The Falsified War on Terror: How the US Has Protected Some of Its Enemies
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Foreign Terrorist Organizations
Order Code RL32223 CRS Report for Congress Received through the CRS Web Foreign Terrorist Organizations February 6, 2004 Audrey Kurth Cronin Specialist in Terrorism Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Huda Aden, Adam Frost, and Benjamin Jones Research Associates Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division Congressional Research Service ˜ The Library of Congress Foreign Terrorist Organizations Summary This report analyzes the status of many of the major foreign terrorist organizations that are a threat to the United States, placing special emphasis on issues of potential concern to Congress. The terrorist organizations included are those designated and listed by the Secretary of State as “Foreign Terrorist Organizations.” (For analysis of the operation and effectiveness of this list overall, see also The ‘FTO List’ and Congress: Sanctioning Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations, CRS Report RL32120.) The designated terrorist groups described in this report are: Abu Nidal Organization (ANO) Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade Armed Islamic Group (GIA) ‘Asbat al-Ansar Aum Supreme Truth (Aum) Aum Shinrikyo, Aleph Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army (CPP/NPA) Al-Gama’a al-Islamiyya (Islamic Group, IG) HAMAS (Islamic Resistance Movement) Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM) Hizballah (Party of God) Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM) Jemaah Islamiya (JI) Al-Jihad (Egyptian Islamic Jihad) Kahane Chai (Kach) Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK, KADEK) Lashkar-e-Tayyiba -
Surprise, Intelligence Failure, and Mass Casualty Terrorism
SURPRISE, INTELLIGENCE FAILURE, AND MASS CASUALTY TERRORISM by Thomas E. Copeland B.A. Political Science, Geneva College, 1991 M.P.I.A., University of Pittsburgh, 1992 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2006 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH FACULTY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Thomas E. Copeland It was defended on April 12, 2006 and approved by Davis Bobrow, Ph.D. Donald Goldstein, Ph.D. Dennis Gormley Phil Williams, Ph.D. Dissertation Director ii © 2006 Thomas E. Copeland iii SURPRISE, INTELLIGENCE FAILURE, AND MASS CASUALTY TERRORISM Thomas E. Copeland, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2006 This study aims to evaluate whether surprise and intelligence failure leading to mass casualty terrorism are inevitable. It explores the extent to which four factors – failures of public policy leadership, analytical challenges, organizational obstacles, and the inherent problems of warning information – contribute to intelligence failure. This study applies existing theories of surprise and intelligence failure to case studies of five mass casualty terrorism incidents: World Trade Center 1993; Oklahoma City 1995; Khobar Towers 1996; East African Embassies 1998; and September 11, 2001. A structured, focused comparison of the cases is made using a set of thirteen probing questions based on the factors above. The study concludes that while all four factors were influential, failures of public policy leadership contributed directly to surprise. Psychological bias and poor threat assessments prohibited policy makers from anticipating or preventing attacks. Policy makers mistakenly continued to use a law enforcement approach to handling terrorism, and failed to provide adequate funding, guidance, and oversight of the intelligence community. -
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Case Log October 2000 - April 2002
Description of document: Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Case Log October 2000 - April 2002 Requested date: 2002 Release date: 2003 Posted date: 08-February-2021 Source of document: Information and Privacy Coordinator Central Intelligence Agency Washington, DC 20505 Fax: 703-613-3007 Filing a FOIA Records Request Online The governmentattic.org web site (“the site”) is a First Amendment free speech web site and is noncommercial and free to the public. The site and materials made available on the site, such as this file, are for reference only. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals have made every effort to make this information as complete and as accurate as possible, however, there may be mistakes and omissions, both typographical and in content. The governmentattic.org web site and its principals shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information provided on the governmentattic.org web site or in this file. The public records published on the site were obtained from government agencies using proper legal channels. Each document is identified as to the source. Any concerns about the contents of the site should be directed to the agency originating the document in question. GovernmentAttic.org is not responsible for the contents of documents published on the website. 1 O ct 2000_30 April 2002 Creation Date Requester Last Name Case Subject 36802.28679 STRANEY TECHNOLOGICAL GROWTH OF INDIA; HONG KONG; CHINA AND WTO 36802.2992 CRAWFORD EIGHT DIFFERENT REQUESTS FOR REPORTS REGARDING CIA EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS 36802.43927 MONTAN EDWARD GRADY PARTIN 36802.44378 TAVAKOLI-NOURI STEPHEN FLACK GUNTHER 36810.54721 BISHOP SCIENCE OF IDENTITY FOUNDATION 36810.55028 KHEMANEY TI LEAF PRODUCTIONS, LTD. -
