Combat specialist Paul Nahous wants to tackle ‘national insecurity’

PAUL-DANIEL Nahous says he plans to stay true to form on his new weekly programme Line of Fire, a show centred on “national security.”

Nahous is a counter-terrorism instructor, security consultant, sharpshooter and member of former police commissioner Gary Griffith’s recently-launched National Transformation Alliance (NTA) political party,

He hosted the pilot episode, themed National Insecurity After 60 Years, last week. It is scheduled to run every Tuesday from 7.30 pm on Line of Fire’s Facebook page of the same name.

He says it’s intended to run indefinitely and will feature industry experts and former professionals, who, like the host, can speak frankly.

“It’s been in my mind to start something like this for a long time now,” Nahous told Newsday.

The idea was spurred by a successful blog he hosted several years ago, which he said at its peak attracted over 10,000 hits per month from readers all over the world.

“I do have a pretty good network, getting people to come and really dig into matters that the general public may not be knowledgeable about.”

Nahous, 35, is certified in critical incident management, crisis negotiations, interrogation, undercover work, and other areas of security, and is a specialist in cyber security, criminal investigations and guns.

His passion for combat and security stretches back to his adolescence, he explained.

“To make a long story short, my grandfather is a World War II veteran.

“The village my family comes from (Minyara, Lebanon) produced a lot of soldiers and teachers. So I was always inclined towards protective services.”

He began studying law and political science, but was drawn to criminology and combat.

“I left those studies to pursue training and education in counter-terrorism after seeing case studies in the atrocities that people commit against innocent people, especially children,” he said.

“I dedicated much, if not all, of my future training and education to learning and developing skills that would help good men and women fight against the horrors of the world, even and especially if that meant violence would be necessary and needed to be even more devastating and precise than what we face (in Trinidad and Tobago).

“On that note, I detest violence, but I understand it, and don’t believe it should be shied away from in the face of evil. That’s more or less what snowballed into what I am and do today.”

Perhaps less known are his philanthropic efforts, most of which he does individually, although he has also worked with organisations and charity groups when called upon.

He’s fed the homeless and rallied people to contribute necessities to underprivileged people, in and outside times of community-wide tragedies like flooding.

He has also conducted martial arts programmes for underprivileged children and orphans.

Nahous also has something of a reputation outside his professional expertise. Many people first became familiar with him in 2013 when a video appeared on YouTube titled Trinidad Fight. White Boy Beats Strong Man made the rounds.

It captured him on top of a larger man who had attacked him in a fit of road rage on Saddle Road, Maraval. Nahous held the attacker down with his body weight until the other man calmed down, even though onlookers were cheering for a bloodier or at least more exciting outcome. The video went viral and also made print news.

Nahous has two black belts in karate and one each in jujitsu and aikido, and credits discipline, as a primary tenet of martial arts, for his self-control that day, as well as for advances in his career and personal life.

As for the video title, Nahous is not “white,” but of Middle Eastern descent, with a dominant Syrian and Lebanese mix.

Like Griffith, his political leader, he has a reputation for bluntness.

Griffith is also his former boss: Nahous worked with the police as an internally-contracted civilian staff member for over two years. He and 18 others had their contracts terminated by Griffith’s successor and current acting commissioner McDonald Jacob, in what Jacob described as a “cost-cutting measure.”

Putting politics aside, Nahous told Newsday, as he said on his show, he staunchly believes there are few people, if anyone at all, more qualified, capable and patriotic than Griffith to keep crime at a manageable level.

The programme has been launched as the country experiences an exceptionally horrendous level of crime. At the time of writing, the murder toll hit 400, a stark figure especially when compared to the 254 recorded by around the same time last year.

“(My opinion) is not a matter of loyalty to him and because I worked with him; I worked with (former deputies) Irwin Hackshaw, I worked with (Jayson) Forde, and I worked with Jacob when he acted.

“I’ll tell you straight, if any of them could say I disobeyed an order from them, or I didn’t give them 120 per cent attention when they were in office, it would be a lie, because I have on my computer – once I knew they were coming to act – an e-mail I sent bright and early (on their first day), in case they didn’t know me well enough, re-emphasising that I am here to serve the office of the commissioner.”

He will almost certainly feature Griffith on Line of Fire, but says he wants to keep the discussions apolitical, balanced and of substance, in spite of their good relationship.

Although the pilot episode was well received by viewers, with some tuning in from as far abroad as Northern Ireland and Kenya, he was disappointed, since the intended guest had to cancel at the last minute, compounded by a few other setbacks.

Nahous didn’t mince words, though. And the audience interacted throughout, posing questions on the live Facebook stream.

Among other things, he spoke candidly on topics such as the increasing impersonation of police by criminals, who use their uniform and emblems; extrajudicial killings; the importation and market for illegal guns; and his own experience of working with the police service.

Nahous has lined up a number of ex-members of the Coast Guard, Defence Force, Customs and other branches of the security services, who can speak more openly than active personnel.

He said there is no connection between the timing of the launch of his weekly show and the recent revelation of his role at the NTA.

He said he plans to use both platforms to listen to what people have to say.

On Facebook he announced that his immediate plan is to arrange cottage meetings to “listen to the concerns of residents in the (northwest) district.”

He wrote: “I refuse to form any manifesto or policy until sufficient input from the burgess(es) is taken into account. Should we win electoral districts, policy must reflect the needs of the people and what is best for the region’s residents.”

The NTA’s full executive will be revealed at a launch on September 7.