International News

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U.S. Sent Falsely Accused Canadian to Prison in Syria (Washington Post) “Canadian intelligence officials passed false warnings and bad information to American agents about a Muslim Canadian citizen, after which U.S. authorities secretly whisked him to Syria, where he was tortured, a judicial report found Monday,” according to the Washington Post. Canadian “agents who were under pressure to find terrorists after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, falsely labeled an Ottawa computer consultant, Maher Arar, as a dangerous radical. They asked U.S. authorities to” monitor him. “Arar, now 36, was detained by U.S. authorities as he changed planes in New York on Sept. 26, 2002. He was held for questioning for 12 days, then flown by jet to Jordan and driven to Syria. He was beaten, forced to confess to having trained in Afghanistan—where he never has been—and then kept in a coffin-size dungeon for 10 months before he was released.” [View article]

Muslim Anger at Pope Shows Signs of Easing (New York Times) “On Sunday, Pope Benedict said he was ‘very sorry’ for the anger and protests that erupted around the Muslim world since he gave a speech a week ago, citing a medieval text describing Islam as ‘evil and inhuman,’” reports the New York Times. “Several churches were attacked [in] the West Bank and Gaza, and a Catholic nun was killed in Somalia, although it is not certain the slaying came in reaction to the pope’s remarks.” Protestors in Turkey held up signs that told the pope to apologize or cancel his trip there in November, but “President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran suggested [Tuesday] that” the pope “had satisfactorily ‘modified’ his remarks on Islam … many more Muslims echoed the sentiments of the top imam in Rome, who said the pope had ‘stepped back’ from his original comments.” [View article]

Peace Brokers Move to End Hamas’s Isolation (Melbourne, Australia, Age) “Palestinians are hoping for a swift end to their international isolation following a landmark decision by international peace brokers to ease the conditions for contacts and for aid to resume,” reports the Age. “In an apparent setback for Israel, the United States joined the European Union, the United Nations and Russia in endorsing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ efforts to form a unity government including both his own Fatah party and the previously shunned Islamic militant group Hamas.” [View article]

U.S. and Russia Sign Protocol on Plutonium Disposal; Effort to Contain Nuclear Experts Expires (Christian Science Monitor) On September 15, the United States and Russia signed a protocol for resolving liability issues in converting excess weapon-grade plutonium into forms unusable for weapons. The protocol is key to cooperation in converting 34 metric tons each of excess plutonium, enough for more than 16,000 nuclear weapons. Also last week, the U.S.-Russia Working Group on Counterterrorism met in Washington, DC, for its 15th session. But a 1998 U.S.-Russian “partnership to offer new opportunities and skills to destitute Russian nuclear specialists living in remote former-Soviet ‘science cities’” was set to expire today “unless last-minute diplomacy” saved it, reports the Christian Science Monitor. [View protocol press release] [View working group press release] [View Monitor article]

India, Pakistan Agree to Antiterror Cooperation (BBC) “After a near deep freeze in their relations for two months, India and Pakistan’s peace process received a boost after their leaders met in Cuba,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “… the leaders appeared to break fresh ground in their decision to tackle terrorism jointly.” [View article]

Woman Faces Death for Jordan Bombings (Washington Post) “Seven people were sentenced to death Thursday for triple hotel bombings that killed 60 people in Jordan’s capital last November, the country’s deadliest terror attack in recent memory,” reports the Associated Press. “The only defendant in custody was a 35-year-old Iraqi woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, who confessed on Jordanian television shortly after the blasts that she intended to carry out a suicide attack on one of the Western hotels. Six others, including another Iraqi woman, were sentenced in absentia and remain at large.” [View article]

New Deadline for Iran: Early October (Washington Post) “The United States and five partners have decided to set yet another deadline in hopes that Iran will finally agree to terms paving the way for substantive talks on its nuclear program,” reports the Washington Post. The United States, France, Britain, Germany, China and Russia originally “demanded an answer by the end of June. That slipped to July, and then the end of August.… U.S. officials said they believe the deadline of the first week of October is firm, but at least one European diplomat suggested that the possibility of slippage remains.” [View article]

Transatlantic Cooperation in the Fight Against Terrorism “Europe and the United States face different threats, which call for alternate approaches to fighting terrorism,” writes Jeremy Shapiro in a report co-authored with Telmo Baltazar and published by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Furthermore, “the institutional, historical, and political lenses through which both Europe and America view terrorism have profound effects on policy.” The United States and Europe also have “different capabilities. When it comes to the military, intelligence, and diplomatic tools needed to fight terrorism, the United States is far ahead of Europe.” But “cooperation and strategic solidarity are still possible and important.” [View press release]