Al Qaeda Finances and Funding to Affiliated Groups
Al Qaeda Finances and Funding to Affiliated Groups Strategic Insights, Volume IV, Issue 1 (January 2005) by Victor Comras Strategic Insights is a monthly electronic journal produced by the Center for Contemporary Conflict at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. The views expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of NPS, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. For a PDF version of this article, click here. This paper provides a case study of al Qaeda finances and funding to affiliated groups. It is based in large part on my observations and experience as one of five international monitors charged by the UN Security Council to oversee the effectiveness of the measures adopted by the Security Council against al Qaeda and the Taliban. Some of the material in this paper is drawn directly from the five reports our monitoring group made to the Security Council during my tenure.. Considerable mystery and intrigue still surrounds the al Qaeda terrorist network and its sources of funding. We know more today than we did three years ago about its financial tools and structure, but we still have not identified much of its sources of supply and funding. And much of what we know may only be conjecture. The CIA has estimated, for example, that it cost Al Qaeda’ some $30 million a year to sustain itself during the period preceding 9/11, but the agency is still not sure what al Qaeda needs or expends today. And we still do not know with any precision just how much, and from whom, al Qaeda raises its money, or how it allocates it.[1] The roots of al Qaeda’s financial network, we believe, trace back directly to the extensive recruitment and financing networks established to support anti-Soviet jihad activities in Afghanistan. -
9-11 and Terrorist Travel- Full
AND TERRORIST TRAVEL Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States 9/11 AND TERRORIST TRAVEL Staff Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States By Thomas R. Eldridge Susan Ginsburg Walter T. Hempel II Janice L. Kephart Kelly Moore and Joanne M. Accolla, Staff Assistant Alice Falk, Editor Note from the Executive Director The Commission staff organized its work around specialized studies, or monographs, prepared by each of the teams. We used some of the evolving draft material for these studies in preparing the seventeen staff statements delivered in conjunction with the Commission’s 2004 public hearings. We used more of this material in preparing draft sections of the Commission’s final report. Some of the specialized staff work, while not appropriate for inclusion in the report, nonetheless offered substantial information or analysis that was not well represented in the Commission’s report. In a few cases this supplemental work could be prepared to a publishable standard, either in an unclassified or classified form, before the Commission expired. This study is on immigration, border security and terrorist travel issues. It was prepared principally by Thomas Eldridge, Susan Ginsburg, Walter T. Hempel II, Janice Kephart, and Kelly Moore, with assistance from Joanne Accolla, and editing assistance from Alice Falk. As in all staff studies, they often relied on work done by their colleagues. This is a study by Commission staff. While the Commissioners have been briefed on the work and have had the opportunity to review earlier drafts of some of this work, they have not approved this text and it does not necessarily reflect their views. -
How Anwar Al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad
As American as Apple Pie: How Anwar al-Awlaki Became the Face of Western Jihad Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens Foreword by Lord Carlile of Berriew QC A policy report published by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) ABOUT ICSR The International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence (ICSR) is a unique partnership in which King’s College London, the University of Pennsylvania, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (Israel), the Regional Center for Conflict Prevention Amman (Jordan) and Georgetown University are equal stakeholders. The aim and mission of ICSR is to bring together knowledge and leadership to counter the growth of radicalisation and political violence. For more information, please visit www.icsr.info. CONTACT DETAILS For questions, queries and additional copies of this report, please contact: ICSR King’s College London 138 –142 Strand London WC2R 1HH United Kingdom T. +44 (0)20 7848 2065 F. +44 (0)20 7848 2748 E. [email protected] Like all other ICSR publications, this report can be downloaded free of charge from the ICSR website at www.icsr.info. © ICSR 2011 AUTHOR’S NOTE This report contains many quotes from audio lectures as well as online forums and emails. All of these have been reproduced in their original syntax, including all spelling and grammatical errors. Contents Foreword 2 Letter of Support from START 3 Glossary of Terms 4 Executive Summary 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 9 Chapter 2 Methodology and Key Concepts 13 Social Movement Theory 13 Framing and -
Tablet Magazine 9/4/10 2:35 PM
