International News

Note: More and more news sites require free one-time registration. We wish we could avoid this inconvenience to readers who want to see the full articles. We do not intentionally link to any that require a paid subscription.

Al-Sadr: Most Dangerous Man in Iraq (Newsweek; CNN) “Moqtada al-Sadr … is a unique force in Iraq: a leader from the majority Shiites who has resisted American occupation from the start,” reports Newsweek. “He’s a populist, a nationalist and an Islamic radical rolled into one.… Large numbers of impoverished Shiites view Sadr as their guardian—the one leader who is willing not just to stand up for them but to strike back on their behalf.… he has the means to wage political or actual war against any solution that is not precisely to his liking.” On Wednesday, “members of the Iraqi parliament loyal to al-Sadr” said “they would stop participating in” the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, reports CNN. [View Newsweek article] [View CNN article]

Pakistani Member of Parliament Admits Terrorist Link (Australian) “Major Tanvir Hussain, speaking in a national assembly debate” in India “on the controversial attack by Pakistan’s armed forces on a madrassa religious school in the Bajaur agency, said: ‘I want to inform this house that I, too, have been a member of this Lashkar-e-Toiba organization,’” reports the Australian, citing the Asian Age. “The incendiary admission” could be “devastating for the modest progress on improved bilateral relations” between India and Pakistan. [View article]

Al-Qaeda Detainee Helped Nab Padilla (MSNBC) Abu Zubaydah, “a senior al-Qaida member, held for years at an undisclosed overseas CIA prison, was a key source of information that led investigators to alleged terror operative Jose Padilla,” reports the Associated Press. Zubaydah and “a second Guantanamo Bay detainee,” Binyam Muhammad, “provided information for a material witness warrant used to arrest Padilla in 2002.” Padilla, a “U.S. citizen, is scheduled for trial Jan. 22 with two others on charges they were part of a North American terrorism support cell that provided money, supplies and recruits to Muslim extremist causes … Padilla was held without charges for 3½ years as an enemy combatant.” [View article]

Spain’s Operation Suez Reveals al-Qaeda Support Rings in Europe (Terrorism Focus) “On November 7, agents of the Spanish National Police in Madrid” as part of Operation Suez “arrested four men because of their involvement in a document falsification ring that had, as its primary mission, the objective of providing documentation cover to ‘mujahideen’ leaving Iraq and trying to enter Spain and other European countries,” reports Terrorism Focus. The ring “illustrates the extent to which al-Qaeda satellite support rings have established themselves in Europe. This cell went undetected for two years.” [View article]

Shining Path Seeks Truce (BBC) “Comrade Artemio, the last remaining leader of the” Shining Path guerrilla group that “terrorised Peruvians in the 1980s and ’90s, said he was prepared to call a truce with the government of Peru in return for a political settlement and a general amnesty,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. “However, the government is unlikely to respond favourably.” [View article]

African and European Unions Confer on Migration (Magharebia) “The first African Union-EU migration conference” November 22-23 in Tripoli adopted “a joint declaration on migration and development,” according to Magharebia, a U.S. Defense Dept. website. “… African and European states agreed to promote human resource development, strengthen educational systems and work out supporting programmes to foster mobility and temporary return of members of the Diasporas. ‘Immigration is not a problem of security. It’s a problem of eradicating its root causes—poverty, armed conflict and unemployment,’ EU Justice, Freedom and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said.” [View article]

Germany Investigates Six in Airplane Plot (MSNBC) “At least six people are under investigation in an alleged terrorist plot to blow up a commercial aircraft,” reports the Associated Press. “… Several of the accused last summer approached a person with security clearance at an unidentified airport” and asked whether “he or she was prepared to load a case or bag containing explosives onto a plane in an exchange for an unspecified payment … Prosecutors said [that] others are suspected of involvement.” [View article]

Qatar on Guard for Asian Games (Yahoo! News) Qatar “is taking no chances with security at the Asian Games,” which begin today and last two weeks, reports Agence France-Presse. “Games security chief Lieutenant Colonel Khalid Al Ansari … denied there had been any specific threats. ‘A Games security taskforce has been set up with more than 6,000 personnel’ [he said].… Forty-five countries”—including North Korea, Iran, and, for the first time, Iraq—“will compete in 39 sports.” [View article]

Israel Is Developing a Lethal Robot Hornet (Australian) “Israel is using nanotechnology to try to create a robot no bigger than a hornet that would be able to chase, photograph and kill its targets …” reports Reuters. “The flying robot, nicknamed the ‘bionic hornet’, would be able to navigate its way down narrow alleyways to target otherwise unreachable enemies such as rocket launchers … Prototypes for the new weapons are expected within three years.” [View article]