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National News

U.S. Prisons Breed Islamist Terrorists (Washington Post) “U.S. prisons are becoming major breeding grounds for Islamic terrorists, but state and local authorities are too cash-strapped to prevent or track recruiting, a new report” by George Washington University and the University of Virginia finds, according to the Associated Press. “There aren’t enough legitimately trained Muslim religious leaders to counsel an estimated 9,000 U.S. prison inmates who want Islamic services. That allows Islamist extremists to target their vulnerable prison-mates with distorted versions of the Quran and other Muslim readings that urge radicalization and violence.” [View article]

Is America Safer Since 9/11? (Christian Science Monitor) “The absence of any terrorist attacks against the United States since 9/11 suggests that the reorganizations and reforms of the past five years, as well as increased vigilance, have made the nation safer,” says Melvin A. Goodman, in a commentary in the Christian Science Monitor. Goodman is a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy and was a CIA analyst for 24 years. “… Too much attention has been devoted to the failure to capture Osama bin Laden, and not enough … to the logistical and financial disruption of his organization.” Another achievement: The National Counterterrorism Center “has provided the beginning of a central repository for terrorism information and greater connectivity among all 16 intelligence agencies and their databases.” However, “There is still an inadequate flow of information between federal and state or local intelligence agencies.” [View commentary]

Air Marshals Ousted Over Job Injuries (Washington Times) “The size of the federal air marshal force has been cut in half by on-the-job injuries that have sidelined nearly 2,100 marshals, while squabbling prevents health and safety policies from being implemented, government officials say,” according to the Washington Times. “Marshals say medical staffers are quitting the” force “out of frustration as hundreds develop illnesses related to their heavy flying schedules such as barotrauma, decompression sickness that causes ruptured eardrums and sinus conditions often requiring surgery. They are also developing deep vein thrombosis, a disease attributed to long periods of sitting that causes blood clots, usually in the legs, that could lead to cardiac arrest.… Policies to prevent such injuries or to determine sick leave and light duty for injured marshals are being held up by fights over wording and punctuation, said one air marshal. Others say they were fired for their disability then denied workers’ compensation.” [View article]

Bid to Stockpile Bioterror Drugs Stymied by Setbacks (New York Times) “Project BioShield, a $5.6 billion effort to exploit the country’s top medical and scientific brains and fill an emergency medical cabinet with new drugs and vaccines for a host of threats … has largely failed to deliver,” say critics, according to the New York Times. “So far, only a small fraction of the anticipated remedies are available. Drug companies have waited months, if not years, for government agencies to decide which treatments they want and in what quantities. Unable to attract large pharmaceutical corporations to join the endeavor, the government is instead relying on small start-up companies that often have no proven track record.” The highest priority—“a $900 million push to add a new anthrax vaccine to the stockpile”—“has turned into an ugly battle between two biotech businesses.… Next week, agency officials will meet with industry representatives to discuss a new strategy for Project BioShield.” [View article]

125 Transit Agencies in Emergency Response Program (Metro Magazine) “More than 125 U.S. public transportation agencies and suppliers will participate in the new national Emergency Response and Preparedness Program (ERPP) administered by The American Public Transportation Association,” reports Metro Magazine. “With funding support from the Federal Transit Administration, ERPP will coordinate resources and personnel to assist agencies that are conducting emergency evacuations or are responding to other catastrophic situations. Participating organizations will list available equipment and personnel in a national ERPP database.” [View article]

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State and Local News

Columbine-Style Attack Foiled in Wisconsin (Green Bay [WI] Press Gazette) “Last Thursday, seniors Shawn Sturtz and William Cornell, both 17-year-old seniors” at East High School in Green Bay, “were taken into custody after another student informed authorities the two had been discussing a Columbine-style attack on the school using guns and explosives,” reports the Press Gazette. “Police searched their homes and found firearms, bomb-making materials, improvised explosives, including a gelled-gasoline similar to napalm, camouflage clothing, helmets and gas masks.” [View article]

Massachusetts Drill Tests Dirty-Bomb Response (Boston Globe) “Federal, state, and local agencies [Sunday] staged the largest antiterrorism drill ever in New England, simulating the response to a mock explosion of a radioactive dirty bomb at the CambridgeSide Galleria” mall, reports the Globe. “… The exercise began at 4:30 a.m. with news of an explosion at a home in Everett. Once firefighters put out the ensuing blaze, they discovered bomb-making material and maps, indicating possible terrorist threats to a liquefied natural gas facility in Everett, the [transit authority], and the CambridgeSide Galleria. As Coast Guard cutters converged on the Distrigas LNG facility in Everett, a mock explosion rocked the mall. A short time later, officers discovered two unexploded bombs at the nearby Lechmere [trolley] station.” [View article]

