Nonviolent, yet dangerous

By Zeyno Baran

Islam's ideological vanguard
International Herald Tribune, OCTOBER 30, 2005

Extremist Islamist organizations such as Al Qaeda have become well known in recent years for trying to accomplish their objectives through violence. Less well known, however, are the organizations devoted not to direct action but to ideological struggle. Of these, the most important is Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT, or the Party of Liberation), a transnational movement that has served as radical Sunni Islamism's ideological vanguard.

HT is not a terrorist organization, but it can usefully be thought of as a conveyor belt for terrorists. It indoctrinates individuals with radical ideology, priming them for recruitment by more extreme organizations where they can take part in actual operations.

HT's exact size is difficult to confirm because the group is composed of secretive cells, but its membership is estimated to number in the hundreds in European countries, such as Denmark, and up to tens of thousands in Muslim countries, such as Uzbekistan.

To continue reading, please go to http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/30/opinion/edbaran.php

CONFEREES MEET SOON, NEED TO RESTORE CUTS IN COUNTERTERRORISM PROGAMS

By Michael Kraft

By Michael B. Kraft
Congressional Conferees are expected to meet soon on the Foreign Operations Appropriations Bill, currently scheduled for late this afternoon (Tuesday) and their actions will be another indication of whether Congress is willing to match Washington�s strong antiterrorism rhetoric with the money requested for key programs.
The House bill, passed in June, cut by about 9 per cent the Administration�s primary program to train foreign civilian counterterrorism and law enforcement officials to help fight terrorists terrorist abroad. The cuts in the Antiterrorism Assistance Training(ATA) program and the Terrorist Interdiction Program (TIP) came despite a theme repeatedly voiced by President Bush, that �there is only one course of action against them (the terrorists): to defeat them .�
The Senate Bill, passed in July, approved the Administration�s full requests for the State Department counterterrorism programs, including $133.5 for the ATA program and $7.5 million for the TIP program.

Growing Concerns Over Nigerian Crash

By Douglas Farah

There is growing evidence that the Oct. 22 airplane crash in Nigeria that killed all 117 people on board--including a U.S. Special Forces officer, top counter-terrorism officials of the Obasanjo government and senior regional security officers--was sabotage, not accident. Senior Nigerian officials are now saying publicly that there was an explosion in the air, before the aircraft, which had recently passed inspection, crashed to the earth. The lastest official statements can be found here.

At least one previously unknown group from the troubled Niger Delta region has taken credit for the downing, but the claim has been disavowed by other groups, and there seems to be little indication that any are legitimate. There are also conflicting reports over whether the black box has been found. Numerous international teams will be arriving in coming days to comb over the remains of the wreakage, but it appears the site was not properly secured in the days immediately after the crash, so it is unclear if anything of interest has been disturbed, removed or destroyed. But the blowing up of a commercial airliner would mark a dangerous new phase of the unrest in Nigeria, whether it be by international criminal syndicates, Islamic terrorist operating in the country, disgruntled armed groups in the oil-rich Delta region or any combination of the above. Go here to read more.

The project of the Muslim Brotherhood to conquer the world

By Olivier Guitta

According to Sylvain Besson, a Swiss investigative reporter, Swiss authorities found a fascinating document when they entered Yusuf Nada�s villa in November 2001. Nada is by the way viewed as one of the bankrollers of Al Qaeda; he is the head of the Al Taqwa Bank. The document seized entitled �The Project� is a fourteen page leaflet dated December 1982 calling for the Muslim Brotherhood�s conquest of the world.
It is a detailed roadmap to attain this objective. The Muslim Brothers must infiltrate existing institutions rather than create their own. It calls for a guerilla war against Israel in the Palestinian territories and support to diverse armed Muslim groups from Bosnia to the Philippines. Swiss investigators confirm that the Project is the proof of the Muslim Brotherhood�s role in supporting and inspiring the worldwide jihad. Also a Western official who studied closely the Project assesses that it is the biggest threat for European democracies in the next ten years. He affirms that Europe will witness the birth of a parallel Muslim society, a parallel Muslim Parliament and so forth. Just as a side for most European secret services, Tariq Ramadan, the new adviser to British Prime Minister Blair on terrorism, is the unofficial head of the Muslim Brotherhood in Europe. It looks like the infiltration is working fine!

Saddam: where is the money?

By Olivier Guitta

The French press has been focusing in the past few weeks on Saddam Hussein�s villas on the French Riviera. Indeed Saddam owned two estates one in Cannes valued at over $14 million and the other one in Grasse valued at $8 million. These properties were purchased in 1982 by a Liechtenstein company, owned by a close associate of the Iraqi despot. Saddam must have liked the region that he visited along with then French Prime Minister Jacques Chirac in 1975: Saddam�s only trip to the West. Saddam never set foot in the villas though. The Iraqi state is trying to get official ownership of the two properties but for the time being the UN is administrating the frozen assets of the Liechtenstein company. This is just the tip of the iceberg: indeed Saddam�s assets have been estimated at between $8 billion and $20 billion. Almost two years after Saddam�s arrest, what�s taking so long for this money to go back to the Iraqi people?

