Homeland Defense & Security News

testy

2008-10-17T12:51:00.001-06:00

Where Terrorism Succeeds and Fails

2007-02-16T09:04:00.001-07:00

When does terrorism succeed or fail?” asks Richard Rosecrance, an adjunct professor at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, writing in the Christian Science Monitor. “… Among established governments, provincial terrorism designed to divide the mother country into separate parts has largely failed. National self-determination foisted by terrorists is coming to an end. But terrorism directed against foreign intervention has frequently succeeded—and may continue to do so.”

Pakistan to Expel 2.4 Million Afghans

2007-02-16T09:02:00.000-07:00

In its most recent effort to clamp down on Taliban activity within its borders, Pakistan has announced that all 2.4 million Afghan refugees, most living in camps, must return home by 2009,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. Four camps, which “together hold 230,000 refugees, are scheduled to be closed by the end of August.… Many disagree, however, saying Pakistan’s Afghan refugees, most of whom are Pashtun and share the same tribal ethnicity as the Taliban movement, are only being made a scapegoat.

Soviet-Era Nuclear Material Is a Target for Smugglers Willing to Sell to Anyone

2007-02-16T09:01:00.000-07:00

At a time when the U.S. is grappling with the specter of nuclear weapons in North Korea and Iran, security experts warn that a vast supply of radioactive materials—enough to make hundreds of so-called dirty bombs—lies virtually unprotected in former Soviet military bases and ruined factories,” reports the Chicago Tribune. “Desperately poor scavengers looking for scrap metal already have raided many of those sites, fueling an ever-growing concern in the war on terrorism. There were 662 confirmed cases of radioactive materials smuggling around the world from 1993 to 2004, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. More than 400 involved substances that could be used to make a dirty bomb, a weapon that would spew radioactivity across a broad area. Experts say even these alarming numbers do not reflect the magnitude of the smuggling.”

Al-Qaeda Planned to Get Terrorists Into U.S. With Student Visas

2007-01-26T12:06:00.002-07:00

"Insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil. Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, recently testified that documents captured by coalition forces during a raid of a safe house believed to house Iraqi members of al Qaeda six months ago ‘revealed [AQI] was planning terrorist operations in the U.S.’ … ABC News, however, has learned new details of what remains a classified incident that has been dealt with at the highest levels of government. Sources tell ABC News that the plot may have involved moving between 10 and 20 suspects believed to be affiliated with al Qaeda in Iraq into the United States with student visas."

40 Illegal Workers Arrested at Military Bases

2007-01-26T12:06:00.001-07:00

"Immigration officials have arrested 40 illegal workers hired by military contractors in three states," reports the Associated Press. "… The arrests took place [last] Wednesday and Thursday in Georgia, Virginia and Nevada … The workers were hired by different subcontractors, none of which faced federal charges … Twenty-four illegal immigrants were arrested while trying to enter Fort Benning, Georgia, [last] Wednesday to do construction work on soldiers’ barracks … 21 were charged with identity theft and immigration violations. The three not facing criminal charges were to be placed in immigration removal proceedings. Similar raids at military installations in Nevada and Virginia [last] Thursday netted 18 other arrests, including two people accused of harboring illegal aliens."

GAO Assesses Homeland Security Progress

2007-01-26T12:05:00.001-07:00

The Government Accountability Office this week published a 100-page report assessing the nation’s homeland security progress. It addresses how commercial aviation security has been enhanced; how visa-related policies and programs have evolved to help screen out potential terrorists; how federal border security initiatives have evolved to reduce the likelihood of terrorists’ entering the country through legal checkpoints; and how the Department of Homeland Security and other government agencies are addressing several major post-9/11 strategic challenges.

European Union Sets Tough Line on Iran UN Sanctions

2007-01-26T12:03:00.000-07:00

European Union "foreign ministers agreed on Monday to apply U.N. sanctions on Iran ‘in full and without delay’ and if necessary go further than a U.N. list in targeting those linked to Tehran’s nuclear work," reports Reuters. Iran has been warned that "it will face harsher sanctions if it ignores the resolution unanimously passed on Dec. 23 at the behest of the United States, Britain, Russia, China and France. The resolution gave Iran 60 days to suspend nuclear fuel-enrichment activity.… The U.N. sanctions resolution bans transfers of sensitive nuclear materials to Iran, freezes financial assets of those associated with the nuclear programme and asks countries to pass on information about the whereabouts of individuals on the list. EU foreign ministers agreed to slap travel and asset freezes on all individuals covered by the criteria, as well as stopping them from carrying out transactions with the bloc." On Tuesday, Iran said "it was still cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) despite announcing a day earlier [that] it had banned 38 of the U.N. watchdog’s inspectors from working in the country," according to a separate Reuters article. "… The IAEA said this would not handicap its monitoring of a plant where Iran plans to expand its output of nuclear fuel … The United States urged Iran to sit down for talks on its nuclear programme or face tougher sanctions if IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei tells the Security Council in a report due on February 21 that Tehran is not complying with U.N. demands."

Russian Smuggled Nuclear-Bomb Grade Uranium

2007-01-26T12:01:00.002-07:00

"Republic of Georgia authorities, aided by the CIA, set up a sting operation last summer that led to the arrest of a Russian man who tried to sell a small amount of nuclear-bomb grade uranium in a plastic bag in his jacket pocket," reports the Associated Press. "… there was no suggestion that this particular case was terrorist-related." It is not known "how the man acquired the nuclear material or if his claims of access to much larger quantities were true."

U.S. Pursues al-Qaeda in the Horn of Africa

2007-01-26T12:01:00.001-07:00

"The United States will track down al Qaeda operatives wherever they try to find safe haven, including in the Horn of Africa …" reports American Forces Press Service. "‘We’re working with countries throughout that (area of responsibility) to identify track, seek, capture and, if necessary, kill al Qaeda working, taking safe haven, operating in that region,’ Bryan Whitman, deputy assistant defense secretary for media relations," said.

Britons’ Support for Civil Liberties Is Waning

2007-01-26T12:00:00.001-07:00

Britons’ "traditionally strong commitment to civil liberties is on the wane, according to the annual British Social Attitudes Survey," reports the Financial Times. "Majorities of 70-80 per cent see compulsory identity cards, longer police detention of terror suspects without charge and the phone tapping and tagging of terrorist suspects as a price worth paying for security. Only a tiny majority now believes it is worse to convict an innocent person than to let a guilty one go free, and the public is less supportive of the right of extremists to hold public meetings or publish books."

Professional Associations-Worth It?

2007-01-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

So need some insight, which do you like or find informative, the IACSP or the ACFEI?

Does either have any local chapters or involvement??

Maj C

Terror on the Tracks

2007-01-23T10:51:00.000-07:00

Let's say the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter really was a terrorist.
What if those were bombs he was placing on the chemical placard of a rail car inside the Thatcher Chemical Co. plant in suburban Las Vegas, and not his business cards?
Instead of a camera recording lax security over some of the deadliest chemicals ever produced, he held a detonator? And the string of chlorine gas cars trundling down Union Pacific Railroad tracks in the heart of Vegas was his prey?
If he was a terrorist, and his goal was to release a potentially catastrophic cloud of deadly gases, explosives and caustic acids -- in unguarded cars, left abandoned -- then a U.S. Department of Homeland Security's planning scenario might apply: 17,500 people dead, another 10,000 suffering injuries and 100,000 more flooding trauma wards, convinced they've been poisoned. The environmental damage would take weeks to clean up, forcing the evacuation of as many as 70,000 residents from a city built on sin, military might and heavy industry.

Stratfor: Terrorism Brief - January 22, 2007

2007-01-22T15:26:00.001-07:00

Stratfor: Terrorism Brief - January 22, 2007

Mexico: The Obstacles to Calderon's Anti-Cartel Efforts

Osiel Cardenas, who ran Mexico's powerful Gulf drug cartel from a prison cell, was in U.S. custody Jan. 22, awaiting a court appearance stemming from a 2005 federal indictment against him. The recent handover of Cardenas and three other important drug figures
-- extraditions U.S. Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales called "unprecedented in their scope and importance" -- coincide with major Mexican operations against the cartels as well as calls by the Mexican government for more U.S. assistance in fighting the country's drug wars.

Although it appears that Mexican President Felipe Calderon is serious about taking on the cartels, his efforts will face stiff resistance -- not only from the drug traffickers themselves, but also from corrupt Mexican officials.
The suspects handed over to U.S. authorities Jan. 19 are considered major players in some of Mexico's more significant drug-trafficking organizations. Cardenas, the most powerful of the four, has been running his organization from prison since his arrest in 2003, and his extradition could leave the cartel without top leadership -- at least until the fighting over his replacement is concluded.
In addition to Cardenas, brothers Ismael and Gilberto Higuera Guerrero
-- former high-ranking members of the Arellano Felix drug cartel -- were extradited, as was Hector "El Guero" Palma Salazar, a former high-ranking member of the Chapo Guzman-Guero Palma cartel, part of the Sinaloa Federation. In all, Mexican authorities extradited 15 suspects wanted in the United States on charges related to drugs and violence.
Should the Gulf cartel be weakened by Cardenas' extradition, the drug-related violence will likely expand into places the cartel currently controls, such as Matamoros on the Mexico-Texas border, as the rival Sinaloa Federation attempts to take over Gulf cartel territory. A succession struggle by internal factions vying to assume control of the Gulf cartel also could lead to more violence.
In addition, reprisal attacks against the Mexican government in response to the extraditions are possible.
With the sole exception of Arellano Felix cartel leader Francisco Rafael Arellano Felix, who was extradited in September 2006, the government of former President Vicente Fox turned over only minor cartel figures to the United States. The handover of these other high-ranking members by Calderon's new government comes amid other government attempts to control the cartels, including the dispatching of federal police and troops to areas suffering major cartel violence.
In addition to the federal deployments and extraditions, Calderon also has asked for more assistance from Washington in fighting the cartels.
Given Mexico's sensitivity to U.S. involvement in anti-cartel operations south of the border, however, Calderon likely meant that he wants more funds to fight the problem, rather than that he plans to give U.S. law enforcement agents greater freedom to operate in Mexico. U.S. operations not only are considered an infringement on Mexico's national sovereignty, they also are opposed by some because they threaten the corrupt Mexican officials who earn enormous sums of money protecting the cartels.
Although U.S. boots on the ground would elicit an outcry, the possibility of additional U.S. funds flowing into Mexico would be another matter entirely because these same corrupt officials could see it as a chance for further self-enrichment. Should Mexico receive its own version of "Plan Colombia" -- which could be Calderon's hope -- then corrupt officials could have access to hundreds of millions or even billions of U.S. dollars annually. The question then is whether a "Plan Mexico" would make a significant dent in cartel operations.
As government efforts against the cartels increase, there also is the possibility that the influential cartels will use the government as a weapon against rival cartels -- or even against other questionably loyal members of the same cartel -- by guiding law enforcement efforts toward certain people. The well-connected cartels, then, would consider these arrests and even possible extraditions as more of a housecleaning aid than as a blow to their operations.
In order to be truly effective, anti-cartel efforts in Mexico must be applied evenly against all of the cartels . If only certain ones are targeted, more violence is likely as the other cartels move in to fill the resulting power vacuums.

