DHS News

DHS Drops Plans for Nuclear Detectors (Washington Post) The Domestic Nuclear Detection Office “is largely scrapping plans for new high-tech detectors for screening vehicles and cargo, saying they cost too much and do not work as effectively as security officials once maintained,” reports the Post. (See the June 26, 2009, newsletter.) [View article]

FEMA Lacks Recovery Plan for Nuclear Incidents, Says GAO The Federal Emergency Management Agency “has not developed a national disaster recovery strategy, as required by law, or issued specific guidance to coordinate federal, state, and local government recovery planning for” radiological dispersal device and improvised nuclear device “incidents, as directed by executive guidance,” reports the Government Accountability Office. “To date, most federal attention has been given to developing a response framework, with less attention to recovery.” [View GAO summary]

DHS Tests Next-Gen Biodetector (Security Management) The Homeland Security Department’s Science & Technology Directorate “has developed a possible next-generation detector to improve the BioWatch program,” reports Security Management, citing testimony last week by Tara O’Toole, who heads the directorate, before the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations, Subcommittee on Homeland Security. The detector is “being tested by the DHS Office of Health Affairs.” It would create a lab-in-a-box, and “pathogen detection rates could be reduced to 4 hours, O’Toole said.” The current system requires up to 36 hours. [View article]

FEMA Lacks Accurate Data for Community Preparedness Programs, Says GAO The Federal Emergency Management Agency lacks accurate data for its community preparedness programs, according to the Government Accountability Office. “FEMA includes the number of local volunteer organizations registered nationwide as its principal performance measure for community preparedness, but does not verify” the data. “For example, 5 of the 17 registered Citizen Corps councils GAO contacted were not active as councils. FEMA relies on state officials to verify the accuracy of the data, and does not have staff or processes for this purpose.” [View GAO summary]

Coast Guard photo by Jetta Disco

DHS Plans to Coordinate and Consult With Tribes After requesting comments from all 564 federally recognized Native American tribes, the Homeland Security Department announced a plan for increased consultation and coordination, building on current tribal partnerships to protect the safety and security of all people on tribal lands and throughout the nation. DHS will have staff dedicated to working with the tribes and will incorporate tribal public safety and law enforcement agencies into state and local fusion centers. [View press release]

DHS Seeks Ideas to Promote Cyber-Security The Homeland Security Department’s National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign Challenge calls on cyber-security experts and individuals across the country to develop innovative new ways to enhance public awareness about the importance of safeguarding America’s computer systems and cyber-networks from attacks by terrorists and criminals. Proposals must be submitted by April 30 via the Challenge website, and winners will collaborate with the department to develop and launch the National Cybersecurity Awareness Campaign. [View press release] [View Challenge website]

Other Federal News

Supreme Court Dismisses Uighur Case (Washington Post) “The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a major separation-of-powers case [Kiyemba v. Obama] involving what rights federal judges have to free Guantanamo Bay detainees who are found not to pose a threat to the United States,” reports the Post. “The justices … agreed with the Obama administration that changed circumstances meant that the challenge, brought by a group of Chinese Muslims known as Uighurs, was not ripe for the court’s consideration. [See the April 3, 2009, newsletter.] At the same time, the justices wiped out a ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit that had been challenged by attorneys for the detainees. The ruling said that the judicial branch had no power to release into the United States those cleared of being enemy combatants but who cannot be returned to their home countries for fear of persecution.” [View article]

White House Declassifies Cyber-Security Outline (Washington Post) “The Obama administration Tuesday declassified an outline of … the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative,” reports the Post. [View article] [View outline]

Nuclear Security Agency Offers Online Mentoring (Government Executive) “The National Nuclear Security Administration has launched an online mentoring program to connect less experienced employees with more senior staffers who can help them fill skills gaps,” reports Government Executive. “… The Web-based program allows registrants to create profiles and find colleagues nationwide who could help them grow professionally. Participants have access to events posted on the site and special teaching and learning resources; they also can use the site to communicate with other members. Weekly newsletters announce upcoming events, help propel conversations, and offer ways to break down problems.” [View article]

