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About Contact Us CT Blog Experts in the Media CT Library Counterterrorism Foundation Websites & Centers RSS & PDA Feeds Archives Special Hyland-Roul Series on India Special Gruen-Hyland Series on Homegrown U.S. Terrorism Counterterrorism Blog Panels: Future of Turkey-U.S. Strategic Partnership, May 19 Iran & U.S.: Outlook for Next Decade? April 15 Compañeros de Armas ("Friends in Arms"): Chavez, FARC & South America, March 19 Meta-Terror: Terrorism & the Virtual World, Feb. 29 Evolution of US Counterterrorism Policy, Feb. 12 Terrorism Litigation After Boim Decision, Jan. 28 Holy Land Foundation & Muslim Brotherhood, Dec. 11 ------------ Contributing Experts
Steven Emerson & The Investigative Project on Terrorism
Dennis Lormel Douglas Farah, Site Editor Bill West Evan Kohlmann Michael Cutler Victor Comras Michael Kraft Dr. Zachary Abuza Dr. Walid Phares Daveed Gartenstein-Ross Olivier Guitta Kenneth Conboy Aaron Mannes David Schenker Jeffrey Imm Animesh Roul Matthew Levitt Jonathan Winer Michael Jacobson Frank Hyland Roderick Jones Paul Cruickshank Farhana Ali Lorenzo Vidino Madeleine Gruen James Gordon Meek, Guest Expert Andrew Cochran, VP of GAGE Founder & Site Editor Phillip Smyth & Brett Wallace, Asst. Newslinks Editors EXPERTS' ARCHIVES & BIOS Recent Posts
DEA as Counter-Terror Agency
Congressional Pressure on Bout's Extradition India's IT City Bangalore Rocked by Seven Consecutive Terror Blasts Brotherhood Against Democracy Online Discussion on "The Challenges of International Terrorism" Words, Sticks and Stones Lebanon Awaits its Bayan Wizari (Ministerial Statement) Ortega Steps Into the Breach with the FARC Winning the War with Islamic Fanaticism Live from Kashmir: Women in Black Call for Freedom Experts' Books
Walid Phares: The Confrontation and "The War of Ideas: Jihadism against Democracy" and “Future Jihad: Terrorist Strategies Against America”
Michael Kraft & Yonah Alexander (Editors): "Evolution of U.S. Counterterrorism Policy" Douglas Farah & Zachary Abuza in Countering the Financing of Terrorism Douglas Farah: "Merchant of Death" and "Blood From Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror" Michael Jacobson: "The West at War: U.S. and European Counterterrorism Efforts, Post–September 11" Daveed Gartenstein-Ross: "My Year Inside Radical Islam: A Memoir" Steven Emerson: "Jihad Incorporated: A Guide to Militant Islam in the US" and "American Jihad: The Terrorists Living Among Us" Victor Comras & Matthew Levitt (contributors): "Terrorism Financing and State Responses," Stanford University Press Matthew Levitt: "Negotiating Under Fire: Preserving Peace Talks in the Face of Terror Attacks" and "Hamas: Politics, Charity, and Terrorism in the Service of Jihad" and "Targeting Terror: U.S. Policy toward Middle Eastern State Sponsors and Terrorist Organizations, Post-September 11" Zachary Abuza: "Political Islam and Violence in Indonesia" and "Militant Islam in Southeast Asia: Crucible of Terror" Lorenzo Vidino "Al Qaeda in Europe: The New Battleground of Global Jihad" Kenneth Conboy: "The Second Front: Inside Asia’s Most Dangerous Terrorist Network" Evan Kohlmann: "Al-Qaida's Jihad in Europe: The Afghan-Bosnian Network" Credits
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Jonathan Winer Archives
Another Perspective on Hoekstra AmendmentBy Jonathan WinerI am among those who find it counter-intuitive to believe that the Bush Administration's Department of Homeland Security, National Counter Terrorism Center and the State Department are soft on terrorism, as suggested by the Hoekstra Amendment and commentary relating to... Islamic D-8 Summit Agenda in Malaysia Promotes Trade, Energy Revenue SharingBy Jonathan WinerAs the G-8 plows forward in Hokkaido with its solutions to counter soaring crude oil prices, global inflation and increasing protectionism, in Kuala Lumpur, the Summit of the Developing Nations, or D-8, consisting of the eight most populous Islamic nations,... Details on Colombia Hostage Operation Right Out of Spy ThrillerBy Jonathan WinerFirst accounts on the rescue operation, now being provided by Colombian military officials, while still veiled on some key points, suggest that Colombia carried out a spectacularly successful sting operation in which Colombian commandos pretended to be FARC officials come... Colombia Rescues Ingrid Betancourt and Three US HostagesBy Jonathan WinerThe dramatic news that Colombia had successfully rescued Ingrid Betancourt and three Americans held hostage for years by FARC terrorists represents a further break-through