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Oil-for-Food: Iraqis "Out" Benon Sevan and Volcker Wants to Question Vincent (UPDATE: Kojo Annan Implicated)
By Andrew Cochran
The Financial Times has just reported that Iraqi officials have told Paul Volcker's U.N. inquiry staff that Benon Sevan, who ran the program, personally intervened to steer lucrative oil contracts to Africa Middle East Petroleum (AMEP), a Swiss-based oil trading company. Documents from Iraq's state oil marketing organisation, Somo, names AMEP as "the company that Mr Sevan cited" to the Iraqi oil minister after Mr. Sevan visited Baghdad in the summer of 1998, and Sevan's name appears thereafter in Somo documents, often next to that of AMEP. Have to wonder who is releasing this; the Volcker report is supposed to be released this week. Also reported separately: Volcker wants to question Samir Vincent, who pleaded guilty to 4 counts in NYC and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department, but Volcker and DOJ can't agree on a plan of cooperation. Interesting that Volcker went public with this - is he setting us up for a weak report and excuses? UPDATE: Kofi Annan's son Kojo admits he was involved, despite a December denial.
U.S. District Court Judge: Guantanamo Tribunals Unconstitutional
By Andrew Cochran
U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green has ruled this morning that the military tribunals used to against most of the Gitmo Bay prisoners are illegal, and the prisoners are entitled to constitutional protections. Story here, the memorandum decision is here, and the order is here. No doubt, the Administration will appeal this ruling.
Interview with Algerian GSPC Commander
By Evan Kohlmann
The online magazine Al-Faath has published a two-part interview with the chairman of the Media Wing of the Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC)--a known Al-Qaida affiliate group active in North Africa. According to Abu Omar Abdul Bir, the GSPC was founded in order to continue the role of the GIA after the GIA leadership under Antar Zouabri became "deviant" during the mid-1990s. Abu Omar scoffed at rumors that the Algerian government is close to wiping out the GIA, and congratulated "our mujahideen brothers in Iraq, [Saudi Arabia], Afghanistan, Chechnya, Palestine, the Philippines, Kashmir, and elsewhere... they are a part of us. We are hurt if they are hurt; what makes them happy will also make us happy."
Click to view English translation (Globalterroralert.com)
Stingy Border Agent Budget Proposal
By Andrew Cochran
In a post on January 25, I said that the Administration's budget proposals for homeland security would have to reach a certain credibility level on the Hill, and that the first reports on the proposed budget for southern border agents were not encouraging. Today's Washington Times is reporting that the proposal to fund one-tenth of the new agents authorized in the intel reform act is drawing fire from current and former agents. Among them is our own Michael Cutler, saying that it's "difficult to understand" why the Administration wouldn't fund more agents in light of recent increases in assaults against Americans along the Mexican border. We don't expect budgetary miracles, but one-tenth of the authorized amount will not meet the credibility test.
Riggs Plea Aftermath: British Ops Sale and PNC Trouble
By Andrew Cochran
The effects of the guilty plea entered by Riggs Bank for violating the Bank Secrecy Act continue. The British branch of Israeli-based Bank Leumi is buying Rigg's UK assets and loan portfolio in London and the Jersey Isles for $37 million (free subscription needed for story). And the Pittsburgh media is no longer "ho-humming" the impact of the plea on PNC's potential purchase, as it did last week. We'll see.
Christians on PalTalk Chat Service Tracked by Radical Islamic Web Site
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
From the New York Sun, Jan. 31, 2005:
Christians on PalTalk Chat Service Tracked by Radical Islamic Web Site
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Special to the Sun
A radical Islamic Web site systematically tracks Christians on PalTalk.com, an Internet chat service on which a New Jersey man received a death threat two months before he and his family were murdered. The password protected Arabic Web site, at the address www.barsomyat.com, features pictures and information about Christians who have been particularly active in debating Muslims on PalTalk.
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One page from barsomyat.com features a group of photographs of a Syrian Christian, "Joseph," who now lives in Canada. Barsomyat.com's users have posted personal information about Joseph, including his brother's parole status, and make clear that they are actively trying to track down his current address.
Subscribers also post explicit warnings to Joseph. One comment states, "Know, oh Christian, that you are not far from us and you are under our watchful eyes!" Another user remarks, "Laugh, oh Chrisitan, and soon you will see a big hit."
Ahmed Paul, an Egyptian Christian and a theology student in America, said he believes Joseph was targeted because he frequently engaged in debates with Muslims on PalTalk. The Internet chat service attracts up to 3 million users a month, and subjects range from movies to music to religion to adult topics -- and some Arabic-speaking users of PalTalk have reported that contentious debates between Christians and Muslims are common in certain chat rooms.
Hossam Armanious, a Coptic Christian from Jersey City, N.J., who was found murdered earlier this month, frequently debated with Muslims on PalTalk. Two months before Armanious's murder, authorities said he received a death threat from a Muslim PalTalk user: "You'd better stop this bull ... or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you." On January 14, Armanious and his family -- including two daughters, ages 15 and 8 -- were found killed in their Jersey City home, bound and gagged with their throats slashed.
Authorities have not determined whehter Islamic extremists are to blame for the Armanious family's murder, nor is there any apparent link between the murder and barsomyat.com's tracking of Christians on PalTalk. However, many barsomyat.com users expressed jubilation at the deaths.
One user posted a photograph of Hossam Armanious and wrote, "This is a picture of the filthy dog, curser of Muhammad, and a photo of his filthy wife, curser of Muhammad. They got what they deserved for their actions in America."
In all, about 40 different discussion threads on barsomyat.com berate the Christians of PalTalk, and there are at least seven collections of photographs of PalTalk Christians. The barsomyat.com discussion threads seem to focus on Arabic-speaking Christians rather than those who speak English.
Barsomyat.com features not only photographs of the targeted Christians, but also attempts to track down their addresses. A post about a Christian man whose computer was apparently hacked to obtain his photograph includes the man's PalTalk name, his real name, and the city where he resides in Lebanon.
Another barsomyat.com entry outlines the relations (both blood and marital) between four Christians who are apparently PalTalk users, posts photographs of them, and then states, "We have postponed publishing this information because there is a lot more to be revealed when the time is right."
Even barsomyat.com's banner displays its hatred of Christians. The banner displays a crucifix crossed out by a violent red "X," and the main heading reads in Arabic, "Christians: Revealing the Truth Behind Our Belief."
Judging by the posts, almost all of barsomyat.com's users are Middle Eastern, and they are predominantly Egyptian. Mr. Paul said that's significant because the extremists on barsomyat.com live in societies where people simply do not challenge Islam and would never dream of insulting Prophet Muhammad.
Mr. Paul, who is an Islamic convert to Christianity, said when Islamic radicals from such societies participate in Internet debates with Christians who live in societies that promote free speech, they are often shocked by the Christians' arguments and view their debating opponents as blasphemers. And in the eyes of Islamic extremists, blasphemers are worhty of death.
Author Robert Spencer, who has been following the Armanious case for his Web site Jihad Watch, described barsomyat.com as "extremely important" after it was shown to him.
"I have never seen anything like this before," Mr. Spencer said. "It's chilling to see photographs of people who probably have no idea that they're on the Web site. Hamas's Web site would post self-congratulatory accounts of their attacks on civilians, but barsomyat.com's users are telegraphiing their intended victims in advance."
Mr. Spencer added that barsomyat.com is a "prime example" of how some Islamic extremists can utilize technology to attempt to bring Islamic religious law to the West.
"We saw in the Theo van Gogh murders that some Muslims will take these kinds of matters into their own hands," Mr. Spencer said. "The Internet makes it easier for them to do so by disseminating this kind of information. You could imagine 15 years ago how hard it would be for people to get this much information on people who they believe should be killed."
Barsomyat.com is registered to Viza-Web Inc., a Web hosting company based in Woodbury, Minn. « Close It
Photo of the Day: Iraqi Election
By Andrew Cochran
On CNN website - AP photo: 
Iraqis Begin Historic Vote Amid Attacks
By Evan Kohlmann
9:15am (Baghdad time): [Associated Press] ...Iraqis voted Sunday in their country's first free election in a
half-century, as insurgents made good on threats of violence with a
suicide bombing at a polling station and mortar attacks in several
cities. Police say the suicide bomb attack in western Baghdad killed one policemen and wounded several people. [Note: MSNBC is reporting that the attack on the polling station was carried out by a suspect wearing a suicide bomb vest]. Heavy explosions and a series of mortar attacks broke out across Baghdad, and in several other cities, including Baquoba, Basra and Mosul, less than two hours after voting began. Two mortars hit near the Ministry of Interior on the city's eastern edge, one witness said. And there were gunfire exchanges in the New Baghdad area in the eastern part of the city. The violence came after insurgents had rocketed the U.S. Embassy in downtown Baghdad late Saturday, killing two Americans. [MSNBC is also now reporting a second suicide car bomb attack outside a joint Iraqi-U.S. checkpoint in Baghdad, killing one Iraqi policeman.]
Update #1, 12:00pm (Baghdad time): News agencies are reporting at least five suicide bombings and nearly 20 dead by noon on Sunday in Iraq. [Reuters] A suicide bomber strapped with explosives blew himself up at a polling
centre in western Baghdad, killing at least four people and wounding
nine, police sources said. Earlier a suicide car bomb killed a policeman outside a polling station
and another suicide bomber on foot blew himself up among voters
queueing at another centre in western Baghdad, causing an unknown
number of casualties. A blast at a voting centre in the Sadr City slums killed at least four people. A mortar attack in southern Baghdad killed at least two and mortar
rounds also rained down and other cities, including Mosul, Baquba and
Hilla, where one person was killed. An explosion hit a polling site in the southern city of Basra, but there was no immediate word on casualties.
Update #2, 7:00pm (Baghdad time): With polls now closed, Iraqi election officials report a 57% turnout and between 35-45 people killed after a rapid series of suicide bombings, mortar rounds, and other insurgent attacks in Baghdad and other cities across the country. According to eyewitnesses, polls were largely deserted throughout the day in many cities of the Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital, particularly Fallujah, Ramadi and Beiji. In Baghdad's Sunni Arab neighborhood of Azamiyah, the district's four polling centers failed to open at all. In Samarra, north of Baghdad, stations were empty for hours, but later hundreds of eager voters showed up. Several hundred people also turned out to vote in eastern regions of the restive Sunni city of Mosul, a hotbed for recent insurgent violence. But in western parts of Mosul, clashes erupted between militants and Iraqi soldiers.
Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq--led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--has claimed responsibility for the following incidents on election day:
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- At least four coordinated attacks on election centers in and around Baghdad - A rocket barrage fired at the protected Green Zone in Baghdad - The destruction of a U.S. armored vehicle in Mosul - The destruction of an Iraqi army Humvee with a large roadside bomb in Mosul - Two separate mortar attacks on the same election center in the Wahdah neighborhood of Mosul - A mortar and small arms attack on an election center in the Al-Nahrwan neighborhood of Mosul - A small arms attack on the election center in the Andalusia neighborhood of Mosul - A mortar attack on the election center in the Palestine neighborhood of Mosul. - Various other alleged operations in Tel Afar, Ar-Ramadi, and the Diyala province
Zarqawi's organization also blamed the U.S. for enforcing a "media blackout" in order to portray an image of relative calm in Iraq during Sunday's elections. In reality, according to Al-Qaida, "the Sunni-dominated regions were the scenes of heated confrontations with the crusaders and the apostates and the elections did not happen there." The group further promised to soon release names of its "martyrs" from today's military operations. « Close It
One Great Site: StrategyPage.com
By Andrew Cochran
In the past two weeks, I've discovered StrategyPage.com, a great site for lots of military and special ops tidbits, hosted by leading military expert James Dunnigan. They post paragraphs almost daily on some aspect of the war against terrorists worldwide - here is one such piece about the ongoing efforts by the Philippines government against Abu Sayyaf and Jemaah Islamiah. I've saved StrategyPage in the "Centers" box in the right sidebar and will post links to new info from them in the "News" box.
Arrest of Suspected Terrorists in France
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Earlier this week, France announced the arrest of a number of Muslims suspected of providing aid to insurgent forces in Iraq. Yesterday, the prosecutor's office released a statement which claimed that the suspected Islamists were plotting attacks on French and foreign targets in the country.
While the prosecutor's office did not elaborate on that statement, details will almost certainly surface as the prosecution proceeds. This story is worth following because in the past we gave short shrift to terrorist plots that failed, and thus missed important clues about what the terrorists may have been planning in the future. With the benefit of hindsight, it's now easy to see the significance of the laptop seized from Ramzi Yousef's hotel room in the Philippines back in 1995 which contained, among other things, a plan to simultaneously blow up a dozen American jumbo jets flying over the Pacific; a plan to dive-bomb an airplane into CIA headquarters; and a plan to hijack a commercial airplane and crash it into a Washington, DC landmark. One can also now appreciate the importance of the December 1994 hijacking of an Air France flight in Algiers by the Armed Islamic Group, which intended to either explode the plane over Paris or else crash it into the Eiffel Tower.
Details of foiled plots can provide important signals of what the terrorists will attempt in the future. And foiled plots are also worthy of our attention because if we focus only on those terrorist attacks that actually succeed -- to the exclusion of those plots that law enforcement is able to break up -- then we may end up underestimating the magnitude of the terrorist threat.
U.S. Embassy Baghdad Blast - Updated (again) for More Arrest News
By Andrew Cochran
US Embassy in Baghdad hit by rocket: 2 dead, others wounded ay U.S. Embassy. UPDATE 1, January 30: U.S. forces on Saturday captured seven suspected insurgents believed to be behind an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that killed two Americans and wounded six. UPDATE 2, January 30, DOD press release on arrests.
Ward Churchill at Hamilton College
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Hamilton College -- last seen trying to hire Weathermen Underground terrorist Susan Rosenberg as a faculty member -- has now invited 9/11 celebrator Ward Churchill to participate on a Feb. 3 panel on "Limits of Dissent?" The panel will be hosted by Hamilton's left wing Kirkland Project for the Study of Gender, Society and Culture. (Click here to see Churchill's academic profile; as pointed out by a reader over at The Corner, Churchill's list of selected publications does not feature a single book published by an academic press.)
The inclusion of Churchill in this panel has kicked up a storm of controersy because of a truly remarkable essay that Churchill authored on September 12, 2001 about the 9/11 attacks entitled "Some People Push Back: On the Justice of Roosting Chickens." The essay is notable for its repugnance; in it, Churchill hails the "gallant sacrifices" of the "combat teams" that struck the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, and asserts that the 9/11 victims got what was coming to them: "The [Pentagon] and those inside comprised military targets, pure and simple. As to those in the World Trade Center: Well, really. Let's get a grip here, shall we? True enough, they were civilians of a sort. But innocent? Gimme a break. They formed a technocratic corps at the very heart of America's global financial empire -- the 'mighty engine of profit' to which the military dimension of U.S. policy has always been enslaved -- and they did so both willingly and knowingly. If there was a better, more effective, or in fact any other way of visiting some penalty befitting their participation upon the little Eichmanns inhabiting the sterile sanctuary of the twin towers, I'd really be interested in hearing about it." The essay is also notable for Churchill's obvious ignorance of the subject matter about which he chose to opine.
The chairman of Hamilton's board of trustees, Stuart Scott, has admitted that the decision to invite Churchill was "a bad one," but has said that the school will allow him to speak "as a matter of principle." For an apt critique of the "free speech" defense of Churchill's appearance, see Roger Kimball's thoughts on the matter. Churchill's defenders would also do well to consider their commitment to free speech when the shoe is on the other foot. Daniel Pipes has written about the many times that he has been protested as a speaker on college campuses (and his various writings on the subject are catalogued here). Those who would defend Churchill's right to speak would, it seems, have no ground to protest Pipes's appearance as a speaker. Pipes is a highly-respected authority with an enormous amount of expertise in studying the Middle East, and represents a viewpoint (staunchly pro-America and pro-Israel) that is sadly lacking in most Middle Eastern studies departments.
Pipes's supporters, on the other hand, would not be trapped in any fatal contradiction by opposing Churchill's appearance. Churchill, after all, is an underqualified academic yahoo whose main claim to fame is embracing anti-American academic chic at every juncture. As OpinionJournal.com recently noted, "his screeds usually attract little notice outside obscure Marxist Web sites." And unlike Pipes, who provides a perspective that is worth considering even if you ultimately disagree with it, Churchill's writing evinces a laughable ignorance of basic fact.
Oil-for-Food: BNP Paribas has problems
By Andrew Cochran
As brave Iraqis make the transition to democracy, investigators continue to pursue the $20+ billion that Saddam Hussein stole from them through the U.N. Oil-for-Food program. Here is one unclassified summary prepared by a congressional committee of the deficiencies in meeting Patriot Act and Bank Secrecy Act requirements at BNP Paribas, the French-based bank that managed the OFF funds, covering the period from November 2001 through July 2004. For instance, in July 2003, regulators found numerous discrepancies in the OFF files. In February 2004, a banking industry group that reviewed BNP's files reported to BNP management that its program to prevent money laundering was "inadequate," and record keeping and reporting were "weak." There is more, MUCH more, on the way from prosecutors and congressional committees.
Interesting, Overlooked news from Africa
By Douglas Farah
Here is one of several reports from the end of last year that friends at Global Witness and other NGOs have passed on recently, pointing to some of the dangerous trends in the relatively stateless areas of Africa where the United States remains almost totally unegaged. Note that Angola has a long, bloody civil war, largely fueled, like those of Sierra Leone and Liberia, over diamonds. What is interesting is that it is on the record and fairly specific in the information.
From AFP, November 27, 2004 Saturday 9:49 AM GMT
LENGTH: 229 words
HEADLINE: Islamic extremist groups recruiting in Angola: intelligence chief
DATELINE: LUANDA Nov 27
BODY:
Two Islamic extremist groups are trying to recruit commandos in Angola to carry out suicide missions outside the southwest African country, the Jornal de Angola newspaper cited the head of intelligence as saying Saturday.
"We have signs... that indicate that at least two internationally known terrorist groups are present in Angola," General Frenando Garcia Miala was quoted as saying.
The two groups which are in Angola are not only trying to recruit members, they also "trying to gather funds for their overseas operations, and are hiding their members who are sought internationally."
"Recently, a religious sect tried to recruit new members to its ranks, preferring former soldiers who specialised in engineering," Miala said in an interview. "No candidate with the desired experience was signed up because the suicide mentality doesn't exist in our culture, especially not when it's for a foreign cause," he said.
"We have also learned that some Angolans have been awarded scholarships by a so-called religious organisation but they were somewhere in Egypt in a centre where they were learning Muslim fundamentalist doctrine," said the general. The four Angolans he was referring to "ran away to Cairo where they were taken in by our country's representatives. They had failed to adapt because they
saw that (Islamic fundamentalism) was contrary to our culture."
New Report on Saudi-Sponsored Anti-American Propaganda INSIDE the U.S.
By Andrew Cochran
Freedom Houses Center for Religious Freedom released a new report today exposing the dissemination of hate propaganda in America by the government of Saudi Arabia. Here is the press release with highlights, and you can download the actual report here.
Riggs sale in trouble? (UPDATE: Maybe not)
By Andrew Cochran
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the sale of Riggs to PNC might be in jeopardy after Riggs's guilty plea yesterday. Maybe it's a negotiating ploy to lower the price, and maybe the end of Riggs won't be as neat as first thought. UPDATE: The Pittsburgh press is reporting that there is no problem.
Ansar al-Sunnah Army Steps up Campaign Against Iraqi Elections
By Evan Kohlmann
Following in close succession to similar statements from Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq and other militant groups, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army has issued two final "ultimatums" to the Iraqi people regarding the upcoming democratic national elections. The statements make clear that Ansar al-Sunnah is intent upon attacking voters, election centers, poll volunteers, and political candidates--even after the election is over. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army appears to be particularly focused on potential election targets in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. It is still unclear how significant these threats of violence will be in deterring Iraqi voters from going to the polls.
Click to view translation of Jan. 27 final ultimatum on the Iraqi elections from Ansar al-Sunnah Click to view translation of Jan. 27 final ultimatum to election center staff in the city of Mosul Click to view Jan. 27 video of Ansar al-Sunnah breaking into an election center in Mosul and blowing it up with a placed charge (as seen on NBC Nightly News)
Update: For those interested, I will be a guest on MSNBC tonight between 5:30 and 6pm EST discussing various leadership figures in Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida faction in Iraq who have been recently captured or killed.
Supreme Court Sending Immigration Message ? Deport Deportable Aliens
By Bill West
Recent Supreme Court immigration related cases make it clear the Court supports treating aliens fairly and humanely and with appropriate judicial due process; but a Somali case originating in Minnesota also makes it clear the Court believes aliens who are finally adjudicated deportable should be removed from the United States and the decision gives wider authority and latitude to the Executive Branch of the Government to do just that.
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The US Supreme Court recently decided that certain criminal aliens who had been indefinitely detained after having final deportation orders rendered against them, because their home countries refused to accept them, had to be released by the Government after a certain reasonable period of time. This decision mostly affected Cuban criminals, some of who entered the US during the Mariel boatlift in the early 1980s.
A fewer number of other nationalities were also facing similar circumstances, such as alien criminals from Vietnam and Somalia. A separate, somewhat different case was pending before the Court involving a Somali criminal from Minnesota who had been a refugee and was subsequently convicted of a crime that rendered him deportable from the US. This case was JAMA v. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Jama was ultimately placed under a final removal order by the Immigration Court, but appealed that order all the way to the Supreme Court, claiming he could not be deported to Somalia because, essentially, Somalia had no viable government and therefore could not officially accept his return.
On January 12, 2005, the Supreme Court, in a 5 to 4 decision, ruled against the Somali alien and decided the US Government could deport him to Somalia notwithstanding the conditions in that country. The ruling, however, is notably broad and affirms the clear meaning of the Federal statute dealing with the Governments authority to remove deportable aliens to designated countries.
