Andy Polk, director of LIGNET’s London office, said this week that while the United States and the U.K. cooperate in preventing home-grown terrorism, the U.K. has more experience with radical ideologies, and a more effective way of dealing with would-be terrorists.

“The British have an intervention system,” said Polk. “So when they find someone who’s vulnerable or who is radicalizing there’s actually a program that they can put them into, they can have a counselor who challenges world views.”

The counseling of aspiring terrorists is part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, called CONTEST, which was brushed up and stepped up following the 2005 subway bombings in London that killed 52 and wounded 700. This was Britain’s wake-up call, and France, following the shootings of school children last month by French Algerian Mohammed Merah, is now looking to the UK as a model to combat home-grown terrorism.

The United States is looking to Britain also, says Polk, and considering a counseling program that could steer young American Muslims away from violent action.

To read the full story and watch the interview with senior analyst Andy Polk at LIGNET.com, Go Here Now



Argentina: Oil Company Seizure May Doom Economy

Argentina seized the private oil company YPF last week from Spanish energy conglomerate Repsol in a brazen move designed to win popular approval for the government. But the seizure, which the Wall Street Journal called simply a “theft,” will hurt Argentina for years to come, scaring off foreign investment that is desperately needed to further develop the country’s oil and gas sector. So what was Argentina thinking?

To read the full analysis from top intelligence experts at LIGNET.com, Go Here Now