Edited by Peter Gill, Stephen Marrin, and Mark Pythian
This edited volume brings together a range of essays by individuals who are centrally involved in the debate about the role and utility of theory in intelligence studies. The volume includes both classic essays and new articles that critically analyze some key issues: strategic intelligence, the place of international relations theory, theories of ‘surprise’ and ‘failure’, organizational issues, and contributions from studies of policing and democratization. It concludes with a chapter that summarizes theoretical developments, and maps out an agenda for future research. This volume will be at the forefront of the theoretical debate and will become a key reference point for future research in the area. This book will be of much interest for students of Intelligence Studies, Security Studies and Politics/International Relations in general.
Table of Contents
Introduction Peter Gill, Stephen Marrin, & Mark Phythian
1. An Historical Theory of Intelligence David Kahn
2. Intelligence as Risk Shifting Michael Warner
3. Sketches for a Theory of Strategic Intelligence Loch K. Johnson
4. Intelligence Theory and Theories of International Relations: Shared world or separate worlds? Mark Phythian
5. Theory of Surprise James Wirtz
6. Analysis, War, and Decision: Why intelligence failures are inevitable Richard Betts
7. Intelligence in a Turbulent World: Insights from organization theory Glenn Hastedt and B. Douglas Skelley
8. Intelligence Analysis and Decision-Making: Methodological challenges Stephen Marrin
9. Defending Adaptive Realism: Intelligence theory comes of age Jennifer Sims
10. Policing, Intelligence Theory and the New Human Security Paradigm: Some lessons from the field James Sheptycki
11. Theory and Intelligence Reconsidered Philip H. J. Davies
12. Theories of Intelligence: Where are we, where should we go and how might we proceed? Peter Gill
Contributors
Richard K. Betts is the Arnold A. Saltzman Professor and Director of the Saltzman Institute of War and Peace Studies at Columbia University.
Philip Davies is convenor of the Security and Intelligence Studies Group, a specialist working group of the UK Political Studies and the British International Studies Associations
Peter Gill is Research Professor in Intelligence Studies at the University of Salford, UK.
Glenn Hastedt holds a Ph D. in political science from Indiana University. Formerly the chair of the political science department at James Madison University he is now the director of the Justice Studies department.
Loch K. Johnson is the Regents Professor of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.
David Kahn is a historian of intelligence, especially communications intelligence, or code breaking. He has practiced and taught journalism as well as publishing widely on intelligence matters.
Stephen Marrin—a former analyst with the CIA and the congressional Government Accountability Office—is an assistant professor in Mercyhurst College’s Intelligence Studies Department. He is a doctoral candidate at the University of Virginia.
Mark Phythian is Professor of Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Leicester.
James Sheptycki is Professor of Criminology at York University, Toronto Canada.
Jennifer Sims is a visiting professor with the security studies program at Georgetown University. She has served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and in the Department of State as a senior intelligence officer.
B. Douglas Skelley teaches public management courses to graduate and undergraduate students at James Madison University while coordinating its Master of Public Administration program.
Michael Warner is Chief Historian for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
James J. Wirtz is a Professor in the Department of National Security Affairs, California.
MORE INFORMATION
http://www.routledgehistory.com/books/Intelligence-Theory-isbn9780415429474
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label justice. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Five Convicted of Plotting to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 23, 2008 - A federal jury yesterday found five men guilty of conspiracy to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., but acquitted them of attempted murder. After nearly six days of deliberation, the jury rendered the guilty verdict for three brothers -- Shain, Eljvir and Dritan Duka -- and two other defendants, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar. They face a maximum of life in prison, according to a Justice Department news release published yesterday.
Federal prosecutors said the five men, all Muslim immigrants who were arrested in Cherry Hill, N.J., in May 2007, were planning to attack Fort Dix and military personnel.
"Today's verdicts underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats," Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan stated in the release.
"While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today," he said.
The prosecution's case was based on evidence culled from a 16-month FBI investigation that led to the apprehensions. FBI agents arrested the suspects May 7, 2007, as Dritan and Shain Duka tried to buy three AK-47 assault rifles and four semi-automatic M-16s from a confidential government witness.
"They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance, they had maps, and they were in the process of buying weapons," Jody Weiss, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, said a day after the arrests.
"Today we dodged a bullet," Weiss added. "In fact, when you look at the type of weapons this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets."
The FBI's investigation began January 2006 when a video store representative tipped off officials after a man brought a "disturbing" video to be converted to DVD format.
According to a court complaint described during the arrests, the video "depicted 10 young men who appeared to be in their early twenties shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allahu Akbar,'" or God is great.
In addition, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants performing small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, watching training videos showing the slayings of American soldiers and depicting known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States, the release states.
Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division, praised the video store employee-turned-whistleblower.
"Vigilance was the key to disrupting the dangerous terrorists convicted today and we are glad they are off the street," Fedarcyk states in the release.
At the time of arrest, the Duka brothers, who were born in what was then Yugoslavia, had been living in the United States illegally and operating a roofing company; Shnewar, a Jordanian-born taxi driver, and Tatar, a convenience store clerk born in Turkey, are both legal U.S. residents.
The jury found that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard facility in Philadelphia. The co-conspirator obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible, according to trial testimony and evidence.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 23, 2008 - A federal jury yesterday found five men guilty of conspiracy to kill U.S. soldiers at Fort Dix, N.J., but acquitted them of attempted murder. After nearly six days of deliberation, the jury rendered the guilty verdict for three brothers -- Shain, Eljvir and Dritan Duka -- and two other defendants, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar. They face a maximum of life in prison, according to a Justice Department news release published yesterday.
Federal prosecutors said the five men, all Muslim immigrants who were arrested in Cherry Hill, N.J., in May 2007, were planning to attack Fort Dix and military personnel.
"Today's verdicts underscore the need for continued vigilance against homegrown terror threats," Assistant Attorney General Patrick Rowan stated in the release.
"While these defendants were not members of an international terrorist organization, their involvement in weapons training, their surveillance of domestic targets and their discussions of killing U.S. military personnel posed a serious threat that required the law enforcement disruption and the prosecutions upheld by the jury today," he said.
The prosecution's case was based on evidence culled from a 16-month FBI investigation that led to the apprehensions. FBI agents arrested the suspects May 7, 2007, as Dritan and Shain Duka tried to buy three AK-47 assault rifles and four semi-automatic M-16s from a confidential government witness.
"They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance, they had maps, and they were in the process of buying weapons," Jody Weiss, the special agent in charge of the FBI in Philadelphia, said a day after the arrests.
"Today we dodged a bullet," Weiss added. "In fact, when you look at the type of weapons this group was trying to purchase, we may have dodged a lot of bullets."
The FBI's investigation began January 2006 when a video store representative tipped off officials after a man brought a "disturbing" video to be converted to DVD format.
According to a court complaint described during the arrests, the video "depicted 10 young men who appeared to be in their early twenties shooting assault weapons at a firing range in a militia-like style while calling for jihad and shouting in Arabic 'Allahu Akbar,'" or God is great.
In addition, the jury viewed secretly recorded videotapes of the defendants performing small-arms training at a shooting range in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, watching training videos showing the slayings of American soldiers and depicting known foreign Islamic radicals urging jihad against the United States, the release states.
Janice K. Fedarcyk, special agent in charge of the FBI's Philadelphia Division, praised the video store employee-turned-whistleblower.
"Vigilance was the key to disrupting the dangerous terrorists convicted today and we are glad they are off the street," Fedarcyk states in the release.
At the time of arrest, the Duka brothers, who were born in what was then Yugoslavia, had been living in the United States illegally and operating a roofing company; Shnewar, a Jordanian-born taxi driver, and Tatar, a convenience store clerk born in Turkey, are both legal U.S. residents.
The jury found that one member of the group conducted surveillance at Fort Dix and Fort Monmouth in New Jersey, Dover Air Force Base in Delaware and the U.S. Coast Guard facility in Philadelphia. The co-conspirator obtained a detailed map of Fort Dix, where they hoped to use assault rifles to kill as many soldiers as possible, according to trial testimony and evidence.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Face of Defense: Law Advisor Sets Bar High in Iraq
By Army Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 19, 2008 - The U.S. Army may take Col. Roy House out of Iraq. But Iraq will never really be out of House -- and his mark here will long outlast his deployment. House, a member of the Arkansas National Guard and a soldier of 38 years, has spent the past 18 months here assisting the Iraqi judiciary in the administration of juvenile justice. As an Army lawyer, he was assigned the task of mentoring and encouraging officials of the Republic of Iraq's juvenile police, juvenile courts and juvenile rehabilitation institutions.
In January, instead of dodging roadside bombs on his frequent visits to the Iraqi courthouse, House will be retiring to his home in Searcy, Ark., where he will get reacquainted with his family and return to his private law practice.
For the man who volunteered to deploy 12 times before he was mobilized here in June 2007 and assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, Multinational Division Center, the life change is bittersweet. "I get to sow the seeds that someone else will reap," he said.
Because of his background in civil and government law, specifically as a former judge in juvenile courts, House was assigned to the State Department's Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team to assist the Iraqi judiciary in the administration of juvenile justice.
Of the many initiatives House worked on, he said he is most proud of two projects he helped bring to the Iraqi people. He enlisted the help of Iraqi lawyers in educating citizens about the rule of law -- a principle that no one is above the law -- something some Americans may take for granted but is foreign to Iraqis. He also helped educate Iraqi citizens on the privilege of voting, and how they can now decide who will lead them.
House also assisted in the creation of a nongovernmental organization that would pay private attorneys to write articles in local newspapers explaining subjects such as democracy, human rights and the functions of government. The program allows the typical Iraqi citizen, who has never had a civics lesson, to learn how their new government works and how to participate it its growth.
"It was 100 percent his idea," Richard Hawkins, leader of the PRT in Mada'in, said of House. "He found the guys who would do it; he helped create the NGO. From there, professional pride took over and now well over a dozen articles and more are published every week."
"He is a good man with a big heart," Hawkins said.
House became so engrossed in his work that he decided to extend his 12-month tour to 18 months.
"He did not need to stay here," Hawkins said. "He had fulfilled his obligations. He stayed here because he felt that strongly about what he was doing."
House said his most memorable moment in Iraq came while he was on a routine patrol to a courthouse in April when his convoy came under enemy fire. His actions that day earned him a Combat Action Badge.
That same month, he joined the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team when it replaced the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team in the Mada'in Qada, in the Baghdad province.
He speaks fondly of the Iron Brigade. "They think further down the road. They are used to thinking ahead," he said. "Armor moves down the road at 20 to 30 mph, and they have to think about what happens further down."
House also was awarded the Bronze Star for his exceptionally meritorious service as the Rule of Law advisor while deployed here.
For himself, however, he said the deployment was always about his passion for the law and the Iraqi juvenile justice system. He witnessed and reported on deplorable conditions of juveniles in the Iraqi court system to his superiors and to Iraqi judges. He enlisted the assistance of the United Nations Children's Fund, formerly UNICEF, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to improve the conditions.
"Seeing human beings in these conditions would make you cry," House said. "No one would allow animals to live in such deplorable conditions in America."
House arranged a meeting in Amman, Jordan, with the organizations and 30 Iraqi judges, lawyers and senior government officials responsible for juvenile justice. As a result of the meeting, the U.N. and other international groups provided assistance to Iraq's juvenile justice system. As a result, Iraq's juvenile delinquents and neglected children receive improved care.
"The Iraqi judges are pretty good," House said in his soft, southern drawl. "There is nothing wrong with their judges. I have never heard of them breaking the law or taking a bribe. I have a lot of confidence in their judiciary."
House also brought people together to establish the second NGO to hire educators, teachers and administrators that would eventually develop a civics education curriculum to be tested in the Mada'in Qada.
About the size of Washington, D.C., the Mada'in is a microcosm of Iraq and the perfect choice for curriculum all of Iraq ultimately will adopt, House said. The course includes a 30-minute civics lesson in each class, at each grade level, each week throughout the school year. It is backed by Iraq's ministries of Education and Human Rights as well as the U.S. State Department.
During his time in the military, House said he remembers the people and units more than the things that happened.
"I have worked with the 82nd, 101st, 1st ID, 3rd ID ... They are a professional group of people," he said.
Asked what he might miss when he gets back to the United States, House said with a chuckle, "I might go back to Iraq.
"I am an adopted member of the Borjet tribe," he explained, "so I have family out here. I have a 'nephew' now that is as old as I am.
"Really, they are a great people, and I love them. I just wish I had been able to do more. Maybe I will go back."
(Army Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe works in the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.)
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 19, 2008 - The U.S. Army may take Col. Roy House out of Iraq. But Iraq will never really be out of House -- and his mark here will long outlast his deployment. House, a member of the Arkansas National Guard and a soldier of 38 years, has spent the past 18 months here assisting the Iraqi judiciary in the administration of juvenile justice. As an Army lawyer, he was assigned the task of mentoring and encouraging officials of the Republic of Iraq's juvenile police, juvenile courts and juvenile rehabilitation institutions.
In January, instead of dodging roadside bombs on his frequent visits to the Iraqi courthouse, House will be retiring to his home in Searcy, Ark., where he will get reacquainted with his family and return to his private law practice.
For the man who volunteered to deploy 12 times before he was mobilized here in June 2007 and assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division, Multinational Division Center, the life change is bittersweet. "I get to sow the seeds that someone else will reap," he said.
Because of his background in civil and government law, specifically as a former judge in juvenile courts, House was assigned to the State Department's Baghdad Provincial Reconstruction Team to assist the Iraqi judiciary in the administration of juvenile justice.
Of the many initiatives House worked on, he said he is most proud of two projects he helped bring to the Iraqi people. He enlisted the help of Iraqi lawyers in educating citizens about the rule of law -- a principle that no one is above the law -- something some Americans may take for granted but is foreign to Iraqis. He also helped educate Iraqi citizens on the privilege of voting, and how they can now decide who will lead them.
House also assisted in the creation of a nongovernmental organization that would pay private attorneys to write articles in local newspapers explaining subjects such as democracy, human rights and the functions of government. The program allows the typical Iraqi citizen, who has never had a civics lesson, to learn how their new government works and how to participate it its growth.