by the Uribe government in what has been an extraordinary year of successes against FARC. We... Boumediene v. Bush, Another View -- Judicial Oversight of Terrorist Detainment Essential to FreedomBy Jonathan WinerJeffrey Imm's passionate denunciation of the majority opinion in Boumediene v. Bush, published here, takes vigorous exception to the principle that the federal courts should have the right to analyze the detention of persons that a U.S. executive authority has... EU Agrees to Join US Iran Sanctions, Iran Gets Funds Out of TownBy Jonathan WinerA surprising consensus has now been reached by the US and the EU on imposing financial sanctions against Iran, if Iran doesn't immediately take action to shut down profliferation efforts. According to Reuters, the EU-U.S. summit in Slovenia today will... In Southeast Asia, a Counterterrorism Strategy That's WorkingBy Jonathan WinerAccording to today's New York Times , a number of counterterrorism experts and governments have concluded that JI and other major terrorist networks in Southeast Asia have suffered significant setbacks in the past three years. The Times article found that... FARC's terrorist diplomacy reaches GermanyBy Jonathan WinerA recent article in the German online publication, Der Spiegel, provides further insights into FARC's efforts to get itself off international terrorist lists. According to Der Spiegel, documents provided to it by Colombian officials said to be from the seized... INTERPOL Finds FARC Computers Material Authentic and ExtensiveBy Jonathan WinerWe don't yet know what else is in the contents of the FARC computers that INTERPOL has now verified to be exactly as represented by the Colombian government -- the true and untampered contents of FARC computers seized by Colombia... Docs Suggest Chavez, FARC Agreed to Blame Paramilitaries for FARC's MurdersBy Jonathan WinerOn May 10, the Colombian magazine Semana reported that FARC guerrillas developed a strategy in the fall of 2004 to blame Colombian paramilitaries for the Apure massacre in which FARC killed five soldiers and a woman engineer in a raid... More on the FARC-Chavez ConnectionBy Jonathan WinerNew materials released to the Associated Press and a Spanish newspaper reinforce earlier information showing ongoing operational cooperation between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Colombia's FARC guerrillas. Documents reviewed by AP provided by Colombia from the computers seized by Colomba... Colombian Newspaper Reports INTERPOL Found No Tampering with FARC ComputersBy Jonathan WinerAccording to the Colombian newspaper El Tiempo, computer forensics experts from INTERPOL have found that the personal computers found by Colombia in its March 1 cross-border raids of a FARC camp in Ecuador retain their integrity and have not been... UK Court Invalidates Terrorist Asset Freezing Regime as UnconstitutionalBy Jonathan WinerToday, the UK's high court invalidated the country's asset freezing regime against terrorists, ruling it to be unconstitutional. The ruling has been described as devastating to the UK's strategy against terrorism. It was based on the court finding that the... FARC's Efforts to Assassinate Uribe Described in Seized ComputersBy Jonathan WinerThe Colombian publication El Tiempo has published the text of further documents provided by the government of Colombia and described as taken from the FARC computers of the late Raul Reyes seized by Colombia after its raid on Reyes' camp... Indonesia Bans Jemaah Islamiyah After Malaysia Arrests Leaders On Way to SyriaBy Jonathan WinerWhen Jemaah Islamiyah leaders Agus Purwantoro and Abu Husna were captured in Malaysia in mid-April they were seeking false travel documents in preparation for meetings in Syria with an unspecified "international terrorist network," according to reports citing Indonesian and Malaysia... Ecuador Publishes FARC Commander's "Brotherly Greetings"By Jonathan WinerIn a bizarre twist to the verbal war between Ecuador and Colombia over the contents of the captured computers of FARC rebel leader Raul Reyes, killed in the March 1 cross-border Colombian attack, the Office of the President of Ecuador... New information on FARC Support For Ecuador Presidential CampaignBy Jonathan WinerAs INTERPOL completes its forensics review of the material in the FARC computers seized by Colombia in the March 1 raid that killed FARC leader Raul Reyes, officials in Ecuador and Venezuela have adopted a media strategy of continuing attacks... FARC Uranium May Be Depleted, But It's Still Nuclear MaterialBy Jonathan WinerLet's assume that the 33 