The West Is Fighting Terrorism Properly Now, Blair Says (Reuters AlertNet) “Western allies in Iraq and Afghanistan are now giving more weight to reconstruction and wider political issues alongside military force to fight their war on terrorism ‘properly’, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on” November 19, reports Reuters. “Blair … announced a doubling of British aid [to Pakistan], some of it to boost Pakistan’s moderate Muslim schools to counter Islamic extremism.” [View article]

Afghan Insurgency Threatens U.S. Antidrug Drive (Pakistan Daily Times) “Afghanistan’s worsening security situation threatens to derail a US anti-drug programme, a congressional study said [on November 15], predicting at least a decade to stem the scourge,” reports Agence France-Presse. “The report by the Government Accountability Office … said ‘the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan threatens the success of the US counternarcotics goal of significantly reducing illicit drug cultivation, production, and trafficking.’” [View article] [View GAO abstract]

Narco-Terrorism Rampant in Mindanao, Philippines (Adnkronos Intl.) “Both the United States and Filipino authorities have linked local terror groups in the conflict-stricken southern island of Mindanao to illegal drug trading in [the] Southeast Asian region,” reports Adnkronos International. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency “said this illegal activity is the new strategy of the lawless groups in this region to raise money to fund their terrorist activities.” The Maritime Interdiction Coordinating Center is “now monitoring in the Muslim provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi where the narco-terrorism activities are rampant. The three provinces are considered the strongholds of local terror group Abu Sayyaf.” [View article]

Nepal Reaches Peace Agreement With Maoist Rebels (Yahoo! News) “The government and rebels signed a peace deal [November 21] to end a decade-long insurgency, paving the way for the guerrillas to join Nepal’s interim government,” reports the Associated Press. But “Nepal’s Maoist rebels will remain on the United States’ list of foreign terrorist organisations until they give up their weapons,” reports Agence France-Presse. [View AP article] [View AFP article]

United Liberation Front of Assam Has Trouble Recruiting (Times of India) “Unable to recruit young people from Assam [a state in India] for its operations, the banned” United Liberation Front of Assam is “recruiting poor Bangladeshi youths into its ranks for acts of terrorism,” reports the Press Trust of India. Its “army wing Paresh Barua is known to have visited Pakistan” seeking recruits there too. [View article]

Nigeria Intercepts Explosives at Airport (Melbourne, Australia, Age) “Nigerian authorities have intercepted explosives being smuggled onto a domestic flight in an unaccompanied suitcase,” reports Reuters. “… five golden canisters disguised as microphones were found on” November 18. [View article]

More Explosives Seized in Egypt (Yahoo! News) “More than two tonnes of explosives have been uncovered in Egypt’s northern Sinai peninsula,” reports Agence France-Presse. “Large amounts of weapons were also found, including automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades,” a “security source” said. Other caches of explosives were found in November and October (see the November 10 newsletter). [View article]

Iran Offers UN Inspection of Nuclear Program (New York Times) “Iran has agreed to crack open the books on its uranium enrichment activities,” reports the Associated Press. It offered to “provide access to the operating records of its pilot uranium enrichment plant” and “allow U.N. inspectors to take more samples from a facility that had yielded suspicious traces of enriched uranium” (see the November 17 newsletter). [View article]

Is Iran Trying to Build a Nuclear Bomb? (New Yorker) “A highly classified draft assessment by the C.I.A. … found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear-weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency,” and “the C.I.A. assessment raised the possibility that an American attack on Iran could end up serving as a rallying point to unite Sunni and Shiite populations,” reports Seymour M. Hersh in the New Yorker. Yet “intelligence from Israeli spies operating inside Iran claimed that Iran has developed and tested a trigger device for a nuclear bomb.” The information was “buttressed by … ‘measuring and signature’ intelligence.” [View article] [View Focus on Iran’s Nuclear Program]

Iraq Insurgency Has Funds to Sustain Itself (New York Times) “The insurgency in Iraq is now self-sustaining financially, raising tens of millions of dollars a year from oil smuggling, kidnapping, counterfeiting, connivance by corrupt Islamic charities and other crimes that the Iraqi government and its American patrons have been largely unable to prevent, a classified United States government report has concluded,” according to the New York Times. The report “estimates that groups responsible for many insurgent and terrorist attacks are raising $70 million to $200 million a year from illegal activities.” [View article]

