{{Short description|American lawyer and intelligence analyst}} {{Infobox person | name = Stephen Coughlin | image = | caption = | birth_name = Stephen Collins Coughlin | birth_date = | birth_place = | education = University of Minnesota (BA)<br>William Mitchell College of Law (JD)<br>National Defense Intelligence College (MS) | occupation = Lawyer, intelligence analyst }} '''Stephen C. Coughlin''' is an American lawyer and former Joint Chiefs of Staff intelligence analyst who was a contract employee providing advice and analysis at 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.<ref name="gertz">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aM7cWF2T1ygC|title=The Failure Factory: How Unelected Bureaucrats, Liberal Democrats, and Big Government Republicans Are Undermining America's Security and Leading Us to War|first=Bill|last=Gertz|year=2008|publisher=Crown|isbn=9780307338082|pages=39–52}}</ref><ref name="siegel">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yulsBFQWmkoC&pg=PR16|page=xvi|title=The Control Factor: Our Struggle to See the True Threat|first=Bill|last=Siegel|year=2012|publisher=University Press of America|isbn=9780761858164}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3eiQWLgArbMC&pg=PA12|pages=12–13|title=Fighting Today's Wars: How America's Leaders Have Failed Our Warriors|first1=David G.|last1=Bolgiano|first2=James M.|last2=Patterson|year=2011|publisher=Stackpole|isbn=9780811745659}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ryXNXALLvsC&pg=PA28|chapter=The Evolution of Intelligence Assessments of al-Qaeda to 2011|first=Mark E.|last=Stout|title=9/11, Ten Years Later: Insights on Al-Qaeda's Past & Future Through Captured Records: Conference Proceedings|editor-first1=Lorry M.|editor-last1=Fenner|editor-first2=Jessica L.|editor-last2=Goldings|year=2012|page=28|publisher=National Defense University|oclc=860900658}}</ref>
==Early career== Coughlin graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in history from the University of Minnesota, and as Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law.<ref name="claremont">{{cite web|url=https://www.claremont.org/featured/2011-lincoln-fellows/|title=2011 Lincoln Fellows|work=Claremont Institute|accessdate=January 11, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111154008/https://www.claremont.org/featured/2011-lincoln-fellows/|archive-date=January 11, 2024}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ad-gR3i7plcC|page=304|title=The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America|first=Andrew|last=McCarthy|year=2012|publisher=Encounter|isbn=9781594035814}}</ref> He was also assigned to U.S. Central Command in Doha, Qatar, and mobilized for Operation Desert Storm in Würzburg, Germany.<ref name="claremont"/> After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he was mobilized from the private sector to the Intelligence Directorate at the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon.<ref name="coughlin"/>
==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."<ref name="gertz"/> 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 Gordon England's central Muslim outreach Pentagon aide Hesham Islam and others in the U.S. government.<ref name="gertz"/><ref name="siegel"/><ref name="rosett">{{cite news|url=https://www.nationalreview.com/2008/01/questions-pentagon-jrinternet/|title=Questions for the Pentagon|date=January 25, 2008|work=National Review|first=Claudia|last=Rosett|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230113095006/https://www.nationalreview.com/2008/01/questions-pentagon-jrinternet/|archive-date=January 13, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> 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.<ref name="gertz"/><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OK_GAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA194|page=194|title=The New Muslim Brotherhood in the West|first=Lorenzo|last=Vidino|year=2010|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=9780231151269}}</ref> Coughlin was eventually notified after a meeting at the Pentagon's upper floor which included Islam, who according to Gertz controversially called Coughlin a "Christian zealot", that his contract would not be renewed after March 2008.<ref name="gertz"/><ref name="rosett"/> Pentagon officials however denied that there was any confrontation at the meeting.<ref name="rosett"/>
One official claimed the decision was due to "budget cuts", but this was not believed by others, including generals and admirals who according to Gertz quietly rallied to support Coughlin.<ref name="washingtontimes">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jan/11/inside-the-ring-99910007/|title=Inside the Ring: Coughlin backed|date=January 11, 2008|first=Bill|last=Gertz|work=The Washington Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116223120/https://www.washingtontimes.com:443/news/2008/jan/11/inside-the-ring-99910007/|archive-date=January 16, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> Other officials reportedly said Coughlin had become "too hot" or controversial within the Pentagon,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jan/4/inside-the-ring-8-34302/|title=Inside the Ring: Coughlin sacked|first=Bill|last=Gertz|work=The Washington Times|date=January 4, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220116223633/https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jan/4/inside-the-ring-8-34302/|archive-date=January 16, 2022|url-status=live}}</ref> or that "there was no need to exercise the option to extend or renew [his] contract."<ref name="rosett"/> 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,"<ref name="siegel"/> and stated that the Joint Staff was "losing its only Islamic law scholar if the firing stands."<ref name="washingtontimes"/> 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."<ref name="washingtontimes"/>