Freedom vs. Non-Freedom: A View from Russia

2007-01-12T10:38:00.000-07:00

Constitutionalism in the Western political tradition does not mean—as it does in my own country, Russia—simply having a written constitution, regardless of its content. Rather, true constitutionalism requires the limitation of government by law. A government can be considered genuinely constitutional only if it operates under the following minimal constraints: (1) The legislature cannot be dismissed by any body or person other than itself. (2) The courts are independent of the legislative and executive branches. (3) The executive branch cannot appoint ministers without the approval of the legislative branch. (4) Only the legislature can pass laws.

Govts. Want Corporate Help to Curb Iran’s Nuclear Program

2007-01-05T09:13:00.001-07:00

The United States and its allies in Europe, in a tacit acknowledgment that sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council in late December are too weak to force Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions, have embarked on a new strategy to increase the financial and psychological pressure," reports the International Herald Tribune. "The plan is to use the language of the resolution to help persuade foreign governments and financial institutions to cut ties with Iranian businesses, individuals in its nuclear and missile programs and, by extension, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps

Bush Says Feds Can Open Mail Without Warrant

2007-01-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans’ mail without a judge’s warrant, the Daily News has learned. The President asserted his new authority when he signed a postal reform bill into law on Dec. 20. Bush then issued a ‘signing statement’ that declared his right to open people’s mail under emergency conditions. That claim is contrary to existing law and contradicted the bill he had just signed, say experts who have reviewed it."

Localities Operate Intelligence Centers to Pool Terror Data

2007-01-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

Frustrated by poor federal cooperation, U.S. states and cities are building their own network of intelligence centers led by police to help detect and disrupt terrorist plots," reports the Washington Post. "The new ‘fusion centers’ are now operating in 37 states … The centers, which have received $380 million in federal support since the 2001 terrorist attacks, pool and analyze information from local, state and federal law enforcement officials.

Fewer Illegal Immigrants Arrested Along U.S.-Mexican Border; More Seek Help From Smugglers

2007-01-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

Arrests of undocumented immigrants along the U.S.-Mexican border have dropped by more than a third since U.S. National Guard troops started helping with border security, suggesting that fewer people may be trying to cross," reports the Associated Press. "U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 149,238 fewer people from the start of July through November, down 34 percent from the same period last year." But "toughened U.S. border enforcement has prompted substantially more illegal immigrants to hire smugglers to help them cross over from Mexico," reports the Associated Press in a separate article. The Coast Guard also stopped 40% fewer illegal migrants last year in "the waters of South Carolina, Florida and the Caribbean," the Associated Press reports.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/12/29/29border.html

Nuclear Trafficking Reports Double in 5 Years

2007-01-05T09:08:00.000-07:00

Reported incidents of trafficking and mishandling nuclear material worldwide doubled between 2000 and 2005, mainly because of heightened awareness and more extensive screening, the Department of Homeland Security said on" Dec. 26, reports Reuters. "The department received 215 reports of nuclear trafficking and related criminal activity worldwide in 2005, versus 100 incidents in 2000 … The incidents included illegal diversion, purchase, sale, transport or storage of nuclear material.… The number of trafficking incidents recorded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was more than double that reported in August by the International Atomic Energy Agency.… The Homeland Security figures include IAEA reporting as well as other information obtained by intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

Attack Could End Iranian Nuke Program, Says Israeli Institute

2007-01-05T09:07:00.000-07:00

Iran will possess nuclear weapons unless military action is taken against it, and Israel would be capable of carrying out such an attack," reports Haaretz, citing the annual report by the Institute for National Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University. "Barring military action, Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons is only a matter of time," the institute said. "Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not ruled out a military strike against Iran's nuclear program," according to Haaretz.

Russia Heads Off Terrorist Bombing in Chechnya

2007-01-05T09:06:00.000-07:00

A major act of terrorism was prevented in Grozny on the eve of the New Year celebrations," reports the Itar-Tass News Agency. "An explosive device with a capacity of 320 kilograms [about 700 pounds] in the TNT equivalent has been found there." Police arrested Aslan Kurkayev, "an active member of illegal armed groups," according to the police, who said the bomb was "under a bridge across the Sunzha River" and "ready to be set off.

African command planning put on 'fast track' by DOD

2007-01-04T13:56:00.000-07:00

BY: John M. Doyle, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report*
09/20/2006

The Pentagon has put planning for a new Africa combatant command on a "fast track," with the first proposal due in a few weeks, Army Gen. Bantz Craddock told the Senate Armed Services Committee Sept. 19.

Craddock, current commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), said he was a "proponent of a dedicated command for Africa." Craddock has been nominated to take over the European Command (EUCOM).

Currently, Africa is shared by three combatant commands: Pacific Command (PACOM) is responsible for Madagascar and other Indian Ocean islands off East Africa; Central Command (CENTCOM) oversees the Horn of Africa near the Middle East, and EUCOM is responsible for the rest of Africa.

But because of Africa's vast distances, growing concern over its potential as a safe haven for terrorists, its strategic importance for raw materials and its frequent need of massive humanitarian aid in the wake of wars, famines and natural disasters, Pentagon planners have been considering creating a sixth unified combatant command for all of Africa.

During questioning at his confirmation hearing to take over EUCOM, Craddock said plans are well under way to create an Africa command.

"I understand there are ongoing discussions and deliberations. I believe the European Command has been tasked by the chairman, the Joint Chiefs and the [Defense] secretary to provide a proposal," Craddock said. As European commander, Craddock would be responsible for most of Africa under the current command structure.

"We all recognize that our critical national interests in Africa are indeed very important both from the counterterrorism perspective - the secure and stable environment - to the humanitarian perspective in which HIV/AIDS, endemic disease - and also the energy issues - are also quite relevant," Craddock told the committee.

Northcom Looks to Private-Sector Emergency Response

2006-12-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

Northern Command, which “offers command-and-control support for” Defense Department “homeland defense efforts and coordinates defense support of civil authorities,” also coordinates “with the private sector and nongovernmental organizations …” reports Federal Computer Week. “Private-sector businesses and NGOs can sometimes respond more nimbly than the federal sector can.

U.S. Warns of Terrorist Threat to Satellites

2006-12-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

he Bush administration warned Wednesday against threats by terrorist groups and other nations against U.S. commercial and military satellites,” reports the Associated Press. “… Undersecretary of State Robert G. Joseph also reasserted U.S. policy that it has a right to use force against hostile nations or terror groups that might try to attack American satellites or ground installations that support space programs.… ‘we must take all of these threats seriously …’ Joseph said.

France Offers Financial Incentives for Illegal Immigrants to Go Home

2006-12-26T09:32:00.000-07:00

The French government … is making about €20 million, or $26 million, available over the next two years for small grants to illegal immigrants who agree to return home with a business project and to legal migrants who invest in a project in their home countries,” reports the International Herald Tribune. “But these funds are earmarked for people from 34 countries--all of French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, plus Ethiopia, Morocco, Vanuatu, Haiti, and the Comoros Islands--and amount to less than €600,000 per country on average.” Since “2005, an illegal immigrant who agrees to return home may collect €2,000 in cash. A couple is entitled to €3,500, with an extra €1,000 for each of the first three children and €500 for every additional child. But by November this year only 1,859 people had taken the offer; an estimated 500,000 other illegal immigrants preferred to stay.” Furthermore, Mali, Senegal, Cameroon and Gabon have “refused to sign … ‘readmission accords’” with France.

Syria and Iraq to Cooperate Against Terrorism

2006-12-26T09:31:00.000-07:00

Syria and Iraq’s interior ministers on Saturday discussed ways of strengthening cooperation and coordination between … the two neighboring countries to combat terrorism and crime, Syria’s official news agency said,” according to the Associated Press. “… the two sides … agreed to form joint committees to coordinate the issues they discussed.” Last week, Iraq also signed a cooperative agreement with Jordan.

Physical Details of All Residents of Britain Will Be in ID Database

2006-12-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

Everybody living in the United Kingdom, including foreigners, will be required to have their biometric details recorded under the government’s identity card scheme,” reports the Scotsman. “… John Reid, the Home Secretary, announced that all UK residents, whether or not they were British citizens, would be forced to have their irises scanned and their fingerprints taken for the national database.

Libya Sentences Nurses to Death for Spreading HIV (London Times

2006-12-26T09:29:00.000-07:00

“Five nurses who travelled to Libya to care for sick children were facing death by firing squad [Tuesday] after being found guilty of deliberately infecting 426 young patients with” human immunodeficiency virus, reports the London Times. “Their conviction, after seven years in jail and two trials, prompted an international outcry … The death of an eight-year-old boy this week brought to 53 the total of deaths in an epidemic that is seen in Benghazi as a plot to kill Muslims.”

Antiterror ‘Smart Fence’ Planned for NJ Turnpike

2006-12-15T09:40:00.000-07:00

New Jersey will guard against a potential terrorist attack on chemical-filled freight trains by building a 10-foot fence and installing sensors and closed circuit monitors along a 2.6-mile stretch of the Turnpike between Linden and Newark,” reports Newhouse News Service. “The 90-ton tanker cars that are often stopped on the rails just off the northbound side of the New Jersey Turnpike represent a terror threat homeland security officials have worried about since bombings in recent years on commuter rails in Spain, England and India.… An estimated $6 million will be spent by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to erect the so-called privacy fence to shield the tankers from public view.”

http://www.homelandsecurity.org/bulletin/060217.htm#focus

U.S. to Check Cargo for Radiation in 6 Foreign Ports

2006-12-15T09:36:00.000-07:00

U.S.-bound cargo at six overseas ports will be screened for nuclear and radiological material in an expanded effort to prevent terrorist bombs from entering American waters,” reports the Associated Press. The Homeland Security Department will “scan all containers bound for the United States in the ports of Qasim, Pakistan; Puerto Cortes, Honduras; and Southampton, England,” and some containers “at Port Salaleh in Oman, the Port of Singapore, and the Gamman Terminal at Port Busan in Korea … the examinations [should] begin early next year at all six ports. When fully operational, the program will screen about 8 percent of the 11 million cargo containers that reach U.S. shores each year.”

Illegal Immigration Linked to Identity Theft?