kilos of nuclear material discovered last week by Colombian officials allegedly cached by FARC was almost worthless, and represented no real security threat, as suggested by Aaron Mannes in his article "DU Dud." Does that... Colombia Announces Find of 66 Pounds of Uranium It Says Linked to FARCBy Jonathan WinerAuthentication of the information reportedly found in the computers seized after Colombia's March 1 raid on FARC camps in Ecuador has been coming in concrete form. First there was the discovery March 14 of $480,000 in cash held in a... The FARC's Terrorist DiplomacyBy Jonathan WinerIf the information in the laptops seized by the government of Colombia following its March 1 cross-border raid into Ecuador proves to be as authentic as it appears, Colombia's FARC guerillas have developed an extensive political network to supplement their... FARC allegations multiply, require vettingBy Jonathan WinerAnyone trying to sort out the public allegations about FARC's global criminal reach can't be faulted for wondering how to distinguish between information and disinformation. The latest account, out of the Bogota publication, The Spectator (El Espectador), begs for an... Provocative material in FARC computers needs broad disclosure and analysisBy Jonathan WinerRemarkably, the Andean crisis over Colombia's cross-border raid into Ecuador ended as quickly as it erupted today, after the presidents of the two countries shook hands at a regional summit broadcast on live television through much of Latin America. At... U.S. reportedly skeptical about the dirty bomb allegationBy Jonathan WinerABC News has reported that U.S. authorities remain deeply skeptical about Colombia's charges that FARC was seeking to obtain materials for a dirty bomb. According to ABC, U.S. law enforcement officials want to scrutinize the entire cache of Raul Reyes-related... Growing International Free-For-All, As Charges Mount On Chavez Laundering and Terrorist TiesBy Jonathan WinerThis week, while Venezuelan troops moved towards the Colombian border, and Ecuador broke relations with Colombia, there has been startling new information emerge publiclly about alleged Venezuelan support for terrorist groups, laundering of political funds, and possible efforts on the... Al-Qadi Ruling Threatens EU and Ultimately UN Terrorist Sanctions ProcessBy Jonathan WinerA legal advisor to the European Commission has reportedly recommended that the EU remove its freeze on the assets of Yasin Al-Qadi, designated by the U.S. as a terrorist financier and added to the United Nation's consolidated terrorist list in... Bhutto Murder Fits Pattern of Lashkar I Jhangvi Terrorism, With Nasty ImplicationsBy Jonathan WinerWe don't yet know whether Al- Qaeda Commander and spokesman Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid told the truth in his phone call to Italian news agency Adnkronos International (AKI) when he stated that the decision to kill Bhutto was made by Al-... Benazir Bhutto's Assassination -- a Lethal Assault on DemocracyBy Jonathan WinerThe assassination of any political leader engaged in a campaign is a blow to democracy. This one is especially tragic. Benazir Bhutto, had enormous gifts, intelligence, education, the ability to lead, great speaking ability, and a charisma that exceeded what... In Stunning Move, UN and US Delist Nasreddin and His Companies from SanctionsBy Jonathan WinerIn a move subject to no publicity whatsoever, and so far not reported by the press, the UN Security Council today without explanation removed Ahmed Idris Nasreddin and 12 of his companies from the terrorist sanctions list, freeing them from... Canada's FinTrac Public Info Limited by Canadian LawBy Jonathan WinerAndrew Cochran has highlighted an important problem in assessing the effectiveness of Canada's Financial Intelligence Unit, FINTRAC, namely, the lack of feedback received in Canada by the financial institutions reporting to it. Under Canadian law, FINTRAC is prohibited from saying... Did Syria Have Visible WMD Program Prior to US Invasion of Iraq?By Jonathan WinerThe New York Times has published a remarkable piece on October 27 suggesting that satellite imagery which is now available commercially showed the construction of a nuclear facility in Syria that was well-developed as early as the summer of 2003,... Treasury Sanctions On Iran Will Have Commercial Impact For Foreign BanksBy Jonathan WinerAt first blush, some may find it easy to shrug off today's Treasury sanctions on Iran as not being meaningful on the ground that these designations are unilateral by the United States and so far