International News

40 Years Without a Tragedy: El Al Airlines (CNN) “Every passenger has to be interviewed by security people who are qualified and well-trained, and are being tested all year long,” Isaac Yeffet, the former head of security for Israel’s El Al airlines, told CNN. He called full-body scans and passengers taking off their shoes “a patch on top of a patch.” Instead, “We [El Al] are constantly in touch with the Israeli intelligence to find out if there are any suspicious passengers among hundreds of passengers coming to take the flight … If one of the passengers is on the list, then we are waiting for him, he will not surprise us.… they came to attack us and to blow up our aircraft, but we knew how to stop them on the ground.… let’s take one airport out of 400 [U.S.] airports and try to implement El Al’s system.” (See the Quote of the Week.) [View interview]

Cutter off Haiti on Jan. 13: Coast Guard photo

Is the U.S. Paying Protection Money to the Taliban? (The Nation) In Afghanistan, “the US military’s contractors are forced to pay suspected insurgents to protect American supply routes,” reports The Nation. “It is an accepted fact of the military logistics operation in Afghanistan that the US government funds the very forces American troops are fighting.… these funds add up to a huge amount of money for the Taliban.… US military officials in Kabul estimate that a minimum of 10 percent of the Pentagon’s logistics contracts—hundreds of millions of dollars—consists of payments to insurgents.” [View article]

At Least 30 Injured in Hong Kong Acid Attack (China Daily) “An attacker [on Jan. 9] dropped a bottle of [suspicious] liquid into a crowd in Hong Kong and injured at least 30 people, including children and foreign tourists,” Xinhua News Agency reported. “… A series of acid attacks have hit Hong Kong since December 2008 injuring more than 100 people.” [View article]

Two Former Blackwater Guards Charged With Murder in Afghanistan (New York Times) “Two former Blackwater security guards were arrested [Jan. 7] on murder charges stemming from a shooting in Afghanistan last May that left two Afghans dead and a third wounded,” reports the Times. “… Justin Cannon … and Christopher Drotleff” were indicted “on charges of second-degree murder, attempted murder and firearms violations. At the time of the May 5 shooting in Kabul, the men were working for Paravant LLC, a subsidiary of Xe Services” (formerly called Blackwater). [View article]

Al-Qaeda Solicits Information on U.S. Warships (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot) The Middle East Media Research Institute has translated Internet posts “in response to an official communique from al-Qaida” directing “readers to gather intelligence on U.S. Navy targets,” reports the Virginian-Pilot. The responses “fill 50 pages,” some of it outdated information. “‘You never know what is propaganda and what is real,’” Steven Stalinsky, executive director of the institute, said. “Retired Vice Adm. John Morgan said” there was no “‘need for any greater alarm,’” and the Navy “is reminding sailors of the importance of keeping secrets.” [View article]

Iraq Says It Blocked a Bomb Plot (New York Times) “A wide-ranging plot to bomb government ministries and other public places, to be followed by a wave of political assassinations, was uncovered by Iraqi officials, who responded Tuesday by bringing much of Baghdad to a virtual standstill while security forces conducted raids that netted large quantities of explosives …” reports the New York Times. “At least 4 suicide car bombers—and as many as 10—were apparently on their way to government buildings on Tuesday morning when they were stopped by the police and arrested, the authorities said. During raids on houses and warehouses in Baghdad that lasted throughout the day, the authorities arrested 25 people and recovered more than 440 pounds each of TNT and C-4, about 66 gallons of ammonium nitrate solution and 60 mortar shells.” [View article]

British Antiterror Stop-and-Search Policy Ruled Illegal (London Guardian) “Seven judges at the European court of human rights said that random stop and search powers under section 44 of the Terrorism Act were far too widely drawn and lacked adequate parliamentary and legal safeguards against abuse,” reports the Guardian. However, “Home Office lawyers … decided that the UK law still stands,” whereas “Lord Carlile, the official reviewer of terrorism laws, said … ‘section 44 is being used far too often on a random basis without any reasoning behind its use.’” [View article]