Boston Transit Unions Object to TSA Patrols (Boston Globe) “Three unions representing” Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority “Transit Police officers, sergeants, and lieutenants protested” on September 14 “about federal Transportation Security Administration teams monitoring key [transit] hubs to Logan International Airport, saying … that they oppose working with TSA ‘because of safety, supervisory and legal issues,’” reports the Globe. “This month, a TSA team has been monitoring passengers at” two stations “to cooperate with outside agencies and better train at non-aviation sites. The unions said the program ‘deceives the public’ by insinuating that the TSA employees are police officers.” [View article]

Court Kills Georgia Law Requiring Photo ID for Voters (Washington Post) “A state judge [on Tuesday] rejected a Georgia law requiring voters to show government-issued photo identification,” reports the Washington Post. “… Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. said the law, pushed by Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) to fight voter fraud, violates the state constitution because it disenfranchises citizens who are otherwise qualified to vote.” [View article]

Subway Rescue Drill Under the Potomac (Washington Post) The Washington (DC) Metropolitan Area Transit Authority held its annual disaster drill on Sunday, “using about 120 volunteer ‘victims’ who rode an early morning Orange Line train out of Rosslyn,” Virginia, while “firefighters from the District [of Columbia] and Virginia pulled off their ‘rescue’ in about two hours,” reports the Washington Post. “Metro officials had hoped that by using a ‘rescue train,’ they would extricate the victims in about 45 minutes.” It was Metro’s first disaster drill in an underwater tunnel, and it was intentionally complicated by interrupted communications. [View article]

Vermont Pushes Phone Records Investigation (Rutland [VT] Herald) “State regulators will not back down from investigations into whether phone companies improperly granted government access to their customers’ records, despite arguments from the companies that the inquiries could violate national secrecy rules,” reports the Vermont Press Bureau. “… Two phone companies that operate in Vermont—Verizon and AT&T—allegedly have provided the National Security Agency with access to records of domestic phone calls without going through the proper procedures and systems for doing so.” [View article]

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Federal News

White House Clarifies Claims on Iraq–al-Qaeda Link When President Bush told a press conference on September 25, 2002, that Iraq and al-Qaeda “work in concert,” he was not drawing an operational link between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein, the White House said last week, responding to a September 15, 2006, story in the Washington Post citing a new report by the Senate Intelligence Committee (see last week’s newsletter). The same Post story said that “bin Laden had no Iraq ties,” according to the Senate report. But CIA Director George Tenet did testify in 2003 that Iraq had ties to al-Qaeda, says the White House. He said that al-Qaeda operatives were “operating freely” in Baghdad. [View press release]

DHS Has Difficulty Achieving Cybersecurity but Fills Top Post (Washington Post) The Homeland Security Department “has made progress on its” 13 key cybersecurity responsibilities, according to David A. Powner, Director of Information Technology Management Issues at the Government Accountability Office, testifying on September 13 before the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Economic Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Cybersecurity (Homeland Security Committee). But many DHS “efforts lacked timeframes for completion and the relationships among its various initiatives are not evident.” Until the problems are addressed, “DHS will have difficulty achieving results in its role as the federal focal point for the cybersecurity of critical infrastructures.” GAO also noted that the position of Assistant Secretary of Cyber Security and Telecommunications remained vacant a year after it was created, but on Monday DHS announced that “Greg Garcia, the vice president of information security policy and programs for the Information Technology Association of America, will” fill the job, according to the Washington Post. [View abstract] [View article]

U.S. Will Issue Port Worker Cards but Delay Card Readers (Reuters) “The United States will begin issuing high security biometric identification cards for port workers as planned at the year-end, but the roll-out of card readers will be postponed to next year,” reports Reuters. “… The second phase of the U.S. Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program, which will extend full background checks to all with unescorted access to port facilities and vessels, will more than double the number of checks. This will be effective from the end of this year.” [View article]

Anthrax False Alarms Exposed Mail Security Problems In March 2005, two incidents at Defense Department facilities in the Washington, DC, area exposed problems, according to a Government Accountability Office report to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Although the Defense Department “has made significant progress in addressing the problems,” it has not ensured that its “facilities have adequate mail security plans in place” and “are appropriately using biosafety cabinets for screening mail.” [View abstract]

‘Your Family Needs an Emergency Supply Kit’ The Federal Emergency Management Agency is urging everyone, everywhere to assemble an emergency supply kit and has created a list of recommended supplies. [View press release]