Tablet Magazine 9/4/10 2:35 PM Tablet Magazine is a project of Nextbook Inc. About Us | Contact | Terms of Service | First Blood Was Meir Kahane’s murder al-Qaida’s earliest attack on U.S. soil? BY PETER LANCE | Sep 1, 2010 7:00 AM Last fall I received a cryptic email from Emad Salem, the ex-Egyptian Army major who was the FBI’s first undercover asset in what would become known as the war on terror. I’d told Salem’s remarkable story in my last three books, which were critical of the bureau’s counterterrorism record. Because I had treated him fairly, Salem reached out to me after years in the Federal Witness Protection Program. We made plans to meet in early November, after a lecture I was giving at New York University. But Salem didn’t show. I went back to my hotel that night and had chalked it up as a lost opportunity. The phone rang at 2 in the morning. It was Salem, summoning me to a meeting outside 26 Federal Plaza, the building that houses the FBI’s New York office. Very cloak and dagger, but that’s how this man rolls. You don’t infiltrate the cell responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing without practicing a little Meir Kahane and the web of jihadists. tradecraft. Anyway, when my cab pulled in to Foley Square a few minutes later, Salem was standing in the shadows. CREDIT: Len Small/Tablet Magazine That was the start of a series of interviews that led to some astonishing revelations about two of the most infamous al-Qaida murders since Osama Bin Laden formed his terror network. -
Backgrounder January 2013
Center for Immigration Studies Backgrounder January 2013 Upholding the Value of Our Citizenship National Security Threats Should Be Denaturalized By W.D. Reasoner Executive Summary This paper examines the surprising number of naturalized citizens who have been charged and convicted of serious national security crimes — including terrorism, espionage, and theft of sensitive information and technology — in the last several years. It compares the relative ease with which aliens naturalize with the extreme difficulty in stripping them of citizenship, even when they prove to be national security threats who have gamed the system. It also discusses the fact that the federal government, and the Department of Homeland Security in particular, have no systematic method of examining such cases to establish a baseline of “lessons learned” to attempt to weed out future threats, nor make any significant effort to denaturalize individuals even after they have committed serious national security offenses of the type described. It recommends that if the government will not or cannot take better care to prevent the admission of individuals who are serious threats to our safety, then it must move more aggressively to reverse its mistakes and strip citizenship from those who commit national security crimes against our nation. Key findings include: • In the past decade, dozens of naturalized U.S. citizens have been arrested and charged with a variety of serious national security-related offenses involving terrorism, spying, and theft of sensitive information and technology. • The federal government almost never revokes the citizenship of these naturalized citizens, even when it is clear that they concealed material facts regarding their extreme ideas or associations with terrorist groups or foreign intelligence organizations at the time they naturalized. -
CARLOS ACOSTA, Et Al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) V
Case 1:06-cv-00745-RCL Document 33 Filed 08/26/08 Page 1 of 27 UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA ____________________________________ ) CARLOS ACOSTA, et al., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) ) v. ) ) Civil Action No. 06-745 (RCL) THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC ) OF IRAN, et al., ) ) Defendants. ) ____________________________________) FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW This action arises from the assassination of Rabbi Meir Kahane and the shooting of Irving Franklin and U.S. Postal Police Officer Carlos Acosta on November 5, 1990, in New York. Plaintiffs are Carlos Acosta and his wife, Maria Acosta, Irving Franklin (on his own behalf and as administrator of his wife Irma Franklin’s estate), and the surviving spouse, mother, children, and sibling of Rabbi Meir Kahane. Rabbi Meir Kahane was killed and Irving Franklin and Carlos Acosta were seriously wounded by El Sayyid Nosair. Nosair was and is a member of Al- Gam’aa Islamiyah (or, the “Islamic Group”), a terrorist organization headed by Sheik Omar Ahmad Ali Abdel Rahman (“Sheik Abdel Rahman”). Plaintiffs allege that the Islamic Republic of Iran (“Iran”), and the Iranian Ministry of Information and Security (“MOIS”), are liable for damages from the shooting because they provided material support and assistance to the Islamic Group. As such, defendants are subject to suit under the recently revised terrorist exception to Case 1:06-cv-00745-RCL Document 33 Filed 08/26/08 Page 2 of 27 the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”), 28 U.S.C. § 1605A.1 This matter is a re-filing of the same claims that previously were the subject matter of Acosta v. -
CTX Vol 2 No 4
