Fw: [CRA] CRA Daily Brief - October 6, 2009

October 7, 2009

--- On Tue, 10/6/09, CRA <cra wrote:CRA <cra[CRA] CRA Daily Brief - October 6, 2009CRADate: Tuesday, October 6, 2009, 12:21 PM

THE CRA TERRORISM THREAT ASSESSMENT CENTER DAILY BRIEF Tuesday, October

06, 2009 3:16:44 PM

THE CRA TERRORISM

ASSESSMENT CENTER DAILY BRIEF

IN THE NEWS

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 3:16:44 PM

Threats and terrorist activities are reported in:

TERROR INCIDENTS 5 UN

Killed by Suicide Bomber; 6 Killed in Suicide Attack on Funeral; and

Motorcycle Bomb Injures 17 in Thai South

WAR NEWS UK

Soldier Killed in Afghanistan; Deadly Taliban Attack Included al-Qaeda;

Wounded US Soldiers Refused to Leave Taliban Fight; High on Qat, Yemeni

Troops Battle Shiite Rebels; and Pakistan Kept Billions in US

Aid from Military

THREATS al-Qaeda

Vows to Kill More Westerners; France Warns of New Terror Threat From 'Body

Bombs'; NKorea has 100 Nuke Sites and SKorea Ready to Strike Them; and

The Other Ticking Clock in Iran

PIRACY Somali

Pirates Free Turkish Ship after Ransom

TERROR ON TRIAL Terrorist

Spoke With al-Qaeda Operative

TERROR MODUS OPERANDI

Hizballah Planned Attack on US/Israeli Embassies in Azerbaijan; and

Terrorist Recruitment of Somali Muslims in USA

TERRORIST CONNECTIONS

Obama under Pressure to Get Tough on Iran; Iran Plans to Continue Uranium

Enrichment; and Funds Cut for Iran Rights Watchdog

PROPAGANDA What

Temple?

ISLAM At the

UN, the Obama Administration Backs Limits on Free Speech; Muslim

Brotherhood Seeks Ban on Fake Hymens in Egypt; and Pakistan:

Abuse of Christians and Other Religious Minorities

Responses and counter-terrorism measures are

noted in:

FLU Why Americans

Fear Swine Flu Vaccine

HOMELAND SECURITY

Feds Push Intel Sharing to Thwart Terror; Gates Wants Leaders' War

Advice Kept Secret; McChrystal Comments Bring Obama Rebuke; and 2007

NIE on Iran Was Deliberately Dishonest

TERRORISM PREVENTION

The Real ElBaradei Unleashed; Keeping a Lid on 'Homegrown' Terror; and

Will Successful Efforts to Stamp Out Homeland Terrorist Attacks

Continue?

TERRORISM RESPONSE

UN Report Appeases Terrorism; al-Qaeda Prison Escapees Killed, Captured;

and Bad Options on Iran

POLICE AND CRIME

ISSUES FBI: Beware of Three New Hoax E-Mails

Airport Security in

Frankfurt, Germany

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TOPIC

SUBJECT

TERROR INCIDENTS

5 UN Killed by Suicide Bomber

6 Killed in Suicide Attack on Funeral

Motorcycle Bomb Injures 17 in Thai South

WAR NEWS

UK Soldier Killed in Afghanistan

Deadly Taliban Attack Included al-Qaeda

Wounded US Soldiers Refused to Leave Taliban Fight

High on Qat, Yemeni Troops Battle Shiite Rebels

Pakistan Kept Billions in US Aid from Military

THREATS

al-Qaeda Vows to Kill More Westerners

France Warns of New Terror Threat From 'Body Bombs'

NKorea has 100 Nuke Sites and SKorea Ready to Strike

Them

The Other Ticking Clock in Iran

FLU

Why Americans Fear Swine Flu Vaccine

PIRACY

Somali Pirates Free Turkish Ship after Ransom

HOMELAND SECURITY

Feds Push Intel Sharing to Thwart Terror

Gates Wants Leaders' War Advice Kept Secret

McChrystal Comments Bring Obama Rebuke

2007 NIE on Iran Was Deliberately Dishonest

TERRORISM PREVENTION

The Real ElBaradei Unleashed

Keeping a Lid on 'Homegrown' Terror

Will Successful Efforts to Stamp Out Homeland Terrorist

Attacks Continue?

TERRORISM RESPONSE

UN Report Appeases Terrorism

al-Qaeda Prison Escapees Killed, Captured

Bad Options on Iran

TERROR ON TRIAL

Terrorist Spoke With al-Qaeda Operative

POLICE AND CRIME ISSUES

FBI: Beware of Three New Hoax E-Mails

TERROR MODUS OPERANDI

Hizballah Planned Attack on US/Israeli Embassies in

Azerbaijan

Terrorist Recruitment of Somali Muslims in USA

TERRORIST CONNECTIONS

Obama Under Pressure to Get Tough on Iran

Iran Plans to Continue Uranium Enrichment

Funds Cut for Iran Rights Watchdog

PROPAGANDA

What Temple?

ISLAM

At the UN, the Obama Administration Backs Limits on Free

Speech

Muslim Brotherhood Seeks Ban on Fake Hymens in Egypt

Pakistan: Abuse of Christians and Other Religious

Minorities

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TERROR INCIDENTS

5

UN Killed by Suicide Bomber (back)

October 5, 2009

by Bill Roggio

A suicide bomber killed

five United Nations workers in an attack at an office in Pakistan's

capital of Islamabad.

The suicide bomber

penetrated security at the World Food Program offices and detonated

inside the building, killing four Pakistanis and an Iraqi national. Six

Pakistanis were also wounded in the blast. Two employees are said to be

in critical condition.

Pakistani police are

attempting to determine how the bomber was able to get past the security

measures in the capital. The UN compound is housed with other foreign

offices and embassies in a high security district. Security checkpoints

and blast walls ring the compounds.

'We are investigating

how he managed to enter inside the building,' Bani Amin, the deputy

inspector general of police operations told AFP. 'There are scanners,

there are cameras, and strict security arrangements.'

The blast in Islamabad

is the first since June 6, when a suicide bomber killed two policemen in

an attack on a police building.

The Taliban have

penetrated the high security in Islamabad in previous attacks. Eight

people were killed and more than 30 were wounded in a suicide car bombing

outside the Danish embassy in June 2008. In April 2009, a suicide bomber

killed eight paramilitary policemen in an attack on a headquarters near a

United Nations compound that houses the UN Human Rights Council.

The Taliban have

promised they would initiate attacks in Pakistan if military operations

in the tribal areas are not halted. Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the

Movement of the Taliban in Pakistan, conducted a press conference

yesterday with other Taliban leaders to dismiss reports of his death and

Taliban infighting, and said the attacks would begin again. Over the past

three years, the Taliban have conducted major suicide attacks and

assaults in the cities of Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and Peshawar,

as well as in numerous other towns and cities throughout the country.

Source:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/10/five_killed_in_suici.php

6

Killed in Suicide Attack on Funeral (back)

October 5, 2009

BAGHDAD -- Iraqi police

said a suicide bomber blew himself up on Monday at a funeral in the

Al-Anbar province western Iraq, killing six civilians.

A source in the Iraqi

police told KUNA here today that a suicide bomber exploded inside a

funeral in the town of Haditha, west province of Al-Anbar.

The explosion caused

the deaths of six people along with wounding dozens others and were taken

to a hospital for treatment, source added.(

Source:

http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDeta ils.aspx?id=2029727 & Language=en

Motorcycle

Bomb Injures 17 in Thai South (back)

October 5, 2009

YALA, Thailand - A bomb

hidden in a motorcycle exploded in Thailand's restive deep south on

Monday, wounding 17 people celebrating a Buddhist festival, police said.

The bomb was detonated

remotely as crowds of people gathered to watch the parade in Pattani, one

of three mainly Muslim border provinces plagued by brutal separatist

violence.

More than 3,600 people,

Muslims and minority Buddhists, have been killed since 2004 in the

rubber-rich region, an independent sultanate until annexed by Thailand a

century ago.

The more than 30,000

troops stationed in the deep south have made no inroads towards crushing

the shadowy rebels, who have never publicly stated their aims.

Source:

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/B95346.htm

WAR NEWS

UK

Soldier Killed in Afghanistan (back)

October 6, 2009

LONDON - A British

soldier has been killed in an explosion in Afghanistan, the Ministry of

Defence said on Tuesday.

The victim is the 220th

British Army soldier to have been killed in Afghanistan since the

U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

The soldier from the

1st Battalion the Grenadier Guards died whilst out on a foot patrol near

the Nad Ali District Centre in central Helmand province on Monday.

'Our deepest and

heartfelt sympathies go out to his bereaved family, to his friends and to

the many comrades of this proud and brave Guards soldier,' said spokesman

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/10/06/business/business-u

k-britain-afghan-death.html?_r=1

Deadly

Taliban Attack Included al-Qaeda (back)

October 6, 2009

by Ben Arnoldy

Deadly Afghanistan

attack: It wasn't just the Taliban

The Taliban combined

with an Al Qaeda-linked militant group and others to kill eight US

soldiers in northeastern Afghanistan Sunday. The Taliban's flexibility is

a major threat to US forces.

New Delhi - The major

ground assault by militants that killed eight US soldiers in Afghanistan

this weekend illustrates nimble cooperation between the Taliban and

smaller groups, according to NATO and regional security analysts. The

ability of this militant medley to plug-and-play their fighters into

larger forces, then disperse again into smaller groups, represents a

major challenge to the US-led coalition.

'I think not enough

credit is given that these groups operate together. I am not saying these

guys have a hierarchal structural command like the US military does. But

they do operate together when required,' says Bill Roggio, managing

editor of The Long War Journal.

The Taliban have

claimed responsibility for the attack on a pair of remote US military outposts

in the Kamdesh district of Nuristan Province, located in northeastern

Afghanistan. But NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay told the

Associated Press that the fighters also included tribal militias and

forces under Al Qaeda-linked commander in Pakistan, Siraj Haqqani. (Read

more about the Haqqani network here.)

Mr. Roggio says that

the battle, which also killed two Afghan soldiers, involved a

reconstituted Brigade 055 â€“ Al Qaeda fighters from around the

Muslim world, particularly the Middle East and Central Asia, who fought

alongside the Taliban at Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda. These fighters

both embed with Taliban units to conduct training â€“ much like NATO

forces do with the Afghan Army â€“ as well as come together to help

fight in major battles.

'There's no way that

local tribal militia are carrying out an attack of this sophistication,'

says Roggio. Instead, different groups contribute seasoned fighters at

the request of a local commander such as Dost Mohammed, the Afghan

Taliban's shadow governor for the province.

A militant crossroads

In this neck of the

woods, many groups could contribute. Nuristan Province is one of the

country's least accessible, and conversely, a crossroads between

overlapping militant groups. It is also seen as a corridor between

Central Asia and Pakistani tribal hideouts for the Islamic Movement of

Uzbekistan (IMU) and Al Qaeda. One of the biggest players remains

Hizb-i-Islami, the militant group run by Afghan warlord Gulbuddin

Hekmatyar. (Read more about Hekmatyar and the Taliban umbrella he falls

under here.)

'They [Hizb-i-Islami]

are extending their activities in Northern Afghanistan,' says Waliullah

Rahmani, head of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies. 'Nuristan is a

key province for Hizb-i-Islami who are planning and implementing attacks

into Badakhshan and other [nearby] provinces.'

The eastern insurgency

also includes many Arab and Central Asian fighters, says Kabul-based

analyst Haroun Mir. These forces are interested in expanding into

northern Afghanistan and even pushing into Central Asia from Pakistan

â€“ putting Nuristan in their crosshairs. It looks familiar to him as

a strategy used by mujahideen commander Gen. Ahmed Shah Massod during the

anti-Soviet resistance.

'That was the exact

strategy of Massod â€“ take the garrisons out of the mountains to

allow free flow of fighters and weapons from Pakistan to Afghanistan,'

says Mr. Mir. 'Al Qaeda is interested in moving into Central Asia too.'

NATO pulling back from

remote outposts

The US troops

originally went into Kamdesh to set up a Provincial Reconstruction Team

there, but those plans never got off the ground because of the outpost's

difficult-to-defend location.

'The locals at the

outset were happy we were sending soldiers because they thought we would

protect them,' says Robert F. Strand, a scholar based in Arizona who is

an expert on Nuristan's culture and languages. 'We lost support there

because we never did defend the population, we just sat there as the

[Hizb-i-Islami fighters] took over village after village.'

Before this weekend's

attack, NATO was planning to withdraw its forces from Kamdesh as part as

a strategic shift away from remote outposts in favor of guarding larger

population centers. Those plans have not changed, according to NATO.

But these various

groups behind the attack remain a focus of the US and its allies.

The IMU â€“ a key

Al Qaeda group from Central Asia â€“ suffered an apparent blow with

the reported death of its longtime leader, Tahir Yuldashev. In a Monday

report, the Pakistani newspaper The News says a Taliban commander

confirmed that a drone strike back in August killed Mr. Yuldashev. Roggio

says this mirrors information from US and Pakistani intelligence sources,

giving him 'high confidence' that Yuldashev was indeed killed.

'Without holding

ground, the best thing you can do is disrupt these networks, and one way

you can [do that] is to take this leadership out,' says Roggio. 'The

reality is that the IMU still has a very robust group. It has roots in

Pakistan's tribal areas and in some areas of northern Afghanistan, and

it's still going to operate. It just may not operate as efficiently.'

Hekmatyar unlikely to

join political process

As far as tackling

Hekmatyar, the Afghan government has floated the idea of entering

high-level talks with his group and the Taliban. Mr. Rahmani doubts

Hekmatyar would be interested in a political settlement given his past

inability to work underneath others.

'He is one who has a

very totalitarian mindset and cannot accept others. Because of that I

don't think he can take part in any political processes in Afghanistan to

share power, or take part in power,' says Rahmani.

Source:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1005/p06s13-wosc.html

Wounded

US Soldiers Refused to Leave Taliban Fight

(back)

October 6, 2009

by Karen Russo

KAMDESH, Afghanistan -

ABC News' Karen Russo was the only reporter to get to the scene of this

weekend's bloody firefight between U.S. troops and hundreds of Taliban

insurgents when she went in on a MEDEVAC helicopter. Here is her report:

Flying into the

besieged Afghan base during a nighttime firefight this weekend was a

harrowing mix of overwhelming noise, stomach dropping maneuvers and

shadows hurrying through the gloom.

When the chopper lifted

off moments later with three wounded soldiers, it left behind others who

were wounded but refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone so they

could return to fight with their buddies.

Fighting raged at two

remote U.S. outposts near the Pakistan border this weekend, that left

eight U.S. soldiers dead and nine wounded. The battle raged from Friday

night through Sunday as hundreds of Taliban insurgents and their allies

tried to over the Americans.

During the fighting,

the insurgents succeeded in breaching the outer defense of the base at

times before being repelled with the help of attack helicopters, fighter

jets and drones. It was the bloodiest battle in a year for U.S. troops in

Afghanistan.

During the fight, the

MEDEVAC team at a nearby base waited - with both patience and

frustration.

MEDEVAC teams are known

for flying into some of the most deadly areas in the world to rescue

injured soldiers. MEDEVAC helicopters are unarmed so they often need

supporting aircraft to protect them, and sometimes the cover of darkness

is their only defense.

On Saturday night, the

team finally received the go-ahead as the sun set. Within moments of

receiving the call, we rushed to the helicopter and quickly sped to the

outposts.

As we were flying into

the attack space, the MEDEVAC team with one medic and a doctor were

preparing for the oncoming patients, setting up IV's, pulling out medical

equipment and making other last minute preparations.

Apache helicopter

gunships escorted us as we neared the combat zone to ensure our safety as

we hovered at 10,000 feet awaiting word to descend. When word came, we

plummeted in a corkscrew manner, making the descent in a matter of

seconds, landing in a valley at the bottom of steep mountains. It felt

very vulnerable to attack.

One of the pilots said

that even though he had night vision goggles and ordinarily he can see in

that sort of situation, because the fighting was intense there was so

much smoke it was actually fogged over and it was difficult for him to

see. Fortunately he could make out the landing zone, but it was touch and

go.

Doctors in MEDEVAC

Chopper Work By Touch

Once on the ground, I

hopped out of the chopper, but could see little other than smoke wafting

through the moonlight, likely from a fire that was burning much of the

base. Then I could make out the shadows of soldiers as they carried the

wounded towards the helicopter.

Any noise of the

conflict was drowned out by the propellers of the helicopter. The area

smelled of burned out pine trees something one solider described as

'death and hell.'

Three wounded soldiers,

one U.S. and two Afghan, were carried down the steep incline and quickly

placed on the helicopter.

Some of the injured

refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone and continued to fight

despite their wounds, according to soldiers at the base. Soldiers told

the MEDEVAC crew that troops were donating blood during the battle, so it

could be transfused into wounded comrades.

Between the gloom of

night and smoke, it was too dark to see much and the roar of the chopper

made it almost impossible to hear commands.

I was quickly sort of

touched by a crew member to get on the flight. I hopped on and even

before I was on, the medical team was already working on the wounded.

Doctors wore night

vision goggles, but still found it difficult to see. One doctor said it

was like working by touch.

We were on the ground

for a little more than five minutes, but in the chaos of noise and

darkness, it felt like it could have been anything from 30 seconds to 30

minutes.

Moments later, the

chopper lifted into the air and flew to the nearest medical facility.

Despite the heroism of the crew, one of the soldiers died after reaching

the facility. It wasn't immediately announced whether the soldier who

died was American or Afghan.

Source:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wounded-us-soldiers-refused

-leave-taliban-fight/story?id=8754347#

High

on Qat, Yemeni Troops Battle Shiite Rebels

(back)

October 6, 2009

HARF SOFYAN, Yemen

â€“ Resting between frenetic bursts of fighting with tenacious Shiite

rebels in the north, many Yemeni soldiers pass the day chewing qat leaves

â€” the mild stimulant plant that is the impoverished Arab nation's

traditional drug of choice.

For the beleaguered

troops dispatched to Yemen's rugged Saada province, the chewing sessions

offer a welcome high and suppress fears that the rebels may have the

upper hand against an army lacking basic gear such as helmets and body

armor.

The Yemeni army has

been embroiled in a five-year conflict with Saada's rebels that erupted

when Shiite fighters took up arms against the central government,

complaining of neglect and the widening influence of hard-line Sunni

fundamentalists, some of whom consider Shiites heretics.

Shiites make up 30

percent of Yemen's population of 22 million.

Soldiers in the front

line town of Harf Sofyan, where seven brigades of some 3,000 soldiers

each are stationed, are showing the strain of prolonged fighting against

a tenacious and clever foe.

'They have super

powers, they do not fear death,' one soldier said. Another suggested the

rebels 'are possessed by evil spirits' and have 'alien powers no human

can possess.'

Both soldiers spoke to

a reporter traveling with the Yemeni military but refused to give their

names, fearing reprisal from their officers.

The soldiers' monthly

paycheck is just a $100, but the troops, whose ages vary between 15 and

25 years, are allowed to take any booty the rebels leave behind, from

food to equipment.

What the soldiers seek

most, though, is their daily stash of qat leaves. And that is

increasingly difficult to find in the devastated fields of Saada, where

corpses and body parts lie scattered by the roadside, filling the air

with the heavy odor of death.

The troops haggle daily

for the leaves with local qat vendors, whose business is the only one

still thriving in the devastated area. Even some commanders join the

chewing sessions, which usually start after lunch and last up to four

hours.

Qat is so popular in

Yemen that cultivating the plant uses up nearly half of the country's

water supply and farmers prefer to plant it for the high income it

brings.

Both sides regularly

announce advances on the battlefield, but the claims are difficult to

verify because authorities have cut off access to the area. Caught

between two forces, the local tribes often fight with whichever side has

the upper hand.

Several cease-fire

attempts have foundered, and the Shiite rebels, led by Abdel-Malek

al-Hawthi, have refused to hand over their weapons or release any

prisoners of war.

They accuse the

government of not fulfilling its obligations under previous agreements,

including freeing rebel detainees, paying compensation to victims and

rebuilding Saada villages ravaged by fighting.

On Monday, the rebels

said they shot down a government MiG-29 jet, the second this month, near

the provincial town of al-Magash. The Yemeni Defense Ministry said the

plane crashed due to technical reasons.

Government efforts to

contain the rebellion have been hampered by a separate, secessionist

movement in the south, as well as Yemen's crippling poverty and

plummeting oil revenues. Some officials also blame corruption in the

military for the failure to uproot the rebels.

The fighting, which has

displaced about 150,000 people since 2004, flared up in August, with

rebels capturing an army post on a strategic highway between the capital

and the Saudi border.

The escalation has

killed unknown numbers on both sides and crammed tens of thousands of the

newly displaced into camps, schools and barns turned into shelters, while

aid groups struggle to bring in supplies.

International relief

agencies have urged the government to open up corridors to the trapped

civilians.

'I have been living

here in Harf Sofyan with my 12 family members for two months now,

sleeping in the open and under the trees,' said teacher Jamal Amin

al-Jatham. 'We have nothing now after we fled the fighting.'

Ahmad Hassan, a

25-year-old farmer, said he walked with 10 other families across the

width of Saada province, fleeing the military's bombardment of the rebels

near the border with Saudi Arabia.

'We haven't gotten any

water for the past three days, and we are living off the food given to us

by some locals,' said Hassan, as he sat in the shade of a date palm tree.

Source:

http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1 & id=18366

Pakistan

Kept Billions in US Aid from Military (back)

October 5, 2009

by Kathy Gannon

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -

The United States has long suspected that much of the billions of dollars

it has sent Pakistan to battle militants has been diverted to the

domestic economy and other causes, such as fighting India.

Now the scope and

longevity of the misuse is becoming clear: Between 2002 and 2008, while

Al Qaeda regrouped, only $500 million of the $6.6 billion in American aid

actually made it to the Pakistani military, two army generals said.

The account of the

generals, who asked to remain anonymous because military rules forbid

them from speaking publicly, was backed up by other retired and active

generals, former bureaucrats, and government ministers.

At the time of the

siphoning, Pervez Musharraf, a Washington ally, served as chief of staff

and president, making it easier to divert money intended for the military

to bolster his image at home through economic subsidies.

'The army itself got

very little,â€™â€™ said Mahmud Durrani, a retired general who was

Pakistanâ€™s ambassador to the United States under Musharraf. 'It

went to things like subsidies, which is why everything looked hunky-dory.

The military was financing the war on terror out of its own

budget.â€™â€™

Generals and ministers

say the diversion of the money hurt the military in several ways:

& #9632; Helicopters

critical to the battle in rugged border regions were not available. At

one point in 2007, more than 200 soldiers were trapped by insurgents in

the tribal regions without a helicopter lift to rescue them.

& #9632; The limited

night vision equipment given to the army was taken away every three

months for inventory and returned three weeks later.

& #9632; Equipment

was broken, and training was lacking. It was not until 2007 that money

was given to the Frontier Corps, the front-line force, for training.

The details on misuse

of American aid come as Washington again promises Pakistan money.

