|
National News
Iraq Study Commission Issues Report (New York Times) The bipartisan Iraq Study Group report issued Wednesday warned “that ‘the situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating,’ and it handed President Bush both a rebuke for his current strategy and a detailed blueprint for a fundamentally different approach, including the pullback of all American combat brigades over the next 15 months,” reports the New York Times. The report’s “79 specific recommendations … included a call for direct engagement with Syria and Iran as part of a ‘new diplomatic offensive,’ jump-starting the Israeli-Palestinian peace effort, and a clear declaration that the United States would reduce its support to Iraq unless Baghdad made ‘substantial progress’ on reconciliation and security.”
[View article] [View report]
U.S. Rates Travelers for Terror Risk
(BusinessWeek; Government Executive)
For the past four years “virtually every person entering and leaving the United States by air, sea or land [has been] scored by the Homeland Security Department’s Automated Targeting System, or ATS,” rating “the risk that the travelers are terrorists or criminals,” reports the Associated Press. (See the Nov. 17 newsletter.) “The scores are based on ATS’ analysis of their travel records and other data, including items such as where they are from, how they paid for tickets, their motor vehicle records, past one-way travel, seating preference and what kind of meal they ordered.” They “are not allowed to see or directly challenge these risk assessments, which the government intends to keep on file for 40 years.… some or all of the ATS data about an individual may be shared with state, local and foreign governments for use in hiring decisions and in granting licenses, security clearances, contracts or other benefits. In some cases, the data may be shared with courts, Congress and even private contractors.” DHS has extended the deadline for public comments on the program to December 29, reports Government Executive.
[View BusinessWeek article] [View Gov. Exec. article]
Lawyers Demand Release of Chinese Muslims
(Washington Post)
“Attorneys for a group of Chinese Muslims held for nearly five years in the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, … argue that their seven clients—ethnic Uighurs … have never taken up arms against the United States or its allies,” reports the Washington Post. “They contend that the men have been labeled wrongfully as terrorist suspects because they oppose the Communist Chinese government.… U.S. officials labeled the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM)—a group that includes Uighur separatists who want their own nation in western China—a terrorist organization in August 2002 after diplomatic discussions with China about Iraq, the lawyers allege.… Former State Department officials acknowledged in interviews that they negotiated with China about placing ETIM and another group on a list of known terrorist organizations.”
[View article]
Do Immigrants Make Us Safer?
(New York Times Magazine)
“The notion that communities with growing immigrant populations tend to be unsafe is fairly well established, at least in the popular imagination”—but “according to evidence cropping up in various places, the opposite may be the case,” reports the New York Times Magazine. “Ramiro Martinez Jr., a professor of criminal justice at Florida International University,” found that “in border cities … heavily populated by Mexican immigrants”--“violent crime has fallen significantly in recent years. ‘Almost without exception … the homicide rate for Hispanics was lower than for other groups, even though their poverty rate was very high.’” Martinez “found the same thing in the Haitian neighborhoods of Miami.… criminologist Andrew Karmen examined the trend in New York City and likewise found that the ‘disproportionately youthful, male and poor immigrants … were surprisingly law-abiding’ and that their settlement into once-decaying neighborhoods helped ‘put a brake on spiraling crime rates.’ … Wesley Skogan, a political scientist at Northwestern University, … concludes that the big success story took place not in immigrant areas but in African-American ones, where participation in community-policing programs was highest and violence fell the most.… Skogan acknowledges that Hispanic immigrants don’t show up much in arrest records, but he says he believes part of the explanation for this rests in the fact that those who are undocumented go to enormous lengths to ‘stay off the radar.’” Robert J. Sampson, chair of the Harvard sociology department, did a study in which he found that “Mexicans in Chicago … are more likely to be married than either blacks or whites” and “that in immigrant neighborhoods, even individuals who are not in married households are 15 percent less likely to engage in crime.” However, Sampson’s data showed that “second-generation immigrants in Chicago were significantly more likely to commit crimes than their parents, it turns out, and those of the third generation more likely still.”
[View article]
Open-Source Spying
(New York Times Magazine)
“Intelink”—the secure internal computer network used by U.S. spy agencies—“has grown to the point that it contains thousands of agency sites and several hundred databases”—but “analysts now face a new problem: data overload,” reports the New York Times Magazine. In addition to the computer network data, “intelligence analysts are finding it more important to keep up with ‘open source’ information—nonclassified material published in full public view, like newspapers, jihadist blogs and discussion boards in foreign countries.” This new way of looking at information—called spy-blogging—follows “the premise … that a million connected amateurs will always be smarter than a few experts” and that “bloggers will always spot news trends more quickly than slow-moving journalists in the mainstream media.” [View article]
Return to the top
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.
