Focus on ‘Islamic extremism’

Washington, San Francisco: The Trump administration wants to revamp and rename a US government programme designed to counter all violent ideologies so that it focuses solely on Islamist extremism, five people briefed on the matter told Reuters.

The programme, “Countering Violent Extremism,” or CVE, would be changed to “Countering Islamic Extremism” or “Countering Radical Islamic Extremism,” the sources said, and would no longer target groups such as white supremacists who have also carried out bombings and shootings in the US. Such a change would reflect Mr Trump’s election campaign rhetoric and criticism of former President Barack Obama for being weak in the fight against Islamic State and for refusing to use the phrase “radical Islam” in describing it. The terrorist group has claimed responsibility for attacks on civilians in several countries.

The CVE programme aims to deter groups or potential lone attackers through community partnerships and educational programmes or counter-messaging campaigns in cooperation with companies such as Google and Facebook. Some proponents of the programme fear that rebranding it could make it more difficult for the government to work with Muslims already hesitant to trust the new administration, particularly after Mr Trump issued an executive order on last Friday temporarily blocking travel to the United States from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

Still, the CVE programme, which focuses on US residents and is separate from a military effort to fight extremism online, has been criticised even by some supporters as ineffective. A source, who has worked closely with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on the programme said the Trump transition team members first met with a CVE task force in December and floated the idea of changing the name and focus.

In a meeting on last Thursday attended by senior staff for DHS secretary John Kelly, government employees were asked to defend why they chose certain community organisations as recipients of CVE programme grants, said the source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.

Although CVE funding has been appropriated by Congress and the grant recipients were notified in the final days of the Obama administration, the money still may not go out the door, the source said, adding that Mr Kelly is reviewing the matter. The department declined comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.