International News

Massive Earthquake Hits Chile (CNN; Washington Post) A “massive earthquake” in Chile on February 27 “killed more than 800 people,” reports CNN. It was “one of the most powerful earthquakes to strike the earth in more than a century,” reports the Washington Post. Hardest hit was Concepcion, “about 70 miles from the epicenter.” But “the death toll” was “a small fraction of the tally from a far less powerful earthquake last month in Haiti that claimed at least 220,000 lives. That temblor was more shallow and much closer to a large population center, the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. But the deaths there were mostly because of widespread building collapses, which Chilean cities did not experience.… even though half a million homes were heavily damaged during more than 120 seconds of shaking, the fact that so many Chileans survived was a testament to the nation’s enactment and enforcement of stringent building codes.” [View CNN article] [View Post article]

Mexican Gangs Provoke Terror With Twitter and Facebook (Monsters and Critics) “Organized crime gangs in Mexico are using social networks like Twitter and Facebook as weapons in psychological warfare to cause terror and show off their power in northern Mexico,” reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur. “The gangs have used these media to spread rumours of heavy clashes between their hitmen and the military and of attacks on specific towns by criminals.” [View article]

Afghan Government Installed in Marjah (Yahoo! News; Las Vegas Sun) “Afghan officials raised the national flag over Marjah on [Feb. 25], asserting government control even as Marines searched for militant holdouts,” reports the Associated Press. Marjah was “a major Taliban logistics and supply center and the largest community in the south under insurgent control.” The “Marines and Afghan troops who fought through the center of Marjah linked up [on Feb. 27] with American soldiers on the northern edge of the former Taliban stronghold, clearing the town’s last major pocket of resistance,” reports the Associated Press in another article. “… the militants have either fled or blended in with the local population.” [View flag-raising article] [View resistance article]

Taliban Cave Network Found in Pakistan (London Telegraph) “Pakistan’s army has discovered a complex network of 156 caves used by the Taliban and al-Qaeda dug into rocky mountains close to the Afghan border,” reports the Telegraph. “… The network was found during an offensive against Islamist militants in the country’s semi-autonomous tribal areas … the caves served as a key militant headquarters until troops overran” them. [View article]

Taliban Defectors Accept U.S. Approach but Wait for Promises to Be Kept (Washington Post) “The United States, along with its NATO and Afghan allies, is trying to ‘reintegrate’ militants … offering them jobs on the assumption that they would rather earn a salary than spend their days fighting,” reports the Washington Post. “… All of the former fighters [the Post] interviewed said they were promised jobs if they gave up the fight, but for the past four months, the government has honored none of these commitments.” [View article]

Frustrated Young Pakistanis Provide New Generation of al-Qaeda Recruits (New York Times) An “urban crush of young people looking for work”—“educated strivers who come from the lower middle class—are part of a new generation that has made militant networks in Pakistan more sophisticated and deadly,” reports the Times. “Al Qaeda has harnessed their aimless ambition and anger at Pakistan’s alliance with the United States, their generation’s most electrifying enemy. ‘These are guys who use Google Maps to plan their attacks,’ said a senior Punjab Province police official. ‘Their training is better than our national police academy.’ … many came of age in the 1990s, when jihad was state policy—aimed at challenging Indian control in Kashmir—and jihadi groups recruited openly in universities. Under the influence of Al Qaeda, their energies have been redirected and turned inward, against Pakistan’s own government and people.” [View article]

Hamas Shows Signs of Vulnerability (Washington Post) “Struggling to maintain its strength in the West Bank amid a crackdown by Israel and Palestinian police and suffering after the assassination of one of its top leaders, Hamas has sustained another blow with news that the son of one its founders had been spying on it for Israel,” reports the Washington Post. “… The news comes amid fighting between Hamas and Fatah that has split Palestinians and hampered U.S. efforts to restart peace negotiations with Israel, which has sealed off the Gaza Strip to pressure Hamas into releasing Gilad Shalit, a captured Israeli soldier.” [View article]

German Islamists Convicted in Bomb Plot (BBC) “Four Islamists”—Fritz Gelowicz, Daniel Schneider, Adem Yilmaz, and Atilla Selek—“have been convicted by a court in Germany of plotting to attack US facilities in the country,” reports the British Broadcasting Corporation. (See the Feb. 15, 2008, newsletter.) They “were given prison sentences of between five and 12 years. The judge said they had dreamed of ‘mounting a second September 11 2001’ by killing US civilians and soldiers by bombing targets like Ramstein Air Base.” [View article]

