FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service Announce Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest and Conviction of the Person(s) Responsible for the Recent Mailings of White Powder Letters in the North Texas Area

Kevin F. Kolbye, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Dallas, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Randall C. Till, Inspector in Charge, Fort Worth Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), announce a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest, prosecution, and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the recent mailings of letters containing white powder in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. The reward flyer is posted below.

During the week of May 7, 2012, over 20 letters containing white powder were received by early childhood development centers, elementary schools, and an aerospace-related business. These letters were received in Texas and several other states. The FBI, USPIS, local law enforcement, and local fire department hazardous materials teams responded to each location and field screened the letters for the presence of toxins or poisons. To date, none of the mailings have contained hazardous materials.

Each letter was sent through the U.S. mail and featured a postmark from North Texas. It is highly likely these letters were sent by the same person responsible for mailing over 380 letters, beginning in late 2008, each of which contained a non-hazardous substance. This person has sent letters to elementary, middle, and high schools; day care centers; churches; government offices; U.S. Embassies abroad; restaurants; and other private businesses. A sample letter is posted below.

The author has and continues to reference subjects such as al Qaeda and the Nazi SS, which is believed to have been included for shock value rather than to express any sincere sympathy or affiliation. In a recent letter, he used the terms “Scooby Doo” and “triple dealer spy” and made reference to CIA counterintelligence and FBI internal affairs.

The sender has taken steps to conceal his activities and prevent law enforcement from finding physical evidence of his crimes, including his fingerprints. A flyer announcing the reward along with possible details about the subject has been posted on the Dallas FBI website (www.fbi.gov/dallas) and on the USPIS website (postalinspectors.uspis.gov).

Although mail is screened for toxic substances prior to delivery, the public is reminded to take the following precautions should they open a piece of mail with a powdery substance in it.

1.Leave the immediate area where the powder was spilled but keep yourself separated from individuals who have not been exposed to the powder. Do not attempt to clean up the powder and do not move the letter. Isolate the area where the spill has occurred.

2.Wash hands immediately.

3.Call 911 and advise them of the receipt of the mailing.

4.Remember, all instances of white powder in this matter have tested negative for a toxic substance. The white powder, however, should still be handled with caution until verification of its lack of toxicity is received.

Anyone with information concerning these letters should contact the FBI at 1-800-CALL FBI (1-800-225-5324) or by visiting https://tips.fbi.gov.

Panetta Praises Military Professionals for bin Laden Raid

By Jim Garamone and Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – To most Americans the news that Navy SEALs had killed Osama bin Laden came as a shot from the blue.

But to Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta, the mission was the culmination of years of painstaking intelligence gathering, put to good use by a joint service team.

Panetta spoke about the raid today at the Pentagon. “Just yesterday, the nation marked one year since the operation that successfully took down Osama bin Laden,” he said. “It was a day that I hope Americans take the time to thank the very dedicated intelligence and military professionals who planned and executed that raid that delivered justice to al-Qaida’s leader.”

“We will always be grateful for their service, their sacrifice and their professionalism,” the secretary added.

During a recent trip to South America, Panetta discussed the raid itself. Last year, he was the Director of Central Intelligence monitoring the operation from CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The intelligence professionals with the CIA located the al-Qaida leader’s hiding place in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

Still, it was far from absolute confirmation that the compound held bin Laden. Intelligence analysts used a lot of circumstantial evidence to deduce that the compound held the terror leader.

President Barack Obama made a gutsy call ordering the raid, the secretary said.

The special operations team flew to Abbottabad from Jalalabad, Afghanistan. The compound is 100 miles inside Pakistan from the border. Crossing into Pakistani airspace was just one gut-check moment for U.S. leaders monitoring the operation. “When they crossed the border and were going into Pakistan there were a lot of tense moments about whether or not they would be detected,” Panetta said.

Another “nail-biting moment” came when one of the helicopters carrying the SEALs lost lift upon arriving at the compound and make a hard landing. Panetta was on the phone with Navy Adm. William H. McRaven, then the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command and now commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. McRaven was monitoring communications from Jalalabad.

After the loss of the helicopter, Panetta recalled asking McRaven, “Okay, what’s next?” The admiral, the secretary said, replied, “Don’t worry, we’re ready for this.”

The SEALs entered the three-story building at the heart of the compound and it was 20 minutes before there was any report from the ground. “We knew gunshots had been fired but after that I just didn’t know,” Panetta said.

It was at that point that McRaven reported that he might have heard the code word -- Geronimo -- that would mean they had found bin Laden. “We still were waiting, and then within a few minutes McRaven said the words, ‘Geronimo KIA,’” the secretary said, which meant that bin Laden had been killed in action.

“And that was that,” Panetta said.