2006-12-15T09:34:00.000-07:00

“The latest roundup of illegal immigrants caught working in the US with fraudulent identifications--the largest single such work-site action ever--raises new questions about a link between illegal immigration and the growing problem of identity theft,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “Federal raids Tuesday at six meat-processing plants owned by Swift & Co. in six states resulted in the arrests of 1,282 people for immigration violation--with 65 also charged with identify theft or other criminal charges.” Officials “began deporting workers” and “confronted an unexpected challenge: what to do about kids left behind,” reports the Denver Post. “The raids left more than 100 children with no parents present.” “For nearly two weeks, Swift & Co. officials fought to block an impending immigration raid they knew was coming,” reported the Post in another article. Swift was using a verifying system called Basic Pilot--“a federal program and database designed to help employers … verify that workers can legally be employed,” reports the Post in a separate article. But Basic Pilot “can’t identify illegal immigrants who steal people’ identities to secure U.S. jobs.”

Iraqis Propose to Take Over Security in Baghdad

2006-12-15T09:33:00.000-07:00

“The Iraqi government has presented the Bush administration with a new plan that calls for Iraqi troops to assume the primary responsibility for security in Baghdad early next year while U.S. troops would be shifted to the periphery of the capital,” reports the International Herald Tribune. “… The plan has seriously alarmed Sunni politicians, who said that they could not imagine that the Americans would turn security over to a government they see as deeply sectarian.”

Iraqi President Rejects Iraq Study Group Report

2006-12-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

Iraq’s president on Dec. 10 “rejected a long-anticipated list of recommendations by the bipartisan Iraq Study Group to change U.S. policy in the region,” reports Reuters. “‘I think the Baker-Hamilton report is unfair and unjust,’ Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, told a news conference … ‘It contains very dangerous articles that undermine the sovereignty of Iraq and its constitution,’ he said. The report by the Iraq Study Group … urged more centralised control of Iraq’s vast oil wealth and embedding thousands more U.S. advisers in Iraq’s security forces.”

DHS floats proposal for 'Global Envelope' of terrorist info sharing

2006-12-13T09:19:00.000-07:00

A senior Homeland Security Department official today sketched the outline of an ambitious plan for internationally sharing biometric identification information about individuals who pose terrorist threats.

Robert Mocny, acting director of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, outlined a proposal under which the United States would begin exchanging information about terrorists first with closely allied governments in Britain, Europe and Japan ,and then progressively extend the program to other countries as a means of foiling terrorist attacks.

The Global Envelope proposal apparently opened the door to the exchange of biometric information about persons in this country to other governments and vice versa, in an environment where even officials’ pledges to observe privacy principles collide with inconsistent or absent legal protections.

In remarks to the International Conference on Biometrics and Ethics in Washington this afternoon, Mocny repeatedly stressed DHS’ commitment to observing privacy principles during the design and implementation of its biometric systems. “We have a responsibility to use this information wisely and responsibly,” he said.

Mocny cited the need to avoid duplication of effort by developing technical standards that all national biometric identification systems would use.

He emphasized repeatedly that information sharing is appropriate around the world on biometric methods of identifying terrorists who pose a risk to the public. Noting that his organization already receives information about terrorist threats from around the globe, Mocny said, “We have a responsibility to make a Global Security Envelope [that would coordinate information policies and technical standards.]”

Mocny conceded that each of the 10 privacy laws currently in effect in the United States has an exemption clause for national-security purposes. He added that the department only resorts to its essentially unlimited authority under those clauses when officials decide that there are compelling reasons to do so.

Asked how the federal government would establish information-sharing agreements with some countries that categorize virtually the entire leadership of other countries as terrorists, Mocny noted that there are gray areas in the plan. He said DHS officials would roll out the initial phases of the program with countries that already present themselves, in effect, as technically sophisticated industrial democracies and close allies.

Permanent Texas border watch Web site to be implemented

2006-12-13T09:18:00.000-07:00

With 221,000 people participating via the Internet, Texas’ month-long experiment with border surveillance Web cameras is being touted as a success, state officials said.

The Texas Border Watch Test Site operated for a month, closing on Dec. 3. During the experiment, live video feeds from border surveillance cameras in Texas were made available on a Web site. Subscribers registered to view the footage and report suspicious activity.

During the month, 221,562 subscribers visited the Web site and viewed footage 27 million times, generating more than 13,000 emails, according to an update on the Texas Border Watch test project.

“Some wrote to alert law enforcement officials to suspicious activity, others to recommend improvements to the Web site or offer other comments. Many of the recommendations for improvements to the Web site were incorporated during the test period,” the Web site said.

Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry said he intends to issue a request for proposals to implement a permanent Texas Border Watch Web site.

The governor said in June he would spend $5 million to install hundreds of video cameras along its border with Mexico that will broadcast surveillance footage on the Internet to help prevent crime and illegal border crossings

Nationwide interoperability for first responders within reach

2006-12-13T09:17:00.000-07:00

According to a new report from the Homeland Security Department’s Safecom Program, more than two-thirds of emergency response agencies in the United States use some degree of interoperable communications, allowing them to speak directly with other agencies.

The report is based on the results of the National Interoperability Baseline Survey, which was distributed to 22,400 emergency response agencies nationwide in May. Responses were received from 6,819 agencies.

The agencies rated themselves on a detailed, 23-point interoperability continuum, developed by the Safecom program, which is DHS’ unit that oversees improvements to first-responder communications. The scale measured features such as whether agencies have developed joint standard operating procedures with other agencies in the region, whether they have had regular regional training exercises, and whether they use interoperable communications daily or only for planned events.

About a third of the respondents said they use interoperable communications in day-to-day operations and for extraordinary events. Another third said they use it only for extraordinary events.

The survey also found that large agencies were more advanced in interoperable communications than small agencies, and police, fire and medical agencies rank about the same in interoperability.

“The survey reinforces the fact that interoperability is achievable,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said in a statement. “That technology works today and is available. The willingness of emergency response leaders and local officials to make this issue their priority is what will continue to drive progress on one of 9/11's most important lessons.”

The survey is being touted as the first of its type to assess national interoperability based on a comprehensive, detailed definition.

Communications interoperability became a high priority for emergency response agencies following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Interoperability allows police, fire and medical units from various jurisdictions to talk with one another by radio and to work together more effectively.

Foreigners Arrested in Egypt ‘Had Terror Links’; Egypt Finds More Explosives and Cross-Border Tunnel

2006-12-08T09:30:00.000-07:00

“A group of foreigners arrested in Egypt included French, US, Belgian, Syrian and Tunisian nationals with links to terror groups who were recruiting Islamists for ‘jihad’ in Iraq,” reports Agence France-Presse. “… The young Islamic fundamentalists are believed to have been arrested almost two weeks ago … They include nine French, two Belgian and an American national as well as Egyptians, Tunisians and Syrians.” Yesterday, “Egyptian authorities expelled two Belgians and eight French terror suspects … but an American and another French citizen remained in custody,” reports the Irish Examiner. Also, “Egyptian police found 500 kg of explosives hidden in bags in central Sinai and bound for smuggling into Gaza,”

Suicide Attacks Thwarted in Saudi Arabia

2006-12-08T09:29:00.000-07:00

“Militant cells recently broken up in Saudi Arabia were planning a series of suicide bomb attacks and assassinations,” reports Reuters. “… Saudi Arabia, fighting a violent campaign by al Qaeda supporters, said on Saturday it had detained 136 suspected Islamic militants including a would-be suicide bomber. ‘These seven cells were planning to carry out acts and were on the point of carrying them out,’ Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said.” Saudi Arabia “fears [that] Iraq could become a training ground for militants who return to carry out attacks at home,” reports Agence France-Presse.

Do Immigrants Make Us Safer?

2006-12-08T09:28:00.000-07:00

“The notion that communities with growing immigrant populations tend to be unsafe is fairly well established, at least in the popular imagination”--but “according to evidence cropping up in various places, the opposite may be the case,” reports the New York Times Magazine. “Ramiro Martinez Jr., a professor of criminal justice at Florida International University,” found that “in border cities … heavily populated by Mexican immigrants”--“violent crime has fallen significantly in recent years. ‘Almost without exception … the homicide rate for Hispanics was lower than for other groups, even though their poverty rate was very high.’” Martinez “found the same thing in the Haitian neighborhoods of Miami.… criminologist Andrew Karmen examined the trend in New York City and likewise found that the ‘disproportionately youthful, male and poor immigrants … were surprisingly law-abiding’ and that their settlement into once-decaying neighborhoods helped ‘put a brake on spiraling crime rates.’ … Wesley Skogan, a political scientist at Northwestern University, … concludes that the big success story took place not in immigrant areas but in African-American ones, where participation in community-policing programs was highest and violence fell the most.… Skogan acknowledges that Hispanic immigrants don’t show up much in arrest records, but he says he believes part of the explanation for this rests in the fact that those who are undocumented go to enormous lengths to ‘stay off the radar.’” Robert J. Sampson, chair of the Harvard sociology department, did a study in which he found that “Mexicans in Chicago … are more likely to be married than either blacks or whites” and “that in immigrant neighborhoods, even individuals who are not in married households are 15 percent less likely to engage in crime.” However, Sampson’s data showed that “second-generation immigrants in Chicago were significantly more likely to commit crimes than their parents, it turns out, and those of the third generation more likely still.”

Lawyers Demand Release of Chinese Muslims

2006-12-08T09:27:00.000-07:00

“Attorneys for a group of Chinese Muslims held for nearly five years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, … argue that their seven clients--ethnic Uighurs … have never taken up arms against the United States or its allies,” reports the Washington Post. “They contend that the men have been labeled wrongfully as terrorist suspects because they oppose the Communist Chinese government.… U.S. officials labeled the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)--a group that includes Uighur separatists who want their own nation in western China--a terrorist organization in August 2002 after diplomatic discussions with China about Iraq, the lawyers allege.… Former State Department officials acknowledged in interviews that they negotiated with China about placing ETIM and another group on a list of known terrorist organizations.”

Iraq Study Commission Issues Report

2006-12-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

The bipartisan Iraq Study Group report issued Wednesday warned “that ‘the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating,’ and it handed President Bush both a rebuke for his current strategy and a detailed blueprint for a fundamentally different approach, including the pullback of all American combat brigades over the next 15 months,” reports the New York Times. The report’s “79 specific recommendations … included a call for direct engagement with Syria and Iran as part of a ‘new diplomatic offensive,’ jump-starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort, and a clear declaration that the United States would reduce its support to Iraq unless Baghdad made ‘substantial progress’ on reconciliation and security.”

Pakistani Member of Parliament Admits Terrorist Link

2006-12-01T08:23:00.000-07:00

Tanvir Hussain, speaking in a national assembly debate” in India “on the controversial attack by Pakistan’s armed forces on a madrassa religious school in the Bajaur agency, said: ‘I want to inform this house that I, too, have been a member of this Lashkar-e-Toiba organization,’” reports the Australian, citing the Asian Age. “The incendiary admission” could be “devastating for the modest progress on improved bilateral relations” between India and Pakistan.

The West Is Fighting Terrorism Properly Now, Blair Says

2006-12-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

“Western allies in Iraq and Afghanistan are now giving more weight to reconstruction and wider political issues alongside military force to fight their war on terrorism ‘properly’, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on” November 19, reports Reuters. “Blair … announced a doubling of British aid [to Pakistan], some of it to boost Pakistan’s moderate Muslim schools to counter Islamic extremism.”