"It was 100 percent his idea," Richard Hawkins, leader of the PRT in Mada'in, said of House. "He found the guys who would do it; he helped create the NGO. From there, professional pride took over and now well over a dozen articles and more are published every week."
"He is a good man with a big heart," Hawkins said.
House became so engrossed in his work that he decided to extend his 12-month tour to 18 months.
"He did not need to stay here," Hawkins said. "He had fulfilled his obligations. He stayed here because he felt that strongly about what he was doing."
House said his most memorable moment in Iraq came while he was on a routine patrol to a courthouse in April when his convoy came under enemy fire. His actions that day earned him a Combat Action Badge.
That same month, he joined the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team when it replaced the 3rd Infantry Division's 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team in the Mada'in Qada, in the Baghdad province.
He speaks fondly of the Iron Brigade. "They think further down the road. They are used to thinking ahead," he said. "Armor moves down the road at 20 to 30 mph, and they have to think about what happens further down."
House also was awarded the Bronze Star for his exceptionally meritorious service as the Rule of Law advisor while deployed here.
For himself, however, he said the deployment was always about his passion for the law and the Iraqi juvenile justice system. He witnessed and reported on deplorable conditions of juveniles in the Iraqi court system to his superiors and to Iraqi judges. He enlisted the assistance of the United Nations Children's Fund, formerly UNICEF, and the International Committee of the Red Cross to improve the conditions.
"Seeing human beings in these conditions would make you cry," House said. "No one would allow animals to live in such deplorable conditions in America."
House arranged a meeting in Amman, Jordan, with the organizations and 30 Iraqi judges, lawyers and senior government officials responsible for juvenile justice. As a result of the meeting, the U.N. and other international groups provided assistance to Iraq's juvenile justice system. As a result, Iraq's juvenile delinquents and neglected children receive improved care.
"The Iraqi judges are pretty good," House said in his soft, southern drawl. "There is nothing wrong with their judges. I have never heard of them breaking the law or taking a bribe. I have a lot of confidence in their judiciary."
House also brought people together to establish the second NGO to hire educators, teachers and administrators that would eventually develop a civics education curriculum to be tested in the Mada'in Qada.
About the size of Washington, D.C., the Mada'in is a microcosm of Iraq and the perfect choice for curriculum all of Iraq ultimately will adopt, House said. The course includes a 30-minute civics lesson in each class, at each grade level, each week throughout the school year. It is backed by Iraq's ministries of Education and Human Rights as well as the U.S. State Department.
During his time in the military, House said he remembers the people and units more than the things that happened.
"I have worked with the 82nd, 101st, 1st ID, 3rd ID ... They are a professional group of people," he said.
Asked what he might miss when he gets back to the United States, House said with a chuckle, "I might go back to Iraq.
"I am an adopted member of the Borjet tribe," he explained, "so I have family out here. I have a 'nephew' now that is as old as I am.
"Really, they are a great people, and I love them. I just wish I had been able to do more. Maybe I will go back."
(Army Staff Sgt. Scott Wolfe works in the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team public affairs office.)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Overseas U.S. Military Operations Make America Safer, Bush Says
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 17, 2008 - Military operations launched in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 brought the fight to terrorists and, with other initiatives, are helping to safeguard America against another attack, President George W. Bush told Military and civilian students at the Army War College today. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States revealed gaps in the nation's homeland security system and intelligence-gathering network, said Bush, who traveled to Carlisle, Pa., to address members of the college's class of 2009. The school prepares selected senior officers and civilians for increased rank and responsibilities.
"So, we launched the largest reorganization of the federal government since the beginning of the Cold War, with one overriding purpose, and that was to prevent new attacks," Bush said.
The U.S. Department of homeland security was established as part of the reorganization, Bush said, as well as the National Counterterrorism Center, which works with 16 different federal agencies to track any new terrorist threat.
However, that still wasn't enough, Bush said.
"Secondly, we recognized that even with the best defenses, we could not afford to wait for the terrorists to attack again," Bush said. "So, we launched a global campaign to take the fight to the terrorists abroad, to dismantle their networks, to dry up their financing and find their leaders and bring them to justice."
The message, Bush said, is "America will make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them." Soon after 9/11, he said, the militant Islamic fundamentalists known as the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time and were allowing terrorists to operate on their soil, were told to turn over the al-Qaida leaders who had plotted the attack.
Bush said the Taliban's leaders refused to cooperate.
So, when the Taliban "made their choice, we made ours," Bush said. "We removed the Taliban from power, we shut down the terrorist training camps, and we liberated more than 25 million Afghans."
The terrorist attacks on America also caused U.S. leaders to re-examine the situation in Iraq, then under the iron rule of dictator Saddam Hussein, Bush said. Under Saddam, he said, Iraq had supported terrorists, developed and used weapons of mass destruction, threatened its neighbors, committed routine attacks on American forces and violated U.N. resolutions.
"I concluded that the world could not tolerate such a destabilizing and dangerous force in the heart of the Middle East," Bush said. "I offered Saddam Hussein a final chance to resolve the issue peacefully."
Saddam, just as the Taliban had, refused to cooperate, Bush said, and so, "we acted with a coalition of nations to protect our people and liberate 25 million Iraqis."
Bush said he also realized that America needed "to counter the terrorists' hateful ideology with a more hopeful alternative based on liberty and justice" to win the war on terrorism.
"So, after removing the threatening regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, we refused to take the easy course of trading one strongman for another," Bush said. "Instead, we stayed to help young democracies emerge as beacons for hope for people across the Middle East, and increased our support for democratic reformers and dissidents around the world."
Bush said people can debate the decisions he has made as president. Yet, there's no question, he said, that America has been kept safe following 9/11.
"Here at home, we've prevented numerous terrorist attacks, including a plot to blow up fuel tanks at JFK [International] airport [in New York], a plot to blow up airliners bound for the East Coast, a scheme to attack a shopping mall in the Chicago area, and a plan to destroy the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles," Bush said.
No one knows how many lives have been saved by the thwarting of those terrorist plots, Bush said. What's certain, he said, is there has not been another terrorist attack on the American homeland since Sept. 11, 2001.
Meanwhile, America and its allies are driving terrorists from their safe havens and severely disrupting their operations and financial networks, Bush said.
Hundreds of al-Qaida's leaders have been killed or captured during worldwide anti-terror operations, Bush said, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks.
Thanks to the surge of forces in Iraq, Bush said, U.S., coalition and Iraq forces have "delivered a devastating blow to al-Qaida, in the land Osama bin Laden once called the central battleground in the war on terror."
Millions of Afghan and Iraqi citizens today now vote for their political leaders during free, democratic elections, Bush said.
Citizens worldwide in countries like Liberia, Lebanon, Georgia and Ukraine "have taken to the streets to cast off the chains of tyranny and demand their God-given right for freedom," Bush said. Today, he noted, more people live in freedom than at any other time in human history.
Yet, the global war against terrorism "will be a generational conflict" that will continue long after his presidency ends, Bush said. However, he added, his administration leaves behind the institutions and tools the United States needs to prevail.
FBI agents are focused now on thwarting any terrorist threats against the homeland, Bush said. In addition, he said, the Treasury Department is involved in shutting down terrorist financial conduits, human intelligence gathering capabilities have improved at the CIA, and the National Security Agency has expanded operations to monitor terrorist communications.
Additionally, new Military technologies and resources are being employed to keep the pressure on the enemy, Bush said.
"With weapons like the Predator drone in our arsenal, our troops can conduct precision strikes on terrorists in hard-to-reach areas while sparing innocent life," Bush pointed out. The Predator is an unmanned aircraft system.
Meanwhile, senior Military and civilian students at places like the War College "are studying new counterinsurgency and counterterrorism strategies," Bush said. Future presidents, he said, will benefit from what these students have learned.
Today, a coalition of more than 90 nations is committed to combating terror and sharing intelligence, Bush said. This coalition, he said, includes Saudi Arabia, a country that produced many of the 9/11 hijackers and now serves as a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror.
Other U.S.-sponsored initiatives, Bush said, seek to reduce the number of nuclear arms in the world as well as preventing terrorists from obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction.
Ongoing programs such as the provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan and Iraq help to change the conditions of suffering and hopelessness that give rise to extremism and terror, Bush said, and millions of Africans are receiving medical aid through the U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program.
The 9/11 attacks on America, Bush said, determined the course of his presidency.
"That day defined my presidency," Bush said, adding it also "changed the course of history."
While the path ahead cannot be known for sure, Bush said, America and its allies "can be confident in the destination: a world where the American people are safe and children around the world grow up with hope and peace."
Freedom is a universal human desire, Bush said, as well as a gift bestowed by God.
Americans can feel confident about their future, he said, because "we're blessed with men and women who willingly put the welfare of their nation before themselves."
"As long as we have defenders of such character and courage, our nation will always be in good hands," Bush continued, "and the future will always be bright."
Dec. 17, 2008 - Military operations launched in Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11 brought the fight to terrorists and, with other initiatives, are helping to safeguard America against another attack, President George W. Bush told Military and civilian students at the Army War College today. The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States revealed gaps in the nation's homeland security system and intelligence-gathering network, said Bush, who traveled to Carlisle, Pa., to address members of the college's class of 2009. The school prepares selected senior officers and civilians for increased rank and responsibilities.
"So, we launched the largest reorganization of the federal government since the beginning of the Cold War, with one overriding purpose, and that was to prevent new attacks," Bush said.
The U.S. Department of homeland security was established as part of the reorganization, Bush said, as well as the National Counterterrorism Center, which works with 16 different federal agencies to track any new terrorist threat.
However, that still wasn't enough, Bush said.
"Secondly, we recognized that even with the best defenses, we could not afford to wait for the terrorists to attack again," Bush said. "So, we launched a global campaign to take the fight to the terrorists abroad, to dismantle their networks, to dry up their financing and find their leaders and bring them to justice."
The message, Bush said, is "America will make no distinction between terrorists and those who harbor them." Soon after 9/11, he said, the militant Islamic fundamentalists known as the Taliban, who ruled Afghanistan at the time and were allowing terrorists to operate on their soil, were told to turn over the al-Qaida leaders who had plotted the attack.
Bush said the Taliban's leaders refused to cooperate.
So, when the Taliban "made their choice, we made ours," Bush said. "We removed the Taliban from power, we shut down the terrorist training camps, and we liberated more than 25 million Afghans."
The terrorist attacks on America also caused U.S. leaders to re-examine the situation in Iraq, then under the iron rule of dictator Saddam Hussein, Bush said. Under Saddam, he said, Iraq had supported terrorists, developed and used weapons of mass destruction, threatened its neighbors, committed routine attacks on American forces and violated U.N. resolutions.
"I concluded that the world could not tolerate such a destabilizing and dangerous force in the heart of the Middle East," Bush said. "I offered Saddam Hussein a final chance to resolve the issue peacefully."
Saddam, just as the Taliban had, refused to cooperate, Bush said, and so, "we acted with a coalition of nations to protect our people and liberate 25 million Iraqis."
Bush said he also realized that America needed "to counter the terrorists' hateful ideology with a more hopeful alternative based on liberty and justice" to win the war on terrorism.
"So, after removing the threatening regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, we refused to take the easy course of trading one strongman for another," Bush said. "Instead, we stayed to help young democracies emerge as beacons for hope for people across the Middle East, and increased our support for democratic reformers and dissidents around the world."
Bush said people can debate the decisions he has made as president. Yet, there's no question, he said, that America has been kept safe following 9/11.
"Here at home, we've prevented numerous terrorist attacks, including a plot to blow up fuel tanks at JFK [International] airport [in New York], a plot to blow up airliners bound for the East Coast, a scheme to attack a shopping mall in the Chicago area, and a plan to destroy the tallest skyscraper in Los Angeles," Bush said.
No one knows how many lives have been saved by the thwarting of those terrorist plots, Bush said. What's certain, he said, is there has not been another terrorist attack on the American homeland since Sept. 11, 2001.
Meanwhile, America and its allies are driving terrorists from their safe havens and severely disrupting their operations and financial networks, Bush said.
Hundreds of al-Qaida's leaders have been killed or captured during worldwide anti-terror operations, Bush said, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks.
Thanks to the surge of forces in Iraq, Bush said, U.S., coalition and Iraq forces have "delivered a devastating blow to al-Qaida, in the land Osama bin Laden once called the central battleground in the war on terror."
Millions of Afghan and Iraqi citizens today now vote for their political leaders during free, democratic elections, Bush said.
Citizens worldwide in countries like Liberia, Lebanon, Georgia and Ukraine "have taken to the streets to cast off the chains of tyranny and demand their God-given right for freedom," Bush said. Today, he noted, more people live in freedom than at any other time in human history.
Yet, the global war against terrorism "will be a generational conflict" that will continue long after his presidency ends, Bush said. However, he added, his administration leaves behind the institutions and tools the United States needs to prevail.
FBI agents are focused now on thwarting any terrorist threats against the homeland, Bush said. In addition, he said, the Treasury Department is involved in shutting down terrorist financial conduits, human intelligence gathering capabilities have improved at the CIA, and the National Security Agency has expanded operations to monitor terrorist communications.
Additionally, new Military technologies and resources are being employed to keep the pressure on the enemy, Bush said.
"With weapons like the Predator drone in our arsenal, our troops can conduct precision strikes on terrorists in hard-to-reach areas while sparing innocent life," Bush pointed out. The Predator is an unmanned aircraft system.
Meanwhile, senior Military and civilian students at places like the War College "are studying new counterinsurgency and counterterrorism strategies," Bush said. Future presidents, he said, will benefit from what these students have learned.
Today, a coalition of more than 90 nations is committed to combating terror and sharing intelligence, Bush said. This coalition, he said, includes Saudi Arabia, a country that produced many of the 9/11 hijackers and now serves as a staunch U.S. ally in the war on terror.
Other U.S.-sponsored initiatives, Bush said, seek to reduce the number of nuclear arms in the world as well as preventing terrorists from obtaining and using weapons of mass destruction.
Ongoing programs such as the provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan and Iraq help to change the conditions of suffering and hopelessness that give rise to extremism and terror, Bush said, and millions of Africans are receiving medical aid through the U.S. Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief program.