An excerpt from the decision is noteworthy:
To infer an absolute rule of acceptance where Congress has not clearly set it forth would run counter to this Court's customary policy of deference to the President in foreign affairs, and would not be necessary to ensure appropriate consideration to conditions in the country of removal, since aliens facing persecution or other mistreatment have a number of available remedies.
The Court made a clear statement, again, deferring to the Executive Branch on immigration related matters and linking those matters to foreign policy. The decision, however, clearly clears the way for the deportation of aliens who are under final removal orders to not only Somalia but to other countries where the aliens may not have acceptance before being deported.
The Court has given the Executive Branch broader immigration enforcement authority with this decision, broader authority that may well factor into the Governments counter-terrorism efforts, since many terrorist-producing countries are not ready, willing or able to accept their deportable citizens back.
Taken in conjunction with its other recent decision requiring the release of long-term detained criminal aliens (who are not deported essentially for foreign policy reasons) the Court may well be sending another clear messagethat the real solution is not to backlog and warehouse illegal and deportable aliens who go through the removal court process and have final deportation orders; the answer is to actually deport them, whether their home countries want them back or not. « Close It
Positive Changes at Key U.S. House Committee
By Andrew Cochran
Rep. Henry Hyde, Chairman of the House International Relations Committee, has announced major changes that, in my opinion, will result in a very forceful role on counterterrorism issues, beyond the current position as the leading House committee in the Oil-for-Food investigation. Highlights: Rep. Dana Rohrabacher will chair a new Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee that will focus on the corruption at the U.N. The corrupt or incompetent bureaucrats at the U.N. who let Saddam steal billions are in for a shock - Rep. Rohrabacher will surely pursue the investigation and proposals for changes in U.N. governance at full speed. Rep. Ed Royce will chair the International Terrorism & Nonproliferation Subcommittee. He is passionate in their desire to defeat Islamic-based extremism and very knowledgeable, having studied the issue for years at that committee and the House Financial Services Committee. Rep. Chris Smith will chair an expanded Subcommittee on Africa, Human Rights, and International Operations. This is bad news for weak-kneed bureaucrats and so-called "allies" who don't keep their promises. I predict that "House IR" will be one of the most energetic committees on the Hill during the next two years.
Dear Readers: Thanks and Invitation
By Andrew Cochran
We completed our third week yesterday. On behalf of the Contributing Experts, I want to thank the thousands of visitors to the site from around the world, especially other experts and analysts. Thanks also for your compliments, comments, and even criticisms. I'm going to add Contributing Experts and new items to the Counterterrorism Library soon. Now an invitation: I have the most trouble finding good public seminars and training events that I can put into that area on the left sidebar. So if you have something planned and you want free advertising, especially in the U.S., send me the details, and I'll post as many as I can.
Hezbollah and the Antiglobalization Movement
By Matthew Levitt
The World Social Forum (WSF) is currently (January 2631) convening a Global Anti-War Assembly in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Among the issues to be addressed are coordinating actions across borders, determining which tactics to use, finding ways of penalizing countries that act as U.S. allies in conflicts like the Iraq war, and building stronger links between the anti-globalization movement and movements in the Arab and Muslim worlds. The Beirut Assembly, the most recent of these gatherings, committed to struggling against what it termed the occupation of Iraq, Palestine, corporate-led globalization, and dictatorships. It also provided some interesting indications that certain elements in the antiglobalization movement are prepared to work with Hizballah. To read the complete report by Ely Karmon, click here.
Houston Chronicle article: Border travelers warned of violence
By Michael Cutler
The article that appeared in Todays Houston Chronicle reported on the fact that on Wednesday, January 26, 2005 the United States Department of State issued a travel advisory to citizens of the United States because of increased violence in the northern regions of Mexico that extends to the border of the United States. The alert stopped short of recommending that Americans not travel to Mexico, but it is certainly incredible that the country that shares our southern border and sends us more illegal aliens than any other country, should be experiencing such extreme levels of violence while the president of that country talks about the need to virtually dismantle the border that separates the United States from Mexico. Additionally, the administration has stated that although Congress has authorized the hiring of an additional 2,000 Border Patrol agents to secure the border, only about 10 percent of that number will be hired. The article can be found at: www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/world/3011137
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The security of our nations borders is critical to the security of our nation. Our politicians speak often and passionately about the need to protect our homeland and, in fact, this administration created a new agency of several component agencies, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which, as its name clearly indicates, was created to secure the homeland. A component of DHS is the Border Patrol, formerly of the INS. Acting on recommendations of the 911 Commission, Congress authorized the hiring of an additional 2,000 Border Patrol agents to help to secure our porous borders through which at least half of our illegal alien population and tons of narcotics enter the United States. The administration has agreed to only fund about ten percent of the authorized 2,000 new Border Patrol positions. Yet, as this article shows, violence is increasing along our southern border. This fact is being acknowledged by the United States Department of State and has caused that agency to issue a warning to United States citizens who might travel to the border region of the United States and Mexico. Clearly this is a paradoxical situation in which the officially stated concerns of a federal agency are not being acted on by the administration. We are fighting a war on terrorism and a war on drugs, both of which require that we do everything we can to secure our borders and yet, the Border Patrol will not be getting the new personnel it so desperately needs.
There is a clear nexus between drug trafficking and terrorism. There have been various articles published outlining concerns that terrorists and members of organized crime groups may well be availing themselves of the services of alien smugglers or human traffickers operating along the borders of the United States to surreptitiously enter the United States. United States citizen civilians living along the Mexican border have begun organizing civilian patrols to attempt to find illegal aliens who violate our nations borders. There have been many reports of heavily armed Mexicans, possibly related to the Mexican military, entering the United States to support drug smuggling engaging U.S. Border Patrol agents in fire fights and yesterday the United States Department of State has issued what has to be considered a dire warning to our citizens about murder and kidnapping being carried out in close proximity to our border with Mexico. It would seem that the administration needs to accept the will of the Congress and hire and every one of the additional 2,000 Border Patrol agents that have been authorized.
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: World
Jan. 27, 2005, 7:21AM
Border travelers warned of violence
U.S. alert cites 'deteriorating security' in northern Mexico
By DUDLEY ALTHAUS and IOAN GRILLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
MEXICO CITY - Amid escalating narcotics-related violence across northern Mexico, the U.S. State Department alerted Americans on Wednesday to the enhanced dangers of crossing the border.
"U.S. citizens should be aware of the risk posed by the deteriorating security situation," said a written statement. "Although the majority of travelers in the region visit without mishap, violent criminal activity, including murder and kidnapping, in Mexico's northern border region has increased."
The department stopped short of warning Americans against visiting Mexico.
But it advised them to take extra precautions, such as visiting border cities only in daylight and avoiding the seedier sections known for prostitution and drugs.
"We certainly do not want at this time to advise Americans to refrain from traveling to Mexico by land or to avoid the border areas," U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza wrote in a separate letter to senior Mexican officials Wednesday.
"But it is our responsibility to alert them to the enhanced risks and to provide guidance on how best to protect themselves."
Mexican President Vicente Fox and other officials have vowed to break the power of the country's drug cartels that earn billions of dollars a year by supplying buyers in the United States. As part of that strategy, army troops and federal paramilitary police have been sent to patrol border cities, most recently this week.
Efforts sometimes backfire
But the government efforts have sometimes helped spawn violence, with rival gangs trying to grab smuggling routes controlled by gangsters who have been jailed or killed.
Garza, a former prosecutor and county chief executive in Brownsville, said that while the Fox government's efforts to confront its drug gangs have been encouraging, the situation had become alarming.
The State Department warning noted that Mexican border communities' police "suffer from lack of funds and training, and the judicial system is weak, overworked and inefficient."
"I worry that the inability of local law enforcement to come to grips with rising drug warfare, kidnappings and random street violence will have a chilling effect on the cross-border exchange, tourism and commerce so vital to the region's prosperity," Garza wrote Mexico's foreign minister and attorney general.
Unless the State Department extends it, the alert will expire on April 25.
A spokesman for Fox withheld comment on the State Department's warning, saying it was "a diplomatic, not a presidential matter." The Mexican Foreign Ministry was preparing a response, a spokesman there said.
Some officials on the Texas side of the border reacted with immediate groans.
"Oh no, that's all we need," said Nancy Boultinghouse, marketing director of the McAllen Economic Development Corp.
Thousands of U.S. citizens cross into Mexican border cities daily to shop, dine or work in the manufacturing plants known as maquiladoras.
The exchange is considered key to the economic health of border communities, which include some of the wealthiest in Mexico and the poorest in the United States.
"We're not going to say there's not a problem there are deaths and killings in all border towns," Boultinghouse said. "If you're not dealing drugs, or involved with the drug cartels, I don't feel you'll have a problem."
But concerns about border violence have been increasing in recent years as rival gangs, sometimes aided by corrupt police and soldiers, have battled for control of the lucrative routes for smuggling cocaine, marijuana and heroin into the United States.
Scores of people have been killed or disappeared along the border. Mexican officials say most victims were somehow connected to the drug trade. But innocent people have suffered as well.
At least five U.S. citizens were killed and as many as dozen others were missing last year in Nuevo Laredo alone, according to figures compiled by the U.S. Consulate there.
A recent advisory issued by the U.S. Consulate in Matamoros said there were 26 drug related killings in Tamaulipas state, which borders Texas' Lower Rio Grande Valley, in the first 20 days of this year.
Prison employees slain
Concerns about border security worsened last Thursday when six employees of a federal prison outside Matamoros were found blindfolded and shot to death inside a sport utility vehicle parked near the facility. On Wednesday, the Associated Press reported that a 650-man security force seized control of the prison.
Mexican officials say the six employees were killed in retaliation for a Jan. 14 government crackdown on gangsters jailed at another federal prison near Mexico City. Osiel Cardenas, the reputed head of the so-called Gulf Cartel based in Matamoros, most likely ordered the slayings, Mexican officials said.
Cardenas has been jailed in La Palma federal prison, about 50 miles west of Mexico City, since March 2003. Until the crackdown at the prison two weeks ago, his cell was next to that of Benjamin Arrellano Felix, one of the leaders of a Tijuana-based smuggling organization.
The two men continued to manage their enterprises from the prison with the aid of corrupt jailers, officials say. Both have been locked in a war with other gangs.
Garza formally complained to the Fox government last spring about the apparent state police torture of a young U.S. citizen accused of murder in Nuevo Laredo.
Mario Medina, 23, of Laredo, was charged on the basis of a confession allegedly extracted under that torture.
Medina was knifed to death in a Nuevo Laredo prison last May.
Chronicle reporters James Pinkerton in Harlingen and Patty Reinert in Washington contributed to this report.
ibgrillo@yahoo.com
dqalthaus@yahoo.com « Close It
Al-Qaida Issues Final Warning Before Iraqi Elections
By Evan Kohlmann
After claiming responsibility for dozens of recent suicide attacks, roadside bombings, and ambushes across central and northern Iraq, Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq--led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--has issued a final warning on the eve of the Iraqi elections: "take care not to go near to the centers of sin and disbelief (election centers) and this is your warning so do not blame us for anything that will happen as a result... We ask the gardens and the virgins in heaven to prepare themselves, and for the Martyrs Brigade to be happy because the wedding of the martyrs is very close.
Click to view English translation Click to view video of Al-Qaida roadside bombing in Iraq on Jan. 13
Riggs Bank, the Arthur Andersen of banking
By Andrew Cochran
It has finally come to this: Riggs Bank, which used to advertise itself as "the most important bank in the most important city in the world," is finally about to plead guilty to a criminal count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and pay a fine of $16-18 million, according to today's news. The Washington Post is reporting that the settlement still enables PNC to buy Riggs and doesn't end the ongoing criminal investigations into directors' actions. The story attempts to put the relatively low fine (compared to AmSouth's $40 million) in context. Others will raise recent stories about a "Riggs-CIA connection" as a reason for the lighter fine and its continued existence. No matter: Riggs is basically finished - it is the Arthur Andersen of banking, and won't exist as a living institution within a year or two. The Andersen breakup was painful to watch, and nobody in official Washington circles reallty wants to kill thousands of innocent jobs over the stupid, possibly even corrupt, actions of senior employees. The Riggs sale will be much neater. The real question is how many other Riggses are there in DOJ's sights?
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Does anybody really believe this is the last such criminal case, when so many other major institutions have been grilled lately by prosecutors and hardcore congressional investigators (try Bank of America, Citi, Bank of New York, J.P. Morgan Chase, ABN Amro, and throw in the NYC branch of BNP Paribas for Oil-for-Food)? Does this begin to remind anybody else of the corporate fraud scandals of 2002, in which DOJ took over the whole issue, with perp walks, indictments, plea bargains, and convictions galore? How many state attorney generals will start suing the banks in trouble on behalf of state pension systems, as they did during the corporate accounting scandals? Could the federal financial regulatory scheme change, now that DOJ could argue that examination after examination by other agencies failed to find all the holes at Riggs and all the other major banks? Should we expect to see consumer groups, liberal do-gooders, and DOJ, with its relevant congressional authorizing and appropriations subcommittees, seek a wholesale shift in BSA examination and enforcement away from the OCC and FDIC to a new structure independent of those agencies with historical ties to the banking industry? Wouldn't that sound like the PCAOB, which was formed under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and took over regulation of the accounting industry from the SEC after it failed to regulate the accountants, as they failed to detect and prevent corporate fraud? Are the Treasury Department and its relevant authorizing and appropriations subcommittees going to do something to plug the gaps and counter what seems to me to be the inevitable political power play? Is that why the FDIC is assuming more examination authority recently, over the objections of the OCC, which is a quasi-independent arm of the Treasury Department? And how are we supposed to hold our head up in the Financial Action Task Force meetings with other countries, when our own system's cracks are showing?
Two points of disclosure: I worked for Andersen 20 years ago as a CPA. And I was the lead counsel for the House Financial Services Committee's investigations in 2002 into the Enron, Global Crossing and WorldCom accounting improprieties, where I explained Andersen's models for Enron's off-balance-sheet accounting and Global Crossing's fiber-optic cable accounting to Congressmen and staff. So I have seen this movie before. « Close It
Saber Rattling in Tehran
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
I've previously written about how Iran continued the long process of back-tracking from its moves toward moderation when Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reaffirmed the fatwa against Salman Rushdie by referring to Rushdie as an apostate whose blood may be shed with impunity.
Many concerns have been expressed about Iran's nuclear program. An Iran armed with nuclear weapons -- given what we know about the nature of that country's regime -- would be bad news for the world. Yesterday, Israeli intelligence announced that it expects Iran's nuclear program to reach the "point of no return" by the end of the year, at which point Iran may be capable of enriching uranium for military purposes.
Iran chimed in today with some saber-rattling. Brigadier-General Mohammad-Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards' ground forces, was quoted today as saying, "We will counter any stupid action by Israel and its master [the United States] with firmness and in an astonishing way." Referring to the 1980-88 war with Iraq, Jafari stated, "We pushed the Baathist enemy from our country within one and a half years. With the experience and skills from that war and in the case of any invasion, the invaders will be defeated in less than one and a half months."
The Bush administration is obviously concerned about Iran's nuclear program. President Bush has said that he could not rule out the use of force if Tehran refuses to rein in its nuclear program, while Vice President Cheney has warned that Israel might launch a pre-emptive strike on its own to take out Iran's nuclear capabilities.
The Foreign Mujahideen "Martyrs" of Iraq: '03-'04
By Evan Kohlmann
During 2003-2004, hundreds--perhaps thousands--of foreign fighters from across the Middle East, Asia, and even Europe traveled to Iraq to join Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and other militants in a jihad against the U.S. and its coalition allies. These men include both trained Al-Qaida veterans from conflicts like Afghanistan, and Chechnya, and also less-experienced but still quite zealous young recruits. A Globalterroralert.com dossier is now available for download profiling a group of foreign mujahideen killed in Iraq during 2003-2004--including top commanders, reputed suicide bombers, and even one of the masked executioners of U.S. hostage Eugene Armstrong.
Click to view dossier on Iraq's foreign fighters...
Is there meat (real money) on the bone (Bush Administration plans)? (Updated)
By Andrew Cochran
Two items in this week's news that are the subject of some discussion and recent concern on the Hill: DHS Secretary Ridge admitted that the 2,000 new border agents authorized in the intel reform act won't be fully funded, and the DOJ Office of Special Investigations, which was authorized to take on new responsibilities in the intel reform act, might not be quite ready for prime time, from what we hear from several sources. UPDATE: Administration plans to spend much more to crack down on undocumented workers and arrest and deport illegal immigrants, but increase Broder Patrol by 210 agents.
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I really hope that the President's new budget goes a long way towards meeting the mandates in the new act. They can't fully fund everything, but there's a credibility test that the Administration will have to meet, which takes extensive discussions with the Hill now. Beyond those offices, I also wonder if they will adequately fund the relatively new Treasury Department Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (linked in the right sidebar), which is supposed to coordinate Treasury's anti-terrorist financing efforts, and its components, which are critical to enforcing the USA Patriot Act. « Close It
A New Designation Points to an Independent Zarqawi Financial Network
By Douglas Farah
The U.S. Treasury Department just designated Sulayman Khalid Darwish, a Syrian, as a terrorist financier. He is the first person to be designated for directly offering financial support to the Zarqawi network (Jama'at al Tawid al Jihad) in Iraq. What is interesting about the designation is that is clearly shows a separate financial pipeline to Zarqawi, one that operates independently of the Baathist elements who finance themselves with Saddam's cash. This separation has been the topic of some debate within the U.S. intelligence community, although my European friends had no doubt about the separation. There may even have been specific times when Zarqawi actually gave financial aid to the Baathists, when the Baathist money shipments were delayed. Darwish was responsible for sending $10,000 to $12,000 to Zarqawi every 20 to 25 days. He also is responsible for recruiting combatants for Iraq, and is an expert in forging documents. Replacing him in the latter operation may be the most difficult and most crucial for the network. While there are numerous replacements for bagmen and recruiters, a good document forger is hard to find.
The separate financial pipeline is important because it not only opens up another front that need to be dealt with in the efforts to cut off funding (as opposed to simply going after the Baathist money), but it also means that the financial needs of the Salafist/al Qaeda/Zarqawi network are growing. I have heard nothing to hint they are having any difficulty meeting these new needs, and that is bad news, indeed.
The rest of the blog can be read here.
Treasury Designates al-Zarqawi & al Qaida Financier - Involved in Jordan Chemical Bomb Plot
By Andrew Cochran
The Treasury Department announced that they designated Sulayman Khalid Darwish, Syrian financier of the al-Zarqawi network and al Qaida, as a terrorist, and will send his name to the U.N. for further action by other countries. Jordan sought his extradition from Syria last August, with no success, for planning the chemical bombing of the Jordanian intelligence building in early 2004 - here's an AP story on that plot at that time.
Hamas Fronts Active in Europe
By Matthew Levitt
Recently released documents siezed from the West Bank offices of charities and other organizations affiliated with Hamas highlight the central role Western front organizations play in financing Hamas. While some documents refer to otherwise innocuous donations such as food packages and holiday packages, many specifically note The project of assistance to the families of the martyrs, the wounded and those who sustained damage. Chief among these Western Hamas fronts are the London-based Interpal and the al Aqsa Charitable Foundation with offices throughout Europe.
For more on these front organizations, clikc here or here.
Malkin Exclusive on plane forced down in Texas
By Andrew Cochran
Michelle Malkin has exclusive details on the plane involving three Arab flight students tracked by the FBI. BIG kudos to Michelle.
Al-Qaida Affiliates Respond to Zarqawi's Call
By Evan Kohlmann
Apparently, the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi audio recording released last week featuring greetings to various terrorist leaders around the world did not go unnoticed. The Algerian Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat (GSPC) has issued a written statement on behalf of its leader Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud thanking Zarqawi and Al-Qaida in Iraq for "pleasing our hearts" by killing "the enemy crusaders and their agents." The message added, "we apologize for not returning your greeting directly by audio but our situation in Algeria is different from what is faced in Iraq, Chechnya, or Saudi Arabia because the mujahideen are entrenched in remote places."
Click to view English translation at Globalterroralert.com...
Questions Concerning Arrest of "Top" Zarqawi Lieutenant in Baghdad
By Evan Kohlmann
Yesterday, Iraqi security forces announced the January 15 arrest of an alleged senior lieutenant of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The suspected bomber in custody, identified as Sami Mohammed Ali Said
Jaaf also known as Abu Omar Kurdi was described in a government
statement as having admitted to masterminding over "75%" of the car bombings in Baghdad since March 2003, including the spectacular truck bomb assassination of Shiite leader Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim in August 2003 in Najaf.
Here's the problem that arises... Jaaf's alleged mea culpa to the Iraqis appears to possibly contradict with the account of Abu Anas al-Shami--Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's infamous former right hand man until his death last September.
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Al-Shami was the only other member of Zarqawi's organization permitted
to distribute his own audio recordings and written statements to the
public. Last summer, in one such treatise, al-Shami lamented the death
of a top Jordanian bombmaker in Iraq killed during the initial U.S.
assault on Fallujah in the spring of 2004:
"He was the one who oversaw the operation that killed the major
traitor Bakr Al Hakim. His name is Nidal Mohammed Arabiyat from one of
the noble tribes of the city of Salt in Jordan where he lived his early
life and then received training and traveled to Kurdistan as a mujahid
and before the fall of the regime he moved to Baghdad and met up with
the brother Abu Musab Al Zarqawi. He was an expert in explosives for
he was the one who prepared most of the cars for the martyr operations
that shook the foundation of the enemy."
Perhaps there is a simple explanation that resolves the apparent contradiction, but if there is one, I'd like to hear it. « Close It
Top Zarqawi Lieutenant Captured
By Matthew Levitt
As noted below, the interim Iraqi government announced on Monday that Sami Muhammad Al Said al-Ja'af (aka Abu Umar al-Kurdi) was arrested in Baghdad on January 15th. He confessed to police that he was responsible for 75% of the car bombs used in Iraq since March.
To read the official Iraqi security press release, click here.