Moroccan Court Sentences Fath Al-Andalous Terrorists (Magharebia) “A Moroccan court on January 7th sentenced members of the group Fath al-Andalous (Reconquest of Andalusia) to fines and … prison terms” of 4 to 15 years “for plotting terrorist attacks against military and civilian facilities,” reports Magharebia. “Those convicted were arrested last summer and charged with preparing terrorist attacks against the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara.” [View article]

Spain Convicts Five in Madrid Train Bombing (CNN) “A Spanish court Wednesday convicted five men”—“three Moroccans, an Algerian and a Turk”—“accused of Islamic terrorist activities that included aiding fugitives from the Madrid train bombings of 2004 and planning other attacks,” reports CNN. [View article]

Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport Tests Unipass Biometric System (Jerusalem Post) Israel’s “Ben-Gurion airport on [Jan. 5] launched a biometric security system for outbound passengers …” reports the Jerusalem Post. “The Unipass Airport Management System, developed by the Israel Airports Authority, is initially being tested on El Al Matmid Frequent Flyer Club members.” After a one-time registration, “a machine will scan their passports, and take fingerprint and facial imaging samples to create a biometric signature. The information will then be stored on personal smart card that will be issued to each passenger” who will use it at check-in, baggage screening, and other security steps before boarding a plane. (See too Brandon Fried’s article “A Look at Ben Gurion International Airport’s Security” in the Journal of Homeland Security, July 2008.) [View article]

British Program Counters Radicalization of Children (London Times) “Police have identified children as young as seven being groomed for terrorism, with some expressing a wish to become suicide bombers,” reports the Times. “Up to 10 primary school pupils, aged between seven and 10, have been placed on a government outreach programme for individuals considered at risk of being radicalised and turning to violence.… One child was referred to the programme by his teacher after writing on a school book: ‘I want to be a suicide bomber.’ Other youngsters were identified by their parents after suddenly adopting traditional Muslim dress or espousing extremist views. At least 228 people, mostly teenagers and young men aged 15-24, have been referred to the anti-terrorism Channel project … ‘For people to be identified there have to be distinct changes in behaviour and warning signs,’ said Craig Denholm, deputy chief constable of Surrey police who oversees the programme.” [View article]

European Parliament Sells Off Its Full-Body Scanners (EU Observer) “The European Parliament is putting its six unused full body scanners up for sale, just as several EU states are buying such devices for their airports in the aftermath of a failed bomb attack on a US flight departing from Amsterdam [Holland] …” reports the European Union Observer. “‘The Parliament is not an airport’, [EU spokeswoman Marjory van den Broeke] stressed.” [View article]

Most Americans Fliers Are OK With Full-Body Scanners, but Europeans Are Divided (USA Today; ABC News) American “air travelers strongly approve of the government’s use of body scanners at the nation’s airports even if the machines compromise privacy, a USA TODAY/Gallup poll finds.” However, “European nations were sharply divided … over the need to install full-body scanners at European airports,” reports ABC News. [View USA Today article] [View ABC article]

European Union Approves Danish Terrorism Insurance Plan (Yahoo! 7 News, Australia) “The European Commission has approved a Danish government scheme to cover potential insurance claims stemming from terrorist attacks with nuclear, biological, chemical or radioactive weapons, … recognising that the market for re-insurance against unlikely but high-impact events did not provide adequately for Danish insurers,” reports Reuters. [View article]

Israel Holds Major Bioterror Drill (Ynet News) “The Israel Defense Forces’ Medical Corps held a drill Wednesday to simulate a mass casualty biological weapons’ attack in [the] Tel Aviv metropolitan area,” reports Ynet News. “… This year for the first time [simulated] casualties were evacuated to isolated rooms in Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer.” [View article]

India and Bangladesh Pledge to Combat Terrorism (Yahoo! News India) “South Asian neighbors India and Bangladesh agreed to heighten efforts to combat international terrorism, fight organized crime and tackle drug trafficking as [Bangladeshi] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited [the Indian capital] New Delhi on Monday,” reports the Associated Press. “Hasina met India’s president, external affairs minister, and finance minister before holding talks with her counterpart, Manmohan Singh. Officials from the two sides later signed five agreements covering terrorism, organized crime, narcotics, and the extradition of convicted criminals.” [View article]