The 9/11 attacks on America, Bush said, determined the course of his presidency.
"That day defined my presidency," Bush said, adding it also "changed the course of history."
While the path ahead cannot be known for sure, Bush said, America and its allies "can be confident in the destination: a world where the American people are safe and children around the world grow up with hope and peace."
Freedom is a universal human desire, Bush said, as well as a gift bestowed by God.
Americans can feel confident about their future, he said, because "we're blessed with men and women who willingly put the welfare of their nation before themselves."
"As long as we have defenders of such character and courage, our nation will always be in good hands," Bush continued, "and the future will always be bright."
Defense Department to Review Congressional Report on Detainee Treatment
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 17, 2008 - The Defense Department will take action if an upcoming congressional report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody yields new information, a Pentagon spokesman said. "We'll look at the report in detail. If there is any new information in there that we feel we need to address, we will certainly act upon it," Bryan Whitman told reporters last week.
The Senate Armed Services Committee report culminates a two-year investigation that included hundreds of hours of interviews with current and former Defense Department personnel and a review of almost 200,000 pages of documents provided by the Pentagon.
One finding detailed in the executive summary released last week is that the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own.
According to the report, interrogation techniques such as stripping clothes off detainees, placing them in stress positions and using dogs for intimidation appeared in Iraq only after being approved for use in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The report also states that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's December 2002 authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques, and subsequent policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officials, "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody."
"Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there," according to one of the report's 19 conclusions.
The congressional findings also conclude that the actions and "errors in judgment" of other senior Defense Department officials, compounded by insufficient oversight, led to aggressive or abusive treatment of detainees.
Whitman said the Defense Department has not had an opportunity to review the report in its entirety. But he said that seven of the 19 conclusions in the Senate report duplicate conclusions Pentagon officials drew from their own investigations.
To review and track the 492 recommendations generated by a dozen previous reviews, the Defense Department established a senior detainee oversight leadership committee, he said.
"We've taken many steps over the past years to ensure the proper and humane treatment of detainees," said Whitman, adding that none of the earlier investigations found that any policy condoned or tolerated abuse.
"Any credible allegations of abuse by U.S. military personnel are taken seriously and looked into in painstaking detail. If and when we have found people have violated our trust, applicable offenders have been punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," he added.
American Forces Press Service
Dec. 17, 2008 - The Defense Department will take action if an upcoming congressional report on the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody yields new information, a Pentagon spokesman said. "We'll look at the report in detail. If there is any new information in there that we feel we need to address, we will certainly act upon it," Bryan Whitman told reporters last week.
The Senate Armed Services Committee report culminates a two-year investigation that included hundreds of hours of interviews with current and former Defense Department personnel and a review of almost 200,000 pages of documents provided by the Pentagon.
One finding detailed in the executive summary released last week is that the abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq in late 2003 was not simply the result of a few soldiers acting on their own.
According to the report, interrogation techniques such as stripping clothes off detainees, placing them in stress positions and using dogs for intimidation appeared in Iraq only after being approved for use in Afghanistan and at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The report also states that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's December 2002 authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques, and subsequent policies and plans approved by senior military and civilian officials, "conveyed the message that physical pressures and degradation were appropriate treatment for detainees in U.S. military custody."
"Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's authorization of aggressive interrogation techniques for use at Guantanamo Bay was a direct cause of detainee abuse there," according to one of the report's 19 conclusions.
The congressional findings also conclude that the actions and "errors in judgment" of other senior Defense Department officials, compounded by insufficient oversight, led to aggressive or abusive treatment of detainees.
Whitman said the Defense Department has not had an opportunity to review the report in its entirety. But he said that seven of the 19 conclusions in the Senate report duplicate conclusions Pentagon officials drew from their own investigations.
To review and track the 492 recommendations generated by a dozen previous reviews, the Defense Department established a senior detainee oversight leadership committee, he said.
"We've taken many steps over the past years to ensure the proper and humane treatment of detainees," said Whitman, adding that none of the earlier investigations found that any policy condoned or tolerated abuse.
"Any credible allegations of abuse by U.S. military personnel are taken seriously and looked into in painstaking detail. If and when we have found people have violated our trust, applicable offenders have been punished under the Uniform Code of Military Justice," he added.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Public Safety Technology in the News
Editor's Note: Many of the technologies are used by domestic law enforcement in their counter-terrorism and/or homeland security role.
Experimental Shoe-Print Database Sees the Soles of Criminals
Wired, (11/20/2008), Ryan Singel
A computer science professor at the University of Buffalo is conducting research to enhance computational forensics for shoeprints. Sargur Srihari is building a search engine containing thousands of shoe images from Internet shoe sites. When complete, the system would allow law enforcement forensics units to submit a photo of a shoe print from a crime scene to quickly obtain the gender, size and brand of shoe. The professor and his graduate students initially developed a shoe tread database containing more than 10,000 pairs of men's shoes. Students then stepped in powder to create images of the soles. Srihari is working on algorithms to identify likely matches for the images for partial foot prints. The work is being done with a $300,000 grant from the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice.
blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/professor-sees.html
Prisons Beefing Up Teleconferencing to Save Money
Associated Press via Hartford Courant, (11/23/2008)
Connecticut is the latest state to increase use of courtroom teleconferencing to improve public safety and save money. Connecticut finished installing teleconferencing equipment in all of its 18 correctional facilities in October. During that month about 150 inmates used the system to participate in hearings on parole, civil and family and immigration and customs matters. Corrections officials say using teleconferencing spares them from having to move inmates between the jail and hearings. Other states that are using teleconferences between judges and inmates include Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Caroline, South Dakota and Tennessee.
www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-teleconferencinginov23,0,4504091.story
RISC: Repository for Individuals of Special Concern Rapid Search Functionality
FBI, (11/2008)
The FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) Repository for Individuals of Special Concern (RISC) rapid search functionality system will provide officers with important identifying fingerprint information. When this new system becomes functional, during a vehicle stop an officer could take a minimum of two or a maximum of 10 fingerprint images from an individual using a mobile device and submit it through a participating state's identification bureau to FBI RISC. RISC in turn performs a limited repository search of persons of special interest, such as wanted persons, known or suspected terrorists or sexual offender registry subjects. The goal of NGI is to process this submission within seconds, and the expectation is to respond with a red, yellow or green flag. A red response means a viable candidate has been identified and the response includes category of hit, FBI number and master name. A yellow response means the level of confidence that a candidate is viable is bel! ow the level required for a positive match, and green means the search did not identify a viable candidate. RISC will provide law enforcement with rapid/mobile identification services that quickly assess the potential threat level of an encountered individual. The FBI is currently prototyping this capability. Deployment of RISC will be dependent on capabilities of individual state and local agencies. For more information visit the FBI Web site at www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ngi.htm or call (304) 625-5590.
Texas Prison Officials Plan Cell Phone Jamming Test
American Statesman, (11/26/08), Mike Ward
Texas wants to be the next state to test cell phone jamming technology in prisons. Prison inmates can use cell phones to commit criminal activities while incarcerated. Jamming prevents cell tower transmissions from reaching the phone. South Carolina recently tested jamming technology in one of its prisons and wants to conduct a pilot program to test the technology further. Federal law, however, allows federal agencies to obtain authority to jam cell signals, but states and localities are prohibited from doing so by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Local authorities are working with members of Congress and the FCC to determine if it is possible to revise the law.
www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/26/1126cellphones.html
High-Tech Radio Microwaves to Connect law enforcement in State
Sidney Herald, (11/18/2008), Louisa Barber
Public safety agencies in Montana have new tools to communicate easily across the state. As part of the Interoperability Montana Project, which has been underway for several years, authorities recently began using high-tech radio microwave technology to communicate securely using encrypted two-way radios. The state is also working on developing an interoperable mobile data system in cooperation with the state highway patrol and department of transportation.
www.sidneyherald.com/articles/2008/11/19/news/doc4923797542b02192281513.txt
TSA Tests Boarding Pass technology
Security Directory News, (11/25/2008), Leischen Stelter
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has completed a test of an automated system that encrypts personal passenger information on a boarding pass. The Laser Data Command's PassPro system uses images, fingerprints and documentation such as a driver's license or passport to confirm passenger identity. The information is encrypted and compressed into a barcode and printed onto the boarding pass, which can be scanned by airport security. The system is designed to improve security and speed passengers through the process. The system was tested at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport using law enforcement officers as a test group. Outcome of the testing is confidential.
www.securitydirectornews.com/article/sd200811kwrHDZ/TSA%20tests%20boarding%20pass%20technology
North Carolina law enforcement Finds Success in Tracking Crime Suspects
PR Newswire, (12/02/2008)
North Carolina has joined 11 other states that use a multijurisdictional computerized system that allows law enforcement agencies to search for criminals nationwide with a touch of a keyboard. Justice Xchange users have access to booking records, warrants and other information from law enforcement agencies in other states. The system can also be used to locate missing persons and witnesses. Other states currently using the system are Texas, New York, Florida, Washington, Kentucky, Utah, Arkansas, Indiana, South Dakota, Maryland and Arizona.
www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081202/nc-appriss-crimetrack.htm
Police Setting Up Database on Gangs
Boston Globe, (11/30/2008), Jay Atkinson
Massachusetts law enforcement agencies will soon have access to a collaborative database containing information on violent street criminals, especially street gangs. The MassGangs database project was developed with a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and will have information on a suspect's associates, criminal history and gang affiliation. Data can be shared immediately as it becomes available. Officers will fill out a form that assigns a point value to a suspect's gang-related criteria. Point values are assigned for categories such as "self admission" and "known group tattoo/marking." A score of 10 or more points will register a suspect as a member of a gang. Officials plan to launch the MassGangs database in January 2009.
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/30/police_setting_up_database_on_gangs/
Johns Hopkins Tests Gunshot Detection System, Police Respond
Security Director News, (11/25/2008), Leischen Stelter
Johns Hopkins University is participating in a gunshot location pilot program. The SECURES Detection System has been installed using 93 sensors mounted on streetlights and buildings surrounding the university's 140-acre campus in Baltimore, Md. If the sensors detect a gunshot, a signal displaying the location is transmitted to the university's communications center, which notifies Baltimore Police to respond. The city of Baltimore will be evaluating the technology during the pilot to decide if it should be used in other parts of town.
www.securitydirectornews.com/article/sd200811pXovn0/Johns%20Hopkins%20tests%20gunshot%20detection%20system,%20police%20respond
Schools to Use Spray for Drug Detection
WSMV Nashville, (11/25/2008), Jonathan Martin
Metropolitan Nashville public schools have decided to use D4D spray to detect illegal drugs. The equipment for the test will be free through a partnership with the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice. The test can detect more than 10 different drugs based on a color chart. School officials plan to use the spray to test students' desks, cars, book bags and pockets. In the past the schools have used a dog to search for drugs. Officials decided to begin using the spray because of the number of students being busted with marijuana and cocaine.
www.wsmv.com/education/18145960/detail.html
Experimental Shoe-Print Database Sees the Soles of Criminals
Wired, (11/20/2008), Ryan Singel
A computer science professor at the University of Buffalo is conducting research to enhance computational forensics for shoeprints. Sargur Srihari is building a search engine containing thousands of shoe images from Internet shoe sites. When complete, the system would allow law enforcement forensics units to submit a photo of a shoe print from a crime scene to quickly obtain the gender, size and brand of shoe. The professor and his graduate students initially developed a shoe tread database containing more than 10,000 pairs of men's shoes. Students then stepped in powder to create images of the soles. Srihari is working on algorithms to identify likely matches for the images for partial foot prints. The work is being done with a $300,000 grant from the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice.
blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/professor-sees.html
Prisons Beefing Up Teleconferencing to Save Money
Associated Press via Hartford Courant, (11/23/2008)
Connecticut is the latest state to increase use of courtroom teleconferencing to improve public safety and save money. Connecticut finished installing teleconferencing equipment in all of its 18 correctional facilities in October. During that month about 150 inmates used the system to participate in hearings on parole, civil and family and immigration and customs matters. Corrections officials say using teleconferencing spares them from having to move inmates between the jail and hearings. Other states that are using teleconferences between judges and inmates include Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Caroline, South Dakota and Tennessee.
www.courant.com/news/local/statewire/hc-ap-ct-teleconferencinginov23,0,4504091.story
RISC: Repository for Individuals of Special Concern Rapid Search Functionality
FBI, (11/2008)
The FBI's Next Generation Identification (NGI) Repository for Individuals of Special Concern (RISC) rapid search functionality system will provide officers with important identifying fingerprint information. When this new system becomes functional, during a vehicle stop an officer could take a minimum of two or a maximum of 10 fingerprint images from an individual using a mobile device and submit it through a participating state's identification bureau to FBI RISC. RISC in turn performs a limited repository search of persons of special interest, such as wanted persons, known or suspected terrorists or sexual offender registry subjects. The goal of NGI is to process this submission within seconds, and the expectation is to respond with a red, yellow or green flag. A red response means a viable candidate has been identified and the response includes category of hit, FBI number and master name. A yellow response means the level of confidence that a candidate is viable is bel! ow the level required for a positive match, and green means the search did not identify a viable candidate. RISC will provide law enforcement with rapid/mobile identification services that quickly assess the potential threat level of an encountered individual. The FBI is currently prototyping this capability. Deployment of RISC will be dependent on capabilities of individual state and local agencies. For more information visit the FBI Web site at www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ngi.htm or call (304) 625-5590.