Bombings in New Delhi Kill Dozens - Walid Phares Comments (Updated 10/30)

By Andrew Cochran

UPDATED October 30 at 11:52 am ET. AP story: Near-simultaneous explosions in three locations in New Delhi Saturday night, killing at least 61 people, hours after India and Pakistan began talks on opening border in disputed Kashmir to aid earthquake victims - Time Magazine has eyewitness account - Walid Phares reports: "My monitoring of the chat rooms over the past few hours indicate that the Jihadists-Salafists are celebrating. High possibility that a Jihadi (either local Cashemire or al Qaida like) group will take responsibility in 24-48 hours...This note is sent with caution, as other leads are also followed. The Jihadi theory is the highest, but we do not rule out mafia related causes." Obscure Kashmir group claims responsibility, but "security experts see the hand of Lashkar-e-Taiba (Force of the Pure) behind the attacks..." See this post about LeT in the Maryland-Virginia region, with links to al profile and other CTB posts. Indian police started making arrests in New Delhi Sunday - at least 22 detained. Indian troops killed militants in Kashmir recently, including "battalion commander of the hardline group Harkat-ul-Jehad Islami," according to police. Abdul Hamid, a commander of the Hizb-ul Mujahideen group, was also killed in a separate incident recently. On October 11, the US embassy in New Delhi warned American citizens of a "possible threat" of terrorist attacks, including suicide car bombings, against US interests in India, particularly "Hyderabad, New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata." You can see extensive list of stories with links here through Google News.

Private Investigation Leads to Swiss Cyberterror Arrests

By Evan Kohlmann

As a result of a month-long private cyberterrorism investigation conducted by Globalterroralert.com and reported on exclusively in the Swiss journal Die Weltwoche, Swiss police in Geneva have announced the arrest of two North Africans in connection with the fraudulent use of a University of Geneva computer lab in disseminating jihad propaganda videos and "inciting racial hatred."  Neither of the unnamed pair--a 27-year old Moroccan and a 41-year old Algerian--were legal citizens of Switzerland.  According a statement from Swiss police, "these individuals were observed using computers at the University of Geneva, over several months, for websurfing and visiting... violent extremist sites."  In order to gain access to the computer lab, the two men had stolen the access code of a former student who had inadvertently left theirs available on a public access terminal.  Though the two men have denied uploading any material and have insisted that they were only "curious", digital forensic evidence archived by Globalterroralert.com indicates that, over the space of at least three months, a user in the same computer lab at the University of Geneva uploaded thousands of megabytes of Al-Qaida-related multimedia to various free Internet servers for other militants around the world to download--including recent audio recordings from Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the testimony of a Saudi Al-Qaida member who escaped from Bagram Airbase in Afghanistan, and the latest video of UBL deputy Ayman al-Zawahiri concerning the October 8 earthquake in Pakistan.

This case should serve as an example of how silently gathering information on cyberterrorists who choose to "camp out" in "Western cyberspace" and using that information to track and detain human operators can often be a more efficient approach than merely shutting down their prolific websites.  Just as the Internet can be a "Wild West" for savvy cyberterrorists like the notorious Irhaby 007, it can also be a "Venus Fly Trap" for other, less-sophisticated online personalities.

George Galloway Headed for Legal Trouble?

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Andy Cochran has previously written about British MP George Galloway's dual career as politician and terrorist cheerleader. For example, in an early June al-Jazeera appearance, Galloway declared: "Bush, and Blair, and the prime minister of Japan, and Berlusconi, these people are criminals, and they are responsible for mass murder in the world, for the war, and for the occupation, through their support for Israel, and through their support for a globalized capitalist economic system, which is the biggest killer the world has ever known. It has killed far more people than Adolph Hitler. . . . They are the real rogue states breaking international law, invading other people's countries, killing their children in the name of anti-terrorism, when in fact, all they're achieving is to make more terrorists in the world, not less, to make the world more dangerous, rather than less."

Galloway was previously called to testify before the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), where he angrily denied reports that he had profited from the corruption that permeated the UN's oil-for-food program. But now Galloway may be headed for some legal trouble. Days after the PSI tracked a $150,000 oil-for-food payment to Galloway's estranged Palestinian wife, Amina Naji Abu Zayyad, a UN inquiry led by Paul Volcker has tracked an earlier series of transfers to her totalling $120,000. This is another blow for Galloway, who already faces a parliamentary ethics inquiry and possible criminal charges for making "false or misleading" statements in his May Senate testimony. The Times of London explains the Volcker report's findings:

Allocations of more than 18 million barrels went to Mr Galloway directly or indirectly through his Jordanian friend Fawaz Zureikat, the report says. Mr Zureikat paid $434,000 to [Galloway's anti-sanctions campaign] the Mariam Appeal. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations alleged this week that Mr Zureikat had also transferred $150,000 to Mr Galloway's wife on August 3, 2000. The Volcker inquiry tracks additional payments to Ms Abu Zayyad from a British-Iraqi businessman and prominent supporter of the Conservative Party named Burhan Chalabi. The report says that Mr Chalabi received an allocation of four million barrels of oil from Iraq on December 17, 1999, for "Galloway's campaign". Delta Services, Mr Chalabi's company, received $472,228 in commission payments on the allocation from the Fortum oil company. "Soon after each deposit, a series of payments totalling over $120,000 were transferred from the Delta Services bank account to the bank account of . . . Mr Galloway's wife," the report concludes.