Reminder: Saddam Used Oil-for-Food $$ for Suicide Bombers (Chart of Payments)
By Andrew Cochran
When U.S. Senators debate and vote this week on the confirmation of Dr. Rice to be Secretary of State, they should keep in mind that one clear "collaborative relationship" that Saddam Hussein had with terrorists was through the Oil-for-Food program. In the hearing held by the House International Relations Committee last November 17, Rep. Henry Hyde, committee chairman, stated that "Saddam paid $25,000 rewards to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers through the Iraqi ambassador to Jordan out of accounts in the Rafidain Bank in Amman which held kickback money Saddam demanded from suppliers to his regime." The committee displayed the following chart of the payment scheme, which has, to the best of my knowledge, not heretofore been released on the web (click on thumbnail).

Arrests in Iraq
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Today the Iraqi government announced the arrest of several suspected insurgency leaders. Arrested insurgents include Abu Umar al-Kurdi (arrested on Jan. 15), who Allawi's spokesman Tha'er al-Naqib claims is responsible for 75 percents of the bombs used in Baghdad attacks in the past two years. The Iraqi government also stated that Al-Kurdi claimed credit for a blast that killed Shiite leader Ayatollah Bakir al-Hakim and more than 100 others at the Imam Ali Mosque in Najaf in late August 2003.
Allawi's spokesman Al-Naqib also announced that Iraqi forces arrested Hassan Hamed al-Doulaimi on Jan. 14, a day after he was put in charge of propaganda for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist group.
Washington Institute Launches New Website
By Matthew Levitt
The Washington Institute launched its new website today, including sections dedicated to its Terrorism Studies Program, Iraq, Iran, Syria, the Gulf, Arab-Israeli peace, Turkish Studies, and a variety of other programs related to the Middle East. It includes other useful research tools, such as a source documents section, map section, and much more. The site can be accessed at www.washingtoninstitute.org.
Audio: Zarqawi Declares War on Iraqi Democratic Elections
By Evan Kohlmann
A new 48 minute-long audio recording of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was distributed late yesterday by Zarqawi's media representative, Abu Maysarah al-Iraqi. The recording simply echoes many similar statements that have been issued by Al-Qaida in Iraq over the past month in condemning the upcoming democratic elections and anyone who participates in them. It is still unclear at this time how significantly these threats of violence from Zarqawi and other militant groups will influence the estimated 80% majority of the Iraqi population that wishes to vote in the elections. [CLICK ON THUMBNAIL TO VIEW IMAGE]

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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has declared
"bitter war" on Iraq's landmark elections in a warning intended to
scare away voters a week before they go to the polls amid a raging
insurgency. The shadowy Jordanian militant, who tops America's wanted list in Iraq,
berated the country's Shi'ite majority as "infidels" for embracing the
election and urged Saddam Hussein's once-dominant Sunni minority to
wage a holy fight against it. "We have declared a bitter war against the principle of democracy and
all those who seek to enact it," a speaker identified as Zarqawi said
in an audio tape on the Internet on Sunday. "Candidates in elections are seeking to become demi-gods while those
who vote for them are infidels. And with God as my witness, I have
informed them (of our intentions)," he said. Zarqawi, who heads the Al Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq,
accused Shi'ites of engaging in a plot with Washington to seize
absolute power. "Oh people of Iraq, where is your honour? Have you accepted oppression
of the crusader harlots ... and the rejectionist pigs?" he said on the
audio tape. Zarqawi vowed in an audiotape released on Thursday that militants were
ready to fight for "months and years" to drive out foreign occupiers. A recent recording said to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden backed Zarqawi as the network's leader in Iraq. The latest tape included a tirade against democracy, which the speaker
described as fundamentally un-Islamic and a "lie" the United States was
using to brainwash Muslims. « Close It
Border Badlands
By Bill West
Since the Old West, the US-Mexican border has been a place of intrigue and controversy, with its share of rogues, bandits and smugglers chased by a variety of good-guys with badges on both sides of the border. Now, however, there is an upsurge of violent crime in Mexican border cities fueled by the illegal drug trade and kidnappings for ransom that should cause US policy makers to think twice about immigration reform and give immediate focus to border security issues as they relate to terrorism.
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The Washington Post ran an article on January 22 about crime in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico that should be disturbing to all Americans. For many years now, in Latin American countries like Colombia, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, many people, including Americans, have been kidnapped and held for ransom. Some of those victims have been murdered. In recent years, those kidnappings have been occurring with increasing frequency in the Mexican interior, particularly Mexico City, often attributed to the drug trade and other organized crime. The trend has been that this violent criminal activity is heading north.
As the Washington Post article notes, the kidnapping of Americans in Mexico has now reached the Mexican-US border in a big way. According to the US Consul in Nuevo Laredo, since August of last year, 27 Americans have either been kidnapped or disappeared in that Mexican border city, and 15 are still missing. At least one victim was reported murdered.
What information is available indicates some of the kidnappings may be related to the flourishing illegal drug trade. US citizens headed south who are engaged in the drug business find themselves being kidnapped by their supposed partners in crime. Others are innocent victims of organized criminals and are held for ransom, though the details of individual cases are sketchy since families are reluctant to speak publicly and Mexican law enforcement is too often hampered by corruption or intimidated by the criminals they are supposed to be fighting.
Reports indicate one of the kidnapping gangs is comprised of deserters from elite Mexican military commando units. This gang, called the Zetas, is alleged to be involved in drug trafficking as well as kidnapping for ransom. It should be no surprise that gangs are armed with automatic weapons and grenade launchers when their members are ex-army commandos.
And given the porous nature of the border, is it a surprise when the violence spills over to the US side? As reported by the Washington Post, in December 2003, grenades were thrown into a house in Laredo, Texas and US authorities believe the Zetas gang was involved. Grenades tossed into a home. Not Iraq or Afghanistan, but in Laredo, Texas.
Nuevo Laredo is not alone in this increase in border town violence. As noted in this posting from a US Consular information sheet for Mexico, US visitors to Mexico should be very mindful of violent crime on the border.
CRIME IN BORDER CITIES : Visitors to border cities such as Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo, Nogales, and to a lesser extent Reynosa and Matamoros, should remain alert and be aware of their surroundings at all times. Visitors are very vulnerable when visiting the local "red light districts," particularly if they are departing alone in the early hours of the morning. In Ciudad Juarez, there has also been a rise in automobile accidents in which municipal police extort money from U.S. citizen victims. In Reynosa, police have stopped U.S. citizens for questionable reasons and then forced them to withdraw money from ATM machines to pay fines.
Innocent bystanders are at risk from the increase in drug-related violence in the streets of border cities. In Ciudad Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Tijuana, shootings have taken place at busy intersections and at popular restaurants during daylight hours. Mexican authorities have failed to prosecute numerous crimes committed against American citizens, including murder and kidnapping.
In other instances in border cities, U.S. citizens have been kidnapped and scores imprisoned after getting involved in the sale or purchase of illegal drugs. U.S. citizens are advised to avoid any involvement with controlled substances or those who deal in them.
The US-Mexican border is becoming an increasingly violent and dangerous place. The ability of the Mexican government to deal effectively with this crime and violence has yet to be demonstrated. US law enforcement and Intelligence agencies are very limited in what they can do inside Mexico and are nearly fully dependent on Mexican officials for operational effectiveness, something often perilous.
At a time the Administration and Congress will be considering immigration reform, a great deal of which will affect Mexico and Mexicans, this border crime situation should not be taken lightly in those considerations. Assume for a moment, a new guest worker program is implemented in our immigration system. Just how will our already overburdened immigration authorities weed out during the visa processing a legitimate guest worker from a Zeta gang lord seeking a legitimate entry document into the US, especially when Mexican officials can hardly be relied upon for providing accurate and timely background information?
And from the perspective of the war on terror, it is clear that terrorists thrive in lawless environments. Terrorists are able to move and operate more freely when effective law enforcement and security forces are kept at bay. We are seeing that situation develop in certain locations along our southern border. We already have reports of al-Qaeda seeking operational alliances with Latin American criminal gangs. Can it be long before our radical Islamic terrorist enemies take advantage of the border town criminal chaos in Mexico, or has it already happened? « Close It
Wash Post story on Pentagon intel unit (Update 1/24)
By Andrew Cochran
The networks and newswires are trumpeting today's Washington Post story (free subscription needed) on a "secret" Pentagon intel unit. Here is the Defense Department press release response (no subscription needed), which denies some of the basic points of the story. You can obtain the actual language of the intel reform act and Congress's official explanation of the act in the Counterterrorism Library on our left sidebar. UPDATE: CNN interviewed a "senior DOD official" who expanded on the statement and the unit's role. UPDATE 2, Jan. 24: Sen. McCain wants to hold hearings on the unit. UPDATE January 24: Pentagon Sends Top Intelligence Official to Meet With Lawmakers About Secret Unit.
Oil-for-Food: Second UN official paid by Saddam?
By Andrew Cochran
London Telegraph: Samir Vincent, who pleaded guilty to 4 counts inconnestion with his role in assisting Saddam, claims "that a UN official, who has not yet been named publicly, received cash payments from iraq in 1996." It is a second UN official, not Benon Sevan, former head of the OFF program, who is already under investigation.
FBI press release on Boston-Chinese suspects (UPDATED 1/25)
By Andrew Cochran
Here is the FBI press release on their detainment of one of the Chinese nationals named in previous stories. She has been in custody since last November 11 and appears to have entered the country for "economic reasons." They remain interested in the other 13 suspects, but to quote, "It should be noted that, to date, none of the original and anonymous information linking Mei Xia Dong and the 13 others to terrorism has been corroborated" and "the threat information is uncorroborated and of unknown reliability." FINAL UPDATE: Never mind, the whole thing was a false alarm!!
Al Qaeda intent on attacking shipping?
By Andrew Cochran
There have been various reports since 2001 about al Qaeda's possible acquisitions of ships, and possible attacks against ships in choke points to disrupt commerce. There's an excellent post on this subject, with fresh news, at the EagleSpeak blog.
Armanious Family Killed by Fake Converts?
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
The brutal murder of Hossam Armanious and his family has attracted attention in the New York area and beyond. Last Friday, Armanious, his wife Amal Garas, and two young daughters -- ages fifteen and eight -- were found bound and gagged in their Jersey City homes, with their throats slit. There was no sign of forced entry, suggesting that the Armanious family voluntarily let in their killer or killers.
Suspicions immediately arose that these were religiously-inspired killings carried out by Islamist fanatics. These suspicions centered around the fact that Armanious had received death threats over the internet chat-room service PalTalk, where he frequently debated about religious issues with Muslims. Just two months before the murders, a Muslim PalTalk user had told Armanious, "You'd better stop this bull---- or we are going to track you down like a chicken and kill you." Sources who used PalTalk reported that Armanious refused to back down.
Yesterday, Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch introduced an intriguing -- and potentially important -- new possibility: The murders may be the work of fake converts from Islam to Christianity. A close friend of Hossam Armanious relayed the following to Spencer: "The Armanious family had inspired several Muslims to convert to Christianity or thought they had. These converts were actually practicing taqiyya, or religious deception, pretending to be friends of these Christians in order to strengthen themselves against them, as in Qur'an 3:28: 'Let believers not make friends with infidels in preference to the faithful -- he that does this has nothing to hope for from Allah -- except in self-defense.' It was these 'converts' who knocked on the door of the Armanious home. Of course, the family, not suspecting the deception, was happy to see the 'converted' men and willingly let them in to their home. That's why there was no sign of forced entry. Then the 'converted' Muslims did their grisly work."
It's still too early to draw conclusions in this case. However, the American public at present knows very little about issues surrounding Muslim conversions, and the dangers that apostates from Islam face -- even in the West. Americans may soon learn far more about these issues.
Update on the New Zarqawi Audio and Al-Qaida in Iraq
By Evan Kohlmann
Yesterday, most wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--leader of Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq--issued yet another lengthy audio statement urging his followers to continue the jihad no matter what the obstacles. One part of the recording which I find very interesting--yet has received little coverage in the media--is the finale, during which Zarqawi expresses his wishes of specific goodwill to half a dozen different Al-Qaida-linked terrorist commanders around the world. See excerpts below:
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Mullah Omar, still blabbing away
By Andrew Cochran
Here's a report that Mullah Omar is urging his followers towards jihad, not talks with the U.S. His "spokesman" faxed a one-page handwritten note to Pakistani press today. Guess someone needs to show him the good news on the success of the newly elected Karzai government.
Boston Update: A Tunnel near San Diego? Or Just Payback Time (update)?
By Andrew Cochran
UPDATE, January 21: The mysterious caller who started all this might have revenge on his mind. And the Chinese nationals aren't on anybody's watch list. Here's the latest from the San Diego Union-Tribune, January 21, about the tunnel story and skepticism.
Washington Post article: D.C. Vendor Arrested in Marriage Fraud Network
By Michael Cutler
Immigration benefit fraud is the issue that few, if any people talk about, but it is a very serious problem. The article I am attaching below, which ran in today's Washington Post, reports on a marriage fraud ring that helped men from the Middle East to apply for resident alien status in the United States and was of apparent concern not only to those charged with enforcing the immigration laws at ICE but to the FBI as well. The easiest way for aliens in the United States to overcome any concerns they may have about being deported from the United States or to be barred from returning to the United States if they depart for a temporary period of time. They simply need to acquire resident alien status in the United States and then all of the efforts of the Border Patrol and other enforcement strategies employed by our government to combat illegal immigration will no longer be of concern to them. An alien who is in possession of a valid Alien Registration Card, or Green Card is able to travel freely into and out of the United States. The 9/11 Commission staffers published a volume entitled, 9/11 and Terrorist Travel, Staff Report on the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States which reported in detail on the way in which the malevolent objectives of the terrorists were dependent on their ability to travel extensively, including into and out of the United States. The article can be found here.
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The GAO conducted a study of the problem of immigration benefit fraud roughly 3 years ago and found this to be a serious and pervasive problemthat permeated the immigration benefits program. We have heard much talk about securing our borders by adding new Border Patrol Agents, investing in high tech devices to the border and augmenting the border patrol with the military, but, as I have often pointed out, interior enforcement of the immigration laws is the key to gaining control over illegal immigration. The few people who do speak about the enforcement of the immigration laws from within the interior of the United States, generally the discussion turns to two issues; employer sanctions and the apprehension of criminal aliens and the so-called 'absconders' aliens who have been ordered deported but were then released and they quickly disappeared and are hiding within the large immigrant communities. Employer sanctions is a program in which those who knowingly hire illegal aliens are penalized and, presumably, the illegal aliens found on those jobs are ordered deported. The theory behind this program is that the magnet that draws most of the illegal aliens into the United States is the prospect of securing employment. This program is designed to turn off the current to that magnet. As is the case with virtually everything that we do in attempting to enforce the immigration laws, this program is ineffective because of an extreme lack of resources.
There are members of Congress who wish to significantly increase the number of enforcement personnel who pursue these cases. They also argue against providing driver's licenses and other such documentation to those aliens who are present in our country illegally. I agree with these proposals however, even if we made it impossible for an illegal alien to work in the United States we are overlooking an even more insidious problem; immigration benefit fraud. The fact is that an illegal alien who would not be permitted to work in the United States has two choices, he can go home to his native country or he can attempt to remain in the United States by engaging in a fraud scheme, such as marriage fraud, to obtain the highly coveted 'green card' and then be entitled to work in the United States and gain easy access to our nation's borders. All issues including the investigation of immigration marriage fraud must be addressed simultaneously if we are to gain control over our nation's borders. If you are in a boat that has a number of holes in the bottom of that boat, plugging some of the holes will not keep it from sinking, you must do the best you can to plug all of the holes.
We are engaging in a war on terror in which we are attempting to secure our nation from terrorists. We have seen instances where the terrorists made use of weaknesses in our systems to enter the United States and commit the worst terrorist attack ever carried out within our borders. Our nation needs to confront this problem and provide adequate resources to conduct investigations into the bona fides of applications for immigration benefits and to be able to restore integrity to this process. At present, there is a backlog of millions of applications for immigration benefits. There are serious discussions about a possible amnesty program or guest worker program which would potentially add millions of additional applications to this bureaucracy which is being taxed beyond its limits now.
I would remind you that all 19 terrorists of the attacks of 9/11 entered the United States through ports of entry. The investigations that followed the attack disclosed that the ability to travel freely and 'hide in plain sight' was crucial for them to plan and ultimately carry out the attack. Immigration fraud puts aliens on the path the to obtaining a green card which enables them to gain easy access to our borders as well as the borders of many other countries. That document is second only to a U.S. passport to facilitate their travel. An alien who acquires resident alien status is, in fact, on the path to subsequently becoming a naturalized United States citizen and obtaining that highly regarded U.S. Passport. This hole in the immigration benefits program must be plugged if we are to protect our borders and the security of our nation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22597-2005Jan19.html
washingtonpost.com
D.C. Vendor Arrested in Marriage Fraud Network
By Mary Beth Sheridan
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, January 20, 2005; Page B03
FBI and Department of Homeland Security officers have arrested an Egyptian man who allegedly ran a business from a hot dog cart on 17th and L streets NW that provided American brides for Middle Eastern men seeking green cards, officials said yesterday.
Aabid Shoeib, an illegal immigrant, was detained at his home Tuesday in the 1900 block of Ninth Street NW, Homeland Security officials said. According to a criminal complaint, he is believed to have arranged at least 100 phony marriages. Two others accused of involvement in the scheme, a U.S. citizen and a legal resident originally from Egypt, also were arrested.
"These individuals are charged with operating a well-organized marriage fraud network that allegedly helped 100 to 200 people obtain immigration status in this country illegally. We view this type of fraud as a homeland security vulnerability that can be exploited," said Dean Boyd, spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of Homeland Security.
Agents have raided Shoeib's home in search of records of the alleged fraudulent marriages.
The three charged in the case could not be contacted yesterday. The investigation was handled by immigration and customs agents working with the FBI on this area's Joint Terrorism Task Force. There was no evidence of a terrorist connection, Boyd said.
The alleged scheme came to light after an Egyptian man, Mohmoud Ahmed, was arrested in 2003 for staying beyond the limit of his tourist visa. As his deportation proceedings began, he suddenly divorced his wife and married an 18-year-old American woman in Arlington.
Ahmed was charged with visa fraud and, in pleading guilty, agreed to cooperate with U.S. authorities, according to the criminal complaint.
Ahmed told authorities that an Egyptian friend, Hassan Serag, advised him he could avoid deportation by marrying a U.S. citizen, the complaint says. Serag then took Ahmed to a man who ran a hot dog stand on 17th and L streets NW, assuring him that the vendor could find a fake spouse, the complaint charges. The vendor allegedly contacted an American friend, Teresa Dunn, who provided the 18-year-old spouse, the documents said. Ahmed said he paid more than $2,000 for the service.
Dunn, who pleaded guilty to immigration fraud in October, told authorities she was paid by Shoeib several times for finding U.S. brides for Middle Eastern men, according to the court documents. She believed "Shoeib had arranged more than 100 to 200 marriages," the complaint said.
Ahmed and his U.S. bride told agents that another person, Joyce Snowden, was involved in the scheme. She allegedly allowed the couple to use the address of her home, on Somerset Place NW, on their immigration forms and prepared a phony lease, the documents said. Serag, Snowden and Shoeib were charged in federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia with conspiracy to commit marriage fraud.
There was no answer last night at Shoeib's home, and Snowden's phone appeared to be out of service. A woman who answered the phone at Serag's home said he was in jail and did not have an attorney. The woman declined to be identified.
Staff researcher Bobbye Pratt contributed to this report.
2005 The Washington Post Company « Close It
The "Salvador Option" for Iraq
By Douglas Farah
Among those of us actively involved in covering the almost-forgotten Central American conflict, as well as policy makers and military officials, there has been a lot of buzz and debate over a recent Newsweek web exclusive saying the Pentagon was considering the "Salvador option" to improve the military situation in Iraq. The report says that the option "dates back to a still-secret strategy in the Reagan administration's battle against the leftist guerrilla insurgency in El Salvdador in the early 1980s. Then, faced with a losing war against Salvadoran rebels, the U.S. government funded or supported 'nationalist forces' that allegedly included so-called death squads directed to hunt down and kill rebel leaders and sympathizers."
Here is my two cents worth: If such a strategy were underway, it would be one of the biggest in the long line of mistakes the United States has made in Iraq. But it is a big if. The sources and/or authors of the story show a rather shocking lack of knowledge of El Salvador and the historic context of the work of the Salvadoran death squads. For the rest of this blog, go here
PalTalk Under Pressure to End Omar Bakri Mohammed's Webcasts
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
PalTalk is an internet chat-room service with thousands of discussion groups, and its distinctive feature is "the way it merges text, audio, and video into a single integrated environment." PalTalk groups are devoted to wide-ranging issues, including music, religion and social issues. One user of this service is Omar Bakri Mohammed, a radical London-based cleric who delivers nightly talks over PalTalk.
Recently, Bakri Mohammed said in a PalTalk webcast, "We have lost the khilafah in 1924 but continue the victorious group into today. We have Sheikh Osama bin Laden, our emir, and he is admired by every single person so that is the victorious group. Al-Qaeda and all its branches and organisations of the world, that is the victorious group and they have the emir and you are obliged to join. It is no need yourself to mess about. I don't want you to join me, I want you to join these people."
Bakri Mohammed has an extensive "greatest hits" collection. He hosted a secret conference earlier this month at which British Muslims were urged to join al-Qaeda, and where one speaker said that Western governments would face "a 9/11 day after day after day." He has suggested that an attack on a British school of the kind that occurred in Beslan, Russia would be justified. Bakri Mohammed also headed up the radical group Al-Muhajiroun, which has referred to September 11 as "a towering day in history," and calls the 9/11 hijackers "the magnificent 19."
PalTalk, which a spokesman describes as an "open service" that can't monitor all of its channels, is now under pressure to end Bakri Mohammed's webcasts. After London's Evening Standard made PalTalk aware of the webcasts, company executives in New York convened "emergency talks on whether to ban or restrict them." And PalTalk's emergency meeting may prove to be the least of Bakri Mohammed's worries. As of two days ago, police were reportedly examining the webcast in which he urged listeners to join al-Qaeda.
