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Inheriting Chaos: ISIS and the next president

The war against the world’s most dangerous terrorist organization will go on long after President Obama leaves office. In a weeklong series of articles and interviews, Washington Times correspondents Guy Taylor, Carlos Muñoz and Rowan Scarborough report from the front lines of the military, counterterrorism and policy fights that will determine the fate of the struggle against the Islamic State.

Tunisian police are on constant alert for terrorism because of the number of young people who are lured in by the Islamic State and return to carry out jihad. Analysts say part of the problem is the economy, combined with a religious vacuum and sense of despair. (Associated Press)

Tunisia emerges as ISIS's No. 1 source for foreign fighters

By Guy Taylor - The Washington Times

It's considered the star performer of the ill-fated Arab Spring, the one country in the region where representative democracy has made major strides. But even here, the fight against radical Islamic violence requires an unceasing vigil. Published September 14, 2016

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Donald Trump advocates "extreme vetting" of immigrants from predominantly Muslim nations to weed out potential terrorists, coupled with aggressive coalition military operations in the Middle East. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump vows to ramp up aggression in ISIS fight, 'bomb the s---' out of extremists

- The Washington Times

The Islamic State, belittled by President Obama just two years ago as a "JV" terrorist group, will dominate the attention of newly elected President Hillary Clinton or President Donald Trump as they face the challenge of taking on the extremists abroad and while preventing another Orlando-style attack that could shake public confidence in the next administration just as it's leaving the starting gate.

"It is essential to cut the financial links between ISIS leadership and operations in the so-called 'caliphate,'" said Juan Zarate, who was a national security adviser for President George W. Bush. (Associated Press)

Islamic State financing needs a crackdown, U.S. expert says

- The Washington Times

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The Obama administration has dented the Islamic State's money-making operations with airstrikes against the terror group's oil-smuggling empire and blacklisting its known financial facilitators from the international banking system.

Retired Gen. John R. Allen (Associated Press/File)

John Allen sees ISIS war lasting decades

- The Washington Times

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: U.S. leaders must be prepared to fight extremism and radical jihad emanating from the Middle East for "decades," says a retired Marine Corps four-star general who has spent the past decade on the military and diplomatic battlefields of America's war on terrorism.

"This is something that's new in this war, not something you would've seen back in the Gulf War, but it's an important new capability, and it is an important use of our Cyber Command and the reason that Cyber Command was established in the first place," Defense Secretary Ashton Carter told reporters about fighting the Islamic State. (Associated Press)

Obama launches first cyberwar against ISIS, cuts recruiting by 75 percent

- The Washington Times

The Obama administration has launched the first cyberwar against the Islamic State, a war that, coupled with real, not virtual, fighting, is producing one of the most encouraging on-the-ground successes in the conflict -- sharply cutting into the number of foreign fighters sneaking into Syria to join the group's terrorist army and its so-called Islamic caliphate.

Lahouaiej-Bouhlel drove a truck through a Bastille Day crowd, killing 86. Authorities say he had traded text messages with Islamic State followers during the planning. (Associated Press)

Islamic State propaganda machine exposed by MEMRI

- The Washington Times

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) has carved out a reputation as the premier tracker and exposer of jihadi social media regularly released by various Islamic State media companies. What MEMRI finds is a constant daily drumbeat of Islamic State propaganda.

Rep. Michael T. McCaul of the House Committee on Homeland Security said President Obama's policies have failed to dent the Islamic State. (Associated Press) ** FILE **

Michael McCaul blasts 'willfully blind' Obama for enabling ISIS 'terror surge'

- The Washington Times

NEWSMAKER INTERVIEW: The Obama administration oversaw the 2011 takedown of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden but has since failed to confront honestly the more dangerous rise of the Islamic State, according to the Republican head of the House Committee on Homeland Security, who worries that the president's "tone-deaf" posture toward Islamist terrorism has damaged the intelligence community's own assessment of the new group.