White House Takes Aim at 'Homegrown' Terrorism
Thursday, President Obama released an implementation plan for efforts to counter "homegrown" violent extremism within the United States. The 20-page document, known as the Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) , is a follow up to the National Strategy on Empowering Local Partners to Prevent Violent Extremism in the United States , which was released by the White House in August 2011.
The SIP is the blueprint for how our nation will implement the Domestic Strategy on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE), the first U.S. Government strategy to address violent extremism in the Homeland.
The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) approach to CVE emphasizes the strength of local communities. It starts with the premise that well-informed and -equipped families, communities, and local institutions represent the best defense against terrorist ideologies. It commits the government to expand its efforts to raise public awareness about radicalization and lists current and future actions the government will take in support of a locally-focused, community-based approach to include:
- Enhancing engagement with and support to local communities
- Building government and law enforcement expertise
- Countering violent extremist propaganda while promoting our ideals.
A task force of senior officials from a wide range of departments has been established to ensure the federal government engages closely with local communities. For additional information on the DHS approach to CVE, see DHS CVE Fact Sheet .