http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/counterterrorism/ en-us Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:56:29 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284406/posts Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, 23 terrorist plots against the United States have been foiled. This report updates a November 2007 report from the Heritage Foundation that described 19 plots that had been foiled to date since 9/11. Less than two years later, the U.S. has foiled four more plots aimed at Americans. While some trials have ended in mistrial and charges against some suspects were dropped, significantly more individuals have been convicted and sentenced for their crimes. These victories make the case for continued U.S. vigilance against terrorism around the globe. While these particular attacks have been disrupted, the... The Heritage Foundation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284406/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 20:56:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284328/posts (06-28) 04:00 PDT Brussels, Belgium -- SNIPPET: "Like many spy tales in fiction and reality, "Background to Danger" begins in a train station." SNIPPET: "Fast-forward six decades into a transformed landscape. Europe has erased internal borders. Instead of fighting Nazis or Communists, spy agencies use satellites and wiretaps to track Islamic terrorists who conspire on the Internet. But one thing has not changed much. Trains, stations and the gritty neighborhoods that surround them are often the backdrop to danger." SNIPPET: "In a train station, after all, you never know who might be listening." SFGATE.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2284328/posts#comment Thu, 2 Jul 2009 19:31:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277851/posts The Obama administration plans to kill a controversial Bush administration spy satellite program at the Department of Homeland Security, according to officials familiar with the decision. The program came under fire from its inception two years ago. Democratic lawmakers said it would lead to domestic spying. The program would have provided federal, state and local officials with extensive access to spy-satellite imagery — but no eavesdropping capabilities— to assist with emergency response and other domestic-security needs, such as identifying where ports or border areas are vulnerable to terrorism. Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2277851/posts#comment Tue, 23 Jun 2009 21:55:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274087/posts The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said. Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times Representative Rush Holt Readers' Comments Readers shared their thoughts on this article. Read All Comments (170) » The agency’s monitoring of domestic e-mail messages, in particular, has posed longstanding legal and logistical difficulties, the officials said. Since April, when it was disclosed that the intercepts of some private communications... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2274087/posts#comment Thu, 18 Jun 2009 01:56:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269098/posts Two radical Muslims identified on crashed Air France flight DEBKAfile Special Repor June 10, 2009, 9:40 PM (GMT+02:00) The day after DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources' revelation of Tuesday, June 9, that French security was going through the doomed Air France flight's passenger list for suspected terror links, the Paris weekly L'Express reported a link had been found. French security DGSE (Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure) agents dispatched to Brazil identified two names on the passenger list which also appear also on highly-classified documents listing radical Muslims considered a threat to France. This link to the air tragedy was described as... debka http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2269098/posts#comment Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:11:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267704/posts FBI Director Defends Use of Informants in Mosques June 08, 2009 LOS ANGELES — FBI Director Robert Mueller on Monday defended the agency's use of informants within U.S. mosques, despite complaints from Muslim organizations that worshippers and clerics are being targeted instead of possible terrorists. Mueller's comments came just days after a Michigan Muslim organization asked the Justice Department to investigate complaints that the FBI is asking the faithful to spy on Islamic leaders and worshippers. Similar alarm followed the disclosure earlier this year that the FBI planted a spy in Southern California mosques. "We don't investigate places, we investigate... FoxNews http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2267704/posts#comment Tue, 9 Jun 2009 02:23:58 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262140/posts The next time you book a flight, make sure your name on the ticket is exactly the same as your ID. Otherwise it could take some time to get on the plane. The federal Transportation Security Administration is introducing a requirement that passenger names on tickets be exactly the same as the name on a government issued ID... The move is designed to reduce the amount of travelers incorrectly identified with names similar to those on terrorist watch lists. "We're doing some testing now, but we won't roll out the first phase until August," . About 58,000 travelers have filed... TheDenverChannel http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2262140/posts#comment Mon, 1 Jun 2009 14:30:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/597291/posts The South, although militarily weak, "fielded," Hanson says, "individual warriors who were among the most gallant and deadly in the entire history of warfare." Hence what Sherman called "the awful fact": Victory required "that the present class of men who rule the South must be killed outright." Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/597291/posts#comment Thu, 27 Dec 2001 04:35:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260807/posts On Thursday, Josh Meyer of the Los Angeles Times broke the story that the FBI is edging the CIA out of the business of fighting international terrorism. Under the bureau’s “global justice” initiative, Meyer reported that “FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option.” Who needs a War on Terror, or even an “overseas contingency operation,” when all the world’s a crime scene? If you’re thinking, “Hey, we’ve seen this movie before,” you’re right. Slowly but surely, it’s... National Review Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260807/posts#comment Fri, 29 May 2009 20:19:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260343/posts Reporting from Washington -- The FBI and Justice Department plan to significantly expand their role in global counter-terrorism operations, part of a U.S. policy shift that will replace a CIA-dominated system of clandestine detentions and interrogations with one built around transparent investigations and prosecutions. Under the "global justice" initiative, which has been in the works for several months, FBI agents will have a central role in overseas counter-terrorism cases. They will expand their questioning of suspects and evidence-gathering to try to ensure that criminal prosecutions are an option, officials familiar with the effort said. Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2260343/posts#comment Fri, 29 May 2009 05:28:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259403/posts Note: The following text is a quote: Federal Judge Hands Downs Sentences in Holy Land Foundation Case Holy Land Foundation and Leaders Convicted on Providing Material Support to Hamas Terrorist Organization Today, in federal court in Dallas, U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in November 2008 on charges of providing material support to Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization. "Today's sentences mark the culmination of many years of painstaking investigative and prosecutorial work at the federal, state and... US DOJ.gov/opa - Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2259403/posts#comment Wed, 27 May 2009 23:27:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256896/posts President Obama has done a lot of speechifying in recent days about America's "responsibilities" in fighting terror. So you'd think he'd have a word of encouragement for the team of crack FBI agents and NYPD officers that foiled a real-life terror attack against two Bronx synagogues on Wednesday. Alas, not a peep. Obama yesterday spoke at commencement ceremonies at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. -- largely rehashing the themes of his address the day before on terror detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay. "As Americans, we reject the false choice between our security and our ideals," he said.... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256896/posts#comment Sat, 23 May 2009 15:36:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256767/posts A successful counter-terrorism operation led by the FBI and the New York City Police Department ended with the arrest of four New York City men in connection with plots to bomb Jewish synagogues and gun down military planes in upstate areas. ———— Today’s announcement of the foiled terror plot is a stark reminder that we are still under attack — eight years after the September 11 massacres. And if we are under attack, it means that we are still at war, a real one, not a “man-made disaster.” ————- According to Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly the suspects, identified as James... Fox News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256767/posts#comment Sat, 23 May 2009 06:03:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256616/posts The debate over what to do with the prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center got more complicated this week when the FBI foiled an alleged terror plot in New York. The arrest of four men Wednesday on charges that they plotted to bomb two New York City synagogues and shoot down military airplanes served as a reminder that there are terror cells operating in the United States. It also provided evidence to some lawmakers that closing the detention center at Guantanamo Bay or releasing any of its 240 detainees into the U.S. federal prison system would further endanger national... FoxNews.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256616/posts#comment Fri, 22 May 2009 23:39:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256523/posts San Francisco, CA (AP) -- A federal judge is threatening to severely sanction the Obama Administration for withholding a top secret document he ordered turned over to lawyers suing the government over its warrantless wiretapping program. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco has ordered Justice Department lawyers to court June 3 to tell him why he shouldn't award damages to the now-defunct Oregon arm of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. AP via SFGate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2256523/posts#comment Fri, 22 May 2009 20:01:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255903/posts WASHINGTON, May 21, 2009 – Less than a month after the sentencing of five defendants found guilty in a terror plot to kill soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., authorities say they have foiled another terrorist plot against an Air National Guard base and a synagogue and Jewish community center in New York. The FBI and New York police arrested four suspects yesterday who allegedly were planning to shoot down military planes at the New York Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, N.Y., and blow up a synagogue and Jewish community center in the Bronx. James Cromitie, the alleged group leader,... American Forces Press Service http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255903/posts#comment Thu, 21 May 2009 23:46:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2236463/posts After 9/11, Americans wanted one thing from Washington: to prevent future terrorist attacks. President George W. Bush, the CIA and other hard-working officials delivered. For their trouble, a handful of those individuals now have reason to fear that they may be ruined. My guess is that President Obama realizes it was a big mistake for his administration to release four memos written by Bush administration lawyers sanctioning enhanced interrogation techniques. Already, rage on the left has prompted Obama to go squishy on his once-insistent opposition to prosecuting any Bush administration officials. Now he says he might let his attorney general... Creators Syndicate http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2236463/posts#comment Thu, 23 Apr 2009 