Arrests for suspected terrorist ties
By Andrew Cochran
Four people have been arrested and 12 others blocked from entering in first two weeks of 2005 for suspected terrorist ties. The AP story cites a DHS report that appeared on an online site. Also, I updated the original Boston Herald story link in Evan Kohlmann's post below.
FBI Seeking Information on Four Suspects (updated link, 1/20)
By Evan Kohlmann
The FBI (news - web sites)
notified Boston area law enforcement Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005 to be on
the lookout for four Chinese nationals described as possible terror
suspects who may be headed to the area. HERE is an updated AP story on January 20.
Photos and Names as follows:
Read More »
Guozhi Lin
Wen Quin Zheng
Xiujin Chen
Zengrong Lin
« Close It
Terrorist-linked Islamic Charities Responsible for Funneling More than $1 Million in Aid to Central Iraq
By Evan Kohlmann
Though great strides have been made in the war against terrorist financing in the past four years, loopholes continue to exist whereby alleged terror front organizations are able to funnel money and humanitarian aid to combat zones in the Middle East, North Africa, and Asia. The new frontier in countering terrorist financing is in central Iraq, where insurgents are locked in deadly battle with U.S. and coalition military forces. In October 2004, the New York Times quoted senior government officialswith access to detailed intelligence reportsas confirming the significant role of wealthy Saudi donors and Islamic charities in providing material support through Syria to as many as 50 hardcore insurgent cells spread across the country. Though the exact role of such Islamic charitable organizations in Iraq is still unclear, several groups confirmed to be past benefactors of terrorism are now present and hard at work in the Sunni Triangle of Iraq, including with the financial support of U.S.-based affiliates...
Click to read more on Globalterroralert.com
Whither Reformism in Iran?
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Today Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reaffirmed the fatwa against Salman Rushdie. Speaking to Muslim pilgrims making hajj, Khamenei described Rushdie as as a "mahdour al-damm mortad," meaning that he is an apostate whose blood may be shed with impunity. Previously, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami had indicated in 1998 that the Iranian government would not carry out the death sentence against Rushdie, describing the affair as "completely finished." Thereafter, Britain and Iran formally upgraded their relationship to the level of ambassador.
This is not the first time the fatwa has been renewed. In 1999, an Iranian foundation put a $2.8 million bounty on Rushdie's head. In 2001, both the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Islamic Propagation Organization (IPO) also renewed the fatwa. And now Iran's supreme leader has also clearly come down in favor of killing Rushdie.
While it is sad -- but not unexpected -- to see such barbarity issue from Khamenei's lips, it is truly amusing to witness the kind of mental gymnastics some politicos have performed in trying to pretend that there's no real problem here. For example, the Times of London reports that "senior British officials swiftly made plain last night that the Iranian Government, which had disassociated itself from the fatwa in 1998, had not changed its position. They pointed out that because the fatwa was issued in February 1989 by Iran's revolutionary founder and Khamenei's predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini, who had since died, it would always remain in existence." Er, well, I guess that's okay then.
One senior British official stated, "Almost every time that the current supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, gives a sermon he mentions Salman Rushdie in these terms and denounces him as a man who has insulted the name of the Prophet and who can therefore be killed. It's just the standard rhetoric." And rhetoric threatening people with death for blaspheming Islam is completely harmless, of course.
One final amusing note from the Times story: "In 1998 Kamal Kharazi, the Iranian Foreign Minister, promised his British counterpart, Robin Cook, that Iran would do nothing to implement the fatwa, despite a $2.8 million bounty placed on Rushdie's head by a foundation in Iran." How nice of Kharazi to make that promise! I guess the Iranian government was just too busy at the time to actually make the foundation withdraw its proffered bounty?
US GOVERNMENT STILL CONFUSED ABOUT TERRORIST INCIDENTS?
By Larry Johnson
By
Larry C. Johnson
Confusion within the Bush Administration about how to count terrorist activity persists despite pledges to fix the problems and get the facts straight. The initial problem emerged last spring with the release of the State Departments annual report on international terrorism, Patterns of Global Terrorism 2003, which claimed terrorists year were responsible for 190 attacks, 307 deaths, and 1593 injuries during that year. Several independent analysts subsequently discovered that the numbers in the body of report did not match up with the events recorded in Appendix A, which showed that at least 390 people died and 1910 were wounded.
Read More »
When confronted with the discrepancy in the numbers, the State Department and the Terrorist Threat Integration Center, which had the job of producing the statistics, audited the report. The subsequent investigation showed that besides not properly adding the events the TTIC analysts also forgot to include almost two months of data. Although the State Department issued a correction in June 2004, in which they reported 208 attacks, 625 fatalities and 3646 wounded, the numbers are still in dispute. For example, the body of the report described but failed to count 13 terrorist attacks by Chechen terrorists in Russia that left 244 dead and 654 injured.
The State Department and the newly created National Counter Terrorism Center (and successor to TTIC) currently are locked in a bureaucratic battle trying to figure out how to count the terrorist incidents for the year just ended. Early indications are that a new methodology will be introduced and that the number of terrorist attacks to be reported for 2004 will soar. For starters there is pressure building to include all terrorist attacks, not just international incidents. There is some merit in this approach in light of the exclusion of the Chechen attacks in Russia (who had clear ties to al Qaeda and jihadist elements in the Middle East). On the other hand, some analysts are concerned that casting the definition of terrorism in the broadest terms possible will clutter the report with insignificant incidents that will divert attention from the more serious threats.
An indication of the direction where the decision may be headed can be found at the Department of Homeland Security funded Terrorism Knowledge Base of the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (http://www.tkb.org/Home.jsp) aka MIPT . Per the website, the United States Congress directed MIPT to conduct research into the social and political causes and effects of terrorism through our automated information systems and to serve as a national point of contact for antiterrorism information sharing among Federal, State and local preparedness agencies, as well as private and public organizations dealing with these issues. While not strictly a government entity, the fact that its charter and mission are dictated by law suggests this is not a simple private entity.
In stark contrast to the terrorism database generated by the predecessor of the National Counter Terrorism Center, the MIPT reports that in 2003 there were 1839 terrorist attacks, 2164 deaths, and 5939 injured. The gap between what the US Government has reported and what a US Government funded entity is reporting is enormous. A comparison of those two databases shows that MIPT is including many reports of violence that do not have a clear link to terrorism. On the other hand, there are some incidents captured by the MIPT data that, in retrospect, probably should have been included in the State Department report.
Resolving this dispute could be dicey since the post for the Coordinator of Counter Terrorism at the Department of State has been vacant for almost three months. While counting terrorist incidents is a minor concern in the galaxy of terrorist activity, it does provide a indicator of the seriousness of the Administration in dealing with this issue in a substantive manner rather than focusing on cosmetic gestures. Once we figure out how to accurately count we may be able to get on with the task of finding Bin Laden. « Close It
Reports of Possible Dirty Bomb in Boston (updated link)
By Evan Kohlmann
Boston terror threat probed By Tom Farmer and Michele McPhee Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Federal
and state authorities are investigating a nuclear terrorist threat
against Boston after a man calling from Mexico told California police
that he smuggled two Iraqis and four Chinese over the border, the Boston Herald has learned. You can also see this story if you can't get into the Boston Herald site.
Read More »
`They
got a call from across the border in Mexico to the California Highway
Patrol and he said he brought two Iraqis and four Chineses
(individuals)across the border and according to him, they stated soon
to follow behind them would be some sort of material,'' said a law
enforcement source familiar with the investigation.
``He refers to some sort of nuclear material that will follow them through New York up into Boston.''
According
to the source, the caller has not identified himself and did not show
up for a meeting with federal investigators in California but he did
leave pictures of four Chinese men and some names at a ``drop'' site at
the Mexico-California border.
``They
were dropped by the source at a location. He literally threw them over
a fence from Mexico to the U.S. side,'' said the source. ``There are
pictures of the four Chinese and some names but just how accurate they
are remains a question''
Massachusetts
law enforcement officials were notified of the threat at 5:30 a.m.
today through the FBI and Boston Police Joint Terrorist Task Force. The
threat was serious enough that Mayor Menino ordered the Fire
Commissioner and the state's Homeland Security Chief into his office at
City Hall, where they met with officials from the CIA, FBI, and
Homeland Security Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, a
high-ranking city official told the Herald. ``They
are desperately trying to piece it together,'' said the offial, who
added that if the threat is real it is ``very scary.'' A
company that trains explosive-sniffing dogs said it was alerted that
the canines would be searching for a ``dirty bomb,'' a New York City
law enforcement official said yesterday. The
Massachusetts investigator said much of the man's information sounds
far-fetched and investigators have some doubts about the caller's
validity because he has not identified himself.
``A
lot of it doesn't make sense and some of it does,'' said the source.
``It's totally uncorroborated. This all began several days ago as a
series of phone calls and they don't know who the caller is. There are
some parts of it that just don't make sense and other little pieces of
it that fall into place. The information is these people that came into
the country are going to New eYork into Boston and the (nuclear)
material will follow them.''
The
source said there is speculation the caller may have been ripped off by
illegal immigrants he helped over the border and is now trying to exact
revenge.
``It's
very weird. Even if (the Iraqis and Chinese) were going to do something
why would they be blabbing to the yahoo smuggling them across the
border? You have to wonder if they screwd him on a deal but you have to
treat it seriously and the issue is how do you put it out to the public
and not get everybody (in a panic)?''
The source said the information will soon ``come out over police channels and BOLOs (be on the lookout).''
The
source added the FBI office in San Diego is leading the investigation.
``The FBI in San Diego is the originating office so they are driving
the investigation. The FBI in Boston is in a tough position because
they are waiting for information''
The caller has not given investigators any means to contact him.
``They tried to set up a meet with him but he didn't show up.'' « Close It
Oil-for-Food Charges and Press Release
By Andrew Cochran
Here is a really good copy of the DOJ charges against Samir Vincent for his role in the Oil-for-Food scandal, and here is the DOJ press release on the case, both thanks to a congressional counsel involved in the OFF investigations.
Iranian and Syrian Support for the Iraqi Insurgency
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
MEMRI's latest special report translates the televised confessions of Muayed Al-Nasseri, the captured commander of the Army of Muhammad, an insurgent group in Iraq that was founded by Saddam Hussein after his regime collapsed. Al-Nasseri's confessions were broadcast by Al-Fayhaa TV, an Iraqi TV channel that operates from the UAE.
In his confessions, Al-Nasseri speaks of substantial Iranian and Syrian aid for the insurgency. He says that the Army of Muhammad got aid primarily from Iran: "The truth is that Iran has played a significant role in supporting the Army of Muhammad and many factions of the resistance. I have some units, especially in southern Iraq, which receive Iranian aid in the form of arms and equipment." Al-Nasseri reveals that other insurgent factions received even greater aid from Iran. He says that he has "reliable information" that the National Islamic resistance, led by Asi Al Hadithi, sent a delegation to Iran that "met with Iranian intelligence and with a number of Iranian leaders and even with Khamenei."
As for Syrian support, Al-Nasseri states that cooperation with Syria began in October 2003: "Through the Ba'th party -- the Arab Socialist Ba'th Party operates in Syria with complete freedom. It maintains its relations and organizes the Ba'th members outside Iraq. The Syrian government is fully aware of this, and the Syrian intelligence cooperates fully, as well as the Ba'th Party, in Syria."
While Iranian support for the insurgency is by now fairly well known, Syrian support has received less press coverage. However, there have been previous reports of the insurgency's Syrian backing. The Washington Post noted last month that "U.S. military intelligence officials have concluded that the Iraqi insurgency is being directed to a greater degree than previously recognized from Syria." Apparently, Saddam Hussein's loyalists have found sanctuary in Syria, and are using their base there to channel money to the insurgency. Foreign fighters have also been crossing the Syrian border to join insurgent forces. And a December Wall Street Journal article described Syrian support for the insurgency -- including not only material support but also public proclamations of solidarity from both Syrian President Bashar Assad and Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.
First Oil-for-Food charges & convictions
By Andrew Cochran
Samir Vincent, American involved in drafting OFF program and identified in the Duelfer report, pleaded guilty to 4 counts in federal court today. Allegedly received $3-5 million from Saddam.
Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) Disavows Upcoming Elections, Orders Attacks to Stop Them
By Evan Kohlmann
Following similar recent threats from Ansar al-Sunnah and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida faction (among others), the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) has issued its own January 13 written statement disavowing any involvement in the Iraqi elections and ridiculing the implementation of Western democratic ideas. According to the statement, "the establishment of the religion of democracy in Iraq will be a stab in the backs of the mujahideen and a victory for the crusaderseven if America leaves [Iraq] along with her murderous slaves and agents Therefore, we ask every fervent Muslim to fight these elections using every means and motive."
Click to view an English translation of the IAI statement
Dutch Intel Report: "Saudi Influences in the Netherlands"
By Evan Kohlmann
http://www.minbzk.nl/contents/pages/10887/saudiinfluencesinthenetherlands.pdf
For those of you "in the know", this report has apparently circulated before in a Dutch-language edition--but as of January 6, 2005, the Netherlands Interior Ministry has made an updated English version available to the public.
Saudi Influences in the Netherlands January 6, 2005 The
past few years have given cause to questions about the involvement of
Saudi citizens, non-governmental organisations and persons in authority
in the propagation among Muslims of strong anti-Western ideas, which
could incite to radicalisation and perhaps even to terrorism. This
issue has become topical since the attacks of 11 September 2001.
Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were found to have the Saudi
nationality. In particular in the United States these attacks focused
much attention on a possible, direct or indirect, responsibility of
inspirators or sponsors from Saudi Arabia for Islamic radicalism and
terrorism. In the US, but also in other Western countries the question
was also raised whether certain persons and organisations, based in
Saudi Arabia and combining aid with the propagation of a highly
orthodox and at the same time anti-Western view of the Islam, might be
linked to certain radicalisation processes within Muslim communities
and the promotion or even support of terrorist violence...
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For the AIVD this question was cause for a
profound investigation into the other side of the religious-ideological
manipulative activities and financing flows from Saudi Arabia. At issue
in this context are in particular the role that these possibly play in
the Netherlands in the propagation of anti-integration views, the
increase of sentiments aimed at a confrontation with Dutch society
among small segments of the Muslim communities in our country, and in
the long term even the development of endogenous, violent tendencies
(which, for example, may lead to terrorism) among some groups of
Muslims in the Netherlands.
This report
describes the state of affairs regarding the investigation at this
moment. It is clear from the text that this concerns an issue which is
still developing. On the one hand, this is a consequence of the
noticeable willingness of the Saudi government, partly influenced by
increasing terrorist threats in Saudi Arabia itself, to take strong
action against individual extremists and networks that until recently,
for the benefit of their own radical Islamic agenda, were able to
misuse Saudi government institutions or semi-governmental
organisations. On the other hand, we also notice shifts in those
segments of Muslim communities in the Netherlands that have shown to be
susceptible to manipulative activities deployed from Saudi Arabia.
This
memorandum will first elaborate on the nature of Salafism in Saudi
Arabia and in the Netherlands. Subsequently it will discuss the
Salafist mission and the relationship with radicalisation processes in
the Muslim communities in our country. Finally, recent developments in
both Saudi Arabia and the Netherlands are described. « Close It
Catholic Archbishop Freed in Iraq
By Andrew Cochran
Good news to start the day
Reporters worked for Saddam and Arafat - but the Media Elite ignored it
By Andrew Cochran
First, the Washington press corps became exorcised about the news that a conservative columnist was secretly paid by the Bush Administration to promote its education policy. Next came the news that one or more liberal bloggers who just happened to support Howard Dean's candidacy for U.S. President were actually funded, in part, by the Dean campaign. Cries of "unethical journalism!" abounded. Well, excuse me, but how about the "journalists" in the Arab world who were either on Saddam's or Arafat's payroll? Why hasn't the media seen fit to pursue those secret arrangements and admit that perhaps those payments twisted the coverage of those two thugs by Westeern media?
Read More »
Regular readers of this blog might remember one of our first posts, which referred to a report from the Foundation for the Defense of Democracy that revealed that Arab journalist Hamida Nahnah was clearly influenced in favor of Saddam Hussein's regime by her receipt of Oil-for-Food vouchers. She is found on tape to announce to Saddam's son, Uday," "The campaign to defend Saddam's regime is about to start worldwide, thanks to the support." And a report in today's Jerusalem Post outlines how numerous "reporters" for major Western media have been, in fact, on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority. Palestinian journalist Majida al-Batsh was reporting for the French news agency, Agence France-Presse (AFP) while she was also on the payroll of the PA's official organ, Al-Ayyam. Adel Zanoun eported for AFP while serving as the chief reporter in the Gaza Strip for the PA's Voice of Palestine radio station. And, quoting from the JP report, "The Associated Press also has a journalist Muhammad Daraghmeh who works for the PA's Al-Ayyam."
How can we believe that the reporting of these agencies with respect to Saddam and his Iraq, or Arafat and the entire Palestinian Authority, is fair and balanced when there have been so many conflicts of interest? Don't they realize that they are inviting another "CBS Memogate," and a further erosion of thier credibility? ALL of these conflicts, including "journalists" who are paid by the Israeli government, if there are any, must be disclosed and then halted. Reporters, heal thyselves. « Close It
Deported Criminals a New National Security Threat?
By Bill West
By Bill West
Increasingly, reports from Central and South America indicate that criminal gangs are beginning to align themselves with members of radical Islamic terror organizations. An article in the World Net Daily appearing January 17 goes further, and says such criminal gangs are even allying themselves with certain violent revolutionary movements in Latin America.
Read More »
Since at least the mid-1980s, the identification, arrest and deportation of criminal aliens has been a high priority for US immigration authorities. It was one of the few interior law enforcement efforts of the old INS that actually realized some modicum of success.
Until about 1985, such efforts were mostly reactive in nature, targeting criminal aliens already in jail serving sentences after they were convicted of other charges. INS would lodge detainers on such suspects and, when they finished their sentences, take custody of the aliens and begin deportation proceedings.
With the advent of violent Jamaican gangs, known as "posses," mostly on the American East Coast in the mid-1980s, Special Agents of the INS Investigations Division began working with other law enforcement agencies, particularly the DEA, ATF and local cops, targeting these street gangsters in a proactive manner. Many of those Jamaican criminals were illegal aliens or had previous criminal histories that rendered them deportable, even if they had "green cards." INS Agents were able to arrest these violent crooks often when other law enforcement officers had nothing on them. Gang Task Forces, with INS Agents participating, focusing on criminal aliens soon became operational around the country, and soon began focusing on other gangs such as the notorious MS-13 in southern California.
By the mid to late-1990s, these criminal alien deportation efforts were beginning to have an effect on foreign policy. The receiving "home countries" of these criminals were reeling from substantially increased violent crime rates. Most of those countries could not afford the increase in law enforcement resources to deal with these issues. Those governments were complaining to the US about deporting so many of their own criminal citizens back home, and some countries such as Jamaica and Haiti even began to refuse to issue travel documents to such deportees so as to stymie the deportation process. Nevertheless, the deportation of many thousands of violent criminal aliens to Latin America and the Caribbean occurred over the past decade and a half.
Clearly, removing such thugs from the United States should be considered a good thing. However, the porous and easily penetrated borders of the US do not make it difficult for such criminal aliens to return to the US. Illegal reentry into the US of a deported criminal alien is a Federal felony and can and does carry a heavy prison term upon conviction. In fact, many such criminal alien reentrants have been captured, prosecuted, incarcerated and deported again...sometimes several times, but that does not seem to stop them from coming if they are so determined. At least the legal prosecution tools are readily available to pursue such suspects, and as with the proactive multi-agency Gang Task Forces of the 1980s and early 1990s, such a focused approach against these dangerous aliens may again be warranted, particularly if they truly are finding allies among terror and radical guerilla organizations.
The real answer, of course, will be to more fully integrate border security, aggressive and effective interior immigration law enforcement efforts and solid counter-terrorism intelligence. The devil is in the details and the resources, and while there have been notable improvements since the 9-11 attacks; we have a long way to go. As evidenced by these disturbing reports from Latin America, the nature of the enemy may be morphing into something completely unexpected. Our law enforcement, intelligence and security personnel, and institutions, must be flexible and open-minded enough to recognize such changes if they occur. « Close It
The NIC report on terrorism in Iraq
By Andrew Cochran
The National Intelligence Council's "2020 Project" report, available in full here, is sparking the debate on whether the Iraq war "created" some breeding ground for terrorists that supposedly didn't exist before the war. Stephen Hayes of The Weekly Standard has been the premier investigative journalist on this subject and has provided more than enough evidence and analysis to conclude that Saddam turned Iraq into a safe haven for terrorists years before we attacked. You can find his columns here and here and here and here and here (quoting the 9-11 Commission report), and there are still more on the WS website. I don't understand why anybody thinks there is an objective debate anymore: Saddam Hussein had numerous contact, ties, and links to numerous terrorist groups, including al Qaeda.
Danish Gov't Report: "Recruitment of Islamist Terrorists in Europe--Trends and Perspectives"
By Evan Kohlmann
Michael Taarnby, a social anthropologist and researcher in Denmark, has just completed his final 57-page report on "Recruitment of Islamist Terrorists in Europe: Trends and Perspectives" for the Danish Ministry of Justice and the Police Intelligence Agency (PET). Taarnby concludes that the threat of Al-Qaida-linked fundamentalist terrorism in Europe has not been significantly diminished in the last three years--and that, in fact, it has become more challenging to identify and uproot.
Taarnby's report is available free online from the Danish Ministry of Justice. Click here...
US military ops in Iran? (update 3)
By Andrew Cochran
New provocative AFP wire report now linked in our news column - refers to this story in new issue of New Yorker magazine (link now available). MONDAY UPDATE: Pentagon issues severe criticism of story.
