National News

Energy Dept. photo

Islamists Use U.S. Web Companies (Boston Globe) “US Internet companies are unknowingly hosting possibly hundreds of the most virulent Islamic extremist websites in the world, inciting young Muslims to kill Christians and Jews,” reports the Boston Globe. “… many such websites—which are estimated to be up to 5,000 worldwide—still operate in the United States with the full knowledge of US counterterrorism officials.… Many of the websites, [terrorism specialists] point out, target young Westerners to join the cause of jihad, or holy war, by translating the propaganda materials into their native languages.” [View article]

Second National Conference Promotes Fusion Center Network Last week in San Francisco, more than 900 federal, state, and local law enforcement and homeland security officials attended the National Fusion Center Conference to further the U.S. government’s plans to create a seamless network of these centers. Participants discussed how best to incorporate fusion centers at the state level and in major urban areas into national plans to improve the sharing of information related to terrorism. [View press release]

International News

Army Bought Bad Ammo for Afghans (New York Times) “To arm the Afghan forces” against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, “the American military has relied since early last year on” AEY Inc.—and “the company has provided ammunition that is more than 40 years old and in decomposing packaging,” reports the New York Times. “… Much of the ammunition comes from the aging stockpiles of the old Communist bloc, including stockpiles that the State Department and NATO have determined to be unreliable and obsolete, and have spent millions of dollars to have destroyed.… the contractor has also worked with middlemen and a shell company on a federal list of entities suspected of illegal arms trafficking.… This week … the Army suspended the company from any future federal contracting.” AEY has “also provided ammunition or equipment in 2004 to the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Transportation Security Administration and the State Department.” [View article]

Bombers Caught on China Southern Airlines Flight (China View) “A 19-year-old female of Uygur ethnic background has confessed to a failed terrorist attempt on a passenger plane that left Urumqi on March 7,” reports the Xinhua News Agency. Guzalinur “Turdi boarded the plane with a hidden explosive device that she got past airport security personnel. She went ahead with her plan for sabotage but was thwarted.… another man was detained together with Turdi on board the flight. A third suspect, detained a week later, admitted that he had masterminded, instigated and helped carry out the crime.” Investigators concluded that Eastern Turkestan separatists were behind the attack. [View article]

Colombia Finds FARC Uranium Stash (Australian) “Informants led Colombian officials to” a FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) “hiding place Wednesday, along a roadside in Bogota,” where possibly “more than 30kg” (about 65 pounds) of depleted uranium was stashed, reports the Australian. Depleted uranium has a low level “of radioactivity and can be used to make missiles capable of penetrating armor and then bursting into flame.” Earlier this month, Colombia accused FARC of wanting to create a radiological or “dirty” bomb (see the March 7 newsletter). [View article]

Terrorists Lose Members Over Bankrupt Ideology (Time) “John Horgan, a Penn State psychologist, has interviewed 28 former terrorists” whose affiliations “have spanned 13 organizations, including five Islamic extremist groups,” reports Time. “… Many said they’d been disappointed by the terrorist life. ‘The reality didn’t live up to the fantasy,’ says Horgan. ‘The reality is depressing, stressful and generally not what people expect.’ And in that disconnect lies opportunity. [See the Quote of the Week.] Nearly a dozen countries, including the U.S. in Iraq, have recently started programs to educate radicals about the gap between their religious ideals and the groups they follow—to essentially force the disenchantment process with the help of clerics and ex-terrorists.… Similar programs exist in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Singapore and Britain.” [View article]

Interviews With the Taliban (Toronto Globe and Mail) A Globe and Mail reporter has obtained “42 video recordings” of “average Taliban fighters”—now online at the Globe and Mail website. [View article]

Iraq Security Progress Offset by Increased Religious Violence Intra-sectarian violence “in Baghdad, Basra, and other Iraqi Shiite strongholds this week has ominous implications for the U.S. and Iraqi governments,” writes Greg Bruno of the Council on Foreign Relations. “The reemergence of fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr threatens to reverse security gains since an additional thirty thousand U.S. soldiers flooded Baghdad in 2007.… Whether Maliki and his beleaguered government have the clout to quell the strife is far from certain.” [View article]

Policies Keep Skilled, Needed Immigrants Out of South Africa (AllAfrica) Policies make “it difficult for skilled people, despite being badly needed in [South Africa], to enter the country legally,” reports Johnannesburg, South Africa, Business Day, citing a new report by the Centre for Development and Enterprise. Many unemployed Zimbabweans have entered South Africa illegally, and a large proportion of them have a college education. (See the Feb. 8 newsletter.) [View article]