German Court Rules Against EU Data-Retention Law (EU Observer) “Germany’s highest court on Tuesday … ruled that a key data-retention law, arising from an EU directive seen as central in the fight against terrorism, contravened Germany’s constitution,” reports the EU Observer. “The 2008 law required telecommunications companies to retain all citizens’ telephone and internet data for six months.” [View article]

CIA Bomber in Afghanistan Says He Used Doctored Intelligence to Lure Targets (Washington Post) “The suicide bomber behind the Dec. 30 attack on a CIA base in eastern Afghanistan [see the Jan. 8 newsletter] claims in a posthumously released recording that he lured U.S. and Jordanian intelligence officers into a trap by sending them misleading information about terrorist targets as well as videotapes he made of senior al-Qaeda leaders,” reports the Post. [View article]

Al-Qaeda Seeks Economic Damage, Says Professor (Security Management) “In his report, ‘Econo-Jihad,’ [Gabriel] Weimann—a professor at Haifa University in Israel and American University in Washington, D.C.—monitored al Qaeda’s online statements, videos, audio messages, letters, and press releases and found [that] the terrorist organization and its sympathizers have increasingly emphasized attacks that weaken the U.S. economy as jihad’s primary goal,” reports Security Management. [View article]

India, Saudi Arabia Sign Extradition Treaty, Pledge to Fight Terror (Times of India) “India and Saudi Arabia on Sunday vowed to jointly combat terrorism and money laundering as they signed an extradition treaty and several agreements to raise their cooperation to a strategic partnership covering security, economic, energy and defence,” reports the Press Trust of India. [View article]

U.S. and Israel Agree to Joint Aviation Security Improvements The United States and Israel have agreed to enhance information sharing about civil aviation security incidents and ensure efficient and effective coordination in response to potential acts of terrorism and other aviation-related public safety emergencies. [View DHS press release]

Anti-Immigration Party Gains in Dutch Elections (EU Observer) “The hard-right anti-immigration party of Geert Wilders looks set to emerge as the main winner in local elections held in the Netherlands on Wednesday … setting the stage for a national showdown in June,” reports the EU Observer. “… the Party for Freedom” fielded candidates in only “two local constituencies”: the Hague and Almere. [View article]

United Nations News

Haiti Aid Effort Marred by Slow UN Response (Reuters) “There were about 9,000 uniformed U.N. peacekeepers stationed in Haiti when the quake struck on January 12 and they were the logical ‘first responders’ to the disaster … however, none of the peacekeepers appeared to be involved in hands-on humanitarian relief in what emergency medical experts describe as the critical first 72 hours after a devastating earthquake strikes,” reports Reuters. The peacekeepers’ “response to the appalling suffering was limited to handling security and looking for looters.” But the United Nations also suffered: “Scores of U.N. personnel died in the quake, including Hedi Annabi, head of the U.N. mission.… The U.N.’s top humanitarian aid official, John Holmes, is among those who have chided relief agencies, including the United Nations itself, for doing too little to help Haiti.” [View article]

State and Local News

Nevada Plans for Nuclear Attack (Carson City Nevada Appeal) “The Nevada Division of Emergency Management … is planning for the worst: A nuclear attack by terrorists in Reno or Las Vegas,” reports the Appeal. “… Gov. Jim Gibbons [said], ‘It’s not that we know or believe an incident is going to occur. Nevada is just leading the way in planning.’ Gibbons said Nevada, working with federal agencies, will develop the model for other states to build on.” [View article]

South Carolina Law Required Revolutionaries to Register (Charleston, SC, Post and Courier) South Carolina had “a 1951 law requiring any group that wants to overthrow the federal government or any other government in the country to register with the state and pay a $5 fee,” reports the Associated Press. The legislature voted yesterday to repeal it. [View article]

Private-Sector News

Homeland Security Today Honors Green Companies (Homeland Security Today) With its Green Recognition Awards, Homeland Security Today highlights “five organizations and companies that are taking the notion of going green to the next level”: Raytheon, the New York City Office of Emergency Management, Microplanet, EPS Corp., and Delta Scientific. [View article]