==Later activities== thumb|Coughlin speaking at an American Freedom Alliance conference in 2016 Coughlin served as Director of Strategic Communications for Jorge Scientific Corporation after his termination.<ref name="claremont"/> He was also a Senior Fellow at the Center for Security Policy and a Lincoln Fellow at the Claremont Institute,<ref name="coughlin">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RUxorgEACAAJ|title=Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad|first=Stephen|last=Coughlin|year=2015|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press |isbn=9781511617505 }}</ref> and lectured at Fort Leavenworth and to the FBI.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2011/10/islamophobia-beyond-fbi/|title=Justice Department Official: Muslim 'Juries' Threaten 'Our Values'|first=Spencer|last=Ackerman|magazine=Wired|date=October 5, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230510114726/https://www.wired.com/2011/10/islamophobia-beyond-fbi/|archive-date=May 10, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> He has attended Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) events for the International Civil Liberties Alliance, and participated in the counter-jihad conference in Warsaw in 2013.<ref name="hope">{{cite web|url=https://hopenothate.org.uk/2018/01/11/what-is-counter-jihadism/|title=International counter-jihad organisations|date=January 11, 2018|work=Hope not hate|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240719145235/https://hopenothate.org.uk/2018/01/11/what-is-counter-jihadism/|archive-date=July 19, 2024}}</ref> He is one of the co-founders of Unconstrained Analytics, which publishes counter-jihadist documents, and his 2015 book ''Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad'' has also been "very influential" in the movement.<ref>{{cite book|title='Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology|url=https://etheses.lse.ac.uk/3780/1/Pertwee__green-crescent-crimson-cross.pdf|pages=186–190|last=Pertwee|first=Ed|date=October 2017|publisher=London School of Economics|doi=10.21953/lse.xx0e1p4w3f3y|doi-access=free}}</ref> He has in addition been on the advisory board of the International Free Press Society,<ref name="hope"/> and vice president of the Strategic Engagement Group alongside former FBI agent John Guandolo.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://truthout.org/articles/abu-ghraib-and-hiroshima-by-powerpoint-and-lectern/|title=Abu Ghraib and Hiroshima by PowerPoint and Lectern|first=Michael L.|last=Weinstein|work=Truthout|date=May 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231005015244/https://truthout.org/articles/abu-ghraib-and-hiroshima-by-powerpoint-and-lectern/|archive-date=October 5, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2016 he spoke at an American Freedom Alliance conference,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/08/22/anti-muslim-conference-la-asks-islam-western-civilization-can-they-coexist-surprise|title=Anti-Muslim Conference in LA Asks "Islam & Western Civilization: Can They Coexist?" Surprise! Speakers and Attendees Say "No!"|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|date=August 22, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240717023331/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/08/22/anti-muslim-conference-la-asks-islam-western-civilization-can-they-coexist-surprise|archive-date=July 17, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.adl.org/resources/blog/event-la-features-whos-who-anti-muslim-movement-us|title=Event in L.A. Features Who's Who of Anti-Muslim Movement in U.S.|first=Oren|last=Segal|work=Anti-Defamation League|date=August 25, 2016|archive-url=https://archive.today/20250106041129/https://www.adl.org/resources/article/event-la-features-whos-who-anti-muslim-movement-us|archive-date=January 6, 2025|url-status=live}}</ref> and at the national ACT for America conference.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/09/01/meet-extremists-attending-act-america-conference|title=Meet the Extremists Attending the ACT for America Conference|date=September 1, 2016|work=Southern Poverty Law Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240625013819/https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2016/09/01/meet-extremists-attending-act-america-conference|archive-date=June 25, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Bibliography== * {{cite book|title=Shariah: The Threat To America: An Exercise In Competitive Analysis|others=Co-authored as Team B II|year=2010|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-0982294765}} * {{cite book|title=Catastrophic Failure: Blindfolding America in the Face of Jihad|year=2015|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-1511617505}} * {{cite book|title="Bridge-Building" to Nowhere: The Catholic Church's Case Study in Interfaith Delusion|year=2015|publisher=Center for Security Policy Press|isbn=978-1519377838}} * {{cite book|title=Re-Remembering the Mis-Remembered Left: The Left's Strategy and Tactics To Transform America|others=Co-authored with Higgins, Richard|year=2019|publisher=Unconstrained Analytics|isbn=978-1733473101}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons}} * [https://unconstrainedanalytics.org/stephen-coughlin/ Biography] at Unconstrained Analytics * {{twitter|S_Coughlin_DC}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111103162549/https://www.carlisle.army.mil/DIME/documents/20080107_Coughlin_ExtremistJihad.pdf Master's thesis], NDIC * {{C-SPAN|104642}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Coughlin, Stephen}} Category:Living people Category:21st-century American male writers Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:American counter-jihad activists Category:American critics of Islam Category:American intelligence analysts Category:American lawyers Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:American military lawyers Category:National Intelligence University alumni Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Army reservists Category:University of Minnesota alumni Category:William Mitchell College of Law alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)