Texas Prison Officials Plan Cell Phone Jamming Test
American Statesman, (11/26/08), Mike Ward
Texas wants to be the next state to test cell phone jamming technology in prisons. Prison inmates can use cell phones to commit criminal activities while incarcerated. Jamming prevents cell tower transmissions from reaching the phone. South Carolina recently tested jamming technology in one of its prisons and wants to conduct a pilot program to test the technology further. Federal law, however, allows federal agencies to obtain authority to jam cell signals, but states and localities are prohibited from doing so by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Local authorities are working with members of Congress and the FCC to determine if it is possible to revise the law.
www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/11/26/1126cellphones.html
High-Tech Radio Microwaves to Connect law enforcement in State
Sidney Herald, (11/18/2008), Louisa Barber
Public safety agencies in Montana have new tools to communicate easily across the state. As part of the Interoperability Montana Project, which has been underway for several years, authorities recently began using high-tech radio microwave technology to communicate securely using encrypted two-way radios. The state is also working on developing an interoperable mobile data system in cooperation with the state highway patrol and department of transportation.
www.sidneyherald.com/articles/2008/11/19/news/doc4923797542b02192281513.txt
TSA Tests Boarding Pass technology
Security Directory News, (11/25/2008), Leischen Stelter
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has completed a test of an automated system that encrypts personal passenger information on a boarding pass. The Laser Data Command's PassPro system uses images, fingerprints and documentation such as a driver's license or passport to confirm passenger identity. The information is encrypted and compressed into a barcode and printed onto the boarding pass, which can be scanned by airport security. The system is designed to improve security and speed passengers through the process. The system was tested at the Minneapolis St. Paul International Airport using law enforcement officers as a test group. Outcome of the testing is confidential.
www.securitydirectornews.com/article/sd200811kwrHDZ/TSA%20tests%20boarding%20pass%20technology
North Carolina law enforcement Finds Success in Tracking Crime Suspects
PR Newswire, (12/02/2008)
North Carolina has joined 11 other states that use a multijurisdictional computerized system that allows law enforcement agencies to search for criminals nationwide with a touch of a keyboard. Justice Xchange users have access to booking records, warrants and other information from law enforcement agencies in other states. The system can also be used to locate missing persons and witnesses. Other states currently using the system are Texas, New York, Florida, Washington, Kentucky, Utah, Arkansas, Indiana, South Dakota, Maryland and Arizona.
www.ibtimes.com/prnews/20081202/nc-appriss-crimetrack.htm
Police Setting Up Database on Gangs
Boston Globe, (11/30/2008), Jay Atkinson
Massachusetts law enforcement agencies will soon have access to a collaborative database containing information on violent street criminals, especially street gangs. The MassGangs database project was developed with a $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Justice and will have information on a suspect's associates, criminal history and gang affiliation. Data can be shared immediately as it becomes available. Officers will fill out a form that assigns a point value to a suspect's gang-related criteria. Point values are assigned for categories such as "self admission" and "known group tattoo/marking." A score of 10 or more points will register a suspect as a member of a gang. Officials plan to launch the MassGangs database in January 2009.
www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/30/police_setting_up_database_on_gangs/
Johns Hopkins Tests Gunshot Detection System, Police Respond
Security Director News, (11/25/2008), Leischen Stelter
Johns Hopkins University is participating in a gunshot location pilot program. The SECURES Detection System has been installed using 93 sensors mounted on streetlights and buildings surrounding the university's 140-acre campus in Baltimore, Md. If the sensors detect a gunshot, a signal displaying the location is transmitted to the university's communications center, which notifies Baltimore Police to respond. The city of Baltimore will be evaluating the technology during the pilot to decide if it should be used in other parts of town.
www.securitydirectornews.com/article/sd200811pXovn0/Johns%20Hopkins%20tests%20gunshot%20detection%20system,%20police%20respond
Schools to Use Spray for Drug Detection
WSMV Nashville, (11/25/2008), Jonathan Martin
Metropolitan Nashville public schools have decided to use D4D spray to detect illegal drugs. The equipment for the test will be free through a partnership with the Office of Justice Programs' National Institute of Justice. The test can detect more than 10 different drugs based on a color chart. School officials plan to use the spray to test students' desks, cars, book bags and pockets. In the past the schools have used a dog to search for drugs. Officials decided to begin using the spray because of the number of students being busted with marijuana and cocaine.
www.wsmv.com/education/18145960/detail.html
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Public Safety Technology in the News
Editor's Note: Many of these technologies are being used by state and local agencies in their homeland security/counter-terrorism missions.
Homeland Security and Justice Departments Providing More Info to Local Officers
The National Ledger, (11/16/2008), Jim Kouri
The U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) have enhanced their biometric systems to improve information sharing with state and local agencies. The changes improve interoperability between the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). To target criminal aliens, a new database link can automatically check the criminal and immigration history of individuals incarcerated by local and state law enforcement. IDENT and IAFIS interoperability is key to Secure Communities, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's comprehensive plan to identify criminal aliens in local communities. Seven sites nationwide have participated in a pilot version of interoperability between the DHS and DOJ databases. The Customs agency plans to expand this capability to more than 50 state and local law enforcement agencies by next spring.
www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272623792.shtml
New Police Car Scans License Plates, Sniffs Out Bombs
ABC News, (11/15/2008), Patrik Jonnsson
law enforcement professionals attending the International Association of Police Chiefs' annual meeting in November got their first look at a "purpose-built" Police Car. The Carbon E7 is a 300-horspower car that runs on biodiesel fuel. It is equipped with sensors for weapons of mass destruction and automatic license-plate scanners. Carbon Motors would need to sell about 20,000 cars to U.S. law enforcement agencies to warrant its proposed 2010 production run. In designing the vehicle, the company included ideas gleaned from law enforcement officers, including a "hoseable" rear seat, an extra-wide driver's seat into a cockpit-style front compartment and side emergency lights to increase visibility and safety. The vehicle sticker price has not yet been announced.
abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6254509&page=1
Improved Measurements Could Mean Safer, More Reliable Electroshock Weapons
ScienceDaily, (11/14/2008)
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working toward a standard method for assessing the electrical output of electroshock weapons. In recent years, conducted-energy devices such as stun guns have become popular among law enforcement agencies as less-lethal weapons. Questions have been raised about whether the devices can contribute to or cause death in some individuals. Groups such as Amnesty International have called for guidelines that include "threshold exposures," which are the minimum level that would incapacitate different groups of people without putting them at risk for injury or death. However, current reports on the voltage the weapons deliver are inconsistent. NIST scientists have developed methods for calibrating the high-voltage and current measurement probes used by industry. More research is needed, but eventually NIST will work with government agencies and the law enforcement community to standardize the method that ! will facilitate establishment of user guidelines.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113140420.htm
Crime Cartography
The Diamondback, (11/11/2008), Kyle Goon
Police at the University of Maryland will soon be able to directly contribute crime data to the crime-mapping Web site www.UCrime.com. UCrime relies on police departments, newspapers, user reports and university incident logs to find crime data and plot it on a Google map. Crimes are classified by category and include descriptions of what happened. University police want to upload the university's crime information for crime mapping purposes.
media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2008/11/10/News/Crime.Cartography-3536238.shtml
Californian Prisons Employ Robotic Scouts
Gizmag, (11/04/2008)
California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to test remote-controlled surveillance robots. Roughly 250 of the 1.2-pound Recon Scouts are used by law enforcement agencies in the United States and military personnel in Iraq. Ten robots will be tested in California prisons. During hostile prison situations, the robots can be thrown into place or fired from a tear-gas launcher. They can survive a 30-foot drop onto concrete and can be operated from up to 100 feet away using a handheld controller, which displays footage from the robot. The robots cost $6,000 ($9,000 with an infrared camera).
www.gizmag.com/californian-prisons-employ-robotic-scouts/10306/
States Complete Radiation Detection Drill
Global Security Newswire, (11/07/2008)
Nine states and the District of Columbia recently completed a practice exercise to test their ability to cope with a nuclear or radiological attack. The exercise, which ran several days, tested the coordination capabilities in the southeastern region of the United States. The exercise was the end result of the Southeast Transportation Corridor Pilot Program, which emphasized training, improved communications Technology and emergency protocols to improve regional nuclear detection and response capabilities.
www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20081107_5287.php
BMV Joins Identity Theft Fight
Indianapolis Star, (11/07/2008), Gretchen Becker
An Indiana agency is testing face-recognition Technology for driver's licenses to help fight identity theft. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will test the Technology at three of its Indianapolis branches as part of a pilot program. A $2.4 million software program scans the millions of photos in the database to determine if a photo is on a different credential with a different name. The software looks for matching points on the face, such as the distance between pupils, and compares those to other images with the same data points. The system reports any suspect names and faces. About 20 states are using the Technology.
www.indystar.com/article/20081107/LOCAL/811070442
Wichita Falls Unified Command Post is Ready for Operation
Texomas, (11/14/08), Sara DiMuro
The city of Wichita Falls, Texas, has a new rolling command center to help cope up close with long-term situations such as standoffs, environmental hazards and weather disasters. The $400,000 center, which was funded with federal grant money, is available for use across north Texas. The unit has full telephone and dispatch capability, infrared night vision and a camera mounted on the top.
texomashomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=22831
New Technology in Bonneville Co. Will Help Find Missing Children
KPVI-TV, (10/31/08), Andrew Del Greco
The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office in Idaho is the latest jurisdiction to obtain iris scan Technology as a tool to locate lost children. The sheriff's office will share the Technology with other agencies in the state. Should an adult or child go missing, if their eyes have been scanned their identification can be sent digitally across the United States. Young children may not know their names or phone numbers and can be identified with an iris scan. Thirty-five states currently use the Technology.
www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=9276017
Green Prisons Farm, Recycle to Save Energy, Money
Associated Press, (11/01/08), Phuong Le
Corrections facilities are discovering the benefits of going green. Prison officials find that using inmates to keep bees, recycle, and grow organic vegetables reduces costs, lowers the impact on the environment and provides inmates with new skills. Agencies are replacing old appliances with energy-efficient ones and installing solar panels. Because of a water shortage this summer, inmates in the North Carolina's prison system converted 50-gallon pickle barrels into small cisterns to capture rainwater. The green practices instituted by the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Washington state has resulted in the facility using 250,000 fewer gallons of water a year and saving $6,000 to $8,400 annually on garbage bills.
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gW-MYyvVx600Ql2nvH6z6Ybk9yJQD946B0CO0
Homeland Security and Justice Departments Providing More Info to Local Officers
The National Ledger, (11/16/2008), Jim Kouri
The U.S. Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Justice (DOJ) have enhanced their biometric systems to improve information sharing with state and local agencies. The changes improve interoperability between the Automated Biometric Identification System (IDENT) and the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS). To target criminal aliens, a new database link can automatically check the criminal and immigration history of individuals incarcerated by local and state law enforcement. IDENT and IAFIS interoperability is key to Secure Communities, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's comprehensive plan to identify criminal aliens in local communities. Seven sites nationwide have participated in a pilot version of interoperability between the DHS and DOJ databases. The Customs agency plans to expand this capability to more than 50 state and local law enforcement agencies by next spring.
www.nationalledger.com/artman/publish/article_272623792.shtml
New Police Car Scans License Plates, Sniffs Out Bombs
ABC News, (11/15/2008), Patrik Jonnsson
law enforcement professionals attending the International Association of Police Chiefs' annual meeting in November got their first look at a "purpose-built" Police Car. The Carbon E7 is a 300-horspower car that runs on biodiesel fuel. It is equipped with sensors for weapons of mass destruction and automatic license-plate scanners. Carbon Motors would need to sell about 20,000 cars to U.S. law enforcement agencies to warrant its proposed 2010 production run. In designing the vehicle, the company included ideas gleaned from law enforcement officers, including a "hoseable" rear seat, an extra-wide driver's seat into a cockpit-style front compartment and side emergency lights to increase visibility and safety. The vehicle sticker price has not yet been announced.
abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=6254509&page=1
Improved Measurements Could Mean Safer, More Reliable Electroshock Weapons
ScienceDaily, (11/14/2008)
Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are working toward a standard method for assessing the electrical output of electroshock weapons. In recent years, conducted-energy devices such as stun guns have become popular among law enforcement agencies as less-lethal weapons. Questions have been raised about whether the devices can contribute to or cause death in some individuals. Groups such as Amnesty International have called for guidelines that include "threshold exposures," which are the minimum level that would incapacitate different groups of people without putting them at risk for injury or death. However, current reports on the voltage the weapons deliver are inconsistent. NIST scientists have developed methods for calibrating the high-voltage and current measurement probes used by industry. More research is needed, but eventually NIST will work with government agencies and the law enforcement community to standardize the method that ! will facilitate establishment of user guidelines.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081113140420.htm
Crime Cartography
The Diamondback, (11/11/2008), Kyle Goon
Police at the University of Maryland will soon be able to directly contribute crime data to the crime-mapping Web site www.UCrime.com. UCrime relies on police departments, newspapers, user reports and university incident logs to find crime data and plot it on a Google map. Crimes are classified by category and include descriptions of what happened. University police want to upload the university's crime information for crime mapping purposes.
media.www.diamondbackonline.com/media/storage/paper873/news/2008/11/10/News/Crime.Cartography-3536238.shtml
Californian Prisons Employ Robotic Scouts
Gizmag, (11/04/2008)
California's Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has agreed to test remote-controlled surveillance robots. Roughly 250 of the 1.2-pound Recon Scouts are used by law enforcement agencies in the United States and military personnel in Iraq. Ten robots will be tested in California prisons. During hostile prison situations, the robots can be thrown into place or fired from a tear-gas launcher. They can survive a 30-foot drop onto concrete and can be operated from up to 100 feet away using a handheld controller, which displays footage from the robot. The robots cost $6,000 ($9,000 with an infrared camera).
www.gizmag.com/californian-prisons-employ-robotic-scouts/10306/
States Complete Radiation Detection Drill
Global Security Newswire, (11/07/2008)
Nine states and the District of Columbia recently completed a practice exercise to test their ability to cope with a nuclear or radiological attack. The exercise, which ran several days, tested the coordination capabilities in the southeastern region of the United States. The exercise was the end result of the Southeast Transportation Corridor Pilot Program, which emphasized training, improved communications Technology and emergency protocols to improve regional nuclear detection and response capabilities.
www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20081107_5287.php
BMV Joins Identity Theft Fight
Indianapolis Star, (11/07/2008), Gretchen Becker
An Indiana agency is testing face-recognition Technology for driver's licenses to help fight identity theft. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles will test the Technology at three of its Indianapolis branches as part of a pilot program. A $2.4 million software program scans the millions of photos in the database to determine if a photo is on a different credential with a different name. The software looks for matching points on the face, such as the distance between pupils, and compares those to other images with the same data points. The system reports any suspect names and faces. About 20 states are using the Technology.
www.indystar.com/article/20081107/LOCAL/811070442
Wichita Falls Unified Command Post is Ready for Operation
Texomas, (11/14/08), Sara DiMuro
The city of Wichita Falls, Texas, has a new rolling command center to help cope up close with long-term situations such as standoffs, environmental hazards and weather disasters. The $400,000 center, which was funded with federal grant money, is available for use across north Texas. The unit has full telephone and dispatch capability, infrared night vision and a camera mounted on the top.
texomashomepage.com/content/fulltext/?cid=22831
New Technology in Bonneville Co. Will Help Find Missing Children
KPVI-TV, (10/31/08), Andrew Del Greco
The Bonneville County Sheriff's Office in Idaho is the latest jurisdiction to obtain iris scan Technology as a tool to locate lost children. The sheriff's office will share the Technology with other agencies in the state. Should an adult or child go missing, if their eyes have been scanned their identification can be sent digitally across the United States. Young children may not know their names or phone numbers and can be identified with an iris scan. Thirty-five states currently use the Technology.
www.kpvi.com/Global/story.asp?S=9276017
Green Prisons Farm, Recycle to Save Energy, Money
Associated Press, (11/01/08), Phuong Le
Corrections facilities are discovering the benefits of going green. Prison officials find that using inmates to keep bees, recycle, and grow organic vegetables reduces costs, lowers the impact on the environment and provides inmates with new skills. Agencies are replacing old appliances with energy-efficient ones and installing solar panels. Because of a water shortage this summer, inmates in the North Carolina's prison system converted 50-gallon pickle barrels into small cisterns to capture rainwater. The green practices instituted by the Cedar Creek Corrections Center in Washington state has resulted in the facility using 250,000 fewer gallons of water a year and saving $6,000 to $8,400 annually on garbage bills.
ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gW-MYyvVx600Ql2nvH6z6Ybk9yJQD946B0CO0
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Bush Praises Fort Campbell Troops for Key Role in Terror War
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 25, 2008 - President George W. Bush kicked off his last Thanksgiving week as commander in chief today by thanking the soldiers of Fort Campbell, Ky., for the key role they've played in the war on terror and telling them they're what he'll miss most when he leaves office. Bush visited the home of the 101st Airborne Division, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and 5th Special Forces Group soldiers, many recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them were the "Screaming Eagles" division's 2nd Brigade, in the midst of returning early from Iraq because of decreased violence there.
"You have performed with courage and distinction on the front lines of the war on terror," Bush told the soldiers, who erupted into cheers, applause and "hoo-ahs" throughout the address.
"You have returned on success," he continued. "On behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to welcome home the Bastogne Brigade, the Strike Brigade, the Rakkasans Brigade. Job well done!"
The president praised the troops for actions that he said not only have brought new hope and opportunity to Iraq and Afghanistan, but also helped to make the United States more secure.
"[You] have gone on the offense in the war against these killers and thugs," he said. "You have taken the battle of the terrorists overseas so we do not have to face them here in the United States."
Meanwhile, as part of "the great ideological struggle of our time," the Fort Campbell soldiers have brought a more hopeful vision of justice and liberty, he said. "With the soldiers at Fort Campbell out front, the forces of freedom and liberty will prevail," he said.
The president recalled his first Thanksgiving visit to Fort Campbell, just two months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a month after the war in Afghanistan had started. Fort Campbell's Rakkasans Brigade was the first conventional brigade to join the battle.
Since then, the 101st Airborne Division has continued to play a major role in the terror war, most recently as part of the troop surge in Iraq.
"Our troops conducted this surge with resolve and with valor, and nobody knows the impact better than the Screaming Eagles," Bush told the soldiers. He noted the huge turnaround they helped to bring to Iraq's Salahuddin province, which was struggling to recover from the Golden Mosque bombing when the division's Bastogne Brigade deployed there last year.
"But you partnered with the Iraqis to restore security. Schools and businesses are now open. The Golden Mosque is being rebuilt," Bush said. "And throughout the province, hope is returning. The terrorists are being driven out. The Iraqi people have the Screaming Eagles to thank."
Bush noted similar successes taking place across Iraq, with violence and sectarian violence down dramatically and 13 of the country's 18 provinces now under Iraqi security forces responsibility.
"Slowly but steadily, economic and political progress is taking place," he said. "And Iraqis are working together for a more hopeful future."
Bush vowed to continue reducing U.S. forces in Iraq as conditions on the ground continue to improve, a strategy he calls "return on success."
So far, a Marine expeditionary unit, two Marine battalions and six Army brigades, including the Rakkasans, have returned from Iraq without replacement. "By the end of January, we'll have brought home more than 4,000 additional troops," Bush said.
Meanwhile, the president cited progress toward completing a strategic framework agreement and security agreement with the Iraqi government. Ultimately, these agreements will pave a way for future economic, diplomatic and military cooperation between the United States and Iraq.
Bush called ongoing debate about these agreements among Iraqi lawmakers a sign of Iraq's strong democracy and a testament to the successes U.S. servicemembers have helped to bring about.
"War in Iraq is not over, but we're drawing closer to the day when our troops can come home," Bush said. "And when they come home, they will come home in victory."
After the cheers subsided, the president thanked the soldiers for their historic accomplishments.
Success in Iraq will frustrate Iran's ambitions to dominate in the region, deny al-Qaida a safe haven for new attacks and give millions of people in the Middle East the promise of liberty and democracy, he said.
But the impact of that success will resonate far beyond Iraq and the region, he added. "Success in Iraq will mean that the American people are more secure at home," he said.
As he prepares to leave office, Bush said, he's often asked what he'll miss most about the job.
"Well, above all, I'm going to miss spending time with men and women who have volunteered to serve the United States of America -- the fine men and women who wear the uniform," he said.
"We are blessed to have defenders of such character and courage," the president said. "I'm grateful to the families who serve by your side, and I will always be thankful for the honor of having served as the commander in chief."
American Forces Press Service
Nov. 25, 2008 - President George W. Bush kicked off his last Thanksgiving week as commander in chief today by thanking the soldiers of Fort Campbell, Ky., for the key role they've played in the war on terror and telling them they're what he'll miss most when he leaves office. Bush visited the home of the 101st Airborne Division, 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and 5th Special Forces Group soldiers, many recently returned from Iraq and Afghanistan. Among them were the "Screaming Eagles" division's 2nd Brigade, in the midst of returning early from Iraq because of decreased violence there.
"You have performed with courage and distinction on the front lines of the war on terror," Bush told the soldiers, who erupted into cheers, applause and "hoo-ahs" throughout the address.
"You have returned on success," he continued. "On behalf of a grateful nation, I'm proud to welcome home the Bastogne Brigade, the Strike Brigade, the Rakkasans Brigade. Job well done!"
The president praised the troops for actions that he said not only have brought new hope and opportunity to Iraq and Afghanistan, but also helped to make the United States more secure.
"[You] have gone on the offense in the war against these killers and thugs," he said. "You have taken the battle of the terrorists overseas so we do not have to face them here in the United States."
Meanwhile, as part of "the great ideological struggle of our time," the Fort Campbell soldiers have brought a more hopeful vision of justice and liberty, he said. "With the soldiers at Fort Campbell out front, the forces of freedom and liberty will prevail," he said.
The president recalled his first Thanksgiving visit to Fort Campbell, just two months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and a month after the war in Afghanistan had started. Fort Campbell's Rakkasans Brigade was the first conventional brigade to join the battle.
Since then, the 101st Airborne Division has continued to play a major role in the terror war, most recently as part of the troop surge in Iraq.
"Our troops conducted this surge with resolve and with valor, and nobody knows the impact better than the Screaming Eagles," Bush told the soldiers. He noted the huge turnaround they helped to bring to Iraq's Salahuddin province, which was struggling to recover from the Golden Mosque bombing when the division's Bastogne Brigade deployed there last year.
"But you partnered with the Iraqis to restore security. Schools and businesses are now open. The Golden Mosque is being rebuilt," Bush said. "And throughout the province, hope is returning. The terrorists are being driven out. The Iraqi people have the Screaming Eagles to thank."
Bush noted similar successes taking place across Iraq, with violence and sectarian violence down dramatically and 13 of the country's 18 provinces now under Iraqi security forces responsibility.
"Slowly but steadily, economic and political progress is taking place," he said. "And Iraqis are working together for a more hopeful future."
Bush vowed to continue reducing U.S. forces in Iraq as conditions on the ground continue to improve, a strategy he calls "return on success."
So far, a Marine expeditionary unit, two Marine battalions and six Army brigades, including the Rakkasans, have returned from Iraq without replacement. "By the end of January, we'll have brought home more than 4,000 additional troops," Bush said.
Meanwhile, the president cited progress toward completing a strategic framework agreement and security agreement with the Iraqi government. Ultimately, these agreements will pave a way for future economic, diplomatic and military cooperation between the United States and Iraq.
Bush called ongoing debate about these agreements among Iraqi lawmakers a sign of Iraq's strong democracy and a testament to the successes U.S. servicemembers have helped to bring about.
"War in Iraq is not over, but we're drawing closer to the day when our troops can come home," Bush said. "And when they come home, they will come home in victory."
After the cheers subsided, the president thanked the soldiers for their historic accomplishments.
Success in Iraq will frustrate Iran's ambitions to dominate in the region, deny al-Qaida a safe haven for new attacks and give millions of people in the Middle East the promise of liberty and democracy, he said.
But the impact of that success will resonate far beyond Iraq and the region, he added. "Success in Iraq will mean that the American people are more secure at home," he said.
As he prepares to leave office, Bush said, he's often asked what he'll miss most about the job.
"Well, above all, I'm going to miss spending time with men and women who have volunteered to serve the United States of America -- the fine men and women who wear the uniform," he said.
"We are blessed to have defenders of such character and courage," the president said. "I'm grateful to the families who serve by your side, and I will always be thankful for the honor of having served as the commander in chief."
Monday, November 03, 2008
Detainee Convicted of Terroism Charge At Military Commission Trial
A military commission today found Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al Bahlul of Yemen guilty of conspiracy with Usama Bin Laden and others to commit murder of protected persons, attacking civilians and other crimes. He was also found guilty of solicitation to commit murder of protected persons, to attack civilian objects, and to commit acts of terrorism.
In addition, the commission found him guilty of providing material support for terrorism by supporting al Qaeda through meeting with the highest ranking members of the organization and creating al Qaeda propaganda including the widely-distributed propaganda video, "The Destruction of the American Destroyer U.S.S. Cole." All offenses were in violation of the military Commissions Act of 2006.
Now that al Bahlul has been found guilty of these offenses, the commission must conduct a separate hearing to determine an appropriate sentence. Based on the crimes for which he has been convicted he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
His conviction at trial is one step in the military commission process. After the trial is complete his case will receive an automatic review by the Convening Authority, who will evaluate the legal sufficiency of the findings and appropriateness of the sentence. He will still be represented by counsel and will have the opportunity to submit matters for consideration on his behalf. Then his case will receive an automatic review by the Court of Military Commission Review. Thereafter, he could appeal to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court.
The purpose of trials by military Commissions is to serve justice to those accused of violations of the law of war, and to keep the United States, its friends and allies safe from those determined to carry out attacks on civilian populations and coalition forces.
A link to al Bahlul's list of charges can be viewed on the military Commission Web site at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2008/d20080226bahlul.pdf .
In addition, the commission found him guilty of providing material support for terrorism by supporting al Qaeda through meeting with the highest ranking members of the organization and creating al Qaeda propaganda including the widely-distributed propaganda video, "The Destruction of the American Destroyer U.S.S. Cole." All offenses were in violation of the military Commissions Act of 2006.
Now that al Bahlul has been found guilty of these offenses, the commission must conduct a separate hearing to determine an appropriate sentence. Based on the crimes for which he has been convicted he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
His conviction at trial is one step in the military commission process. After the trial is complete his case will receive an automatic review by the Convening Authority, who will evaluate the legal sufficiency of the findings and appropriateness of the sentence. He will still be represented by counsel and will have the opportunity to submit matters for consideration on his behalf. Then his case will receive an automatic review by the Court of Military Commission Review. Thereafter, he could appeal to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court.
The purpose of trials by military Commissions is to serve justice to those accused of violations of the law of war, and to keep the United States, its friends and allies safe from those determined to carry out attacks on civilian populations and coalition forces.
A link to al Bahlul's list of charges can be viewed on the military Commission Web site at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Feb2008/d20080226bahlul.pdf .
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Threat Reduction Agency Marks 10 Years of Operations
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
Oct. 7, 2008 - It is an agency that seems tailor-made to combat the threats the United States faces today: nuclear proliferation, chemical weapons and the possibility of genetically modified diseases. But the Defense Threat Reduction Agency was formed when Americans still thought there was such a thing as a "peace dividend" and few had ever heard of al-Qaida. When then-Defense Secretary William S. Cohen tried to draw attention to the threat of biological warfare, some were very skeptical of this focus.
The agency marked its 10th anniversary last week, and it still is dedicated to reducing the present threat and anticipating future threats, Dr. James A. Tegnelia, the agency's director, said.
On Oct. 1, 1998, three activities – the Defense Special Weapons Agency, the On-Site Inspection Agency and the Defense Technology Security Administration – merged to form DTRA.
In a ceremony at the new agency's headquarters, Cohen said the world was at a "pivot point" in combating new types of dangers. New threats had replaced those of the Cold War, Cohen said, identifying rogue regimes and fanatical groups capable of buying or developing weapons of mass destruction and willing to use them as the new agency's targets.
Today, from its headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va., the agency continues to work to reduce the number of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons worldwide and to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands, Tegnelia said during a recent interview. "My sense is the agency has been pretty faithful to the mission," he said.
The director said that Cohen, Deputy Secretary John Hamre and the agency's first director, Jay Davis, "were prescient, considering there was no 9/11 at the time, no Department of Homeland Security and no Northern Command."
"They were very much ahead of their time, in that if a nuclear or chemical or biological weapon was used on an American city, this would become a national problem -- not a defense problem or just a state and local problem," he said. "The entire federal government and the state and local governments were going to have to have the capabilities to respond to this."