Understanding the Origins of Wahhabism and Salafism

2006-10-24T23:39:00.000-06:00

Understanding the Origins of Wahhabism and Salafism

By Trevor Stanley

The phenomenon of Islamic terrorism cannot be adequately explained as the export of Saudi Wahhabism, as many commentators claim. In fact, the ideological heritage of groups such as al-Qaeda is Salafism, a movement that began in Egypt and was imported into Saudi society during the reign of King Faisal.

The official ‘Wahhabi’ religion of Saudi Arabia has essentially merged with certain segments of Salafism. There is now intense competition between groups and individual scholars over the 'true' Salafism, with the scholars who support the Saudi regime attacking groups such as al-Qaeda as ‘Qutbists’ (following Sayyid Qutb) or takfiris (excommunicators).

The easy explanation for differences within the Salafi movement is that some aim to change society through da’wa (preaching/evangelizing) whereas others want to change it through violence. But as the Saudi example shows, all strains of Salafism, even the most revolutionary and violent, make a place for social services such as education in their strategies for the transformation of society.

Origins of Wahhabism

When Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab began preaching his revivalist brand of Islam amongst the Bedouins of the Najd [1] during the 18th century, his ideas were dismissed in the centers of Islamic learning such as al-Azhar as simplistic and erroneous to the point of heresy.

Ibn Abd al-Wahhab claimed that the decline of the Muslim world was caused by pernicious foreign innovations (bida’) - including European modernism, but also elements of traditional Islam that were simply unfamiliar to the isolated Najdi Bedouins. He counseled the purging of these influences in an Islamic Revival. Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s creed placed an overriding emphasis on tawhid (monotheism), condemning many traditional Muslim practices as shirk (polytheism). He also gave jihad an unusual prominence in his teachings. The Wahhabis called themselves Muwahideen (monotheists) - to call themselves Wahhabis was considered shirk.

Origins of Salafism

Salafism originated in the mid to late 19th Century, as an intellectual movement at al-Azhar University, led by Muhammad Abduh (1849-1905), Jamal al-Din al-Afghani (1839-1897) and Rashid Rida (1865-1935). The movement was built on a broad foundation. Al-Afghani was a political activist, whereas Abduh, an educator, sought gradual social reform (as a part of da’wa), particularly through education. Debate over the place of these respective methods of political change continues to this day in Salafi groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

The early Salafis admired the technological and social advancement of Europe’s Enlightenment, and tried to reconcile it with the belief that their own society was the heir to a divinely guided Golden Age of Islam that had followed the Prophet Muhammad’s Revelations.

The name Salafi comes from as-salaf as-saliheen, the ‘pious predecessors’ of the early Muslim community, although some Salafis extend the Salaf to include selected later scholars. The Salafis held that the early Muslims had understood and practiced Islam correctly, but true understanding of Islam had gradually drifted, just as the people of previous Prophets (including Moses and Jesus) had strayed and gone into decline. The Salafis set out to rationally reinterpret early Islam with the expectation of rediscovering a more ‘modern’ religion.

In terms of their respective formation, Wahhabism and Salafism were quite distinct. Wahhabism was a pared-down Islam that rejected modern influences, while Salafism sought to reconcile Islam with modernism. What they had in common is that both rejected traditional teachings on Islam in favor of direct, ‘fundamentalist’ reinterpretation.

Saudi Arabia Embraces Salafi Pan-Islamism

Although Saudi Arabia is commonly characterized as aggressively exporting Wahhabism, it has in fact imported pan-Islamic Salafism. Saudi Arabia founded and funded transnational organizations and headquartered them in the kingdom, but many of the guiding figures in these bodies were foreign Salafis. The most well known of these organizations was the World Muslim League, founded in Mecca in 1962, which distributed books and cassettes by al-Banna, Qutb and other foreign Salafi luminaries. Saudi Arabia successfully courted academics at al-Azhar University, and invited radical Salafis to teach at its own Universities.

Saudi Arabia’s decision to host Egyptian radicals hinges on three factors: the need for qualified educators, Faisal’s struggle against Egyptian-led pan-Arab radicalism, and Saudi openness under King Khaled. Between the 1920s and 1960s, Saudi Arabia was emerging as a modern state. Increased oil production required technical infrastructure and a bureaucracy, resulting in a demand for educators that outstripped the administration’s capacity. [2] The Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood represented a source of qualified educators, bureaucrats and engineers, many of them anxious to leave Egypt.

During the late 1950s and the 1960s, the Middle East was gripped by a struggle between the traditional monarchies and the secular pan-Arab radicals, led by Nasser’s Egypt, with the pan-Islamist Salafis an important third force. [3] By embracing pan-Islamism, Faisal countered the idea of pan-Arab loyalty centered on Egypt with a larger transnational loyalty centered on Saudi Arabia. During the 1960s, members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood and its offshoots, many of them teachers, were given sanctuary in Saudi Arabia, in a move that undermined Nasser while also relieving the Saudi education crisis. [4]

Saudi Arabia’s foreign policy concerns eased in 1970 with Nasser’s death. But in the 1970s, the Saudi education system was awash with Egyptian Muslim Brothers and other Salafis, much as Berkeley was awash with Marxists. Under King Khaled (r.1975-1982), some of the most important proponents of Qutbist terrorism, including Abdullah Azzam, Omar Abd al-Rahman and Muhammad Qutb, served as academics in the Kingdom. Qutb, an important proponent of his late brother Sayyid’s theory, wrote several texts on tawhid for the Saudi school curriculum. [5]

A generation of prominent Saudi citizens was exposed to various strains of Salafi thought during the 1970s, and although most Saudi Salafis are not Qutbist revolutionaries, the Qutbists did not miss the opportunity to awaken a revolutionary vanguard.

Wahhabi-Salafism

Although Salafism and Wahhabism began as two distinct movements, Faisal's embrace of Salafi pan-Islamism resulted in cross-pollination between ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s teachings on tawhid, shirk and bid’a and Salafi interpretations of ahadith (the sayings of Muhammad). Some Salafis nominated ibn Abd al-Wahhab as one of the Salaf (retrospectively bringing Wahhabism into the fold of Salafism), and the Muwahideen began calling themselves Salafis.

Today, a profusion of self-proclaimed Salafi groups exist, each accusing the others of deviating from 'true' Salafism. Since the 1970s, the Saudis have wisely stopped funding those Salafis that excommunicate nominally Muslim governments (or at least the Saudi government), condemning al-Qaeda as ‘the deviant sect’. The pro-Saudis correctly trace al-Qaeda’s ideological roots to Qutb and al-Banna. Less accurately, they accuse these groups of insidiously 'entering' Salafism. In fact, Salafism was imported into Saudi Arabia in its Ikhwani and Qutbist forms. This does not mean that the pro-Saudi Salafis are necessarily benign - for example, Abu Mu'aadh as-Salafee’s main criticism of Qutb and Muslim Brotherhood founder Hassan al-Banna is that they claim Islam teaches tolerance of Jews.[6]

Meanwhile, non-Muslims and mainstream Muslims alike use the ‘Wahhabi-Salafi’ label to denigrate Salafis and even completely unrelated groups such as the Taliban.

Conclusions

Faisal’s embrace of pan-Islamism achieved its main objective in that it helped Saudi Arabia to overcome pan-Arabism. However, it created a radicalized Salafi constituency, elements of which the regime continues to fund. It should be kept in mind, though, that this funding is now confined to more compliant Salafis.

Saudi Arabia still has some way to go. Some will say that a leopard can’t change its spots, but in fact the Saudi Government is capable of serious doctrinal change under pressure. Faisal’s broad introduction of Salafi policies involved such a shift, as did the subsequent rejection of Qutbist interpretations of Salafism by pro-Saudi Salafis.

The Middle East today is clearly in need of alternative models of political change to counter takfiri Salafism. In the West, education has been a major factor in social integration. But as the Saudi case study indicates, we need to be aware of not only the quantity, but also the nature of education. Saudi students in the 1970s learned engineering and administration alongside an ideology of xenophobic alienation. In the long run, the battle against violent Salafism will be fought not only on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, but also in the universities of the Middle East.

Notes
1. A province in the Arabian Desert, now part of Saudi Arabia.
2. Madawi al-Rasheed, A History of Saudi Arabia, Cambridge University Press, 2002, pp122-123. Rasheed observes that most teachers in Saudi Arabia at this time were Egyptians.
3. For a comprehensive account of this struggle, see Abdullah M Sindhi, King Faisal and Pan-Islamism, in Willard L Beling (ed), King Faisal and the Modernisation of Saudi Arabia, London, 1980.
4. Madawi al-Rasheed, p144.
5. Syed Muhammad al-Naquib al-Attas (ed), Aims and Objectives of Islamic Education, King Abdul Aziz University, Jeddah, 1979, p48. Introduction to Muhammad Qutb’s chapter, The Role of Religion in Education. (Proceedings of the 1977 World Conference on Islamic Education, Mecca).
6. Abu Mu'aadh as-Salafee, Exposing al-Ikhwaan al-Muflisoon: the Aqeedah of Walaa and Baraaa’, SalafiPublications.com and As-Sawaa’iq al-Mursalah ‘Alal-Afkaar al-Qutubiyyah al-Mudammirah, SalafiPublications.com, pp48, 50.

GAO: DHS NEEDS TO TIGHTEN INTERAGENCY CONTRACTING

2006-10-18T11:34:00.000-06:00

The Homeland Security Department is falling short in its management of
interagency contracts and failing to monitor its total spending on
such contracts, a new report from the Government Accountability Office
says.

SPACE POLICY TOUTS SATELLITE IMAGERY FOR HOMELAND SECURITY

2006-10-18T11:33:00.000-06:00

The White House published a new national space policy that lays out goals for exploration and addresses the government's need to enhance homeland security.

BORDER SECURITY IS THE STAR OF DHS BUDGET

2006-10-18T11:32:00.000-06:00

CIO receives approval rights for projects worth more than $2.5 million.

SECURITY STILL LAX IN DHS SYSTEMS: IG

2006-10-18T11:31:00.000-06:00

The Homeland Security Department still has information security gaps that make its computer systems vulnerable to threats, the department's inspector general said in a report.

PREDATOR TO BE ON THE PROWL AGAIN

2006-10-18T11:30:00.000-06:00

According to a new U.S. Customs and Border Protection report, officials expect a Predator B unmanned aerial vehicle to be flying along the U.S.-Mexico border again in November.

No Teacher Left Behind

2006-09-26T11:29:00.000-06:00

A new report shows educators to be woefully unqualified.