Senator Norm Coleman's comment: "The [UN] Independent Inquiry Committee relied on parallel information and documents and arrived at the same conclusions we did: Galloway solicited financial assistance from the Hussein regime, his wife received hundreds of thousands of dollars in connection with oil-for-food deals, and his political arm also received hundreds of thousands of dollars."

If these reports pan out, it will be satisfying to see a toad like Galloway held accountable.

New State Department Official on Bioterrorism, Threats from S.E. Asia & Latin America, and on Saudis (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

The new State Department Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Henry Crumpton, testified today before the terrorism subcommittee of the House International Relations Committee, chaired by Rep. Ed Royce. Mr. Crumpton has a long career in counterterrorism at the CIA and recently assumed the position held by Cofer Black until late last year. Mr. Crumpton made some news in response to Congressmen's questions: (1) When asked about current but underplayed threats, he specifically mentioned bioterrorism, more so than nuclear WMD; (2) he is "frightened" by Southeast Asian terrorist groups' efforts to obtain and use WMDs; (3) he is very concerned with Hamas and Hezbollah efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially Hezbollah's long-term presence in the tri-border region, and called Hezbollah "truly a global terrorist network;" (4) Wahabbist propaganda exported from Saudi Arabia remains a serious problem, a subject addressed on this blog often; and (5) he became, to the best of my knowledge, the first U.S. senior CT official to state that the Saudi government has finally opened a long-promised financial intelligence unit to track financial transactions (he reiterated its existence to me after the hearing). At a Senate Banking Committee hearing on July 13, another senior State Department official said (quoting the unofficial transcript), "They are also continuing to work to create a fully operational financial intelligence unit, and Saudi officials say this unit could be up and running in the next two to three months." The Saudis promised to open a FIU in 2002, and their lack of action has been a sore point between the governments and on Capitol Hill. (UPDATE: Treasury Department informs me that the Saudis officially opened it on Sept. 10.) Mr. Crumpton expressed "disppointment" that the Saudis still haven't created the proper oversight commission for its charities (see Victor Comras's post).

Saudi Charities Report Donations Off Sharply This Ramadan Season

By Victor Comras

Saudi Charities have reported a significant decline in contributions this Ramadan season, particularly from overseas. The World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) reported that its charitable receipts had fallen by some 30 percent compared to pre 9/11. WAMY�s director, Saleh Al-Wohaibi told Arab journalists that the organization had experienced a particularly sharp decline in the United States. This is due, he said, to the �hostile treatment� it was receiving from American journalists. Dr. Al-Wohaibi also complained that WAMY officials were being harassed when visiting the United States. �That is why we do not want our people to go there,� he said. � Officials are held up at airports and interrogated. The situation both for WAMY and other charitable organizations is not as good as it once was.� Efforts are now underway, he said, to respond to this negative image with a well financed public relations campaign of their own. �We are conducting a public relations campaign through the US media,� he said. �With the help of some Saudi organizations, we have established Friends of Charity Association (FOCA), which is a lobbying group in Washington. It�s doing a good job in trying to reach out to government officials, congressmen and the media as part of our effort to explain our activities and remove misconceptions.�

FOCA�s membership, far from being broadly based, represents only a handful of Wahabi sponsored umbrella charities including the Muslim World League, International Islamic Relief Organisation, World Assembly of Muslim Youth, Al Haramain Islamic Foundation, and Al Muntada, Makkah Al-Mukarrama Charity Foundation. These charities have all been linked to al Qaeda and Hamas terrorism financing concerns and one of them, Al Haramain Islamic Foundation was designated as an Al Qaeda terrorism financing organization by the U.S. Treasury Department and the UN Al Qaeda and Taliban Sanctions Committee.

FOCA has been very active placing articles on the Internet and in Muslim community directed media outlets in defense of these charities. This included strident defense pieces on behalf of al Haramain and its other constituent charities. But, FOCA continues to lack credibility with mainstream media outlets or with Congress. Last summer Treasury Under Secretary Stuart Levey reiterated to the Senate Banking Committee his continuing concerns with he activities of the International Islamic Relief Organization (IIRO), the World Association of Muslim Youth (WAMY), and the Muslim World League (MWL), all FOCA constituent charities. He referred, in particular to the continuing lack of Saudi government oversight over these charities� activities. Saudi Arabia had specifically excluded these charities from its own promised new Charities Oversight Commission. The first step toward rehabilitating any of these charities, in American eyes, has to be responsible management, transparency and effective monitoring and oversight. It is time for Saudi Arabia, and the umbrella Islamic charities it supports, to adopt the measures outlined by FATF in its Charity Oversight Best Practices Paper.