How the agency operates has changed in a decade. The combatant commands need assistance in fighting weapons of mass destruction. "They don't have all the in-house competencies to do that; helping them and supporting them in this process is very important," Tegnelia said.
Making that capability operational was an imperative, Tegnelia said. "That became pretty evident during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when the combatant commander was getting ready to overrun suspected nuclear and chemical facilities, and he wondered, 'What will be the consequence to my soldiers?'" he said.
As a combat support agency supporting U.S. Strategic Command, the lead operational command for dealing with weapons of mass destruction, DTRA helps the combatant commands prepare for problems that might occur.
Aiding in consequence management is another DTRA function. What is needed for the nation to respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction? Who is responsible for what? How do local, state, federal agencies work together?
A natural disaster – Hurricane Katrina – showed how far the nation still had to go, as local and state capabilities quickly were overwhelmed. The same concerns may arise if the nation were attacked with weapons of mass destruction, Tegnelia said.
"Depending on the circumstances, you might end up with Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice and possibly other agencies responding," he said. DTRA provides key support and participates in joint exercises with those agencies and state and local governments.
The agency's predictive capabilities are available at all times for state and local responders. For example, if a rail car full of chlorine derails and begins leaking, the agency can use simulation and modeling capabilities to assist in evacuation recommendations.
"The thing that's different between 2000 and now," the director said, "is that now it's a national response. There is a cadre of people on the national level prepared to respond."
A third area of responsibility for the agency is in the international realm. The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program that DTRA implements to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states -- is one of the agency's main international responsibilities. The program has expanded in recent years to help Russia build the infrastructure to protect stockpiles.
The agency is finishing building the largest single Nunn-Lugar program, the chemical weapons demilitarization facility at Shchuchye.
"We will continue those commitments with the Russians and then expand cooperative threat reduction to not only the former Soviet Union, but [also to] a worldwide capability," Tegnelia said.
Finally, the agency is committed to being a technical innovator. Scientists in the agency are building capabilities that try to respond to the future. Special programs look at new technologies to detect weapons of mass destruction, for example, and agency officials also look at new gear and procedures that can be used.
But the sad fact, Tegnelia said, is that nuclear weapons are proliferating.
"If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, what will the nations of the area do?" he said.
American forces may find themselves fighting on a nuclear battlefield. The agency is looking at ways for the forces to do this and still be successful.
"How do they operate? How do they survive? Will their radios work?" Tegnelia asked. "We've not talked as much as we need to about a nuclear battlefield since 1990. We have to start to think where we are going in regard to that."
Another possible threat is in biological weapons. The director noted that every promising Technology has a dark side. Chlorine can purify water, but it also can be used as a killer gas. Nuclear research produces both cancer treatments and weapons. Biological sciences are moving ahead at lightning speed.
The agency has formed the Transformational Medical Technology Initiative. "It looks at what we would do with a bio-engineered threat," Tegnelia explained.
To illustrate the complexities that would arise, Tegnelia described a scenario in which an early warning system "finds a funny bug, and none of your vaccines work against it."
A bio-engineered disease might not respond to vaccines or antibiotics, he said. Researchers would have to discover what type of treatment would be useful against such a bug. They would also have to figure out what the proper vaccination would be. They would have to test the vaccination for safety and then figure out how to produce enough to contain the problem and wipe it out.
Combating weapons of mass destruction is, unfortunately, a growth industry, and the agency is not in danger of losing its mission, Tegnelia said, acknowledging that while DTRA has made significant progress, more needs to be done as the agency begins its second decade.
American Forces Press Service
Oct. 7, 2008 - It is an agency that seems tailor-made to combat the threats the United States faces today: nuclear proliferation, chemical weapons and the possibility of genetically modified diseases. But the Defense Threat Reduction Agency was formed when Americans still thought there was such a thing as a "peace dividend" and few had ever heard of al-Qaida. When then-Defense Secretary William S. Cohen tried to draw attention to the threat of biological warfare, some were very skeptical of this focus.
The agency marked its 10th anniversary last week, and it still is dedicated to reducing the present threat and anticipating future threats, Dr. James A. Tegnelia, the agency's director, said.
On Oct. 1, 1998, three activities – the Defense Special Weapons Agency, the On-Site Inspection Agency and the Defense Technology Security Administration – merged to form DTRA.
In a ceremony at the new agency's headquarters, Cohen said the world was at a "pivot point" in combating new types of dangers. New threats had replaced those of the Cold War, Cohen said, identifying rogue regimes and fanatical groups capable of buying or developing weapons of mass destruction and willing to use them as the new agency's targets.
Today, from its headquarters at Fort Belvoir, Va., the agency continues to work to reduce the number of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons worldwide and to make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands, Tegnelia said during a recent interview. "My sense is the agency has been pretty faithful to the mission," he said.
The director said that Cohen, Deputy Secretary John Hamre and the agency's first director, Jay Davis, "were prescient, considering there was no 9/11 at the time, no Department of Homeland Security and no Northern Command."
"They were very much ahead of their time, in that if a nuclear or chemical or biological weapon was used on an American city, this would become a national problem -- not a defense problem or just a state and local problem," he said. "The entire federal government and the state and local governments were going to have to have the capabilities to respond to this."
How the agency operates has changed in a decade. The combatant commands need assistance in fighting weapons of mass destruction. "They don't have all the in-house competencies to do that; helping them and supporting them in this process is very important," Tegnelia said.
Making that capability operational was an imperative, Tegnelia said. "That became pretty evident during Operation Iraqi Freedom, when the combatant commander was getting ready to overrun suspected nuclear and chemical facilities, and he wondered, 'What will be the consequence to my soldiers?'" he said.
As a combat support agency supporting U.S. Strategic Command, the lead operational command for dealing with weapons of mass destruction, DTRA helps the combatant commands prepare for problems that might occur.
Aiding in consequence management is another DTRA function. What is needed for the nation to respond to an attack by a weapon of mass destruction? Who is responsible for what? How do local, state, federal agencies work together?
A natural disaster – Hurricane Katrina – showed how far the nation still had to go, as local and state capabilities quickly were overwhelmed. The same concerns may arise if the nation were attacked with weapons of mass destruction, Tegnelia said.
"Depending on the circumstances, you might end up with Northern Command, the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Energy, the Department of Justice and possibly other agencies responding," he said. DTRA provides key support and participates in joint exercises with those agencies and state and local governments.
The agency's predictive capabilities are available at all times for state and local responders. For example, if a rail car full of chlorine derails and begins leaking, the agency can use simulation and modeling capabilities to assist in evacuation recommendations.
"The thing that's different between 2000 and now," the director said, "is that now it's a national response. There is a cadre of people on the national level prepared to respond."
A third area of responsibility for the agency is in the international realm. The Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program that DTRA implements to secure and dismantle weapons of mass destruction and their associated infrastructure in former Soviet Union states -- is one of the agency's main international responsibilities. The program has expanded in recent years to help Russia build the infrastructure to protect stockpiles.
The agency is finishing building the largest single Nunn-Lugar program, the chemical weapons demilitarization facility at Shchuchye.
"We will continue those commitments with the Russians and then expand cooperative threat reduction to not only the former Soviet Union, but [also to] a worldwide capability," Tegnelia said.
Finally, the agency is committed to being a technical innovator. Scientists in the agency are building capabilities that try to respond to the future. Special programs look at new technologies to detect weapons of mass destruction, for example, and agency officials also look at new gear and procedures that can be used.
But the sad fact, Tegnelia said, is that nuclear weapons are proliferating.
"If Iran develops a nuclear weapon, what will the nations of the area do?" he said.
American forces may find themselves fighting on a nuclear battlefield. The agency is looking at ways for the forces to do this and still be successful.
"How do they operate? How do they survive? Will their radios work?" Tegnelia asked. "We've not talked as much as we need to about a nuclear battlefield since 1990. We have to start to think where we are going in regard to that."
Another possible threat is in biological weapons. The director noted that every promising Technology has a dark side. Chlorine can purify water, but it also can be used as a killer gas. Nuclear research produces both cancer treatments and weapons. Biological sciences are moving ahead at lightning speed.
The agency has formed the Transformational Medical Technology Initiative. "It looks at what we would do with a bio-engineered threat," Tegnelia explained.
To illustrate the complexities that would arise, Tegnelia described a scenario in which an early warning system "finds a funny bug, and none of your vaccines work against it."
A bio-engineered disease might not respond to vaccines or antibiotics, he said. Researchers would have to discover what type of treatment would be useful against such a bug. They would also have to figure out what the proper vaccination would be. They would have to test the vaccination for safety and then figure out how to produce enough to contain the problem and wipe it out.
Combating weapons of mass destruction is, unfortunately, a growth industry, and the agency is not in danger of losing its mission, Tegnelia said, acknowledging that while DTRA has made significant progress, more needs to be done as the agency begins its second decade.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News- September 17, 2008
Biological Warfare
“Recently it has been observed that a sharp rise in chronic kidney disease
(CKD) among farming communities in the North Central province of Sri Lanka. Local medical researchers have come up with several possible risk factors for the disease, including high groundwater fluoride content in some affected areas, leaching of heavy metals such as cadmium from agricultural chemicals into water sources, exposure to inorganic pesticides and fertilizers, and usage of aluminum vessels to store drinking water. […] Dr. Channa Jayasumana of Rajarata University has put forward a rather different hypothesis for CKD. Dr. Jayasumana and his team has observed a higher number of chronic kidney disease patients from villages located adjacent to so called Eelam territory in Sri Lanka. Furthermore he claims that bioterrorism could be the causative factor for CKD in the North central and Eastern regions.” (Lanka Web; 16Sep08; Akila
Weerasekera)
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items08/160908-3.html
FBI Director to testify on Anthrax Case
“During congressional testimony today, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said evidence collected in the agency's investigation of former Army scientist Bruce E. Ivins is strong and backs up their theory that he is the lone culprit behind the 2001 anthrax attacks. ‘There was a clear identification of the anthrax in the letters back to […] the vial in Dr. Ivins' laboratory,’ Mueller said [he went on to say] ‘[…] we traced all of that anthrax and eliminated any other persons who may have had access or utilized that access as a suspect.’ Mueller also said the FBI is in discussions with the National Academy of Science to conduct an independent review of the government's investigation into Ivins.” (Washington Post; 16Sep08; Derek Kravitz) http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/09/fbi_director_set_to_testify_ab.html
Collaborative software initiative releases citizen-centric public health application and community
“Collaborative Software Initiative, the company that brings like-minded organizations together to work collaboratively on software at a fraction of the cost, announces the launch of TriSano(TM), a public health application and community. TriSano(TM) is an open source, citizen-focused surveillance system for infectious disease management. It is designed so that it can be expanded to cover environmental hazards, bioterrorism, and outbreak management. TriSano(TM) allows local, state and federal entities to track, control and ultimately prevent illness and death.” (PR Newswire; 16Sep08)
http://sev.prnewswire.com/computer-electronics/20080916/AQTU07416092008-1.html
[$3.8 million federal] Bioterror grant [for Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc.]
“A $3.8 million federal grant to Advanced Life Sciences Holdings Inc. will help finance the Woodridge-based firm's efforts to extend the uses of a new antibiotic to find bioterrorism. The funding from the Department of Defense will enable the biotech firm to test its antibiotic, cethromycin, against tularemia, plague and melioidosis, three pathologies thought to be likely bioterror weapons. Advanced Life Sciences has moved cethromycin into late-stage development for treating community-acquired pneumonia and has had some success in testing the antibiotic as a treatment for people who have inhaled anthrax spores. The federal government is looking for antibiotics that are effective against multiple potential bioterror weapons […] The company hopes that cethromycin can fill that role.”
(Chicago Tribune; 15Sep08)
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-mon-notebook-alloys-argonne-sep15,0,4809839.story
GE Security to provide next-gen chemical-biological identifier to first responders
“GE Security, Inc. […] today announced its recently introduced StreetLab Mobile device will soon be capable of identifying biological as well as chemical substances. The biological identification upgrade will be available in the fourth quarter 2008. StreetLab Mobile is a portable, user-friendly, handheld device that reliably identifies a broad range of substances in liquid, powder and solid forms. Using Raman spectroscopy for data capture and analysis, StreetLab Mobile consumes little or no substance sample and makes it easy for the operator to understand and share results.” (Earth Times; 15Sep08) http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/ge-security-to-provide-next-gen-chemical-biological-identifier-to-first-responders,539658.shtml
Anthrax suspect [Bruce Ivins] made unusual requests in will
“Some unusual requests have been found in the last will and testament of Dr. Bruce Ivins, the man suspected of the 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people and made 17 others sick. In his will signed and dated in March 2007, Ivins states he has ‘strong wishes’ to be cremated and to have his ashes scattered or spread on the ground. If his family does not follow his wishes, Ivins writes he will give $50,000 to Planned Parenthood of Maryland. […] The Justice Department now believes he is the ‘only’ person responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks. Federal officials say the most striking evidence is the flask where the anthrax spores came from. They say Ivins was the only one who had access to that flask.” (Your 4 State; 15Sep08; Kaitlin McCarthy)
http://your4state.com/content/fulltext/?cid=30441
Afghans free son of Pakistani Al-Qaeda suspect [Aafia Siddiqui]
“The 12-year-old son of an American-educated Pakistani woman whom U.S. authorities have linked to al-Qaeda has been handed over to Pakistani authorities in Afghanistan and is soon to be reunited with family in Pakistan, Afghan and Pakistani officials said Monday. […] According to a biography of high-value detainees released by the office of the U.S. National Director of Intelligence, Siddiqui married top al-Qaeda operative Ammar al-Baluchi shortly before he was arrested in Pakistan in April 2003 in connection with helping to plot the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. officials have alleged that Baluchi was a key assistant and relative of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, said to have been the central planner of the 9/11 attacks. Baluchi allegedly asked Siddiqui to assist another al-Qaeda plotter, Majid Khan, with gaining entry into the United States in 2002.”
