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.

- 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.

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 Government�s 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 Government�s 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 message�that 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.

The security of our nation�s 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 nation�s 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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

"...Our Shaykh and our commander, the fighting Shaykh Abu Abdullah Usama Bin Laden--may Allah protect and guide him... and may peace also be upon the fighting brothers in Afghanistan and on Mullah Mohammed Omar--may Allah protect him, and the fighting Shaykh Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri--may Allah protect him, and the Shaykh Abu Laith al-Qasimi, and peace be upon the brothers in Chechnya, Abu Hafs [al-Urdani] and [Abu Omar] al-Saif, and their brethren... And to the mujahideen from the [Algerian] Salafist Group for Prayer and Combat led by the dear brother Abu Musab Abdel Wadoud."

If authentic, this audio seems to leave little room for doubt that Zarqawi has fully aligned himself with the larger Al-Qaida international affiliate network headed by Zawahiri and Bin Laden.  For those of you who are interested, the above referenced Abu Omar al-Saif in Chechnya also recently issued his own ode to the mujahideen in Iraq--presumably including Zarqawi--concerning the upcoming Iraqi democratic elections.

Al-Qaida's Committee in Iraq--led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi--has issued the following statements between January 16 and January 19, 2004:

    -         Jan. 16         claim for military operations in the Al-Dora district
        - Jan.         16 claim for operations on Haifa Street in         Baghdad
        - Jan. 17         attacks on election centers in the city of Basrah
        - Jan. 17         suicide bombing in the city of Baqubah
        - Jan.         18 claim for recent military operations in         Samarra
        - Jan.         18         claim for recent military         operations in Ar-Ramadi
-                 Jan. 18 suicide bomb attack         on members of Al-Badr party
-         Jan.         18 claim for Jan. 17 suicide attack on         Iraqi checkpoint
        - Jan. 18         denial of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's arrest in Fallujah
        - Jan.         19         suicide bomb attack on         Baghdad police station
-                 Jan. 19 suicide  bomb         attack on U.S. convoy in Baghdad
-         Jan.         19 suicide bomb attack on Haifa Street police station
        - Jan.         19 suicide bomb attack near the Australian embassy
        - Jan.         19         claim for military         operations in the city of Mosul                                

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

Guozhi Lin

Wen Quin Zheng





Xiujin Chen






Zengrong Lin

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.

`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.

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.

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.

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.

Click to view English translations of recent statements:

-         Jan. 10         assassination of Baghdad Deputy Police Chief Amer
        - Jan.         11 suicide bomb attack on Iraqi police in         Tikrit
        - Jan. 11         twin suicide bomb attacks in the city of Basrah
        - Jan.         11         alleged kidnapping of Iyad         Allawi spokesman
-                 Jan. 12 firefights in         Ar-Ramadi and Baghdad
-         Jan.         13 claim of Jan. 12 assassination of Iraqi colonel
        - Jan. 13                 assassination of Iraqi         director of elections center
-         Jan. 13         suicide bomb attacks and ambushes in Mosul                        

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.

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 nation�s 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 nation�s borders with sufficient numbers of special agents of ICE who are assigned to enforcing our nation�s 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.

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...

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.

ANSAR AL-SUNNAH        

        -         Jan. 3         suicide bomb attack on National Accord Party HQ
        - Jan.         4 assassination of Iraqi Interior Ministry         official
        - Jan. 4         suicide car bomb attack outside Al-Bakr Air Base
        - Jan. 4         video of suicide bomb attack on Al-Bakr base              (video)
        - Jan.         4 suicide bomb attack on Iraqi National         Guard in Balad
        - Jan.         4         Katyusha rocket attack on         Iraqi soldiers in Taji
-                 Jan. 5 suicide bomb attack         in Amariyah, west of Baghdad
-         Jan.         6 roadside bomb attack on Iraqi soldiers in         Samarra
        - Jan. 6         claim for Jan. 5 mortar attack on Baghdad police
        - Jan.         9         claim for Jan. 7 roadside         bombing west of Baghdad
-                 Jan. 9 suicide car bomb         attack in Al-Mahawil
-         Jan.         10 claim for Jan. 9 ambush on Baghdad         airport road
        - Jan.         10 suicide car bombing at Baghdad police station
        - Jan.         11         car bombing at Salahuddin         police station in Tikrit                                

AL-QAIDA'S JIHAD COMMITTEE IN MESOPOTAMIA (ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI)

        -         Dec. 7         roadside bomb attack on U.S. soldiers              (video)
        -         Jan.         4 assassination of the Baghdad mayor Ali         al-Haydara
        - Jan. 4         suicide car bombing in Al-Qadisiyah
        - Jan.         6         suicide car bombing at         police academy in Al-Hillah
-                 Jan. 6 suicide car bombing         at checkpoint in Baqubah
-         Jan.         8 announcement of operations over last 3         months
        - Jan. 8         announcement of Jan. 7 operations in Baghdad
        - Jan.         8 summary of Jan. 7 operations in Baghdad                

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. It�s 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.

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 Nation�s 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 FBI�s 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.

That�s half the US VISIT story. The other half is what�s 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 alien�s 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 alien�s 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 did�some 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). Let�s 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 different�Customs 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 (that�s 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 deportation�imagine that. So each of these fugitive teams, usually composed of four agents each, carries an average of more than 13,000 cases. And that�s 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, let�s 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 Government�s 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 shouldn�t. From an immigration enforcement perspective, it�s 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 States�stuff 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 Nation�s 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.

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 wasn�t 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.