DHS News

Full-Body Scanners Can Save and Transmit Images (CNN) The Electronic Privacy Information Center “says the Transportation Security Administration is misleading the public with claims that full-body scanners at airports cannot store or send their graphic images,” reports CNN. In documents “obtained by the privacy group and provided to CNN, the TSA specifies that the body scanners it purchases must have the ability to store and send images when in ‘test mode.’” [View article]

National Geographic’s Border Wars Series Premieres National Geographic Channel’s new series Border Wars premiered on Sunday and will continue on Monday nights. In the first episode, National Geographic joined Customs and Border Protection officers and agents as they raced to save illegal immigrants from possible death in desert heat, uncovered a smuggling strategy involving children, and found a record-setting cache of narcotics. [View press release] [View Border Wars website]

Other Federal News

Counterterror Efforts Overlooked Homeland Threat (Washington Post; ABC News) “By concentrating on the strategic threat posed by the al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen and its plans for attacking U.S. targets there, U.S. intelligence agencies failed to focus on the group’s preparations for a direct strike in this country, a White House review of the Dec. 25 attempted airline bombing [see last week’s newsletter] has concluded,” according to the Post. “That lapse, along with insufficient attention to separate warnings that a specific person—Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab—may have been recruited by extremists in Yemen, led to a breakdown in systems designed to ‘connect the dots’ about an imminent threat to the homeland, President Obama said” on January 7. The President ordered “changes in airline watch lists and improved airport screening” and “directed that the intelligence community ensure that every threat is fully analyzed and aggressively followed … He also ordered more rapid and widespread distribution of all intelligence reports.” In addition, “Obama has ordered a ‘surge’ of federal air marshals,” reports ABC News. The “existing federal air marshal force of more than 3,200 personnel would be deployed almost exclusively to overseas flights flown by U.S. carriers” while “domestic high-risk flights will be covered by agents from other federal law enforcement agencies who were trained as air marshals.” Hundreds more “law enforcement officers are being trained as federal air marshals to ramp up security,” reports the Post in another article. [View Post dots article] [View ABC article] [View Post marshals article] [View White House summary report (405KB PDF)]

Officials Hid Truth of Immigrant Deaths in Jail (New York Times) In 2008, when “the New York Times obtained and published a federal government list of” deaths “in the nation’s immigration jails” (see the May 9, 2008, newsletter), “few facts were available.” Yet “the deaths had already generated thousands of pages of government documents, including scathing investigative reports that were kept under wraps, and a trail of confidential memos and BlackBerry messages that show officials working to stymie outside inquiry.” Immigration and Customs Enforcement mounted “an all-out defense of detainee medical care [see the May 23, 2008, newsletter] … including statistics that appeared to show that mortality rates in detention were declining,” while “the agency was undercounting the number of detention deaths, as well as discharging some detainees shortly before they died.” [View article]

BioShield Reserve Fund Loses a Fifth of Its Funding (Global Security Newswire) “A spending plan approved last month by” President “Obama transfers more than half a billion dollars from … the Project Bioshield Special Reserve Fund,” reports Global Security Newswire. “… the Consolidated Appropriations Act … moved $304 million to the Health and Human Services Department’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and approved a White House request to transmit $305 million to an account within that department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority.… The Bioshield fund will now have roughly $2.4 billion available through fiscal 2013 to ‘procure and stockpile emergency countermeasures,’ the legislation states.” [View article] [View Focus on BioShield]

Federal Panel Wants Biosecurity Changes (Global Security Newswire) “The U.S. government should divide its list of deadly disease-causing pathogens and toxins into separate categories so that research facilities can implement security measures that correspond to the risk posed by those materials, according to the findings of … the Working Group on Strengthening the Biosecurity of the United States,” reports Global Security Newswire. The panel also wants “changes in the rules governing the handling, storage and management of the 82 ‘select agents’—pathogens and biological toxins such as anthrax declared to pose a severe threat to human or animal health.” A January 2009 executive order by President Bush established the group. [View article] [View report (654KB PDF)]

Social Security Administration Fails to E-Verify a Fifth of New Hires (Federal Computer Week) “The Social Security Administration failed to perform required verifications of the Social Security numbers of 19 percent of its own new hires during a recent 18-month period, according to a new report from the agency’s inspector general, Patrick O’Carroll Jr.,” reports Federal Computer Week. The agency “also improperly screened the identities of 75 volunteers, job candidates and existing employees and was either too early or too late in verifying the eligibility of 49 percent of its new hires, according to the [Jan. 6] audit.” [View article] [View Inspector General’s report (394KB PDF)]