Legislation to triple general aid to Pakistan cleared Congress last week.

The legislation also

authorizes 'such sums as are necessaryâ€™â€™ for military

assistance to Pakistan, upon several conditions. The conditions include

certification that Pakistan is cooperating in stopping the proliferation

of nuclear weapons, that Pakistan is making a sustained commitment to

combating terrorist groups, and that Pakistan security forces are not

subverting the countryâ€™s political or judicial processes.

The United States is

also insisting on more accountability for reimbursing money spent. For

example, Pakistan is still waiting for $1.7 billion for which it has

billed the United States under a Coalition Support Fund to reimburse

allies for money spent on the war on terror.

But the United States

still canâ€™t follow what happens to the money it doles out.

'We donâ€™t have a

mechanism for tracking the money after we have given it to

them,â€™â€™ said Lieutenant Colonel Mark Wright, a Pentagon

spokesman.

Musharrafâ€™s

spokesman, Rashid Quereshi, also a retired general, flatly denied that

his former boss had shortchanged the army. He did not address the

specific charges. 'He has answered these questions. He has answered all

the questions,â€™â€™ the spokesman said. Musharraf took power in

a bloodless coup in 1999 and resigned in August 2008.

The misuse of funding

helps to explain how Al Qaeda, dismantled in Afghanistan in 2001, was

able to regroup, grow, and take on the weak Pakistani army. The army

still complains of inadequate equipment to battle Taliban entrenched in

tribal regions.

Source:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2009/10/05/

pakistan_kept_billions_in_us_aid_from_military?mode=PF

THREATS

al-Qaeda

Vows to Kill More Westerners (back)

October 6, 2009

DUBAI â€”

Al-Qaeda's second-ranking leader has vowed in a new video message to kill

more Westerners to avenge 'crimes' against Muslims, a US group that

monitors Islamist websites said on Monday.

Ayman al-Zawahiri

dedicated his new video message, released Sunday, to Al-Qaeda operative

Sheikh Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi, who died in a Libyan prison earlier this

year, according to US-based IntelCenter.

'The United States is

deceiving us with the smiling Obama, who is searching for peace and

defending human rights,' Zawahiri said of US President Barack Obama,

IntelCenter said.

He said Al-Qaeda will

study the circumstances of Libi's death and went on to threaten the West

with new attacks.

'Oh criminal killers,

bloodsuckers,' Zawahiri is quoted as saying. 'We will shed your blood and

consume your economy until you stop your crimes, oh arrogant insolents.

'Oh blood shedders,

killers of innocent people,' he continued.

'God willing, we will

take revenge on you for every mujahid, every widow, every orphan, and

every Muslim, and we will defend everyone you oppressed in this world.

'With the help of God,

we will talk to you in the language that you understand until you refrain

from and stop your crimes.'

The video was released

by Al-Qaeda's as-Sahab production company, according to IntelCenter.

'Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi

was killed in Libya' and 'your administration has been complicit with the

Libyan regime for his murder,' Zawahiri told Obama.

Zawahiri added that

Libi had been 'the military leader of the Arab mujahideen (fighters)

during the battle of Tora Bora' in 2001, which was launched by the United

States on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in a bid to capture

Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

He said Libi had been arrested

in Pakistan and 'tortured' during his detention in several countries,

including Egypt.

'Ibn al-Sheikh al-Libi

was tortured in Egypt, where he was forced into making a false confession

that was a link between Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime',

which one of the reasons invoked by Washington to justify the invasion of

Iraq in 2003, he said.

His video message was

carried by SITE Intelligence, another US centre monitoring Islamist

websites.

The death of Libi had

been disclosed on May 10 by a Libyan newspaper, OAS, which said he

committed suicide in a prison in Libya.

Source:

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hLccRH-

UOtVNSgQ4an66HPWO5Zhg

France

Warns of New Terror Threat From 'Body Bombs'

(back)

October 6, 2009

Airport Security

Concerns

The French intelligence

service has warned of a new terrorism threat from suicide bombers

carrying in-body explosives that can't be detected by standard airport

screening. The method was used in a failed attempt to kill the Saudi

anti-terrorism chief in August.

French anti-terrorism

experts have warned that suicide bombers carrying explosives inside their

bodies pose a new threat to air traffic, French newspaper Le Figaro

reported on Monday.

Standard metal

detectors at airports can't detect in-body explosives and full X-ray

screening would be needed to spot them -- a costly measure that would

entail health risks for frequent flyers. The fear is that terrorists

could detonate explosives on board a pressurized plane, when only a small

explosion would suffice to bring it down.

The method was first

used in an al-Qaida attack on the Saudi anti-terrorism chief, Prince

Mohammed bin Nayef, in late August. The 23-year-old terrorist, Abdullah

Hassan al-Asiri, got through security checks with explosives in his

rectum and detonated them during a meeting with the prince. A mobile

phone was used to trigger the bomb. The prince was only slightly injured

because al-Asiri's body absorbed most of the detonation and was ripped

apart.

X-Ray Control?

The explosive is

believed to have been triggered by a mobile phone text message, but the

source of the message is not known. The attack has led to fears that

al-Qaida is testing a new strategy of in-body bombs that would make air

travel vulnerable.

'Our aviation controls

are equipped with metal detectors, but in the case of the Saudi suicide

bomber only an X-ray control would have detected the explosive,' a French

police official told Le Figaro.

The newspaper cited a

senior Interior Ministry official as saying X-raying every passenger

would be unthinkable given how frequently some people fly. 'The health

risks would be too high,' he said.

Security experts are

instead considering isolating the electronic trigger by making passengers

hand in their cell phones and other electronic equipment to the cabin

crew for the duration of the flight. Such a measure, though, would likely

unleash a storm of protest by passengers.

Body bombs copy the

method long used by drug smugglers who hide narcotics in their bodies by

swallowing capsules filled with cocaine and other drugs.

How-To Instructions

from Al-Qaida

Sebastien MahÃ©, an

airport security expert with Brink's France, told the British newspaper

The Times that advances in miniaturization were making it easier for

terrorists to produce and hide detonators.

He said it would be

possible, but difficult, to bring down a plane with an in-body bomb. 'You

would need a certain weight of explosive because the human body acts as

quite a strong shock absorber.'

Experts are divided

over how to respond. While some are sounding the alarm, others say

al-Qaida hasn't perfected the technique and wants to cause public

disruption by publicizing it. Ramping up security at this stage would be

playing into the terrorists' hands, they say.

Al-Qaida has said it

will post instructions on assembling and concealing body bombs on the

Internet.

Source:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,653487,00.html#ref

=nlint

NKorea

has 100 Nuke Sites and SKorea Ready to Strike Them (back)

October 5, 2009

SEOUL: South Korea

knows of about 100 sites linked to North Korea's nuclear programme and

has the capacity to strike them if an attack from the North is imminent,

the defence minister said today.

'There are about 100

sites related to the nuclear' programme, Kim Tae-Young told legislators

during a parliamentary audit of his ministry's work.

'We have a complete

list of them,' Yonhap news agency quoted him as saying.

Kim expressed confidence

his forces could hit any of them 'if it is absolutely clear a North

Korean offensive is imminent.'

Similar comments by Kim

last month drew criticism from the North's official cabinet newspaper

Minju Josun.

The communist North and

capitalist South have remained technically at war since their 1950-53

conflict ended only in an armistice and not a peace treaty. The North has

conducted two atomic weapons tests since 2006.

Separately, the defence

ministry said the North is thought to have 13 types of viruses and germs

which can be used in biological weapons, as well as up to 5,000 tons of

chemical weapons.

In a report to

parliament, the ministry said the North has one of the world's largest

stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons.

Source:

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/world/rest-of-world/NKorea

-has-100-sites-linked-to-nuclear-programme-SKorea

/articleshow/5089764.cms

The

Other Ticking Clock in Iran (back)

October 2, 2009

by Christian Caryl

Forget about Iran's

nukes for the moment. The real crisis is its drive for advanced

surface-to-air missiles.

The recent revelations

about Iran's nuclear program -- centering on an enrichment facility

buried in a mountain near the holy city of Qom -- have almost certainly

intensified the sense of urgency among policymakers in Jerusalem. Even

though the news has triggered a new round of high-stakes diplomacy

(including an unusual bilateral meeting between Americans and Iranians),

you can bet that Israeli military planning for an attack on the Islamic

Republic's nuclear facilities has moved into overdrive. Yet there's

another ticking clock the Israelis are worried about that hasn't been in

the headlines quite so much.

For years now, Tehran

has been working hard to acquire sophisticated Russian antiaircraft

missiles that would make it far tougher for Israeli planes to stage a

successful attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. One Israeli lawmaker,

Zeev Elkin, even warned last week that delivering the missiles could even

speed up the timing of an Israeli air raid. 'I hope Moscow understands

that the deliveries will at least speed up such events, if not trigger

them,' Elkin told the Russian daily Kommersant. Experts estimate that a

working Iranian nuclear weapon is still probably at least a year away,

depending on a host of contingencies. But the Russian missiles, which

just might ensure that Iran's nuclear installations can be protected from

attack, could be delivered at any time. So it's easy to understand why,

right now, Israeli minds seem to be focused on the more urgent of these

two ticking clocks.

The system in question

is the S-300 -- actually something of a catchall term because the name

covers several systems of varying ages and levels of effectiveness. The

S-300 is essentially the Russian equivalent of the American Patriot:

quick-reaction missiles designed to defend large areas of airspace

against incoming airplanes and ballistic missiles. Although the S-300 has

never been tested under combat conditions, military experts have a high

opinion of its capabilities -- especially those of the more recent

variants like the PMU-2 Favorit (known in the West as the SA-20B), which

can track 100 targets while engaging up to 12. It can hit targets as far

as 120 miles away. 'It's a high-technology weapon,' said Siemon Wezeman

of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks

arms shipments around the world. 'It has an impact which is not

restricted to just two or three square kilometers. It's a major thing.'

Russia apparently first

offered the Iranians the chance to buy S-300s in 2005, but then pulled

back on the deal due to diplomatic controversies surrounding Iran's

nuclear programs. In 2007, Tehran signed a contract to buy several S-300

batteries -- or so at least it would seem. Confusion about the actual

state of the deal has swirled ever since. Anatoly Isaikin, director of

Russia's state arms export company, confirmed in September of last year

that the two countries were negotiating a sale. In April of this year

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mehdi Safari visited Moscow to push

things along and declared, 'There are no problems with this contract.'

Yet so far none of the system appears to have been delivered to the

Iranians.

The Israelis don't seem

reassured. For months they've been lobbying Moscow to hold off on

delivering the missiles. Israel's Russian-speaking foreign minister,

Avigdor Lieberman, visited the Kremlin in June, and the missile deal

figured large in his discussions with Russian officials. President Shimon

Peres turned up in Russia in August to drive home the point. In

September, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also set off for talks with

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. First item on the agenda: S-300s.

(Netanyahu at first told the press he was headed somewhere else, but the

cover story soon fell through, igniting considerable controversy back at

home.)

Why are the Israelis so

worked up? Simple. Just consider the air raid -- dubbed 'Operation

Orchard' -- staged by Israel on a suspected nuclear facility in Syria in

September 2007. (U.S. and Israeli officials contend that the Syrian

installation was built with help from the North Koreans.) The Syrian air

defenses consisted largely of the same missiles the Iranians have now --

Russian-made Tor M1s (known by NATO as SA-15s). But they didn't leave a

scratch on the attackers. The Israelis successfully befuddled the Syrian

radars and didn't lose a single plane; the Syrian target was completely

wiped out. The raid has been described as a 'dress rehearsal' for a

possible attack on Iranian sites.

The whole affair might

have worked out rather differently had the Syrians been equipped with

S-300s -- and the Israelis know it. The Russians boast that, in stark

contrast to the Patriot, the S-300 actually hits warheads rather than

missile bodies. (It is well remembered in the missile business that most

Iraqi Scuds that were intercepted by Patriots during the first Gulf War

made it to their targets anyway.) The Russians also claim that the

powerful radars of their latest generation of air-defense missiles can

even cope with stealth aircraft. 'It's long range; it's high altitude;

it's fast,' said John Pike, founder of defense industry Web site

GlobalSecurity.org. 'At minimum the S-300 would force the Israelis to

take extensive countermeasures, like using aircraft with jammers,

aircraft with anti-radiation missiles, drones with decoys -- this whole

three-ring circus that you would need to get past it.'

Small wonder that many

observers think Israel would go to considerable lengths to prevent a

shipment of the high-tech missiles. Earlier this year an Israeli hand was

immediately suspected in the peculiar case of the Arctic Sea, the cargo

ship that was mysteriously hijacked in the Baltic Sea this summer and

then disappeared from view for several weeks until the Russian Navy

finally caught up with it off the coast of Cape Verde. Rumor had it that

the ship, which had made a stop in the Russian port of Kaliningrad before

setting out on its voyage, was carrying S-300 parts (perhaps illicitly

obtained by organized criminals) to Iran. Perhaps the Mossad was behind

the hijacking?

We'll probably never

know what really happened. The hijackers were taken into custody by the

Russians and have since been held incommunicado. But the idea of Israeli

involvement seems unlikely for many reasons (not least the sloppiness

with which the hijacking was carried out). As Wezeman of the Stockholm

International Peace Research Institute points out, you don't really own

the S-300 if you only have a few scavenged parts -- the whole weapon

comprises a big package, including truck-mounted launchers and bulky

radar units. Plus, he notes, the equipment is essentially useless without

the necessary technical support and multiyear maintenance contracts, which

will only come with a legally delivered system.

Some of the most

intriguing maneuverings surrounding Iran's effort to beef up its air

defenses are taking place in the public arena. Russian officials -- all

the way up to President Medvedev himself -- have publicly stressed that

Moscow is within its rights to sell S-300s to Tehran, arguing that the

Iranians are entitled to any defensive systems they wish to own (and that

this doesn't violate the U.N. embargo on supplying Iran with

nuclear-related technology). Yet the fact that the Kremlin feels

compelled to make the case suggests that the lobbying is having some

effect. And not only from the Israelis. Some experts think the Barack

Obama administration's cancellation of ballistic missile defense plans in

Eastern Europe might have involved a countermove by Russia to back off

from delivering S-300s to Tehran. Could that, perhaps, be connected with

the recent news from Saudi Arabia? It turns out that the Saudis have been

offering the Russians a better price for the sale of the S-300 to them

instead of to the Iranians (whose nuclear aspirations are only slightly

less disturbing to Riyadh than to Tel Aviv).

But the Russians have

to be careful. The Chinese have apparently offered to sell the Iranians

their own version of the S-300, a cheaper knockoff of the Russian

original. Moscow doesn't want to lose its present favored position as the

cheap weapons supplier to Iran, one of the few big arms markets left

where Russia is an undisputed leader. Weapons sales are big business for

Moscow tycoons. (Just to make things even more interesting, the company

that makes the S-300 is run by ex-KGB man Viktor Ivanov, a major ally of

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.)

Still, it's safe to

assume that some skulduggery has already been taking place out of the

public eye. The Israelis (and the Americans) must be keeping a close eye

on every Russian cargo airplane that enters Iranian airspace, not to

mention ships traveling between the two countries across the Caspian Sea.

And given the tensions, it's easy to imagine that Israeli special forces

are already hunkered down in the desert outside Natanz and Arak, keeping

a close eye on everything that's happening in the surrounding countryside

and getting ready to switch on their laser pointers when the time is ripe

-- as they apparently did in the run-up to the 2007 raid in Syria. This

story is far from over.

Source:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/10/02/the_other_ticking

_clock_in_iran

FLU

Why

Americans Fear Swine Flu Vaccine (back)

October 6, 2009

by Michael

Specter

On April 21st, the

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that two children in

Southern California had developed a febrile respiratory illness caused by

a flu virus that had never before been recognized in humans. The C.D.C.

referred to the infection, in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,

as a swine-flu virus, because some of its genes matched genes found in

pigs. It was a deeply unfortunate'and largely misleading'choice of words.

It was misleading

because most strains of the influenza virus consist of genes from pigs,

humans, and birds that have combined in a variety of ways. Pigs, in

particular, often serve as a mixing vessel for human and animal flu viruses,

because the receptors on their respiratory cells are similar to ours. As

it happens, this strain (formally known as 2009 H1N1) was new not only to

humans; it had also never been seen in pigs.

The description was

unfortunate because many Americans associate the term Ã¢â‚¬Å“swine

fluÃ¢â‚¬ with one of the countryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s most prominent

public-health debacles. In 1976, Army recruits at Fort Dix, New Jersey,

became infected by a strain of influenza (another H1N1 variant)

resembling the virus that caused the most lethal medical catastrophe of

modern times, the Spanish-flu epidemic of 1918, which killed more than

fifty million people. The Ford Administration, fearing the worst,

attempted to vaccinate the entire nation. But the epidemic never arrived.

A few of the millions who were vaccinated, however, suffered injury, and

some even died. Trust in public-health officials was undermined, and it

has never been fully restored. The episode helped establish a widespread

fear of vaccines thatÃ¢â‚¬'fuelled by groundless but impassioned

claims about a link between autism and the measles vaccineÃ¢â‚¬'persists

to this day. More than that, it created a false sense, shared by

millions, that vaccines were at least as threatening as the diseases they

prevent.

Fear spreads as rapidly

as any virus, and in the weeks following the C.D.C. announcement the

words Ã¢â‚¬Å“pandemic,Ã¢â‚¬ Ã¢â‚¬Å“novel,Ã¢â‚¬ and

Ã¢â‚¬Å“swineÃ¢â‚¬ appeared daily in news accounts. In Mexico,

where the epidemic gained its first foothold, two thousand people had

been infected and nearly a hundred had died by the end of April. All

schools, universities, museums, and theatres in Mexico City were closed.

Sunday Masses, usually celebrated by millions, were cancelled. Experts

noted that the influenza epidemic of 1918 had also been caused by a novel

strain of the H1N1 virus. On June 11th, Margaret Chan, the director

general of the World Health Organization, declared the highest level of

international public-health alert, saying that the Ã¢â‚¬Å“world is

now at the start of the 2009 influenza

pandemic.Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ She stressed that the new virus

was spreading readily from one person to the next and from one country to

another. The official tone of ominous foreboding had been established.

Nobody can predict the

ways in which a new influenza virus will mutate, or how virulent it may

become. That uncertainty makes it hard to devise a public-health message

that strikes a balance between comfort and terror. With too much

reassurance, people ignore the threat; with too little, they panic. The

W.H.O. decided, sensibly enough, to emphasize the risks of pandemic. Then

the summer months arrived, and for a while, with schools closed, the

threat seemed to fade.

That hiatus provided an

opening for the anti-vaccine, anti-government, and anti-science crowd,

and they stormed through. Where, they wondered, was the big pandemic?

Where were all the bodies? Last week, the political pundit Bill Maher

dispatched a communiquÃƒÂ© to his fifty-six thousand followers on Twitter:

Ã¢â‚¬Å“If u get a swine flu shot ur an idiot.Ã¢â‚¬ The view

seems widespread. A national poll conducted by the University of Michigan

found that only forty per cent of American parents plan to vaccinate

their children against H1N1. The news is all the more distressing because

the virus affects children and young adults far more powerfully than it

does older people. (With most strains of seasonal flu, the elderly are

especially at risk.)

Why would a parent

decline to vaccinate his child against a virus that has already infected

a million Americans? Half of those who participated in the poll expressed

concern about possible side effects. Vaccines do cause side effects, and,

in rare instances, the side effects can be serious. In particular, people

who are already ill with another infection should avoid vaccines. But the

odds that a flu vaccine would cause more harm than the illness itself are

practically zero. Nearly half of those polled said that they

werenÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t worried about their children getting the flu.

(There have even been reports of Ã¢â‚¬Å“swine-flu

parties,Ã¢â‚¬â„¢Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ where parents can bring children

in the hope that they will contract a potentially fatal disease.)

The

InternetÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s facility for amplifying rumors has also played a

role. One still unpublished report from Canada suggests that seasonal-flu

shots could make people more susceptible to H1N1. Never mind that it is

based on data that nobody has studied extensively, and that the findings

have not been reproduced in any other study.

Ã¢â‚¬Å“ThereÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s been some research done by some

Canadian scientists and doctors that might indicate that getting a

seasonal-flu shot will increase your risk of getting H1N1 flu,Ã¢â‚¬

Dr. Martha Buchanan, the medical director of the Knox County Health

Department, in Tennessee, said recently. There are no hard facts in that

sentence, and yet it was picked up around the world, sowing fear and

confusion in equal measure. On the Huffington Post, Dr. Frank Lipman, a

practitioner of naturopathic medicine and a self-described expert in

preventive health care, offered these reasons to avoid the H1N1 vaccine:

the epidemic so far has been mild, we donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t know whether

the vaccine will be safe, and we cannot say whether it will be effective.

In fact, the new H1N1

virus is similar to seasonal flu in its severity. In the United States,

influenza regularly ranks among the ten leading causes of death,

infecting up to twenty per cent of the population. It kills roughly

thirty-five thousand Americans every year and sends hundreds of thousands

to the hospital. Even relatively mild pandemics, like those of 1957 and

1968, have been health-care disasters: the first killed two million

people and the second a million.

We are more fortunate

than our predecessors, though. Scientists produced a vaccine rapidly; it

will be available within weeks. And, though this H1N1 virus is novel, the

vaccine is not. It was made and tested in exactly the same way that flu

vaccines are always made and tested. Had this strain of flu emerged just

a few months earlier, there would not have been any need for two vaccines

this year; 2009 H1N1 would simply have been included as one of the

components in the annual vaccine.

Meanwhile, the virus

has now appeared in a hundred and ninety-one countries. It has killed

almost four thousand people and infected millions of others. The risks

are clear and so are the facts. But, while scientists and public-health

officials have dealt effectively with the disease, they increasingly

confront a different kind of contagion: the spurious alarms spread by

those who would make us fear vaccines more than the illnesses they

prevent. Ã¢â„¢Â¦

Source:

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2009/10/12/09 1012taco_talk_specter

PIRACY

Somali

Pirates Free Turkish Ship after Ransom (back)

October 5, 2009

by Abdiqani Hassan

BOSASSO, Somalia

â€“ Somali pirates freed a Turkish ship on Monday after a pirate

source said the hijackers received a $1.5 million ransom.

A regional maritime

official confirmed the bulk carrier Horizon-1, which was seized on July 8

with 23 Turkish crew members on board, had been released.

'We accepted $1.5

million to release the Turkish ship,' one of the pirates, who gave his

name as Abshir, told Reuters by telephone from the gangs' stronghold of

Eyl.

'We delayed leaving

because of accounting: we were sharing out the money. We disembarked from

the ship this afternoon.'

Residents in Eyl said

associates of the pirates held a big party to celebrate the ransom

payment.

'There is too much

noise. The pirates' friends in Eyl are celebrating. Some have gone to

welcome the pirates who took the ransom,' local man Abdiqadir Mohamed

told Reuters by phone.

Andrew Mwangura of the

Kenya-based East African Seafarers' Assistance Program confirmed the

ship, which was believed to be carrying sulfate when it was hijacked, had

been released.

