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The Feds have been forced to release their social network monitoring manual, which contains the list of words the government watches on social media and news sites. [snip] Homeland Security Manual Lists Government Key Words For Monitoring Social Media, News Ever complain on Facebook that you were feeling “sick?” Told your friends to “watch” a certain TV show? Left a comment on a media website about government “pork?” If you did any of those things, or tweeted about your recent vacation in “Mexico” or a shopping trip to “Target,” the Department of Homeland Security may have noticed.

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats on Thursday urged the New York Police Department to purge its intelligence databases of information gleaned from its clandestine spying on Muslim neighborhoods. They also criticized the Obama administration for offering tepid responses to questions about whether it endorses such tactics.

The heat is on a U.S. official responsible for leaking details of al Qaeda's disrupted bomb plot to the Associated Press. On the Sunday talk shows, high-ranking officials in both chambers of Congress across both parties called for investigations and the prosecution of the man or woman who leaked details about the infiltration of al Qaeda's Yemen branch. Unlike previous situations, where government crackdowns on leakers has been criticized, this is appears to be a fairly clear-cut case of improper leaking. The mission, which resulted in the recovery of a sophisticated underwear bomb, was leaked to the AP before it...

Ah, I remember spending a solid month on this story back in spring 2009 when Obama and Cheney were having their war of words over enhanced interrogation. Porter Goss claimed that he and she were both briefed on waterboarding in September 2002 as members of the House intel committee, a hugely incendiary accusation given Pelosi’s status as Speaker and therefore an anti-torture liberal light. Pelosi contended that, in the NYT’s words, “the lawmakers were told only that the C.I.A. believed the methods were legal — not that they were going to be used.� Then, as the media turned up the...

 I want to live in a surveillance state. Big Brother, come cast your watchful eye over me and mine. I love you, bro. Seriously, when I saw the outcry over Government plans to gain access to telephone, email and internet, my initial reaction was: “You mean they can’t do that already?” I assumed, somewhat stupidly, that everything we said, typed or viewed was routinely monitored, and then filtered by some giant, super-secret computer tucked away in a heavily guarded subterranean basement of GCHQ: “Hodges has just said he wants to shoot another Liverpool player, sir.” “Oh, he’s always saying that, Jones....

The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. As chief of the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda. Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington — the principal architect of the CIA’s drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the Obama administration’s...

Well, things in Syria are getting a bit more complicated. Weeks after the news that special operators from NATO countries may be inside Syria advising the rebels, comes the news that Russia has dispatched counterterrorism troops to the embattled nation. Now, some news reports say the Russian’s claim they’ve just sent a Navy tanker to support anti-piracy operations in Middle Eastern waters and that any troops aboard that ship are simply there to protect the tanker’s civilian crew and that there are no Russian counterterror troop in Syria. Now, the ship is docked in the Syrian port of Tartus on...

NEW YORK — New York police ramped up security at synagogues and other Jewish institutions citywide on Monday following the deadly attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse, France. "Although there is no known specific threat against New York City, the NYPD has taken the precaution of stepping up coverage of Jewish neighborhoods and institutions in the city," Browne said in a statement. "The NYPD's counter-terrorism posture is informed by events abroad, including the fatal attack on the Jewish school in Toulouse today," he said. New York, home to more than 1.4 million Jews, has the largest Jewish population of...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Attorney General Eric Holder says he's disturbed by what he's read about the New York Police Department conducting surveillance of mosques and Islamic student organizations in New Jersey. Holder says the Justice Department is reviewing the matter.

A group of Muslim Americans gathered outside NYPD headquarters this morning to support the Police Department's surveillance of Muslims. Led by Dr. Zuhdi Jasser of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, the ralliers spoke out in favor of the NYPD’s counterterrorism efforts....Jasser said the statistics speak for themselves. “If you look at arrests for terrorism, of the last 200 arrests, 80 percent have been from Muslims,” Jasser said. “So, it’s rather denial not to recognize that we have a responsibility to root out the radicalization.”

WASHINGTON: US special forces teams are currently stationed in five South Asian countries including India as part of the counter-terrorism cooperation with these nations, a top Pentagon commander has disclosed. These teams have been deployed by US Pacific Command as part of its effort to enhance their counter-terrorism capabilities, in particular in the maritime domain, Admiral Robert Willard, the PACOM Commander said on Thursday. "We have currently special forces assist teams - Pacific assist teams is the term - laid down in Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, as well as India," Willard told lawmakers at a Congressional hearing in response...