But even with the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks dead, there were still tense moments. U.S. officials were concerned about what the Pakistani government would do, and whether the U.S. team could get out of the country without problems. “The moment they crossed the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, we finally knew that the mission had been accomplished,” Panetta said.

With the success of the operation assured, there were no over-the-top celebrations. “We had some special forces people at the operations center at CIA and we all kind of looked at each other,” Panetta said. “As a matter of fact, I have a picture in my office of all of us putting our arms around each other, just [acknowledging that] we got the job done.”

The secretary told members of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency today that the bin Laden operation was a remarkable experience and “one of the greatest memories in 40 years that I’ve been in Washington.

“Having the opportunity to work with the intelligence professionals, to work with Adm. Bill McRaven, to work with the SEALs in that operation was incredible,” Panetta said. “This was because of the professionalism and great dedication involved with that mission. It was the kind of stuff that makes you proud to be an American.”

With the death of bin Laden and many other strikes on the al-Qaida leadership, the terror group is a shadow of its former self, the secretary said. Still, it remains a threat, he said, and the dedicated intelligence and military professionals will continue with this mission.

Obama Announces Strategy to Counter Atrocities

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2012 – President Barack Obama today announced a strategy to strengthen the U.S. government’s ability to foresee, prevent, and respond to genocide and mass atrocities, and extended U.S. troops’ efforts to do just that in Central Africa.

During a visit to the Holocaust Memorial Museum here, Obama said preventing mass atrocities and genocide is a core national security interest and a core moral responsibility for the United States.

“That does not mean that we intervene militarily every time there's an injustice in the world,” the president said. “We cannot and should not. It does mean we possess many tools, diplomatic and political and economic and financial and intelligence and law enforcement, and our moral suasion.”

Obama’s strategy calls for the Defense Department to develop doctrine and increase training and planning efforts emphasizing mass atrocity prevention and response.

Obama announced the creation of the Atrocities Prevention Board, which will include Defense Department representatives as well as those from the departments of State, Treasury, Justice, and Homeland Security; the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, the office of the director of National Intelligence, the CIA, and the office of the vice president, according to White House officials.

The board will help identify and address atrocity threats, and will oversee institutional changes to make the U.S. government “more nimble and effective” is response to such threats, administration officials said.

The strategy also increases diplomatic and intelligence efforts to identify and respond to atrocities, they said.

Obama said the United States over the past three years has helped to counter mass atrocities in Libya, South Sudan and Cote d'Ivoire.

The military mission to help counter the Lord’s Resistance Army, a terrorist group in central Africa led by Joseph Kony, demonstrated how U.S. forces can support national and international efforts to quell atrocities, Obama said.

About a hundred U.S. military advisors, mostly from the Army’s Special Forces, have been working since October with the militaries of Uganda, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to capture or kill Kony and other LRA commanders under an Obama executive order.

When he announced that mission, the president directed the National Security Council to review its progress after 150 days.

Today, Obama said, “I can announce that our advisers will continue their efforts to bring this madman to justice and to save lives. It is part of our regional strategy … to end the scourge that is the LRA and help realize a future where no African child is stolen from their family and no girl is raped and no boy is turned into a child soldier.”

The LRA is composed mostly of kidnapped children forced to execute Kony’s terrorist tactics over the past 20 years, administration officials have said. Tens of thousands of people have been murdered and as many as 1.8 million have been displaced by the LRA, they said.

Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby told reporters today the U.S. advisors in central Africa have had “a significant impact … improving the capabilities of indigenous forces there to put pressure on the LRA.”

The advisors’ role, Kirby emphasized, is training and assistance, not combat. He added that the U.S. assistance is helping.

“We’ve seen indications that [Kony] and his followers are less active and less effective,” he said.

Clinton Discusses Way Forward in Afghanistan, Pakistan

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2011 – The United States has made tremendous progress in Afghanistan, but the work that remains to be done requires cooperation from both Afghanistan and Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the House Foreign Affairs Committee today.

Osama bin Laden and many top al-Qaida terrorists are dead, Clinton said. The terror group has been devastated, she added, and its ability to conduct operations is greatly diminished.

“Many of our successes against al-Qaida would not have been possible without our presence in Afghanistan and close cooperation with Pakistan,” she said.

Clinton just returned from visits to Afghanistan and Pakistan. Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and CIA Director David H. Petraeus accompanied her.

The coalition in Afghanistan still faces a difficult fight, the secretary said, but the surge in coalition troops and the plus-up in Afghan security forces has wrested momentum away from the Taliban.

Afghan forces are assuming more responsibility each day, Clinton said, noting that Afghan President Hamid Karzai soon will announce the next group of areas in the country where Afghan forces will assume security responsibility.

The Afghans undoubtedly have made progress, Clinton said.

