On Monday, Dec. 11, a 27-year-old man triggered a strapped-on suicide vest inside a crowded pedestrian tunnel under New York’s Port Authority. He was allegedly upset about Christmas posters and other geopolitical issues inside the corridor he targeted. For some reason, the bomb didn’t work the way Akayed Ullah, who pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, had intended it to. It granted everyone around him and brought to the forefront again the general danger that terrorists pose, the specific dreadful nature of a suicide bomber, and the Justice Department’s urgent concern about a key tool to fight terrorists that is set to expire on Dec. 31 unless reauthorized by Congress. Department of Justice Associate Attorney General Rachel Brand joined Target USA to explain why Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is so important. Former CIA case officer Robert Baer and counterterrorism expert Fred Burton, vice president of intelligence at Stratfor, also joined us describe the evolving terrorism landscape.
