Stephen C. Coughlin is an American lawyer and former Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence analyst who was a contract employee providing advice and analysis to the Pentagon, until he was let go in 2008 under controversial circumstances, reportedly owing to his views on the nature of Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood.[1][2][3][4]

Early career

In his education, Coughlin received a B.A. in history from the University of Minnesota, and a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law.[5] A lawyer and military intelligence officer, he was a major in the United States Army Reserve, when in the late 1990s he was tasked with investigating and prosecuting an intellectual property case in Pakistan, following which he became familiar with Sharia law.[3] He was also assigned to US Central Command in Doha, Qatar, and mobilized for Operation Desert Storm in Würzburg, Germany.[5] After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he was recruited from the private sector to the Intelligence Directorate at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.[6]

Joint Chiefs of Staff analyst

According to reporter Bill Gertz, Coughlin "led the way in uncovering the truth about the U.S. government's failures to tackle the Islamic threat."[1] Coughlin completed his master's thesis in 2007 at the National Defense Intelligence College, which focused on the Islamic doctrine of jihad as formed by Islamic law, and directly conflicted with the positions of central Muslim outreach Pentagon aide Hesham Islam and others in the U.S. government.[1][7] In connection with the trial against the Islamic charity Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, which had been designated a terrorist organization for providing millions in funds to Hamas, Coughlin wrote a memorandum that explicitly criticized several groups that the U.S. Justice Department had been involved with as part of their Muslim outreach program, identifying them as front groups of the Muslim Brotherhood that were part of a subversion plan against the United States.[1] Coughlin was eventually notified after a meeting at the Pentagon's upper floor which included Islam, who controversially called Coughlin a "Christian zealot", that his contract would not be renewed after March 2008.[1]

One official claimed the decision was due to "budget cuts", but this was not believed by others, including generals and admirals who quietly rallied to support Coughlin.[8] The decision to not renew his contract proved controversial, and Lt. Col. Joseph C. Myers, Army Advisor to the Air Command and Staff College denounced it as "an act of intellectual cowardice,"[2] and stated that the Joint Staff was "losing its only Islamic law scholar if the firing stands."[8] Moreover, Coughlin was praised by retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney as "the most knowledgeable person in the U.S. government on Islamic law," while Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Samuel Helland said that Coughlin "hit the mark in explaining how jihadists use the Koran to justify their actions."[8]

Later activities

Coughlin worked as Director of Strategic Communications for Jorge Scientific Corporation after his termination.[5] He was also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute,[6] and lectured at Fort Leavenworth and to the FBI.[9] He has attended Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) events for the International Civil Liberties Alliance, and participated in the 2013 counter-jihad conference in Warsaw.[10] He is one of the co-founders of Unconstrained Analytics, which publishes "counter-jihadist" documents.[11] He has also been on the advisory board of the International Free Press Society,[10] and worked for the Strategic Engagement Group alongside former FBI agent John Guandolo.[12] In 2016 he spoke at the national ACT for America conference.[13]

Bibliography

  • Team B II (2010). Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-0982294765.
  • Coughlin, Stephen (2015). Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 9781511617505.
  • Coughlin, Stephen (2015). "Bridge-Building" to Nowhere: The Catholic Church's Case Study in Interfaith Delusion. Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 978-1519377838.
  • Coughlin, Stephen; Higgins, Richard (2019). Re-Remembering the Mis-Remembered Left: The Left's Strategy and Tactics To Transform America. Unconstrained Analytics. ISBN 978-1733473101.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Gertz, Bill (2008). The Failure Factory: How Unelected Bureaucrats, Liberal Democrats, and Big Government Republicans Are Undermining America's Security and Leading Us to War. Crown. pp. 48–61. ISBN 978-0307338082.
  2. 1 2 Spencer, Robert (2008). Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam Is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs. Simon and Schuster. pp. 65–67, 265–267. ISBN 9781596980754.
  3. 1 2 McCarthy, Andrew (2012). The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America. Encounter. pp. 248–254. ISBN 9781594035814.
  4. ↑ Siegel, Bill (2012). The Control Factor: Our Struggle to See the True Threat. University Press of America. p. xvi. ISBN 9780761858164.
  5. 1 2 3 "2011 Lincoln Fellows". Claremont Institute. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. 1 2 Coughlin, Stephen (2015). Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad (About the author). Center for Security Policy Press. ISBN 9781511617505.
  7. ↑ Iannone, Carol (January 23, 2008). "Stephen Coughlin's Thesis". National Review.
  8. 1 2 3 Gertz, Bill (January 11, 2008). "Inside the Ring". The Washington Times.
  9. ↑ Ackerman, Spencer (October 5, 2011). "Justice Department Official: Muslim 'Juries' Threaten 'Our Values'". Wired.
  10. 1 2 "International counter-jihad organisations". Hope not hate. January 11, 2018.
  11. ↑ Pertwee, Ed (October 2017). 'Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 186.
  12. ↑ "Anti-Muslim Trainers and Organizations". Legislating Fear: Islamophobia and Its Impact in the United States January 2011-December 2012. Council on American-Islamic Relations. 2013. p. 15.
  13. ↑ "Meet the Extremists Attending the ACT for America Conference". Southern Poverty Law Center. September 1, 2016.
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