BREWSTER – The woman who allegedly mailed a hoax weapon of mass destruction package to State Senator Gregory Ball’s regional office last month has been shot and killed by police in Georgia, a spokeswoman for Ball’s office said Monday. He is the chairman of the state Senate’s Homeland Security Committee. Ball spokeswoman Brittany Oat said Jameela Barnette was killed on Christmas day when a police officer for the Cobb county Police responded to the Bexley Apartments in Marietta and was assaulted by Barnette shortly after he opened the door. Officer shot the woman, later identified as Barnette, who died at...

The U.S. Counterterrorism Advisory Team (USCTAT) recognizes the two-year anniversary of its founding (Dec. 19, 2009) this week. The anniversary follows an awards ceremony at the S.C. State House, last week, in which six team members were honored for their service and commitment to national security. The USCTAT is a 20-plus member council composed of nationally recognized military, counterterrorism, and intelligence experts. The team is an initiative of the Family Security Foundation, Inc., a national security non-profit. The team also serves in ongoing affiliations with both the American Public Policy Alliance and the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Security Policy among...

As the U.S. military departs Iraq, the CIA is looking at secret counterterrorism and intelligence programs run inside that country for years by the Joint Special Operations Command. The programs involve everything from the deployment of remote sensors that scan the wireless spectrum of terrorist safe havens to stealth U.S.-Iraqi counterterrorism commando teams. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said “As we complete the drawdown, we will continue to have discussions about how to meet their security needs in a manner that meets our mutual interests,” he said. “Possibilities could include training, exchange programs, tactical exercises, and regular coordination. The...

If there were just one single concept about Islam and jihad and terrorism that I could convey as we approach the tenth commemoration of the 9/11 attacks, it would be this: it’s not about the violence. It’s not just about the terrorism. It’s about shariah. It’s about Islamic law. Americans across the country are preparing to mark September 11, 2011 as a solemn observance in memory of the thousands of people killed and injured in the horrific attacks of ten years ago. It is right and proper that we should do so. The damage to property slowly is being repaired,...

The nominating process for the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, the hub for threat assessment within the U.S. government, is typically a routine affair. But for Matthew Olsen, President Obama's pick to lead the agency, the nomination is in jeopardy amid accusations that he misled a member of Congress when he was in charge of the administration's Guantanamo task force to close the military detention camp in 2009. Earlier this month, Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va.,who represents the district where the center is located, wrote to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, objecting to the nomination. Wolf said he believes...

To ignore history is reckless. To invert its lessons is suicide. As we continue to fight for our existence as a free people, we are crippled by two impulses that one would think are mutually exclusive. Regarding the thousand year continuing threat to Western Civilization, we display amnesia, incapable of integrating the present attacks into a much larger arc of action. Yet, when determining a response to our current enemies, our literal, overly precise concept of what constitutes a "crusade" precludes adding any overt spiritual/moral/religious component to our effort. Which is it? Confronting a remarkably patient enemy, how can we...

It was the Congressional version of never count your chickens before they're hatched. And when you do on Capitol Hill, you can sometimes lose a vote. The newly-minted House Republican leadership botched a vote Tuesday night when it presumed it had the necessary support to reauthorize the Patriot Act, the anti-terrorism law imposed after September 11th. The GOP expected little trouble with the bill. So Republicans brought the Patriot Act to the floor under a special procedure that requires a two-thirds vote for passage. It's a maneuver that's typically reserved for non-controversial legislation or bills that carry wide support. Renewing...

LONDON -- Britain's national terror threat will remain at a severe level during the 2012 London Olympics, the country's national counterterrorism minister said Thursday. The current threat was raised to the second highest classification in January, meaning an attack is highly likely in Britain. To test the country's preparedness to cope with a major incident, a series of national counterterrorism simulations will be conducted in the run-up to the opening ceremony on July 27, 2012. "We must work on the assumption that (the threat) will remain as it is," counterterrorism and security minister Pauline Neville-Jones told an Olympic security conference....

... In 2008, extremists nearly murdered Kurt Westergaard, who drew one of the original cartoons. In response, Politiken reprinted the [Mohammed] cartoons as part of a unified stand against intimidation of the press. The defiance didn't last. A Saudi law firm claiming to represent 94,923 descendants of Mohammed threatened it with legal action and the paper caved. On February 26, 2010, it effectively apologized for defending free speech. ...