have not been joined by... Economic Sanctions and Iranian ContainmentBy Jonathan WinerRay Takeyh, who has devoted years of study to Iran and to Iranian-U.S. national security policy, has taken a strong view opposing economic sanctions on Iran's Revolutionary Guards in a piece in the August 28 Financial Times which argues that... Paradoxical Policies For Pakistan and IranBy Jonathan WinerThe recent dust-up between the Clinton and Obama campaigns over whether one talks to Iran, followed by Senator Obama's warning to Pakistan that if Pakistan doesn't act against Al Qaeda the U.S could act on its own, provide fresh reminders... The Threat of "Homegrowns"By Jonathan WinerThe reported plot in New York to bomb Kennedy International Airport, like the terrorist attacks in London and Madrid, last year's terrorist plots in Toronto and Ottawa, and the plans of a group led by a Miami Haitian to blow... Battle of the BrandsBy Jonathan WinerOn May 14, at a conference sponsored by terrorism-risk insuror Lloyds, Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of the Secret British Intelligence Service MI6, said the U.S. and UK had placed themselves in a "strategically weak" position due to having... An Unusual Apparent Win-Win on North KoreaBy Jonathan WinerIt looks like the Treasury strategy to sanction Banco Delta Asia (BDA) may have worked. Today, North Korea announced not only its renewed participation in the Six Party Talks on nuclear proliferation, but also its intention immeditaely to halt its... Is U.S. Supporting Brotherhood Activities in Syria?By Jonathan WinerAn important article in The New Yorker by Sy Hersh describes in detail a redirection of U.S. counter-terrorism policy away from focusing on extreme Sunni forces in the Middle East in order to redirect it against Iran and Syria. In... Treasury's Message About Iran: "Be Afraid"By Jonathan WinerDubai is a significant location for Under Secretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey to deliver his March 7 message to the world about the risks of doing business in Iran. On the one hand, Dubai is literally across the water... Bangladesh Stalled on Enacting Terrorist Finance LawBy Jonathan WinerInternal political tension over making it illegal to finance terrorism has continued to stall enactment of a strengthened anti-money laundering law in Bangladesh. As a result, the country, whose governance remains among the weakest in the world, continues to be... Treasury Hits Iran With Another Proliferation FreezeBy Jonathan WinerToday, the U.S. Treasury designated three more Iranian companies as proliferators, prohibiting transactions by U.S. persons with the firms. Each of the three firms -- the Kalaye Electric Company, Kavoshyar Company, and Pioneer Energy Industries Company -- were cited by... The Pakistan TalibanBy Jonathan WinerThe recent spate of suicide bombings in Pakistan are just one troubling aspect of what some are now terming "the Pakistan Taliban," a force that is exercising increasing influence throughout the country, and which by some accounts now controls North... Writing Now on Wall for Handling of Iranian AssetsBy Jonathan WinerToday's announcement by the EU that it will be adopting wider economic sanctions against Iran contains limits, caveats, deferrals, and safe harbors -- all the kinds of things one would come to expect from an economic union that has continued... EU Undertakes Major Assault on PKK, Backed By USBy Jonathan WinerOutside of Turkey, there has been remarkably little attention paid to the major European raids against the PKK, which began in early February in France and have now included operations in Belgium and by some accounts, possibly Germany as well,... Regulators Provide Current Stats on Results of BSA ReportingBy Jonathan WinerIn a speech delivered February 9 by FDIC Chairman Sheila C. Bair, at a money laundering symposium, Chairman Bair defended the effectiveness of the use of Section 314 of the Patriot Act by which FinCEN has "pinged" financial institutions to... Treasury Seeks $ to Hire New Specialists on Rogue StatesBy Jonathan WinerOne small but provocative line-item in President Bush's budget request for the coming year is the request by the U.S. Treasury for $385,000 in new funds for its Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes to "disrupt and dismantle rogue... EU Privacy Czar Claims Right to Prohibit US Access to EU Financial RecordsBy Jonathan WinerIn a sweeping assertion of his institutional power to decide whether or not the U.S. has the right to see EU financial data, Europe's Data Protection Supervisor, Peter