“Ten years ago, fewer than a million students enrolled in Afghan schools -- all of them boys,” she said. “Now, more than 7 million [attend school]. Nearly 40 percent of them are girls. Afghans are better positioned to chart their own future.”

The United States cannot let up in the region, Clinton said. “We should build on our momentum, not undercut our progress,” she told the House panel.

Working with Afghan and Pakistani partners is not always easy, Clinton acknowledged. “But these relationships are advancing America’s national security interests,” she added, “and walking away from them would undermine those interests.”

During her talks with Afghan and Pakistani leaders, Clinton said, she emphasized America’s three-track strategy of “fight, talk and build.”

“The chance of success for all three [is] greatly increased by strong cooperation from the Afghan and Pakistani governments,” she said.

Coalition and Afghan forces have increased pressure on the Taliban, the Haqqani network and other insurgents, Clinton said.

“But our commanders on the ground are increasingly concerned … that we have to go after the safe havens across the border in Pakistan,” she said. “So in Islamabad last week, General Dempsey, Director Petraeus and I delivered a single, unified message: Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership must join us in squeezing the Haqqani network from both sides of the border and in closing safe havens.”

The three underscored to the Pakistanis how urgent this is, and “we had detailed and frank conversations about the concrete steps both sides need to take,” Clinton said.

In the second track, the United States is encouraging an Afghan-led peace process, Clinton said. She reiterated that insurgents must renounce violence, abandon al-Qaida and abide by the laws and constitution of Afghanistan to be accepted back into Afghan society.

“If insurgents cannot or will not meet those redlines, they will face continued and unrelenting assault,” she said. “And I want to stress, as I did in Kabul, that the hard-won rights of women and all Afghans cannot be rolled back, and the growth of civil society must be not be quashed.”

Pakistan has a big stake in reconciliation in Afghanistan, Clinton said, and the United States expects Pakistan to encourage the Taliban and other insurgents to participate in an Afghan peace process in good faith through unequivocal public statements and by closing off the safe havens.

The third track, Clinton said, is building capacity and opportunity in Afghanistan, Pakistan and across the region.

“Now, this is part of a clear-eyed strategy rooted in a lesson we have learned over and over again around the world -- lasting stability and security go hand in hand with greater economic opportunity,” she said.

The economic aspects of this track, Clinton said, are crucial for continued progress in security and reconciliation.

“Now, as the transition proceeds and coalition combat forces leave Afghanistan, there need to be realistic hopes for development,” she said. “We are working to achieve greater agricultural productivity, greater exploitation in a way that benefits the Afghanistan people of natural resources, increasing exports and strengthening the financial sector.”

America wants to move from “aid to trade,” the secretary of state said. Therefore, she added, U.S. lawmakers are being asked to pass legislation that will lower tariffs on Pakistani and Afghan products, and the Enterprise Fund, which will not require taxpayer dollars.

Clinton discussed the regional efforts called the New Silk Road.

“It’s not just an economic plan,” she said. “It talks about how we can get these countries that have so many problems with each other to begin cooperating.”

Officials Study Cooperation Among Terrorist Groups

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 14, 2011 – As U.S. and allied forces dismantle the core of al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, intelligence officials are studying the degree to which terrorist splinter groups are working together, Defense Department officials said today.

“They’ll remain a concern,” one of three Defense Department officials told Pentagon reporters during an afternoon background briefing to explain the nature of regionalized, radical Islamist groups that have proliferated in the Middle East and North Africa. “There is an element of defeating the organization … that is separate from the ideological component. You can get them to be operationally incapable, but that doesn’t destroy the idea of al-Qaida.”

Al-Qaida maintains a reduced funding stream, still provides training, and is “intent on transnational attacks,” an official said. “They’ll remain a concern, but these regional nodes are the way of the future.”

In a congressional hearing yesterday, CIA Director David H. Petreaus called al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula “the most dangerous regional node in the global jihad.”

The group has strengthened in Yemen, but so, too, has the national government in its counterterrorism measures, an official in today’s background briefing said. Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula secured a foothold in the southern province of Abyan when a political revolution took hold in the country last spring. The national government, in recent weeks, has refocused its military forces away from domestic turmoil to lead a strong counteroffensive against the terrorist group in Abyan.

“That’s a good sign,” the official said, noting that al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula has plotted sophisticated attacks against the United States. “They’re intent on external operations and brag about it,” he added, noting that an English-language magazine the group publishes contains articles that teach bomb-making skills and encourage terrorism against the United States.

The officials confirmed that terrorist groups also are trying to gain hold in Libya, where the Libyan Transition National Council recently drove Moammar Gadhafi from power. “They’re always looking for a target of opportunity,” one official said.

