http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/counterterrorism/ en-us Sun, 3 Jan 2010 16:11:01 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420008/posts Brennan: system worked 'every other day' in '09 - POLITICO Live: Brennan: system worked 'every other day' in '09 January 03, 2010 Categories: * Homeland Security Brennan: system worked 'every other day' in '09 White House counterterrorism chief John Brennan is maintaining the system to protect the U.S. against attack worked successfully this year apart from the Christmas Day bombing attempt -a claim that seems to downplay the notion that deadly attacks at Fort Hood in Texas and a military recruiting center in Arkansas represented a failure of intelligence gathering. Asked Sunday on NBC's "Meet The Press" about the lead-up... Politico http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2420008/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 16:11:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420193/posts The U.S. government's counterterrorism system is using top-flight technology and, despite the apparent failure to predict the attempted Christmas Day bombing of a U.S. airliner, isn't lagging behind innovators in Silicon Valley, White House Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Adviser John Brennan said Sunday on ABC's "This Week." "In the era of Google, why does the U.S. intelligence community not have the sophistication and power of Facebook?" ABC host Terry Moran asked Brennan. "Well, in fact, we do have the sophistication and power of Facebook, and well beyond that. That's why we were able to stop Mr. Najibullah Zazi, David Headley,... Politico.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2420193/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 21:26:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419792/posts <p>WASHINGTON (AP) -- A top counterterrorism official is warning that al-Qaida and other extremists are working to test U.S. defenses and launch an attack on American soil.</p> <p>National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael Leiter says the failed Christmas Day attempt to bring down a U.S. airliner is the starkest reminder of that threat.</p> New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2419792/posts#comment Sun, 3 Jan 2010 02:35:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418829/posts The finger-pointing began in earnest on Wednesday over who in the alphabet soup of American security agencies knew what and when about the Nigerian man charged with trying to blow up an airliner. But the harshest spotlight fell on the very agency created to make sure intelligence dots were always connected: the National Counterterrorism Center. The crown jewel of intelligence reform after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the center was the hub whose mission was to unite every scrap of data on threats and suspects, to make sure an extremist like Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the would-be bomber, would never penetrate... The New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418829/posts#comment Fri, 1 Jan 2010 05:59:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418551/posts Flight 253 passenger Kurt Haskell: 'I was visited by the FBI' December 31, 2009, 9:41AM Following up on a visit from FBI officials about an eyewitness account first described to MLive.com, Michigan attorney Kurt Haskell described the visit in comment sections across MLive on Wednesday. Haskell and his wife, Lori, were aboard Flight 253 when Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to destroy the plane. They say another man tried to help Abdulmutallab board the plane in Amsterdam. Haskell had two detailed posts in two different stories. Here is Part One, originally posted here: "Today is the second worst day of... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418551/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:34:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418199/posts For two hours on Wednesday, Times Square morphed into a militarized zone as the police swarmed an unoccupied van with blacked out windows and no license plates parked in an area set aside for Thursday’s New Year’s Eve celebration. Officials said that nothing harmful was found in the van. But the scare illustrated the challenges for local, state and federal law enforcement agencies as they confront an array of security concerns when revelers flood the streets Thursday to ring in 2010. To prepare for the festivities, thousands of police officers, including 250 rookies, will descend on Times Square , said... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2418199/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:14:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417348/posts The chief lesson of the attempted jihad attack on Flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day is that our entire anti-terror strategy is a huge and abject failure. Of course, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano would beg to differ, as she has said that the stopping of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attempt to set off an explosive on the airplane showed that “the system worked” and “everything happened that should have.” The “system worked”? So the “system” now involves hoping that other passengers will tackle the jihadist? After all, a passenger on Flight 253, Jasper Schuringa, subdued Abdulmutallab. The... Human Events http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2417348/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:54:28 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416824/posts President Obama vowed to track down and destroy terror cells all over the world last night as he finally ended his silence over a failed Christmas Day plot to blow up an American passenger jet. The White House said Mr Obama’s reticence to speak out was designed to reduce the attention focused on an extremist group based in Yemen calling itself al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Islamist organisation led by a former personal secretary to Osama bin Laden claimed responsibility for the botched attack in a statement yesterday. The President took a few minutes out of his holiday in... Times Online http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416824/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 11:32:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416134/posts VS. WHO: Yeffet Isaac, Former Director of El-Al Airlines Security -VS.