Accused British Landmark Bomber Tortured Into False Confession? (Reuters AlertNet) Salahuddin Amin, a British Muslim, “falsely confessed to planning to bomb several high-profile English landmarks after being tortured and subjected to degrading conditions in Pakistan, his defence lawyer,” Patrick O’Connor, said on November 21, reports Reuters. “Amin is one of seven British Muslims accused of planning to make explosives out of ammonium nitrate fertiliser to bomb pubs, clubs, trains, a shopping centre and synagogues.” [View article]

Detainees Riot at British Immigration Center (London Times) “Immigration detainees went on the rampage” Tuesday at “Britain’s largest removal centre,” causing “24 hours of havoc and protest,” reports the London Times. “They lit fires, setting off the sprinkler system, and took over all four wings of the privately-run Harmondsworth Immigration Detention Centre near Heathrow.… Harmondsworth, run by United Kingdom Detention Services, holds immigration detainees including asylum seekers whose applications are being considered under fast-track procedures.” [View article]

New Book Details an Al-Qaeda Spy’s Life (London Times) “Al-Qaeda trained Omar Nasiri in its Afghan terror camps as a bomber and sent him to London,” reports the London Times. “Unknown to them he was also working for western intelligence.” In his new book, Inside the Global Jihad, Nasiri “reveals his life as a double agent operating at the very edge of the law.” [View article]

Japan Has Only Half the Tamiflu Needed in a Pandemic (Tokyo Asahi Shimbun) “Japan is so woefully underprepared to handle a possible human pandemic from avian flu that health experts fear selective prescriptions of the Tamiflu anti-viral drug would become inevitable,” reports the Asahi Shimbun. “They note that the government is only halfway to its target of Tamiflu stocks for 25 million people in fiscal 2006-2007. That means that half of the patients cannot be treated with Tamiflu if there is a particularly deadly outbreak of influenza this winter.” [View article]

Return to the top

United Nations News

Private Sector Can Contribute in Global Efforts to Counter Terrorism Businesses, which are at times the target of terrorist attacks, can also contribute to global efforts to combat the scourge, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday. In a message to the Global Forum for Anti-Terrorism Partnership between Government and Business held in Moscow, Mr. Annan noted that the recently adopted United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy encourages the world body to reach out to the private sector as part of its efforts, in particular with respect to port, maritime and civil aviation security. [View press release] [View Annan message]

UN Says $1.5 Billion Is Needed to Combat Avian Flu for Next Three Years The International Conference on Avian Influenza to be held in Bamako, Mali, December 6 to 8 will seek $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion to further advance world efforts to counter the threat of the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus over the next two to three years, David Nabarro, United Nations System Avian Influenza Coordinator, said on Tuesday. Focusing on the needs of Africa, the longer-term needs of Asia and the Middle East, as well as the continuing requirements of the international system, the event would have “a strong Africa focus,” he said, adding that it would also address the continued needs of Asian countries. The biannual take-stock meeting in Bamako—organized by the African Union, the European Commission and the Government of Mali—will assess the current situation, world preparedness for a possible pandemic, and the role of the United Nations system in that regard. [View press release]

Return to the top

National News

6 Imams Removed From Flight for ‘Suspicious’ Behavior (New York Times; Washington Times) “Six Muslim religious leaders were taken off a US Airways flight in Minneapolis on [November 20] and detained for several hours after some passengers and crew members complained of behavior they deemed suspicious, including prayers at the gate,” reports the New York Times. However, “passengers and flight attendants [also] told law-enforcement officials the imams switched from their assigned seats” and took “two in the front row first-class, two in the middle of the plane on the exit aisle and two in the rear of the cabin,” reports the Washington Times. “‘That would alarm me,’ said a federal air marshal … ‘They now control all of the entry and exit routes to the plane.’” Also, “Three of the men asked for seat-belt extenders,” but “rather than attach the extensions, the men placed the straps and buckles on the cabin floor.” [View NY Times article] [View Wash. Times article]

Air Marshals Removed From Flight (United Press Intl.) Federal Air Marshals “were removed from US Airways Express Flight 3464 flight leaving Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Nov. 8 for Connecticut, The Washington Times reported,” according to United Press International. “After being seated on the plane, the marshals were reportedly called to the jet bridge where a gate agent demanded paperwork intended for off-duty law enforcement agents carrying weapons. The marshals returned to their seats after telling the gate agent they were on mission status and the paperwork was not applicable … officers from the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority ordered the marshals to exit the plane and even officials at Homeland Security could not persuade the airline to let them reboard.” [View article]