Suicide Attacks Thwarted in Saudi Arabia
(Reuters AlertNet; Yahoo! News)
“Militant cells recently broken up in Saudi Arabia were planning a series of suicide bomb attacks and assassinations,” reports Reuters. “… Saudi Arabia, fighting a violent campaign by al Qaeda supporters, said on Saturday it had detained 136 suspected Islamic militants including a would-be suicide bomber. ‘These seven cells were planning to carry out acts and were on the point of carrying them out,’ Prince Nayef bin Abdul-Aziz said.” Saudi Arabia “fears [that] Iraq could become a training ground for militants who return to carry out attacks at home,” reports Agence France-Presse.
[View Reuters article] [View AFP article]
Foreigners Arrested in Egypt ‘Had Terror Links’; Egypt Finds More Explosives and Cross-Border Tunnel
(Australian; Irish Examiner; Jerusalem Haaretz)
“A group of foreigners arrested in Egypt included French, US, Belgian, Syrian and Tunisian nationals with links to terror groups who were recruiting Islamists for ‘jihad’ in Iraq,” reports Agence France-Presse. “… The young Islamic fundamentalists are believed to have been arrested almost two weeks ago … They include nine French, two Belgian and an American national as well as Egyptians, Tunisians and Syrians.” Yesterday, “Egyptian authorities expelled two Belgians and eight French terror suspects … but an American and another French citizen remained in custody,” reports the Irish Examiner. Also, “Egyptian police found 500 kg of explosives hidden in bags in central Sinai and bound for smuggling into Gaza,” and they destroyed a tunnel “thought to be used for smuggling,” reports Reuters.
[View Australian article] [View Examiner article] [View Reuters article]
Three Egyptians Sentenced to Hang for Sinai Bombings
(Yahoo! News)
“Three Egyptians suspected of links to Al-Qaeda have been sentenced to death for involvement in the October 2004 bombings in northern Sinai which killed 34 people,” reports Agence France-Presse. “… The bombings marked the beginning of a spate of deadly attacks in Sinai and triggered an ongoing hunt by Egypt’s security forces for extremist Islamist groups in the peninsula. The judge at Ismailiya emergency state security court sentenced Yunes Mohammed Mahmud Erian Garir, Osama Mohammed Abdel Ghani Nakhlawi and Mohammed Gaez Sobah Hussein Abdallah to death by hanging.”
[View article]
Sentencing for Mumbai Bombings Will Start in January
(Reuters AlertNet)
“Sentencing of 100 people convicted over a series of bombings in Mumbai in 1993 will begin at the end of January,” reports Reuters. “… a judge announced the final verdicts in the case” on Monday. The trial, which started in 1994, has been “one of the world’s longest running criminal cases.”
[View article]
Iraqis Now Predict Security Takeover in June 2007
(London Guardian)
“Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said [Nov. 30] he believed Iraqi forces would be ready by June 2007 to take full control of security in Iraq,” although “al-Maliki has routinely said the force could do the job within six months …” reports the Associated Press. (See the Aug. 4 newsletter.) “‘I can tell you that by next June our forces will be ready,’ al-Maliki said.”
[View article]
Britain Wants to Stop ‘Iconic’ Conflicts That Attract Terrorists (Yahoo! News) “Britain is battling to prevent ‘iconic’ conflicts around the world from attracting people to become terrorists,” reports Agence France-Presse. “… Citing notably the Middle East, Sir Richard Mottram—Britain’s top civil servant in charge of security—acknowledged a connection between conflicts and radicalisation of young people.”
[View article]
Dubai Ports World Joins Cargo Security Program (Reuters) “Dubai Ports World, the Arab-owned firm whose purchase of American port facilities caused a U.S. political uproar, will join a program aimed at stopping nuclear weapons being smuggled into the United States,” reports Reuters. “… The program would involve screening U.S.-bound cargo for radiation at more than half a dozen ports.”
[View article]
Return to the top
United Nations News
Bird Flu Vaccine Will Be Too Late for First Wave of Pandemic, Says WHO (Reuters) “‘We can expect that a year from now there would be vaccines against H5N1 influenza strains that would be licensed for human use,’ Marie-Paule Kieny, head of the WHO’s Initiative for Vaccine Research,” said at a World Health Organization “vaccine conference in Bangkok,” Thailand, reports Reuters. But “it would take 4-6 months for the first vaccine doses to emerge from factories, and up to a year to produce enough for the recommended two doses. ‘During this time, at least the first pandemic wave will be over, and the second and third waves, should they occur, may also be over before significant numbers of individuals can be vaccinated,’” said David Salisbury, director of immunization at Britain’s Department of Health.