There was no immediate

word on the condition of the crew.

Spanish media said at

the time that the vessel had been en route from Jordan to Saudi Arabia

when it was hijacked.

FISHING BOAT HELD

Pirate raids have

continued in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden despite foreign

naval patrols off the lawless Horn of Africa state. Monsoon rains curbed

attacks in recent months, but now they have started to pick up again.

A Spanish tuna fishing

boat and its crew of 36, which was seized in the area last week is still

being held.

Foreign Minister Miguel

Angel Moratinos said he spoke to Somalia's prime minister on Monday who

promised to help try to secure its release.

'The number one

authority in Somalia has committed himself to helping all the steps which

the Spanish government is taking to liberate the Alakrana,' a government

statement said.

The government of

Somalia, where civil war has been going on for 18 years, controls only

small pockets of the capital, Mogadishu.

Heavily-armed gangs

from Somalia -- some made up of former fishermen angered by foreign boats

fishing in Somali waters -- have made tens of millions of dollars in

ransoms by seizing boats in shipping lanes linking Europe to Asia.

Source:

http://news./s/nm/20091005/wl_nm/us_somalia_piracy_

turkey_2;_ylc=X3oDMTB0a2huZ21pBF9TAzIxNTExMDUEZW1ha WxJZAMxMjU0NzgxMzAx

HOMELAND SECURITY

Feds

Push Intel Sharing to Thwart Terror (back)

October 6, 2009

by Felisa Cardona

Top federal officials

push intel sharing to thwart terror plots

In Denver, the heads of

law enforcement agencies tell police chiefs how teamwork helped thwart a

potential terrorist plot.

Sharing and analyzing

intelligence between law enforcement agencies is crucial to keeping the

United States safe from a terrorist attack, the nation's top federal

officials told an audience of police chiefs in Denver on Monday.

U.S. Attorney General

Eric Holder, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Department of Homeland

Security Secretary Janet Napolitano addressed the International

Association of Chiefs of Police at the Colorado Convention Center.

'You are the lead

public protectors, and you have a keen awareness and understanding,'

Napolitano said. 'We need a seamless network of information sharing and

intelligence development to protect the homeland from harm.'

The three officials

discussed the recent arrest of Najibullah Zazi, a 24-year-old Aurora

resident arrested first for lying to the FBI during a terrorism

investigation. Days later, Zazi was indicted in New York on charges of

conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction.

Zazi is accused of

purchasing beauty-supply items in the Denver metro area that contained

chemicals that can be made into hydrogen-peroxide bombs. Authorities

think he might have been planning a terrorism attack in New York City and

say he received bomb-making training at an al-Qaeda training camp in

Pakistan last year.

'All the information to

share has been shared about the overpurchase of certain products,'

Napolitano said. 'We are working with the private sector so that we find

those kind of purchases before a bomb can be made, before a bomb can go

off.'

Holder told the

audience that local and federal law enforcement partnerships in New York

and Colorado who worked on the Zazi case helped thwart a terrorism

attack.

'Working together in a

multi-agency, coordinated investigation, we disrupted what we believe was

a plot to kill scores of Americans by detonating explosives here in the

homeland,' Holder said. 'More work remains to be done on this matter. It

is my firm belief, though, that the outstanding work of personnel at the

federal, state and local level in monitoring and apprehending those

committed to doing us harm may very well have saved us from an

unspeakable tragedy.'

Mueller said there are

many threats to the U.S. from 'pockets around the world,' including

tribal areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan and emerging threats from

Algeria, Somalia and Yemen.

But Mueller stressed

that local police officers also have threats to worry about in their own

backyards from 'lone offenders.'

He said in an 11-day

period in May and June, lone gunmen were responsible for the shooting of

late-abortion provider Dr. George Tiller; a shooting at a Little Rock

military recruiting center; and the killing of a police officer at the

Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C.

Holder emphasized that

police officers in all cities and towns must be vigilant, no matter how

small the community.

'Few casual observers

would cite a midsized city like Aurora, Colo., as a central battleground

in the fight against terrorism,' he said. 'But you and I know better. We

know that every city and town in America â€” and therefore every law

enforcement official in America â€” has a role to play in the fight

against terrorism.'

Source:

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13494296

Gates

Wants Leaders' War Advice Kept Secret (back)

October 6, 2009

by Ann Scott Tyson and

Scott Wilson

Defense

Secretary Robert M. Gates cautioned military and civilian leaders Monday

against publicly airing their advice to President Obama on Afghanistan,

just days after the top U.S. general in that country criticized proposals

being advocated by some in the White House.

'In this process, it is

imperative that all of us taking part in these deliberations -- civilians

and military alike -- provide our best advice to the president candidly

but privately,' Gates said in a speech at the annual meeting of the

Association of the U.S. Army.

The Army's top general

immediately echoed Gates's remarks, which seemed designed to rein in

dissent within the ranks.

The remarks by Gates

and Gen. George W. Casey Jr. came four days after Gen. Stanley A.

McChrystal, the top commander of U.S. and international troops in

Afghanistan, said publicly that a proposal to scale back significantly

the U.S. military presence in the country would be 'shortsighted.' Since

then, the administration has sought to tamp down the appearance of any

divisions over strategy between McChrystal, Obama's handpicked commander,

and the White House.

In a blunt assessment

disclosed last month, McChrystal warned that the coalition's mission in

Afghanistan could fail without a new military strategy and additional

troops. Officials are reviewing that assessment and are discussing

strategy in a series of meetings at the White House.

Late Monday, when asked

at a roundtable discussion whether he is trying to muzzle McChrystal,

Gates said: 'Absolutely not.' He added that he has full confidence in the

general, saying, 'I can't improve on General McChrystal's assessment --

that the situation is serious and deteriorating.'

But, during the event

at George Washington University, the defense secretary said he does not

want McChrystal testifying before Congress -- as some lawmakers have

requested -- until the president had decided on a policy.

'It would put General

McChrystal in an impossible situation,' Gates said.

There is significant

support for McChrystal's stance in senior Army and military circles. At

the Army meeting on Monday, some current and retired officers voiced

concern that the administration lacks resolve to act on what they

consider a strong assessment and set of recommendations from McChrystal.

'We all need to support

McChrystal,' said one retired senior military officer who served in

Afghanistan, saying he believes McChrystal's diagnosis of the problem in

the country is on the mark. The officer spoke on the condition of

anonymity given the sensitivity of the issue.

Adm. Mike Mullen,

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently testified before Congress

that more U.S. troops are probably needed in Afghanistan to regain the

initiative from a resurgent Taliban.

Gates, in contrast, has

said he is undecided about whether to deploy additional U.S. troops,

although he acknowledged that McChrystal effectively mitigated some of

his long-standing concerns that too large a troop presence would turn the

Afghan population against the effort.

Gates said Afghanistan

is on a 'worrisome trajectory,' with violence levels up 60 percent

compared with last year. On Saturday, eight U.S. troops were killed in a

major attack by Taliban insurgents in eastern Afghanistan.

During Monday's

roundtable discussion, Gates said that if the Taliban took control of

significant portions of Afghanistan, it would help al-Qaeda with

fundraising and recruitment. Even more important, he said, the notion

that the group has 'come back from this defeat' and challenged the United

States and NATO 'is a hugely empowering message' for al-Qaeda.

White House press

secretary Robert Gibbs said during Monday's regular briefing for

reporters that Gates, who stayed on after the Bush administration,

provides Obama with 'unvarnished advice that doesn't have a political

agenda.' Obama 'relies greatly on his viewpoints,' Gibbs said.

The internal White

House review of strategy for Afghanistan continues with meetings

scheduled for Wednesday and Friday at the White House between Obama and

senior national security advisers and military leaders.

During last week's

three-hour review session, senior White House officials challenged a

number of McChrystal's assumptions about the timing and goals of the war

effort.

Some within the

administration are considering -- and beginning to make the case for -- a

narrower antiterrorism policy in Afghanistan rather than the expansive

counterinsurgency campaign that the uniformed military favors. The more

modest plan would maintain about the same number of combat troops in the

near term while speeding up the training of Afghan forces, intensifying

Predator drone strikes against al-Qaeda operatives and supporting the

nuclear-armed Pakistan government in its fight against the Taliban.

Still, Gibbs said

Monday that withdrawing from Afghanistan is 'not an option,' even though

the flawed Aug. 20 presidential election there has left the

administration with an uncertain political partner to help carry out its

strategy.

At the Army association

meeting, Gates emphasized that, regardless of any differences within the

administration on strategy, the Pentagon will dutifully execute Obama's

orders.

'Speaking for the

Department of Defense, once the commander in chief makes his decisions,

we will salute and execute those decisions faithfully and to the best of

our ability,' he said.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009

/10/05/AR2009100500631_pf.html

McChrystal

Comments Bring Obama Rebuke (back)

October 5, 2009

WASHINGTON --

President Barack Obama's national security adviser, retired Gen. James

Jones, says decisions on how best to stabilize Afghanistan and beat back

the insurgency must extend beyond the issue of troop levels to improved

governance and how best to foster economic development.

The debate over sending

up to 40,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is just one element that

senior policy advisers will consider this week, as they gather for at

least two top-level meetings on the administration's evolving Afghan

policy.

Jones offered a mild

rebuke Sunday of Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top commander in

Afghanistan, for making a public call for more forces during a speech

last week in London. It is 'better for military advice to come up through

the chain of command,' said Jones.

But he also said that

McChrystal 'is in it for the long haul,' beating back suggestions that

the general's public remarks could jeopardize his job. 'I don't think

this is an issue,' said Jones

Jones comments came

amid growing government fissures over whether to send thousands of

additional troops to the fight, and just hours after militant forces

overwhelmed U.S. troops at two outposts near the Pakistan border, killing

eight Americans.

Obama's senior advisers

are set to debate the Afghan strategy, juggling political pressure from

the left to scale back combat troops with arguments from military leaders

that additional forces are needed to secure the country and enable other

improvements.

Jones said that

Afghanistan is not in imminent danger of falling to the Taliban, and he

downplayed fears that the insurgency could set up a renewed sanctuary for

al-Qaida. McChrystal has said that insurgents are gaining ground and the

U.S. is in danger of failing unless more forces are sent to the fight.

'I don't foresee the

return of the Taliban. Afghanistan is not in imminent danger of falling,'

Jones said. 'The al-Qaida presence is very diminished. The maximum

estimate is less than 100 operating in the country, no bases, no ability

to launch attacks on either us or our allies.'

He said Obama has

received McChrystal's request for additional troops, and the force

numbers will be part of a larger discussion that will include efforts to

beef up the size and training of the Afghan army and police, along with

economic development and governance improvements in Afghanistan.

'It would be, I think,

unfortunate if we let the discussion just be about troop strength. There

is a minimum level that you have to have, but there's, unfortunately, no

ceiling to it,' Jones said.

Obama is considering a

range of ideas for changing course in Afghanistan, including scaling

back, staying put or sending more troops to fight the insurgency.

U.S. officials also are

waiting for the results of the Afghan elections, as disturbing reports of

fraud grow.

Arguments on the U.S.

strategy and troop requirements were escalating among lawmakers.

'I would not commit to

more combat troops at this time,' said Senate Armed Services Chairman

Carl Levin, D-Mich. 'There's a lot of other things that need to be done

to show resolve. What we need a surge of is Afghan troops.'

Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz.,

countered that if commanders want more troops, they should get them.

Jones and Kyl spoke on

CNN's 'State of the Union.' Jones also appeared on CBS' 'Face the

Nation,' as did Levin.

Obama is considering a

range of ideas for changing course in Afghanistan, from pulling back to

staying put to sending thousands more troops to fight the insurgency.

A look at the options

and their implications for achieving Obama's stated goal of defeating

al-Qaida.

Getting out

A full, immediate

withdrawal of American forces does not appear to be in the cards, not the

least because U.S. allies in NATO share the view that abandoning

Afghanistan now would hand a victory to Islamic extremist forces such as

the Taliban that are aligned in some respects with Osama bin Laden's

al-Qaida. Some argue that because the al-Qaida figures who were run out

of Afghanistan when U.S. troops invaded after the Sept. 11 attacks are

now encamped across the border in Pakistan, there is no point to a U.S.

military presence in Afghanistan. A related school of thought holds that

the very presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan adds to the country's

instability and fuels its insurgency. Obama has taken a different view.

Less than two months ago he said, 'If left unchecked, the Taliban

insurgency will mean an even larger safe haven from which al-Qaida would

plot to kill more Americans. So this is not only a war worth fighting.

This is fundamental to the defense of our people.'

Scaling back

A less drastic

alternative to a full-scale retreat is a partial pullback. A reduced U.S.

force would stay mainly to train and advise the Afghan national army and

police. U.S. special operations forces would continue their hunt for

most-wanted extremist leaders in Afghanistan. Pilotless drones such as

the armed Predator would take out al-Qaida figures on the Pakistan side

of the border. This would essentially end the counterinsurgency mission

of U.S. and NATO forces. The reasoning is that the fight is not worth the

cost in blood and treasure, and al-Qaida is a more urgent priority. This

counterterror option would amount to a reversal of the strategy Obama

endorsed in March. In the view of military analysts Frederick and

Kimberly Kagan, who favor an expanded counterinsurgency campaign, a shift

to only training and counterterror operations would be a big mistake.

They argue that it would empower the Taliban and al-Qaida, endanger

remaining U.S. troops and diplomats and allow Islamic extremists to

portray the U.S. pullback as a defeat for the forces of moderation.

Staying put

One of those advocating

no short-term change in the size of the U.S. force in Afghanistan is Sen.

Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He

argues for putting greater emphasis on training the Afghan security

forces and accelerating their growth. In this approach, the

counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban would continue on course.

Additional U.S. troops would be required for the training mission, but

not for combat. The flow of equipment for the police and army would be

expanded. More effort would be focused on persuading lower-level Taliban

fighters to lay down their arms. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top

commander in Afghanistan, is calling for accelerated training of Afghan

forces. But in his view, more combat troops also are required to retake

the initiative from the Taliban, which now control or contest large parts

of the country. Earlier efforts to speed up Afghan training stalled in

part because of a lack of NATO trainers.

Ramping up

This is the McChrystal

plan, which he calls 'a fundamentally new way of doing business.' In

military parlance, it would be a classic counterinsurgency campaign that

could last for years. It would mean sending more U.S. troops - perhaps as

many as 40,000. The general says it would mean redefining the fight in

ways that enable Afghans to regain control of their own country.

McChrystal spelled out his reasoning in a report weeks ago to Defense

Secretary Robert Gates, who asked for a comprehensive assessment of the

war effort when he removed McChrystal's predecessor, Gen. David

McKiernan, in May in search of 'fresh thinking, fresh eyes.' McChrystal

says there is no guarantee his approach will work. Critics worry that

this escalation would only lead to others, creating a quagmire. But

McChrystal argues that if the Afghan government falls to the Taliban - or

is unable to counter international terrorist networks - then Afghanistan

could again become a base for al-Qaida to launch an attack on the U.S.

That's just what Obama says must be avoided.

Source:

http://www.military.com/news/article/mcchrystal-comments-brings-wh- rebuke.html?ESRC=topstories.RSS

2007

NIE on Iran Was Deliberately Dishonest (back)

October 1, 2009

by Alan M.

Dershowitz

In December of 2007, I

wrote an article about the National Intelligence Estimate that had just

concluded that Iran had abandoned its nuclear weapons program back in

2003. The immediate effect of this pollyanna-ish report was to diminish

the need for tough sanctions against Iran and take the military option

off the table. We now know that the conclusion reached in the report was

categorically false, and that those who issued the report knew it was

false.

I entitled my December

2007 article 'Stupid Intelligence,' because as I argued in it, its author

had fallen hook, line and sinker for a transparent 'bait and switch'

tactic employed by Iran . The tactic is obvious and well-known to all

intelligence officials with an IQ above room temperature. It goes like

this: There are two tracks to making nuclear weapons: One is to conduct

research and develop technology directly related to military use... [T]he

second track is to develop nuclear technology for civilian use and then

to use the civilian technology for military purposes.'

It was clear to many

perceptive readers of the report, and to most other intelligence

agencies, that Iran had simply -- and deceptively -- opted for the second

track, and had certainly not abandoned its nuclear weapons program.

It now turns out that

at the time this 'stupid intelligence' estimate was released, our

intelligence agencies were aware that the Iranians were building a secret

military facility buried deep in the mountains near the holy city of Qom

.. The United States recently disclosed the existence of this facility

(after Iran was forced to acknowledge its existence) together with its

firm conclusion that it could be used only for the development of a

nuclear weapons program. If the intelligence community knew then what

they know now, then its 2007 National Intelligence Estimate was not only

stupid, it was dishonest.

It seems clear in

retrospect, as it seemed clear to me at the time, that those who released

this deeply flawed report had a political agenda. As I wrote two years

ago:

My own view is that the

authors of the report were fighting the last war. No, not the war in Iraq

, but rather what they believe was Vice President Cheney's efforts to go

to war with Iran. This report surely takes the wind out of those sails.

But that was last year's unfought war. Nobody in Washington has seriously

considered attacking Iran since Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates

replaced Cheney as the foreign policy power behind the throne.'

Whatever the agenda

was, it is improper -- indeed it is illegal -- for intelligence agencies

to try to influence policy through a hidden agenda. Their job is to

report truthfully to the elected policy makers so that they can make

policy. The time has come to withdraw the false and dangerous 2007

report, to admit it was wrong, and to substitute an intelligent, honest,

objective and up-to-date report on just how close Iran now is to being

able to construct a deliverable nuclear bomb.

The issue of how to

deal with the threat posed by an apocalyptic, terrorist nation on the

verge of obtaining nuclear weapons is too important to be left to

politicized intelligence agencies with hidden agendas.

Source:

TERRORISM PREVENTION

The

Real ElBaradei Unleashed (back)

October 6, 2009

Nuclear Proliferation:

Watchdogs often bark loudest at those who pose no threat at all, such as

the mailman. Mohamed ElBaradei, self-styled 'nuclear watchdog,' is now

barking at Israel.

The world will soon be

seeing and hearing less from International Atomic Energy Agency Director

General Mohamed ElBaradei. Those seeking to spare Western cities from

nuclear terrorism won't miss the Egyptian career bureaucrat.

As former U.S.

ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton noted in his book,

'Surrender Is Not An Option,' ElBaradei 'made excuses for Iran,' as it

progressed toward building nuclear weapons 'the entire time I was in the

Bush administration.'

According to Bolton,

Nobel Peace Prize-winner ElBaradei 'was constantly hunting for

'moderates' in Iran's leadership who did not want to pursue nuclear

weapons, a nonexistent group, in our judgment, and more interested in

trying to cut a deal than in faithfully reporting what IAEA inspectors

were telling him.'

As early as mid-April

2003, as Bolton pointed out, ElBaradei's IAEA knew that the centrifuges

at Iran's Natanz enrichment facility contained uranium hexafluoride, a

compound used to make nuclear weapons fuel.

In less than two

months, ElBaradei will be replaced as IAEA director general by Japanese

diplomat Yukiya Amano. But as he packs up his office, is he giving the

world a glimpse of the real motivations behind his softness toward Iran?

The Islamofascist

regime in Tehran, with its illegitimately re-elected President Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad repeatedly denying the Nazi genocide of the Jews and calling

for the destruction of Israel, is one of the last governments on the

globe that should be allowed to have weapons of mass destruction.

Yet speaking on Sunday

in Tehran, the setting for talks with Iranian officials regarding their

atomic program, ElBaradei said, 'Israel is the No. 1 threat to the Middle

East, given the nuclear arms it possesses.' In a joint press conference

with Ali Akbar Salehi, the chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization,

ElBaradei complained about Israel's 30-year refusal to allow nuclear

inspections.

Of at least equal note,

ElBaradei also remarked that President Obama 'has done some positive

measures for the inspections to happen' on Israel's nuclear plants.

What are we to take

from that? Has the president asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu to allow IAEA inspectors into his country, or is he pressing

him to admit that Israel has nuclear weapons? Is the argument that by

doing either Israel would be advancing the Mideast peace process?

Source:

http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/Article.aspx?id=508038

Keeping

a Lid on 'Homegrown' Terror (back)

October 5, 2009

by Lorenzo Vidino|

Terrorism dramatically

regained the headlines recently, as US authorities revealed the details

of three unrelated plots they foiled.

Authorities in Illinois

arrested Michael Finton, a 29-year-old convert to Islam in an alleged

plot to blow up a federal building in Springfield. The next day a

19-year-old Jordanian national was arrested for allegedly hatching a

similar plot against a Dallas skyscraper. Finally, in what has been

called by authorities the most serious attempt to strike the US homeland

since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, authorities indicted Najibullah Zazi,

a longtime US resident of Afghan descent who had allegedly planned to

carry out bombings with chemicals he had purchased in beauty supply

stores. These events seem to confirm what authorities have been saying

for the last few years: while the overwhelming majority of the American

Muslim community abhors terrorism, a small segment is not impermeable to

radicalization.

European authorities

have long struggled with the same issue, as hundreds of European Muslims

have been involved in terrorist activities. Over the last few years US

authorities have questioned whether the emergence of large numbers of

radicalized Muslims could also take place here.

Of course, there are

differences between the United States and Europe. The first is related to

the significantly better economic conditions of American Muslims. While

European Muslims generally languish at the bottom of most rankings that

measure economic integration, American Muslims fare significantly better.

Although economic integration is not always an antidote to

radicalization, it is undeniable that radical ideas find a fertile

environment among unemployed and disenfranchised youth.

Geographic dispersion,

immigration patterns, and tougher immigration policies have also

prevented the formation of extensive recruiting and propaganda networks

as those that have sprung up in Europe.

Finally, there is the

fact that large segments of the American Muslim population belong to

ethnicities that have traditionally espoused moderate interpretations of

Islam.

While all these

characteristics still hold true, they no longer represent a guarantee. A

2007 report by the New York Police Department stated that 'despite the

economic opportunities in the United States, the powerful gravitational

pull of individualsâ€™ religious roots and identity sometimes

supersede the assimilating nature of American society.â€™â€™

Factors such as

perception of discrimination and frustration at US foreign policies could

lead to radicalization, irrespective of favorable economic conditions.

Recent cases have also shown that radicalization can touch communities

where extremism is rare, such as the Albanian and the Iranian American.

Moreover, the fact that

no organized group has an extensive network in the country is no longer a

guarantee that radicalization cannot reach Americaâ€™s shores, as the

Internet has replaced the need to have operatives physically spreading

the propaganda on the ground. A search of jihadist chat rooms and even of

subgroups in 'benignâ€™â€™ social network sites reveal the

presence of many American-born youngsters who glorify Al Qaedaâ€™s

ideology.

In response, aggressive

counterterrorism tactics and improved intelligence sharing have allowed

US authorities to dismantle cells and keep the country safe. At the same

time, though, the United States seems to be lacking a long-term strategy

to confront the threat. Authorities have been unable to conceive a policy

that would preemptively tackle the issue of radicalization, preventing

young American Muslims from embracing extremist ideas in the first place.