"Kuwaiti Mujahideen" Claim Attacks on Foreigners, Army Base
By Evan Kohlmann
The "Media Wing of the Kuwaiti Mujahideen" has issued a statement claiming responsibility for an alleged attack on a Kuwaiti military base and the (purported) subsequent murders of three Americans and a South Korean national in the Umm al-Haiman district. According to the communique, at least one individual was "martyred" during the operation: Abu al-Baraa al-Kandahari (identified by Reuters as Saudi Arabian national Hamada al-Enezi) [The name al-Kandahari would typically suggest someone who has trained or fought in southern Afghanistan.] South Korean Foreign Ministry officials have thus far denied receiving any reports of Korean citizens missing from southern Kuwait.
Click to view an English translation of the communique
Two referrals
By Andrew Cochran
The Diplomad and Little Green Footballs are definitely worth reviewing for news about foreign affairs and terrorism, and I've added links to each. Diplomad is run by career Foreign Service officers, which makes for interesting insights into tsunami aid discussions right now.
New Stories of Interest
By Andrew Cochran
I've just posted many new links to stories from around the world, from the US to the Indian press and various sources in between. From the case of alleged PIJ leader Prof. Sami al-Arian, to continued terrorist attacks in the Middle East, to moves to remove the Phillippines from the FATF list of "uncooperative" countries, you can link to them here on the Counterterrorism Blog. We thank you for your support and welcome your comments.
Al-Qaida Targets Iraqi Government and Elections
By Evan Kohlmann
In the run-up to the much anticipated Iraqi national elections, Al-Qaida's local outfit--led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--has dramatically increased its targeting of influential Iraqi government officials, potential candidates in the election, and anyone else associated with the electoral process. The group has issued new statements in the last two weeks taking credit for--among other things--multiple high-profile assassinations and kidnappings, including the murders of Baghdad governor Ali al-Haydari, deputy Baghdad police Chief Amer Ali Nayif, and the Iraqi director of "Elections Center #28."
UPDATE: Abu Omar al-Saif, a respected Saudi Al-Qaida operative and top spokesman for the Islamic Army of the Caucasus, has
also now weighed in on the Iraqi elections--quipping, "Ruling in Islam
is for Allah only and not for the people or anyone else." For those unfamiliar with Abu Omar al-Saif, I recommend viewing my Islamic Army of the Caucasus leadership chart.
Read More »
National Intelligence Council "2020 Project" Report
By Andrew Cochran
I've saved the direct link to the new National Intelligence Council (NIC) report in the "Counterterrorism Library" to the left (6.7 MB), and added a link to the NIC's website to the "Centers & Websites" to the right.
Bomb threats close British Embassy in Jakarta (updated)
By Andrew Cochran
Wire Report: INDONESIAN police today mobilised bomb squads and anti-terror personnel after reported threats of a possible attack near the British and Thai embassies in Jakarta. Britain said today they had closed their embassy following the threat, which reportedly said they would be targeted at 10pm Thursday or 10am Friday. Posted by Blackberry.
UPDATE: Indonesian police say the threat was a hoax. Thanks to Tim & Jude down under for the link.
The enemy within
By Lorenzo Vidino
From the Armed Forces Journal
By Josh Lefkowitz and Lorenzo Vidino
After terrorists gunned down 49 unarmed Iraqi army recruits on a highway near Baquoba on October 24, authorities have tried to determine whether moles within the Iraqi army provided information that led to the massacre. Due to the strategically orchestrated attack, investigators believe the killers must have received inside information about the soldiers' movements. If infiltrators did play a role in the attack, it would just be the latest example of a long history of Islamic terrorists penetrating military forces throughout the world.
Recognizing the tremendous intelligence value of placing operatives within enemy ranks, terrorists have placed a premium on this strategy.
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Al Qaeda, whose training manual instructs members to "gather as much information as possible about the enemy," has consistently succeeded in inserting a fifth column inside enemy armies. A recently uncovered Al Qaeda document reveals the group's aims: "The Jama'ah (group) must prepare the cadres to occupy all sensitive and important posts.They should be in the army command and among staff officers...There should be a commander and a deputy in all brigades, battalions, and columns. They should be in all regiments and the Special Forces. They should be in the four branches of the armed forces."
This infiltration has the potential to severely hamper America's efforts in the War on Terror. Authorities in Pakistan, a key U.S. ally that also is an Al Qaeda hotbed, acknowledge that their army has been infiltrated by radicals. Recently, Willie Brigitte, a French convert involved in an Al Qaeda plan to attack Australia, revealed how elements from the Pakistani army worked hand in hand with the Lashkar e Taiba (LET) terrorist group. Brigitte told French interrogators that there was "complete complicity between the Pakistani Army and LET" and that the army was providing weapons and ammunition to LET.
Moreover, Brigitte also claimed that he had met Pakistani soldiers who vowed to sabotage efforts to capture Osama Bin Laden. This revelation should come as no surprise to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who last June ordered a review of the files of all army officers in the rank of colonel or above to identify potential Al Qaeda sympathizers. Musharraf issued this directive after a number of army officials participated in two Al Qaeda plots to kill him.
Even more problematic is Al Qaeda's infiltration of Western armies.
In October, the Ministry of Defense of Britain revealed that at least five Al Qaeda suspects had infiltrated the British Territorial Army and one of them is currently in custody.
It is difficult to fathom the potentially devastating implications of having Al Qaeda members operating freely in the army of the U.S.' primary ally in Iraq. But America's security is not just threatened by rogue elements in the Pakistani and British armies. America's own military has been penetrated by Islamic extremists.
In September 2004, National Guardsman and Muslim convert Ryan Anderson was convicted after he was caught in an internet sting, in which he tried to contact Al Qaeda operatives to disclose information on U.S. military vulnerabilities. And just a few days before the beginning of the Iraq war, Hassan Akbar, a sergeant in the 101st Airborne, killed two of his fellow soldiers in a grenade attack. According to a member of Akbar's brigade, Akbar said, "I did it because I'm Muslim. They were going to kill Muslims and rape Muslim women."
Recently, authorities in Connecticut charged Babar Ahmad, a man who operated a series of pro-jihad web sites, with conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists. When British authorities searched locations connected to Ahmad, they discovered a classified U.S. Navy document detailing the movements of a U.S. naval battle-group operating in the Straits of Hormuz and providing specific examples of how the ships could be attacked. Ahmad had been in email contact with Hassan Abujihad, a sailor who was serving on the U.S. destroyer "Benfold." In his emails, Abujihaad expressed anti-American sentiment and praised the attack on the USS Cole. Investigators speculate that Abujihad provided the information on the battle-group was provided to Ahmad.
But the most troubling case of infiltration of the U.S. Army is that of Ali Mohammed, a sergeant who taught classes on the Middle East at the Special Operations Warfare School at Fort Bragg between the end of the 1980's and the mid 1990's. When he was not lecturing American soldiers on Islamic fundamentalism, Mohammed was one of Bin Laden's most trusted lieutenants, teaching terrorists the tactics he had learned at Fort Bragg in Al Qaeda's camps in Sudan and Afghanistan.
The presence of Islamic terrorists in the U.S. army raises difficult questions. So far, military authorities have investigated these cases as isolated incidents. Nevertheless, the recent terrorism-linked probes of two schools that were used to certify Muslim chaplains may reveal a coordinated effort infiltrate the military. While respecting the rights of Muslim soldiers and acknowledging their significant contributions, it is essential for the Pentagon to be aware of the terrorists' proven intention to penetrate enemy armies.
Josh Lefkowitz and Lorenzo Vidino are senior terrorism analysts at the Investigative Project, a Washington DC-based counterterrorism think-tank. « Close It
Robert Spencer column
By Andrew Cochran
Robert Spencer's column defending Steve Emerson includes important information about Steve's record that I think is important to policymakers and serious students. EDIT: Thanks to TypePad for your quick response (as always) to the blog problem. We're back.
More AQ Activity in West Africa
By Douglas Farah
A little-noticed case in Conakry, Guinea has some in the U.S. and European intelligence community abuzz. Two South Africans, both arrested with Ahmed Ghailani in Pakistan and then deported to South Africa, were recently arrested in Guinea, reportedly on their way to Sierra Leone. The arrests of Zubair Ismael and Dr. Mohammed Nazzal, who real name appears to be Feroz Ganchi, just before Christmas, was noted in the West African press but not picked up elsewhere. These arrests add weight to the evidence that al Qaeda continues to operate out of West Africa, and remains involved in the diamond trade, despite the notable lack of interest of the U.S. intelligence community.
Both men left South Africa and traveled to Pakistan for training. Ganchi, a medical doctor who was given the alias "Umer" by his al Qaeda contacts, traveled often to Pakistan and had bragged to co-workers in South Africa of knowning senior al Qaeda members. Ismael, 20, was reportedly studying at a madrasa there, studies his family confirmed they had raised money for. Ganchi reportedly treated Ghailani for an unknown medical condition while in the house in Gujrat. Ghailani, Ganchi and Ismael, along with 10 other people, were arrested in that al Qaeda safe house in late July 2004. Read Complete Blog here
Podhoretz on WWIV (again)
By Andrew Cochran
One of the more incisive pieces in the past few years on the current conflict was "World War IV" by Norman Podhoretz, released last September. He has now followed that up with "The War Against World War IV."
Michael Cutler's piece and Treasury Announcement
By Andrew Cochran
As if on cue (no, we didn't time it), the Treasury Department has announced that it identified 15 companies and 24 individuals associated with a money laundering cell of the Arellano Felix Organization (AFO), a violent drug trafficking ring operating out of Mexico. "Over a three year period, this cell laundered more than $120 million in illicit proceeds from the sale of narcotics," said Robert Werner, Director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). "By freezing these individuals and companies out of the U.S. financial system, we are dealing a significant blow to the fiscal underbelly fueling the notorious drug trade of the Arellano Felix Organization."
Washington Times article: Border Patrol grabs 1.15 million illegals in '04
By Michael Cutler
We are all familiar with humor based on "good news / bad news" however when dealing with the borders of our nation, especially as we prosecute a war on terror as well as a war on drugs, there is nothing humorous. The Washington Times story at the surface, appears to offer good news. The good news is that the apprehension of illegal aliens by the Border Patrol has increased by 24% over the preceding year and that some 1.62 billion dollars worth of narcotics were interdicted and seized by elements of CBP (Customs and Border Protection) last year. The bad news is that generally more illegal aliens evade apprehension than are caught. If apprehensions are up, it can be presumed the number of illegal aliens entering the U.S. has also increased. The same can be said of narcotics seizures. We must also consider what ultimately happened to the aliens who were apprehended. Because of the Border Patrol's 'catch and release' program in which apprehended illegal aliens are often permitted to travel to the city to which they were destined at the time they were arrested with instructions to report to the immigration authorities in that city for a removal hearing. Not surprisingly, only a very small percentage of these aliens actually turn themselves in. Porous borders leave our nation vulnerable to terrorists.
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This article shows the fact that on a daily basis, thousands of aliens are attempting to enter the United States with malevolent intentions. According to this article, on average, each day, some 3,100 aliens attempt to enter the United States without being inspected. This represents a 24% increase over the number of aliens who were apprehended the previous year. It is not unreasonable to assume that there has been a comparable increase in the number of illegal aliens who succeed in evading the Border Patrol and entering the United States, more than likely, making their way into the interior of the United States. The statistics noted in this report point to an even more worrisome fact; each day many criminals attempt to enter the United States who have serious criminal histories and consequently, affiliation with criminal organizations that may threaten our nations security and well being. The fact that drugs seized have an estimated street value of $1.62 billion dollars is further cause for alarm. There is a link between criminal activities, especially drug trafficking as a means of financing other criminal activities including terrorism. Terrorists require money in order to carry out their deadly missions and drug trafficking and money laundering go hand-in-hand with the objective of generating funds for the malevolent goals of terrorists.
We know how much was seized, just as we know how many would-be illegal aliens were arrested. We do not know, however, how many illegal aliens actually have made it into the United States and how many of these have criminal histories and/or criminal intentions. We similarly do not know the street value of the narcotics that were successfully smuggled into the United States, nor do we know whose coffers are being filled by the trafficking of this deadly cargo. Consider a recent Wall Street Journal article, published on December 30, 2003 about an investigation of the Bank of America and other financial institutions into possible money laundering activities by customers of that bank. The article begins by reporting on Carnival French Ice Cream, a tiny Brooklyn ice-cream shop that played a major role in al Qaeda's global fund-raising operation. It sold little ice-cream from its ground-floor store in a four-story walk-up in the Park Slope neighborhood. Its real function, according to the government, was to move money.
The shop took in $22 million between 1997 and 2003, the Justice Department alleges in federal court filings in New York. Prosecutors believe that Carnival diverted much of that money to a radical sheik in Yemen working with Osama bin Laden. The funds were moved from New York via the most modern and efficient method the American financial-services industry has to offer: an account at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.
Consider also that this article noted that Robert Morgenthau, the District Attorney for Manhattan has found that a number of banks has moved hundreds of millions of dollars between New York and Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil at the behest of obscure firms in the British Virgin Islands, a well-known financial-secrecy haven.
According to American and Brazilian officials, much of the money appears to have come from a lawless enclave known as the Tri-Border Area, a free-trade zone on the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. The officials say the area is dominated by organized criminal groups, including narcotics traffickers and people raising money -- by means of smuggling and copyright piracy -- for the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah. American and Brazilian investigators are looking at whether the big banks made an effort to determine how small firms in Uruguay and Paraguay could possibly have taken in so much cash from legitimate commerce. The investigators are also examining whether the banks inquired into the ownership of the British Virgin Islands companies.
The item posted by Andrew Cochran earlier today about the fact that, "On January 10, the American Bankers Association and all state banking associations, plus Puerto Rico's, co-signed a letter to the heads of the federal financial regulatory agencies - Treasury (and its quasi-independent components FinCEN, OCC, and OTS), Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC - to request more consistency in examinations for Bank Secrecy Act compliance shows that responsible executives in that critical industry understand the significance of controlling the movement of money across international borders as an important component of fighting crime and terrorism.
Clearly our inspectors and Border Patrol agents have been busy trying to protect our borders against illegal immigration and narcotics but is this good enough? We need to back up the efforts on our nations borders with sufficient numbers of special agents of ICE who are assigned to enforcing our nations immigration laws from within the interior of the United States. Those who evade the Border Patrol or succeed in getting past the inspections process need to be sought by special agents of the bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). At present fewer than 2,500 special agents of ICE are routinely enforcing these critical immigration laws from within the interior of the United States. This represents far too few enforcement personnel searching for far too many illegal aliens, especially those with criminal histories and possible links to terrorist organizations.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/functions/print.php?StoryID=20050110-122440-4921r
The Washington Timeswww.washingtontimes.com Border Patrol grabs 1.15 million illegals in '04By Jerry SeperTHE WASHINGTON TIMESPublished January 10, 2005 U.S.
Border Patrol agents apprehended 1.15 million illegal aliens last year trying to sneak into the United States between the nation's land ports of entry, more than 3,100 a day -- a 24 percent increase over the year before. The agents, part of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), also made 8,577 drug seizures, confiscating 1.4 million pounds of illegal narcotics with an estimated street value of $1.62 billion, according to the figures released by the Department of Homeland Security. The Homeland Security figures also show that CBP inspectors and officers at the nation's 300 official land, air and sea ports of entry made 47,744 drug seizures worth an estimated $1 billion; seized more than $138 million in counterfeit goods, up from $94 million in 2003; and identified and arrested more than 23,000 people with criminal records -- including 84 murder suspects, 37 suspected kidnappers, 151 wanted on charges of sexual assault, 212 robbery suspects and 2,630 others implicated in drug-related charges. Those inspectors and officers also processed 428 million passengers and pedestrians, including 262 million aliens, denying entry to more than 643,000 aliens under U.S. law. CBP Commissioner Robert C. Bonner attributed the increases to the reorganization under the new Department of Homeland Security, which allowed him to clarify the lines of authority and to give the new 42,000-member agency a clear mission. He said the March 2003 unification of Customs, Immigration and Naturalization Service and Agriculture Department inspectors with the Border Patrol brought "an unprecedented transformation in the way people and goods arriving at American ports of entry are processed." "With additional resources and improved technology, America's borders are safer and more secure than when border responsibilities were fragmented among different agencies," he said. "CBP has moved aggressively to secure the flow of legitimate travelers and trade into our country, and the staggering amount of apprehensions and detentions prove it." The Border Patrol helped identify and arrest 23,000 criminal suspects through a new biometrics fingerprint identification technology that allows agents to search CBP's Automated Biometrics Identification System and the FBI's criminal fingerprint database simultaneously. The new system went on line late last year at all 148 Border Patrol stations throughout the country. The agency had long been ignored as a part of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), where it was often confronted with confusing chains of command and conflicting priorities. Mr. Bonner, who formerly headed the U.S. Customs Service before his appointment by President Bush to lead CBP, said at the time a "strong and effective" Border Patrol was needed between the nation's ports of entry to stop potential terrorists, apprehend the millions of aliens who seek to enter the United States illegally each year, and to stop drug smugglers from bringing tons of narcotics into the country. "The Border Patrol is America's main force between the country's ports of entry," Mr. Bonner said. "It has found a good home in U.S. Customs and Border Protection and will be supported in a way INS never did." Mr. Bonner has said that for CBP to carry out its priority mission of keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the country, the agency had to do "everything within our power to secure our nation's borders." Copyright 2005 News World Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Return to the article
Click Here For Commercial Reprints and PermissionsCopyright 2005 News World Communications, Inc. « Close It
Persisting Inadequacies in Saudi Arabia's Counterterrorism Efforts Highlighted by Latest Attackers in Riyadh
By Evan Kohlmann
On the heels of a recent Usama Bin Laden audiotape urging Al-Qaida's militants in Saudi Arabia to rise and strike against the Saudi regime, Saudi security was forced into a bloody street battle on Dec. 30 in the capital Riyadh with over a dozen young Saudi men eagerly seeking martyrdom. The identities of these young men highlight the persisting inadequacies of Saudi Arabia's counterterrorism efforts--mistakes that could end up costing the Saudi royal family more than they are willing to anticipate...
Read the biography of Badr Mansour al-Subaiee on Globalterroralert.com...
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Read the biography of Badr Mansour al-Subaiee on Globalterroralert.com...
One of the Al-Qaida operatives killed two weeks ago in Riyadh was Badr Mansour
al-Subaiee--hardly an unknown figure to Saudi law enforcement.
According to his friends, al-Subaiee was reputed to have fought alongside the Arab-Afghan mujahideen in both
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. In the latter case, al-Subaiee was able to
leave his homeland and travel to Central Asia despite having his Saudi
passport revoked, being officially forbidden from traveling abroad by
the Saudi government, and also being under active surveillance by the Saudi
secret police. Later, al-Subaiei was allegedly picked up by the Saudis and held for four years at a variety of high security prisons and interrogation centers--tortured for any vital
information he might possess.
By this time, the Saudis clearly understood that al-Subaiee was dangerous and a potential terrorist threat. Thus, the logic in summarily releasing him from prison into the general public is somewhat baffling. However, the utter failure of Saudi officials to monitor or track the movements of al-Subaiee after his release is even more perplexing. It is little wonder that three months later, he disappeared to rejoin the ranks of Al-Qaida in the Kingdom.
Perhaps it is time for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to stop giving second chances to its own mortal enemies... « Close It
Northern Leader of Islamic Movement in Israel Sentenced for Supporting Terror
By Matthew Levitt
Earlier today the Haifa Magistrate Court sentenced Northern Islamic Movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah to three and a half years imprisonment (including three years of suspended sentence) in a plea agreement. Four other senior Islamic movement members, who together with Salah were accused of funneling cash to Hamas, were also given jail terms.
The five were arrested and indicted in May 2003 for having foreign contact with Iranian agents and Hamas terrorists and for raising, laundering and transfering money for Hamas. In the course of the trial Israeli authorities released telephone intercepts of Sheikh Salah's phone conversations with Hamas fundraisers abroad, including officials from two U.S.-designated Hamas front organizations in Europe - Interpal and the al Aqsa International Foundation (headquartered in England and Germany, respectively).
For more on Sheikh Raed Salah's ties to Hamas fronts in Europe see "Turning a Blind Eye to Hamas in London," which can be found here.
Banking Associations Seek "Clarity" & "Consistency"
By Andrew Cochran
I hope you read Dennis Lormel's and Douglas Farah's posts on terrorist financing trends. From a different perspective: On January 10, the American Bankers Association and all state banking associations, plus Puerto Rico's, co-signed a letter to the heads of the federal financial regulatory agencies - Treasury (and its quasi-independent components FinCEN, OCC, and OTS), Federal Reserve Board, and FDIC - to request more consistency in examinations for Bank Secrecy Act compliance. To quote, "(T)he lack of consistency in examination oversight and compliance guidance is a major theme of regulatory complaints received by ABA and the state banking associations." According to the letter, bank regulators have recently talked of a "zero tolerance policy" for deficiencies, leading to "defensive filings" of information required under the BSA.
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Over the past couple of years, compliance officials and government reps at major banks and the ABA have given me details of the excruciating efforts they make to comply with BSA requirements, especially after they were beefed up in Title III of the USA Patriot Act. These officials are patriotic, sincere, and very smart, and smaller banks are particularly caught in a budgetary squeeze when spending big money on compliance systems. Moreover, several major financial institutions have been instrumental in preventing terrorist events through their prompt notification of law enforcement.
But the letter comes at an awkward time, after a steady stream of stories about the failures of major financial institutions, here and abroad, to establish effective anti-money laundering or terrorist financing mechanisms. The financial regulators, while working with financial institutions towards a more consistent standard, have to answer critics who say that we still haven't closed the gaps, especially after the Riggs Bank fiasco, in which the OCC clearly dropped the ball. Congressional committees must exercise their oversight powers to review the examination procedures and ensure that cooperation between the regulators and the regulated and a well-intentioned standardization doesn't lead to weakness and gaps while the enemy persists. « Close It
Latest Wave of Suicide Bombings in Iraq Claimed by Al-Qaida Affiliates
By Evan Kohlmann
Sadly, the beginning of this new year has not brought any greater sense of peace to troubled Sunni central Iraq, where a wave of suicide bombings, improvised explosive devices, and artillery attacks have targeted everyone from U.S. and Iraqi soldiers to local government officials and election workers. The lionshare of these attacks are being claimed by three groups: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Al-Qaida outfit; the Ansar al-Sunnah Army (which also advertises its allegiance to Usama Bin Laden); and the Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI--the same militant faction that last week threatened to attack the U.S. homeland sometime in 2005). These three organizations are confirmed to have conducted joint military operations in Iraq targeting coalition forces as recently as November 2004.