UN Still Struggling With Comprehensive Anti Terrorism Convention

By Victor Comras

The behind the scenes negotiations at the United Nations on a new comprehensive anti-terrorism convention are coming to a close with little result. The working group set up by the General Assembly�s Sixth (Legal) Committee October 3rd to hammer out continuing differences submitted its report on October 21st. Unable to develop new recommendations it referred bracketed texts to the Sixth Committee for further last ditch consultations in the hope that some compromises might be reached. The Working Group provided two �non papers� proposing possible solutions for consideration. The key remaining differences deal with (1) language differences for a legal definition of terrorism, (2) the relationship between terrorism and anti-colonial and national liberation movements; and (3) the activities of State�s armed forces in armed conflicts and in exercise of their official duties.

A number of countries, including members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) and the Non Aligned Group, have drawn a link between the Article 2 definition of Terrorism and Article 18 which now exempts from Convention coverage the activities of armed forces during an armed conflict. While fighting hard to exempt so-called �freedom fighters� from the proposed terrorism definition, they insist that Government authorized military action be included. They want to change the current draft language which defers such matters to international humanitarian law and other conventions specifically covering armed conflicts. As now written draft article 18 states: �The activities of armed forces during an armed conflict, as those terms are understood under international humanitarian law, which are governed by that law, are not governed by the present convention.� The draft also says that �activities undertaken by the military forces of a State in the exercise of their official duties, inasmuch as they are governed by other rules of international law, are not governed by the present Convention.�

The most recent compromise proposal would have article 18 simply clarify that nothing in the convention makes acts unlawful which are governed by international humanitarian law and not unlawful under that law. A new proposed Preambular paragraph has also been suggested to substitute for earlier proposed changes to Article 2�s current terrorism definition. The new paragraph would re-affirm the right to self determination of peoples in accordance with the United Nations Charter and the Declaration of Principles of International Law Concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States: It reads"Reaffirming the Right to self-determination of peoples in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Cooperation among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations."

It is still not clear that either side can support either proposed language change. Hard negotiations are expected during these few remaining days, and a positive outcome is truly in doubt.

Iraq Vote & Triple Bombings: The Terrorists' Strategic Failures (Updated 10/27)

By Andrew Cochran

UPDATE 10/27 for UK Guardian article: "This rift in the insurgency has already gone far beyond angry words. Clashes erupted between al-Qaida fighters and Iraqi mujahideen cells after al-Qaida killed a group of Iraqi insurgents who they claimed were spying for the Americans."

The count is finished, and Iraqis voted to ratify the constitution, with the three Sunni-dominated provinces failing to vote in sufficient negative numbers. The terrorists failed to stop the voting and failed to persuade Sunnis in Ninevah to abandon the political process and follow their murderous road. Yesterday's triple bombings, now apparently claimed by Al Qaida in Iraq, should also be seen as another proof of their strategic failure to date. It was a pathetic attempt, perhaps to kidnap journalists and use them as bait for a trade, as well as to energize the journalistic community to report on the "failure" of the Iraqi-U.S. coalition (see Ranting Profs & Fourth Rail posts). Such an amateurish plot, which resulted in a remarkably light loss of life despite the use of three massive bombs, highlights the weak position now facing Al-Zarqawi and other terrorists in Iraq and their investors in Syria, Iran, and elsewhere. You have to ask yourself, "Is this the best they can do? Is this their best shot after the elections?" The Iraq terrorists have no shred of legitimacy as a political force for Sunnis, having killed civilians with their bombs and driven the largest Sunni political party into endorsing the constitution. Walid Phares made the point on MSNBC today that at least many of the Sunnis have now bought into the political process. At this point, the terrorists are a more active and dangerous version of the American 1920s Mafia gang or today's MS-13 - they have no political or military base upon which to build a "caliphate." If the Shiite-Kurdish majority continues to provide incentives for Sunni political participation and Iraqi security forces continue to improve and grow, the terrorists will see no daylight. No doubt they will find some comfort in the anti-American propaganda of the Arab press and in the negativism of the Western pessimists...that is a subject for a future post (especially after President Bush specifically mentioned this point today). Today is a day to celebrate yet another milestone towards a peaceful and democratic Iraq, something that seemed difficult for some to imagine even a short time ago.

Nigeria's Growing Terrorist and Oil Woes

By Douglas Farah

There are alarming signs that Nigeria, West Africa's leader, one of the world's leading oil producers and is on the brink of chaos. In an unusual admission for a tight-lipped government, a senior security official publicly acknowledged the presence of up to 10,000 illegal armed men in a variety of militias in the Niger Delta, where almost all of Nigeria's 2.5 million barrels a day of light, sweet crude, are pumped. Many of these groups, according to the director general of the National Intelligence Agency, have ties to al Qaeda linked groups such as the Algerian Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The full interview with Uche Okeke by Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper can be read here.

Okeke also stated a truth that is often forgotten in dealing with West Africa's ties to radical Islamist terrorist: Nigeria was listed by Osama bin Laden as on of the five "apostate states" ripe for Islamic revolution, and the only one of the five not to suffer a major al Qaeda attack. Nigerians have shown up in Afghanistan, Iraq, and with the GSPC. Both wahhbis from Saudi Arabia and Shi'ites from Iran are vying to set up radical mosques in the north. Sharia law is already the law of the land in almost one-third of the country.