Network Solutions Censors Anti-Islam Site (Washington Post) “Network Solutions is blocking access to … fitnathemovie.com, which is registered by Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders,” writes “Security Fix” columnist Brian Krebs in the Washington Post. “Wilders … planned to post a short film on the site designed to rally support for banning the Koran in Holland.” This “may be the first documented case of Internet pre-censorship by a major U.S.-based Web registrar.” [View article]

United Nations News

Ducks and Rice Are Behind Southeast Asian Bird Flu Outbreaks, Says UN Ducks, rice, and people—not chickens—are the most significant factors in the spread of avian influenza in Thailand and Viet Nam, according to “Mapping H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza Risk in Southeast Asia: Ducks, Rice and People,” a study carried out by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and associated research centers. It also said that these factors are probably behind persistent outbreaks in Cambodia and Laos. [View press release]

DHS News

Corruption Plagues Citizenship and Immigration Services (New York Times) Charges against an immigration “agent arrested last week … appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews,” reports the New York Times. Michael “Maxwell, the immigration agency’s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was ‘rampant.’” In his “Congressional testimony [Maxwell said that] more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.” Last week, “Isaac R. Baichu, … an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of … Citizenship and Immigration Services,” was arrested after prosecutors “recorded a meeting … at which he” demanded sex from a woman “at her green card interview.” [View article]

U.S. to Stop Green Card Denials for Dissidents (Washington Post) “The U.S. immigration service said [on Wednesday] that it will temporarily stop denying green cards to refugees and other legal immigrants tied to groups that sought to topple foreign dictatorships”—a “decision [that] will potentially affect thousands of pending applications for permanent U.S. residence,” reports the Washington Post. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes “the illogic of admitting immigrants under one provision of the law and then labeling them terrorists for green card purposes.… Although there are waiver provisions, they are cumbersome and rarely used.” [View article]

State and Local News

Four States Face Real ID Penalties in May (Manchester [NH] Union Leader) “South Carolina, Maine and Montana are the only states that have not sought extensions to comply, or already started toward compliance with Real ID,” reports the Union Leader. On March 21, the Homeland Security Department “granted Montana an extension, even though state officials didn’t ask for one and insist they will not adhere to the Real ID law.” New Hampshire “has asked to be exempted, but Homeland Security officials have not found that letter legally acceptable, so the Granite State has not received an extension.… Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff had warned that if holdout states do not send a letter by the end of March seeking an extension, come May, residents of such states will no longer be able to use their driver’s licenses as valid ID to board airplanes or enter federal buildings. Such travelers would instead have to present a passport or be subjected to secondary screening.” [View article]

Bomb Undetected in Truck Near U.S. Capitol (Washington Post) “Federal officers searching a suspicious pickup truck near the U.S. Capitol in January missed an explosive device that remained undetected behind the seat for three weeks,” reports the Washington Post. “… Michael S. Gorbey, who was initially detained for carrying a loaded shotgun near the Capitol, is now facing charges of planning to set off a bomb.” [View article]

Latino Community Unravels in Prince William County, VA (Washington Post; Culpeper, VA, Star-Exponent) “A vibrant Latino subculture built in Prince William County over more than a decade is starting to come undone in a matter of months,” reports the Washington Post. “With Latinos fleeing the combined effects of the construction downturn, the mortgage crisis and new local laws aimed at catching illegal immigrants [see the Oct. 13 newsletter], Latino shops are on the brink of bankruptcy, church groups are hemorrhaging members, neighborhoods are dotted with for-sale signs, and once-busy strip malls have been transformed into ghost towns.” Early on Monday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement “arrested 34 men at work sites” in Prince William County reports the Star-Exponent. The men “are from Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica and El Salvador.” [View Post article] [View Star-Exponent article]

New Snipers in Virginia? (Culpeper, VA, Star-Exponent) “Police were searching for more than one suspect Thursday in a series of shootings at vehicles on Interstate 64,” reports the Associated Press. The shootings “injured two people and prompted the closure of a 20-mile stretch of” the highway. In 2003, John A. Muhammad was convicted under Virginia’s antiterrorism law for his role in the 2002 sniper killings. [View article]

Private-Sector News

New York Businesses Blame Visa Policies for Loss of Top Foreign Workers (New York Times) “Senior executives of some of the country’s biggest corporations … have been complaining that American immigration policies are thwarting New York’s ability to compete with other world capitals,” reports the New York Times. “Every big employer in the city, it seems, can cite an example of high-paying jobs that had to be relocated to foreign cities because the people chosen to fill them could not gain entry to the United States”—and “many of them [are] graduates of American universities.” [View article]

Bird Flu Hurts Bangladesh’s Economy (Reuters AlertNet) “Avian influenza has spread through 47 of Bangladesh’s 64 districts and forced the killing of more than 1.5 million birds since March of last year,” reports Reuters. “Nearly 2 million eggs have also been destroyed.… About 60 percent of the country’s more than 150,000 poultry farms have been closed, making more than 1.5 million people jobless.” [View article] [View Focus on Avian Influenza]

