To that end, the Obama administration said late last week organizing an inter-agency Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) Task Force, with the intention of preventing extremists from radicalizing and mobilizing vulnerable recruits in the United States and abroad.
The CVE Task Force is made up of numerous executive-branch agencies, led by the Department of Homeland Security and the Justice Department. Other agencies in the task force include the FBI and the National Counterterrorism Center.
“Countering violent extremism has become a homeland security imperative, and it is a mission to which I am personally committed,” Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said. “At the Department of Homeland Security, our Office of Community Partnerships – which I established last year to take the Department’s CVE efforts to the next level – has been working to build relationships and promote trust with communities across the country, and to find innovative ways to support those who seek to discourage violent extremism and undercut terrorist narratives.”
Attorney General Loretta Lynch is also hopeful that the CVE Task Force will show positive results.
“By bringing together agencies from across the executive branch, this innovative task force will allow us to more efficiently and effectively support local efforts to counter violent extremism,” Lynch said. “The Department of Justice looks forward to joining DHS in leading this new initiative, which represents an important step in our ongoing work to keep our communities safe and our country strong.”
To that end, the CVE Task Force plans to organize federal efforts to counter radicalization in several areas, with individual task areas broken down into four areas: Research and Analysis, Engagements and Technical Assistance, Communications and Interventions.
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