Hustinx announced today that he and Europe's other privacy czars had the... Is Treasury Bank Freeze Real or Phony Issue Stalling NK Talks?By Jonathan WinerAs Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury's Daniel Glaser meets in Beijing with North Korea, it remains difficult to assess whether North Korea is using Treasury's freeze of $24 million of its assets in a Macau bank as an excuse... Treasury To Take Away Kim Jong il's iPods and CognacBy Jonathan WinerHow do you get an evil dictator who starves his people to understand that you really mean business when you say he has to stop his nuclear proliferation program? Treasury has decided you do it by taking away his iPods,... CIA, Military Reveal Acquisition of Domestic Bank RecordsBy Jonathan WinerThe revelations in today's New York Times and Washington Post that the Department of Defense and the CIA have been issuing "non-mandatory" national security letters in unknown numbers to gain access to financial records from American companies raise some disturbing... The "Material Support" Test for TerrorismBy Jonathan WinerIn his speech on Iraq last night, President Bush describing Iran as providing "material support for attacks on U.S. troops," and identified Syria and Iran as providing terrorists with staging areas. The phrase "material support" is an interesting one, as... $14 billion Iranian Bank Sepah Hit by US SanctionsBy Jonathan WinerIn a move that will have impact internationally, the U.S. Treasury announced the imposition of economic sanctions on Iran's fifth-largest bank, Bank Sepah, which has some 290 branches in Iran, a presence in Rome, Paris, and Frankfurt, and a wholly-owned... Treasury Uses Sanctions Authority to Name More Syrian ProliferatorsBy Jonathan WinerOn January 4, the U.S. Department of the Treasury designated as WMD proliferators three Syrian entities, the Higher Institute of Applied Science and Technology (HIAST), the Electronics Institute, and the National Standards and Calibration Laboratory (NSCL), prohibiting all U.S. persons... Beach Bank Case Highlights Laundering Risk of Phone CardsBy Jonathan WinerNotable in FinCEN's announcement December 27, 2006 of an $800,000 civil money penalty against Beach Bank of Miami, Florida, is its listing as a significant money laundering compliance violation Beach Bank's failure to file a suspicious activity report on an... EU Strikes Down Terrorist Finance Designation of Iranian OppositionBy Jonathan WinerThe EU Court of First Instance, the EU's 2nd highest level appellate court, has struck down the EU designation of a significant Iranian opposition group, the People's Mujaheddin (OMPI) on the ground that OMPI didn't have a fair hearing before... UK Banks Bowing to Risk of Action from US on IranBy Jonathan WinerThere is growing evidence that US pressure on Iran is having an impact on what had been Iran's major conduits to the rest of the world through the City of London. They seem to be pulling out of Iran-related business... European Privacy Czars Seek to Stop Terror Finance MonitoringBy Jonathan WinerThe data protection authorities of the European Union have long cast a hostile eye on counter-terrorist initiatives undertaken by the US, and previously worked to invalidate an agreement between the U.S. and the EU on data sharing of passengers bound... Australia Finds US Pressure on Iran Having an ImpactBy Jonathan WinerOn November 20, Australia's Export Finance and Insurance Corporation (EFIC), found that "de facto sanctions" were having an impact on investment in Iran and Iranian financial access to international payments systems. In its latest Market Watch newsletter, EFIC cited its... Clarifying the Status of Arab Bank in the U.S.By Jonathan WinerYes, Arab Bank, despite the statement of its principal regulator on February 8, 2005 that it would withdraw from the U.S. market, is still doing business in the U.S., as I have been reminded by its public affairs spokesman. The... Isolating Iranian Banking ActivitiesBy Jonathan WinerThe recent reports this week of further withdrawal from the Iranian market by London-based HSBC and Swiss-based UBS and Credit Suisse represent the latest consequences of growing U.S. pressure to bring about Iran's financial isolation. But they also reflect the... Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism in EuropeBy Jonathan WinerFirst, thank you Andrew for inviting me to participate in the CT blog, which I have consulted with interest for many months. The French situation would seem perfect for an exploration of whether going beyond normal law enforcement operations to... |