In-Q-Tel Invests in Standalone Smart Cards (Government Computer News) “The intelligence community’s venture capital arm is investing in an access control system that leverages digital certificates on smart cards for stand-alone electronic locks,” reports Government Computer News. “The Card-Connected system developed by CoreStreet allows the locks to authenticate digital credentials and enforce access policy without being networked. Log data is written to the card and uploaded later to a central management system, providing an auditable trail for access controls without [having] to wire the lock to the central system.” [View article]

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. Executive Program in Counter-Terrorism (August 3-8; Los Angeles) This course is designed to challenge international counter-terrorism leaders—specifically public-sector professionals and policymakers—and enhance their analysis, coordination, and response capabilities. It employs an interdisciplinary academic and experiential learning environment. Participants will strengthen their cross-functional skills through immersion in key issues and best practices presented by world-class research and public policy experts. The program will foster academic, professional, and personal development amid a diverse group of peers from around the world. The application deadline is May 15. [View course website]

New Upcoming Events (After four weeks, events are moved to the Upcoming Events page) Terrorism: Training, Threats, Tactics and Technology (April 1-3; Albuquerque, NM) At this conference, sponsored by Sandia National Laboratories’ Security Systems and Technology Center and by the Terrorism Research Center, participants will explore some of the challenges and gain a comprehensive understanding of issues related to terrorism. [View conference website] Infrastructure Security Partnership Breakfast With Joseph F. Bruno (April 3; New York) Commissioner Bruno of the New York City Office of Emergency Management will discuss local activities and initiatives related to critical infrastructure resilience. Registration deadline is 1 pm Eastern Daylight Time on March 31. [View breakfast website] (April 22-24; Kansas City, MO) At this symposium presented by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Heart of America Joint Terrorism Task Force, more than 1,000 individuals from 21 countries are expected to hear experts discuss agroterrorism, interact with one another, and see products and services in the exhibit hall. [View conference website] Infrastructure Security Partnership Breakfast With Chris T. Geldart (April 24; Washington, DC) Chris Geldart, Director of National Capital Region Coordination for the Federal Emergency Management Agency will discuss FEMA activities related to critical infrastructure resilience. Registration deadline is 1 pm Eastern Daylight Time on April 22. [View breakfast website] Trucking Security & Law Enforcement Conference & Exhibition (April 29–May 1; Long Beach, CA) The conference will cover business resiliency, cargo theft task forces, interviewing & interrogation, advanced investigation techniques, security assessments, corporate security reviews, and security audits. [View conference website] Fostering Public-Private Partnerships (May 22; Washington, DC) The 2008 Homeland Security Symposium at the National Academy of Sciences illuminates successful public-private partnerships at the local, regional, and national levels as models and considers steps to develop and improve future public-private partnerships. [View conference website] Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education Conference (May 31–June 2; Emmitsburg, MD) Representatives from fire-related degree programs, state and local fire service training agencies, and national fire service organizations attend this three-day conference with presentations by national leaders and experts. Participation in the conference is by invitation only to those in the target audiences. [View conference website] Sound Transit photo Road and Rail Security Symposium & Expo West 2008 (June 2-3; Tacoma, WA) The symposium will address key issues facing road and rail security on the home front: Is there a real threat? How are we preventing or mitigating the threat? Presentations by transportation and security professionals will include threat assessment, prevention, and consequence management. Through April 21, all military, government, and law enforcement personnel may register for the presentations and speaker sessions at no charge. The symposium will be co-located with the Pacific Northwest National Security Forum and the SpecOps West Symposium & Expo. [View conference website] National Conference on Animals in Disaster (June 2-6; Sacramento, CA) This conference for emergency managers and responders, animal care and control professionals, veterinary professionals, and volunteers will discuss where local organizations can go for help, the National Response Framework, post-Katrina reforms, the PETS Act, and realistic approaches to emergency education and sheltering. It will cover exercises to test disaster planning, disaster-resilient communities, tools and techniques for large and small animal rescue, animal first aid, volunteers, and private-public partnerships that work. [View conference website] (June 10-11; Ljubljana, Slovenia) The forum focuses on global convergence of the requirements of users, industry, standard design organizations, and research and on seeking agreements on information and communication technology issues related to public protection and disaster relief. [View conference website] TIEMS 2008 (June 17-19; Prague, Czech Republic) The theme of the International Emergency Management Society’s 2008 conference is “Global Cooperation in Emergency Management.” [View conference website] Environmental Sampling and Detection for Bio-Threat Agents (December 2-4; Las Vegas, NV) This third national conference will provide a forum discussion among government, industry, academia, and first responders to address critical issues in environmental sampling and bio-detection. [View conference website]