Nigeria's situation is complicated and delicate. A weak elected government, trying to root out the legacy of decades of ruthless and blindingly corrupt military rule while at the same time balancing the needs of an increasingly militant Islamic majority in the north, Christians in the south, ethnic unrest and entrenched political bosses who steal far more than the state takes in. Weapons in the Niger Delta, including sophisticated and new weapons from the former Soviet bloc are, are cheap and easily available. Go here for the complete blog.

Mike German Responds to "Spare No Resource"

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My latest article in the Daily Standard, "Spare No Resource," was in large part a response to a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed by Mike German.  German's op-ed argued that racial profiling is an ineffective tool in anti-terror policing, and used statistical analysis to try to prove this point.  In response, I critiqued German's use of statistics and pointed out that law enforcement can use a number of factors (not just race but also age, gender, dress and behavior) to identify the most likely terrorists.  I made the intuitive argument that "[i]f our last line of defense is searching bags before riders enter the subway, our searches should target the passengers who are most likely to be terrorists.  Only through intelligently targeted searches can we have a reasonable chance of disrupting terrorist plots."

I'm on friendly terms with German, and told him that if he wanted to write a response, I'd post it on the Counterterrorism Blog.  Here's German's response to my article, along with my reaction:

The sub-title of Daveed Gartenstein-Ross�s Weekly Standard article �Spare No Resources� promises much:  �Terrorist profiling is the most efficient, and effective, method of anti-terrorism policing.�  Unfortunately, Gartenstein-Ross never makes any attempt to support this statement with facts, and instead only re-states his thesis and declares it �intuitive and hard to refute.�  If only that were true.

The difficulty with terrorism is that much of it is counter-intuitive.  In reading Gartenstein-Ross�s article I was reminded of a scene from the Steve Martin comedy The Jerk, in which an assassin tries to shoot Martin with a high-powered rifle.  The initial shots miss Martin and hit some oil cans stacked behind him.  �These cans,� Martin yells, �he hates these cans!� �The subways,� Gartenstein-Ross yells, �jihadists hate the subways!�  Just like Martin, Gartenstein-Ross mistakes the result of the enemy�s action for the objective.  The objective of a terrorist campaign is not to commit an act of terrorism, but rather to force the government they attack into adopting a defensive position that is both expensive (because it is inefficient) and demoralizing (because it is ineffective).

Suspicious Package Destroyed Near U.S. Capitol - No Other Explosion (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

Last update at 1:17pm ET: Suspicious package in car (rented 2005 Impala) destroyed with no other explosion after perceived threat closes immediate area west of U.S. Capitol (1st & Constitution Avenue, NW) - Capitol Police say that two men approached them and made suspicious statements to effect that they had explosives in car, leading to law enforcement action - two men being questioned - several buildings nearby (including mine) were evacuated. Wide perimeter near Senate side of Capitol closed, but no Congressional offices evacuated. NBC News reports that one of the men flew from Mexico and had acted suspiciously on the flight - and that driver has history of mental problems, leading law enforcement to "all but dismiss this as serious threat."

U.N. Hariri Report Doesn't Finger Assad - Walid Phares to Comment on TV

By Andrew Cochran

The special investigation begun by the U.N. Security Council, on the terrorist attack on February 14 this year that killed former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and others, has been completed and published. The report doesn't finger Syrian President Assad or his closest aides, but concludes that "there is converging evidence pointing at both Lebanese and Syrian involvement in this terrorist act." The investigation found that the assassination was planned well in advance: "It is the Commission�s view that the assassination of 14 February 2005 was carried out by a group with an extensive organization and considerable resources and capabilities. The crime had been prepared over the course of several months." Walid Phares will appear on TV throughout the day for his comments. You can download the report and a transmittal letter from Kofi Annan to the President of the U.N. Security Council here:
Download FinalMehlisreport.doc
Download SGltrSCreMehlisReport.201005.doc

Money Laundering: Two Bank Cases - Key PATRIOT Act Regulations Not Issued - PATRIOT Act Data System Inoperative

By Andrew Cochran

In the past week, U.S. banking regulators announced two important actions against major banks for weaknesses in anti-money laundering (AML) programs required under the Bank Secrecy Act, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act. First, the U.S. branch of Deutsche Bank agreed to cure deficiencies in its AML program, specifically in the management and oversight of its correspondent banking and funds transfer clearing operations (no actual instances of money laundering were alleged or found). Correspondent banking, through which a foreign bank and domestic bank handle each other's banking relationships in their respective jurisdictions, has been a subject of intense debate and investigation due to the inherent potential for misuse as a vehicle for money laundering and terrorist financing. The U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations issued a report in 2001 on the issue and concluding that "The staff's investigation led them to conclude that allowing high-risk foreign banks and their criminal clients access to U.S. correspondent bank accounts, among several negative impacts, 'facilitates crime' and 'undermines the U.S. financial system.'" One Arab-based paper wrote last week, "Investigators have found that some large banks that engage in correspondent banking, including several US institutions, have become conduits for illicit foreign money and unwittingly aided drug trafficking, fraud and other crimes." Second, federal regulators signed a consent order with another major bank, KeyBank, over weaknesses in its AML program. Although the order doesn't allege actual money laundering, it makes it clear that KeyBank's board of directors had not exercised sufficient responsibility over a wide range of AML systems and issues (the board is mentioned over 30 times).