Various intelligence

law enforcement agencies have reached out to the academic community to

better understand the social, political, and psychological causes of

radicalization. But the limited understanding of the issue, coupled with

the overlap of jurisdiction between often competing federal, state, and

local authorities, has prevented the implementation of a systematic,

nationwide program to combat radicalization.

Keeping in mind that

there is no silver bullet that can stop all individuals from embracing

radical ideas or violence,there are measures that the United States can

adopt. Several cases have shown, for example, that prisons are a

potential breeding ground for radicalism, a place where a well organized

supply (radical inmates or imams) meets a large demand (disenfranchised

and angry men). While respecting the inmatesâ€™ religious rights, authorities

must make sure that radicalization does not spread in American prisons.

The Internet is another

weak spot. Policing the Web is obviously impossible, but authorities in

various Muslim countries have begun infiltrating known jihadist chat

rooms in order to undermine their radical views and influence their

less-hardened visitors. This sort of involvement in key battlefields of

the so-called war of ideas is sorely lacking in this country.

Solutions are

exceptionally hard to find. Europeans have long struggled with the same

issue and are only now attempting to put in place coherent programs to

fight radicalization, the success of which is still to be verified.

Equally challenging have been efforts, on both sides of the Atlantic, to

find reliable and representative organizations within various Muslim

communities to be employed as partners in anti-radicalization activities.

But recent events

clearly show that the issue needs to be addressed in America. Even the

most aggressive counterterrorism tactics cannot stop all acts of

violence. Therefore, the United States needs to make long-term plans to

stem the ideas that lead people to resort to terrorism in the first

place.

Lorenzo Vidino is a

fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at

Harvard University and a peace scholar at the US Institute of Peace.

Source:

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/

2009/10/05/keeping_a_lid_on_homegrown_terror?mode=PF

Will

Successful Efforts to Stamp Out Homeland Terrorist Attacks Continue? (back)

October 6, 2009

by James Carafano

Letâ€™s start with

the good news for a change. Jena Baker McNeill at the Heritage Foundation

notes that with the three recent terrorist conspiracies thwarted, U.S. law

enforcement has frustrated 26 efforts since 9/11 to kill Americans on

American soil. She also notes that new law enforcement powers granted to

fight terrorism after the attacks on New York and Washington are a big

part of the reason these attacks were stopped before they started. She

concludes that fact has important implications for Congress and the White

House. 'Reauthorization of key provisions of the PATRIOT Act and FISA

will require congressional support. FISA authorizes electronic

surveillance within certain legal limits, while the PATRIOT Act

facilitates cooperation among federal, state, and local agencies in

information sharing and terrorism investigations. It also establishes

mechanisms for conducting surveillance with modern technologies. But key

provisions of the PATRIOT Act expire this year, and Congress will need to

demonstrate its support by providing prompt reauthorization.'

To its credit, the

White House defended Patriot Act authorities during a recent hearing in

the Senate. That did not stop some in Congress from introducing

legislation to gut the Patriot Act. Weâ€™ll see if the White House

weighs in to derail these misguided efforts.

The White House also

spent a lot of time last week doing what it likes to do best-talk. Both

Iran and Russia were the subjects of the U.S. charm offensive. The

administration claims to be making progress, but recent revelations of a

new secret Iranian nuclear facility lead many analysts to believe that

Tehran is just stringing the U.S. along while it continues its quest for

long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.

Meanwhile, the White

House continues to debate its next step in Afghanistan. Indecision

undoubtedly is having a negative affect. It emboldens the Taliban and al

Qaeda and leads our allies to question the U.S. resolve. For many

reasons, the U.S. ought to move to add more forces. Weâ€™ll see.

Source:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4445/pub_detail.asp

TERRORISM RESPONSE

UN

Report Appeases Terrorism (back)

October 6, 2009

Sammy Benoit

There have been

detailed critiques regarding the UN's Goldstone report, which was created

for the sole purpose of de-legitimizing Israel by bashing her with phony

claims of 'war crimes.' during the Gaza War. The report is full of

Hamas-led witnesses masking propaganda against Israel; and taken as the

truth by Goldstone, his investigator, the United Nations, and many

governments across the world. Little verifiable evidence was presented,

and almost nothing was said about Hamas terrorist activities.

One of the real issues

with the report is that it will lead to additional deaths, not only in

Israel and in the Palestinian controlled territories but across the

world, because Hamas sees the Goldstone report as a Carte' Blanche by the

world community to continue their terrorist strategies and even expand

them further. Other terrorist groups will see it similarly. There is

evidence that it has already started.

Kidnappings?

Following the release

of the Gilad Shalit video in exchange for 20 Palestinian female

terrorists who were involved in attempted murder, Hamas leader Khaled

Mashaal repeated the organization's threats to kidnap more soldiers.

Hamas sees the release as vindication of its kidnapping-for-hostage

policy. And thanks to the UN he believes he has a free hand:

'Mashaal said:

'The resistance, which

has succeeded in capturing Gilad Shalit, keeping him alive and well for

more than three years, giving him proper treatment, and excelling in

conducting indirect negotiations, is capable of capturing [another]

Shalit and [another] Shalit and [another] Shalit, until not a single

prisoner will remain in the enemy's jails.'

['Palestine Information

Center' - Hamas website, Oct. 2, 2009 '

Human Shields

One of Hamas' favorite strategies

is using innocent civilians as human shields by putting rocket and other

munitions launchers in homes and even school yards. Goldstone ignored

much video evidence and denied that this happened. Hamas is so happy with

this denial that they are now building entire human shield villages.

'The army learned

recently of the plan, initiated by Hamas Housing Minister Yousef

al-Mansi, under which thousands of Palestinians who are waiting for their

homes that were damaged during Operation Cast Lead to be repaired will be

housed in temporary structures and caravans along the border with Israel.

The IDF believes that

Mansi plans to set up the temporary villages to serve as obstacles in the

event that Israel sends ground forces into Gaza. The border villages will

also likely serve as cover for tunnels that Hamas will dig under the

security fence and into Israel to carry out attacks.

'This is part of

Hamas's overall strategy to use built-up areas to hide in and to launch

attacks,' a senior defense official said. 'This basically means that

Hamas will want to use the people it places there as human shields

against Israel.'

On Sunday, the IDF

escalated its response to the Kassam rocket fire from Gaza and for the

first time since Operation Cast Lead bombed a weapons manufacturing plant

in the heart of Gaza City.'

For over 80 years the

world community has rewarded terrorists with appeasement. Worldwide

appeasement played midwife to terrorism growing it as a form

'political-religious expression'

Britain was a serial

appeaser of terrorism throughout its 'Palestinian mandate period.' They

allowed attacks on Palestinian Jews, and they bowed to terrorist pressure

when they did not allow Jews escaping Hitler into Palestine thus dooming

them to death. The UN rewarded terrorism when it first invited Yasser

Arafat to speak before the General Assembly, legitimizing the PLO. The

world community continued the appeasement of terror by repeating the

propaganda of the terrorists and giving aid to the terrorists while

condemning Israel's battles against the agents of death.

The continued

appeasement of terrorism not only birthed Hamas and Hezbollah but also

the Qaeda network. The Goldstone report is just another example of what

the world has yet to learn. Appeasement leads to civilian deaths!

Albert Einstein once

said: 'Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting

different result.' There is no better way to explain the world's

appeasement of terror.

Source:

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/10/the_un_goldstone_

report_appeas.html

al-Qaeda

Prison Escapees Killed, Captured (back)

October 4, 2009

Baghdad - A senior

leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist network in Iraq who escaped from a

prison in Tikrit last month was shot dead by members of the

pro-government Awakening Councils, Iraqi security sources reported

Sunday.

The Awakening Councils

or al-Sahwa, former militants who turned on al-Qaeda to work with Iraqi

government forces and their US backers, were searching for Hafez

al-Jarroub following intelligence reports that he was hiding in the

neighbouring town of Samarra, the sources added.

Another escapee, Jaafar

Ayed, was also detained.

The arrest brings the

number of recaptured prisoners to 12 out of the 16 people convicted of

terrorist offences who escaped on September 25.

Al-Jarroub was one of

the four who were linked to al-Qaeda and faced death sentences. The other

three were recaptured.

Source:

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_ 1504960.php/Awakening-Councils-kill-al-Qaeda-prison-escapee-

capture-another

Bad

Options on Iran (back)

October 5, 2009

by Michael Rubin

An Israeli strike won't

suffice

On October 1, President

Barack Obama ascended the podium in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the

White House and declared negotiations with Iran a tentative success. 'The

P5-plus-1 is united, and we have an international community that has

reaffirmed its commitment to non-proliferation and disarmament. That's

why the Iranian government heard a clear and unified message from the

international community in Geneva: Iran must demonstrate through concrete

steps that it will live up to its responsibilities with regard to its

nuclear program. In pursuit of that goal, today's meeting was a

constructive beginning,' Obama said, adding, 'but it must be followed by

constructive action by the Iranian government.'

Where Obama sees

tentative success, reality suggests failure. Faced with irrefutable

evidence, Tehran acknowledged that it had built a second, covert

nuclear-enrichment plant, squirreled away in an Islamic Revolutionary

Guard Corps base near Qom. Neither Obama nor the director of national

intelligence, Dennis C. Blair, acknowledged that Iranian confirmation of

its second enrichment plant belied the veracity of the 2007 National

Intelligence Estimate. Regardless, Tehran's decision to confess when

confronted with proof of cheating should not be considered the same as

Iranian transparency and goodwill. Many scientists within the

International Atomic Energy Agency believe that the Iranian regime now

has 'sufficient information to be able to design and produce a workable'

nuclear bomb.

Obama's supporters have

rallied to put the best face on the P5+1 dialogue. 'Obama . . . got more

concessions from Iran in 7 hours than the former administration got in 8

years of saber-rattling,' Juan Cole, president of the one-man Global

Americana Institute, wrote on his blog. Former Carter administration

adviser (and October Surprise conspiracy theorist) Gary Sick was likewise

effusive, calling the meeting a 'historic moment after thirty years of

mutual recriminations and hyperbole.' The truth, however, is that any

agreement was short of specifics. Iran pledged to allow inspections, but

offered no specifics as to when and under what conditions. While Iranian

authorities pledged to ship uranium to Russia for further enrichment, the

West has no guarantee that Iranian scientists will not simply enrich the

fuel further when it is repatriated to Iran.

Not surprisingly, the

Iranian regime has been defiant in recent days. Ahmadinejad called

Obama's criticism of Iran's second enrichment plant a 'historic mistake,'

hardly a sign that the Iranian regime feels sincere about complying with

international demands. Jomhouri-ye Eslami, a daily closely associated

with the Islamic Republic's intelligence apparatus, editorialized, 'The

announcement of the enrichment facilities forced the West into a

defensive position,' and Kayhan, which voices the line of the 'supreme

leader,' wrote, 'The announcement of the enrichment facilities will be

Iran's winning card in October negotiations.'

The Obama

administration may convince itself that it remains in control of the

diplomatic process and has placed serious constraints upon any Iranian

breakout capability, but countries with more at stake know better. Last

month's Iranian test of ballistic missiles capable of hitting Saudi

Arabia and Israel underscored both the danger and questions about Iranian

sincerity.

Threat Perception

Different threat

perceptions muddy the international approach to the Iranian nuclear

challenge. For the European Union, the Iranian nuclear challenge revolves

around the viability of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty as well as

the efficacy of European foreign policy on the international stage. After

all, the Islamic Republic's proliferation activities marked the first

international crisis in which the European Union consciously sought to

lead. Should Iran go nuclear despite years of critical engagement, it

would be a blow to the multilateralism-and-incentives approach favored by

European foreign ministries.

For President Obama and

most of the American foreign-policy apparatus, a nuclear-weapons-capable

Islamic Republic would be strategically untenable. A nuclear Iran would

embolden Tehran to act out conventionally and by proxy, hiding behind its

own nuclear deterrence. Growing Iranian prestige and ability to project

power would force other regional states to make accommodations with Tehran

that might not be in the U.S. national-security interest. Any additional

nuclear power in the Middle East would also unleash a cascade of

proliferation: If Iran went nuclear, Saudi Arabia and Turkey would need

to develop their own capabilities. If Saudi Arabia and Turkey went

nuclear, Egypt and Greece would as well. A nuclear Egypt would lead Libya

to reconsider its decision to abandon the bomb, which in turn might lead

Algeria to reconsider its own position. In short, a nuclear Islamic

Republic would be a game-changer that would complicate U.S. interests in

the region for decades to come. That said, Washington need not fear that

an Iranian leadership with a handful of nuclear weapons would cause the

U.S.'s demise.

Israel, however, cannot

be so certain. The Jewish state's destruction is at the center of Islamic

Republic foreign policy. Whereas pundits like Cole dismiss Iranian

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's 2005 declaration that 'Israel must be

wiped off the map,' (the state-controlled press actually used the phrase

in its official translation), the fact remains that various Iranian

officials have subsequently repeated the call, often in equally coarse

language (.pdf): an inconvenient fact that Cole ignores. While Iranian

diplomats promise that the Islamic Republic has no intention to build,

let alone use, a nuclear weapon, senior Iranian clerics have suggested

otherwise. On December 14, 2001, former president Ayatollah Ali Akbar

Hashemi Rafsanjani famously declared, 'The use of an atomic bomb against

Israel would totally destroy Israel, while the same against the Islamic

world would only cause damage. Such a scenario is not inconceivable.' On

February 14, 2005, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer Kharrazi, secretary general

of Iranian Hezbollah, said, 'We are able to produce atomic bombs and we

will do that. We shouldn't be afraid of anyone. The U.S. is not more than

a barking dog.' Just over three months later, Hojjat ol-Islam Gholam Reza

Hasani, the supreme leader's personal representative to the province of

West Azerbaijan, declared possession of nuclear weapons to be one of

Iran's top goals. 'An atom bomb . . . must be produced as well,' he said.

'That is because the Qur'an has told Muslims to 'get strong and amass all

the forces at your disposal to be strong.'' That Hasani is unpopular

among many Iranians is irrelevant: As a confidant of the supreme leader,

he provides a window into his thinking.

Many in Europe and the

U.S. argue that Israel's fear of a nuclear Iran is paranoid. The Islamic

Republic knows that any nuclear strike against Israel would result in

massive retaliation. Because the Iranian regime is not suicidal, they

say, it would never risk a first strike. This summer's unrest, however,

raises another possibility, one that Israeli policymakers understand too

well. Should public protest spin out of control with regime collapse

inevitable, the supreme leader or the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

hierarchy might decide to launch a strike on Israel fulfilling an

ideological goal, in the knowledge that the chance of international

retaliation would be slim with the Islamic Republic already having become

an artifact of history.

It is for these reasons

that Israeli officials across their political spectrum from Meretz and

Labor on the left to Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu on the right consider a

nuclear-weapons-capable Islamic Republic of Iran an existential threat.

What Can Israel Do?

On June 7, 1981, the

Israeli air force destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak in a

surprise attack. The mission was successful, but the secret deliberations

ahead of the strike had been heated. Then, as now, analysts argued that a

military attack would only delay the adversary's nuclear program, not end

it. However, for a confluence of reasons the Iran-Iraq War and Operation

Desert Storm, sanctions, and perhaps IAEA's inspections the Iraqi regime

was never able to constitute its full nuclear program. The delay

inflicted by the Israelis outlasted the Iraqi regime and, despite

international outrage, most historians and analysts today acknowledge

that the attack was the right decision.

Not surprisingly,

therefore, the Osirak strike is often voiced as the model should Israel

decide to launch a similar attack on Iran's nuclear program. The two

situations, however, are not analogous. Iran is further away from Israel,

and almost four times the size of Iraq. Iraq's nuclear program was

concentrated in Osirak, and the nuclear reactor itself above ground and

vulnerable. Iran's nuclear sites, by contrast, are scattered across the

country, heavily fortified, and sometimes buried below mountains. Israeli

planes would need to fly more than a thousand miles across hostile lands

and require refueling only to reach Iran. Even if Israeli bombers

penetrated Iran with surprise, they would need to fly several hundred

miles over Iranian territory after dropping their payloads. This might

require additional targeting of the Islamic Republic's air-defense and

communications infrastructure. To destroy just the physical aspects of

the Islamic Republic's nuclear program would require at least 1,400

sorties, the sheer scope of which Israel is incapable of executing by

itself.

To cripple Iran's

nuclear program, however, would require less. Israeli officials need not

destroy the entire program, but only certain components such as the

centrifuge cascades in order to delay the program by one, two, or three

years. Furthermore, Israeli fighters do not have to destroy a facility to

render it useless. The Islamic Republic may feel its facilities

invulnerable if buried under mountains, but the Israeli military must

only destroy the entrances to such facilities, entombing the scientists

and engineers inside, to meet their objectives. Such a strike would not

be ideal: Iran's retaliation, whether direct or by proxy, would be ferocious.

What too many American pundits and analysts do not understand, however,

is that if Israel feels itself facing an existential threat, then, by

definition, it has no choice but to at least try to eliminate that

threat.

Should Israel Strike?

That the Israeli

military could force a delay in Iran's nuclear program is without doubt.

Whether they should try, however, is another question. Put aside

traditional discussion of retaliation. Hezbollah would strike. Oil would

spike and terrorism would again become epidemic. And while Iran may only

be capable of shutting the Strait of Hormuz for a day or two, its proxies

would destroy the southern Iraqi oil fields, a far more devastating

outcome for the international community. Only some of this would be of

paramount concern to Israel, especially when balanced with threat of its

own annihilation.

Still, the aftermath of

a strike may not go as Israeli officials plan. However Iranians may feel

about their current leadership, they are, without doubt, fierce

nationalists. The best thing that ever happened to the Islamic Revolution

was Saddam Hussein's invasion, as it allowed Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini

to consolidate control at a time when the revolutionary forces threatened

to spin out of control. Any attack on Iranian soil would again enable the

regime to rally the Iranian people around the flag. Some analysts and

Iranian exiles argue that, faced with bombing, ordinary Iranians

dissatisfied with their government's poor stewardship of the economy and

repressive social policies might turn on the regime. This is wishful

thinking: Even if it were true, the Iranian government is master of the

information operation. Word would soon spread that the Israelis had hit a

school bus, or kindergarten, or shot down a civilian jetliner, allowing

the Iranian government to exploit the cultural theme of martyrdom to the

advantage of Ahmadinejad. Meanwhile, international diplomatic opinion

would turn fast on Israel, even if months later, as with the Jenin

massacre, Muhammad al-Durra shooting, or Gaza school bombing, the charges

turned out to be false. It is doubtful that the Obama administration or

even many in Congress would rally to Israel's defense.

Israeli officials may

believe that, as with Iraq, even a temporary delay would enable the Jewish

state to outlive the Islamic Republic. This too would also be a

miscalculation. The Islamic Republic has long made tenuous arguments

about its own defensive needs. Should there be any attack on Iran,

however, Tehran would have an excuse to develop a military nuclear

capacity with an international community less willing to intervene than

it is now.

But would a delay not

achieve Jerusalem's aims? Likely not: With regard to Iraq, Israel

benefited from Saddam Hussein's stupidity. Had the Iraqi leader not invaded

Kuwait, then he could have quickly reconstituted his nuclear program with

the help of France or Russia. Iran will not be so constrained. Indeed,

not only in China and Russia, but also in Europe and in the U.S.,

politicians and diplomats cite the Iraqi sanctions regime as something

never to be replicated. Israel might push back completion of an Iranian

bomb by a year or two, but the factors that prevented Iraq from

reconstituting its bomb program simply do not exist in Iran. Nor could

Israel then simply remain vigilant and hope that the international

community would prevent Iranian access to uranium, as the Islamic

Republic is able to mine enough uranium locally to enable it to develop

enough bomb-grade material for several bombs.

Conclusion

In short, an Israeli

strike might buy time, but it would not buy enough time. The Islamic

Republic would arise from any attack with greater lethality than before.

Any attack would be a huge gamble, albeit one that Israeli leaders are

likely to take given the inability of the P5+1 to raise the cost of

Iranian defiance to the point that the supreme leader, to paraphrase

Khomeini's statement on ending the Iran-Iraq War, drinks his chalice of

poison and agrees to step back from the brink. Alas, because the Western

world does not share Israel's threat perception, it is neither likely to

force upon the Islamic Republic the degree of coercion necessary to

achieve a change of regime behavior, nor is it willing to lay the

groundwork through support for independent trade unions, independent

civil society, and democratization to assist Iranians seeking fundamental

change in the nature of their regime. This will leave Israel with no

choice but to act, setting off a cascade of events that will ultimately

force the decisions that Obama ignores now.

Michael Rubin, a senior

editor of the Middle East Quarterly, is a resident scholar at the

American Enterprise Institute and a senior lecturer at the Naval

Postgraduate School.

Source:

http://www.meforum.org/2476/bad-options-on-iran

TERROR ON TRIAL

Terrorist

Spoke With al-Qaeda Operative (back)

October 6, 2009

New details have

emerged over the international scope of the investigation into Najibullah

Zazi's alleged bomb plot.

Sources tell the Associated

Press the CIA learned through one of its informants that he was in

communication with a senior al-Qaida operative.

The agency then alerted

domestic agencies, and President Barack Obama was reportedly briefed as

officials crafted their case against Zazi.

The involvement of the

CIA's counterterrorism squad separates the case from most terror

investigations, which begin with domestic suspicions.

The FBI says the Afghan

immigrant tried to make a homemade explosive to detonate in the city.

Zazi is being held

without bail on charges of conspiracy to detonate a weapon of mass

destruction.

He has pleaded not

guilty.

Zazi Had Enough

Explosives For Massive Attack

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/106704/zazi-had-enough-explosives-for-massive-attack/Default.aspx

Terror suspect

Najibullah Zazi reportedly had enough explosives to kill scores of people

in the city.

Former FBI experts told

the Associated Press Friday that the potential threat was on scale with

the transit bombings in London and Madrid.

Zazi is accused of

buying large quantities of hair dye and nail polish remover to make

explosives.

Experts told the AP

that Zazi likely wanted to make bombs out of flour and hydrogen peroxide

and put them into backpacks, borrowing a tactic used overseas. It is not

clear whether Zazi was able to make or test any bombs.

He is being held

without bail and faces charges to conspiring to use weapons of mass

destruction. He has denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the

charges.

Source:

http://www.ny1.com/Content/Top_Stories/106865/report--terror-sus

pect-spoke-with-al-qaida-operative/Default.aspx

POLICE AND CRIME ISSUES

FBI:

Beware of Three New Hoax E-Mails (back)

October 6, 2009

The FBI is warning the

public to be aware of three new fraudulent e-mails that are currently in

circulation. One claims to contain 'Intelligence Bulletin No. 267;'

another purports to be from the Department of Homeland Security and the

FBI Counterterrorism Division; and the third claims to contain an FBI

intelligence bulletin from the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate.

Do not s contained in these or similar e-mails; they are

hoaxes and may contain viruses or malicious software.