English translations of recent communiques:
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Interesting Israeli Intel Site
By Andrew Cochran
One of my goals here is to provide a list of good websites and centers from which to obtain reliable and timely information on counterterrorism cases and analysis. A couple of the experts here suggested that I take a look at the "Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center at the Center for Special Studies (English version)." I'm told that CSS is associated with the Israeli intelligence community, and documents and other evidence from the site have been used in the lawsuits on the Arab Bank (see my post below). As far as I'm concerned, this is a quasi-governmental site and should be accepted as such. I have set up a link to the site in the "Centers & Websites" box to the right, and I invite you to take a look at it and let me know what you think of their material (which I admit is not clearly organized).
Iraqi Elections
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
As the insurgents continue their push to force Prime Minister Iyad Allawi to cancel or delay the scheduled January 30 elections, Allawi today admitted that Iraqis may be unable to vote in some places because of the security situation. In an effort to exacerbate an already bad security situation, today insurgents killed six Iraqi police in a car bomb blast in Tikrit and also hit a U.S. military convoy south of Baghdad with a roadside bomb.
Iraqi elections should be neither cancelled nor delayed because cancelling the elections hands a major victory to the terrorists without improving the security situation of the Iraqi people. (Rolling elections, with various regions in Iraq voting in turn while security forces are shuffled around to protect the voters, are one acceptable option, as they would not hand the terrorists a major victory.) But it's important to understand the dangers inherent to the situation that Allawi foresees, in which the threat of violence has the potential to disenfranchise large segments of the population. If Sunni Muslims lose faith in the new Iraqi government because they're underrepresented in the National Assembly, the consequences for Iraq could be enormous.
My column at Front Page Magazine today addresses this issue. In it, I argue that the next month is crucial for both Bush and Allawi to address their populations to address the future of Iraq -- Bush in his State of the Union Address and Allawi after the National Assembly elections. Here's my take on what Allawi needs to say to the Iraqi people: "Prime Minister Allawi must deliver a major address to the Iraqi people that emphasizes their unity in the face of an enemy that promises them nothing but chaos and tyranny. In particular, he has to assuage minority groups' fears that their voices will be silenced and their interests subjugated as the new Iraqi constitution is drafted. He must emphasize that the National Assembly will consult extensively with acknowledged leaders from the Sunni and Kurdish communities, and that it is the Assembly's unshakable intent to produce a constitution that does not favor Shiite over Sunni or Sunni over Kurd, but rather one that grants all Iraqis equality under the law."
Terrorist Financing, Dynamics of Change
By Dennis Lormel
Terrorist financing characteristics and methodologies constantly evolve due to changing dynamics in world events, such as the global response to terrorism and the ability of terrorists to adapt to the environment. One of the true challenges in dealing with terrorism is the recognition of the "dynamics of change" and understanding that terrorist financing methodologies will continuously evolve with the intent to avoid detection. Developing mechanisms to identify emerging trends, as well as systemic and institutional vulnerabilities, is an important step in disrupting terrorist funding flows. Implementing proactive, detective and preventive strategies, based on forward thinking trend and risk analyses, are the responsibility of both the govenment and private sectors.
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Although financial activity that supports terrorism is often simplistic, terrorist financing presents a myriad of complex challenges. By its nature, in most applications, the movement of funds to support terrorism is through legal and undetectable means. We should be mindful that terrorist financing encompasses a wide variety of activities. There are fundraising mechanisms, operational and administrative support mechanisms, and other considerations, which require use of the formal and informal financial systems. This variance is exacerbated by the range of positions and responsibilities individual terrorists and terrorist supporters assume to include leaders, fundraisers, financiers, facilitators, operatives and suicide bombers. Financial requirements and flows for the full gamut of terrorists and terrorist supporters vary according to factors to include their role, location and affiliations.
Terrorist and terrorist financing warning signs are constantly evolving due to changing dynamics in world events, such as the global response to terrorism and the ability of terrorists to adapt to changing dynamics. Like characteristic indicators, warning signs are non-static. For example, in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the U.S. and international community took decisive steps to disrupt and dismantle terrorist groups and their financing. In return, terrorists adapted new methodologies to exploit systemic vulnerabilities. The same cycle was repeated following other significant terrorist activities, most recently in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings of March, 2004.
One of the true challenges in dealing with terrorist financing is the recognition of the dynamics of change and understanding that terrorist and terrorist financing methodologies will constantly change to avoid detection. Developing mechanisms to identify emerging trends should be incorporated into the risk analysis process.
Based on a number of factors, including the international response to terrorism, the number of terrorist arrests and deaths, recruitment practices, emergence of younger terrorists and the regionalization of terrorist groups and affiliations, a new generation of terrorists is taking shape. Individuals committing themselves to jihad tend to be better educated, less experienced, more radical, somewhat autonomous and resilient. They are more engaged in criminal activities or interact to a greater degree with more traditional criminal groups. This new breed is proficient in the exploitation and use of false identification documents.
On a global scale, the same dynamics mentioned above have fostered emerging trends in international terrorism. There has been an increase in overt activity. The threat of radical Islamic extremism is more widespread then ever. There has been an increase in death and injuries resulting from worldwide terrorist acts. Loosely affiliated regional groups have emerged and become more active in light of the international crack down on Al-Qaeda. At the group level, there has been a proliferation in the use of stolen passports and false identification. There has also been an increase in criminal activity as a fundraising mechanism to support operations.
The personal characteristics of terrorists are non-static. Terrorists, especially Al-Qaeda related, are sensitive to investigative and regulatory scrutiny. Their characteristics continuously evolve in an effort to avoid detection. Recently, they have taken on characteristics of individuals more identifiable with western societies. When assessing characteristics, you must consider the evolution of operational dynamics to consider factors to include operatives, targets, financing and communications. Operatives have become more identifiable with their country of operation. Targets have become increasingly soft. The Madrid train bombing is a somber reference. Financing has increasingly centered on criminal activity. This places the operatives at higher risk of detection. Communications have remained more constant. Cell phones were used to trigger the Madrid bombs. Cell phone activity was also used as an investigative tool leading to numerous arrests. Finance and communications are the two major terrorist vulnerabilities and weaknesses.
Government agencies and financial institutions must identify and assess warning signs within their jurisdictions and areas of operation by understanding money laundering, terrorist and terrorist financing risk factors, systemic vulnerabilities, and institutional vulnerabilities. Companies should develop risk/vulnerability matrices and identify countermeasures and control mechanisms to mitigate risks and vulnerabilities. Everyone should remain vigilant in an effort to recognize and deal with suspicious activities.
Indicators to look for can be varied. They should take on greater or lesser significance dependent on risk and vulnerability factors. Numerous sources, to include FinCEN and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), have published reports and typologies listing money laundering and terrorist financing indicators.
Lessons learned since 9/11 should play a significant role in formulating future detective and preventive measures. First, we must understand vulnerabilities in terms of systemic societal vulnerabilities and areas of vulnerability to terrorist interests. Systemic vulnerabilities represent systemic weaknesses that terrorists and criminal elements, especially fraudsters, exploit in furtherance of their activities. Its incumbent that individuals and entities responsible for controls recognize such weaknesses and implement mechanisms to minimize such exploitation.
The unfortunate reality is that terrorists will always have access to financing. We cannot be discouraged by this fact and must use every tool in our arsenal to disrupt and minimize funding flows to terrorists. The greater the level of disruption the more difficult it is for terrorists to raise funds and carry out terrorist operations. Like terrorism itself, terrorist financing is not limited to the homeland but is global in scope. In dealing with terrorist financing, all solutions must be considered. Outreach initiatives between government and private sectors within the U.S. and internationally is important in establishing frameworks for cooperation and information sharing.
In view of the combination of law enforcement, regulatory and diplomatic actions taken in the U.S. and internationally, certain of the lucrative funding sources, such as charity and wealthy donors, have significantly diminished. This has resulted in a greater reliance on criminal activities.
Since 9/11, terrorist financing methodologies have been changing. Terrorists rely on two tracks of funding, the formal and informal financial systems. To operate in western society, terrorists must rely more on formal mechanisms. To operate in less advanced financial venues, such as Afghanistan, more informal mechanisms are used. Following 9/11, Al-Qaeda took steps to exploit informal financial structures in the Middle East and Central America, and to use formal facilities on a more limited basis because of the investigative scrutiny and international pressure placed on the formal banking system. As just illustrated, the degree one system is used in preference of the other depends on a number of factors to include culture, sophistication of the banking system in various parts of the world, accessibility, timing, situational considerations, the level of investigative scrutiny and other factors. Whichever system is used, terrorists move funds with the intent to avoid attention and detection.
Al-Qaeda carried out the 9/11 attacks by hijacking four planes and using them in effect as suicide bombs crashing into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. This plan and the 19 hijackers involved, were totally funded by Al-Qaeda, in part, enabling the terrorists to avoid detection. Although one of the darkest events in U.S. history had occurred, the country responded with resolve in a decisive fashion by declaring war on terrorism. This resulted in the dismantlement of the Taliban rule in Afghanistan and serious disruption of Al-Qaeda, by destroying its safe haven in Afghanistan and disrupting its activities in Pakistan. One of the principal Al-Qaeda leaders responsible for masterminding the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed (KSM), was captured in Pakistan, along with other important operatives following an exhaustive manhunt. At the time of his arrest, KSM was considered the most dangerous terrorist in the world.
The resulting fragmentation of Al-Qaeda, caused significant changes in terrorist operational methodologies, such as the emergence of more autonomous extremist regional groups.
On March 11, 2004, Madrid was devastated by a series of train bombings. The Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM) was responsible for the attack. Unlike other major bombings, the Madrid bombings were not suicide attacks. Bombs were left in backpacks on or near the trains and were detonated by cell phones. The attacks were funded by criminal activities to include drug trafficking. The combination of leaving the bombs on or near the trains and funding through criminal activities made this a higher risk attack for the terrorists than other previous significant attacks. In assessing this attack, investigation has determined that terrorists were assisted by more traditional criminals in execution of the plan. Of all the attacks, Madrid had the most desired impact on society from the terrorists standpoint. It affected the outcome of national elections in Spain. Terrorists view this as a victory and may become more brazen in other Western countries around election time or in conjunction with other significant events. With respect to the post bombing investigation, Spanish authorities have made significant progress in the investigation and have made over 130 arrests disrupting continued operations by terrorist interests. Coordinated international investigations, particularly in Europe and Africa, have made these disruptions more meaningful.
Again, such investigative focus caused changes in terrorist operational methodologies, to include more specific recruitment of home grown jihadists and the greater proliferation of false identity documents.
The two most significant areas of vulnerability or weakness to terrorists and terrorist organizations are communications and finance. These two areas consistently lead to the disruption and dismantlement of terrorist groups and activities. Although terrorists consistently change their methods of operations and demonstrate adaptability at avoiding detection, they must communicate, and raise and spend money to function. This is where the government and private sectors efforts must exploit the weaknesses of terrorists.
All individuals in the financial community, particularly those responsible for Anti -Money Laundering Programs, Know Your Customer and Customer Identification Programs, and the filing of Suspicious Activity Reports are truly on the front lines of the financial component of the war on terrorism. It is incumbent on all of us to understand this fact and take this responsibility in a serious and vigilant manner. The better the control environment and the more thoroughly suspicious activity is reported, the greater the impact in the disruption and prevention process.
Timely and actionable information sharing initiatives are critically important keys to succeeding in preventing terrorist attacks and diminishing their ability to raise and move funds. There must be continued consistent communications, cooperation and coordination in the interagency and business communities across all lines domestically, as well as internationally. All sectors must develop and maintain strong working relationships. In certain instances this will require establishment of a middle ground to address impediments. Through risk and vulnerability assessments, as well as through other mechanisms, we must continue to identify emerging trends and systemic vulnerabilities. Agencies and institutions must adapt and implement methodologies to counter such trends and vulnerabilities. A final thought is that regular candid operational assessments should be performed in order to sustain the level of scrutiny necessary to disrupt and prevent terrorist activities, and to ensure the most forward thinking deterrent methodologies are developed and effectively employed. « Close It
DHS - Michael Chertoff
By Andrew Cochran
CNN and others reporting federal appeals court Judge Michael Chertoff for DHS Secretary, announcement at 10 am. Chertoff has had an interesting career as a respected lawyer, recently mixing the legal and political. He served as special counsel for the Senate's Whitewater hearings and was the first Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ Criminal Division under President Bush, where he helped draft the USA Patriot Act and shepherded DOJ's prosecutions of corporate accounting criminal cases.
2004 Shin Bet Terrorism Report
By Matthew Levitt
The Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency, ISA) recently published its "2004 Terrorism Data" report.
Highlights include:
* A sharp drop in successful attacks (attributed to disruptions and the West Bank barrier/fence)
* No change in attempted attacks (terrorist motivation remains high)
* An increase in the use of women and children as operatives (including suicide bombers)
* An increase in the exploitation of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem to conduct attacks
* And an increase in Iranian and Hezbollah involvement in Palestinian terror.
The full report can be found here.
Missed Opportunities? The December 1994 Air France Hijacking
By Evan Kohlmann
Missed Opportunities? The December 1994 Air France Hijacking
A decade ago, the notion that international terrorists were intent on hijacking commercial aircraft and suicide-crashing them into buildings would have seem a bit far-fetched to many in the Western world. Traditional terrorist organizationsincluding radical Islamic groups like Hezbollahhad often hijacked aircraft and held them hostage in exchange for a list of demands. Passengers and crewmembers were routinely told to remain passive and cooperative during such hijackings; the logic being, terrorists would stand to gain nothing by simply executing their captives. This philosophy on dealing with hijacked commercial airline flights continued throughout the Clinton administration and up until 9/11even though as early as December 1994, a group of fanatic Algerian militants associated with Usama Bin Laden had brazenly attempted to do the unthinkable: suicide-crashing a jetliner packed with fuel into the city of Paris, possibly directed straight at the landmark Eiffel Tower...
Read more at Globalterroralert.com...
U.S. Embassy in Kuwait Issues Warning
By Andrew Cochran
The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait has issued a warning "because it has received credible information that an individual or individuals moving about Kuwait in a black colored small sedan intend to randomly attack Westerners." Thanks to IntelCenter.com for this one.
IS THE PKK STILL A THREAT?
By Matthew Levitt
On December 31, 2004, terrorists belonging to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), a group on the U.S. State Department's Foreign Terror Organizations (FTO) list, ambushed Turkish security officers in the Sirnak province in southeastern Turkey, near the Iraqi border, wounding fifteen. Although the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire after Turkey captured its leader Abdullah Ocalan in February 1999, in June 2004 the organization renounced its ceasefire.
Over the past few years the PKK has moved between violent and peaceful facades. Is the group, responsible for over 35,000 casualties between 1984 and 1999, currently a threat to Turkish and U.S. interests? Two Turkish experts argue it is in The Washington Institute's recent PolicyWatch #940: IS THE PKK STILL A THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES AND TURKEY?
All OFF Audit Reports Now Available
By Andrew Cochran
The reports can be individually downloaded from here. They also released a 36-page "Briefing Paper," and you can download it here. So much for exclusivity...
Three Oil-for-Food Audit Reports Here
By Andrew Cochran
I've obtained three of the actual OFF audit reports, thanks to a Congressional counsel involved in the investigations (see link to the AP story on the audit reports on our right sidebar). Fox News released another audit report back in May. The UN will release the series of reports on Monday morning. Please attribute copies of the reports downloaded from here to The Counterterrorism Blog.
UN Iraq Humanitarian Coordinator Contract Audit Report, 660K
UN Iraq Inspection Agents Contract Audit Report, 570K
UN Oil Inspection Services Contract Audit Report, 1,942K
Today's wire stories and New York Times stories describe the substance of these audit reports pretty well. Based on many years as an auditor in the Commerce Department Office of Inspector General as well as my service on the Hill, I would add that these read, in part, like so many audit reports on U.S government agencies: wasted and abusive spending, insufficient contract management to minimize and document costs, inadequate measures to evaluate performance, and so on. The more interesting work for Congressional investigators will be to review the underlying audit workpapers: the auditors' interviews, the receipts and checks gathered during the audit, and other evidence. The bottom line, of course, is how much in OFF funds were funneled to terrorists and are now in use to fund the insurgency.
EDIT: Now I'm told that Mr. Volcker will release them tonight so he can spin it right.
Abbas Wins
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
No surprise here. Now we'll see how the media portrays Abbas. At the outset, I can say that it's almost certain that most media outlets will portray Abbas as a true moderate who merely resorted to anti-Israel rhetoric on the campaign trail in order to appeal to Palestinian opinion -- similar to the Washington Post's editorial portrayal that I discussed in a previous blog post. However, this is something to keep an eye on in the coming days. If the media annoints Abbas a moderate before he has done anything to earn that appellation, that reduces the chance that the world will hold Abbas accountable for cracking down on Palestinian terrorism.
Review of Joel J. Seidemann's "In the Interest of Justice"
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Steve and I have a book review in today's Washington Times of Joel Seidemann's new book, In the Interest of Justice: Great Opening and Closing Arguments of the Last 100 Years. Seidemann's book compiles some of the past century's best -- and worst -- examples of courtroom advocacy.
One of the main points that Steve and I make in our review is that the book is relevant not only for the examples of courtroom advocacy contained therein, but also because it provides the reader with a snapshot of the most vital issues of the past century, through the lens of courtroom argument. One such issue that the book touches upon is the threat of Islamic terrorism. The book contains transcripts of Zacarias Moussaoui's request to fire his lawyers and proceed with his defense pro se. Here's our take on the section on Moussaoui:
"Mr. Moussaoui proudly proclaimed that he wanted to fire the federal public defender assigned to him. Quoting by memory from the Koran, he stated, 'O you who believe, take not as your Bitanah, adviser, consultant, friend, those outside of your religion, pagan, Jew, Christian, and hypocrites, since they will not fail to do their best to corrupt you. They desire to harm you severely. Hatred has already appeared from their mouth. But what their breast conceals is far worse.' And even though Mr. Moussaoui requested a bench trial, he also viciously insulted the federal judge assigned to his case, Leonie Brinkema: 'I will not entertain the illusion that a U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema is an honest broker. Reality tells me that this judge is here as a field general, entrusted with the mission to get this matter over quickly. Every general has a commander in chief, and I know how much the U.S. commander in chief wants me to be over quickly.' Mr. Moussaoui's plain contempt for the U.S. legal system and the defiant way that he has been able to make a fool of the court by openly mocking it may raise another question for readers: when it is appropriate to use the courts as a primary vehicle to respond to wrongdoing. Mr. Moussaoui's trial and his defiance an lack of contrition strongly suggest that in the war on terror, something more than the courtroom is needed as a first line of response to our enemies."
While we don't mention this in the Times review, the point that something more than the courtroom is needed as a first response in the war on terror becomes even more clear when one compares Moussaoui's mockery of the court with another example of courtroom advocacy in Seidemann's book, the moving opening statement of Adolf Eichmann's prosecutor Gideon Hausner. In his opening statement, Hausner outlines the historical persecution inflicted upon the Jews, and then painstakingly details how a malevolent desk-bound bureaucrat like Eichmann was able to inflict far more damage on the Jewish people than the Pharoah in Egypt or Haman. Eichmann's trial came after Hitler's regime had been toppled; in contrast to the Moussaoui case, when Hausner claims that he is not standing alone, but "[w]ith me are 6 million accusers," there is a palpable sense of closure. One can never make full restitution for something as horrible as the Holocaust, but Eichmann's trial seems to be one of the concluding chapters in a tragic tale. Moussaoui's, on the other hand, is obviously just part of an opening salvo in a broader war.
In the Interest of Justice is a good book; I recommend it. Note also that the Washington Times accidentally overstates the book's price. While the Times claims that it costs $41.50, the listed cover price is actually $28.95, and it's currently available for $19.11 on Amazon.com.
Border Security?
By Bill West
By Bill West
Biometric border security enhancements recently announced by DHS are solid improvements, but more needs to be done. More than three years after the 9-11 attacks, US border enforcement agencies are using an automated system that accomplishes only part of the mission.
Read More »
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently announced that its U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US VISIT) program was expanded to the Nations fifty busiest land border ports of entry. Last year, the program was implemented at 115 international airports and 15 seaports. US VISIT is the biometric border security system put into action after the 9-11 attacks. The system requires alien entrants to submit to digital fingerprinting and photographing, as well as having their biographic, passport and entry data information entered into the DHS computer network.
The digital fingerprint process is based on the two-print system used in the earlier-established Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) used by INS, US Customs and other border agencies before 9-11 and the creation of DHS. AFIS and the US VISIT system does not yet interface with the ten-print system used by the FBIs National Crime Information Center (NCIC), which houses some 47 million or so records. This is one of the critical shortfalls of the system that was recently highlighted in a report by the DHS Office of the Inspector General. DHS officials state that an effective interface of the fingerprint systems is likely years away.
The concept of US VISIT is sound. An alien seeking entry into the US presents his/her travel and identity documents to border inspectors, who then take the biographic and biometric information, enter it into the automated system for comparison against known bad guy data and a decision is made about whether or not the alien is admissible into the US, or not, or is wanted for some crime or terrorism or some other nefarious reason. Notwithstanding the shortfalls of the fingerprint limitations and the persistent problem of the multiple terrorist watch lists still not being integrated, US VISIT is at least beginning to work. Some criminals, fugitives and prior immigration violators have already been captured by the system.