CDC Awards Grants for Two New Preparedness Research Centers The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have awarded $2.7 million to establish two new Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers in addition to the existing seven research centers funded in 2008. These new centers will evaluate the structure, capabilities, and performance of public health systems for preparedness and emergency response activities. [View CDC press release]

National News

Insurgency Patterns May Predict Future Attacks (Fox News) “Researchers from the University of Miami and other institutions claim to have found mathematical patterns in the behavior of insurgencies that can help predict future attacks …” reports Fox News. “‘The sizes and timing of violent events within different insurgent conflicts exhibit remarkable similarities,’ they found.” The findings, published in the December issue of Nature, “can’t predict any attacks with absolute certainty but can pinpoint ‘pockets of predictability,’ even down to the day.” [View article]

NASA image

Jose Padilla Appeals Conviction (CBS News) “Convicted terrorism plotter Jose Padilla’s attorneys asked an appeals court on Tuesday to throw out his conviction,” reports CBS News. “… Prosecutors … contended that Padilla’s prison sentence of more than 17 years was too lenient. Padilla and [his] co-conspirators … were convicted in 2007 after a three-month trial in which prosecutors said they sent money, recruits and supplies to Islamic extremist groups.” [View article]

United Nations News

Government Forces Cause a Quarter of Afghan Civilian Casualties Last year was the deadliest yet for civilians in Afghanistan, with 2,412 casualties recorded, up 14% from 2008, reports the UN; 25% of the deaths were blamed on pro-government forces (such as the U.S. military), 67% on anti-government forces (the Taliban), and 8% on cross-fires and left-behind munitions. [View press release]

State and Local News

Washington, DC, Eliminates Chlorine Gas From Drinking Water (Washington Examiner) “The main disinfectant in the drinking water of nearly 1 million D.C. and Northern Virginia residents is being switched by the Army Corps of Engineers to thwart the threat of terrorists releasing deadly chlorine gas,” reports the Examiner. “The switch will be from chlorine gas to a liquid form of chlorine called sodium hypochlorite. Both are equally effective … But the liquid, ‘is considered much safer to transport, store and use than gaseous chlorine,’ said [a Corps of Engineers] official.” [View article]

Private-Sector News

Immigrants Invest in U.S. Businesses in Exchange for Visas (Washington Post) “The number of foreigners willing to invest $500,000 to $1 million in a U.S. business in exchange for a visa roughly tripled in the past fiscal year, as dozens of cash-strapped enterprises and local governments scrambled to attract wealthy foreign backers through a previously obscure provision of immigration law,” reports the Post. “Under the EB-5 visa program, immigrants who can demonstrate that their investment created or preserved at least 10 U.S. jobs after two years are granted legal permanent residency along with their spouses and children.” [View article]