New E-Scams &

Warnings

FRAUDULENT E-MAIL

CLAIMING TO CONTAIN FBI 'INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN NO. 267'

10/05/09â€”A

fraudulent e-mail message claiming to contain a confidential FBI report

titled 'New Patterns in Al-Qaeda Financing' has been circulating since

August 15, 2009. The e-mail has the subject line 'Intelligence Bulletin

No. 267,' and contains an attachment titled 'bulletin.exe.' This message,

or similar messages, may contain files that are harmful to the

recipientâ€™s system and may try to steal user credentials.

DO NOT CLICK ON ANY

LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS E-MAIL OR SIMILAR E-MAILS, IT IS A HOAX.

The FBI does not send

unsolicited e-mails or email official reports. Consumers should not

respond to any unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as

they may contain viruses or other malicious software.

Below is an example of

the fraudulent e-mail message:

INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

No. 267

Title: New Patterns in

Al-Qaeda Financing

August 15, 2009

THREAT LEVEL: YELLOW

(ELEVATED)

THE INTELLIGENCE

BULLETIN PROVIDES LAW ENFORCEMENT AND OTHER PUBLIC SAFET= OFFICIALS WITH

SITUATIONAL AWARENESS CONCERNING INTERNATIONAL AND DOMES=IC TERRORIST

GROUPS AND TACTICS.

HANDLING NOTICE:

Recipients are reminded that FBI Intelligence Bulletins =ontain sensitive

terrorism and counterterrorism information meant for us= primarily within

the law enforcement community. Such bulletins are not =o be released

either in written or oral form to the media, the general p=blic, or other

personnel who do not have a valid ?eed-to-know?with=ut prior approval

from an authorized FBI official, as such release could jeopardize

national security

As with many fraudulent

e-mail messages, this message contains multiple spelling errors and poor

grammar.

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

FRAUDULENT E-MAIL

CLAIMING TO BE FROM DHS AND THE FBI COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION

10/05/09â€”Fraudulent

e-mails containing the subject line 'New DHS Report' have been

circulating since August 15, 2009. The e-mails claim to be from the

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the FBI Counterterrorism

Division. The e-mail text contains information about 'New Usama Bin Ladin

Speech Directed to the People of Europe,' and has an attachment titled

'audio.exe.' The attachment is purportedly an audio speech from Bin Ladin;

however, it actually contains malicious software intended to steal

information from the recipientâ€™s system.

DO NOT CLICK ON ANY

LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS E-MAIL OR SIMILAR E-MAILS, IT IS A HOAX.

The FBI does not send

unsolicited e-mails or e-mail official reports. Consumers should not

respond to any unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as

they may contain viruses or malware.

One example of this

fraudulent e-mail message is as follows:

New DHS Report

New Usama Bin Ladin

Speech Directed to the People of Europe

Prepared by DHS/I & A

Intelligence Watch and Warning Division and the FBI Counter Terrorism

Division

(U//FOUO) Media outlets

are reporting the release of a new audio tape on Al Jazeera today from

Usama Bin Ladin, in which he states that all European countries involved

in the Afghanistan war should end their support of American oppression in

Afghanistan. In the audio message, Bin Ladin claims direct responsibility

for the 11 September 2001 attacks and emphasizes that neither the Afghan

people nor the Afghan government had foreknowledge of the attacks.

////Signed////

Charlie Allen

Chief Intelligence

Officer

Department of Homeland

Security

As with many fraudulent

e-mail messages, this message contains multiple spelling errors and poor

grammar.

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

FRAUDULENT E-MAIL

CLAIMING TO CONTAIN AN FBI INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN FROM THE WEAPONS OF MASS

DESTRUCTION DIRECTORATE

10/05/09â€”A

fraudulent e-mail, initially appearing around June 16, 2009, claims to

contain a confidential FBI report from the FBI 'Weapons of Mass

Destruction Directorate.' The subject line of the email is 'RE: Weapons

of Mass Destruction Directorate,' and contains an attachment 'reports.exe.'

This message and similar messages may contain a file related to the

â€˜W32.Waledac' trojan software, which is designed to steal user

authentication credentials or send spam messages.

DO NOT CLICK ON ANY

LINKS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS E-MAIL OR SIMILAR E-MAILS, IT IS A HOAX.

The FBI does not send

unsolicited e-mails or e-mail official reports. Consumers should not

respond to any unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links, as

they may contain viruses or malicious software.

Below is an example of

the fraudulent e-mail:

CLASSIFIED

FEDERAL BUREAU OF

INVESTIGATION

INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN

Weapons of Mass

Destruction Directorate

HANDLING NOTICE:

Recipients are reminded that FBI Intelligence Bulletins contain sensitive

terrorism and counterterrorism information meant for use primarily within

the law enforcement and homeland security communities. Such bulletins

shall not be released, either in written or oral form, to the media, the

general public, or other personnel who do not have a valid need-to-know

without prior approval from an authorized FBI official, as such release

could jeopardize national security.

Link to malicious

software (report.exe)

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

TECHNIQUES USED BY

FRAUDSTERS ON SOCIAL NETWORKING SITES

10/01/09â€”Fraudsters

continue to hijack accounts on social networking sites and spread

malicious software by using various techniques. One technique involves

the use of spam to promote phishing sites, claiming there has been a

violation of the terms of agreement or some other type of issue which

needs to be resolved. Other spam entices users to download an application

or view a video. Some spam appears to be sent from users' 'friends',

giving the perception of being legitimate. Once the user responds to the

phishing site, downloads the application, or clicks on the video link,

their computer, telephone or other digital device becomes infected.

Another technique used

by fraudsters involves applications advertised on social networking sites,

which appear legitimate; however, some of these applications install

malicious code or rogue anti-virus software. Other malicious software

gives the fraudsters access to your profile and personal information.

These programs will automatically send messages to your 'friends' list,

instructing them to download the new application too.

Infected users are

often unknowingly spreading additional malware by having infected

websites posted on their webpage without their knowledge. Friends are

then more apt to click on these sites since they appear to be endorsed by

their contacts.

Tips on avoiding these

tactics:

Â§ Adjust website

privacy settings. Some networking sites have provided useful options to

assist in adjusting these settings to help protect your identity.

Â§ Be selective of your

friends. Once selected, your 'friends' can access any information marked

as 'viewable by all friends.'

Â§ You can select those

who have 'limited' access to your profile. This is for those whom you do

not wish to give full friend status to or with whom you feel

uncomfortable sharing personal information.

Â§ Disable options and

then open them one by one such as texting and photo sharing capabilities.

Users should consider how they want to use the social networking site. If

it is only to keep in touch with people then perhaps it would be better

to turn off the extra options which will not be used.

Â§ Be careful what you

click on. Just because someone posts a link or video to their 'wall' does

not mean it is safe.

Those interested in becoming

a user of a social networking site and/or current users are recommended

to familiarize themselves with the site's policies and procedures before

encountering such a problem.

Each social networking

site may have different procedures on how to handle a hijacked or

infected account; therefore, you may want to reference their help or FAQ

page for instructions.

Individuals who

experienced such incidents are encouraged to file a complaint at

www.IC3.gov reporting the incident.

FRAUDSTERS CONTINUE TO

EXPLOIT TELECOMMUNICATIONS RELAY SERVICES (TRS)

07/08/09â€”The IC3

continues to receive complaints pertaining to scam artists using

Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) to defraud U.S. businesses and

consumers. Under Title IV of the Americans with Disabilities Act, all

telephone companies must provide TRS for individuals with hearing

impairments or speech impairments.

This IC3 alert is to

make the public aware of the continuing abuse of TRS to exploit U.S.

businesses. Recent reports indicate scam artists are using TRS to exploit

auto repair shops. The scam entails the fraudster using TRS to request

services for a vehicle. The fraudster claims the vehicle has to be

shipped to the auto repair business and requests the repairs and shipping

fees be charged to a credit card. Unbeknownst to the business, the credit

card is fraudulent or stolen; however, the charges initially go through

without any complications. The business is then directed to wire the

money to the shipper to cover the shipping costs. It is not until the

shipperâ€™s money is wired that the business is notified of the

fraudulent credit card; therefore, the business bears the loss.

A previous PSA titled

Notorious 'Reshipper Scam' Transforms was released on February 9, 2004,

covering this exploit. To view the PSA in its entirety, please visit the

following link: http://www.ic3.gov/media/2004/040209.aspx.

Individuals who receive

a communication, such as the one described above, are encouraged to file

a complaint at www.ic3.gov reporting the incident

ASIAN EXTORTION SCHEME

06/10/09â€”The FBI

is currently aware of a nationwide attempt to extort ethnic business

owners, mostly of Asian decent, through telephonic threats of violence.

The telephone calls appear to be originating from foreign countries. The

caller acquires an adequate amount of open source information about the

victim through Internet searches. This misleads the victim into believing

the subject has personal knowledge about the victim. There have been no

reported incidents of violence actually perpetrated to date.

Individuals who receive

phone calls or e-mails containing threats of violence and their

personally identifiable information (PII) are encouraged to contact law

enforcement as well as file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

CIRCULATION OF

FRAUDULENT E-MAIL CLAIMING TO BE FROM U.S. CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION

(CBP)

04/27/09â€”A spam

e-mail claiming to be from former CBP Assistant Commissioner Thomas S.

Winkowski is currently being circulated. This attempt to defraud is the

typical e-mail scam using the name and reputation of a federal government

official to create an air of authenticity.

The spam e-mail

indicates the CBP has stopped a Diplomat who is carrying a consignment to

be delivered to the recipientâ€™s residence. This consignment

allegedly contains millions of dollars, which is revealed to be an

inheritance for the e-mail recipient.

As with many other

scams, this e-mail advises the recipient they will be permitted to access

this inheritance once the recipient has given the sender of the e-mail

their personal information.

This e-mail is a hoax.

Do not respond.

The U.S. CBP does not

send unsolicited e-mails. Consumers should not respond to unsolicited

e-mails or click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses or

malware.

It is imperative consumers

guard their personally identifiable information (PII). Examples of a

personâ€™s PII include, but are not limited to: date of birth; social

security number; and bank account numbers. Providing your PII will

compromise your identity.

If you have received this

e-mail, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

SCHEME PURPORTEDLY

ANNOUNCING A MILLIONAIRE CONTEST

04/07/09â€”The IC3

has been alerted to the circulation of a fraudulent e-mail, purportedly

from The Oprah Winfrey Show, notifying recipients of their nomination for

the 'Oprah Millionaire Contest Show.' To participate, recipients are

requested to mail their contact information such as full name, address,

telephone number, and e-mail address; however, no mailing address was

provided. Verified contestants are then required to purchase airfare and

a ticket to attend The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as complete a

forthcoming contest form containing personal questions. The contestants

are then promised a seat for The Oprah Winfrey Show in April and asked to

provide their responses to the personal questions for a chance to win a

million dollars.

Consumers always need

to be alert to unsolicited e-mails. Do not open unsolicited e-mails or

click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses or malware.

Providing your personally identifiable information will compromise your

identity!

Individuals who receive

such e-mails are encouraged to file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

FAKE MILITARY TWIST ON

VEHICLE SALE SCAMS

03/05/09â€”The FBI

continues to receive reports of individuals victimized while attempting

to purchase vehicles via the Internet. Victims find attractively priced

vehicles advertised at different Internet classified ad sites. Most of

the scams include some type of third-party vehicle protection program to

ensure a safe transaction. After receiving convincing e-mails from the

phony vehicle protection program, the victims are directed to send either

the full payment, or a percentage of the payment, to the third-party

agent via a wire payment service. No vehicles are delivered to the

victims.

In a new twist,

scammers are posing as members of the United States military. The

fictitious military personnel in the scam have either been sent to a

foreign country to improve military relations, or they need to sell a

vehicle quickly and cheaply because of their upcoming deployment to

either Iraq or Afghanistan.

Consumers are advised

to do as much due diligence as possible before engaging in transactions

to purchase vehicles advertised online. Consumers are also cautioned to

be aware of the rules of or warnings posted by the Internet sites they

visit. If someone is asking you as a consumer to break or avoid the rules

of the website, it is possible that person is trying to scam you.

If you have fallen victim

to this type of scam, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at

www.ic3.gov.

WORK-AT-HOME SCAMS

02/04/09â€”Consumers

need to be vigilant when seeking employment online. The IC3 continues to

receive numerous complaints from individuals who have fallen victim to

work-at-home scams.

Victims are often hired

to 'process payments,' 'transfer funds,' or 'reship products.' These job

scams involve the victims receiving and cashing fraudulent checks,

transferring illegally obtained funds for the criminals, or receiving

stolen merchandise and shipping it to the criminals.

Other victims sign up

to be a 'mystery shopper,' receiving fraudulent checks with instructions

to cash the checks and wire the funds to 'test' a companyâ€™s

services. Victims are told they will be compensated with a portion of the

merchandise or funds.

Work-at-home schemes

attract otherwise innocent individuals, causing them to become part of

criminal schemes without realizing they are engaging in illegal behavior.

Job scams often provide

criminals the opportunity to commit identity theft when victims provide

their personal information, sometimes even bank account information, to

their potential 'employer.' The criminal/employer can then use the

victimâ€™s information to open credit cards, post on-line auctions,

register websites, etc., in the victimâ€™s name to commit additional

crimes.

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

FLURRY OF SPAM

TARGETING THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION

12/11/08â€”Consumers

continue to be inundated by spam purportedly from the FBI. As with

previous spam attacks, the latest versions use the names of several high

ranking executives within the FBI and even the IC3 to attempt to defraud

consumers.

Many of the spam

e-mails currently in circulation claim to be an 'official order' from the

FBIâ€™s Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division, from an alleged

FBI unit in Nigeria, confirm an inheritance, or contain a lottery

notification, all informing recipients they have been named the beneficiary

of millions of dollars. To claim the large sum, recipients are instructed

to furnish their personally identifiable information (PII) and are often

threatened with some type of penalty, such as prosecution, if they fail

to do so. Specific PII information requested includes, but is not limited

to, the recipientâ€™s name, banking information, telephone number,

and a copy of their passport.

The spam e-mail

allegedly from the IC3 states that the recipient has extorted money and

will be given a limited amount of time to refund the money or face

prosecution.

Do not respond. These

e-mails are a hoax.

The FBI does not send

unsolicited e-mails of this nature. FBI executives are briefed on

numerous investigations but do not personally contact consumers regarding

such matters. In addition, the IC3 does not send threatening letters to

consumers demanding payments for Internet crimes.

Consumers should not

respond to any unsolicited e-mails or click on any embedded links

associated with such e-mails, as they may contain viruses or malware.

It is imperative

consumers guard their PII. Providing your PII will compromise your

identity.

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

NEW TECHNIQUE UTILIZING

PRIVATE BRANCH EXCHANGE (PBX) SYSTEMS TO CONDUCT VISHING ATTACKS

12/09/08â€”The FBI

has received information concerning a new technique used to conduct

vishing (1) attacks. The recent attacks were conducted by hackers

exploiting a security vulnerability in Asterisk software. Asterisk is

free and widely used software developed to integrate PBX (2) systems with

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) digital Internet voice calling

services; however, early versions of the Asterisk software are known to

have a vulnerability. The vulnerability can be exploited by cyber

criminals to use the system as an auto dialer, generating thousands of

vishing telephone calls to consumers within one hour.

The vulnerability

referred to in this alert is a known vulnerability. Digium, the original

creator and primary developer of Asterisk, released a Security Advisory,

AST-2008-003, in March of 2008, which contains the information necessary

for users to configure a system, patch the software, or upgrade the

software to protect against this vulnerability.

If a consumer falls

victim to this exploit, their personally identifiable information (PII)

will be compromised. To prevent further loss of consumersâ€™ PII and

to reduce the spread of this new technique, it is imperative that

businesses using Asterisk upgrade their software to a version that has

had the vulnerability fixed.

Further, consumers

should not release personal information in response to unsolicited

telephone calls. Providing your PII will compromise your identity!

If you have been a

victim of Internet crime, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

(1) Vishing utilizes

caller ID spoofing via VoIP to contact potential victims in order to gain

access to their PII by convincing the victim that the criminal is

associated with a legitimate business with a need to know the

victimâ€™s PII.

(2) PBX Systems are

used by companies to allow telephone calls between VoIP enterprise users

on local lines while allowing all users to share a limited number of

external lines

FRAUDULENT SPAM E-MAIL

PURPORTEDLY FROM

FBI DEPUTY DIRECTOR

JOHN S. PISTOLE

10/16/08â€”A spam

e-mail claiming to be from FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole is

currently being circulated. This attempt to defraud is the typical e-mail

scam using the name and reputation of an FBI official to create an air of

authenticity.

As with many scams, the

e-mail advises the recipient that they are the beneficiary of a large sum

of money which they will be permitted to access once fees are paid and

personal banking information is provided. The appearance of the e-mail

leads the reader to believe that it is from FBI Deputy Director John S.

Pistole.

This e-mail is a hoax.

Do not respond.

The IC3 continues to

receive and develop intelligence regarding fraud schemes misrepresenting

the FBI and/or FBI officials. The scam e-mails give the appearance of

legitimacy through the use of pictures of FBI officials, seal,

letterhead, and/or banners.

These fraud schemes

claim to be from domestic as well as international FBI offices. The

typical types of schemes utilizing the names of FBI officials and/or the

FBI are lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications, but can cover

a range of scams from threats and malicious computer program attachments

(malware) to online auction scams.

These scams use the

social engineering technique of employing the FBI's name to intimidate

and convince the recipient the e-mail is legitimate.

Please be cautious of

any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI, Director Mueller, Deputy Pistole, or any other FBI official claiming that the FBI is

endorsing any type of Internet activity.

Always be cautious when

responding to requests or special offers delivered through unsolicited

e-mail:

Â§ Guard your personal

information and your account information carefully.

Â§ You should never give

any personal, credit, or banking information in response

to unsolicited e-mails.

If you have received

this e-mail, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

HIT MAN E-MAIL SCAM

RETURNS

08/28/08â€”The IC3

continues to receive thousands of reports concerning the hit man e-mail

scheme. The e-mail content has evolved since late 2006; however, the

messages remain similar in nature, claiming the sender has been hired to

kill the recipient.

Two new versions of the

scheme began appearing in July 2008. One instructed the recipient to

contact a telephone number contained in the e-mail and the other claimed

the recipient or a 'loved one' was going to be kidnapped unless a ransom

was paid. Recipients of the kidnapping threat were told to respond via

e-mail within 48 hours. The sender was to provide the location of the

wire transfer five minutes before the deadline and was threatened with

bodily harm if the ransom was not received within 30 minutes of the time

frame given. The recipientsâ€™ personally identifiable information

(PII) was included in the e-mail to promote the appearance that the

sender actually knew the recipient and their location.

Perpetrators of

Internet crimes often use fictitious names, addresses, telephone numbers,

and threats or warnings regarding the failure to comply to further their

schemes.

In some instances, the

use of names, titles, addresses, and telephone numbers of government

officials and business executives, and/or the victimsâ€™ PII are used

in an attempt to make the fraud appear more authentic.

Below are links for the

two previous public service announcements published by the IC3 concerning

the hit man scheme:

Â§

http://www.ic3.gov/media/2007/070109.aspx

Â§

http://www.ic3.gov/media/2006/061207.aspx

Consumers always need

to be alert to unsolicited e-mails. Do not open unsolicited e-mails or

click on any embedded links, as they may contain viruses or malware.

Providing your PII will compromise your identity!

Individuals who receive

e-mails containing threats of violence and their PII are encouraged to

contact law enforcement as well as file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

STORM WORM VIRUS

07/30/08â€”Be on

the lookout for spam e-mail spreading malicious software (malware) which

mentions 'F.B.I. vs. facebook.' The e-mail directs the recipient to click

on a link to view an article about the FBI and Facebook. Once the user

clicks on the link, the 'Storm Worm'malware is downloaded to the

Internet-connected device, causing it to become infected with the virus

and part of the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised

machines under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up

to facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft,

denial of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the

Internet.

The Storm Worm virus

has capitalized on various holidays and fictitious world events in the

last year by sending millions of e-mails advertising an e-card link

within the text of the spam e-mail.

Be wary of any e-mail

received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and

do not s provided.

If you have received

this, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

TIPS ON AVOIDING

FRAUDULENT CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION SCHEMES

07/08/08â€”Since

late May and early June 2008, there have been several natural disasters

throughout the countryâ€”including tornadoes, wildfires, and

floodsâ€”that have devastated lives and property. In the wake of

these events, which cause emotional distress and great financial loss to

numerous victims, individuals across the nation often feel a desire to

help, frequently through monetary donations.

Tragic incidents such

as 9/11, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the recent earthquake in China

have prompted individuals with criminal intent to solicit contributions

purportedly for a charitable organization and/or a good cause. Therefore,

before making a donation of any kind, consumers should adhere to certain

guidelines, to include the following:

Â§ Do not respond to

unsolicited (spam) e-mail.

Â§ Be skeptical of

individuals representing themselves as officials soliciting via e-mail

for donations.

Â§ Do not s

contained within an unsolicited e-mail.

Â§ Be cautious of e-mail

claiming to contain pictures in attached files, as the files may contain

viruses. Only open attachments from known senders.

Â§ To ensure

contributions are received and used for intended purposes, make

contributions directly to known organizations rather than relying on

others to make the donation on your behalf.

Â§ Validate the legitimacy

of the organization by directly accessing the recognized charity or aid

organization's website rather than following an alleged link to the site.

Â§ Attempt to verify the

legitimacy of the non-profit status of the organization by using various

Internet-based resources, which also may assist in confirming the actual

existence of the organization.

Â§ Do not provide

personal or financial information to anyone who solicits contributions:

providing such information may compromise your identity and make you

vulnerable to identity theft.

To obtain more

information on charitable contribution schemes and other types of online

schemes, visit www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com. If you are a victim of an

online scheme, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

PHISHING AND VISHING

ATTACKS TARGETING USERS OF EPPICARDS

06/13/08â€”The IC3

has received reports of phishing attacks targeting users of EPPICards.

The EPPICard is similar to a debit card. EPPICards are issued by a state

agency for the purpose of receiving child-support payments. The cards are

currently used in 15 states.

Individuals have

reported receiving e-mail or text messages indicating a problem with

their account. They are directed to follow the link provided in the

message to update their account or correct the problem. The link actually

directs the individuals to a fraudulent web site where their personal

information, such as account number and PIN, is compromised.

Individuals have also

reported receiving an e-mail message asking them to complete an online

survey. At the end of the survey, they are asked for their EPPICard

account information to allow funds to be credited to the account in

appreciation for completing the survey. Providing this information will

allow criminals to compromise the account.

EPPICard providers

indicate they are not affiliated with survey web sites and do not solicit

personal information via email or text messages.

Please be cautious of

unsolicited e-mails. Do not open e-mails from unknown senders because

they often contain viruses or other malicious software. Also, avoid

clicking links in e-mails received from unknown senders as this is a

popular method of directing victims to phishing websites.

If you have received an

e-mail similar to this, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at

www.ic3.gov.

FRAUDULENT REFUND

NOTIFICATION PURPORTEDLY FROM THE IC3

06/06/08â€”Consumers

need to be aware of e-mail schemes containing various versions of

fraudulent refund notifications purportedly from the IC3 and the government

of the United Kingdom. The e-mails claim the refunds are being made to

compensate the recipients for their losses as victims of Internet fraud.