Chertoff Says U.S. Is Threatened by International Law (Reuters AlertNet) Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff on November 17 “said the European Union, the United Nations and other international entities increasingly are using international law to challenge U.S. powers to reject treaties and protect itself from attack,” reports Reuters. “‘International law is being used as a rhetorical weapon against us,’” he said. [View article]

Pentagon Plans to Build Compound for Terror Trials at Guantánamo (Miami Herald) “The Pentagon wants to build a compound costing up to $125 million for upcoming war crimes trials at Guantánamo,” reports the Miami Herald. “The proposal has yet to be presented to Congress, which must OK funding.” [View article]

Lawyer Falsely Jailed for Bombing Wins $2 Million (Australian) Brandon Mayfield—a “lawyer mistakenly arrested by the FBI for alleged involvement in the deadly 2004 train bombings in Spain”—“has been awarded” $2 million, reports Agence France-Presse. “his fingerprints were ‘initially identified’ by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as being found on the bag holding detonating devices that Spanish authorities found after the Madrid bombings.… ‘I personally was subject to lockdown, strip searches, sleep deprivation, unsanitary living conditions, shackles and chains, threats, physical pain and humiliation,’” said the former U.S. Army lieutenant. [View article]

Muslim Student Acquitted in 9/11 Perjury Case (MSNBC) “A foreign student”—Osama Awadallah—“who was swept up in an FBI dragnet after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was acquitted [on November 17] of lying to a grand jury to obscure his connections to two of the hijackers,” reports the Associated Press. “… Investigators concluded that Awadallah had known two of the hijackers in San Diego, where he attends college, but only as acquaintances.” After a mistrial, “jurors in his retrial … acquitted him”; some “were appalled at the way Awadallah was treated by the government, and believed the statements he made during his grand jury session were prompted by fear and confusion.” Awadallah “was arrested 10 days after the attacks. After he was detained as a material witness, he was held in solitary confinement, subjected to strip searches and kept from communicating with his family. He also claimed he was beaten by guards.” [View article]

German Held by CIA Sues for Apology (Voice of America) Khaled el-Masri, “a German man who was detained in Macedonia and who says he was tortured while in CIA custody, is in Washington seeking support for his campaign to obtain an explanation and an apology from the U.S. government,” reports the Voice of America. He “was detained on the last day of 2003 while on vacation in Macedonia. He was then flown to a prison in Afghanistan. During his five months there, he says he was shackled, beaten, kept in solitary confinement and injected with drugs.” [View article]

Dozens of Tunnels Breach U.S.-Mexico Border (Seattle Times) “Authorities have discovered dozens of illegal tunnels” along the U.S.-Mexico border “in recent years,” reports the Los Angeles Times. “Illegal immigrants have breached drainage systems all the way along the border, from El Paso, Texas, to San Diego.” [View article]

Nuclear Plant Security Info Publicly Available (MSNBC) After 9/11, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission compiled “a list of sensitive documents to be pulled from public collections,” reports NBC News. The documents described what might happen if an airplane were to crash into a nuclear plant, how long it would “take terrorists to penetrate security barriers,” and “the most vulnerable parts of a nuclear plant.” But in 2002, the agency decided “not to pull the information, so the request, and that list, were never passed on to libraries. The documents were never removed.” NBC reporters “were able to obtain documents from that very list at all four libraries [they] visited, and federal investigators were able to find sensitive security documents at all 25 libraries they visited.… Dave Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, was recently able to buy an entire set of NRC’s document collection from a public library.” [View article]

U.S. Orders $200 Million in Bird Flu Vaccine (MSNBC) The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded contracts “for $200 million more worth of vaccines against the H5N1 avian flu virus to three drug makers”—Sanofi Pasteur, Novartis, and GlaxoSmithKline—reports Reuters. This would buy “enough doses to cover 2.7 million people.” The new order “will add to the existing stockpile of 5.9 million doses … HHS eventually plans to buy and stockpile enough vaccine for 20 million people.… Any stockpiled H5N1 vaccine would not perfectly match whatever new strain emerges, but studies suggest it might help.” [View article] [View Focus on Avian Influenza]

More Colleges Offering Homeland Security Courses (Government Executive) “Colleges and universities increasingly are offering homeland security courses, as higher education is coming to accept the new subject area but perhaps not fully embrace it as a distinct discipline,” reports Government Executive. “… State and local emergency responders and homeland security officials are the primary applicants.” [View article]