Friday, September 22, 2006 12:01 a.m. EDT

Schools of education have gotten bad grades before. Yet there are some truly shocking statistics about teacher training in this week's report from the Education Schools Project. According to "Educating School Teachers," three-quarters of the country's 1,206 university-level schools of education don't have the capacity to produce excellent teachers. More than half of teachers are educated in programs with the lowest admission standards (often accepting 100% of applicants) and with "the least accomplished professors." When school principals were asked to rate the skills and preparedness of new teachers, only 40% on average thought education schools were doing even a moderately good job.

The Education Schools Project was begun in 2001, with foundation funding, to analyze how America trains its educators and to offer constructive criticism. Its report card this week is significant for two reasons. First, it is based on four years of broad and methodical research, including surveys of school principals and of the deans, faculty members and graduates of education schools. In addition, researchers studied programs and practices at 28 institutions. No matter how many establishment feathers get ruffled by the results of these inquiries, miffed educators can't easily brush off the basic findings: There are glaring flaws and gaps in our teacher-training system.

DHS Issues Cyber Storm Report

2006-09-25T08:12:00.000-06:00

The Homeland Security Department has issued its report on Cyber Storm, the first national cyber exercise, which was held in February. The report’s eight findings primarily address information sharing.

Air Force Chief: Test Weapons on Testy U.S. Mobs

2006-09-25T08:11:00.000-06:00

“Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary [Michael Wynne] said Tuesday,” reports the Associated Press. “… Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said” Wynne. “‘If we’re not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation.’”

More Muslims Arrive in U.S., After 9/11 Dip

2006-09-25T08:10:00.000-06:00

The events of Sept. 11 transformed life for Muslims in the United States, and the flow of immigrants from countries like Egypt, Pakistan and Morocco thinned sharply,” reports the New York Times. “But five years later, as the United States wrestles with questions of terrorism, civil liberties and immigration control, Muslims appear to be moving here again in surprising numbers, according to statistics collected by the Department of Homeland Security and the Census Bureau.… More than 40,000 [Muslims] were admitted last year.”

Russia Links Chechen Separatists and al-Qaeda

2006-09-25T08:09:00.000-06:00

Since 9/11, Russian officials have repeatedly made implicit connections between Chechen separatists and Al-Qaeda,” reports Radio Free Europe. “ … Afghan and Arab fighters have routinely been reported as battling alongside separatist forces in Chechnya. Chechen militants, likewise, have allegedly been found among terror cells in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Central Asia, and, more recently, Iraq.”

Great WebLogs ...MilBloggers

2006-09-24T23:27:00.000-06:00

Online Master’s Degree in Homeland Security (Classes begin monthly; Charles Town, WV)

2006-09-22T12:11:00.000-06:00

American Military University’s homeland security program covers areas of study such as crisis management, emergencies and disasters, intelligence methods, terrorism, transportation security, and weapons of mass destruction. The university serves more than 15,000 civilian and military students worldwide. It also offers degrees in emergency and disaster management, intelligence, security management, and transportation and logistics management. Register for October classes through September 25.

Boeing Gets $2.5 Billion Secure Border Contract

2006-09-22T12:08:00.000-06:00

Boeing Co. won an order worth an estimated $2.5 billion to install sensors and radar to secure the U.S. border, capturing the Homeland Security Department’s second-largest contract,” reports Bloomberg. The contract is part of the Secure Border Initiative Net (SBInet), and “the work will cover northern and southern borders, starting with a model to be deployed in the southwest in the next eight months.” Boeing’s selection “hinges on overcoming obstacles that doomed past efforts, funding shortages and other problems with the country’s immigration controls,” reports the Washington Post. “… Technology and management problems … have derailed similar remote-sensing networks.” Furthermore, “as much as half of the illegal-immigration problem is driven by the hiring of people who enter the United States through official border points but use fraudulent documents or overstay visas.

White House Clarifies Claims on Iraq–al-Qaeda Link

2006-09-22T12:06:00.000-06:00

When President Bush told a press conference on September 25, 2002, that Iraq and al-Qaeda “work in concert,” he was not drawing an operational link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, the White House said last week, responding to a September 15, 2006, story in the Washington Post citing a new report by the Senate Intelligence Committee (see last week’s newsletter). The same Post story said that “bin Laden had no Iraq ties,” according to the Senate report. But CIA Director George Tenet did testify in 2003 that Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda, says the White House. He said that al-Qaeda operatives were “operating freely” in Baghdad. [View press release]

Air Marshals Ousted Over Job Injuries

2006-09-22T12:05:00.000-06:00

The size of the federal air marshal force has been cut in half by on-the-job injuries that have sidelined nearly 2,100 marshals, while squabbling prevents health and safety policies from being implemented, government officials say,” according to the Washington Times. “Marshals say medical staffers are quitting the” force “out of frustration as hundreds develop illnesses related to their heavy flying schedules such as barotrauma, decompression sickness that causes ruptured eardrums and sinus conditions often requiring surgery. They are also developing deep vein thrombosis, a disease attributed to long periods of sitting that causes blood clots, usually in the legs, that could lead to cardiac arrest.… Policies to prevent such injuries or to determine sick leave and light duty for injured marshals are being held up by fights over wording and punctuation, said one air marshal. Others say they were fired for their disability then denied workers’ compensation.

Woman Faces Death for Jordan Bombings

2006-09-22T12:03:00.000-06:00

Seven people were sentenced to death Thursday for triple hotel bombings that killed 60 people in Jordan’s capital last November, the country’s deadliest terror attack in recent memory,” reports the Associated Press. “The only defendant in custody was a 35-year-old Iraqi woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, who confessed on Jordanian television shortly after the blasts that she intended to carry out a suicide attack on one of the Western hotels. Six others, including another Iraqi woman, were sentenced in absentia and remain at large.

Judging the Iranian Threat: 20 Questions We Need to Answer

2006-09-22T12:01:00.000-06:00

Iran's actions in the last year have unsettled many around the world, provoking an active and rich debate as to how nations should best respond. Embedded in this debate are widely divergent assumptions, assessments, and conclusions about Iranian intentions and Iranian actions.

To add clarity and intellectual rigor to this debate, CSIS has prepared a list of issues — "20 questions" — intended to highlight these points of divergence. Few people will agree on the answers to all 20 questions. They differ sometimes on the basis of fact, and other times on the basis of judgment. Yet, it is precisely those answers that determine both the threats and opportunities contained in Iran’s actions and the world’s potential responses.

In the interest of promoting a healthy debate on these issues, CSIS has not only laid out the questions, but it has also prepared two opposing responses for each question to help illustrate the vibrancy of the debate. Although CSIS as an institution has no position on these questions, the wide range of experts at CSIS provides equally wide-ranging analysis.

U.S. and Russia Sign Protocol on Plutonium Disposal

2006-09-22T11:57:00.000-06:00

On September 15, the United States and Russia signed a protocol for resolving liability issues in converting excess weapon-grade plutonium into forms unusable for weapons. The protocol is key to cooperation in converting 34 metric tons each of excess plutonium, enough for more than 16,000 nuclear weapons. Also last week, the U.S.-Russia Working Group on Counterterrorism met in Washington, DC, for its 15th session.

US-Russia effort to contain nuclear experts fades

2006-09-22T11:54:00.000-06:00

MOSCOW AND BOSTON – At a Moscow conference in 2000 on stopping the global migration of nuclear-weapons know-how, a Russian security official revealed that Taliban envoys had tried to recruit a Russian nuclear expert.
That expert didn't go to work for the Afghan regime. But three of his colleagues did leave their institute for other nations - and Russian officials had no idea which ones, US experts say.

With the threat of nuclear terrorism looming large in a post-9/11 world, the brain drain of Russian nuclear expertise is an even more critical concern than it was six years ago, many say. Yet a unique 1998 US-Russian partnership to offer new opportunities and skills to destitute Russian nuclear specialists living in remote former-Soviet "science cities" is set to expire Friday unless last-minute diplomacy saves it.

Terror Timeline

2006-09-12T10:18:00.000-06:00

This is a great timeline for terror attacks 2001-2006

National Strategy for Combating Terrorism

2006-09-12T10:16:00.000-06:00

September 2006:

The Latest Relesase of the "National Strategy to Combat Terrorism"

9/11 Five Years Later:

2006-09-12T10:13:00.000-06:00

Though America and its allies are safer since 9/11, we are not yet safe. We have important challenges ahead as we wage a long-term battle not just against terrorists, but against the ideology that supports their agenda.

Stronger Actions Needed to Mitigate Risks of the Visa Waiver Program

2006-09-11T21:34:00.000-06:00

GAO Report

GAO-06-916;

2006-09-11T21:31:00.000-06:00

Share the Roade Safely.
Long Haul trucking safety Plan

Chase Tosses Personal Information on 2.6 Million Credit Card Holders

2006-09-11T21:29:00.000-06:00

Chase Card Services said it mistakenly tossed out computer tapes with the personal information of Circuit City card holders. It said it believes the tapes, inside a locked box, were compacted, destroyed and buried in a landfill.

Click here to visit FOXBusiness.com's Identity Theft Center.

"We deeply regret that this has occurred and apologize to those impacted," Chase Card Services Chief Executive Rich Srednicki said in a statement.

In the past year, several U.S. companies have reported lost or stolen personal data on customers and employees. One of the largest mishaps happened at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which said in May that data on 26.5 million veterans was stolen.

Chase said it has begun notifying customers and is monitoring affected accounts and has not identified any misuse of personal information. A free, one-year credit monitoring service is being offered to individuals whose social security number was on the thrown out tapes.

Credit card companies form security council

2006-09-11T21:27:00.000-06:00

Five major credit card companies have teamed up in the interest of creating better security.

American Express, Discover Financial Services, JCB, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa International announced Thursday the creation of an organization to develop and maintain security standards for credit and debit card payments. It's the first time the five brands have agreed on a single, common framework.

HazMat Spill In North Collins

2006-09-11T21:25:00.000-06:00

North Collins, NY (WBEN) - A chemical spill at a manufacturing plant in North Collins has forced the evacuation of the plant, and the lockdown of a nearby school.

Erie County emergency personnel tell WBEN that it appears 250 gallons of hydrochloric acid spilled inside the Crescent Manufacturing plant on Eagle Street this morning.

Hazardous materials crews, fire firefighters and other emergency personnel spent most of the day at the scene cleaning things up, but there are no reports of any injuries. A nearby school was briefly locked down as a precaution.

It appears a valve failure caused the acid to spill. All of the acid was contained to the inside of the building.

Anger from House spatters BP leaders

2006-09-11T21:22:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON — BP America's top executives were rebuked by lawmakers for a string of missteps, which preceded a major March oil leak in Alaska, during a hearing Thursday that saw one company official refuse to testify for fear of self-incrimination.

House members seemed dumbfounded that the energy giant had failed to do a common check for pipeline corrosion for several years, even after a draft audit ordered by Alaska recommended the procedure.

FBI Sees Homegrown Terror Threat in U.S.