23:37:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2235234/posts At the Central Intelligence Agency, it's known as "slow rolling." That's what agency officers sometimes do on politically sensitive assignments. They go through the motions; they pass cables back and forth; they take other jobs out of the danger zone; they cover their backsides...in the words of one veteran officer, "hit the agency like a car bomb in the driveway." President Obama promised CIA officers that they won't be prosecuted for carrying out lawful orders, but the people on the firing line don't believe him. They think the memos have opened a new season of investigation and retribution. The lesson... Washington Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2235234/posts#comment Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:34:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2233041/posts Weapons experts and techno-thriller fans are familiar with the concept of an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) — a supermassive blast of electricity, usually from a nuclear blast high above ground, that fries electronic circuits for miles around, crippling computers, cars and most other modern gadgets. Now comes word that a much smaller EMP device, or “e-bomb,” could be carried in a car, or even on someone’s person — and be used to take down an airliner. “Once it is known that aircraft are vulnerable to particular types of disruption, it isn’t too much of a leap to build a device that... NationalTerrorAlert.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2233041/posts#comment Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:03:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2232967/posts April 17, 2009 DHS Wants to Know What You’re Thinking The Obama administration defines extremism down. By Andrew C. McCarthy For eight years, we’ve been treated to hysterical rhetoric from Democrats, including Barack Obama, about the scourge of “domestic spying.” Now that the Obama administration is openly calling for domestic spying — the real thing, not the smear used against President Bush — they’re suddenly silent. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in coordination with the FBI, has issued an intelligence assessment on what it calls “Rightwing Extremism.” It is appalling. The nakedly political document announces itself as a “federal... National Review http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2232967/posts#comment Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:45:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2232524/posts Law enforcement officials are vastly expanding their collection of DNA to include millions more people who have been arrested or detained but not yet convicted. The move, intended to help solve more crimes, is raising concerns about the privacy of petty offenders and people who are presumed innocent. Until now, the federal government genetically tracked only convicts. But starting this month, the Federal Bureau of Investigation will join 15 states that collect DNA samples from those awaiting trial and will collect DNA from detained immigrants — the vanguard of a growing class of genetic registrants. The F.B.I., with a DNA... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2232524/posts#comment Sun, 19 Apr 2009 01:57:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2231389/posts WASHINGTON -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and "militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups," including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices. The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security. ____________________________________ A Feb. 23 draft memo from FBI domestic counterterrorism leaders, obtained by The Wall Street Journal, cited an "increase in recruitment, threatening communications and weapons procurement by white supremacy... WSJ Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2231389/posts#comment Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:07:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2230756/posts The National Security Agency intercepted private e-mail messages and phone calls of Americans in recent months on a scale that went beyond the broad legal limits established by Congress last year, government officials said in recent interviews. Several intelligence officials, as well as lawyers briefed about the matter, said the N.S.A. had been engaged in "overcollection" of domestic communications of Americans. They described the practice as significant and systemic, although one official said it was believed to have been unintentional. The legal and operational problems surrounding the N.S.A.'s surveillance activities have come under scrutiny from the Obama administration, Congressional intelligence... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2230756/posts#comment Thu, 16 Apr 2009 17:27:39 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2229043/posts Washington D.C., Apr 14, 2009 / 02:28 pm (CNA).- According to a Homeland Security Report distributed to law enforcement organizations, abortion opponents are as great a threat to national security in the immediate future as white supremacists.The nine-page document was sent to police and sheriff's departments across the country on April 7 under the headline, "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment." The report is unclassified, but is accompanied by a warning that says it “contains information that may be exempt from public release under the Freedom of Information Act.” The report was prepared... CNA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2229043/posts#comment Tue, 14 Apr 2009 20:11:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228387/posts It’s not just Paul Krugman anymore. A growing chorus on the legal left is cooling toward President Barack Obama as a result of recent actions by the Justice Department vigorously defending the Bush administration in what it termed the war on terror. “Obama Position on Illegal Spying: Worse Than Bush,” a large graphic declared over the weekend on the home page of a respected group advocating freedom on the Internet, Electronic Frontier Foundation. Obama has been pilloried by a liberal TV icon who was one of President George W. Bush’s most vociferous critics, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann. “During his run for... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2228387/posts#comment Mon, 13 Apr 2009 23:32:47 GMT