The Deutsche Bank case comes amid continued delays in the issuance of final regulations governing correspondent banking, which were mandated under Section 312 of the PATRIOT Act.

State Department's Management of "J Visa" Program Enables Terrorist Infiltration

By Michael Cutler

Today we will focus on a GAO report that delves into the "J Visa" Program. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the alphabet soup of visas, the J visa is one that is issued by the United States Department of State for exchange visitors. The concept of the J visa, at least in theory is actually a good one. In the interest of furthering international understanding we permit young people to come to the United States to engage in exchange programs so that the exchange of visitors by participating countries helps to break down barriers between the participating countries. Certainly this should, in theory, help improve international relations, a goal that is to be considered highly valuable, especially in the troubled world in which we live. However, (there is that word again!), according to the GAO report, the State Department is failing to monitor this program. There are about 280,000 aliens who enter the United States each year under the auspices of this visa category and this report notes that in the last four years, State Department officials visited only 8 travel or trainee sponsors out of some 200+ summer work locations to make certain that things were as claimed by these sponsors. In fact, one of the sponsors turned out to be a topless bar! For your convenience, you can download a copy of this report below. The State Department agrees that there have been weaknesses in the way that it has carried out its oversight responsibilities for the last ten years.

The disturbing issues here go in two directions. First of all, the point to this program is to have the foreign students or other cultural exchange visitors return to their home counties with a positive attitude about our country. Secondly, this is yet another visa category that provides aliens with the opportunity to gain entry into the United States. Terrorists who would want to attack us need to somehow gain entry into the United States.
Download Jvisastudy.pdf

New Daily Standard Article: "Spare No Resource"

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

My new article, "Spare No Resource," was posted today at the Daily Standard.  Although New York City police decided last week to scale back the increased security that accompanied the most recent subway terrorism scare, the fact remains that the terrorists would like to strike our mass transit system, and that this system remains vulnerable.  I took the title of my article from Mayor Bloomberg's statement at the October 6 press conference about his determination to safeguard the subways:  "We will spare no resource; we will spare no expense."  I found this statement unintentionally revealing, since New York City could spare resources, spare expenses, and make passengers safer if it used terrorist profiling.

A few key paragraphs from the piece:

The argument for profiling is simple and compelling:  If our last line of defense is searching bags before riders enter the subway, our searches should target the passengers who are most likely to be terrorists.  Only through intelligently targeted searches can we have a reasonable chance of disrupting terrorist plots.  This means we should try to figure out how terrorists look and act -- and that law enforcement should be trained in taking these factors into account.

Because this case is intuitive and hard to refute (why would we treat, say, U.S. senators the same as Mohamed Atta?), the opponents of profiling seemingly turn to autopilot when arguing against it, throwing out every claim that could possibly support their position with little critical filter.  [Former FBI agent Mike German, who wrote a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed defending New York's random searches] does this when he argues that completely random bag searches are just as effective as profiling.  And his case begins with the creation of a false dichotomy, in which one option is the most awkward kind of profiling done solely on the basis of race, and the other option is random searches.

Thankfully, other choices lie along the spectrum between these two extremes.  A truly effective system of terrorist profiling would not look solely at a person's race in determining whether extra scrutiny is justified.  Rather, a range of factors--including gender, age, dress, and behavior--can be used to identify the most likely terrorists.  Surely there can be no argument against considering these non-racial factors. . . .

The bottom line is that one cannot sustain the argument that purely random bag searches are as effective as training police to identify potential terrorists by taking into account the wealth of information we have on how they look and act. . . .  We can continue with the present "spare no resource" approach in times of crisis.  But we'd spare more resources, and be safer for it, if terrorist profiling were one of the tools in our anti-terror arsenal.

Read the whole article here.

New American GI Muslim Abuse Allegations - Watch the Arab Media Spin This One (updated 10/20)

By Andrew Cochran

There are allegations out of Afghanistan, made by a cameraman working for an Australian network and embedded with the 82nd Airborne, that U.S. soldiers burned the bodies of two killed Taliban fighters and then broadcast "an inflammatory message over loudspeakers to taunt and bait the enemy." Both the alleged burning and the alleged taunting would be severe violations of military rules and grounds for tough disciplinary action. The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division has initiated an investigation: "This command takes all allegations of misconduct or inappropriate behavior seriously and has directed an investigation into circumstances surrounding this allegation. If the allegation is substantiated, the appropriate course of action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice and corrective action will be taken." CENTCOM has issued a statement condemning any such action: "Under no circumstances does U.S. Central Command condone the desecration, abuse or inappropriate treatment of enemy combatants. Such actions are contrary to U.S. policy as well as the Geneva Convention." The video which purports to show the event has not been seen on American TV as of this posting (UPDATE 10/20: NBC News has aired portions, and it appears as it was described by the cameraman, complete with the English language version of the taunts). I have trouble believing that members of the 82nd Airborne are stupid enough to put themselves, their buddies, and all American soldiers in harm's way like this, but we'll see (UPDATE 10/20: It looks pretty stupid). Regardless, I'm sure the Arab media will play it up and continue to ignore or minimize both Saddam Hussein's cruelties during his reign of terror and the chilling stories of murder and intimidation perpetrated in the name of the caliphate by Al-Zarqawi and his thugs.