FedEx photo

New Upcoming Events (Events are listed for four weeks; after that, they are still on the Upcoming Events page) Ground Robotics Capabilities Conference and Exhibition (March 16-18; Doral, FL) This year’s theme is “Dual Role of Robotics Technologies—Public and Private Sector.” The conference will bring together warfighters, first responders, and government and industry technology professionals to focus on dual-use robotic technology and how the best ideas of the automotive, space, and military industries can be synergistically shared. [View event website] Gulf Coast Resilient Home Building Conference (March 19-21; Biloxi, MS) The purpose of this conference is to help put communities along the Gulf Coast on a path toward greater resilience to natural disasters through the construction of strong homes that can withstand high winds and water. The conference will feature a combination of education sessions, a demonstration exhibit, and product vendors. [View event website] National Preparedness and Response: Pandemic, Emergencies and Disaster (March 25; London) This conference will reiterate why advanced planning and readiness are essential if high-risk workplaces are to remain in action, services kept running, and business continuity maintained. Expert speakers will explore how improved planning can reduce social and economic effects, outlining current strategies and best practices to minimize disruption. A reflection on the nation’s response to the swine flu outbreak will ascertain which strategies and policies have worked well, and what has been learnt that will fortify future plans. A panel debate will discuss how agencies can work together to improve coordinated response and recovery plans in related emergencies. [View event website] (March 29-31; Vienna, VA) This conference on chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense will address industry standards and requirements, state and national preparedness, coordination response efforts among various departments and agencies, and research and development and future technologies and medicine (that is, vaccines). [View event website] International Emergency Management Society Workshop (April 13-14; Santiago, Chile) This meeting aims for a fruitful global dialogue and exchange of experience in emergency and disaster management in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will examine natural and technological hazards, applied technologies, and operational and organizational methods for preventing and reducing the impact of and speeding the recovery from disasters. [View event website] (May 1-5; Las Vegas) This conference of the International Association of Fire Chiefs is for “fire-based” emergency medical service leaders who are pioneering change; it gives them a chance to connect with other key leaders, expand their EMS network, and share ideas with colleagues. [View event website] BioDefense 2010 (May 3-4; Washington, DC) This conference will evaluate the state of America’s biodefense readiness. Speakers will discuss strategy and policy, collaboration, detection and situational awareness, and consequence management. [View event website] Chemical and Biological Medical Treatment Symposia (May 2-7; Spiez, Switzerland) These symposia will explore the scientific, medical, and policy aspects of chemical, biological, and radiological warfare and terrorism. They will consider the effects of such agents wrongly used or abused, intentional or accidental, on the community and individuals, military and civilian, and on the infrastructure of government. [View event website] Disaster Forum (May 10-13; Banff, Alberta) This is a forum for professionals in disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery, supplemented with ongoing educational opportunities. [View event website] (May 12-16; Nashville, TN) This training summit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to enhance the knowledge, skills, and abilities of participants and improve their capability to deliver public health and medical care services during disasters of any origin. This year’s theme is “Learning, preparing, and responding together.” [View event website] (May 19-23; Baltimore) The conference features the top hazmat thinkers, strategists, and leaders as they share ideas and insights. The expo offers the chance to talk one on one with leading company representatives about the latest hazmat equipment and technology. [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) Advances in Databases and Information Systems (September 20-24; Novi Sad, Serbia) One track of the conference concerns “Personal Identifiable Information: Privacy, Ethics, and Security.” The conference is soliciting presentations on research accomplishments, experience reports, and project overviews. The deadline for submitting papers is March 27. [View call for papers] Liberty and Security in the Age of Terrorism (November 22-24; Lexington, KY) The conference of the Commonwealth Security Studies Laboratory in the College of Business and Public Affairs at Morehead State University will examine the appropriateness of measures designed to defeat enemies abroad and ensure domestic tranquility in light of constitutional liberties and will compare the cost of incremental security improvements in terms of resources expended, privacy surrendered, rights infringed upon, and principles betrayed. The submission deadline is March 30. [View call for papers] Securing Transportation Systems and Securing Water and Wastewater Systems Interested authors are welcome to submit an abstract for a chapter in these forthcoming books. Papers on securing transportation systems are due by July 31. Abstracts on securing water and wastewater systems are due by March 31. [View call for papers]