What Lies Ahead for Obama's Countering Violent Extremism Program?
A new report confirms the skepticism of civil libertarians. But if the initiative is discontinued, will its replacement be any better?
by Emma Green
Mar 17, 2017
3 minutes
For the last six years, the U.S government has pushed resources toward a set of programs called Countering Violent Extremism, or CVE: grants to community organizations, U.S. attorneys’ offices, and police departments designed to derail people “at risk” of engaging in terrorism. Civil-liberties groups have long argued that CVE is based on false premises: Ideology is not a clear predictor of terrorism, they say, and there is no “pathway” to committing violence. Muslim groups have also worried that the program is a means of surveilling and arresting members of their communities, despite the Obama administration’s assurances otherwise.
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