Vol. 2, No. 4 | CTX EDITORIAL STAFF From the Editor MICHAEL FREEMAN Executive Editor Welcome to our first special issue of CTX, “Social Media in Jihad and ANNA SIMONS Executive Editor Counterterrorism,” which is devoted to a wide-ranging exploration of social ELIZABETH SKINNER Managing Editor media and counterterrorism. Social media have become valuable tools for RYAN STUART Design & Layout combating crime and terrorism. According to LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, four out of five respondents to their survey of law enforcement professionals EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD reported using social media, particularly Facebook and YouTube, to aid VICTOR ASAL investigations. One officer said he believed his department’s use of social University at Albany SUNY media allowed personnel to defuse a terrorist threat involving students at a ALEJANDRA BOLANOS local high school. Two-thirds said they thought access to social media helps National Defense University solve crimes more quickly. LAWRENCE CLINE Naval Postgraduate School To better understand the role of social media in combating terrorism, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California held a small STEPHEN DI RIENZO workshop on Social Media and Counterterrorism this past June. Sponsored National Intelligence University by the Combating Terrorism Fellowship Program, the workshop brought SAJJAN GOHEL together a diverse group of people, including researchers, law enforcement Asia Pacific Foundation and military officers, and media experts from the United States, Ireland, and SEBASTIAN GORKA the Philippines. Participants were invited to submit papers for inclusion in National Defense University this special issue of CTX. JAKUB GRYGIEL School of Advanced International We are delighted to present here six papers that we received from partici- Studies pants of the workshop. -
Terrorist and Organized Crime Groups in the Tri-Border Area (Tba) of South America
TERRORIST AND ORGANIZED CRIME GROUPS IN THE TRI-BORDER AREA (TBA) OF SOUTH AMERICA A Report Prepared by the Federal Research Division, Library of Congress under an Interagency Agreement with the Crime and Narcotics Center Director of Central Intelligence July 2003 (Revised December 2010) Author: Rex Hudson Project Manager: Glenn Curtis Federal Research Division Library of Congress Washington, D.C. 205404840 Tel: 2027073900 Fax: 2027073920 E-Mail: [email protected] Homepage: http://loc.gov/rr/frd/ p 55 Years of Service to the Federal Government p 1948 – 2003 Library of Congress – Federal Research Division Tri-Border Area (TBA) PREFACE This report assesses the activities of organized crime groups, terrorist groups, and narcotics traffickers in general in the Tri-Border Area (TBA) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay, focusing mainly on the period since 1999. Some of the related topics discussed, such as governmental and police corruption and anti–money-laundering laws, may also apply in part to the three TBA countries in general in addition to the TBA. This is unavoidable because the TBA cannot be discussed entirely as an isolated entity. Based entirely on open sources, this assessment has made extensive use of books, journal articles, and other reports available in the Library of Congress collections. It is based in part on the author’s earlier research paper entitled “Narcotics-Funded Terrorist/Extremist Groups in Latin America” (May 2002). It has also made extensive use of sources available on the Internet, including Argentine, Brazilian, and Paraguayan newspaper articles. One of the most relevant Spanish-language sources used for this assessment was Mariano César Bartolomé’s paper entitled Amenazas a la seguridad de los estados: La triple frontera como ‘área gris’ en el cono sur americano [Threats to the Security of States: The Triborder as a ‘Grey Area’ in the Southern Cone of South America] (2001). -
A Rational Choice Reflection on the Balance Among Individual Rights, Collective Security, and Threat Portrayals Between 9/11 and the Invasion of Iraq Robert Bejesky
Barry Law Review Volume 18 Article 2 Issue 1 Fall 2012 2012 A Rational Choice Reflection on the Balance Among Individual Rights, Collective Security, and Threat Portrayals Between 9/11 and the Invasion of Iraq Robert Bejesky Follow this and additional works at: https://lawpublications.barry.edu/barrylrev Part of the Civil Rights and Discrimination Commons, and the National Security Law Commons Recommended Citation Robert Bejesky (2012) "A Rational Choice Reflection on the Balance Among Individual Rights, Collective Security, and Threat Portrayals Between 9/11 and the Invasion of Iraq," Barry Law Review: Vol. 18 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: https://lawpublications.barry.edu/barrylrev/vol18/iss1/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Digital Commons @ Barry Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Barry Law Review by an authorized editor of Digital Commons @ Barry Law. : A Rational Reflection A RATIONAL CHOICE REFLECTION ON THE BALANCE AMONG INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS, COLLECTIVE SECURITY, AND THREAT PORTRAYALS BETWEEN 9/11 AND THE INVASION OF IRAQ Robert Bejesky* I. Introduction....................................31 II. Balancing Collective Security and Civil Liberties..... ..... 32 III. Threat Warnings............................36 IV. A More Sober Risk Calculation......................49 V. Concluding Analysis...............................58 I. INTRODUCTION This study canvasses the interaction between terror threat announcements and the civil liberties/collective security balance during the three years after September 11, 2001. Part II considers how security threat environments alter the parity between collective security and civil liberties, but emphasizes that this shift is typically not from real, verified peril, but from perception of risk.' Part I11 addresses notable post-9/11 threat warnings and the detention of terror suspects.2 It inquires whether terror threat notifications were prudently issued and an imperative mechanism to apprise the populace of realistic and verified risks.