Thats half the US VISIT story. The other half is whats called departure control. When an alien arrives and is admitted into the US on a temporary visa status, the DHS computer is supposed to track that aliens stay in the US. If the alien is approved for a change of status or an extension of stay, so noted. When the alien departs the US, he/she is supposed to surrender the entry form, generally known as the I-94 document, upon departure from the US, and the departure is updated in the system and, essentially, case closed for that aliens visit to the US. Unfortunately, none of that part of US VISIT is working. And DHS says it could be years before it is, though it does have a voluntary test project for departure control at Baltimore Washington International airport and the Miami seaport. No definitive word yet on how well the voluntary departure project is working.
Why is the departure control part of US VISIT so important? Consider that solid estimates from several studies show that as many as 40% of the illegal aliens in the US started their lives in America not by sneaking across the border but by making a legal entry with a temporary visa, and simply overstayed their time or otherwise violated the terms of their admission. That means that perhaps as many as four to five million illegal aliens originally entered the US in this manner. Every one of the 9-11 terrorist hijackers didsome several times.
Presumably, if the US VISIT departure control system worked, the computer would identify each temporary entrant alien who overstayed his or her authorized time. That information would make its way to the DHS interior immigration enforcement bureau, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Lets assume the system is up and running. What then? We can assume a large number of such leads will likely be generated (remember the aforementioned 40% statistic).
ICE is currently an agency with no shortage of internal turmoil. Forged (some say it was more a shotgun marriage) from the remnants of the US Customs Service Office of Investigations, INS Investigations Division, INS Detention & Deportation Division, Federal Protective Service and later the Federal Air Marshals Service, the agency has a multitude of missions and, at best, a fragmented management structure. These are some of the very same ills that plagued the old INS. While ICE is struggling to cope with its many missions, maintaining an effective interior immigration law enforcement posture has been difficult for the agency.
When ICE was created, it was believed by various political leaders that Customs Special Agents and INS Special Agents would naturally meld together well since, after all, they all worked cases involving the border. Well, the border was really the only nexus between the two outfits and that meld was more fiction than reality, because the investigative missions of Customs and INS were (and are) very much differentCustoms investigated cases with things and INS investigated cases with people. The investigative divisions of the two agencies should have remained separate. From the immigration enforcement perspective, there really should be a stand-alone interior immigration investigative agency either under DHS or under DOJ, from where INS came. Thus a big part of the problem with ICE.
So, would ICE be able to effectively investigate what would likely be thousands of new absconder leads generated from the US VISIT departure control system? ICE is currently fielding approximately 30 fugitive apprehension teams nationwide to locate and capture some 400,000 (thats correct - 400,000) alien fugitives who are under final deportation orders. These are aliens who have been placed under deportation proceedings, had their days in court, had their appeals, lost all their legal proceedings and who failed to surrender for deportationimagine that. So each of these fugitive teams, usually composed of four agents each, carries an average of more than 13,000 cases. And thats old cases. Estimates of current deportation cases making their way through the system will realize as high as half resulting in the alien becoming a fugitive. ICE is struggling now trying to locate and apprehend huge numbers of known illegal aliens.
Does that mean the US VISIT departure control system should be scrapped? Absolutely not. For one thing, Congress has mandated its implementation. From at least a theoretical posture, the US Government should know what foreign nationals have entered, departed and failed to depart the United States. Being able to actually do anything with that information is another thing. Then again, the Government could do something with the information, even if rapidly and effectively locating and apprehending most of the violators is not one of them.
The US VISIT departure control violator information could be triaged initially through the various Government terrorist and criminal databases to determine if, since entry, the person has surfaced in any of those systems. An intelligence indicator database system, a dreaded profile system, could be constructed against which to query these violators. Before the civil libertarians and radical apologists have a fit, lets remember the subjects being queried through such a system would already be people who would be prima facie immigration law violators. While those violations may not mean much to the aforementioned groups who would protest such profiling, I suspect the vast majority of Americans would support the Governments washing of known illegal alien identities against limited security indicators to ferret out potential terror threats.
With such an analysis process, most of it automated, the limited number of threat leads could then be prioritized for investigative action by ICE and/or the FBI within the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. This is the way it could work. However, none of it works because the US VISIT departure control system is years away from implementation. America may now have better records of the entries through its ports, but we have no clue who is leaving and who is staying when they shouldnt. From an immigration enforcement perspective, its really the same old stuff. Border security is better than before 9-11, but it still needs work.
And border security really is national security nowadays. Consider that in the past few days we have seen the Islamic Army in Iraq issue a statement (1/2) that it will bring their terrorist insurgency to the United Statesstuff of Tom Clancy novels and Chuck Norris movies before 9-11; now potential lethal reality. There are verified reports of al-Qaeda connected Ansar al-Islam terrorists who are veteran fighters from Iraq being arrested after having been smuggled into Europe. According to Interpol, thousands of stolen and lost European passports remain unaccounted for, unreported internationally by their issuing countries due to lack of accurate bureaucratic oversight; passports that could be used to effect a visa waiver entry into the US. Reports continue to surface that MS-13, the deadly Latin American street gang founded in Los Angeles composed mostly of violent criminal aliens, many of whom have been deported and who have illegally reentered the US via alien smuggling organizations they control, has spread to a number of cities throughout the US, including Boston and Washington, DC and is reported to have made operational contacts with al-Qaeda for the purpose of smuggling terrorist operatives into America.
Strong and effective border security and immigration enforcement within the interior of the United States has become a critical component of the Nations counter-terrorism fight. The rule of law must prevail in concert with national security. But when dealing with foreign nationals entering and remaining in the United States, it should be remembered that simply is the issue in most immigration enforcement matters. The United States, as represented by the Congress and the Executive Branch, has a sovereign right to determine what foreign nationals may and may not come and remain here. There are often extreme voices trying to portray reasonable immigration enforcement actions as unjustified draconian acts conducted by jackbooted thugs. Usually those voices have their own agenda, and not the national security interests of America.
Here is a good "Government Executive" article on US VISIT. « Close It
Palestinian Elections
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
The Palestinian elections will be held today, and the media's take on the outcome will be known soon thereafter. Over at The Corner, Cliff May notes a Saturday Washington Post editorial that describes the presumed winner Mahmoud Abbas thusly: "Palestinian presidential candidate Mahmoud Abbas has been a strong and courageous opponent of violence against Israel and a supporter of Palestinian compromises to move toward a two-state solution." In response, May rightly notes that Abbas seems never to have opposed violence on a moral basis -- only on a strategic basis (arguing that terrorism hurts the Palestinian cause).
Charles Krauthammer's Friday Post column about Abbas is worth reading. Krauthammer lays out some disturbing recent snapshots of Abbas's campaign. These include Abbas being hoisted on the shoulders of a terrorist from the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and declaring that he will protect all terrorists from Israel; Abbas reiterating his demand for the Palestinian "right of return," which would destroy Israel demographically; and Abbas's reference to Israel as the "Zionist enemy."
Some people write off Abbas's recent statements as "campaign rhetoric" that can be safely ignored. While Krauthammer makes a strong case that "[i]n the Middle East, words are actions," it's important to note that my own reservations about Abbas are based on far more than his recent statements. In a March 3, 2003 interview with al-Sharq al-Awsat, Abbas clarified previous statements he had been made that some had interpreted as calling for a demilitarization of the Palestinians' conflict with Israel: "On the basis of the talks held in Cairo [between the PLO, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and othe groups] we agreed upon the freezing of Palestinian military operations for one year. . . . We did not say, however, that we are giving up the armed struggle. . . . The Intifada must continue." Essentially, Abbas had been calling for violence against Israel years before he threw his hat into the ring for the current election.
Moreover, the evidence against Abbas reaches back at least as far as his 1983 doctoral dissertation, The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and the Zionist Movement, which peddles anti-Semitic Holocaust-denying conspiracy theories. The dissertation relies upon known Holocaust revisionists as authoritative sources to argue that six million Jews were not really killed by Hitler, and also claims that the Zionists "led a broad campaign of incitement against the Jews living under Nazi rule . . . to expand the mass extermination."
Abbas will get his chance to lead the Palestinian people to their own state. Despite his past, he may prove to be the right man for the job. But the rest of the world should not repeat the "Arafat mistake," feverishly projecting the good intentions that they wish to see upon the Palestinian leader. If Abbas shows no intention of discontinuing Palestinian terror, the world must hold him accountable for this rather than being overindulgent and assuming -- as it did during Arafat's dreadful reign -- that responsible leadership that will usher in peace is just around the corner.
(Hat tip: The IP's Erick Stakelbeck.)
DNI & DHS Buzz
By Andrew Cochran
John Lehman has always been near or at the top of the short list, but there seemed to be an increase about him in the buzz at week's end. On Tom Ridge's replacement, however, I had two sources who should know tell me at mid-week that they had heard nothing recently. Could be that with the apparent end of the Alberto Gonzales nomination hassle, the White House can turn its attention to the next two big personnel decisions.
Translation: Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) Threatens U.S. Homeland
By Andrew Cochran
Globalterroralert.com (1/7/05): The Islamic Army in Iraq (IAI) has issued a new communiqu dated Jan. 2 warning, "do you know that the percentage of people who agree on attacking America in her own homeland has greatly increased? Those who were content with defending our land have now become supporters of the idea of transferring the battle from our homeland to yours to give American civilians a taste of what our civilians are tasting in our country... This year will feature great surprises that the fighters have prepared for your sons outside America and even greater surprises that have been prepared for inside of America."
Click to view English translation
Getting Congress On Board for CIA Reform
By Larry Johnson
By Larry Johnson
Contrary to conventional wisdom, the problems plaguing the CIA are not the result of too little money. Part of the blame lies with the CIA itself for its past failures to hold leaders accountable for poor performance. A substantial portion of the blame also lies with Congress and the shifting priorities of ambitious politicians. It is true that the CIA has become a stodgy, risk averse bureaucracy. But these faults are not simply self-inflicted wounds. They are the result of Congressional crusades, many well-intentioned, that highlighted some CIA misdeeds and pressed for reform.
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The decline of the CIA as an effective intelligence organization began in the 1970s with the Church Committee hearings. That highly publicized airing of the perceived and actual misdeeds of the CIA set in motion the cancer of fear, caution, and doubt that steadily eroded public confidence in the competence of the Agency. But it was the Congress and politicians changing the rules of the game.
The Hollywood mythology of a rogue elephant CIA pursuing its own dark agenda independent of elected leaders is sheer nonsense. The CIA is more akin to a big shaggy dog eager for its master to take it out for a romp. During the Church hearings the Agency found itself being punished and vilified in large measure for carrying out measures dictated by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon. For example, it wasnt the CIA who had lobbied for the Bay of Pigs invasion. That program started under the Eisenhower reign and was continued by the Kennedy Administration. While CIA officials were culpable in the bungled plan and execution of same, the act was the result of a decision by elected officials.
Until the Iran-Contra affair in 1986, the Agency culture lived by and cultivated a code that officers would protect their subordinates if an operation went wrong as long as the individuals involved were acting in good faith and doing their best. The revelation that the Ronald Reagan was cutting secret deals with the terrorist state of Iran and circumventing Congressional restrictions on funding the Contras was a watershed moment. Intelligence officers who had been following the orders and requests of senior officials suddenly found themselves cut loose and forced to fend for themselves.
That event set in motion a cover your ass mentality that came to increasingly plague the entire CIA, but the Directorate of Operations in particular. Instead of living by the previous practice of accepting oral directions to carry out a sensitive covert action, senior DO officers, at least the smart ones, began insisting on getting directions in writing. A good friend of mine, a retired Case Officer, sent me the following observations:
Frankly, what really bothers me a lot more than Goss's suitability for this job is the role Congress has played in creating the mess. In the late 1980s, aided considerably by the Agency's involvement in that stupid Iran-Contra circus, Congress deliberately set out to destroy the existing culture of the Operations Directorate and force the risk-takers out of the Agency for once and for all. Well, it worked. The result was just what they wanted - a neutered, de-fanged Operations Directorate whose officers (the smart ones, anyway) avoided risky human intelligence operations like the plague.
One of the better young case officers summed it up admirably a few years ago by telling me that the prevailing motto in the Directorate these days was not "Who Dares, Wins" but rather "Big operations equal big problems, small operations equal small problems, and no operations equal no problems at all".
Now the very same Congress that created the little white mouse that defines the culture of the current Operations Directorate is taking the lead in criticizing the Directorate for the very same deficiencies (lack of human sources, passivity, lack of language-qualified Arabists and so on) that Senators and Representatives helped create over the past twelve years. They ought to be ashamed of themselves. But, as we all know, most successful politicians feel little or no shame. It apparently is part of their genetic makeup.
Congress, abetted by Quisling DCIs like John Deutch, tried its best from about 1989 until the 11 September attacks to crush the DO "Rogue Mouse" once and for all. To that end, just about anyone in the DO over 50 who had been involved in counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism got the clear message that the "cowboy" days were over and that those unwilling or unable to adapt to the new, kinder, cleaner, more "sensitive" approach were no longer welcome in the Agency.
That meant that people like myself, who had actually been responsible for the deaths of a number of our enemies in the course of implementing "lethal" presidential findings in exotic places, either retired as soon as they could or changed their ways. For the younger case officers, having seen what happened to the "risk takers" in the senior officer corps, it meant that the path to promotion was no longer to take chances but indeed exactly the opposite.
This is how one young case officer, who entered the service in the 1989-90 timeframe, summed it up for me in the mid-1990s. When I asked him what he did all day, he told me that had had concluded that the best and smartest way to look busy while staying out of trouble was simply to sit at his computer terminal all day and write messages. His favorite tactic was to arrive at his desk early in the morning, spend as long as possible reading his incoming mail, and the open a "dialogue" with Headquarters on some operational subject by e-mail. He would then send his message to Washington, as well as to five or six other stations. He would then go home to his wife and kids and, hopefully, when he came to work the next day he would have six or seven answers to his original cable. Then, in what was really just an operational Ponzi scheme, he would spend the next few days answering those messages. Hopefully his responses would generate similar replies from other ops officers, thereby insuring that neither he nor his correspondents ever had actually to take the risk of operating out on the street.
This sort of stuff went on for years and everyone seemed happy with it. The young case officer's superiors loved what he was doing since it generated so much message traffic without actually doing anything. And people at Headquarters loved it to since with all those messages flowing in and out and all those people still reporting to work every day the Agency could not possibly have been reduced to the kind of sham perpetual motion Rube Goldberg machine that its critics alleged it to be.
Well, then came September 11 and we found out a lot in the course of one morning. One of the things we found out was that the DO, which had been recruiting nothing but Sunday School teachers for years, had no human intelligence sources in Osamas inner circle. Nor did they have a clue about how to develop such sources since the "risk takers" among them had all been purged years ago.
In desperation, people hauled out their phone books and started calling Retirees, pleading with many of the same ops officers who were disparaged, shown the door, etc. ten years earlier, to return to help them out of the mess they and Congress had created. Several senior officers I know who came within a whisker of being fired during the Iran-Contra affair and subsequently retired were welcomed back with open arms and are now key players in the effort to develop better human intelligence on al-Qaida and related groups. Why? They turned out to be the only people around who knew how to do this stuff.
Using the retirees does provide some short-term relief for the DO's problems, but longer term relief will necessitate new people, new leadership and a new oversight climate. First of all the hundreds of lawyers who have been feasting on the bones of the DO for the past ten or fifteen years will have to go. Second, many of the prissy, "do-nothing" ops officers who have been hired and promoted through the ranks during that period will also have to go. Many of them are incapable of rolling up their sleeves and getting out onto the street to recruit assets with terrorist connections. And - this is where Porter Goss comes in - the Agency needs a new leadership that can stand up both to the administration in power and to the Congress.
To be truthful, I am not very optimistic. This mess took ten to fifteen years to create, and even if we started repairing it today it would probably take us ten more years to get back to where we were in the late 1980s when the purge began.
And even then, we were not all that good at counter-terrorism. One example: in Latin America during the mid-80s we spent a lot of time and effort trying to insert sources into a Marxist terrorist group. Since the group in question was very wary and counter-intelligence conscious this was a difficult task and a number of our fledgling assets were unmasked and dealt with harshly. Nevertheless, we kept trying.
On one occasion, one of those brave young people we were dangling before the group told his case officer that he thought he had finally achieved a breakthrough. After months of trying to ingratiate himself with the local commander "Comandante Pepe", he reported that Pepe had finally asked him to hide a couple of hundred pounds of high explosives for his group for a couple of weeks.
We wrote this up and sent it to Headquarters and were astonished to get a response from some lawyer back there who virtually accused us of being terrorists. In his view, if we hid the explosives for Pepe and then the group retrieved them and used them to make bombs and kill people we would be at least partially responsible. Hence the only way Headquarters would approve our asset's hiding the explosives would be to send an expert to determine exactly what explosive was involved and substitute an inert look-alike material for it.
So according to Headquarters script, our man hides the stuff and Pepe picks it up a couple of weeks later. Then Pepe and his merry men mold it into bombs, improvised grenades, mines or some such and - to their astonishment - none of it goes off. Pepe would have to be pretty darn stupid not to think that maybe, just maybe, our man might have something to do with this. In Ricky Ricardo's words, our guy would certainly have some "splainin" to do.
Todays CIA is a broken Humpty Dumpty and Congress has helped break it. I dont know if the Agency can be restored as an effective, clandestine organization. Part of the solution requires instituting a policy of accountability inside the CIA. The still classified report on the CIAs culpability for 9-11 is a step in the right direction. It calls to account the CIAs senior leadership for its sins of omission and commission that contributed to the failure to prevent the attacks of 9-11.
However, it is not just a matter of creating accountability inside the Agency, the Congress also must be accountable. One reason Case Officers have been very cautious about recruiting terrorist spies goes back to the witch hunt led by Senator Robert Torricelli against CIA officers who had recruited and run agents inside the Guatemalan Army who were guilty of human rights abuses. CIA officers who were doing their job legally and honorably had been asked to recruit sources in the Guatemalan military. There are murderers in the Guatemalan Army. The CIA officers did what they were asked to do and later found themselves vilified and fired for doing their job. This kind of after the fact crusading by members of Congress have helped create the current mentality in the CIA of people unwilling to take chances in seamy areas for fear of being scapegoated when the political winds change.
One thing the Congress can do immediately to assist with reforming the CIA is to come together and implement a single intelligence oversight committee that brings together members of both Houses and both parties. At the end of the day the Congress and the American people need to make a decisionare we willing to have a Clandestine service capable of carrying out secret acts and forced to deal intimately with murderers and criminals. Frankly, I am not sure we as a people have the stomach for this. « Close It
Two Great Referrals
By Andrew Cochran
It was great to open the Inbox and see e-mails from an Embassy Deputy Chief of Mission at the State Department and a referral from the "Crystal Clear" blog this morning. We really appreciate both. The former advised us of The Diplomad website, and we will certainly review that often for fresh info.
Israeli Defense Forces: 'Concrete information' of attack
By Andrew Cochran
Jerusalem Post now: "Israel has 'concrete information that terrorist organizations are planning attacks on Sunday, the day of the Palestinian elections, in order to sabotage the polling and blame it on Israel, Col. Yorai Kedar of the IDF's operations branch said Wednesday."
Mosul suicide bomber was Saudi medical student: report
By Evan Kohlmann
Mosul suicide bomber was Saudi medical student: report (AP)
3 January 2005 [ANSAR AL-SUNNAH VIDEO REFERENCED: http://www.globalterroralert.com/video/1204/ansarsunnah-mosul3.wmv]
CAIRO - The suicide bomber who killed 22 people when he blew himself up in a US mess hall in Mosul, Iraqi, was a Saudi medical student, an Arab newspaper reported Monday. Saudi-owned
Asharq Al-Awsat identified him as 20-year-old Ahmed Said Ahmed
al-Ghamdi, citing unnamed friends of the mans father. The friends said
members of an Iraqi resistance group contacted al-Ghamdis father to
tell him his son was the suicide bomber who carried out the Dec. 21
attack, the deadliest on an American installation in Iraq.
Read More »
The Associated Press was unable to reach Saudi security officials for comment despite several phone calls on Monday.
The
US-led coalition that toppled Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein has faced
fierce resistance, most of it carried out by Saddam loyalists or Iraqi
nationalists. Some of the deadliest attacks, though, have been blamed
on foreign Muslim extremists.
US
officials have said their preliminary investigation indicates the
bomber was dressed in an Iraqi military uniform - but was not an Iraqi
soldier - when he slipped into a mess tent packed with soldiers eating
lunch in northern Iraq.
The
father refused to discuss the suicide bombing, but told the newspaper
his son had gone to Iraq to fight the Americans and had died there. The
family held a mourning ceremony the paper said. It did not say when the
ceremony was held or where in Saudi Arabia the family lived.
The
paper did not name the Iraqi resistance group. But Ansar al-Sunnah, a
radical Islamic Iraqi group that has been active in northern Iraq,
claimed responsibility for the mess hall attack. In a videotape posted
on the Web, Ansar al-Sunnah identified the suicide bomber as Abu Omar
al-Musali - an apparent nom de guerre meaning Abu Omar of Mosul.
The
man identified as Abu Omar al-Musali appeared in the Web video wearing
an explosives-laden vest, but did not speak. Another man, speaking in
an Iraqi accent, described how the operation had been planned. A
subsequent segment showed what appeared to have been the attack.
Asharq
al-Awsat said al-Ghamdi started studying medicine in Sudan when his
father worked and lived there. Al-Ghamdi stayed to complete his studies
when his family returned to Saudi Arabia, the paper reported, without
saying when the family left.
It
said the father said he learned Dec. 16 that his son had withdrawn all
the money left in a Sudanese bank account for him and later received a
phone call from his son telling him that he was in Iraq to fight the
Americans.
The al-Ghamdis are a large Saudi clan. Three al-Ghamdis were among the Sept. 11 hijackers.