2006-09-08T11:11:00.000-06:00

“FBI Director Robert Mueller sees a rising threat from homegrown terrorists but cautions that foreign groups are far from vanquished and still consume more bureau resources,” reports the Associated Press. “… FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said, ‘Many, if not most, of those cases are dealing with material support for terrorism. These are not bomb-throwers; these are people out there raising money or recruiting.’”

Technical Cyber Security Alert TA06-220A

2006-08-30T15:42:00.000-06:00

Overview
Microsoft has released updates that address critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Office, Works Suite, Visual Basic for Applications, and Internet Explorer. Exploitation of these vulnerabilities could allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service on a vulnerable system.

The update for MS06-040 addresses a critical vulnerability in the Windows Server service (VU#650769). We have received reports of active exploitation of this vulnerability.

Genomic Signatures of Human versus Avian Influenza A Viruses

2006-08-30T15:39:00.000-06:00

Pandemic influenza A virus infections have occurred 3 times during the past century; the 1957 (H2N2) and 1968 (H3N2) pandemic strains emerged from a reassortment of human and avian viruses (1). Recently, all 8 genome segments from the 1918 (H1N1) influenza A virus were completely sequenced. The results indicate that the 1918 pandemic virus may not have emerged by a reassortment of avian and human virus as did the 2 other pandemic strains. Although the 1918 H1N1 is not considered an avian virus, it is the most avianlike of all mammalian influenza viruses (2,3). The recent circulation of highly pathogenic avian H5N1 viruses in Asia from 2003 to 2006 has caused >90 human deaths and has raised concern about a new pandemic (4). Therefore, we need to understand what genetic variations could render avian influenza virus capable of becoming a pandemic strain. Genomewide comparison of human versus avian influenza A viruses would show the evolutionary similarities and differences between them and thus provide information for studying the mechanism of influenza viral infection and replication in different host species.

Chad president orders Chevron, Petronas to leave

2006-08-30T15:36:00.000-06:00

Saturday August 26, 11:04 pm ET
By Betel Miarom

N'DJAMENA (Reuters) - Chad ordered U.S. energy giant Chevron and Malaysia's Petronas on Saturday to leave the country within 24 hours for failing to honor tax obligations, a move apparently aimed at increasing control over its oil output.
"From tomorrow, the representatives of Chevron and Petronas must leave Chad and close their offices," President Idriss Deby told a government meeting.

The companies had been asked this month to honor corporate tax obligations. "Unfortunately, the government has received no reaction from the two partners," Deby said.

The surprise move followed Chad's decision to create a new national oil company which it said should become a partner in the country's existing oil-producing consortium, led by U.S. major Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM - News) and including Chevron and Petronas.

Petronas (PETR.UL) holds 35 percent of the consortium, Chevron (NYSE:CVX - News) 25 percent, and Exxon the remaining 40 percent.

"Chad with Exxon will manage its oil while waiting to find a solution with the two other partners," Deby said.

Landlocked Chad, which began pumping crude in 2003, produces around 160,000-170,000 bpd but most of its people remain poor.

Industry experts said Deby's government was clearly anxious to carve out a more advantageous position as Chad's oil production, which began in 2003, continued to expand.

"Chad must get involved in the production of its oil to control its wealth and develop and increase its participation in the (consortium) pipeline," Deby said, referring to a 250,000 barrels per day pipeline to the Cameroon coast.

Under the 1988 agreement with the foreign consortium, Chad gets 12.5 percent of the wellhead value of total production, before quality discount and the cost of sending it through the pipeline to Cameroon's Kribi terminal.

"In less than three years of exploitation, the consortium has earned $5 billion for a $3 billion investment. In contrast, Chad has just received crumbs: $588 million," Deby said.

All 11 Missing Egyptian Students Now in Custody

2006-08-18T08:33:00.000-06:00

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested the last two of the 11 Egyptian nationals who were part of a group that entered the United States last month (see last week’s newsletter) and who failed to show up for a scheduled academic program at Montana State University. They were charged with immigration violations as out-of-status students. Preliminary investigation has not identified any credible

Judge Nixes Warrantless Surveillance

2006-08-18T08:32:00.000-06:00

U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor in Detroit “ruled Thursday that the government’s warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it,” reports the Associated Press. “… she says [it] violates the rights to free speech and privacy as well as the separation of powers enshrined in the Constitution.”

Central Bank of Nigeria Requires Reporting of Suspicious Transactions

2006-08-18T08:30:00.000-06:00

The Central Bank of Nigeria “has said any bank which fails to report any suspicious and unusual transaction relating to terrorism would be charged as an accessory to the offence of terrorism,” reports Lagos, Nigeria, This Day. “According to the apex bank, reports of such transactions must be made to the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.” Suspicious and unusual transactions “include potential financing of terrorism,” and terrorism “financing encompasses the use of legitimate or clean funds to commit or attempt to commit, facilitate or participate in the commission of both national and international terrorism.”

Liquid Explosives Expose Aviation Weak Spot

2006-08-18T08:29:00.000-06:00

Last week’s thwarted terrorist attack “struck at the core of a fundamental weakness in aviation security around the globe: the inability to spot explosives made from seemingly harmless ingredients,” reports USA Today. The explosive the terrorists chose reportedly was “hexamethylene triperoxide diamine (HMDT) and is based on hydrogen peroxide. Common liquids found in the home, including hair bleach and food preservatives, could be processed, then combined on board a plane after takeoff, to make HMDT. The typical methods used to detect explosives at airports--swabs that test the exterior of luggage and explosive detection machines--would largely be useless against such ingredients. Dogs … can only detect chemicals they have been trained to recognize” and “may not be able to detect chemical components of a bomb.” And “it is likely to be years before a method of detecting liquid explosives is in widespread use at U.S. airports …” according to another USA Today story. “‘The difficulty is not detecting such chemicals at screening checkpoints,’ [Homeland Security Secretary Michael] Chertoff wrote … ‘It’s that existing detection processes either yield substantial false positives or require items to be screened one at a time.’

Martyrdom Video Discovered at UK Suspect’s Home

2006-08-18T08:28:00.000-06:00

“A ‘martyrdom video’ apparently recorded by a [would-be] suicide bomber was found at one of the raided addresses in the UK as police continued to question 24 terrorist suspects linked to the plot to blow up US-bound flights from London,” reports the Press Trust of India.

Pakistan Arrests Seven in UK Bomb Plot

2006-08-18T08:26:00.000-06:00

“Pakistan officials say they arrested seven people, including at least two Britons, over an alleged plot to blow up US-bound aeroplanes from Britain,” reports Aljazeera. “Pakistan’s foreign ministry said [last] Friday that arrests made in Pakistan had triggered arrests in Britain on August 9 and 10. It named British national Rashid Rauf as a ‘key person’ who had been arrested in Pakistan. The Britons, both of Pakistani descent, were seized last week and provided vital information that helped to expose the plot while five local ‘facilitators’ were arrested separately.”

Covert channel tool hides data in IPv6

2006-08-15T23:34:00.000-06:00

The tool, dubbed VoodooNet or v00d00n3t, uses the ability of most computers to encapsulate next-generation network traffic, known as Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6), inside of today's network communications standard, or IPv4. Because most security hardware appliances and host-based intrusion detection programs have not been programmed to inspect IPv6 packets in depth, data can bypass most network security, said independent security researcher Robert Murphy, who presented the tool at the DEFCON hacking conference last weekend.

"Most network hardware only knows to pass the traffic along," Murphy said. "For example, the Windows firewall does not handle IPv6 so these packets pass right though."

FBI: No terror threat to Michigan bridge

2006-08-15T23:28:00.000-06:00

Authorities had increased patrols on Michigan's five-mile-long Mackinac Bridge after local prosecutors said investigators believed the men were targeting the span.

Local authorities didn't say what they believed the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, but Caro's police chief noted that cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators.

The FBI issued a news release Monday saying there is no imminent threat to the bridge linking Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

The release also said the FBI had no information indicating that the men, Palestinian-Americans living in Texas, had any direct links to any known terrorist groups or to the alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic jetliners that was announced in London last week.

Mobile phone scare on BA flight

2006-08-15T23:26:00.000-06:00

Flight BA179 returned to the airport after the mobile phone was heard ringing at the back of the plane. None of the 217 passengers on board the plane appeared to own the phone.

Mobile phones, along with all items of hand luggage except the bare essentials, were banned from flights Thursday after a plot to bomb transatlantic flights was foiled.

These restrictions are now being eased with full effect from Tuesday. (Full story)

BA's security team at Heathrow were consulted about the mobile phone incident and decided it was safe for the plane to continue its journey. However, the captain turned back as a precautionary measure.

A businessman who was among the passengers told BBC News 24: "When the plane took off a mobile phone started ringing.

"One-and-a-half-hours later the captain made the decision, having spoken to his company, that we needed to come back."

A BA spokeswoman said the flight, BA 179, took after again at 1.45 a.m. and was due to arrive at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport at 4.15 a.m. (0815 GMT.)

Fifth Third Bank warns customers of e-mail con

2006-08-15T23:24:00.000-06:00

Fifth Third Bank (Northwestern Ohio) and its online customers are the latest victims of increasingly sophisticated "phishing" schemes that attempt to extract personal information from people who are unaware banks don't ask for it through e-mails.

Since early July, would-be thieves have sent fraudulent e-mails claiming Fifth Third's technical department is doing a scheduled software upgrade and asking recipients to click onto a link, where they then are asked to provide personal information.

"We have been immune to this for a long time, but now we're a target," said Karen Fraker, senior vice president at the bank.

She added: "It sounds really legitimate."

Fifth Third, however, and other local financial institutions - including Sky Bank, National City Bank, and KeyBank - don't ask for personal information via e-mail, officials said.

UK Bomb Plot "Wake-Up" Call to Terror Financing

2006-08-15T23:21:00.000-06:00

By Thomas Atkins

ZURICH (Reuters) - The world's top money laundering watchdog on Friday called on countries to intensify measures to combat the financing of terrorism in the wake of the UK bomb plot and called Britain's efforts exemplary.

Alain Damais, executive secretary of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), said the thwarted attack served as a reminder to countries to intensify anti-terror finance measures designed to choke off funds to militants.

"This is again a kind of wake-up call for all the countries around the world to implement the measures," Damais said in a telephone interview. "The financial system can always be abused."

USAF Looks To Beef Up Capability Against Insurgents And Terrorists

2006-08-15T23:19:00.000-06:00

By Michael Fabey
08/14/2006 09:39:28 AM

The U.S. Air Force has launched an initiative to look at developing or modifying its fleet structure to better fight insurgencies and terrorist operations.

While the service itself has remained officially mum on the subject, Air Force leadership has been reaching out to experts in the field to see what needs to be done to better equip the service for such battles and operations. The service recently directed the RAND Corp. to do a study on counter insurgency (COIN) aircraft needs as part of RAND's Project Air Force program.

RAND completed the unclassified report - "COIN Aircraft Systems for the USAF and Friendly States Facing Insurgencies" - in June. In the study, RAND says there will be a need for such a capability for some time to come. "Insurgencies are likely to be an enduring feature of the international security environment," the report says.

