Style Attacks and the Threat from Lashkar-E-Taiba
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PROTECTING THE HOMELAND AGAINST MUMBAI- STYLE ATTACKS AND THE THREAT FROM LASHKAR-E-TAIBA HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED THIRTEENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 12, 2013 Serial No. 113–21 Printed for the use of the Committee on Homeland Security Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/ U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 85–686 PDF WASHINGTON : 2013 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas, Chairman LAMAR SMITH, Texas BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi PETER T. KING, New York LORETTA SANCHEZ, California MIKE ROGERS, Alabama SHEILA JACKSON LEE, Texas PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia YVETTE D. CLARKE, New York CANDICE S. MILLER, Michigan, Vice Chair BRIAN HIGGINS, New York PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania CEDRIC L. RICHMOND, Louisiana JEFF DUNCAN, South Carolina WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts TOM MARINO, Pennsylvania RON BARBER, Arizona JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah DONDALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey STEVEN M. PALAZZO, Mississippi BETO O’ROURKE, Texas LOU BARLETTA, Pennsylvania TULSI GABBARD, Hawaii CHRIS STEWART, Utah FILEMON VELA, Texas RICHARD HUDSON, North Carolina STEVEN A. HORSFORD, Nevada STEVE DAINES, Montana ERIC SWALWELL, California SUSAN W. BROOKS, Indiana SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania MARK SANFORD, South Carolina GREG HILL, Chief of Staff MICHAEL GEFFROY, Deputy Chief of Staff/Chief Counsel MICHAEL S. TWINCHEK, Chief Clerk I. LANIER AVANT, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE PETER T. KING, New York, Chairman PAUL C. BROUN, Georgia BRIAN HIGGINS, New York PATRICK MEEHAN, Pennsylvania LORETTA SANCHEZ, California JASON CHAFFETZ, Utah WILLIAM R. KEATING, Massachusetts CHRIS STEWART, Utah BENNIE G. THOMPSON, Mississippi (ex officio) MICHAEL T. MCCAUL, Texas (ex officio) KERRY ANN WATKINS, Subcommittee Staff Director DENNIS TERRY, Subcommittee Clerk HOPE GOINS, Minority Staff Director (II) C O N T E N T S Page STATEMENTS The Honorable Peter T. King, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, and Chairman, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intel- ligence ................................................................................................................... 1 The Honorable Brian Higgins, a Representative in Congress From the State of New York, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 4 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 5 The Honorable Bennie G. Thompson, a Representative in Congress From the State of Mississippi, and Ranking Member, Committee on Homeland Security: Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 6 WITNESSES Mr. Joseph W. Pfeifer, Chief of Counterterrorism and Emergency Prepared- ness, Fire Department of New York: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 7 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 10 Ms. C. Christine Fair, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Georgetown University: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 13 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 17 Mr. Stephen Tankel, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, American University: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 25 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 28 Mr. Jonah Blank, Ph.D., Senior Political Analyst, The Rand Corporation: Oral Statement ..................................................................................................... 38 Prepared Statement ............................................................................................. 40 APPENDIX Statement of Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Advisor to the RAND President, The RAND Corporation ....................................................................................... 59 (III) PROTECTING THE HOMELAND AGAINST MUMBAI-STYLE ATTACKS AND THE THREAT FROM LASHKAR-E-TAIBA Wednesday, June 12, 2013 U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY, SUBCOMMITTEE ON COUNTERTERRORISM AND INTELLIGENCE, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:13 a.m., in Room 311, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Peter T. King [Chairman of the subcommittee] presiding. Present: Representatives King, Higgens, and Keating. Mr. KING. Good morning. The Committee on Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence will come to order. The subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony examining a threat to the homeland from Mumbai-style attacks and LeT, an Islamist terrorist organization. I now recognize myself for an opening statement. On the onset, let me express my apologies for being late. I just came from a debate in the Capitol we had on the whole NSA issue, which I am sure you have been following in the media, and that ran over. But I want to thank all of you being here today. This is an issue of significant importance. I want to thank the Ranking Member for changing his schedule to be here and I truly appreciate that and, also, Mr. Keating, who comes from Massachusetts, and who personally saw the terrible im- pact of the Boston Marathon bombings. So any hearing we have dealing with threats against the home- land is extremely significant and the testimony of all of you, as ex- perts, is very important today. Today, as I mentioned, we are talking about the Pakistani-based jihadi group known for its 2008 terror attack in Mumbai, Lashkar- e-Taiba or LeT. We will examine their capability and intent to attack our home- land and what measures, for instance, the FDNY, the New York City Fire Department, is taking, the other first responders are tak- ing to prepare for attacks which use fire as a weapon. In light of recent news, I will begin by noting that the man who scouted targets for the Mumbai attack, which killed 166 people in- cluding six Americans, and planned a later attack which sought to behead a Danish journalist, was an American, David Headley. (1) 2 The DNI, Director of National Intelligence General Clapper, has revealed that Headley’s terror ties were discovered through the same National Security Agency programs that have come under criticism in past days. I don’t want to turn this hearing into a debate on that, but I would just ask people on both sides—both sides of the aisle, espe- cially my own side of the aisle in Congress, that before they rush out and make rash judgments to realize how essential this program is, how basically it has been used under both administrations. The very significant court jurisdiction there is to ensure that they— court oversight there is to ensure the Constitution is complied with. Let’s not rush to name Edward Snowden as any kind of a whis- tle-blower or hero. I think he should be extradited, indicted, and convicted. Now, returning to our original subject, LeT is designated and sanctioned by our Departments of State and Treasury as a terror organization. LeT is also a proxy of Pakistani Intelligence. I think it is impor- tant to note that LeT is a terror proxy of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, its ISI, which provides LeT with a safe haven and funding to train and prepare for terrorist attacks. While focused on Pakistan’s dispute over Kashmir, an issue over which it regularly kills innocent Indian civilians, LeT’s reach is broad and goes abroad. In addition to the 2009 plot in Denmark, LeT supported a planned 2002 attack in Australia by means of a trainer sent from France. LeT’s networks span across South Asia and the Persian Gulf into Europe, especially Britain, as well as Canada and New Zealand. LeT actively recruits Westerners, maintains social media sites in colloquial American English and has, since the 1990s, sustained support cells here in the United States. LeT members were arrested in the homeland as recently as 2011 when Jubair Ahmad was arrested in Woodbridge, Virginia. Eleven LeT members previously had been arrested in Virginia back in 2003. Suspected LeT operatives are reported to have surveilled several identified potential terror targets in this country. LeT practices good communication security and is proficient at surveillance skills making it a difficult target for our intelligence collection efforts, which should be immediately increased on this target. LeT maintains ties with al-Qaeda. They fight together against us in the Afghan provinces of Ghazni, Kunar, and Nuristan. LeT ter- rorists earlier fought our forces in Iraq. When our special operators raided Osama bin-Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, they reportedly recovered correspondence between the late al-Qaeda leader and the LeT leader, Hafez Saeed. Now, I certainly work with other Members on the intelligence committee, I believe there is much to be done to declassify as many of the documents recovered in Pakistan