New Upcoming Events (Events are listed for four weeks; after that, they are still on the Upcoming Events page) State Border Coordination Workshop (January 25-26; Gettysburg, PA) The workshop will cover communications and interoperability, transportation, mass care, and credentialing during a regional catastrophic evacuation of the public. [View event website] 2010 Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams Symposium (January 25-27; Hamburg, Germany) The symposium provides a discussion forum for FIRST member teams to share information about vulnerabilities, incidents, tools, and all other issues that affect the operation of computer incident response and security teams. A full day of plenary sessions for informal discussions and presentations on topics of interest to the FIRST membership is followed by a day of interactive hands-on classes taught by leading security experts in small groups of FIRST team members. [View event website] Technologies for Critical Incident Preparedness Conference and Exposition (February 2-4; Philadelphia) This conference presented by the International Association of Emergency Managers will bring together leaders and decision makers in a unique forum with responders, business and industry, academia, and local, tribal, state, and federal stakeholders to collaboratively address critical incident technology and preparedness needs, protocols, and solutions. [View event website] Military Operations Research Society Meeting on Interagency Perspectives, Issues and Analysis (February 9-10; online) The conference will examine how analysis can improve coordinated national security planning and execution among federal and state governments and nongovernment organizations. [View event website] International Disaster Management Conference (February 18-21; Orlando, FL) The conference “has been designed to meet the educational needs of all persons and agencies involved with emergency preparedness, response, and disaster recovery.” This year’s theme is “Prepare Freedom’s Lifelines …” [View event website] Hazmat Event 2010 (February 23-24; Birmingham, England) The conference draws on knowledge and experience from a range of hazmat professionals, industry leaders, and the National Chemical Emergency Centre’s own emergency responders. Attendees can express their views and question fellow hazmat professionals and hear case studies of major real-life events. [View event website] This conference affords insight into land, air, and maritime border security issues, with a special focus on the use of border management technologies. [View event website] National Emergency Management Summit (March 3-5; Washington, DC) This forum on medical preparedness and response to disasters, epidemics, and terrorism will cover H1N1 experience in the United States and beyond, pandemic planning and readiness, hospital surge, supply chain management, patient evacuations, tsunami warning systems, health 2.0 tools, coordinating communitywide response, crisis standards of care, and more. [View event website] National Severe Weather Workshop (March 4-6; Norman, OK) Emergency managers, weather enthusiasts, teachers, students, meteorologists, broadcasters, and vendors in weather data and information will gather, present, and discuss topics related to the theme of “A Decade of Sharing Information About Weather Emergencies, Communications, and Response.” [View event website] C-TPAT Supply Chain Security Training Seminar (March 17-18, March 18-19; Anaheim, CA) The theme of this Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism seminar is “Balancing Supply Chain Security & Economic Efficiency.” It is open to certified C-TPAT members only. Attendees should be directly responsible for implementing the C-TPAT program throughout their organization’s supply chain. [View event website] National Hurricane Conference (March 29–April 2; Orlando, FL) The purpose of the conference is to improve hurricane preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation in order to save lives and property in the United States and the tropical islands of the Caribbean and Pacific. It also is a national forum for federal, state, and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve emergency management. [View event website] Partners in Emergency Preparedness (April 6-7; Tacoma, WA) This regional conference hosts nearly 700 people representing business, schools, government, nonprofits, emergency management, and volunteer organizations, with expertise in earthquake research, contingency planning, school preparedness, technology, news media, and public health. Speakers and exhibitors cover topics such as business continuity planning, school safety, public health preparedness, homeland security, and public information. [View event website] Qualified personnel from government, military, law enforcement, intelligence, and private-sector organizations from the UK and overseas will have a focused and comprehensive information program of conference streams, technology workshops, and an exhibition of products from over 250 solution providers at this event in Britain. [View event website] Search and Rescue 2010 (April 21-22; Aberdeen, Scotland) The conference will cover human factors, increased use of unmanned vehicles for surveillance and detection, simulator training, and the increased emphasis on rescue as technology makes searches easier. [View event website] (April 28-29; Phoenix) This conference on international border security will offer technology, workshops, and speaker presentations on critical issues, plus free certified training for law enforcement professionals. [View event website] (June 8-12; Beijing) The International Emergency Management Society conference has a theme of “Global Emergency Response to Disasters for a Harmonious World.” It is devoted to continual improvement of the ability, both nationally and internationally, to avoid, mitigate, respond to, and recover from emergencies and disasters. [View event website] (June 28–July 1; Aspen, CO) This forum, sponsored by the Aspen Institute and Government Security News, will bring together government decision makers, industry leaders, think tank and academic policy experts, and journalists to discuss and debate key homeland security issues of the day, including aviation security, maritime security, border security, mass transit security, critical infrastructure and soft target protection, emergency preparedness, intelligence, and counterterrorism strategy. [View event website]

Calls for Papers (Calls for papers are listed for four weeks; after that, they are still on the Calls for Papers page) Uncertainty in Fire Standards and What to Do About It (June 16, 2011; Anaheim, CA) The symposium will cover how testing laboratories, enforcement authorities, manufacturers, and practicing engineers incorporate uncertainty into their use of results from fire safety tests and calculations, along with the legal, technical, and ethical implications for these different approaches, and provide overviews of some of the latest technical guidance. Abstracts are due by July 16, 2010. [View call for papers]