Londonistan is alive and kicking

By Olivier Guitta

Recently, I had the opportunity to ask Iain Duncan Smith, British M.P. and former leader of the Conservative Party (2001-2003), about the appointment of Swiss Islamist Tariq Ramadan to the Blair�s taskforce on fighting extremism. He went blank and had no idea whatsoever what I was talking about. After the London bombings, this is highly worrisome and just confirms that our British friends still don�t get it or sometimes don�t know anything about our common enemy- Islamism. Tariq Ramadan is a case in point as I show in this article.
Here is an excerpt:
Regarding his views on terrorism, Ramadan wants us to believe that he forcefully called on Muslims to condemn the September 11 attacks. But consider that in an interview on September 22, 2001, Ramadan explained with his usual gifted vagueness that he couldn't say for sure that Bin Laden was behind the attacks. He then asked the question: "who profits from the crime?" and answered that no Arab or Muslim cause would be better off. This is exactly the argument of Islamists who accused Israel and the Jews of masterminding the September 11 atrocities. In a 2004 interview with French newsmagazine Le Point, Ramadan evoked what he called the "interventions of New York, Bali or Madrid." So, September 11 was not a terrorist attack, it was rather just an "intervention." Of course, nowhere in this interview did Ramadan condemn terrorism. Also when recently asked by an Italian magazine if car bombings against US forces in Iraq were justified, he was quoted as saying: "Iraq was colonized by the Americans. Resistance against the army is just."
Some troubling allegations can be found in a lawsuit filed by the victims of the September 11 attacks: Ramadan greatly influenced Djamel Beghal, a French citizen arrested for plotting to bomb the US Embassy in Paris. According to Sylvain Besson from the Swiss daily Le Temps, the court papers show that Djamel Beghal "was in charge of preparing Tariq Ramadan's speeches." Ramadan has always answered that he never met Beghal and refused to comment after Besson left numerous messages at his home. Also, Beghal was living in Leicester in 1998, while (surprise!) Ramadan was studying at the Islamic university of Leicester. Lastly, regarding Ramadan's terrorist links, Daniel Pipes, the renowned Middle East expert, reported that he met a senior Department of Homeland Security official a few weeks ago who looked him hard in the eyes and assured him, "The evidence we have is damning."

Authenticity of Alleged Zawahiri Letter Increasingly Questioned

By Daveed Gartenstein-Ross

Earlier, I blogged about a letter allegedly written by Ayman al-Zawahiri to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that, if genuine, demonstrates the importance of Iraq to al-Qaeda's jihad.  However, doubts in Washington are mounting about the letter's authenticity.  Eli Lake reports in the New York Sun:

[O]ver the weekend, Al Qaeda in Iraq issued a statement from Mr. Zarqawi claiming the letter was a fake.  "Everything in the letter attributed to Ayman al-Zawahiri is false," the statement said.  Some analysts inside and outside the administration now are also taking this line.

"This does not read like an Islamist text," a terrorism analyst at the conservative-leaning Hudson Institute, Chris Brown, said in an interview yesterday.  "It only uses the word 'infidel' twice and makes five references to 'crusaders.'  They are talking about the U.S. military in Iraq, which all Islamists, including Al Qaeda, always refer to as the crusader nations, but in this letter Zawahiri refers to America almost exclusively."  Mr. Brown added that the letter also uses references to both the Christian and Muslim calendar:  "We know that Al Qaeda leaders will use the Islamic calendar in private correspondence and the Christian calendar for statements meant to be public, but never both in an internal communication."

Mr. Brown also notes that the letter, which was dated two days after the London underground bombings, makes no mention of the attacks carried out by Al Qaeda's minions in Britain.  "It's quite amazing that they went to great lengths to assure that Al Qaeda would get credit for the subway bombings and they would make no mention of it in this letter, especially considering that Zarqawi is also commander of all operations in Europe," he said. . . .

Two sources inside the Bush administration told The New York Sun yesterday that some lower-level analysts share some of the concerns Mr. Brown raised, but that at the highest levels of the government there is no questioning the letter's authenticity.  "Some of us think there is a possibility that a foreign intelligence service may have faked it," one administration source said.

On the other hand, the ubiquitous Peter Bergen believes that the letter is genuine:  "One of Zawahiri's preoccupations is, 'We don't have the masses on our side.'  In his book, 'Knights Under the Prophet's Banner,' he says two causes the masses can get behind are Palestine and the United States' intervention.  These themes are in the letter."

The investigation of the letter's authenticity is worth following for two reasons.  First, the letter is significant if genuine because it suggests that Iraq is now of central import to al-Qaeda.  Second, if the letter was faked, that will deal another blow to the credibility of U.S. intelligence.  When director of national intelligence John Negroponte made the letter public, it was accompanied by a press release stating:  "The United States Government has the highest confidence in the letter's authenticity."  It won't look good if it turns out that they were duped by a forgery.