So far, however, the council has rejected them, the officials said. “It certainly seems that they have gone to great lengths to disassociate themselves,” one official said of the council.

Terrorist groups have expanded in other parts of North Africa, though, including al Shabaab in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria, and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, an Algerian-based group believed to be working with Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan. “We’ve definitely seen the cross-pollination of TTP and AQIM,” an official said.

These groups form temporary alliances, but mostly are focused on their own regional issues and have not formed large mergers, the officials said.

“These groups have more differences in their foundations and ideologies than commonalities,” the senior official said. “But they do make these temporary alliances of convenience, and they have common enemies.”

He said he is optimistic it will stay that way.

“I wouldn’t go down this ‘Legion of Doom’ theory, where they’re all going to sort of join hands,” the senior official said. “The timing doesn’t work for them, and they go back on their own.”

Effort in Afghanistan Undeterred, Official Says

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2011 – An attack near the U.S. Embassy and International Security Assistance Force headquarters in the Afghan capital of Kabul today will not deter the United States from its efforts in Afghanistan, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said here.

“The insurgents will not prevail,” Little told reporters. “Our resolve is unwavering.”

A small group of insurgents attacked near the U.S. Embassy and ISAF headquarters at around 1:30 p.m. local time (5 a.m. EDT), firing from outside the compound using small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, officials said.

Afghan and coalition forces immediately responded to the attack, and still are on the scene. Coalition forces are providing air support.

“The transition [to Afghan responsibility for security] remains on track,” he said. “Our commitment to the people of Afghanistan and to building the capacity of the Afghan National Army, the Afghan National Police and other elements of the Afghan security forces remains steadfast.”

Meanwhile, CIA Director David H. Petraeus offered an update on the attack earlier today in testimony before a joint hearing of the House and Senate intelligence committees.

“I talked to Ambassador [Ryan C.] Crocker a couple of hours ago. … He reported that all embassy members are accounted for, [and] there have been no injuries to any embassy members,” he said.

Four Afghan citizens were injured – “three of those very lightly” -- when a rocket-propelled grenade hit an old chancery building, he said, adding that one girl needed to go to the hospital in the ISAF compound.

In a statement issued three hours after the attack began, officials said no ISAF casualties were reported.

Allen Praises Troops’ Courage, Sets ISAF Priorities

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2011 – Much work remains to secure Afghanistan’s future and eliminate violent extremists, the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan said today in a letter to the men and women of the International Security Assistance Force.

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen addressed the soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and civilians of ISAF, praising their courage under the most challenging conditions and setting out his priorities for unified action.

“It will be my honor to serve with you all,” Allen handwrote at the bottom of the letter, which was posted on ISAF’s website. Allen assumed command today, succeeding Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, who is retiring from the Army and will be the next CIA director.

Allen said his priorities include continuing the relentless pursuit of the enemy and accelerating the work associated with developing and fielding the Afghan national security forces.

“We will accelerate our efforts to protect the population and to attack and degrade insurgent networks,” he wrote. “As we support the overall effort, we will continue to capture and kill the enemy and remove him from the field of battle through reintegration.”

Allen said ISAF will promote opportunities for stabilizing villages and establishing the Afghan local police. Working with civilian partners, he added, ISAF will help to build capacity for governance, economic development and the rule of law.

In the field, the general said, Afghan national security force formations are growing in size and confidence.

“Afghans are fighting for their country, and we must facilitate this everywhere we can,” Allen said, “seeking opportunities for Afghan leadership to step forward in their institutions and in the field.”

Other ISAF priorities include coordinating and cooperating closely with Afghan partners to support the transition to Afghan forces having responsibility for their nation’s security, and staying innovative, agile and responsive as the campaign evolves, Allen wrote.

“When we have completed the work of this campaign, Afghans will be in the lead in security across the country, securing the final phase of transition in 2014,” the general said. “They will be postured not only to prevent the return of extremism and terrorism in Afghanistan, but also to achieve Afghanistan’s long-term security requirements.”

Allen told the troops that “now is the time to be ‘all in’ as we support the prosecution of the campaign, the development and fielding of the [Afghan forces] and the process of transition.”

In addition, being good stewards of the resources nations have entrusted to ISAF to achieve its mission is the responsibility of every ISAF member, Allen wrote.

The general reminded ISAF troops of why they’re in Afghanistan.

“The Afghan people welcomed ISAF and its members into this ancient and historic land 10 years ago,” he wrote, “to help them remove a ruthless and implacable enemy while promoting conditions for a stable and peaceful future.”

Tough days remain ahead, he added, “[but] I take heart in the determination and endurance of the free men and women of the 49 nations of ISAF who stand shoulder to shoulder -- shohna ba shohna -- with our Afghan partners to see this great endeavor through to its successful completion.”