Notes from Evan Kohlmann:
A friend and supporter of Ahmed al-Ghamdi responded to this story:
"I
carry on and confirm to you the news concerning the martyrdom of Ahmad
Said Omar Al-Ghamdi, who carried out the Mosul operation and previously
was studying in Sudan at the Medical School of the Umm Durman Islamic
University. His real name is written this way, and it is not Ahmad
Said Ahmad Al-Ghamdi as was reported in As-Sharq al-Awsat. Also, he
was studying at the Islamic University in Umm Durman and not at
Khartoum University... His father was formerly the charge d'affaires at
the Saudi embassy in Khartoum, but returned to Saudi Arabia sometime
ago at the end of his appointment period. However, Ahmad continued to
study here until he disappeared suddenly after informing his friends
that he was going back to Saudi Arabia.... Allah have mercy on him, he
was humble, well-mannered, and very polite. He reached great success
in his studies... [at the] Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic
University of Umm Durman. The university is marked by its Islamic
theme, without the typical mixture found at other universities between
the material and legitimate sciences [science and religion]. While at
the university, he began to show signs of his committment, growing out
his beard, and becoming persistent in studying the lessons of Islamic
clerics and shaykhs. The last time I saw him was in June 2004 at the
Hijra Mosque in the Riyadh neighborhood of Khartoum."
On
a related note, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army has also released a videotaped
"martyr will" of "Abu Abdullah al-Muhajir", identified as responsible
for the January 3, 2005 attempted suicide bombing attack on the Baghdad
headquarters of Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National Accord Party that killed
four bystanders. See http://www.globalterroralert.com/video/0105/ansarsunnah-martyrwill.wmv. « Close It
Saddam Hussein and Al-Jazeera
By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
The Associated Press reported on January 3 that the London-based Arabic newspaper Asharq al-Awsat broke the news that a videotape found in Baghdad after Saddam Hussein's ouster shows a former al-Jazeera manager thanking Saddam's sadistic son Uday Hussein for his support. The AP report quoted al-Jazeera manager Mohammed Jassem al-Ali telling Uday that "Al-Jazeera is your channel." The AP also quotes Uday as saying that "some ideas" he proposed in previous meetings with al-Ali led to "some changes" in al-Jazeera's political coverage.
The AP story creates room for a perfectly reasonable explanation that exonerates al-Jazeera from institutional wrongdoing. After all, al-Ali was fired from al-Jazeera shortly after the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003. The Associated Press states, "No reason was given, but many in the Arab press speculated al-Ali had been receiving support from Saddam's government."
So, lone corrupt manager gets fired, no big deal? Not according to a new report published yesterday at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies website. From the description provided on FDD's website, the new information that was found in Iraq seems nothing short of explosive. The FDD reports that one of the appointments to al-Jazeera's editorial staff that Uday praises is Ahmad Mansour, "a prominent reporter who has since been criticized for providing greatly exaggerated reports of civilian deaths during U.S. couterinsurgency operations in Fallujah." Al-Jazeera anchor Dr. Faysal Qassem is also shown on tape meeting with Iraqi officials, including Iraqi intelligence officers in Doha.
It also appears that journalist Hamida Nahnah may be implicated in the U.N.'s Oil-for-Food corruption scandal. Nahnah, who received oil vouchers from Saddam's regime estimated to be worth millions of dollars, is shown on tape embracing Uday, thanking him for his generosity, and stating, "The campaign to defend Saddam's regime is about to start worldwide, thanks to the support."
It is unclear at this point how deep the corruption runs, but this is surely a story worth following. Footage of the newly discovered videotapes will be aired by Alhurra beginning today.
UPDATE, JAN. 9, 2005: The Associated Press now corrects the article referenced above. According to the AP correction, al-Ali does not actually tell Uday that "al-Jazeera is your channel." Instead, "[t]he words were spoken by Odai, who said he was quoting what had been said previously by the manager, Mohammed Jassem al-Ali." This correction doesn't change the substance of my post, that this story could be quite significant if FDD's depiction is accurate. According to FDD, Saddam's regime used outright bribery to strongly influence al-Jazeera's editorial slant, and several of the al-Jazeera personnel who Saddam arranged to bring to the network are still applying their unique brand of spin.
New DHS National Response Plan
By Andrew Cochran
In the Library to the left, I've added the link to the DHS website where you can download parts or all of the new National Response Plan.
UN Report Link
By Andrew Cochran
I've added a link to the Library for the UN report to which Matthew refers. Brent Scowcroft was the panel member from the U.S. - other panel members are listed here.
Defining Terrorism
By Matthew Levitt
On December 4, 2004, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges, and Change released a report calling for several reforms to help the UN provide increased security for member nations. One of the chief recommendations identified by the sixteen-member panel was the need for an international definition of terrorism. For an analytical review of the various U.S. and U.N. definitions of terrorism and the implications of not having a single agreed-upon definition, see Andrew Eastman's "Defining Terrorism," Policywatch #938, available here.
Arab Bank as "terrorist paymaster" - Another bank in hot water?
By Andrew Cochran
The new issue of "The Economist," out today or tomorrow, has a story about civil lawsuits, the most recent of which was filed December 21, against the Arab Bank in federal court in NYC. The suit alleges that Arab Bank served as the "paymasters" for suicide bombers and Hamas-front organizations, with money raised in Saudi Arabia sent through the NYC bank to its offices in the Middle East. I can't judge Arab Bank's liability on the basis of just the filings, but I look forward to the discovery process to see what juicy information is revealed. But the suits raise Arab Bank to a dubious distinction, that of another major financial institution that is under the microscope for allegedly or actually failing to follow anti-terrorist financing laws and reguations. I'm writing something else about the numerous BSA-related cases last year, and the possibility that DOJ is trying to assume primary jurisdiction in the area, but here's a short list of the recent major companies in the news: Bank of America, Citigroup, AmSouth, UBS, BNP Paribas, Riggs Bank, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of New York, ABN Amro. Not a group of small fry.
Miami Immigration Drug Case May Have Future GWOT Impact, By Bill West
By Bill West
An Atlanta Federal appeals court issued a ruling in a Miami immigration case dealing with the denaturalization of a drug dealer that may have an impact on future cases involving terror suspects and war criminals. In the process, the Court reaffirmed a historic element of the naturalization process that was seemingly losing importance.
Read More »
On January 4, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta issued a ruling in a criminal drug case that may have ramifications in the war on terror. The case centers on Lionel Jean-Baptiste, a 57 year old naturalized US citizen from Haiti who, as reported in the Miami Herald, was arrested in Miami in October of 1996 for drug trafficking and subsequently convicted in Federal Court in January 1997. Jean-Baptiste was arrested and convicted after he became a naturalized US citizen; however, the US Government claims the acts involved in his drug trafficking which led to his arrest and conviction occurred before he naturalized, during the time he was required to establish, and during the time he claimed in the naturalization process, that he was a person of good moral character (GMC).
The case before the 11th Circuit Court stems from the US Governments denaturalization efforts against Jean-Baptiste, which succeeded at the Federal District Court level. The 11th Circuit upheld the District Courts decision that Jean-Baptiste should lose his US citizenship because he lacked good moral character as required to become a US citizen.
There isn't really anything all that novel in this. It appears the Government's position was that Jean-Baptiste engaged in criminal activity during the time period he otherwise claimed he was a person of good moral character in his naturalization process...criminal activity that was later identified in the drug case that led to his conviction on a date after his naturalization. The real issue is the GMC, and how that is a genuinely important issue relative to becoming a naturalized US citizen.
If this is upheld as a precedent case on further appeal, it will bode well for future efforts to denaturalize people with nefarious backgrounds other than "regular" crime...such as those who may have been involved in human rights persecutor activities, war crimes, terrorism or terror support activities. The underlying issue in this case is not Jean-Baptistes conviction, though that is clearly strong evidence of the criminal behavior indicative of his lack of GMC, but the fact the good moral character is required to become a US citizen. The Courts have reaffirmed this important requirement for citizenshipsomething that, in our countrys recent history, has seemingly been diminished, as evidenced by the rush to naturalize hundreds of thousands under the ill-fated Citizenship USA program of the mid and late 1990s, many of whom were processed with improper criminal screening that resulted in a large number of convicted criminals actually naturalizing.
In future cases, where Government investigators and prosecutors can develop viable evidence that naturalized citizens who later become terror suspects had engaged in terrorist or terror support activities during the time before their naturalization, even without a criminal conviction, bringing the suspect into a denaturalization proceeding in the Federal courts based on lack of good moral character and misrepresentation thereof becomes a stronger option with the Governments success in this case. Once denaturalized, those defendants then become fair game for potential deportation charges. For foreign-born terrorists, war criminals and other thugs, manipulating the US immigration system and obtaining the ultimate prize of becoming a naturalized citizen is no longer as safe as it once was.
Internet references for this case follow:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/10567035.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/11th/0410144p.pdf « Close It
German Court Calls Hezbollah a Terrorist Organization
By Matthew Levitt
Agence France Presse (AFP) reported yesterday that a German court upheld a lower court's deportation order against a Hezbollah representative who had lived in Germany for some 20 years. The Dusseldorf court denied the Hezbollah member a visa saying he "is a member of an organization that supports international terrorism." In a statement, the court said that "Hezbollah is waging a war with bomb attacks against Israel with 'inhumane brutality' against civilians."
While not a policy decision of the German government (the ruling was issued by a judge in an independent judiciary), the ruling is a key milestone nonetheless. While European Union's (EU) terrorism list does not include Hezbollah, the court ruled that Germany should not be bound by the EU decision.
Additionally, the decision comes in the wake of recent French and U.S. action against Hezbollah's satellite television station, al Manar, which is no less significant. For more on the U.S. designation of al Manar as a terrorist entity, see Avi Jorisch and Matthew Levitt, "Banning Hezbollah TV in Amercia," PolicyWatch #930, December 13, 2004, available online at http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/watch/Policywatch/policywatch2004/930.htm
Douglas Farah on the need to Maintain a Focus on Terrorist Finances
By Douglas Farah
One of the striking aspects of the current policy debate, such as it is, over how to combat the terrorist threat, is the pervasive idea that terrorists don't need much money to operate. This conventional wisdom, a part of the 9-11 Commission Report and other prominent writings, is based on the assumption that, once bin Laden and al Qaeda were driven from Afghanistan, their operational costs decreased significantly because they no longer have to pay for camps or help keep the Taliban afloat. That, I believe, was true for a period after the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. Certainly al Qaeda scattered, its financial structure was damaged and the ground shifted considerably. However, that assessment is outdated, although the official (and much of the unofficial) line has not kept up.
Here is the link to the full text of the blog, and others related to it.
DHS Announces US-VISIT Met 2004 Goals Ahead of Schedule
By Andrew Cochran
The DHS press release claims that the US-VISIT entr-exit system is now in place at the 50 busiest land ports, 115 airports, and 15 seaports, and arrested or blocked the entry of 372 criminals or immigration violators. I would hope the DHS Acting Inspector General (the recent vacancy there is an interesting story in itself) and the Congress would review the claims for their validity. DHS | Department of Homeland Security | DHS Entry-Exit System Meets 2004 Goals Ahead of Schedule.
Matthew Levitt Joins As Contributing Expert
By Andrew Cochran
I am very pleased that Matthew Levitt, Director of the Terrorism Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, is joining the blog as a Contributing Expert. Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Levitt served as an FBI analyst in support of counterterrorism operations, with a special focus on fundraising and logistical support networks for Middle East terrorist groups. In addition, he participated as a team member in a number of crisis situations, including the terrorist threat surrounding the turn of the millennium and the September 11 attacks. Mr. Levitt earned three letters of commendation for his analytical contributions to FBI counterterrorism operations, as well as five awards in recognition of superior service rendered to the FBI. Mr. Levitt is a frequent guest on numerous TV networks. He has served as an expert witness and consulted for the Department of Justice in several terrorism cases, lectured on international terrorism on behalf of the Department of State, and testified before both the U.S. Senate and House on matters relating to international terrorism. Mr. Levitt currently serves on the Council on Foreign Relations task force on terrorist financing.
British Embassy in Yemen Closes
By Andrew Cochran
Another new story, linked on right sidebar: "Britain closed its embassy in Yemen on Wednesday because of 'specific security concerns' and warned that terrorists were in the end stage of planning assaults against British targets in the country. 'The British embassy will be closed on Jan. 5 in response to specific security concerns,' said a statement posted on the Foreign Office Web site."
Thanks to the IP staff for the headsup.
An OKC copycat attempt?
By Andrew Cochran
New story: "Federal authorities searched Wednesday for a man using a Middle Eastern name and possible bogus construction credentials to try to purchase large quantities of the same explosive used by Timothy McVeigh to blow up the Oklahoma City federal building. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said there is no indication yet that terrorism is involved, but the agency is still checking information that came from a company in Canada that reported the attempted purchase as suspicious." Linked on the right sidebar.
Government-industry information sharing improving?
By Andrew Cochran
Section 314(a) of the USA Patriot Act requires the Treasury Department to establish a system through which law enforcement can request assistance from financial institutions to locate accounts and transactions of persons that may be involved in terrorism or money laundering. The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) at Treasury tried to start an automated contact system in late 2002, but glitches and complaints from financial institutions led FinCEN to pull back for several months before restarting in February 2003. FinCEN now transmits requests to 33,884 points of contact at more than 25,000 financial institutions once every 2 weeks. It's a good time to assess the results of the system...
Read More »
FinCEN issued a "Fact Sheet" on December 21, which can be downloaded here. According to the report, law enforcement has requested information in 132 terrorist financing cases and 235 money laundering cases. Here are the bottom-line results:
1,378 New Accounts Identified
76 New Transactions
725 Grand Jury Subpoenas issued
11 Search Warrants
129 Administrative Subpoenas/Summons/Other
9 Arrests
2 Indictments
There are no claims of convictions and no cost data - those are worth Congress's review before the next appropriations season begins. « Close It
Intelligence Reform Bill Contained Strong Immigration Provisions
By Bill West
The recently enacted Intelligence Reform Bill was almost derailed due to controversy over certain immigration related provisions. Those provisions were shelved during heated last minute negotiations at the end of the 108th Congress. Tucked away in the middle of the bill were several non-controversial immigration provisions that may prove to be powerful tools in the Government's counterterrorism legal arsenal...if they are innovatively and aggressively pursued. By Bill West.
Read More »
I have a few observations about some of the key immigration provisions that remained in the Intelligence Reform bill. While the highly publicized issues of drivers licenses for illegal aliens, curtailed asylum proceedings and expanded expedited deportation proceedings were deleted, some important yet "low key" provisions survived...and these are potentially very good, including for counter-terrorism efforts.
Sections 5501 5506 of the Intelligence Reform Bill specifically relate to foreign-born human rights persecutors. These provisions, in one form or another, have been proposed in Congress for the past five years, ever since the issue of aliens who were modern-day war criminals and torturers (human rights persecutors) became a publicly known matter...fueled in a large way by the persecutor apprehension project started in late 1999 and early 2000 in Miami by the INS Investigations Division National Security Section there in conjunction with the District Counsels Office. INS, unfortunately, never picked up that innovative, aggressive and locally successful project, nationally. It did, however, get the attention of Congressman Mark Foley (West Palm Beach) and Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who sponsored the respective bills that ultimately merged into the provisions within the Intelligence bill.
The provisions change the Immigration and Nationality Act so that foreign nationals who engaged in torture and "extrajudicial killing" are now excludable and removable from the US. Amazingly, before this, there were no such provisions in US immigration law and Immigration authorities had to rely on other immigration violations to target such suspects. Problem was...often there were no such "other" violations and the bad guys remained untouchable; though, we often were able to get creative and find something on which to get them. These changes will now make it easier to target some very bad people. The USG won't need convictions, but will need "clear and convincing" evidence for immigration proceedings. And, since these are civil proceedings, the law allows for retroactive prosecution...for acts committed before enactment of the statute. Powerful stuff.
There are a couple of other important provisions. The law gives the investigative lead to DOJ Office of Special Investigations (DOJ/OSI), Eli Rosenbaum's famed Nazi hunting unit. They have lots of experience in pursuing and denaturalizing and deporting Nazi war criminals. Their approach will be to primarily focus on cases where the suspects have made it through the system and already naturalized...just like the Nazis...and pursue the denaturalization process. The law allows for OSI to approach these cases broadly and from the criminal perspective if it could lead to denaturalization, such as criminal fraud, and many of these cases will be ripe for criminal prosecution since the naturalization will have occurred within the 10 year statute of limitations for such prosecution...a difference from their Nazi cases. So, this will be a new mission and approach for OSI, and they will definitely need to beef up their investigative cadre (they currently have very few investigators and are top-heavy with attorneys). The law does not preclude the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from continuing to pursue these targets with their authority...as in deportation and other immigration fraud charges.
The other important change is Section 5502 that makes it a persecution violation for a former foreign government official who engaged in "particularly severe violations of religious freedoms" as defined by the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998. The International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 was originally passed in response to Chinese government restrictions on religious minorities, but applies to all nations. In this context, it will apply to any former foreign government official. Considering that in so many Muslim countries religious minorities are routinely persecuted, this small provision of law may prove to be a quite powerful enforcement tool for the USG (especially given its retroactivity). Imagine the USG good guys having a former Saudi government official in their sights who is now in the US as a permanent resident, or maybe even a naturalized US citizen, who otherwise was "clean" but Intel reflects is linked to supporting terrorist bad guys...but there just isn't enough to get him on those terror violations. And, this former Saudi official worked in a ministry dealing in some way with religious affairs (as so many of their government agencies do)...suddenly the USG will have a legal enforcement handle against this suspect.
These few immigration provisions, low-key as they may be, are significant and good on their own for the anti-persecutor purposes. But, since persecutors are also likely to be linked to or are themselves terrorists, these cases potentially have a direct and important impact on the USG's CT efforts. Hopefully, the right agencies in the USG recognize all this and approach it appropriately.
There was an article published in FrontPage Magazine on December 27 summarizing much of this, Torturers and Terrorists Beware, which can be found at http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16414. « Close It
Lee Wolosky Joins As Contributing Expert
By Andrew Cochran
I am really honored to announce the addition of Lee Wolosky, Esq., as a Contributing Expert. Lee S. Wolosky is a Partner with Boies, Schiller & Flexner LLP, where his practice areas include mergers and acquisitions, private equity transactions, civil and criminal litigation, governmental relations and business and international advisory work. He is also an Adjunct Professor in International Affairs at Columbia University. Mr. Wolosky joined the firm in 2001 from the White House, where he served as Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. During his tenure, the Office of Transnational Threats coordinated U.S. government policy relating to terrorism, domestic preparedness, critical infrastructure protection and international crime. Since leaving the White House, Mr. Wolosky has served as a consultant to various agencies of the U.S. Government and has testified before the United States Congress and the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the "9/11 Commission"). He currently serves as a co-director of the Council on Foreign Relations Task Force on Terrorist Financing. He is also a member of the Alliance for American Leadership (AAL), a founding member of Next Generation Democrats and the Foreign Policy Leadership Council, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Council for Emerging National Security Affairs (CENSA). His recent articles have appeared in WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE, THE INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES and FOREIGN AFFAIRS, among other places. He is an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.
Andrew Cochran
Washington Times Op-ed by Michael Cutler on the President's proposal for a guest worker program
By Michael Cutler
www.washtimes.com/commentary/20041212-102706-9838r.htm
The President has painted an optimistic picture about his proposed guest worker program that would enable aliens who are illegally in the United States to be gainfully employed. The President says that this program would enable the Border Patrol to focus on criminals and terrorists. He has also stated that by registering these aliens we will finally know who is present in the United States.
The amnesty program of 1986 which was originally touted as a "one time" operation to finally straighten out the dysfunctional system, brought the approximately 3.5 million illegal aliens who were residing in the shadows out into the open. Unfortunately, it also lead in the greatest influx of illegal aliens in our nation's history. If we were to engage in a new amnesty program, which this guest worker program should be considered, our immigration authorities will have to cope with a massive onslaught of millions of applications that will be added to the current backlog of some 4 million pending applications. Illegal aliens are often referred to as being "undcoumented." When these undocumented aliens show up at immigration offices around the United States, more than likely, they will be granted identification documents in whatever name they give. In an effort to keep the paper moving, it is likely that criminals and terrorists would be able to conceal their true identities and receive documents that will enable them to freely cross our nation's borders and gain access to airline flights, even if their true names would bar them from both. In the days, weeks and months prior to launching terrorists attempt to 'hide in plain sight' by working on mundane jobs or attending school. The GAO has conducted investigations of the immigration benefits program and found fraud to be wide-spread and pervasive throughout this critical program. Implementation of a massive guest worker program for aliens who are already illegally in the United States will further erode any integrity that the system has tried to create. Terrorists and criminals will potentially find it easier to hide in plain sight and conduct business as usual as they prepare for their malevolent missions within our country.
NYT: Goss names new Deputy for Intel, other changes
By Andrew Cochran
Link: The New York Times > Washington > C.I.A. Chief Names Deputy and Ends Meetings.
Andrew Cochran
WELCOME TO THE COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG
By Andrew Cochran
Welcome to the first day of the Counterterrorism Blog, the first multi-expert blog dedicated solely to counterterrorism issues. I started to think about this blog after I was unable to answer a friend who asked in November which single website I turn to most often for real-time information on current terrorism cases, for balanced perspectives on a variety of terrorism issues, and for a basic set of research tools and fresh news links. I recalled that when I was the Senior Oversight Counsel for the U.S. House Financial Services Committee (early 2001 through 2003), I struggled at first to find good websites for legal research when drafting memoranda and opening statements for Members.
Given the growing impact of blogs and other internet-based communities in 2004, it occurred to me that there already had to be a blog with numerous experts posting realtime information, with research tools and links available for the serious student. There was not, and has not been to this day. So in early December, I called experts whom I have met and/or worked with over the past three years and began designing what you see before you now. I am extremely grateful to these experts for agreeing to become contributors to this blog, and I think you will find their posts most informative. I have saved their bios in a file on the left sidebar. I expect to add more experts in the near future, including one or more from overseas.
More information about this blog and me can be found in the "About" section on the left sidebar. I invite readers to judiciously use the e-mail link provided to make constructive suggestions and recommendations to improve this site.
Andrew Cochran
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