Return to the top

DHS News

DHS Tells GAO It Has No Programs at Risk of Improper Payments (Government Executive) “Some financially troubled agencies”—including the Homeland Security Department—“reported few or no risk-susceptible programs, [the Government Accountability Office has] found,” according to Government Executive. “… GAO reviewers noted that in the DHS fiscal 2005 audit, the agency was cited for noncompliance with its statutory improper payment obligations, primarily because of inadequate risk assessments. Among the DHS programs known to be problematic is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Individuals and Households Program, which issued payments in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. In a separate June report, GAO estimated the program’s hurricane-related improper payments at about $1 billion as of February 2006.” [View article] [View GAO abstract]

DHS Consultants Uncover Contracting Problems (Washington Post) “Private consultants hired by the Department of Homeland Security have found widespread problems with its contracting operation, including nearly three dozen contract files that could not be located,” reports the Washington Post. “Files that could be found often lacked basic documentation required under federal rules, such as evidence that the department negotiated the best prices for taxpayers.” [View article]

111,000 Citizenship and Immigration Files Missing (Washington Post) “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has lost track of 111,000 files in 14 of the agency’s busiest district offices and processed as many as 30,000 citizenship applications last year without the necessary files,” reports the Washington Post, citing a new report by the Government Accountability Office. “… The $1.8 billion agency handled 7.5 million applications for immigration benefits in 2005 but relies on paper files.” [View Post article] [View GAO abstract]

Grants Will Fund Interoperable Emergency Communications in 46 Cities (Government Computer News) Forty-six “U.S. cities should have interoperable communications in place for first responders by the end of 2007,” Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said Tuesday at the National Grants and Training Conference in Washington, DC, according to Government Computer News. “All 50 states should aim to have interoperable systems for public safety by the end of 2008, Chertoff said.… Disparate radio systems prevent that from happening in most communities.” [View article]

DHS Issues Two-Year Privacy Report (InformationWeek) “The Department of Homeland Security released its long overdue annual privacy report last week,” reports InformationWeek. “The annual report covers two years” and “discusses airline security and airline watch lists, border security and identification requirements, information sharing between departments, the use of biometrics, data mining, and the Real ID Act.” [View article] [View report]

Return to the top

Other Federal News

Judge Strikes Down Presidential Designation of Terrorist Groups (Yahoo! News) U.S. District Judge Audrey Collins on Tuesday “struck down President Bush’s authority to designate groups as terrorists, saying his post-Sept. 11 executive order was unconstitutionally vague …” reports the Associated Press. “‘This law gave the president unfettered authority to create blacklists,’ said David Cole” of the Center for Constitutional Rights. The case involved the Tamil Liberation Tigers and the Turkish Partiya Karkeran Kurdistan. “Collins enjoined the government from blocking the assets of the two groups.” [View article]

Two New Web-Based Incident Command System Review Courses First responders can take two new Incident Command System review courses online through the National Emergency Training Center Virtual Campus. These scenario-based courses review fundamental concepts and principles for the student prepared to take intermediate or advanced Incident Command System training or for those who need a refresher. [View press release]

DHS and FBI Work to Bridge Trust Gap With American Muslims (Christian Science Monitor) “Across the country in conference rooms … as well as in local cafes and community meeting halls, officials of the Department of Homeland Security” and the Federal Bureau of Investigation “are reaching out to Muslim-Americans in an attempt to bridge the huge gap of mistrust that developed on both sides after 9/11,” reports the Christian Science Monitor. “… homeland-security experts and Arab- and Muslim-American leaders believe such outreach is crucial to maintaining the nation’s security and strengthening its social fabric.” [View article]

Schools Getting Rid of Radioactive Materials (CNN) “Nationally, the U.S. Department of Energy has collected radioactive materials from more than 10,000 sites, mostly in schools and businesses, since 1999,” reports the Associated Press. “School labs have used low-level radioactive materials safely for decades … But as teachers retire and containers get shoved aside to make way for new samples, it’s easy for schools to lose track of what they’ve got, or to store them incorrectly.” [View article]

Return to the top

State and Local News

Wal-Mart Bombed in Maine (Chicago Tribune) “Two teenage boys have been charged with setting off two homemade bombs inside a Wal-Mart filled with holiday shoppers” in Skowhegan, reports the Chicago Tribune. “Hundreds of customers were evacuated from the store when the acid bombs detonated Saturday afternoon. At least eight people were treated.” [View article]