The Air Force is flying COIN missions with aircraft designed for other purposes, but aircraft specifically designed for COIN would be better, according to RAND. Some of their advantages, the report says, include effectiveness, operating economics, flexibility to perform other missions, and the ability to equip friends and allies confronting insurgencies.

Such a study and capability are needed, especially now, analysts say.

"I would hope and expect that the Air Force is spending considerable energy on figuring out how to best leverage airpower to counter insurgents and terrorists," said Christopher Bolkcom, aviation expert for the Congressional Research Service. "Many in Congress may question the wisdom of future Air Force budgets unless they include investments that clearly contribute to fighting non-state actors.

"Many are also wary of putting old wine in new bottles, such as re-inventing expensive Cold War-era programs as 'centerpieces in the global war on terror,'" he said.

COIN aircraft

Some COIN-type aircraft and missions include propeller-driven or jet trainers for light attack, helicopters, ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) aircraft, light transport, utility and armed unmanned aerial vehicles, RAND said.

"The main appeal of twin-engine turboprops in counter-insurgency warfare is that they can land at airstrips that are too small to handle larger planes and too distant to be reached by helicopters," said Loren Thompson, aviation expert at Lexington Institute. "However, such airstrips make up a relatively small portion of the destinations to which special operators are typically headed, raising doubts about whether the present enthusiasm for twin-engine propeller planes will be sustained."

In the case of the Special Operations Command, "it's hard to understand why an organization already buying the C-130, the V-22 tiltrotor and the next-generation combat search and rescue helicopter [CSAR-X] also needs a twin-engine turboprop," Thompson continued. "It sounds like special operators are 'overkilling' the short-hop airlift mission while neglecting more pressing needs.

"No matter how light a turboprop is, it will never match the vertical agility of a helicopter, and it is unlikely to prove as versatile as a tiltrotor," Thompson said. "Furthermore, it will be less survivable and less capable than a C-130 in the vast majority of operational scenarios."

Assessing risks

There are some risks to developing specially designed COIN aircraft, RAND says. They can be less robust and flexible than other aircraft, involve cost and technical risk, and demand sophisticated mission equipment.

And while other aircraft can be modified to do many COIN missions, Teal Group Vice President Richard Aboulafia says, the same often is not true for aircraft specifically designed to fight insurgents. But developing specially designed COIN fleets could have benefits for the United States in the international arena, RAND contends.

While developing specialized fleets could help the United States foster and maintain good relations with other countries, RAND points out that foreign ability to afford, operate, and maintain those forces will vary widely.

Some of the issues faced by foreign countries include major materiel and personnel deficiencies; limited funds; varying degrees of modernization; and mixed success assimilating new equipment, RAND reported.

Another blackout unlikely, but conservation needed

2006-08-15T23:18:00.000-06:00

CTV.ca News Staff

Three years after tens of millions of people were left in the dark by a massive power outage, people still share memories of the blackout of 2003 and watchdog groups call for more conservation efforts.

Fifty million people in Ontario, New York and the New England states plus the upper U.S. Midwest suddenly found themselves in a world without electricity at 4:11 p.m. Eastern Time on Aug.14, 2003.

Despite the massive blackout, Toronto did not plunge into mayhem. Instead, people described a sudden camaraderie with their neighbours, and even moments of fun.

"It was fantastic, it was my birthday," one man told CTV's MairiAnna Bachynsky. "We walked up to Eglinton and Yonge, sat at a bar and grabbed beer out of a cooler. ... It was fantastic."

The failure happened as temperatures hung around 31.9 C, but felt more like 36 C with the humidex factored in.

A 345-kilovolt line at the FirstEnergy EastLake plant in Ohio went down, starting a chain reaction that took a mere nine seconds to collapse the entire electricity grid.

A Canada-U.S. joint task force report said that "major and unsustainable burdens" were placed on other power lines after the first failure. Soaring daytime temperatures were already overloading the grid when the first power line went down.

Poor maintenance and monitoring of the electricity grid in Ohio were blamed for the outage, but the experience has been a catalyst for change within Ontario's power system.

The Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO) in Ontario says new rules and standards were adopted after the blackout, and an agency established to make sure the rules are followed.

"If companies are in non-compliance, then there are penalties associated with that," IESO spokesperson Terry Young said. "Penalties that can also mean that companies won't be able to operate in this market."

Energy watchdogs say a repeat of 2003 is unlikely because utilities have made improvements.

"All of the major transmission utilities have invested significant dollars in upgrading their system, Tom Adams, executive director of Energy Probe said. "We still have a ways to go but there is meaningful progress."

Hydro One, Ontario's largest utility, has invested heavily in maintenance of the energy grid. The company put about $277 million into capital expenses in its 2007 budget. That represents $100 million more than in 2003.

Planned projects were also kick-started by the blackout. Adams points to the construction of a $45 million underground transmission line in Toronto's downtown core. He says it will improve reliability of the grid across the Greater Toronto Area.

In the U.S. regulatory changes are said to be improving system reliability.

The Reliability Council is responsible for assuring reliability across North America's bulk electricity system. That organization has recently been reshaped into the Electricity Reliability Organization, with legal authority to enforce regulations in the U.S.

"It's a brand new era," David Nevius, senior vice-president of the council said.

"By the beginning of next summer, everything should be approved, all the I's dotted and the T's crossed. There should be mandatory enforceable standards in place."

The council is now looking for similar approval from Canadian jurisdictions.

Young says Ontario will work with the council and abide by its regulations. But he says the challenge continues to be finding new supplies of electricity and transmission facilities.

"We do need new supply, we do need new transmission and we do need demand response, we do need increased conservation efforts," he said.

Ontario's chief energy conservation officer believes residents are willing to cut back if given some incentives.

"It's a bit of fun," Peter Love of the Conservation Bureau said. "Once people try this, it's not that hard."

"We're not looking for people to freeze in the dark. We're looking for them to look at what they're doing in their house and look at how they can reduce it."

Love suggests people use energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulbs and turn down their thermostat by a couple of degrees. He also says people can combat so-called "phantom load" on the system, by unplugging appliances when they are not needed.

Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center 30 Jul 06

2006-07-30T21:49:00.000-06:00

July 28, 2006 --SEATTLE, WA - At least five people were shot - one fatally - at 1903 hours ET at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, Washington, when an American Pakistanian attacked the above site in response to "what was going on in Israel". This followed, among many, a call to arms by Iranian, Al-Qaeda, and Hizbollah representatives to target Zionist and Jewish assets inernationally.
Most recently, on July 27, 2006, in a taped message broadcast by Al-Jazeera, Ayman al-Zawahiri said the terrorist organization would not stand idly by while "these shells burn our brothers." All the world is a battlefield open in front of us," said the Egyptian-born al-Zawahiri, who is Osama bin Laden's deputy. "The war with Israel does not depend on ceasefires. It is a Jihad for the sake of God and will last until (our) religion prevails from Spain to Iraq," al-Zawahiri said. "We will attack everywhere." .........

The Institute of Terrorism Research and Response's Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center (TAM-C) is continuing to monitor Islamic fundamentalist sources for the risk of terror organizations or "lone soldiers" associated with Palestinian cells to target Westerners internationally.

Jewish locations are likely to see more violence, and jurisdictions around the world should increase awareness and proactive measures in the vicinities of religious assets, as in: educational institutions, summer camps, Federations, synagogues and restaurants that adversaries may target. Places in the vicinity of such facilities should reassess their security policies, procedures and countermeasures.

Today's security manager is inundated with information that has happened in the past – too late to react to these events. ITRR's researchers and analysts receive and analyze information from throughout the world, analyze it in the context of the client's needs, and provide information on what will happen in the context of the needs of the specific client.

Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center 25 Jul 06

2006-07-25T22:07:00.000-06:00

July 25, 2006 -- JERUSALEM – The Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center (TAM-C) of the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response has repeatedly identified a potential strategic plan by Iranian government officials to activate Hezbollah terror sleeper cells in New York and other big cities to stage an attack. Over the past number of months this information has come through a number of our sources.

This planned strategy may be a "last resort" tactic by the axis of the Iranian, Syrian governments and Hezbollah organization as the nuclear stalemate with the USA and the battles with the Israeli Defense Forces heats up.
The TAM-C analysts have identified potential threats against Westerners, as well as Jewish institutions globally, as the offensive against the Hezbollah organization continues by the Israel Defense Forces in Lebanon.

So far Hezbollah has limited its activities in the United States to fund-raising and criminal enterprises. The FBI has already taken down two major rings (one in Charlotte, N.C., and one in Detroit) in which members were smuggling cigarettes, Viagra and baby formula. The profits from these illegal sales has gone back to Hezbollah to support their terrorist activity.

The Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center reminds all people responsible for their organization's security that terror attacks generally effect people in addition to the intended target. Action should be taken to protect assets and personnel of organizations in the proximity of potential terror targets.

Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center 20 Jul 06

2006-07-20T23:49:00.001-06:00

July 20, 2006

The date 7/11 is likely to join 9/11 (US), 2/11 (Spain), 7/7 (England) as dates that will live in infamy because of Islamist terror.

On this date, July 11, 2006, very similar to the other attacks, simultaneoous targets were attacked utilizing improvised explosive devices and in some of the cases, suicide bombers. The seven simultaneous bombs were detonated in crowded trains in India's financial capital, Bombay. The death toll was 174 killed and hundreds injured. The method of operation on July 11th was the same method of operation utilized by Al Qaeda operatives that have attacked attacked worldwide, and most obviously employed in the 7/7 London subway bombings. The bombings were just hours after a series of grenade attacks "by suspected Islamist militants" in Kashmir's main city that killed seven people.

The Targeted Actionable Monitoring Center (TAM-C) expects additional attacks under this modus operande in regions where Islamist fundamentalists are present, particularly in Asia and Africa. The adversary has identified transportation venues as a vulnerable target, of which the rail system is a part.
The increase in violence in the Middle East by the Hizbulla and Hamas and under the direction and support of both Iran and Syria, may initiate the activation of sleeper cells implanted in Europe and the United States. As a last resort effort in the war againts the USA's closest allies, the adversary may identify this successful target, the rail networks.

Security personnel should understand and identify the vulnerabilities of their local rail system. This system can be targeted as primary and secondary targets utilizing suicide bomber tactics, and an incident resulting in a hazardous materials incident secondary to an attack.

Access control and target hardening at the asset should be reviewed and counter measures improved to deter and mitigate attacks utilizing similar tactics based on earlier attacks internationally.

Domestic Infrastructure Remains Largely Unprotected

2006-07-20T23:31:00.000-06:00

May 3, 2006—“The federal government is not doing enough to harness the capabilities, assets, and goodwill of the private sector to bolster our national state of preparedness,” concludes a new Council on Foreign Relations Special Report. Nearly five years after the 9/11 attacks, public-private coordination on protecting America’s most critical infrastructure remains stunted. As a result, the nation faces catastrophic consequences when terrorists next strike, say coauthors Stephen Flynn, Council senior fellow for national security studies, and Daniel B. Prieto,director of the Homeland Security Center at the Reform Institute.