Disclaimer: This is a speculation piece. If 60 percent of this turns out correct, I will consider it good. Until (if) the Counter-terrorism Law is passed and a legal structure authorized, this force is limited to what the Prime Minister’s Emergency Fund can support.] Unity of command is stressed by militaries because; divided command structures have cost battles and wars throughout history. So why are militaries, especially ground forces, not unified? There is a rarely discussed factor about military organization and why it is almost always divided. "Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely." Concentration of military power in one organization,...

Last fall, flying out of Chicago O'Hare, I ran into that rarest of breeds: a Transportation Security Administration agent with a sense of humor. In her "Da Bears" accent, she moved the line along with a good-natured, "awright: who's my next victim?" At least they're allowed to joke about it. If a rubber-gloved fed cups your -- er, I prefer the term "treasures" -- just turn your head and cough politely. Don't dare try to ease the awkwardness with a wisecrack, lest you get arrested under the TSA's no-joking policy. Sometimes, when I manage to pull my eyes away from...

NOTE: Excerpting does not do the article justice. Read the whole thing. # SNIPPET: "He was a fundraiser for a group convicted of providing material support to Hamas, yet Kifah Mustapha recently received tours of secure FBI facilities in and around Washington. Mustapha's two-day trip earlier this month was arranged by the FBI's Chicago office, whose officials escorted Mustapha and about two dozen others on tours of the National Counterterrorism Center, the FBI facility in Quantico, Virginia and FBI headquarters at the J. Edgar Hoover Building. A news report noted that Mustapha "asked some of the most pointed questions" during...

SNIPPET: "On 15 September, the Indonesian National Police announced that it was reorganizing its counter-terrorim forces as part of a wider restructuring effort. Effective this week, Special Detachment 88, which had previously been part of the detectives division, will now answer directly to the chief of the National Police. Several observers immediately lauded this change, noting that it will enhance transparency associated with foreign funds (mainly from the U.S. and Australia) used to support Special Detachment 88." SNIPPET: "The reorganization involving Special Detachment 88 follows last month's creation of the National Anti-Terrorism Agency (known by the initials BNPT) in Jakarta....

‘Without a shot being fired, without even a clear sense of who the attacker is, much of the United States could find itself living in post-Katrina New Orleans, but without hope of a rescue anytime soon.” Stewart Baker, the founding policy director at the Department of Homeland Security under Pres. George W. Bush, makes this and other alarming announcements in his new book, Skating on Stilts: Why We Aren’t Stopping Tomorrow’s Terrorism. He explains why he’s so worried, what he learned about the ACLU, and more in an interview with National Review Online’s Kathryn Jean Lopez...

EXCERPT Counterterrorism chief John Brennan and National Security Council chief of staff Denis McDonough will join the first family as they leave Washington for their summer vacation.

Periodical Review June 2010 – No. 1 This report summarizes the most prominent events brought up in the Jihadi online forums in the second half of May 2010. Following are the main subjects brought up in this report: • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media institute publishes an interview with Anwar Al-Awlaki, calling to the Muslims in the U.S. Army to kill their friends. • Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula publishes a video calling the Yemenite tribes to join the Jihad campaign against the U.S. and the Yemenite government. • Ayman Al-Zawahiri publishes an obituary for the death of the...

Plastic Bags To Be Put Over Birmingham 'Terror Cameras' 17 June 2010: A surveillance operation in parts of Birmingham with large Muslim populations has been halted after it was revealed the move was linked to counter terrorism. Bags have now been placed over more than 200 cameras in the Washwood Heath and Sparkbrook districts. They were part of the Project Champion scheme, paid for from a Home Office counter terrorism fund. But officials behind the project said it would have deterred various crimes. Steve Jolly, one of those who first began campaigning about the cameras, said people had been "misled"....

07 June 2010 "AQ IN NORTHERN IRAQ: SEEKING A CHEMIST OR BIOLOGIST"

SNIPPET: "Praise Allah and cross-reference with AQ-USA, Revolution Muslim, Samir Khan, etc."

"CAN I INTEREST YOU IN A HIZBALLAH-SUPPORTING SOCIAL NETWORK?" SNIPPET: "Once upon a time there was a place called Lebanon. When Hizballah is done with it it'll look a whole lot like Germany circa 1945. If Shiite expats in Montreal and elsewhere want to call that "victory" that's their business." SNIPPET: "6. Wash, rinse, repeat. This is online counter-terrorism in the social-networking age."