Earthquake-Tsunami Hoax Alarms Hawaiians (Honolulu Advertiser) “A hoax about a pending earthquake and tsunami triggered a storm of calls [Sunday] to civil defense, police and news organizations, and sent hundreds of Leeward O’ahu residents rushing for gas and supplies,” reports the Honolulu Advertiser. “‘It appears to have been orchestrated and malicious,’ state Civil Defense spokesman Ray Lovell said.” [View article]

Return to the top

Dual-Benefit Solutions

Bees Trained to Sniff Explosives (CNN) Researchers in the Stealthy Insect Sensor Project at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico “say they have trained bees to sniff out explosives in a project they say could have far-reaching applications for U.S. homeland security and the Iraq war,” reports Reuters. “… researchers said they trained bees to recognize substances ranging from dynamite and C-4 plastic explosives to the Howitzer propellant grains used in improvised explosive devices in Iraq.” [View article]

Dual-benefit news archive

Return to the top

Private-Sector News

Australian Wheat Board Escapes Terror-Funding Charge (Sydney [Australia] Morning Herald) The Australian Wheat Board “has escaped possible terrorism-related charges arising from” an “Iraqi kickbacks scandal,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald. An inquiry “found that while the board knowingly paid millions of dollars worth of kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s regime, there was no evidence to suggest the wheat exporter… ‘was aware of a substantial risk that funds it provided to Iraq might be used to facilitate or engage [in] a terrorist act.’” However, “criminal and corporate offences will be considered against 12 executives” in “the oil-for-food scandal,” reports the Morning Herald in a separate story, and now Prime Minister John Howard will stick the Wheat Board’s head “on a pole and dance,” says pundit Peter Hartcher. [View article on terror charge] [View article on criminal charges] [View Hartcher commentary]

Return to the top

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. New education listings are posted for four weeks.

Mirror Image (December 10-15 and January 14-19; 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]

Upcoming Events

New Events (After four weeks, new events will be moved to the list below, in chronological order) 2007 Railway Security Forum & Expo (January 22-23; Arlington, VA) The forum will address best practices, passenger screening, fusion centers, security standardization, tunnel operations, container security, tracking and tracing technology, hazmat security, and more. The expo will feature security technology providers. [View conference website] Maritime & Port Security 2007 (January 22-23; Arlington, VA) The conference, held in conjunction with the Railway Security Forum & Expo, will look at the SAFE Port Act, new international requirements, and other issues. It will feature presentations by industry professionals with practical experience in today’s maritime and port security environment. [View conference website] Cyber Security Challenges and Solutions (January 30; Washington, DC) This forum sponsored by the Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection is an opportunity for experts from different constituencies to develop a mutual understanding of vulnerabilities across sectors and to increase awareness of risks. Participants will discuss current cyber-security vulnerabilities, threats, and challenges, see demonstrated approaches and solutions to real-world process control systems and economic security challenges facing our country, and hear about future I3P research initiatives. [View conference website] Homeland Security Innovation Conference (February 21–23; Charleston, SC) This third annual conference showcases the Charleston area as a model community for public-private partnerships, technological advances, and business opportunities for homeland security and business continuity planning. A pre-conference day of behind-the-scenes VIP tours is followed by two days of expert presentations, political leaders’ reports, product exhibits, and networking opportunities. For more information: Jill Galmarini, (843) 805-3015 or jgalmarini@charlestonchamber.org. [View conference website] Sayres Response 2 Terrorism (April 11-12; San Pedro, CA) An intensive conference, featuring an international roster of distinguished counter-terrorism professionals with special focus on the asymmetric maritime threat. For conference reservations, logistics, and more information: Linda Grimes, (310) 732-0010, or Linda.Grimes@sayresandassociates.com. [View conference website]

December 3-6; Baltimore: Society for Risk Analysis

December 12; Cincinnati: First Joint Critical Infrastructure Protection Conference

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

Return to the top

Calls for Papers

New Calls for Papers Cascading Infrastructure Failures: Avoidance and Response (May 16, 2007; Washington, DC) The Spring Research Symposium, sponsored by the Institute for Infrastructure and Information Assurance, welcomes papers on “Facility/System Real-World Cascading Failure Case Studies,” “Multiple-Hazards and Vulnerable Intersections,” “Infrastructure Interdependency Assessment and Modeling,” and “Cascading Failure Solutions.” The deadline for submitting abstracts is December 8. [View conference website]

Return to the top