The perpetrators of

this fraud use the names of people not associated with the IC3 but give

them titles in an attempt to make the e-mails appear official. The

perpetrators use the IC3â€™s logo and the former name of the IC3, the

Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), as well as the names of the Bank

of England and the Metropolitan Police in the e-mails.

The e-mails promise

refunds of thousands of dollars which are to be sent via bank wire

transfer from the 'bank of England' once the victim signs a 'fund release

order.' The e-mails contain warnings that failure to sign the order will

place the funds on hold and a penalty will be applied.

As with most spam, the

content contains elements which are evidence of fraud such as: multiple

spelling errors, poor grammar, agency names, signatures of officials and

titles to appear authentic, and a warning for failure to comply. In some

of the e-mails, the names of the officials do not match the signatures.

Consumers always need

to be alert when they receive an unsolicited e-mail. Remember: do not

open unsolicited e-mail or s embedded in the e-mail, as

they may contain a virus or malware.

If you have received an

e-mail similar to this, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

PHISHING RELATED TO

ISSUANCE OF ECONOMIC STIMULUS CHECKS

05/08/08â€”The FBI

warns consumers of recently reported spam e-mail purportedly from the

Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which is actually an attempt to steal

consumer information. The e-mail advises the recipient that direct

deposit is the fastest and easiest way to receive their economic stimulus

tax rebate. The message contains a hyperlink to a fraudulent form which

requests the recipient's personally identifiable information, including

bank account information. To convince consumers to reply, the e-mail

warns that a failure to complete the form in a timely manner will delay

the issuance of the rebate check.

One example of this IRS

spam e-mail message is as follows:

'Over 130 million

Americans will receive refunds as part of President Bush's program to

jumpstart the economy.

Our records indicate

that you are qualified to receive the 2008 Economic Stimulus Refund.

The fastest and easiest

way to receive your refund is by direct deposit to your checking/savings

account.

Please follow the link

and fill out the form and submit before May 10th, 2008 to ensure that

your refund will be processed as soon as possible.

Submitting your form on

May 10th, 2008 or later means that your refund will be delayed due to the

volume of requests we anticipate for the Economic Stimulus Refund.

To access Economic

Stimulus refund, please '

Consumers are advised

that the IRS does not initiate taxpayer communications via e-mail. In

addition, the IRS does not request detailed personal information via

e-mail or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords, or similar secret

access information for their credit card, bank, or other financial

accounts.

Please be cautious of

unsolicited e-mails. It is recommended not to open e-mails from unknown

senders because they often contain viruses or other malicious software.

It is also recommended to avoid clicking links in e-mails received from

unknown senders as this is a popular method of directing victims to

phishing websites.

If you have received an

e-mail similar to this, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at

www.ic3.gov.

FRAUDULENT GRAND JURY

SUMMONS CONTAINING MALWARE

04/17/08â€”The IC3

warns consumers of recently reported spam e-mail containing a fraudulent

subpoena notifying recipients they are commanded to appear and testify

before a Grand Jury. The e-mail attempts to appear authentic by

containing a court case number, federal code, name and address of a

California federal court, court room number, issuing officersâ€™

names, and a court seal. Recipients are directed to click the link

provided in the e-mail in order to download and print associated information

for their records. If the recipient clicks the link, malicious code is

downloaded onto their computer.

The e-mail also

contains language threatening recipients with contempt of court charges

if they fail to appear. Recipients are also told the subpoena will remain

in effect until the court grants a release. As with most spam, the

content contains multiple spelling errors.

If you receive this

type of notification and are unsure of its authenticity, you should

contact the issuing court for validation.

Be aware; if you

receive an unsolicited e-mail, especially from an unknown sender, it is

recommended you do not open it. If you do open the e-mail, do not click

any embedded links, as they may contain a virus or malware.

If you have received an

e-mail similar to this, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

STORM WORM VIRUS

02/11/08â€”With the

Valentine's Day holiday approaching, be on the lookout for spam e-mails

spreading the Storm Worm malicious software (malware). The e-mail directs

the recipient to to retrieve the electronic greeting card

(e-card). Once the user clicks on the link, malware is downloaded to the

Internet-connected device and causes it to become infected and part of

the Storm Worm botnet. A botnet is a network of compromised machines

under the control of a single user. Botnets are typically set up to

facilitate criminal activity such as spam e-mail, identity theft, denial

of service attacks, and spreading malware to other machines on the

Internet.

The Storm Worm virus

has capitalized on various holidays in the last year by sending millions

of e-mails advertising an e-card link within the text of the spam e-mail.

Valentine's Day has been identified as the next target.

Be wary of any e-mail

received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and

do not s provided.

If you have received

this, or a similar e-mail, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

FBI IDENTIFIES

RECURRING FRAUDULENT E-MAIL SCAM

02/01/08â€”The FBI

has recently developed information indicating cyber criminals are

attempting to once again send fraudulent e-mails to unsuspecting

recipients stating that someone has filed a complaint against them or

their company with the Department of Justice or another organization such

as the Internal Revenue Service, Social Security Administration, or the

Better Business Bureau.

Information obtained

during the FBI investigation has been provided to the Department of

Homeland Security (DHS). DHS has taken steps to alert their public and

private sector partners with the release of a Critical Infrastructure

Information Notice (CIIN).

The e-mails are

intended to appear as legitimate messages from the above departments, and

they address the recipients by name, and other personal information may

be contained within the e-mail. Consistent with previous efforts, the

scam will likely be an effort to secure Personally Identifiable

Information. The nature of these types of scams is to create a sense of

urgency for the recipient to provide a response through clicking on a

hyperlink, opening an attachment, or initiating a telephone call.

It is believed this

e-mail refers to a complaint that is in the form of an attachment, which

actually contains virus software designed to steal passwords from the

recipient. The virus is wrapped in a screensaver file wherein most

anti-virus programs are unable to detect its malicious intent. Once

downloaded, the virus is designed to monitor username and password

logins, and record the activity, as well as other password-type information,

entered on the compromised machine.

Be wary of any e-mail

received from an unknown sender. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and

do not s provided. If you have received a scam e-mail

please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

VISHING ATTACKS

INCREASE

01/17/08â€”Are you

one of many who have received an e-mail, text message, or telephone call,

supposedly from your credit card/debit card company directing you to

contact a telephone number to re-activate your card due to a security

issue? The IC3 has received multiple reports of different variations of

this scheme known as 'vishing'. These attacks against US financial

institutions and consumers continue to rise at an alarming rate.

Vishing operates like

phishing by persuading consumers to divulge their Personally Identifiable

Information (PII), claiming their account was suspended, deactivated, or

terminated. Recipients are directed to contact their bank via a telephone

number provided in the e-mail or by an automated recording. Upon calling

the telephone number, the recipient is greeted with 'Welcome to the bank

of â€¦â€¦' and then requested to enter their card number in order

to resolve a pending security issue.

For authenticity, some

fraudulent e-mails claim the bank would never contact customers to obtain

their PII by any means, including e-mail, mail, or instant messenger.

These e-mails further warn recipients not to provide sensitive

information when requested in an e-mail and not to click on embedded

links, claiming they could contain 'malicious software aimed at capturing

login credentials.'

Please

bewareâ€”spam e-mails may actually contain malicious code (malware)

which can harm your computer. Do not open any unsolicited e-mail and do

not s provided.

A new version recently

reported involves the sending of text messages to cell phones claiming

the recipient's on-line bank account has expired. The message instructs

the recipient to renew their on-line bank account by using the link

provided.

Due to rapidly evolving

criminal methodologies, it is impossible to include every scenario.

Therefore, be cognizant and protect your PII. Beware of e-mails,

telephone calls, or text messages requesting your PII.

If you have a question

concerning your account or credit/debit card, you should contact your

bank using a telephone number obtained independently, such as from your

statement, a telephone book, or other independent means.

If you have received

this, or a similar hoax, please file a complaint at www.ic3.gov.

AN INCREASE IN INTERNET

SCHEMES CLAIMING TO BE FROM THE FBI

01/04/08â€”We have

increasingly received reports of fraudulent schemes misrepresenting FBI

agents, officials, and/or FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III. The

fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of

pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letterhead, and/or banners. The

e-mails may also claim to come from our domestic or overseas offices.

The types of schemes

utilizing the names of FBI agents, officials, or the Directorâ€™s name

are typically lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications.

However, other fraudulent schemes include threat and extortion e-mails,

website monitoring containing malicious computer program attachments

(malware), and online auction scams.

The social engineering

technique of utilizing the FBIâ€™s name is to intimidate and convince

the recipient the e-mail is legitimate.

The FBI does not send

out emails soliciting information from citizens.

Please be cautious of

any unsolicited e-mail referencing the FBI, FBI Director Mueller, or any

other FBI official endorsing any type of Internet activity.

If you have experienced

this situation please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at

www.ic3.gov.

NEW TWIST CONCERNING

THREAT AND EXTORTION E-MAILS

01/09/07â€”There is

a new twist to the IC3 alert posted on December 7, 2006 regarding e-mails

claiming that the sender has been paid to kill the recipient and will

cancel the contract on the recipient's life if that person pays a large

sum of money. Now e-mails are surfacing that claim to be from the FBI in

London. These e-mails note the following information:

Â§ An individual was

recently arrested for the murders of several United States and United

Kingdom citizens in relation to this matter.

Â§ The recipient's information

was found on the subject identifying the recipient as the next victim.

Â§ The recipient is

requested to contact the FBI in London to assist with the investigation.

It is not uncommon for

an Internet fraud scheme to have the same overall intent but be

transmitted containing variations in the e-mail content, e.g., different

names, e-mail addresses, and/or agencies reportedly involved. See our

related top story on the hitman scam.

Please note, providing

any personal information in response to an unsolicited e-mail can

compromise your identity and open you to identity theft.

If you have experienced

this situation please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at

www.ic3.gov.

Due to the threat of

violence inherent in these extortion e-mails, if you receive an e-mail

that contains personally identifiable information that might

differentiate your e-mail from the general e-mail spam campaign, we

encourage you to contact the police.

E-MAILS CONTAINING

THREATS AND EXTORTION

12/07/06â€”We have

recently received information concerning spam e-mails threatening to

assassinate the recipient unless the individual pays several thousand

dollars to the sender of the e-mail.

The subject claims to

have been following the victim for some time and was supposedly hired to

kill the victim by a friend of the victim. The subject threatens to carry

out the assassination if the victim goes to the police and requests the

victim to respond quickly and provide their telephone number.

Warning! Providing any

personal information can compromise your identify and open you to

identity theft.

If you have experienced

this situation, please notify your local, state, or federal law

enforcement agency immediately. Also, please notify the IC3 by filing a

complaint at www.ic3.gov.

Cyber Investigations

Home

Source:

http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm

TERROR MODUS OPERANDI

Hizballah

Planned Attack on US/Israeli Embassies in Azerbaijan (back)

October 5, 2009

A court in Azerbaijan

on Monday found two Lebanese men guilty of planning attacks on the

Israeli embassy in Baku, AFP reported.

AFP quoted a court

spokesman as saying that 'Lebanese citizens Ali Karaki and Ali Najmeddin

were sentenced to 15 years each' for plotting attacks on the Israeli and US

embassies in the Azerbaijani capital.

They also planned to

attack a missile-detection station in the north of the country.

The two men, who were

apparently Hizbullah members, were said to have been ordered to avenge

the February 2008 assassination of senior Hizbullah commander Imad

Mughniyeh in Damascus.

A former intelligence

chief at the US Treasury Department, Matthew Levitt, was quoted in a May

Los Angeles Times report as saying that the choice of Baku last year

reflects Iranian influence. He said that the plot was in its 'advanced

stages' when it was foiled.

'The Iranians have a

history of a presence there,' he said. 'And they wouldn't mind

undermining the country, given Azerbaijan's Western leanings.'

Azerbaijan, which

borders Iran, has a good relationship with Israel and other Western

nations.

Source:

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254749524745 & page

name=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Terrorist

Recruitment of Somali Muslims in USA (back)

October 4, 2009

by Spencer S. Hsu

The suspected

involvement of a young Seattle man in a suicide bombing last month has

refocused attention on the recruitment of Somali Americans by Islamist

extremists in Somalia and the growing role of al-Qaeda, U.S. counterterrorism

officials said.

The FBI is

investigating whether the American took part in a Sept. 17 twin truck

bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, which killed 21 people at an

African Union peacekeeping base, law enforcement officials said. If

confirmed, he would be the second U.S. citizen in the past year to have

become a suicide bomber and at least the seventh radicalized U.S. youth

to die after joining al-Shabab, an insurgent group seeking to topple

Somalia's weak government, U.S. relatives and Somali activists said.

Overall, Shabab has

sent dozens of Somali Americans and Muslim American converts through

training conducted by elements of al-Qaeda's Pakistan-based terrorist

network, National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael E. Leiter said

last week.

Although al-Qaeda

itself is under more pressure than at any time since 2001, the threat

from affiliated groups such as Shabab is growing, said Leiter and FBI Robert S. Mueller III. In particular, such groups are providing

al-Qaeda a pipeline of American and European fighters whose passports

would make it easier for them to travel undetected and potentially attack

Western targets, current and former U.S. officials said.

'The role of returning

foreign fighters to the United States changes the nature of the threat to

the homeland,' Mueller said in written testimony last week to a Senate

hearing into the evolving terrorist threat inside the United States.

Leiter's statement

singled out Shabab and Lashkar-i-Taiba, a Pakistan-based militant group

accused in the commando-style attack on Mumbai in November that killed

more than 170 people. The latter 'could pose a direct threat' inside the

United States, particularly in collusion with al-Qaeda, although its

focus has been on India and Afghanistan, Leiter said in written

testimony.

Although Shabab has not

launched attacks outside Somalia, al-Qaeda operatives might 'commission'

a U.S. strike, American officials said. They note that people trained in

Somalia have been traced to several international plots, including one

that Australia's police in August said was aimed at an army base there.

In the most striking

recent revelation, U.S. officials confirmed that they think a key trainer

of Somali American youths was Saleh Ali Nabhan, 30, a wanted Shabab leader

and liaison to al-Qaeda in Pakistan who was killed in a U.S.

commando-style helicopter raid Sept. 14.

Nabhan was sought by

the FBI in the bombing of an Israeli hotel in Kenya and the attempted

downing of an Israeli airliner in 2002, as well as his role in the 1998

al-Qaeda attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Shabab spokesmen said

the A.U. bombing last month was in retaliation for Nabhan's killing.

Shabab released a video Sept. 20 pledging allegiance to al-Qaeda leader

Osama bin Laden and featuring a new, young American spokesman, according

to private firms that monitor Islamist Web sites. The 49-minute video,

titled, 'At Your Service, O Usama,' contained footage of a Somali

training camp and showcased Omar Hammami, 25, a former University of

South Alabama student.

'Any connection you

have between American recruits and al-Qaeda trainers -- real senior,

accomplished people like Nabhan -- that raises a lot of concerns,' a

senior U.S. counterterrorism official said last week.

'It's hard to tell

where Shabab ends and al-Qaeda in East Africa begins. That's how closely

the two are linked,' another U.S. counterterrorism official said, adding

that both 'are intent on stepping up their terrorist activity in East

Africa. . . . It's critical that we and our allies keep a close eye on

them.'

Abdirahman Warsame, a

Bellevue, Wash., activist who runs the Terror Free Somalia Foundation,

disclosed that he had spoken with the parents of an 'Omar Mohamud' in

Seattle whom federal agents are investigating on suspicion of involvement

in the Mogadishu attack. FBI agents collected DNA samples from the

parents, Warsame said. The bureau declined to comment about the

investigation.

Several U.S. officials

said it could take another week to confirm whether the man participated

in the bombing. Witnesses said the bombers spoke English and drove two

trucks with U.N. markings into the A.U. compound.

A nearly year-old FBI

investigation into Somali American terrorism recruits is ongoing and 'on

track,' said bureau spokesman E.K. Wilson. The investigation follows the

departure of dozens of Somali American and other Muslim teenagers from

Minneapolis, Seattle and Columbus, Ohio, as well as other areas, who law

enforcement officials suspect were recruited to go to Somalia.

The FBI previously

confirmed the death of Shirwa Ahmed, 27, a college student from

Minneapolis, in a suicide bombing last October. Since then, U.S.

relatives have reported the deaths of Burhan Hassan, 18; Jamal Bana, 20;

Zakaria Maruf, 30; Mohamoud Hassan, 23; and Troy Kastigar, 28. Another

man, Ruben Shumpert, an African American convert to Islam from Seattle,

was killed in a U.S.-supported rocket attack.

The Justice Department

disclosed this summer that three U.S. citizens -- Kamal Said Hassan and

Salah Osman Ahmed of Minnesota and Abdifatah Yusuf Isse of Seattle --

have pleaded guilty to terrorism-related charges and await sentencing in

this country after cooperating with investigators regarding their

training in Somalia and Yemen.

Overall, a senior U.S.

counterterrorism official said, 'we've measured the numbers of Somali

Americans that go back to Somalia to fight in the dozens.'

By comparison, the

number of Americans of Afghan, Pakistani, Iraqi or other descent who have

gone overseas for training with groups related to al-Qaeda is 'an order

of magnitude smaller . . . in the handfuls,' the official said.

Source:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/1

0/03/AR2009100302901.html

TERRORIST CONNECTIONS

Obama

Under Pressure to Get Tough on Iran (back)

October 6, 2009

'They Want the Bomb'

American

mistrust of Iran is growing, despite the cautious rapprochement at last

week's talks in Geneva. US President Barack Obama is coming under

increasing pressure to take a hard line since the revelation that Iran

has a second, previously undisclosed facility for uranium enrichment.

The president sat in

front of her, casually dressed in an open-necked shirt. There was no one

else in the room. It was the moment German Chancellor Angela Merkel had

been waiting for.

And then she asked the

question that only he, the leader of the Western world and

commander-in-chief of the US armed forces, could answer: Was the United

States truly determined to bomb Iran because of its nuclear program, if

all threats came to nothing and all ultimatums had expired?

The president didn't

hesitate before replying: 'You can't bomb knowledge.' Merkel was

relieved, so much so that she would later pass on the sentence to her

supporters like a trophy.

The scene unfolded in

November 2007, at George W. Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas. Ironically,

Bush, the man who had allowed his military to march into Iraq without any

plausible reasons, appeared to have lost his taste for waging war.

Different Signals

His successor in the

White House is now sending different signals. US President Barack Obama

began his career as an opponent of the Iraq war, but now, after moving to

the White House, he too is making use of the superpower's military might.

Obama is increasing US troop numbers in Afghanistan while, in neighboring

Pakistan, his administration is attacking the Taliban with

remote-controlled drones.

But the president's

main adversary is the regime in Tehran. Obama has threatened Iran with

'serious consequences' unless the country limits its nuclear program to

civilian use. He is not ruling out a military strike against nuclear

facilities in the mullah-controlled state. When asked what Washington

will do if nothing else works, Obama replies: 'All options are on the

table.'

The recent news that

Iran has a second, previously secret uranium enrichment facility caused

an uproar in the United States. A nuclear bomb in the hands of the

mullahs would destroy the already fragile security architecture in the

Middle East and trigger a regional arms race. Iranian mid-range missiles,

which could possibly be equipped with nuclear warheads in the future, are

a threat to Israel and could also reach southern Europe (see graphic).

Until now, the only

known uranium enrichment facility was in Natanz, where the Iranian

government has already installed about 8,000 centrifuges. Iran has been

claiming for years that it is only interested in the civilian use of

nuclear energy. And indeed, between February 2007 and November 2008, the

engineers at Natanz only produced uranium with an enrichment level of up

to 5 percent. A level of about 90 percent is needed if the material is to

be used in a nuclear bomb.

The existing data is so

precise because the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) monitors

the Natanz plant. Since March 2007, inspectors from the Vienna-based

agency have paid 29 unannounced visits to Natanz. It is not entirely

impossible to produce material for a bomb in such a highly scrutinized

facility, but it isn't easy. For that reason, there have been

speculations for years that Iran was operating other facilities concealed

from the eyes of the world.

Underground Facility

Now those fears have a

name: Qom. A second enrichment plant, located about 100 miles (160

kilometers) southwest of the capital Tehran, is currently being built

near the Shiite holy city of Qom, hidden in an underground tunnel on a

military base.

Western intelligence

agencies heard the first rumors about the secret project in the second

half of 2008. Since then, they have been searching for credible evidence

to present to the global public. The CIA's claims that it found weapons

of mass destruction in Iraq -- claims that were later refuted -- have not

been forgotten. No one wants to see the same debacle repeated.

At the beginning of the

year, several intelligence agencies hit pay dirt at the same time. The

Israeli Mossad has a network of agents in Iran that focuses primarily on

the country's nuclear program. Eyewitness reports supplied the desired

details on the status of construction work. The CIA had obtained its own

information, with French and British intelligence contributing their

knowledge.

In the spring, the

Western allies briefed German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier,

and from then on, Chancellor Angela Merkel was also kept in the loop.

When the IAEA received a letter from Tehran two weeks ago, Iran's

leadership revealed information that was already an open secret among

Western leaders. 'Our patience has a limit,' the normally measured IAEA General Mohamed ElBaradei said.

A World with an Iranian

Nuclear Bomb

The talks last Thursday

in Geneva, which included the Americans, French, British, Russians,

Chinese, Germans and representatives of Iran, did nothing to dispel the

anxiety. Tehran did agree to grant the IAEA access to the Qom enrichment

plant in the next few weeks. The West, for its part, agreed to provide

Iran with fuel for a research reactor, which Iranian President Mahmoud

Ahmadinejad had previously demanded as a trust-building measure.

'But we're not

interested in talking for the sake of talking,' Obama said after his

negotiator, William Burns, had delivered his report from Geneva. Despite

the relaxed mood at the conference table, the West's suspicions have

remained. Its negotiators speculate that Iran is building or even

operating other secret nuclear facilities, and they are already thinking

about new, tougher sanctions. The White House has mentioned a 'two-track

policy' of talking while simultaneously increasing pressure on Iran.

US officials have

painstakingly compiled a list of industries that are particularly

vulnerable to sanctions. Despite its oil wealth, Iran still has to import

about 40 percent of the gasoline it needs, which leads Washington to

believe that a gasoline boycott could be somewhat effective. But

virtually all experts question the value of economic sanctions. 'This

country has endured so much,' says Flynt Leverett, who served on the US

National Security Council until 2003. 'Just think of the endless war with

Iraq.'

Beside, all major

nations would have to participate if sanctions are to be effective. That,

however, is more than doubtful. China, for example, is interested in

further developing its economic ties with Iran and has invested billions

in new Iranian oil and natural gas projects over the last five years.

Dwindling Desire for

Peace

In the US, there is

also growing support for the next step on the escalation ladder: the use

of military force. The desire for peace seems to have dissipated in many

quarters, including among the electorate. According to a study by the

public opinion polling firm Rasmussen Reports, 88 percent of Americans

are concerned about the recent revelations regarding Iran's second

enrichment plant. Only 5 percent believe the Tehran government's claims

that the facilities are for peaceful energy production. After North

Korea, Iran is now seen as the second biggest threat to the US.