Counterterror Adviser Defends Jihad as 'Legitimate Tenet of Islam' The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam," arguing that the term "jihadists" should not be used to describe America's enemies. fox news The president's top counterterrorism adviser on Wednesday called jihad a "legitimate tenet of Islam," arguing that the term "jihadists" should not be used to describe America's enemies. During a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, John Brennan described violent extremists as victims of "political, economic and social forces," but said that those plotting attacks on the United States should...

Terrorists looking for an opportunity to study a regional counterterrorism exercise received a gift Wednesday via an embargoed news release on PR Newswire.

www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-assistant-president-homeland-security-and-counterterrorism-john-brennan-csi # Note: The following text is a quote: Home • Briefing Room • Statements & Releases The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release May 26, 2010 Remarks by Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism John Brennan at CSIS “Securing the Homeland by Renewing American Strength, Resilience and Values” Thank you very much John, and I would like to take a moment to express my appreciation to CSIS for inviting me back. You invited me here a little after six months after I came into this administration and I greatly appreciate the invitation...

Note: The following text is a quote: Gen. Petraeus statement on Saudi Fatwa on Financing of Terrorism U.S. Central Command MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (May 21, 2010) - U. S. Central Commander, General David Petraeus, released the following statement today regarding the recent fatwa issued by The Council of Senior Scholars in Saudi Arabia which, for the first time, specifically condemns and outlaws financing terrorism as a violation of Islamic law. "Last month in Riyadh, the Council of Senior Scholars issued an important fatwa that deserves wider recognition than it has received. The Council has, of course, issued fatwas...

Three months before the Times Square terror bombing by a Pakistani-American with ties to terrorists in Pakistan, the Obama administration knew the style of attack, the type of explosives to be used and when the attack would come, yet when the attack happened the administration played dumb with its initial reaction being to downplay the attack as an unsophisticated "one-off" that was a "potential" terror attack.On February 10, I wrote an article at FR based on Vice President Joe Biden's comments about coming terror attacks on the U.S. that were broadcast later that day on CNN's Larry King Live.King mentioned...

Two people have been taken into custody on possible immigration violations following a sweep today in Watertown and at other locations across the Northeast in connection with the investigation into the attempted May 1 Times Square bombing, federal officials tell the Herald. FBI agents were also seen at two gas stations in Brookline - one on Harvard Street and another on Cypress Street. The agents were seen carefully examining a silver Honda at the Harvard Street station, but it is unclear whether the activity is related to the Times Square probe. FBI agents have also been seen at a home...

There’s no better way to summarize president Obama’s approach to fighting the war against jihad than this: For the next three years, we’re betting our safety on the proposition that Islamic thugs and terrorists will prove to be more incompetent than the Obama administration. In the aftermath of the Times Square bombing attempt, is there another way to consider it? How many “isolated incidents” have to pile up before the president wakes up to the fact that there’s a pattern, one that just might have something to do with a particular fundamentalist religious outlook, and that the politically correct bunker...

For all the confusion about who Faisal Shahzad is and how he got that way, there is one sure thing the failed Times Square bomber has shown us: The future of terrorism. “Our threat picture in the US just got a lot more complicated,” says Ben Venzke, CEO of IntelCenter, a private group specializing in counter-terrorism that works with American and European military and intelligence agencies. In short, it’s no longer just al Qaeda aiming to strike within the United States: “Now we have half-a-dozen or more very skilled groups looking to execute attacks,” he says. “Even getting close is...

New York City has thousands of police surveillance cameras, which really come in handy when a terrorist strikes. After the car bomb attempt last weekend, they captured an image of the vehicle driving through Times Square and one of a guy taking off his shirt who looked nothing like the guy arrested Monday. Which raises the question: What good are cameras? The debate over them is often framed as hardheaded law enforcement types versus wimpy civil libertarians. Whether the cameras actually work in practice to help solve and prevent crime generally gets ignored. It shouldn't. Leave aside those airy privacy...

The stunning events of September 11, 2001, were a potential template for future terrorist attacks. But since then, al-Qaida and its affiliates have been unable to mount a similar encore in the United States. The foiled Times Square attack may be a sign that these groups have been forced to shift tactics to smaller operations that are less spectacular, but are also harder to detect. Former CIA counterterrorism chief Robert Grenier says the failed Times Square bombing last Saturday may indicate that al-Qaida and its allies have abandoned more grandiose plans for the United States and are emphasizing smaller but...