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Dual-Benefit Solutions

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Dual-benefit news archive

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Private-Sector News

Boeing Gets $2.5 Billion Secure Border Contract (Bloomberg; Washington Post) “Boeing Co. won an order worth an estimated $2.5 billion to install sensors and radar to secure the U.S. border, capturing the Homeland Security Department’s second-largest contract,” reports Bloomberg. The contract is part of the Secure Border Initiative Net (SBInet), and “the work will cover northern and southern borders, starting with a model to be deployed in the southwest in the next eight months.” Boeing’s selection “hinges on overcoming obstacles that doomed past efforts, funding shortages and other problems with the country’s immigration controls,” reports the Washington Post. “… Technology and management problems … have derailed similar remote-sensing networks.” Furthermore, “as much as half of the illegal-immigration problem is driven by the hiring of people who enter the United States through official border points but use fraudulent documents or overstay visas.” [View Bloomberg article] [View Post article]

DHS Revokes Security Approval for Capital Exports The Homeland Security Department has revoked the security program approval for Capital Exports, an indirect air carrier in Sterling, VA, because Capital does not meet security standards established by the Transportation Security Administration. Capital repeatedly accepted shipments from undercover TSA inspectors posing as unknown shippers and tendered those shipments for transport on passenger aircraft. Cargo from unknown shippers may not be transported on passenger aircraft. The TSA has prohibited five companies in the past six months from tendering cargo for transport on passenger planes. [View press release]

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Education

The Homeland Security Institute lists these education programs as a service to readers who may be interested; it does not endorse them or their courses.

Online Master’s Degree in Homeland Security (Classes begin monthly; Charles Town, WV) American Military University’s homeland security program covers areas of study such as crisis management, emergencies and disasters, intelligence methods, terrorism, transportation security, and weapons of mass destruction. The university serves more than 15,000 civilian and military students worldwide. It also offers degrees in emergency and disaster management, intelligence, security management, and transportation and logistics management. Register for October classes through September 25. [View course website] Terrorism: Threats, Training, Tactics and Technology (October 23-25, Tacoma, WA) Nationally renowned experts will discuss terrorism, emerging threats, training, tactics, and technology issues. Participants will have the opportunity to explore some of the challenges and gain a comprehensive understanding of issues related to terrorism. [View conference website] Medical Management of Chemical and Biological Casualties (October 29–November 3; Aberdeen and Fort Detrick, MD) The course is conducted jointly by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases; it is designed for physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. Classroom, laboratory, and field instruction focuses on pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of chemical and biological casualties. [View conference website] Mirror Image (November 12-17; Moyock, NC) Mirror Image is an intensive, one-week classroom and field training program, designed to realistically simulate terrorist recruiting, training techniques, and operational tactics. Participants will receive insight into the mindset and rationale of the terrorist through hands-on experience with the methods and means they use, plus education about the ideologies that motivate them and cultural dimensions that influence their decision making. [View course website] Building Security Certified Professional Seminar and Exam (November 27-29; Reston, VA) This is a new multidisciplinary certification program for licensed engineers, architects, landscape architects, certified protection professionals, and physical security professionals. This seminar, sponsored by the Building Security Council, offers 13 professional development hours and is intended to prepare candidates by addressing all seven domains that the examination will cover: project process, risk assessment, site considerations, building envelope, interior space, facility operations, and rating system. The first administration of the three-hour test will take place on the third day. [View seminar website] Aircrew Member Self-Defense Training (Summer and fall; various locations) This program, provided by the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Air Marshals, is available to any actively employed flight or cabin crew member. In the first part of the program, the crew member receives and reviews a self-paced, interactive DVD and student manual with basic self-defense concepts and techniques. After a review and a short written assessment, the crew member attends one day of hands-on training at a participating community college. [View conference website] Hospital Management of Chemical, Biological, Radiological/Nuclear and Explosive Incidents (January 8-12, 2007; Aberdeen, MD) The course, hosted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense and the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, instructs civilian healthcare professionals in planning for and managing multicasualty incidents resulting from such terrorist attacks. [View conference website] Associate’s Degree in Homeland Security (East Hartford, CT) Goodwin College’s associate program in homeland security combines classroom instruction with hands-on experience to prepare students for new or continuing careers in law enforcement, fire service, private security, computer security, and public safety organizations. For more information, call (800) 889-3282. [View website]

Upcoming Events

September 25-26; Austin, TX: Border Trade Alliance 2006 International Conference

September 28-29; Washington, DC: Descartes Conference on Mathematical Models in Counterterrorism

October 1-9; Las Vegas: SANS Network Security 2006

October 2-5; Colorado Springs, CO: Homeland Defense Symposium

October 26; London: Global Security Challenge

October 25-27; New York: Environmental Sampling and Detection for Bio-Threat Agents

December 3-6; Baltimore: Society for Risk Analysis

February 6-7; Washington, DC: Homeland Security: The Ripple Effect

June 5-8, 2007; Trogir, Croatia: The 14th TIEMS (International Emergency Management Society) International Conference

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