A slim majority of

Americans now supports a tougher approach toward the mullahs. According

to the Rasmussen survey, 51 percent say that Obama has 'not been

aggressive enough in responding to Iran's nuclear program.' In June, that

number was only 40 percent.

This is music to the

ears of the hardliners of the Bush administration. Eliot Cohen, former

counselor to the State Department, says: 'We have only two options: an

American or an Israeli military strike, which would probably mean a real

war. Or a world with an Iranian nuclear bomb.'

Even supporters of the

Democrats are voicing similar views. 'The obvious danger of Obama's

diplomacy,' says Jeffrey Herf, a history professor at the University of

Maryland, 'is that it allows the Iranians to use negotiations to stall

for time while they are working on the bomb and enriching more

uranium.... The Iranians have made fools of many sophisticated diplomats

in recent years. If Obama is not careful, he would be the latest in long

line of fools.' Herf is convinced that the Iranians can not be dissuaded

by talks. Iran 'wants the bomb,' he says. 'Negotiations won't change that.'

Martin Indyk, a former

US ambassador to Israel who is now vice president of the Brookings

Institution in Washington, warns that the military options should not be

ignored. In an article that appeared in Foreign Affairs, co-authored by

Richard Haass, the president of the Council on Foreign Relations in New

York, he writes: 'Preventive military action against Iran by either the

United States or Israel is an unattractive option, given its risks and

costs. But it needs to be examined.'

'More Restraint'

In Germany, the

previous administration's goal of preventing military action against Iran

has not changed since the recent election. The liberal Free Democratic

Party, soon to be part of the new government together with Merkel's

center-right Christian Democrats, likes to paint itself as Germany's

anti-war party. In 2003, for example, the FDP rejected a proposal to

expand Germany's Afghanistan mission, just as it later opposed expanding

Bundeswehr missions in Congo and off the Lebanese coast. Westerwelle has

always stated that he advocates 'more restraint' for German policy in the

Middle East.

Oddly enough, Merkel's

closest ally is US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, the only member of the

Bush cabinet to have kept his position in the Obama administration. So far

Gates, who has been unwilling to take part in the game of verbal

escalation, has counseled moderation.

'The reality is there

is no military option that does anything more than buy time,' he said in

an interview during the Bush years. He still says the same thing today.

Source:

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,653362,00.html

Iran

Plans to Continue Uranium Enrichment (back)

October 6, 2009

by Hashem Kalantari

TEHRAN - Iran

plans to use a new generation of faster centrifuges to enrich uranium at

a newly-revealed nuclear site, its atomic energy chief said in remarks

published on Tuesday.

The underground

enrichment plant near the holy Shi'ite city of Qom was kept secret until

Iran disclosed its existence last month. Diplomats say it did so after

learning Western intelligence services had discovered the site.

In Geneva on October 1

Iran agreed with six world powers -- the United States, Russia, China,

Britain, France and Germany -- to allow U.N. International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to the site. Follow-up talks are due in

late October.

'We have put our effort

on research and development of new machines in the past two or three

months so that we would be able to produce machines with high efficiency

and completely indigenous,' Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic

Energy Organization, was quoted as saying by the newspaper Kayhan on

Tuesday.

'We are hopeful of

using a new generation of centrifuges at the (Qom-area) Fordu site,' he

said. Kayhan published a transcript of a state television interview with

Salehi.

Nuclear experts believe

the new model of centrifuge is capable of doubling or tripling the output

rate.

IAEA director Mohammed

ElBaradei secured a deal with Iran on Sunday to let inspectors visit it

on October 25. The plant under construction would be Iran's second

uranium-enrichment site, after a larger one under IAEA surveillance near

Natanz.

The West suspects the

Islamic state is covertly seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran denies

this but has refused to curb the program or allow unfettered IAEA

inspections needed to verify it is for peaceful purposes only.

Last Thursday's talks

are expected to win Iran a reprieve from tougher U.N. sanctions in the

near future.

TRANSPARENCY PLEDGES

However, the prospect

could arise again if Iran does not, in coming talks, go beyond the

limited nuclear transparency pledges agreed in Geneva and instead tries

to string out dialogue to buy time to develop possible atomic bomb

capability.

Enriched uranium can be

used to fuel nuclear power plants and, if refined much further, provide

material for atomic bombs.

Iran has said the new

enrichment site, which has space for 3,000 centrifuges, is about 18

months away from going on line.

Last month, Salehi said

Iran had built a new generation of centrifuges and was testing them,

adding they were stronger and faster than the 1970s-vintage 'P-1'

deployed in Natanz.

Western diplomats said

Iran agreed in principle in Geneva to send about 80 percent of its

stockpile of low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for further

processing and return to Tehran to replenish rapidly dwindling fuel

stocks for a reactor that produces isotopes for cancer care.

Some experts said the

non-proliferation purpose of this deal -- reducing Iran's accumulation of

enriched uranium that could possibly be diverted for weaponisation --

would mean little if Iran accelerated its enrichment rate with advanced

centrifuges, and without a cap on the program as a whole.

'We have to be wary of

other activities that could discount the positive potential of the

uranium (processing deal),' a senior European diplomat said, alluding to

the centrifuge plan.

David Albright, head of

the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security

which tracks nuclear proliferation, said: 'At best, the proposal to

remove the LEU (low-enriched uranium) is a temporary measure that becomes

meaningless unless Iran suspends its enrichment program.'

World powers at the

next round of talks aim to press Iran for a freeze on expansion of

enrichment as an interim step toward a suspension that would bring it

major trade rewards.

Source:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5951Z920091006

Funds

Cut for Iran Rights Watchdog (back)

October 6, 2009

by Farah Stockman

WASHINGTON - For the

past five years, researchers in a modest office overlooking the New Haven

green have carefully documented cases of assassination and torture of

democracy activists in Iran. With more than $3 million in grants from the

US State Department, they have pored over thousands of documents and

Persian-language press reports and interviewed scores of witnesses and

survivors to build dossiers on those they say are Iranâ€™s most infamous

human-rights abusers.

But just as the Iran

Human Rights Documentation Center was ramping up to investigate abuses of

protesters after this summerâ€™s disputed presidential election, the

group received word that - for the first time since it was formed - its

federal funding request had been denied.

'If there is one time

that I expected to get funding, this was it,â€™â€™ said Rene

Redman, the groupâ€™s executive director, who had asked for $2.7

million in funding for the next two years. 'I was sur prised, because the

world was watching human rights violations right there on

television.â€™â€™

Many see the sudden,

unexplained cutoff of funding as a shift by the Obama administration away

from high-profile democracy promotion in Iran, which had become a

signature issue for President Bush. But the timing has alarmed some on

Capitol Hill.

'The Iran Human Rights

Documentation Center is at the forefront of pioneering and vitally

important work,â€™â€™ said Senator Joe Lieberman, a Connecticut

independent, in a statement yesterday. 'It is disturbing that the State

Department would cut off funding at precisely the moment when these brave

investigations are needed most.â€™â€™

Michael Rubin, a

scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative

Washington-based think tank, said, 'It is a shock that they did not get

funding.â€™â€™ A reason, he asserted, may be that 'the Obama

administration is so focused on engaging Iran that they donâ€™t want

this information to get in the way.â€™â€™

The State Department

said it is keenly focused on human rights in Iran.

The job of doling out

money to groups seeking to influence Iran has been shifted from the State

Departmentâ€™s Near Eastern Affairs Bureau to a lower-profile

division, its US Agency for International Development. USAID spokesman

Harry Edwards did not provide an explanation of why funding was denied

for the Human Rights Documentation Center, widely seen as the most

comprehensive clearing house of documents related to human rights abuses

in Iran. He said the governmentâ€™s funding priorities have not changed.

'US government

priorities for the region continue to include support for civil society

and advocacy, promoting the rule of law and human rights, and increasing

access to alternative sources of information,â€™â€™ Edwards said.

'Applications submitted to USAID are thoroughly reviewed against the

evaluations criteria outlined in its solicitations.â€™â€™

The State Department

has always been tight-lipped about who receives democracy funding for

Iran, out of fear that the groupsâ€™ associates would be targeted in

Iran. It is unclear how many other groups have lost their funding under

the Obama administration.

Obama officials have

argued publicly for a less-confrontational approach than Bush, in the

belief that the Bush administrationâ€™s vocal support for democracy

activists made them targets in Iran and stirred up fears of regime

change.

The Obama

administration has emphasized other forms of assistance, such as aid for

software programs that help activists communicate on the Internet

anonymously. It also has continued funding for exchange programs. In the

coming months, for instance, the administration hopes to bring Iranian

lawyers to major cities in the United States, including Boston, to talk

with American lawyers about their concept of law.

Formed by two exiled

Iranians in 2004 with a $1 million grant from the State Department, the

center made its home near Yaleâ€™s campus, where it attracted Yale

law school professors to its board. The board also includes the dean of

Harvard Law School, Martha Minow.

The group has published

12 reports in English and Persian about the forced confessions of

detained bloggers and journalists, the 1988 massacre of thousands of

political prisoners, and the Iranian governmentâ€™s campaign to

assassinate dissidents abroad. Although the State Department has been the

groupâ€™s main source of funds, the Canadian government granted it

money to research human-rights abuses in the wake of the disputed

election this year.

Currently, the group is

working to develop a list of all those who were arrested following the

election and a list of those responsible for alleged abuses in prison.

But without additional funding, the group will shut down in May when its

funding runs out, Redman said.

The group is not

affiliated with any political party in Iran. It attracted controversy

during its early years, however, when one of its founders and current

board members, Ramin Ahmadi, gave a workshop in Dubai on tactics of

underground political resistance to Iranian citizens who had secretly

traveled there.

Since then, the Iranian

government has accused Ahmadi of being an agent of the United States, and

some of his trainees were arrested. Ahmadi, a medical doctor in Danbury,

Conn., still vocally supports the opposition movement, joking at a recent

panel at Yale Law School that he could sneak audience members into Iran

if they wanted to join.

But at least three

other groups that received funding under Bushâ€™s democracy program

for Iran have been told they would not receive funding this year,

according to Roya Boroumand, founder of the Bormound Foundation, which

works against the death penalty in Iran. Boroumand said her group does

not get State Department funds, but that she is in contact with other

organizations who do, and all are worried.

'If the rationale is

that we are going to stop funding human rights-related work in Iran

because we donâ€™t want to provoke the government, it is absolutely

the wrong message to send,â€™â€™ she said. 'That means that we

donâ€™t really believe in human rights, that the American government

just looks into it when it is convenient.â€™â€™ Error! Filename

not specified.

Source:

http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2009/10/06/us_

cutoff_of_funding_to_iran_human_rights_cause_signals_shift/

PROPAGANDA

What

Temple? (back)

October 4, 2009

by Aaron Klein

What Temple? Fatah says

'only a Muslim holy site'

'U.S. partner' demands

Jews, Christians be banned from praying on Mount

JERUSALEM

- The Temple Mount does not exist alongside the Western Wall, and

neither Jews nor Christians should be allowed to pray on the Mount site,

Dimitri Diliani, the spokesman for Fatah in Jerusalem, told WND in an

interview.

Fatah, once named by

the U.S. as a Mideast 'peace partner,' is the party led by Palestinian

Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Diliani spoke hours after Fatah and PA

officials were accused of inciting a riot on the Temple Mount, claiming

Jews were threatening the site.

'Don't use the term

Temple Mount,' Diliani lectured WND. 'It doesn't exist. I don't know

where it is. I cannot see any Temple. Can you? No one can find any trace

of it. The area you refer to is only a Muslim holy site.'

The PA, though, has

found evidence of Judaism's historic connection to the Mount the holiest

site in Judaism. The Waqf, the Islamic custodians of the Mount, conducted

an unsupervised excavation on the site in 1997. At that time, the Waqf,

working under the guidance of the PA, ultimately were caught by Israeli

authorities disposing truckloads of Mount dirt that contained Jewish

Temple artifacts. To this day, Israeli archeologists are still sifting

through the large amount of dirt, in which scores of Jewish Temple relics

were found.

Diliani did not deny

Fatah and the PA were involved in yesterday's Temple Mount riots.

'Palestinian political

factions, including Fatah, are firm on defending the political, national

and religious rights of the Palestinian people,' Diliani said, 'and it's

evident now we will continue defending the Al Aqsa Mosque as well as our

rights in Jerusalem as a whole.'

Diliani did not specify

exactly which Jews were threatening the Temple Mount.

Yesterday, Israeli

security forces released from custody Jerusalem's senior Fatah official,

Khatem Abed Al-Kadr, who had been detained on suspicion of inciting

riots. Al-Kadr was released on condition that he not enter the Old City

of Jerusalem. He also must remain at least 250 meters from the area gates

for 15 days.

Yesterday's riots

featured about 150 Palestinian protesters hurling rocks and bottles at

Israeli police after Israel barred men between the ages of 18 and 45 from

ascending the site that day. The order came after the PA and an Al Aqsa

Mosque activist group, the Islamic Movement, called on Arabs to ascend

the site yesterday to defend it against 'Jewish threats.'

The PA's involvement

with the Mount riots come after the Palestinian public has expressed

disapproval with a decision by Abbas to call for the delay of a U.N.

Human Rights Council vote regarding a U.N. report that accused both

Israel and Hamas of war crimes during the Jewish state's defensive war in

Gaza in December and January.

That U.N. report,

authored by South African judge Richard Goldstone, has been slammed here

as anti-Israel. The report equates Israel, which worked to minimize

civilian casualties in Gaza, to Hamas, a terrorist organization that

utilized civilians as human shields and fired rockets at Jewish

population centers from Palestinian hospitals and apartment buildings.

Israeli security

officials, speaking with WND, said Abbas likely was using the Temple Mount

clashes to incite against Israel and deflect Palestinian outcry,

including from Hamas, stemming from his agreement to delay the U.N. vote.

Yesterday's riots

followed similar violence on the Mount last Friday. Those clashes

followed a three-way meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,

President Obama and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

During his speech to

the U.N. General Assembly days before the Mount riots last week, Obama

used strongly worded language to call for the creation of a 'viable, independent

Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that

began in 1967.'

The term 'occupation'

routinely is used by the Palestinians as well as some countries hostile

to the Jewish state in reference to Israel's presence in the West Bank

and Jerusalem. It is unusual for U.S. presidents to use the term,

although Jimmy Carter once famously called Israel's presence in the West

Bank and eastern Jerusalem 'illegal.'

'Occupation that began

in 1967' is a specific reference to the lands Israel retained after the

Six Day War of that year, particularly the West Bank and eastern

Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount.

Source:

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view & pageId=111952

ISLAM

At

the UN, the Obama Administration Backs Limits on Free Speech (back)

October 5, 2009

by Anne Bayefsky

The Obama

administration has marked its first foray into the UN human rights

establishment by backing calls for limits on freedom of expression. The

newly-minted American policy was rolled out at the latest session of the

UN Human Rights Council, which ended in Geneva on Friday. American

diplomats were there for the first time as full Council members and

intent on making friends.

President Obama chose

to join the Council despite the fact that the Organization of the Islamic

Conference holds the balance of power and human rights abusers are among

its lead actors, including China, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. Islamic states

quickly interpreted the president's penchant for 'engagement' as meaning

fundamental rights were now up for grabs. Few would have predicted,

however, that the shift would begin with America's most treasured

freedom.

For more than a decade,

a UN resolution on the freedom of expression was shepherded through the

Council, and the now defunct Commission on Human Rights which it

replaced, by Canada. Over the years, Canada tried mightily to garner

consensus on certain minimum standards, but the 'reformed' Council

changed the distribution of seats on the UN's lead human rights body. In

2008, against the backdrop of the publication of images of Mohammed in a

Danish newspaper, Cuba and various Islamic countries destroyed the

consensus and rammed through an amendment which introduced a limit on any

speech they claimed was an 'abuse . . . [that] constitutes an act of

racial or religious discrimination.'

The Obama

administration decided that a revamped freedom of expression resolution,

extracted from Canadian hands, would be an ideal emblem for its new

engagement policy. So it cosponsored a resolution on the subject with

none other than Egypt--a country characterized by an absence of freedom

of expression.

Privately, other

Western governments were taken aback and watched the weeks of

negotiations with dismay as it became clear that American negotiators

wanted consensus at all costs. In introducing the resolution on Thursday,

October 1--adopted by consensus the following day--the ranking U.S.

'The United States is

very pleased to present this joint project with Egypt. This initiative is

a manifestation of the Obama administration's commitment to multilateral

engagement throughout the United Nations and of our genuine desire to

seek and build cooperation based upon mutual interest and mutual respect

in pursuit of our shared common principles of tolerance and the dignity

of all human beings.'

His Egyptian

counterpart, Ambassador Hisham Badr, was equally pleased--for all the

wrong reasons. He praised the development by telling the Council that

'freedom of expression . . . has been sometimes misused,' insisting on

limits consistent with the 'true nature of this right' and demanding that

the 'the media must . . . conduct . . . itself in a professional and

ethical manner.'

The new resolution,

championed by the Obama administration, has a number of disturbing

elements. It emphasizes that 'the exercise of the right to freedom of

expression carries with it special duties and responsibilities . . .'

which include taking action against anything meeting the description of

'negative racial and religious stereotyping.' It also purports to

'recognize . . . the moral and social responsibilities of the media' and

supports 'the media's elaboration of voluntary codes of professional

ethical conduct' in relation to 'combating racism, racial discrimination,

xenophobia and related intolerance.'

Pakistan's Ambassador

Zamir Akram, speaking on behalf of the Organization of the Islamic

Conference, made it clear that they understand the resolution and its

protection against religious stereotyping as allowing free speech to be

trumped by anything that defames or negatively stereotypes religion. The

idea of protecting the human rights 'of religions' instead of individuals

is a favorite of those countries that do not protect free speech and

which use religion--as defined by government--to curtail it.

Even the normally

feeble European Union tried to salvage the American capitulation by

expressing the hope that the resolution might be read a different way. Speaking

on behalf of the EU following the resolution's adoption, French

and should not, protect religions or belief systems, hence the language

on stereotyping only applies to stereotyping of individuals . . . and not

of ideologies, religions or abstract values. The EU rejects the concept

of defamation of religions.' The EU also distanced itself from the

American compromise on the media, declaring that 'the notion of a moral

and social responsibility of the media' goes 'well beyond' existing

international law and 'the EU cannot to this concept in such

general terms.'

In 1992 when the United

States ratified the main international law treaty which addresses freedom

of expression, the government carefully attached reservations to ensure

that the treaty could not 'restrict the right of free speech and

association protected by the Constitution and laws of the United States.'

The Obama

administration's debut at the Human Rights Council laid bare its very

different priorities. Threatening freedom of expression is a price for

engagement with the Islamic world that it is evidently prepared to pay.

Anne Bayefsky is a

senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, a professor at Touro College, and

the editor of EYEontheUN.org.

Source:

http://weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/017/04

3ytrhc.asp

Muslim

Brotherhood Seeks Ban on Fake Hymens in Egypt

(back)

October 5, 2009

CAIRO â€”

Conservative Egyptian lawmakers have called for a ban on imports of a

Chinese-made kit meant to help women fake their virginity and one scholar

has even called for the 'exile' of anyone who imports or uses it.

The Artificial

Virginity Hymen kit, distributed by the Chinese company Gigimo, costs

about $30. It is intended to help newly married women fool their husbands

into believing they are virgins â€” culturally important in a

conservative Middle East where sex before marriage is considered by many

to be illicit. The product leaks a blood-like substance when inserted and

broken.

Gigimo advertises

shipping to every Arab country. But the company did not answer e-mails

and phone calls seeking comment on whether it had orders from Egypt or

other parts of the Middle East.

The fracas started when

a reporter from Radio Netherlands broadcast an Arabic translation of the

Chinese advertisement of the product. That set off fears of conservative

parliament members that Egyptian women might start ordering the kits.

Sheik Sayed Askar, a

member of Egyptâ€™s Muslim Brotherhood who is on the parliamentary

committee on religious affairs, said the kit will make it easier for

Egyptian women to give in to temptation. He demanded the government take

responsibility for fighting the product to uphold Egyptian and Arab

values.

'It will be a mark of

shame on the ruling party if it allowed this product to enter the

market,' he said in a notice posted on the Brotherhoodâ€™s parliament

Web site on Sept. 15.

The Muslim Brotherhood,

Egyptâ€™s largest political opposition group, holds 88 of

Egyptâ€™s 454 parliament seats.

Prominent Egyptian

religious scholar Abdel Moati Bayoumi said anyone who imports the

artificial hymen should be punished.

'This product

encourages illicit sexual relations. Islamic culture forbids these

relations except within the confines of marriage,' Bayoumi said. 'I think

this should absolutely not be allowed to be exported because it brings

more harm than benefits. Whoever does it (imports it) should be

punished.'

In a country and a

region where pre-marital sex is so taboo it can even lead to a

womanâ€™s murder, the debate over the virginity-faking kit has

revived Egyptâ€™s constant struggle to reconcile modern mores with

more traditional beliefs â€” namely, that a woman is not a virgin

unless she bleeds after the first time.

'Bleeding is not the

only signal that yes, sheâ€™s a virgin,' said Heba Kotb, an observant

Muslim woman who hosts a sex talk show on TV in which she fields calls

from all over the Middle East.

Kotb noted that a

medical procedure that reattaches a broken hymen by stitching is illegal

in Egypt and can cost hundreds of dollars â€” prohibitively expensive

for the poor. But many women still secretly seek it out in fear of

punishment for pre-marital sex.

Such punishment could

include slayings at the hands of relatives, a practice more commonly

referred to as honor killings and common in the more conservative tribal

areas of the Middle East.

The product is also

causing a buzz on Egyptian blogs and news sites.

'If this thing enters

Egypt, the country is going to go to waste. God protect us,' commented a

reader on the Web site of Egyptian newspaper Al-Youm Al-Sabie.

Marwa Rakha, an author

and blogger who writes about dating issues, sees the product as a tool of

empowerment for women in a macho Arab culture that restricts

womenâ€™s sexual urges but turns a blind eye to men galavanting.

'It sticks it in the

face of every male hypocrite,' she said.

Gigimoâ€™s Web site

provides stilted instructions in English for the first-time user of the

fake hymen.

'Insert this artificial

hymen into your vagina carefully. When your lover penetrate, it will ooze

out a liquid that look like blood not too much but just the right amount.

Add in a few moans and groans, you will pass through undetectable.'

Source:

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/africa/view.bg?

articleid=1202377

Pakistan:

Abuse of Christians and Other Religious Minorities (back)

October 6, 2009

by Adrian Morgan

This year, Christians

in Pakistan have suffered their worst persecutions for a decade. As a

percentage of the population in the predominantly Muslim country,

Christians number less than five percent. This year, seven Christians

were burned alive in mob violence at Gojra in Punjab province. Four of

these were women and one was a four-year-old child. In other parts, homes

and churches have been destroyed and hundreds of Christians have been

forced to flee their homes.