Another Obama administration nominee, Robert Harding for director of the Transportation Security Administration, has bitten the dust after investigators discovered his defense-contracting company collected millions more federal money than it was entitled to. Mr. Harding blamed the overcharge on his accountants. His company also got a federal contract under a "set-aside" program for service-disabled veterans. His service-related disability? Sleep apnea. Mr. Harding slinks away two months after Erroll Southers, a former counterterrorism supervisor for the Los Angeles airport police and a favorite of Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., took himself out of the running for the TSA top job after admitting...

SNIPPET: "BRUSSELS, March 24 (Reuters) - SNIPPET: "There is a Venn diagram that you could draw with overlap between al Qaeda and organised crime," said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute and a former deputy assistant secretary for intelligence at the U.S. Treasury. "But in the real world, as opposed to the Jack Bauer world, you don't have the Sicilian mafia and Osama bin Laden's guys meeting at the hip," he told Reuters in an interview, referring to the fictional counter-terrorism agent in the TV series 24. Levitt, a former terrorism analyst with the FBI and a...

The reinvention of Al Qaeda: NYPD terror-fighters say the enemy has evolved and we must adapt, tooBy David Cohen and Richard Falkenrath Wednesday, March 3rd 2010, 11:58 AM As we learn more about the maturity of their plans and the capability of their weaponry, the Najibullah Zazi terrorist plot against our subway system is a stark reminder that Al Qaeda is a resilient organization - one that has maintained an ability to recruit and plan operations while its objective to strike New York City remains unabated. Despite the best efforts of the U.S. government and its allies to destroy Al...

Ten more U.S. airports are getting new scanners capable of detecting explosives like those carried by the alleged Christmas Day bomber, an administration official said Friday. The new machines at airports including Boston’s Logan, Chicago’s O’Hare and Charlotte’s Douglas will take full body scans of airline passengers and can detect explosives hidden under clothing. LAX airport in Los Angeles, which already has one of the advanced scanners operating in its international terminal, will receive eight additional scanners, a Democratic member of Congress said. The Transportation Security Administration bought 150 of the advanced imaging technology machines in September with $25 million...

"Pirates 'smuggling al-Qaeda fighters' into Somalia Somali Islamists bent on turning their land into an international haven for Al Qaeda are using pirate gangs to offer foreign militants safe passage into the country, The Sunday Telegraph has been told." SNIPPET: "The Taliban-style Shabab group , which has already siezed control of much of the lawless nation, has enlisted the pirates' services to smuggle in al-Qaeda fighters from across the Middle East, according to Somali government ministers. They claim that up to 1,000 have arrived in recent months, swelling the ranks of the Shabab in its bid to topple the fragile...

President Obama signed the renewal of the Patriot Act in the quiet of a slow-news Saturday–the Act was set to expire Sunday, February 28–as reported by The Hill. Photo Credit: AP Photo The reauthorization did NOT include any reforms to the current Patriot Act–an odd display of agreement and submission to Bush-era policy–even though the Democrats had the numbers to reform the Act. The continuance of the current Patriot Act signals that Democrats are fearful of further controversary in light of American’s distrust and poor approval ratings of the Democrat-controlled Congress. From the Hill: The House approved the bill 315-97...

With virtually zero debate - or media attention - President Barack Obama has signed a one-year extension for what many considered the most crucial and controversial aspects of the USA PATRIOT Act. The provisions, set to expire Sunday without the signature of Obama, include extensions to allow: -1) "roving" wiretaps, permitting surveillance on multiple phones and e-mail addresses. -2) court-approved seizures of records and property in anti-terrorism operations.

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives reauthorized the Patriot Act for one year Thursday. The vote was 315-97 . Many liberals in the House opposed the controversial act, saying it tramps Constitutional protections and civil liberties. *snip* The Senate ok'd the package earlier this week. President Obama is expected to sign the bill into law.

Senate Democrats are pushing for a short-term extension of key provisions in the Patriot Act as part of a package of must-pass measures. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is planning to ask for unanimous consent to pass an extension for a host of measures set to expire February 28, according to Senate sources. The request could be made as early as Tuesday night. The large package of bills includes a year-long extension of three provisions of the anti-terrorism law known a the Patriot Act, as well as extensions for expiring tax provisions, including unemployment insurance, COBRA, flood insurance, the...