[View article]
Bird Flu Is Still a Potent Threat, Says UN The bird flu virus, with its possible mutation into a deadly human pandemic, remains a potent threat around the world, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. “Failure by any one country to contain the disease could lead to rapid re-infection in many more countries,” the organization’s Assistant Director-General, Alexander Müller, said. [View press release]
UN Disarmament Commission Chairman Sees Challenges and Stalemate The Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament has been unable to adopt a program to make it possible to renew substantive negotiations, and the recent Review Conference on the small arms action plan had also failed to achieve solid results, according to Elbio Rosselli, newly elected Chairman of the United Nations Disarmament Commission. Ten years ago, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty opened for signature, but it has yet to enter into force, because not enough designated countries have ratified it, and no significant progress has been made on practical steps towards nuclear disarmament agreed to at the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
[View article]
Return to the top
DHS News
DHS Proposes ‘Global Envelope’ of Terrorist Info Sharing (Government Computer News) The Homeland Security Department has an “an ambitious plan for internationally sharing biometric identification information about individuals who pose terrorist threats,” reports Government Computer News. “Robert Mocny, acting director of the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology program, outlined a proposal under which the United States would begin exchanging information about terrorists first with closely allied governments in Britain, Europe and Japan, and then progressively extend the program to other countries as a means of foiling terrorist attacks. The Global Envelope proposal apparently opened the door to the exchange of biometric information about persons in this country to other governments and vice versa, in an environment where even officials’ pledges to observe privacy principles collide with inconsistent or absent legal protections.”
[View article] [View Focus on US-VISIT]
| Customs Promotes Public Awareness of Diseases in Smuggled Birds Smuggled birds brought into the United States without inspection or quarantine increase the chance that deadly diseases such as avian influenza, exotic Newcastle disease, and parrot fever will infect the U.S. bird population and spread to people or to other animals. To ensure public awareness of the dangers associated with smuggling live birds and poultry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection is displaying public-service announcement posters at more than 320 U.S. ports of entry. [View press release]
Return to the top
Other Federal News
Transit Agency Security and Emergency Management Protective Measures The Federal Transit Administration has published this new document with a more comprehensive systems approach and framework for a transit agency to use in integrating its entire security and emergency management programs with the DHS Homeland Security Advisory System’s color-coded threat conditions. It also describes protective measures to be implemented in the event of an attack or active incident and during the recovery phase following an incident.
[View FTA publications page]
Return to the top
Private-Sector News
|
| Photo (c) Transport for London 2005 | London Underground Chooses March Networks Video Surveillance (Metro Magazine) “March Networks will install video surveillance systems on 190 new trains for Metronet Rail, which will operate on the London Underground’s sub-surface lines,” reports Metro Magazine. “The trains will be fitted with the Bombardier Sekurflo transit security system. The video surveillance component of the system is jointly designed and developed by Bombardier Transportation and March Networks.… The Sekurflo system … will also incorporate intelligent video analytics.”
[View article]
Return to the top
State and Local News
New Orleans Learns From Japan About Recovering From Disasters (New Orleans Times-Picayune) A “two-part series” in the Times-Picayune “explores Japan’s disaster recovery experiences and how lessons learned in a country halfway around the world could provide real solutions to New Orleans’ own recovery process and disaster management.”
[View article]
|
| LACMTA photo | Transit Systems Choosing Closed-Circuit TV for Security (Metro Magazine) “Many metropolitan agencies in the U.S. are now following London’s lead and have begun installing” closed-circuit TV cameras, reports Metro Magazine. “Following a trip to London by a contingent from the L.A. Sheriff’s office, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (LACMTA) installed more than 500 pan/tilt/zoom closed-circuit cameras throughout its rail system that have already paid off. ‘To date, we are pushing about 25 to 30 felony cases where we’ve been able to make arrests and secure prosecutions based on those cameras,’ says Dan Finkelstein, LACMTA’s chief of police.… Many other metropolitan agencies have followed suit.”
[View article]
Return to the top
Dual-Benefit Solutions
Cheese Quality Technology Detects Explosives Too New Zealand’s AgResearch institute has developed a technology that for the first time can precisely identify explosives concealed in aircraft luggage. It was created by farming researchers who were working on ensuring cheese quality. 3GX Technologies Limited will be responsible for making this new technology available to the travel industry.
[View press release]
| Dual-benefit news archive |
 |
Return to the top
|
Please submit events and educational programs by noon Wednesdays for consideration as items in that week’s newsletter.
|
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)
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, contact 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, contact Linda Grimes, (310) 732-0010, or Linda.Grimes@sayresandassociates.com.
[View conference website]
|
December 12; Cincinnati: First Joint Critical Infrastructure Protection Conference
January 22-23; Arlington, VA: 2007 Railway Security Forum & Expo
January 22-23; Arlington, VA:
Maritime & Port Security 2007
February 6-7; Washington, DC: Homeland Security: The Ripple Effect
Return to the top
|