Neglected Defense: Mobilizing the Private Sector to Support Homeland Security is the product of a year-long project informed by a working group of senior executives in the private sector. The group found a core assumption of the White House’s 2002 National Strategy for Homeland Security to be flawed:

GAO Report on the Financing for the GWOT

2006-07-20T23:30:00.000-06:00

New study finds lack of preparedness in malls

2006-07-17T14:08:00.000-06:00

By Rhianna Daniels
WASHINGTON--A new study from The Police Foundation suggests that there are significant gaps in preparedness at shopping malls across the nation and recommends relatively inexpensive steps, such as streamlining training for security personnel, be taken to assist in hardening facilities.

The report, which surveyed 33 state homeland security advisors and 120 security directors of the nation's largest indoor retail malls, also found that when it comes to funding, there is very little additional money being spent since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, said Rob Davis, research director at The Police Foundation. Although a majority of malls have emergency preparedness plans in hand, not many have tested it in the field or hold them in cooperation with its retail tenants.

Hizbullah and the Iranian connection

2006-07-16T12:36:00.000-06:00

John R. Cassady, LTC U.S.Army, Ret.

The Muslim extremist President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has repeatedly called for Israel to be "wiped off the map." More recently he said, "We say that this fake regime (Israel) cannot logically continue to live." His comments have drawn widespread condemnation from civilized nations in the world community. Increasing the level of alarm over his outrageous comments is the fact that his radical government is gaining speed in their pursuit of the capability to produce nuclear weapons. Clearly Iran under the radical Ahmadinejad rule fits the classic definition of a terrorist state. They extensively promote, export and support terrorism in the world. His comments about destroying Israel are, in fact, policy among many Mideastern terrorist organizations. They differ in approaches, but nearly all Muslim extremist terrorist organizations (including alQueda) agree that the removal of Israel is the first step in the global Jihad of Islamic Imperialism. Indeed, some international scholars have named Iran a key player in what they call the new "Axis of Islam" growing in the Middle East. They see a sinister force by the uniting of Hizbullah, Iran, Syria, Hammas, the Muslim Brotherhood, elements of Iraquis Shiites and others in an anti-Israel, anti-American alliance backed by Russia.

The Lebanon based terrorist organization known as Hizbullah is an Islamist Shiite group inspired by the Iranian revolution of 1979 and formed soon after. Hizbullah is Arabic for Party of God. It's also known as the Islamic Jihad, Revolutionary Justice Organization, Organization of the Oppressed on Earth and the Islamic Jihad for the Liberation of Palestine. Hizbullah's long range goal is the extension of radical Shiite Islamist ideologies worldwide. Their shorter range objectives are the expulsion of western and Israeli influence and the establishment of an Islamist state in Lebanon patterned after the Iranian Islamic Republic, the destruction of Israel, and the capture and rule of Jerusalem. Hizbullah leaders view the United States as their real enemy. A noteworthy aspect of their ideology is their openness to cooperation with Sunni and other Islamist groups. Study reveals their connections with other terrorist groups include; al-Queda, Hammas, the P.L.O., Fatah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, to name a few. Like al-Queda, Hizbullah's reach is worldwide, extending from the Mid-east to Central and Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. In North America Hizbullah operated and raised funds from Canada until 2002 when Canada finally outlawed them. In the same year two operatives were arrested in North Carolina and convicted of providing material support to a terrorist group. There have been unconfirmed reports of a Hizbullah sleeper cell in Texas preparing to target the U.S. oil industry. The Iranian connection to Hizbullah is especially important since Hizbullah is based in a country bordering Israel. Current estimates indicate Iran provides them more than $100 million annually underwriting social services and military equipment and supplies.

Of all Iranian attempts to export their Islamic revolution, Hizbullah is the most successful. This effectively gives Iran an operational arm bordering their declared enemy Israel. Many of Hizbullah's terrorist operations are conducted in close coordination with Tehran. Another terrorist supporting geographical partner with Hizbullah is Syria. Their relationship is complex and although officially secular, Syria helped the founding of Hizbullah. Syria's aim was to protect their control over Lebanon at that time. Syria supported Hizbullah's undertaking of international terrorist activities in its war against Israel. Massive shipments of weapons were transferred from Iran to Lebanon via Damascus, Syria. The current president of Syria is much closer to the leadership of Hizbullah than was his father.

Hizbullah pioneered many terrorist tactics, including suicide bombing and simultaneous truck or car bombings. They've also developed expertise in building effective explosive devices. Since Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon, Hizbullah has received

enormous amounts of weaponry from Iran. Sophisticated antiaircraft and anti-tank missiles along with over 10,000 medium and long range rockets that place more than a third of Israel within their striking range, have been delivered. It's certainly not much of a stretch to believe that Iran's President Ahmadinejad would like to deliver nuclear weapons to his proxy on Israel's border.

An example of the danger presented by Hizbullah can be learned by looking at their terrorist activities over 20 years.

In the two decades between 1983 and 2003 approximately 64 incidents of terrorism were generated by that terrorist organization. These incidents included but were not limited to kidnappings, assassinations, torture, suicide bombings and other mayhem resulting in about 795 people killed and more than 1407 wounded, maimed or otherwise injured. The targets of the terrorists included both military and civilian personnel world wide. Many of the events were directed at Israel and their citizens, but other nationalities, including U.S. citizens, were also targeted. The most infamous terrorist attack directed at the United States by elements of Hizbullah was the suicide truck bombing of the U.S. Marine Headquarters and barracks of the Peacekeeping force in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983. That suicide attack resulted in the deaths of 241 young Marines and many others injured. A nearby French base was also attacked resulting in the deaths of at least 56 French soldiers, while the exact number of French injured is unknown. Like al-Queda and Hammas, Hizbullah is a radical and lethal terrorist organization based on its own despicable merits. However, when you combine them with the current Iranian government and others, their lethality and capability for mass murder and mayhem increases exponentially as the threat to western civilization increases.

Hezbollah...Fundraising or Security Threat in U.S. ?

2006-07-16T12:34:00.001-06:00

Hezbollah...Fundraising or Security Threat in U.S. ?
By Dennis Lormel

Do the escalating hostilities in the Middle East between the Israelis and Hezbollah cause additional security concerns within the United States (U.S.)? As increasing pressure is placed on Hezbollah in Lebanon, do Hezbollah operatives in the U.S. pose a greater risk of committing terrorist attacks in the U.S.? Hezbollah has a significant international presence with thousands of operatives located throughout the world, to include the U.S.

Since 9/11, Hezbollah has been listed along with Al-Qaeda and Hamas as posing the most serious threat to the U.S. However, unlike Al-Qaeda, who is intent on carrying out attacks in the U.S., Hezbollah and Hamas have been viewed as less likely to do so. The U.S. represents a significant source of fundraising for Hezbollah and Hamas. In that context, Hezbollah and Hamas have not wanted to risk diminishing or losing their fundraising capabilities by alienating their U.S. supporters by carrying out terrorist acts in the U.S. In keeping with that strategy, they did not want to draw the attention to their activities in the U.S. that a terrorist act would generate.

Law enforcement and intelligence services are well aware of the Hezbollah presence and fundraising initiatives in the U.S. Since early 2002, there have been numerous criminal cases successfully prosecuted in the U.S. involving Hezbollah operatives and sympathizers. An internet search under “Hezbollah fundraising” delineates a number of media reports of such cases. The compelling question for law enforcement and intelligence services today is…will the fundraising strategy or mindset give way to a retaliatory posture which thereby would escalate the threat level in the U.S. and make us more susceptible to a domestic attack by Hezbollah? I defer to my former law enforcement and intelligence colleagues to answer this vexing question.

As we well know, Hezbollah is a radical Shia group that was formed in Lebanon. It is dedicated to the creation of an Iranian style Islamic republic in Lebanon. Hezbollah is anti-West and anti-Israel. It is closely aligned to Iran. Iran provides Hezbollah with substantial amounts of financial, training, weapons, explosives political, diplomatic and organizational aid. Syria also provides Hezbollah with support. Somewhere between one fifth to one half of Hezbollah’s operating budget comes from Iran and Syria. Other sources of funding include charitable organizations, individual donations, legitimate business, and illegitimate businesses such as illegal arms dealers, cigarette smuggling, currency and product counterfeiting, credit card fraud, product theft, operating illegal telephone exchanges, and drug trafficking.

Hezbollah primarily generates funding in the U.S. through a variety of criminal activities. They operate in close knit cell structures that seem more identifiable with organized crime than terrorism. The front line cell members not only raise money for Hezbollah, but they keep large portions of their illicit gains and tend to live more elaborate life styles. These operatives are not consistent with the typical terrorist ideologists. That’s why these operatives tend to be more identifiable with organized crime than terrorism. A core group of Hezbollah members are identifiable as ideologists and are more consistent with jihadists. Hezbollah cells in the U.S. are proficient in operating small businesses and using these businesses to sell legitimate and counterfeit goods. They conduct a variety of business and credit card scams, and have made considerable profits perpetrating cigarette smuggling schemes. Hezbollah cells are adept at invoicing schemes, import/export schemes and money laundering through structured deposits.

One of the most noteworthy criminal cases involving a Hezbollah cell in the U.S. was known as “Operation Smokescreen”, a cigarette smuggling, bank fraud and money laundering case. This case originated in North Carolina. Ultimately, 25 individuals were convicted to include Mohamad Youssef Hammoud, the main subject and cell leader. Hammoud was convicted of charges to include providing material support to a terrorist organization (Hezbollah). As a consequence, he was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 155 years.

Law enforcement is currently assessing a business scheme involving Hezbollah cells in multiple jurisdictions in the U.S. The scheme may or may not involve criminal activity but invariably results in generating funds for Hezbollah. Schemes like this are reason for Hezbollah to continue its current track in the U.S. However, emerging developments in Lebanon concerning Hezbollah could trigger violent responses by Hezbollah operatives throughout the world, to include the U.S.

July 16, 2006 02:18 PM Link TrackBack (0)

Hezbollah...Fundraising or Security Threat in U.S. ?

2006-07-16T12:34:00.000-06:00

Iran Threatens Israel With Long Range Rockets

2006-07-16T12:26:00.000-06:00

A senior Iranian military official quoted by the London-based al-Shark al-Awsat Arabic newspaper is quoted as saying Iran has supplied Hizbullah with thousands of longer-range rockets, rockets capable of striking deeper into Central Israel.

The report states that Iran is threatening that if Israel continues the ongoing military assault in Lebanon, the rockets, some with a 150 kilometer (90 mile) range, will be fired into Israel.

The senior Iranian official also stated that dozens of Iranian experts are working in Lebanon with Hizbullah to enable them to successfully fire the rockets against Israel.