FATF Paris Summit Underscores Continuing AML and Terrorist Financing Problems

By Victor Comras

FATF�s Fall 2005 summit meeting in Paris, October 12-14th brought together some 400 delegates from 32 jurisdictions and 16 international organizations to review the progress made in combating money laundering and terrorism financing. Highlights of the meeting included the removal of Nauru from FATF�s Non Cooperating Country List, review of the results of FATF�s evaluation of the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems in Australia, Italy and Switzerland; and the launching of a new FATF project, in partnership with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, to explore the symbiotic relationship among corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing.

FATF removed Nauru, the tiny Pacific Island that had become the favorite haven for Russian money laundering, from its Non Cooperating Country list after the Island took action to abolish its 400 shell banks. This leaves only two countries � Myanmar (Burma) and Nigeria on the list. Originally envisaged as a prime tool for pressing for greater international anti-money laundering action, the list has, overtime become next to meaningless. The fact that a country is not on the list, or has been removed there from, seems to have little to do any more with whether or not such countries are effectively combating terrorism financing or money laundering. If that were the case, the fact that only Myanmar (Burma) and Nigeria were still on the list would allow us all to sleep more soundly. The program began in February 2000 when FATF published 25 criteria identifying detrimental rules and practices that impeded international cooperation in the fight against money laundering. By September 2001 FATF had identified 23 Non-Cooperating jurisdictions. No additional jurisdictions were reviewed since that time. Over the years this list was whittled down to just a few countries as countries acted to amend their laws and rid themselves of the offensive counter-AML measures. But, this became more of a paper exercise than a realistic assessment of what countries were actually doing to deal with money laundering and terrorism financing. Last February the Cook Islands, Indonesia and the Philippines were removed from that list. Egypt, Russia, Ukraine and Guatemala have also been removed from the list during the last few years.

There is some hope that FATF will again become more aggressive in dealing with non cooperative or complying countries. Last year FATF armed itself with new authority to identify and use its Recommendation 21 procedures and counter-measures against, countries �posing a particular money laundering or terrorism financing risk.� But, it has yet to do so.

FATF�s in-depth review of Australia, Italy and Switzerland�s AML/Terrorism Financing measures provided the delegates a meaningful occasion to consider remaining problems and loopholes. Similar evaluations were conducted in Belgium and Norway last June. High on this list of remaining generic problems is how to get a better handle on charities and non-banking alternative transfer mechanisms. This also includes financial transactions outside of the traditional banking structure � such as securities-related operations, real property, Jewelry, luxury goods, and cash transfers. There are also problems in dealing with shared assets and assets held beneficially. FATF�s preliminary overall assessment was that �while FATF members are making very serious efforts to implement new standards, effective implementation will take further effort. Therefore, the FATF will continue to closely monitor the progress of all its members."

Over the past few years FATF has also branched out by assisting the creation of regional AML/Terrorism financing organizations. FATF has partnered with many of these groupings to stimulate greater local and regional AML/Terrorism Financing cooperation beyond FATF�s much more limited membership. The latest joint program will be conducted with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering. They intend to explore the symbiotic relationship among corruption, money laundering and terrorist financing and how the FATF�s AML/CFT experience can best be used to combat these combined threats.

Baltimore: Possible Tunnel Terror Threats & Arrest (updated)

By Andrew Cochran

Last update at 6:10 pm ET. Threat information led to closing of Harbor Tunnel, I-895, north of Baltimore for almost 2 hours. Maryland chief homeland security official: tunnel was closed immediately upon decision to close it under plan in place for awhile. Harbor Tunnel open now. I-95 Ft. McHenry Tunnel now also open after mostly closed. AP story: At least one man has been arrested - one of four arrested on immigration charges after raids at Middle Eastern businesses. ABC News: "According to the informant, who is in detention overseas, at least six Egyptian terrorists were going to receive bomb materials that would arrive by ship at Baltimore's harbor in a container marked "Cocoa." The informant said the terrorists would then use the material to assemble explosive devices, which would be planted in cars as part of a plot to bomb one or both of the tunnels."
MSNBC concurs on that but reports that info "absolutely not corroborated." Maryland Governor says tunnel threat investigation began two weeks ago. CNN & ABC: Individuals being questioned (CNN says Egyptians) - see also Baltimore's WJZ TV story on this. Jeff Quinton has dug into the ownership details of the local Baltimore market which is apparently under investigation (WJZ story) - very interesting info on the owners.

STEVEN EMERSON on Fox News Channel: FBI questions credibility of source - threat received in US by "another agency" (not specified) more than a week ago, but not sure whether received directly or transferred by intermediary - vetted as much as possible with investigations and interviews - decided they needed to disclose threat - this decision by Maryland state homeland security agency with FBI. FBI & DHS statement: "While the information was somewhat specific, to date, the intelligence community has not found evidence that corroborates the information." Fox News: From a single overseas individual, used before and known, info not corroborated, about one person or larger group of people already in Baltimore for tunnel terrorism - feds doubt credibility. Other news sources report same info on credibility.