Pakistan's

discriminatory blasphemy laws have continued to be used to oppress minorities.

As soon as a police complaint (FIR or First Information Report) is made

about blasphemy the accused is compulsorily remanded in custody until

trial. One Christian individual who was detained in this manner died

violently on September 15th, even though the police who incarcerated him

attempted to pass off his death as a suicide. In almost all the cases of

legislative oppression and mob violence against Christians, blasphemy has

been invoked as justification.

Recently Pakistan's

president, Asif Ali Zardari was on an international diplomatic tour, in

which he visited Rome for three days. On Wednesday September 30th, he met

with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and signed an agreement on

intelligence-sharing and military cooperation. The persecution of

Christians in Pakistan was briefly mentioned.

Zardari said: 'We are

confronting the problem of religious minorities in Pakistan. We support

all religious minorities in our country. They have the same rights,

whether it is their religious practices or political rights.' Berlusconi

confirmed this, noting that he 'found president Zardari to be very

attentive.'

The following day

(October 1st) Zardari visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Apostolic Palace

of Castelgandolfo. The Vatican Press Office stated: 'The cordial

discussions provided an opportunity to examine the current situation in

Pakistan, with particular reference to the fight against terrorism and

the commitment to create a society more tolerant and harmonious in all

its aspects.'

The Blasphemy Laws

The blasphemy laws as

they are now employed derive from amendments made in the 1980s to

Pakistan's Penal Code (PPC). This legislation derives from 1860, as a set

of statutes introduced by the British Raj for the governance of West

Pakistan, then a predominantly Urdu-speaking region of India. The

controversial amendments were introduced by the Islamist military

dictator General Zia ul-Haq. This individual deposed Prime Minister

Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in 1977 and imposed martial law.

In 1980, ul-Haq introduced

a Majlis-e-Shura (a council) of unelected advisers â€“ many from the

Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party â€“ to replace parliament. Later, he

enacted sham elections. Zia ul-Haq retained connections with religious

extremists, such as Maulana Muhammad Abdullah Shaheed who was imam at the

Red Mosque (Lal Masjid) in Islamabad. Ul-Haq gave himself the role of

President, with power above prime minister, and ruled Pakistan until his

death in a plane crash on August 17, 1988. The main blasphemy amendments

were introduced while Pakistan was under a military dictatorship, and not

under a civil democracy.

Part XV of the PPC

lists offenses involving religion. Originally, there were only four laws

of this nature, numbered from 295 to 298, but these have been expanded to

number 10. The laws generally invoked to oppress Christians (and also

Hindus and the Ahmadiyya, an Islamic sect deemed by some to be heretical)

are all the results of amendments. These are Sections 295-B, 295-C and

less frequently Section 298-A.

Section 295-B which

outlaws 'Defiling, etc., of Holy Qur'an' originally arose as an amendment

introduced in 1927 and revised in 1982. This states: 'Whoever willfully

defiles, damages or desecrates a copy of the Holy Qur'an or of an extract

therefrom or uses it in any derogatory manner or for any unlawful purpose

shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.'

Section 295-C prohibits

'Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of the Holy Prophet' and was

introduced with the approval of General Zia ul-Haq and the Islamist

Jammat-e-Islami party in 1982 and revised in 1986. This statute reads:

'Whoever by words, either spoken or written, or by visible representation

or by any imputation, innuendo, or insinuation, directly or indirectly,

defiles the sacred name of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)

shall be punished with death, or imprisonment for life, and shall also be

liable to fine.'

The death penalty

option to Section 295-C was added in the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act,

III of 1986, S. 2

Section 298-A deals

with 'Use of derogatory remarks, etc., in respect of holy personages'.

This amendment was introduced in 1980, and states: 'Whoever by words,

either spoken or written, or by visible representation, or by any

imputation, innuendo or insinuation, directly or indirectly, defiles the

sacred name of any wife (Ummul Mumineen), or members of the family

(Ahle-bait), of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), or any of the

righteous Caliphs (Khulafa-e-Rashideen) or companions (Sahaaba) of the

Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) shall be punished with imprisonment of

either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with

fine, or with both.'

Other sections of the

PPC - 298-B and 298-C specifically target the Ahmadiyya. The first of

these, introduced in 1980 prevents the Ahmadiyya from using devotional

names to anyone other than Prophet Mohammed and his companions, and from

calling any place of worship associated with anyone other than Mohammed

as a 'masjid' (mosque).

Section 298-C was also

introduced in 1980, with a further amendment made in 1984. This forbids

any Ahmadiyya from calling him- or herself a 'Muslim' and forbids any

proselytizing of their religion. Sections 298-B and C both carry

penalties of up to three years' imprisonment and/or a fine.

Events Leading Up to

the Gojra Violence

The violence in Gojra,

in which Christians were burned to death, stemmed from a dispute that

involved accusations of blasphemy. On Tuesday June 30th, a month before

the atrocities, more than 110 Christian families were forced to flee

their homes in the village of Bahminwala (Bahmina Wala) in Kasur district

in Punjab province. The Christians were forced to hide in the fields

around the village. They were driven out because Muslim mobs, encouraged

by the local mosque, accused them all of blasphemy after one of their

number had been listed in an FIR report.

The rampaging began

after an incident that had occurred on the previous day. An argument

broke out between a Christian farm laborer, 38-year old Sardar Masih

(Arif Mashi), who was driving a tractor, and a Muslim riding a bicycle

who came by and demanded that he should be allowed to pass. When this did

not happen, the Muslim (Muhammad Riaz) apparently accused the Christian

of being lower caste and a fight broke out.

According to Pakistan

Christian Post, a mosque imam called Qari Lateef (Qari Latif) was

consulted, and charges were filed against Sardar Masih at the local

police station. These charges did not â€“ it seems â€“ include

blasphemy, but the imam used his mosque loudspeaker system to make such

accusations. In the ensuing unrest, electricity meters on Christian

houses were smashed, Christian villagers were beaten, and houses were

looted and burned.

The Daily Times

newspaper sent journalists to the region. They met Shaan Ali and his

brother Imran, who had both led the mob that attacked the Christians.

Shaan Ali claimed, 'The Christians had committed blasphemy.' He could not

specify who had committed this blasphemy. Ahmed Ali Dhillon of the

provincial assembly confirmed that Qari Latif, imam at the village

mosque, had instigated the violence against the Christians.

A few days later after

the violence, while Christians made public protest at their treatment,

Pakistan's minority minister Shahbaz Bhatti visited the village. Bhatti promised

compensation to victims of the violence. Chief Justice Khawaja Mohammed

Sharif at the Lahore High Court demanded that the local police chief for

Kasur district appear to give their account of the events.

The events at Gojra

followed â€“ like so many similar cases of mob violence â€“ the

same trajectory as at Kasur, but the outcome was more horrific. Gojra is

situated 99 miles west of Lahore in Punjab province. The spark that

triggered the rampage began with an accusation that blasphemy had occurred.

It was alleged that three Christians, Mukhtar Masih, Talib Masih and

Talib's son Imran, had desecrated pages of the Koran at a wedding

ceremony in Korrian, outside Gojra town.

A case was registered

against the three men under Section 295-B of the Pakistan Penal Code, but

they were not immediately arrested. It is traditional for money to be

presented at a wedding, and for those who are poor, 'pretend money' is

displayed. The Christians had allegedly cut up pieces of paper to look

like money. There was no evidence from any sources that a Koran had

actually been desecrated.

On Thursday July 30th,

fearing reprisals for the alleged desecration, residents had fled from

Korrian, leaving many houses empty. A mob gathered, and set fire to about

50 houses, also burning cattle. A kangaroo court was held in which Talib

Masih was asked to apologize for desecrating Islam's holy book. He denied

having desecrated pages from the Koran and refused to apologize. Two

churches were also set ablaze. The mob blocked the main road to the

village, to prevent fire engines from putting out the fires.

Imran Masih was

officially charged under Section 295-B of the Penal Code. Pages of the

Koran were allegedly found among garbage outside the scene of the wedding

on July 26th.

A second incident

followed, on Saturday August 1st, which filled international newswires

for the scale of its ferocity. The police did nothing as a mob of

fanatical Muslims entered the town of Gojra and started to shoot. They

threw Molotov cocktails at houses, burning down forty domiciles. The

assailants were said to be from Lashkar-e-Jhvangi or its associated group

Sipah-e-Saba. These groups have been involved in previous instances of

sectarian violence against any minority that is not Sunni Muslim,

including attacks upon Shia civilians.

Six of the individuals

who died came from one family, that of Almass Hameed. A week after the

event, Almass Hameed spoke from his hospital bed: 'I think there were

thousands. My elderly father went out to see what was happening and they shot

and killed him. We were all shocked and crying. Before we knew it, they

were breaking into the house.'

Mr. Hameed described

how he and nine members of his extended family hid in an upstairs

bedroom, and heard members of the mob breaking in, smashing items and

dividing valuables between them. Some intruders beat on the bedroom door

where Almass and others were hiding. The intruders threatened to burn

them alive, and soon he could smell smoke as flames spread. He recalled:

'We just couldn't breathe. I grabbed my eldest son and managed to get out

of the room through the flames, my brother came out with one of my

daughters, but the rest were stuck and we had no way of rescuing them.'

Those who remained in

the bedroom were Almass' four-year old son Mousa, his 11-year-old

daughter, his wife, her sister and her mother. Unable to escape, they

were burned to death.

A Muslim youth blamed

the event upon the Christians. He said: 'We Muslims are the victims. We

gathered to protest about what they did to the Koran in Korrian and just

wanted to walk through their area, but they threw stones at us and fired

shots. Of course it is bad that Christians died. But they provoked the

Muslims here. I don't understand why everyone is on their side.'

In the aftermath of the

atrocity at Gojra, missionary schools were closed on Monday August 3rd.

A total of 800

individuals were charged with murder, including the local chief of police

and the District Coordination Officer. Only 17 of these were actually

named and placed in custody, with the remainder listed as 'unknown'

individuals. The charges had been brought by a local bishop. Shahbaz

Sharif announced that 500,000 Rupees ($6,002) would be awarded for each

family member that had died in the August 1st rioting.

The events in Gojra were

to precipitate further attacks in a wave of 'blasphemy hysteria'. At

Mudrike in Lahore, immediately after the Gojra arson deaths, a Muslim

factory owner was falsely accused of blasphemy. The incident took place

on Tuesday August 4th. It involved Mian Najib, the owner of East Leather,

a leather-processing factory at Khatiala Virkan near Muridke. Najib

removed an out-of-date Islamic calendar from the wall of the factory and,

it is alleged, burned it. Calendars of this nature often have verses or

quotations from the Koran upon them, and as such, any destruction of

these quotations is seen as destruction of the Koran.

A worker at the factory

called Moulvi Shabber claimed to have seen this act, and incited revenge

for this act. A crowd of hundreds attacked the East Leather factory. In

the ensuing violence, a security guard was killed, along with a security

guard. Several others were injured.

On Wednesday, August

5th at Sanghur in Sindh province, a 60-year-old Muslim woman was accused

of blasphemy, and her home became surrounded by a mob, led by a local

shopkeeper who accused her of blasphemy. The shop owner had said that

Akhtari Begum had thrown around some pages of the Koran inside his store.

She, for her part, claimed that she had thrown the book in which her credit

entries had been kept by the shopkeeper, onto the ground. Police took the

woman into custody, apparently sparing her life.

Other Incidents

The fact that Muslims

too can become innocent victims of mob violence may perhaps be the key to

having the Blasphemy Laws revoked. Traditionally, extremist Islamic

groups, such as the Jamaat-e-Islami party, which had a part in writing

the laws, have campaigned successfully for blasphemy laws to remain. In

March 2008, for example, the Jamaat-e-Islami party (which seeks Sharia

law and wants apostates from Islam to be executed under law) condemned

political parties for ignoring its rallies in favor of enforcing the

Blasphemy statutes.

The mention of

agitation by the groups Lashkar-i-Zhvangi and Sipah-i-Sahaba in some of

the recent attacks against the Christian minority suggests that the

extremes of violence have been deliberately manipulated.

While the victims of

the Gojra violence were buried, police took action against suspects and

arrested 65 people, including Qari Abdul Khaliq Kashmiri, a leading

figure in Sipah-i-Sahaba. The residence of Abid Farooqi, another member

of the banned terror group, was raided, but Farooqi had fled. His father

and two brothers were apprehended and taken into custody.

On November 12, 2005, a

similar incident had taken place in Sangla Hill in Punjab province, where

a false allegation of blasphemy had been made. Yousaf Masseh was accused

of desecrating pages from the Koran, though it was claimed that he had

been accused by two men who owed him money from gambling debts, and did

not wish to pay. Masseh had been imprisoned, while a mob of about 1,500

Muslims, encouraged by loudspeaker announcements from a mosque, descended

upon the Christian homes in Sangla HIll. Three churches, including a Catholic

and a Protestant house of worship, a school, a youth hostel, a nunnery

and two homes belonging to Protestant priests were destroyed.

Shortly after the orgy

of destruction, Christian community leaders in Sangla Hill had been

threatened over the phone by a man who identified himself as a member of

Lashkar-i-Jhvangi. He warned them to accept his 'deal' within two days or

to 'get ready to die.'

Lashkar-i-Jhvangi was

the group believed responsible for the kidnap and decapitation of U.S.

journalist Daniel Pearl. An offshoot of Sipah-i-Sahaba, Lashkar-i-Jhvangi

came into existence in 1996. It was designated by the U.S. as a terrorist

organization on January 30, 2003. Both Lashkar-i-Jhvangi and

Sipah-i-Sahaba had been banned by President Musharraf in Pakistan on

August 14, 2001. Sipah-i-Sahaba had been formed in Punjab province in the

1980s. Both groups have a Deobandi philosophy (the ideology which governs

the actions of the Taliban in both Afghanistan and Pakistan) aimed for a

Sunni state in Pakistan under sharia law.

In April 2009,

Christians came under threat from Taliban-supporting militants in a

community near Sarjani Town in a suburb of Karachi, in Sindh province.

Buildings, including two houses and about six shops, were set on fire.

Roadside traders' stalls and carts were destroyed by fire. Gunfire broke

out between groups and four people were injured. The violence broke out

after graffiti on the walls of a church had been found on Wednesday April

22nd. The graffiti comprised of pro-Taliban slogans.

Christians responded by

burning tires and throwing stones at passing vehicles. The two groups

â€“ Pakhtoons (Pashtun migrants from the Afghan borderlands) and

Christians â€“ faced each other down, and then gunfire broke out.

Four people were injured, including an 11-year-old boy. One of the

individuals who had been shot, a man called Irfan Masih, died later in

hospital.

The graffiti which was

chalked onto the wall of the Roman Catholic church in Sarjani town

included: Taliban are coming,' 'Long live Taliban' and 'Be prepared to

pay Jizya or embrace Islam.'

Jizya is a tax, listed

in the Koran and the Hadiths, which non-Muslims were traditionally

obliged to pay to Muslim overlords when a community was fully controlled

by Islam and governed by the precepts of Sharia. In the Koran, Sura 9,

verse 29, it is written (Yusufali's translation): 'Fight those who

believe not in Allah nor the Last Day, nor hold that forbidden which hath

been forbidden by Allah and His Messenger, nor acknowledge the religion

of Truth, (even if they are) of the People of the Book, until they pay

the Jizya with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued.'

During the incident in

the Christian settlement (called Khuda ki Basti) near Sarjani Town,

police were present but had done nothing to stop the incident. When the

shooting began, only Christians were injured.

On August 28th in the

city of Quetta in Baluchistan, southwestern Pakistan, six Christians were

shot dead and seven more were injured. For months before the atrocity,

Christians in the region had been receiving letters from Islamic

fundamentalists which ordered them to convert to Islam or to die.

The most recent

incident of prejudice against the Christian community involved the

Blasphemy Laws. A 25-year-old Christian man from Sialkot in northeastern

Punjab province, close to the Indian border, was arrested on Friday

September 11th, accused of desecrating the Koran. A mob of about 100

people, most of them young men, made the accusations against Fanish

Masih, who sometimes went under the name of Robert. The mob went on the

rampage through Sambrial district and attacked a Roman Catholic church,

setting it alight.

The alleged incident

that provoked the violence was a claim that a Christian had snatched a

Koran from a 10-year-old girl and had then desecrated it. No

authentication of the incident has appeared from other sources, and it

seems that â€“ like almost all alleged cases of Koran desecration

â€“ it could be a baseless myth.

On Tuesday September

15th, police announced that Fanish Masih had committed suicide in his

cell. The young man had been kept in a separate cell, and police

maintained that he had tried to commit suicide by hanging himself with a

narrow cord. This version was immediately contested. Asma Jahangir, the

head of HRCP, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, claimed that 'This

is death in custody and the police authorities are responsible.'

Kamran Michael, the

Punjabi provincial Minister for Minority Affairs said: 'I have seen the

body and there were torture marks on it.' It is obvious that there is a

deep gash on Robert's forehead, which appears to have been caused by

impact from a sharp-edged object. The body was taken away by local

Christians who demanded a private autopsy.

At the funeral of

Fanish Masih on Wednesday September 16th, there was discontent. The body

could not be buried in Fanish's native village of Jaithikey-Sambrial for

fear of inflaming tensions again. Instead, a memorial service was held in

the grounds of a Christian school in the industrial city of Sialkot. There

was ill feeling on the night before the funeral, and some Christians

blocked roads, threw stones at vehicles and trashed 13 shops. On the day

that Fanish was interred, there were clashes with police, and nine

Christians were arrested.

The day of the funeral,

the National Assembly Standing Committee on Minorities demanded an

official inquiry into the circumstances of Robert Fanish Masih's death in

police custody.

While Pakistani

newspaper editorials carried sincere expressions of regret about the

treatment of Christian and other minorities in Pakistan, a bizarre turn

of events took place in Toba Tek Singh, the district that included Gojra.

On September 26th, it was announced that an individual called Ghulam

Murtaza had filed a case against 129 Christians from Gojra.

Murtaza claimed that he

had been among 12 Muslims who had been injured on August 1st, the day

that seven Christians had been injured in Gojra. In this counterclaim, it

was stated that one of the Muslims who was injured on the day of the rioting,

Muhammad Asif, later died from injuries. The legal charges invoked the

Anti-Terror Act as well as Sections from the Penal Code, including

Section 295-C (insulting Prophet Mohammed), 280 (theft from a house), 436

(mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house

etc.), 324 (Qatl-i-amd or attempting to cause death of another), 148

(rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (being part of an unlawful

assembly and guilty of committing a crime) and Section 342 (wrongful

confinement).

The individuals listed

in Murtaza's charge sheet included John Samuel, the Bishop of Gojra, and

also Samuel's two sons, and a local administrator.

Six days before Ghulam

Murtaza brought his extraordinary set of charges against members of

Gojra's Christian community, 18 people who were held in custody for the

violence of August 1st were released. A joint committee of Muslims and

Christians, set up to enact reconciliation, had decided to declare the 18

individuals innocent. A similar committee had brought the same results

â€“ and consequence lack of punishment for offenders â€“ in the

aftermath of the Sangla Hill riots of 2005.

The Death of a Dream

When Pakistan broke

free from British rule, it was led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It is hard to

imagine that originally, the state of Pakistan was officially secular.

Nowadays, Section 2 of the constitution maintains that 'Islam shall be

the State religion of Pakistan.' Jinnah was only in power for 13 months

before he died. With him died the dream of a secular nation.

The current

Constitution maintains in Section 20 A that, 'subject to law, public

order and morality, every citizen shall have the right to profess and

propagate his religion'. Section 298-C of the Pakistan Penal Code

deliberately suppresses this basic right in relation to the Ahmadiyya.

These believe that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who founded their faith on March

23, 1889, is a prophet. In every other way they follow the tenets of the

Koran, though they are banned by Saudi Arabia from performing one of the

five pillars of Islam, making the Haj pilgrimage to Mecca.

One of the few

heartening things to have emerged as a consequence of the recent attacks

against Christians is a willingness on the part of respected Muslim

commentators within Pakistan to voice their shock and shame at the events

that have been allowed to take place on account of the Blasphemy Laws.

For the first time in three decades, there appears to be a determination

on the part of Pakistan's elite to discuss the removal of the contentious

and divisive laws.

Several writers have

gone back to the historic speech made by Muhammad Ali Jinnah on August

11, 1947, the day of Pakistan's Independence. As president of the new

republic, Jinnah addressed the Constituent Assembly.

He included the

following words: 'You are free; you are free to go to your temples, you

are free to go to your mosques or to any other place or worship in this

State of Pakistan. You may belong to any religion or caste or creed that

has nothing to do with the business of the State. As you know, history

shows that in England, conditions, some time ago, were much worse than

those prevailing in India today. The Roman Catholics and the Protestants

persecuted each other. Even now there are some States in existence where

there are discriminations made and bars imposed against a particular

class. Thank God, we are not starting in those days. We are starting in

the days where there is no discrimination, no distinction between one

community and another, no discrimination between one caste or creed and

another. We are starting with this fundamental principle that we are all

citizens and equal citizens of one State.'

He added: 'Now I think

we should keep that in front of us as our ideal and you will find that in

course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to

be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal

faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the

State.'

The evidence is now

incontrovertible: Pakistan is now a nation where Hindus, Christians and

the 'heretical' Ahmadiyya are minorities who have none of the freedoms

that were described by Jinnah in his first speech as elected president.

Jinnah was speaking of the need to frame a Constitution and what it

should encompass. He railed against the corruption that had been endemic

at the time of Independence. Acknowledging that Pakistan would have

non-Muslims in its population, he urged that the state should work for

the well being of everyone. He said: 'If you change your past and work

together in a spirit that everyone of you, no matter to what community he

belongs, no matter what relations he had with you in the past, no matter

what is his color, caste or creed, is first, second and last a citizen of

this State with equal rights, privileges, and obligations, there will be

no end to the progress you will make.'

Pakistan has long

abandoned the principles that brought it into being. The rule of Zia

ul-Haq was the third military dictatorship since independence. Since

1947, only one government, the one that preceded this current one, has

completed a full term of office, and that was blighted by emergency

powers introduced by Musharraf at the end. The Blasphemy Laws, approved

by Zia ul-Haq with the support of Islamic fundamentalists, have been a source

of strife, a means by which personal scores can be settled, a pretext for

communal violence. At a speech delivered after the funeral of Fanish

Masih, Father Emanuel Yousaf Mani called on the current government to

review the Blasphemy statutes. He told a press conference that since

their introduction, 947 people, all of them non-Muslims, had been killed.

In Part Two, I will

describe how previous attempts to amend the Blasphemy Laws have foundered

in the face of fundamentalist opposition, and show how they have been

used to settle scores and to turn minority groups into convenient

scapegoats.

FamilySecurityMatters.org

Contributing Editor Adrian Morgan is a British based writer and artist.

He has previously contributed to various publications, including the

Guardian and New Scientist and is a former Fellow of the Royal

Anthropological Society. He is currently compiling a book on the demise

of democracy and the growth of extremism in Britain.

Source:

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/id.4447/pub_detail.asp

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