- Ibrahim Hooper Executive Director of C.A.I.R.WHAT: A Well Overdue DEBATEWHEN: As Soon As PossibleWHERE: LIVE NATIONWIDE on American TV, CNN, FOX, Major Networks, Radio Stations, NPR, etc., With Studio Audience Able to Ask QuestionsWHY: America dodged a major bullet on Christmas Day in Detroit. Reports are that additional terrorist acts involving US airliners are probably on the way. El-Al has a clean record of never being attacked by Islamist Extremists. C.A.I.R. has stated that the US should not, at all costs, racially and religiously profile passengers in the... AmericanInTokyo proposal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2416134/posts#comment Mon, 28 Dec 2009 08:30:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415538/posts Not enough data to put suspect on no-fly list: official Photo 7:33pm EST KAILUA, Hawaii (Reuters) - The government created a record on Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in November 2009 in the Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment, the intelligence community's central repository of information on known and suspected international terrorists, but there was not enough negative information to put him on a no-fly list, a U.S. administration official said on Saturday. "There was insufficient derogatory information available on the subject Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415538/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:48:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415307/posts The man law enforcement officials identified as the suspect in Friday's attempted attack on a overseas flight as it approached Detroit, Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, is a Nigerian who was reportedly on a U.S. government terror watch list but did not appear on a "no-fly" list. Mutallab, 23, reportedly told investigators he had links to al-Qaida. The Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam carried 278 passengers and a crew of 11. An U.S. intelligence official said Mutallab tried unsuccessfully to detonate an explosive mix of powder and liquid. He was quickly subdued by other passengers. NBC News, citing anti-terrorism officials, said... Chicago Sun Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415307/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 15:24:04 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415262/posts The Metropolitan Police are carrying out searches in the UK after a suspected al Qaeda operative allegedly attempted to blow up a US passenger jet. The man, said to be a student at a British university, is accused of trying to blow up a transatlantic aeroplane with explosives strapped to his leg on Christmas Day. The Nigerian man caused panic as the jet was about to land at Detroit with 278 people aboard when he apparently tried to detonate some sort of bomb. He was overpowered by passengers and crew after the device failed to ignite properly. Sources have since... Sky News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2415262/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 13:11:16 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407765/posts Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-nsd-1338.html FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, December 14, 2009 Terrorism Defendants Sentenced in Atlanta Ehsanul Islam Sadequee Receives 17 Years in Prison; Co-defendant Syed Haris Ahmed Receives 13 Years Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, 23, of Roswell, Ga., and Syed Haris Ahmed, 25, of Atlanta, were sentenced today in federal court following their convictions earlier this year in separate but related criminal trials, the Justice Department announced. "With their words and their actions, these defendants supported the wrongheaded but very dangerous idea that armed violence aimed at American interests will force our Government and our people... US DOJ.gov - Justice.gov/opa - Press Release http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407765/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:14:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406368/posts From the shootings at Fort Hood to the civil war battlegrounds of Somalia, 2009 revealed more jihadist activities involving Americans than almost any year since the 9/11 attacks, say experts. There were at least 12 incidents in total, not including the recent arrests of five Virginia men in Pakistan on suspicion of trying to join jihadist militants. With the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq fueling anger among some Muslim Americans, experts say jihadist propaganda is gaining a foothold in the United States, with hundreds of English-language Web sites. Radical English-speaking clerics such as Anwar al-Awlaki, who corresponded with Major... ABC News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406368/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:12:21 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406050/posts U.S. counterterrorism officials say 2009 has turned into the year of homegrown jihad, with the unmasking of the most serious suspected terror plots involving Americans in about five years. U.S. investigators are still trying to determine what drew five young Americans to travel last month to Pakistan, where local authorities allege they had sought to join extremist groups that have attacked U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. U.S. investigators have interviewed some of the men, but haven't verified the information Pakistani officials have released on the case. The surge in alleged terror cases has raised concerns among counterterrorism officials. Some officials say... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2406050/posts#comment Sat, 12 Dec 2009 13:43:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402517/posts Reporting from Washington - The Obama administration, grappling with a spate of recent Islamic terrorism cases on U.S. soil, has concluded that the country confronts a rising threat from homegrown extremism. Anti-terrorism officials and experts see signs of accelerated radicalization among American Muslims, driven by a wave of English-language online propaganda and reflected in aspiring fighters' trips to hot spots such as Pakistan and Somalia. LA Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2402517/posts#comment Tue, 8 Dec 2009 01:54:44 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2402042/posts When the history of the War on Terror is written, 2009 may be seen as the year the enemy began to shift from Islamist terrorists outside the US to homegrown Jihadists. Despite the fact that it was predicted two years ago, many are still surprised (or unwilling to recognize), the Islamist threat from within. Back in 2007 the Council on Foreign Relations reported: Experts say it is quite likely the next terrorist attack in the United States will not be the work of well-trained al-Qaeda operatives sent from abroad, but rather that of an American citizen. As al-Qaeda leaders focus... LA Times/The Lid http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2402042/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 15:55:06 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401424/posts SNIPPET: "A team of researchers convened by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security began a series of tests today at 20 MBTA stations to determine how airborne contaminants would spread in a terrorist attack on Boston's subway system." SNIPPET: "The findings will help guide the design of future detection systems and help strengthen evacuation, ventilation, and other emergency response plans on mass transit across the country. "We hope to use the data from the two to come up with a model to predict the behavior (of chemicals) in other subway systems," Lustig said." BOSTON.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401424/posts#comment Sun, 6 Dec 2009 11:13:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399833/posts Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano warned that al-Qaida followers are inside the U.S. and pose the threat of terrorist attacks on Americans. “The fact is that home-based terrorism is here,” she said in an address to the American-Israel Friendship League in New York on Wednesday night. “And like extremism abroad, it is now part of the threat picture that we must confront." “Individuals sympathetic to al-Qaida and its affiliates, as well as those inspired by their ideology, are present in the U.S., and would like to attack the homeland or plot overseas attacks against our interests abroad.” Napolitano said a... newsmax.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2399833/posts#comment Fri, 4 Dec 2009 01:29:47 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397991/posts This October, Chris Soghoian — computer security researcher, oft-times journalist, and current technical consultant for the FTC's privacy protection office — attended a closed-door conference called "ISS World". ISS World — the "ISS" is for "Intelligence Support Systems for Lawful Interception, Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Gathering" — is where law enforcement and intelligence agencies consult with telco representatives and surveillance equipment manufacturers about the state of electronic surveillance technology and practice. Armed with a tape recorder, Soghoian went to the conference looking for information about the scope of the government's surveillance practices in the US. What Soghoian uncovered, as he... Electronic Frontier Foundation http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2397991/posts#comment Tue, 1 Dec 2009 23:24:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2396947/posts MOSCOW (Reuters) – The head of Russia's Orthodox Church Sunday called on authorities to give a "powerful reply" to the people behind a train bombing that killed 25 people, as police probed whether Islamist rebels were involved. A blast derailed a high-speed Russian train Friday night on the main line between Moscow and Russia's second city, St Petersburg, raising fears of a new wave of attacks five years after a bombing campaign in Moscow by Chechen rebels. "We believe the reply will be effective and powerful enough to show these shameful, terrible people that ... when the hand of an... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2396947/posts#comment Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:18:19 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385947/posts NEW YORK (AP) — In what could be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, federal prosecutors sought to take over four U.S. mosques, a New York City skyscraper and 100 acres in Prince William County owned by a Muslim organization suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government. Prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets. the News and Messenger http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385947/posts#comment Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:27:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385568/posts U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday he would insist on an "exacting" form of justice for alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. An Obama administration official said earlier that Mohammed and four other men accused of helping to plot the attacks would be sent to criminal court in New York from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. REUTERS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385568/posts#comment Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:44:33 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385444/posts In what could be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, federal prosecutors sought to take over four U.S. mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim organization suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government. Prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets. The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower. Confiscating the properties would... hosted http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2385444/posts#comment Fri, 13 Nov 2009 12:57:53 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383350/posts I don't know if I can post copy from The Bulletin website. Go to this: http://thebulletin.us/articles/2009/11/10/top_stories/doc4af9ba9ddb2ef623854371.txt The Bulletin http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2383350/posts#comment Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:32:02 GMT