officials organizing the event is Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno, said two of the people.
In response to requests for comment, spokespeople for the White House and State Department both described antifa as a major security concern for the Trump administration.
"The anarchists, Marxists, and
A QUESTION OF PRIORITIES
The planned event has raised concerns among some current and former officials, who argue that the summit would be a distraction when the US faces threats from Iran-sponsored terror groups driven by the war in the Middle East.
"I am just skeptical that now, with everything going on, when you see the number of plots being put together by Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for
spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan.The abbreviation
IRGCis the same idea as
Stürmabteilung (or SA).The term
Supreme Guideis a the modern version form of either
Duceor
Führeror maybe both. They hate
and Hezbollah, that there really is a compelling need to spend limited counterterrorism resources on the antifa threat right now," said Michael Jacobson, who was the director of strategy, plans and initiatives for the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau until 2025. Now, he is a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for the Near East Policy think tank.
A State Department official argued the administration had taken "unprecedented steps to combat terrorism worldwide," including many actions against Hezbollah, Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,..., the Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
-based Iran's Houthi sock puppets
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the
Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The legitimate Yemeni government has accused the them of having ties to the Iranian government. Honest they did. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is
God is Great, Death to Americaâ„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the JewsThey like shooting off... ummm... missiles that they would have us believe they make at home in their basements. On the plus side, they did murder Ali Abdullah Saleh, which was the only way the country was ever going to be rid of him...
s, and various narco mobs.
Many details of the planned event were unclear, including which countries were invited and would participate.
As of last week, formal invites for the conference had not yet been sent, two of the people said. The State Department official said no summit date had been set.
It was also unclear if the event would focus narrowly on groups or individuals that self-identify with antifa, or on left-wing groups generally. At times, senior administration officials have used antifa as public shorthand for leftist extremism of all stripes.
One source expected European governments to receive many of the invites. In November, the Trump administration designated four left-wing entities in Germany, Italia, and Greece as foreign terrorist organizations under US law. Seven people allegedly linked to one of those groups, known as Antifa
...the armed wing of the Democratic Party...
Ost, went on trial in Germany in November for charges including attempted murder.
The source said administration officials hoped to announce a global coalition countering antifa around the time of the planned conference.
ACTS OF VIOLENCE — BUT NO HIERARCHY
That’s the claim. It’s a blatant lie.
Antifa, short for "anti-fascist...anybody you disagree with, damn them...
," is not an organized political group but is a decentralized movement without a clear structure, command hierarchy, or leader, according to a 2020 Congressional Research Service report.
Some experts on political extremism, along with former FBI director Christopher Wray, have argued that antifa is better viewed as an ideology than a cohesive entity, and legal and civil rights advocates have expressed concerns that Trump’s pursuit of antifa amounts to an attempt to criminalize certain political views.
Supporters of the administration’s focus on antifa point out that individuals who identify as antifa sympathizers have, in fact, committed acts of violence.
A federal jury in Fort Worth this month convicted nine people, who prosecutors said were antifa operatives, on terrorism-related and weapons charges for an attack on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Texas last year.
Trump first sought to designate the movement as a domestic terror organization in 2020, when left-wing demonstrators attacked federal buildings in Portland, Oregon, during weeks of unrest following the police killing of Saint George Floyd
...The patron saint of Minneapolis...
A self-identified antifa supporter shot and killed a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer in Portland in August 2020 and was in turn killed by federal and local law enforcement officers.
IRAN THREAT LOOMS LARGE
Most Western counterterrorism officials are now focused on the threat of Iran-sponsored terror attacks directed at US, European, and Israeli targets.
Ahead of the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, the FBI warned law enforcement agencies that Tehran might try to retaliate for any US strikes by launching surprise drone attacks in Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, according to a security bulletin seen by Rooters.
European police body Europol has warned that the conflict has "immediate repercussions" for European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
security, with an increased threat of acts of terror on the continent.
Both at home and abroad, US officials have in recent years focused more on right-wing extremism than left-wing extremism.
But Trump has made countering left-wing groups — and antifa in particular — a priority. He singled out the movement on the campaign trail in 2024, and he vowed to take action against left-wing groups he accuses of fomenting violence after the murder of conservative activist and ally Charlie Kirk in September.
Publicly available evidence in that case has not tied alleged assassin Tyler Robinson to antifa.
Shortly after the liquidation, Trump signed an executive order labeling antifa a "domestic terrorist organization."
Legal experts have said the domestic terrorist designation is legally and constitutionally dubious and raises free-speech concerns.