(Washington Post; 16Sep08; Candace Rondeaux) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/15/AR2008091503011.html
Smiths Detection introduces advanced air monitoring system to detect and mitigate chemical threats
“Smiths Detection today announces the introduction of its next-generation Sabre Centurion II, air monitoring system designed to detect and identify Chemical Warfare Agents (CWAs) and Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs) in critical infrastructures. […] Centurion II uses Smiths Detection’s proven Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) technology and can be networked with up to 70 other detectors to provide a comprehensive threat detection system that is then programmed to control air handling systems to isolate and contain a potential threat.” (Earth Times; 15Sep08) http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/smiths-detection-introduces-advanced-air,540748.shtml
Smiths Detection announces hardened hand-held, simultaneous, trimode, threat detector “Smiths Detection, part of the global technology business Smiths Group, today announces the launch of the Multi-Mode Threat Detector (MMTD), a portable device that can detect a range of explosives including the materials most commonly used in homemade bombs. The MMTD, a rugged, hand-held detector for explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals and narcotics, also features an optimized detection capability for peroxides, commonly used in Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). The simultaneous dual-mode capability of the MMTD allows operators to detect a broad range of explosives and offers simultaneous one-sample analysis detection of explosives and narcotics.” (PR Inside; 15Sep08; David Olsen) http://www.pr-inside.com/smiths-detection-announces-hardened-hand-held-r807445.htm
[Sri Lankan] Govt. prepares for LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] chemical attack
“The government has put in place contingency plans for a possible chemical attack by the LTTE against the security forces fighting in the North. Healthcare and Nutrition Minister Nimal Siripala De Silva, yesterday, instructed officials to immediately dispatch extra health staff, medicines and equipment to the North to face any contingencies that may arise in the event of a chemical attack on the security forces, said ministry spokesman W.M.D. Wanninayaka. […] Mr. Wanninayaka said that Prof. [Ravindra] Fernando [University of Colombo] had been tasked with giving a special training to medical and nursing staff on chemical and unconventional weapons attacks and medical emergencies arising from such attacks.” (Daily Mirror; 17Sep08; Sandun A Jayasekera)
http://www.dailymirror.lk/DM_BLOG/Sections/frmNewsDetailView.aspx?ARTID=26547
Namibia: Parliament resumes work [including implementation of the CWC]
“The National Assembly resumes its session today after a nine-week winter break […] An Anti-Terrorism Bill is […] in the pipeline, while the legal drafters also prepared a Chemical Weapons Convention Bill.” (All Africa; 16Sep08; Brigitte Weidlich) http://allafrica.com/stories/200809160720.html
[Department of Homeland Security] give[s] $29 million to NYC for nuke security
“Federal Homeland Security officials are giving $29.5 million to the NYPD to develop a system to prevent a radiological or nuclear attack on New York City. The Department of Homeland Security is announcing the funding Tuesday as part of an experimental effort called Secure the Cities. […] [Rep. Peter] King [NY-R] says the program will put radiological detectors at roads leading into major cities.” (News Day; 16Sep08) http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newyork/ny-bc-ny--nuclearsecurity0916sep16,0,6367582.story
U.S. and Romania agree to equip border crossings to help prevent nuclear smuggling
“The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Romanian Frontier Police (FP) today announced an agreement to coordinate efforts to prevent nuclear smuggling by installing radiation detection equipment at multiple border crossings in Romania. The agreement signed today provides the framework for the two countries to work together to detect illicit shipments of nuclear and other radioactive material. […] The agreement will pave the way for NNSA to work collaboratively with the FP to install modern radiation detection systems at multiple border crossings, airports and seaports in Romania, as well as to provide related training on the use of this equipment.” (Financiarul; 15Sep08) http://www.financiarul.ro/2008/09/15/us-and-romania-agree-to-equip-border-crossings-to-help-prevent-nuclear-smugglins/
Shivraj Patil Stresses need for intelligence sharing between countries
“Union Home Minister, Shri Shivraj V. Patil, inaugurated an International Seminar on Terrorism organised by the Asia Pacific Chapter of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi today. […] The Home Minister also stressed upon putting an end to the open sale of weapons and explosives in some countries and pointed out that training of Police personnel and development of innovative technologies were critical to combating Terrorism and threats from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. […] Stressing on zero tolerance against Terrorism, the National Security Adviser [Shri M.K. Narayanan] emphasized that liberal democracy was the strongest answer to Terrorism.”
(Press Information Bureau, India; 15Sep08)
http://pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=42804
Defence to move to countering terror: [Attorney General] Robert McClelland
“In a speech to be delivered to the annual security in government conference in Canberra yesterday, Mr. McClelland said both the pace of technological change and emerging threats such as climate change pose formidable challenges for national security planners. ‘[…] I think we are seeing a further evolution and broadening of the national security agenda,’ Mr. McClelland said. ‘This is sometimes referred to as the all-hazards approach and is driven by the realisation that threats can come from directions that have not tended to be the focus of traditional national security.’ […] The nature of possible terrorist attacks had become wider and more unpredictable ranging from conventional explosives to radiological or biological weapons. […] Mr. McClelland said Australia needed to invest more in countering extremism in local communities as part of a broad national counter-Terrorism strategy.” (Australian; 16Sep08; Patrick Walters) http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24352261-5013871,00.html
Position paper of the People’s Republic of China at the 63rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly
“China has consistently placed importance on and supported international arms control and disarmament efforts and stood for comprehensive prohibition and thorough destruction of all weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) such as nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. […] China supports the purposes and objectives of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention. China has fully and strictly fulfilled the obligations under the two Conventions, supported the enhancement of their universality, and called on countries that own or possess chemical weapons and countries that have abandoned chemical weapons in other countries to further intensify their work and speed up destruction of chemical weapons.” (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, China; 16Sep08)
http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t512751.htm
CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD Terrorism.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Archive Expert Testifies in Fujimori Trial
For more information contact:
Peter Kornbluh [National Security Archive] - 202/994-7000
Lima, Perú (September 8, 2008) – National Security Archive Senior Analyst Kate Doyle testified yesterday before Peru’s Special Tribunal of the Supreme Court of Justice in the case against former-president Alberto Fujimori. Doyle provided expert testimony, explaining how 21 declassified U.S. documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provide illuminating information on human rights abuses carried out under the Fujimori government (1990-2000)
The 21 documents, produced by the U.S. Embassy in Lima, describe how the Fujimori government tried to hide the involvement of government security forces in human rights crimes. Doyle emphasized that, “over time, and after years of study, the declassified documents produced by the U.S. Embassy reveal that the extra-legal operations were a part of official state policy and not a result rogue elements out of control of the military, police or intelligence services.”
During her testimony before the tribunal Kate explained how the documents reveal evidence of two-sided government strategy in the fight against terrorism, one was public and “the other was secret, a clandestine strategy of aggressively fighting subversion with the use of state-sponsored terrorism. The operations were carried out outside the state’s legal process, without respect for the rule of law or basic human rights.”
The Fujimori trial is yet another case that has benefited from access to declassified U.S. government records. The National Security Archive has provided documents for legal cases in twelve different countries; in Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Rwanda, Italy, and Spain. Archive analysts have provided expert testimony in other human rights cases as well, most recently in the case of the Diario Militar, presented before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in October 2007 (see Kate Doyle’s testimony in previous posting on the Death Squad Dossier).
http://www.nsarchive.org
Peter Kornbluh [National Security Archive] - 202/994-7000
Lima, Perú (September 8, 2008) – National Security Archive Senior Analyst Kate Doyle testified yesterday before Peru’s Special Tribunal of the Supreme Court of Justice in the case against former-president Alberto Fujimori. Doyle provided expert testimony, explaining how 21 declassified U.S. documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) provide illuminating information on human rights abuses carried out under the Fujimori government (1990-2000)
The 21 documents, produced by the U.S. Embassy in Lima, describe how the Fujimori government tried to hide the involvement of government security forces in human rights crimes. Doyle emphasized that, “over time, and after years of study, the declassified documents produced by the U.S. Embassy reveal that the extra-legal operations were a part of official state policy and not a result rogue elements out of control of the military, police or intelligence services.”
During her testimony before the tribunal Kate explained how the documents reveal evidence of two-sided government strategy in the fight against terrorism, one was public and “the other was secret, a clandestine strategy of aggressively fighting subversion with the use of state-sponsored terrorism. The operations were carried out outside the state’s legal process, without respect for the rule of law or basic human rights.”
The Fujimori trial is yet another case that has benefited from access to declassified U.S. government records. The National Security Archive has provided documents for legal cases in twelve different countries; in Mexico, Guatemala, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Argentina, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Indonesia, Rwanda, Italy, and Spain. Archive analysts have provided expert testimony in other human rights cases as well, most recently in the case of the Diario Militar, presented before the Inter-American Human Rights Commission in October 2007 (see Kate Doyle’s testimony in previous posting on the Death Squad Dossier).
http://www.nsarchive.org
CBR Weapons and WMD Terrorism News-September 8, 2008
Alarm as Indonesia thumbs nose at West over bird flu
“With nearly half the world's human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia's refusal to share virus samples and its health minister's increasingly strident denunciations of global ‘conspiracies’. Indonesia stopped sharing the samples with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2006 on fears pharmaceutical companies would use them to make vaccines that are too expensive for poor countries. […] [Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah] Supari told a rapturous crowd at a book discussion last week that rich nations were creating ‘new viruses’ and sending them to developing nations in order create markets for drug companies to sell vaccines. […] Indonesia announced in August that 112 people have died from the virus, out of more than 240 worldwide since late 2003. Only a handful of samples and genetic sequences have been shared with the WHO and researchers.The health ministry also earlier this year stopped publicly announcing bird flu deaths, only releasing information information weeks or months after victims have died.” (Agence France Presse; 07Sep08) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5juk4ocyCNwFV0nHM60p0QXcbVTfw
Former bioweapons workers reunite at Fort Detrick
“Every two or three years since 1992, the personnel of Fort Detrick's old [offensive] biological warfare program have held a reunion, meeting on the post itself since 1994. Saturday, more than 100 gathered in the Community Activities Center, for what some said may be the last time. […] The United States' offensive biological weapons program ended in November 1969, when President Richard M. Nixon signed an executive order outlawing such research. Saturday, interns from Fort Detrick's public affairs office made their way through the room circulating a stack of old pictures, recently discovered in the basement of the post's headquarters building, asking people in the room to provide details […]” (Frederick News Post; 07Sep08) http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1473660
FBI: Anthrax suspect Ivins obsessed with Kappa [a Sorority at Princeton]
“Though investigators have named Bruce Ivins the sole actor in the 2001 anthrax attacks and declared the case solved on Aug. 6, Ivins’ lawyer emphasized that there is no evidence proving Ivins’ alleged obsession with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority led him to Princeton, where anthrax-laced letters were mailed from a Nassau Street mailbox. […] just feet from where the University’s Kappa chapter keeps its rush paraphernalia, initiation robes and other materials.” (Princetonian; 08Sep08; Matt Westmoreland) http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/09/08/21306/
U.S. lawmakers want details of anthrax investigation
“A month after the FBI declared that a U.S. Army scientist was the anthrax killer of 2001, leading members of Congress are demanding more information about the seven-year investigation, saying they do not think that the bureau has proved its case. In a letter sent Friday to Robert Mueller 3rd, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Democratic leaders of the House Judiciary Committee said that ‘important and lingering questions remain that are crucial for you to address, especially since there will never be a trial to examine the facts of the case.’ […] Justice Department officials, who said in early August that the investigation was likely to be closed formally within days or weeks, now say it is likely to remain open for three to six more months.” (International Herald Tribune; 07Sep08; Scott Shane & Eric Lichtblau) http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/07/america/anthrax.php
Kane County [Illinois] Health Dept. to ax 25 workers
“Citing across-the-board budget shortfalls and $300,000 in new costs, Executive Director Paul Kuehnert said the decision to cut nine full-time employees, 16 part-time employees and 13 vacant positions was the best way to fill funding holes. Kuehnert said he recommended the cuts to county board committees, and the board made the final decision. […] He said no health department programs will be eliminated altogether, but all will be scaled back, particularly family case management, a nutrition program for women and children, and public health preparedness -- which includes bioterrorism preparedness funding.” (Courier News; 06Sep08; David
Gialanella)
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/1148370,3_1_EL06_A1LAYOFFS_S1.article
Anthrax study [by San Diego State University] uncovers deadly link
“Researchers are the first to prove that anthrax bacteria has the ability to directly penetrate the blood-brain barrier, a barrier which normally functions to keep dangerous viruses and bacteria from entering the brain. ‘This discovery helps us explain why anthrax exposure is so deadly,’ said SDSU microbiologist and lead researcher Kelly Doran. ‘Toxins secreted by the bacterium interfere with our internal surveillance system, allowing the organism to escape the immune system, and in many cases enter the brain to cause meningitis.’” (SDSU Universe; 05Sep08; Gina Speciale)
http://www.sdsuniverse.info/sdsuniverse/news.aspx?s=164
Pakistan: US missions in Pakistan receive mysterious white powder
“The US Embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and its consulate in Karachi have received two separate envelopes containing unknown white powder [during the] night between Thursday-Friday (4-5 Sept). Talking to The Nation, Louis Fintor, US embassy spokesman, confirmed that the American diplomatic outposts had received suspicious envelopes. Officials, however, declined to comment on the origin of envelopes or to whom they were addressed to.” (Nation, Pakistan; 08Sep08)
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/15986
WWI ship's log shows it dumped munitions off Surf City [North Carolina]
“In February 1919, the USS Elinor traveled the coast from Baltimore to New York, dumping leftover weapons as it moved toward its final destination of Brooklyn, N.Y. […] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says that of the more than 1,100 munitions discovered on the beaches in Surf City following a beach-replenishment project, none was a chemical weapon. […] Richard Albright, author of ‘Cleanup of Chemical and Explosive Munitions,’ […] would not say the items pumped onto Surf City's beaches were from the USS Elinor, but said they either were dumped very close to the shore or washed in from another dump site. The borrow site from which sand was pumped onto the beaches is located 2 miles off the shores of Surf City. […] Albright said he thinks the Elinor could have been traveling right along the shore when dumping shells.’They were dumping 15 miles out in only 100 feet of water. Can some of those things wash in? Sure, when you get storm action, shells can work toward the surface. They were zigzagging up the coast,’ […]” (Press of Atlantic City; 07Sep08; Donna Weaver) http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/183/story/250713.html
General Georges Sada [Delivers speech in Bismark, North Dakota]
“He was one of Saddam Hussein's most trusted advisors in Iraq and Saturday, he was in Bismarck. He defied one of the most notorious dictators in the world and he lived to tell about it. […] Sada was favored by the former Iraqi dictator. The major general believes that […] [enabled him] to persuade the former Iraqi Prime Minister against attacking Israel with chemical weapons. […] Sada now serves as the Iraqi Institute for Peace's executive secretary and as a spokesman for Iraq's prime minister.”
(KXMBTV; 06Sep08)
http://www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=272695
Texas man [Jeffrey Don Detrixhe] pleads guilty, faces life
“A Panhandle man who authorities say tried to sell a 25-gallon drum of cyanide to an FBI informant has pleaded guilty in federal court […] Detrixhe was arrested in southeastern Oklahoma in May. FBI agents taped conversations with an informant in which Detrixhe allegedly offered to sell the cyanide for $10,000, a thermal imager and an assault rifle. […] An indictment accused him of possessing approximately 62 pounds of sodium cyanide, four rifles, two revolvers, a semiautomatic pistol and a shotgun.” (Houston Chronicle; 05Sep08; Source: AP) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5986094.html
Fatah leader: new intifada more horrific
“‘The next intifada will not be one of stones, or even suicide bombers -- it will be one of missiles and possibly even chemical weapons,’ Fatah leader Hussam Khader said in an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper several days after being released from an Israeli prison after six years for a leadership role in the second intifada. […] [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas said May 20 he would resign if current peace talks did not bring about an agreement in principal ‘within six months.’”
(United Press International; 07Sep08)
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/07/Fatah_leader_New_intifada_more_horrific/UPI-29531220815399/
Shura councils committee discusses draft law
“Members of the foreign affairs, defence and national security committee at the Shura council held a meeting here this morning which focused on a draft law banning the production, storage and use of chemical weapons. […] The draft law has been prepared by the wise government in light of the relating UN agreement which was approved by decree by law number 6 of 1997.” (Bahrain News Agency; 07Sep08)
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=72482
NMSU [New Mexico State University] does 'dirty bomb' exercise
“The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center [CEMRC] on July
17 sponsored a Dirty Bomb Full Scale Exercise to ‘train the trainers’ and address first responder preparedness for such a scenario. […] CEMRC partnered on the exercise with NMSU's College of Engineering/Institute for Energy and the Environment. CEMRC and Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training conducted the three-day training that included classroom studies, a tour of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and culminated in the release of a radiological dispersal device exercise. The core participants included the 6th Civil Support Team/Weapons of Mass Destruction consisting of the Texas National Guard, while members of New Mexico's 64th CST/WMD also participated.” (Silver City Sun News; 08Sep08; Source: New Mexico State University)
http://www.scsun-news.com/news/ci_10407191
Terrorists step up efforts to develop 'Dirty' Bomb
“Islamist terrorists have stepped up their efforts to develop a ‘dirty’ bomb for use against Western targets, senior security sources have told the Daily Telegraph. They are exploiting political chaos in Pakistan in an attempt to acquire nuclear material for a ‘spectacular’ attack. At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistan-based terrorists planning a dirty strike against a major European target. […] details have not been made public.” (Daily Telegraph; 08Sep08; Con Coughlin) http://www.nysun.com/foreign/terrorists-step-up-efforts-to-develop-dirty-bomb/85357/
Britain keeps Bulgarian umbrella killing file open
“Britain will continue to probe the 30-year-old ‘umbrella’ killing of Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov despite Sofia's formal closure of the file on the infamous murder, Scotland Yard said. A British MP meanwhile urged Bulgaria where the investigation closes this week when its 30-year statue of limitations expires -to make an exception and keep open the case. […] A team of British police travelled to Bulgaria in May this year to pursue the investigation, and a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the probe would continue regardless of the statute of limitations.” (Brisbane Times; 08Sep08; Source: AFP) http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/britain-keeps-bulgarian-umbrella-killing-file-open/2008/09/08/1220725865328.html
CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD Terrorism.
“With nearly half the world's human bird flu deaths, concern is building over Indonesia's refusal to share virus samples and its health minister's increasingly strident denunciations of global ‘conspiracies’. Indonesia stopped sharing the samples with the World Health Organisation (WHO) in December 2006 on fears pharmaceutical companies would use them to make vaccines that are too expensive for poor countries. […] [Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadilah] Supari told a rapturous crowd at a book discussion last week that rich nations were creating ‘new viruses’ and sending them to developing nations in order create markets for drug companies to sell vaccines. […] Indonesia announced in August that 112 people have died from the virus, out of more than 240 worldwide since late 2003. Only a handful of samples and genetic sequences have been shared with the WHO and researchers.The health ministry also earlier this year stopped publicly announcing bird flu deaths, only releasing information information weeks or months after victims have died.” (Agence France Presse; 07Sep08) http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5juk4ocyCNwFV0nHM60p0QXcbVTfw
Former bioweapons workers reunite at Fort Detrick
“Every two or three years since 1992, the personnel of Fort Detrick's old [offensive] biological warfare program have held a reunion, meeting on the post itself since 1994. Saturday, more than 100 gathered in the Community Activities Center, for what some said may be the last time. […] The United States' offensive biological weapons program ended in November 1969, when President Richard M. Nixon signed an executive order outlawing such research. Saturday, interns from Fort Detrick's public affairs office made their way through the room circulating a stack of old pictures, recently discovered in the basement of the post's headquarters building, asking people in the room to provide details […]” (Frederick News Post; 07Sep08) http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1473660
FBI: Anthrax suspect Ivins obsessed with Kappa [a Sorority at Princeton]
“Though investigators have named Bruce Ivins the sole actor in the 2001 anthrax attacks and declared the case solved on Aug. 6, Ivins’ lawyer emphasized that there is no evidence proving Ivins’ alleged obsession with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority led him to Princeton, where anthrax-laced letters were mailed from a Nassau Street mailbox. […] just feet from where the University’s Kappa chapter keeps its rush paraphernalia, initiation robes and other materials.” (Princetonian; 08Sep08; Matt Westmoreland) http://www.dailyprincetonian.com/2008/09/08/21306/
U.S. lawmakers want details of anthrax investigation
“A month after the FBI declared that a U.S. Army scientist was the anthrax killer of 2001, leading members of Congress are demanding more information about the seven-year investigation, saying they do not think that the bureau has proved its case. In a letter sent Friday to Robert Mueller 3rd, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Democratic leaders of the House Judiciary Committee said that ‘important and lingering questions remain that are crucial for you to address, especially since there will never be a trial to examine the facts of the case.’ […] Justice Department officials, who said in early August that the investigation was likely to be closed formally within days or weeks, now say it is likely to remain open for three to six more months.” (International Herald Tribune; 07Sep08; Scott Shane & Eric Lichtblau) http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/07/america/anthrax.php
Kane County [Illinois] Health Dept. to ax 25 workers
“Citing across-the-board budget shortfalls and $300,000 in new costs, Executive Director Paul Kuehnert said the decision to cut nine full-time employees, 16 part-time employees and 13 vacant positions was the best way to fill funding holes. Kuehnert said he recommended the cuts to county board committees, and the board made the final decision. […] He said no health department programs will be eliminated altogether, but all will be scaled back, particularly family case management, a nutrition program for women and children, and public health preparedness -- which includes bioterrorism preparedness funding.” (Courier News; 06Sep08; David
Gialanella)
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/news/1148370,3_1_EL06_A1LAYOFFS_S1.article
Anthrax study [by San Diego State University] uncovers deadly link
“Researchers are the first to prove that anthrax bacteria has the ability to directly penetrate the blood-brain barrier, a barrier which normally functions to keep dangerous viruses and bacteria from entering the brain. ‘This discovery helps us explain why anthrax exposure is so deadly,’ said SDSU microbiologist and lead researcher Kelly Doran. ‘Toxins secreted by the bacterium interfere with our internal surveillance system, allowing the organism to escape the immune system, and in many cases enter the brain to cause meningitis.’” (SDSU Universe; 05Sep08; Gina Speciale)
http://www.sdsuniverse.info/sdsuniverse/news.aspx?s=164
Pakistan: US missions in Pakistan receive mysterious white powder
“The US Embassy in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, and its consulate in Karachi have received two separate envelopes containing unknown white powder [during the] night between Thursday-Friday (4-5 Sept). Talking to The Nation, Louis Fintor, US embassy spokesman, confirmed that the American diplomatic outposts had received suspicious envelopes. Officials, however, declined to comment on the origin of envelopes or to whom they were addressed to.” (Nation, Pakistan; 08Sep08)
http://www.mysinchew.com/node/15986
WWI ship's log shows it dumped munitions off Surf City [North Carolina]
“In February 1919, the USS Elinor traveled the coast from Baltimore to New York, dumping leftover weapons as it moved toward its final destination of Brooklyn, N.Y. […] The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says that of the more than 1,100 munitions discovered on the beaches in Surf City following a beach-replenishment project, none was a chemical weapon. […] Richard Albright, author of ‘Cleanup of Chemical and Explosive Munitions,’ […] would not say the items pumped onto Surf City's beaches were from the USS Elinor, but said they either were dumped very close to the shore or washed in from another dump site. The borrow site from which sand was pumped onto the beaches is located 2 miles off the shores of Surf City. […] Albright said he thinks the Elinor could have been traveling right along the shore when dumping shells.’They were dumping 15 miles out in only 100 feet of water. Can some of those things wash in? Sure, when you get storm action, shells can work toward the surface. They were zigzagging up the coast,’ […]” (Press of Atlantic City; 07Sep08; Donna Weaver) http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/183/story/250713.html
General Georges Sada [Delivers speech in Bismark, North Dakota]
“He was one of Saddam Hussein's most trusted advisors in Iraq and Saturday, he was in Bismarck. He defied one of the most notorious dictators in the world and he lived to tell about it. […] Sada was favored by the former Iraqi dictator. The major general believes that […] [enabled him] to persuade the former Iraqi Prime Minister against attacking Israel with chemical weapons. […] Sada now serves as the Iraqi Institute for Peace's executive secretary and as a spokesman for Iraq's prime minister.”
(KXMBTV; 06Sep08)
http://www.kxmb.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=272695
Texas man [Jeffrey Don Detrixhe] pleads guilty, faces life
“A Panhandle man who authorities say tried to sell a 25-gallon drum of cyanide to an FBI informant has pleaded guilty in federal court […] Detrixhe was arrested in southeastern Oklahoma in May. FBI agents taped conversations with an informant in which Detrixhe allegedly offered to sell the cyanide for $10,000, a thermal imager and an assault rifle. […] An indictment accused him of possessing approximately 62 pounds of sodium cyanide, four rifles, two revolvers, a semiautomatic pistol and a shotgun.” (Houston Chronicle; 05Sep08; Source: AP) http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5986094.html
Fatah leader: new intifada more horrific
“‘The next intifada will not be one of stones, or even suicide bombers -- it will be one of missiles and possibly even chemical weapons,’ Fatah leader Hussam Khader said in an interview with Israel's Haaretz newspaper several days after being released from an Israeli prison after six years for a leadership role in the second intifada. […] [Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud] Abbas said May 20 he would resign if current peace talks did not bring about an agreement in principal ‘within six months.’”
(United Press International; 07Sep08)
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/09/07/Fatah_leader_New_intifada_more_horrific/UPI-29531220815399/
Shura councils committee discusses draft law
“Members of the foreign affairs, defence and national security committee at the Shura council held a meeting here this morning which focused on a draft law banning the production, storage and use of chemical weapons. […] The draft law has been prepared by the wise government in light of the relating UN agreement which was approved by decree by law number 6 of 1997.” (Bahrain News Agency; 07Sep08)
http://english.bna.bh/?ID=72482
NMSU [New Mexico State University] does 'dirty bomb' exercise
“The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Center [CEMRC] on July
17 sponsored a Dirty Bomb Full Scale Exercise to ‘train the trainers’ and address first responder preparedness for such a scenario. […] CEMRC partnered on the exercise with NMSU's College of Engineering/Institute for Energy and the Environment. CEMRC and Modular Emergency Response Radiological Transportation Training conducted the three-day training that included classroom studies, a tour of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, and culminated in the release of a radiological dispersal device exercise. The core participants included the 6th Civil Support Team/Weapons of Mass Destruction consisting of the Texas National Guard, while members of New Mexico's 64th CST/WMD also participated.” (Silver City Sun News; 08Sep08; Source: New Mexico State University)
http://www.scsun-news.com/news/ci_10407191
Terrorists step up efforts to develop 'Dirty' Bomb
“Islamist terrorists have stepped up their efforts to develop a ‘dirty’ bomb for use against Western targets, senior security sources have told the Daily Telegraph. They are exploiting political chaos in Pakistan in an attempt to acquire nuclear material for a ‘spectacular’ attack. At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistan-based terrorists planning a dirty strike against a major European target. […] details have not been made public.” (Daily Telegraph; 08Sep08; Con Coughlin) http://www.nysun.com/foreign/terrorists-step-up-efforts-to-develop-dirty-bomb/85357/
Britain keeps Bulgarian umbrella killing file open
“Britain will continue to probe the 30-year-old ‘umbrella’ killing of Bulgarian dissident Georgy Markov despite Sofia's formal closure of the file on the infamous murder, Scotland Yard said. A British MP meanwhile urged Bulgaria where the investigation closes this week when its 30-year statue of limitations expires -to make an exception and keep open the case. […] A team of British police travelled to Bulgaria in May this year to pursue the investigation, and a Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the probe would continue regardless of the statute of limitations.” (Brisbane Times; 08Sep08; Source: AFP) http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/world/britain-keeps-bulgarian-umbrella-killing-file-open/2008/09/08/1220725865328.html
CNS ChemBio-WMD Terrorism News is prepared by the Chemical and Biological Weapons Nonproliferation Program of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in order to bring timely and focused information to researchers and policymakers interested in the fields of chemical, biological, and radiological weapons nonproliferation and WMD Terrorism.
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