Continuity and Change Reshaping the Fight against Terrorism Matthew Levitt and Michael Jacobson, Editors Policy Focus #103 | April 2010 Continuity and Change Reshaping the Fight against Terrorism Matthew Levitt and Michael Jacobson, Editors Policy Focus #103 | April 2010 All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmit- ted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. © 2010 by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy Published in 2010 in the United States of America by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 1828 L Street NW, Suite 1050, Washington, DC 20036. Design by Daniel Kohan, Sensical Design and Communication Cover: Najibullah Zazi, center, is escorted off an New York City Police Department helicopter by U.S. marshals after being extradited from Denver, CO, Sept. 25, 2009. Zazi was sent to New York to face charges of conspiracy to use weap- ons of mass destruction in an alleged plot to blow up commuter trains. (AP Photo/New York City Police Department) Table of Contents Contributors v Acknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Counterterrorism and Crime Fighting in Los Angeles 8 Michael Downing Deputy Chief, Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence Bureau, LAPD Al-Qaeda and Taliban Status Check: A Resurgent Threat? 19 Richard Barrett Coordinator, UN al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee Monitoring Team Contending with Transnational Threats: The Role of Special Operations 45 Adm. Eric Olson Commander, U.S. Special Operations Command Countering Today’s Enduring and Adaptive Terrorist Threats: The Role of the Defense Intelligence Agency 52 Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Jr. Director, Defense Intelligence Agency Counterproliferation in the Twenty-First Century 57 Ambassador Kenneth Brill Director, National Counterproliferation Center Defending the City: NYPD’s Counterterrorism Operations 63 Richard Falkenrath Deputy Commissioner for Counterterrorism, NYPD Intelligence Transformation: Meeting New Challenges in the Middle East and Beyond 81 Lt. Gen. (Ret.) James Clapper, Jr. Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence National Security and the Rule of Law in Combating International Terrorism 85 Todd Hinnen Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Law and Policy, Department of Justice Contributors Richard Barrett, coordinator of the United Nations al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions Committee Monitoring Team since March 2004, advises the Security Council on threats posed by these groups and monitors the imple- mentation and effectiveness of the UN sanctions regime. In addition to this appointment, he is a member of the secretary-general’s Counterterrorism Implementation Task Force. Previously, he served with the British Secret Intel- ligence Service (MI6), including postings to Jordan, Turkey, and the United Kingdom’s mission to the UN. Ambassador Kenneth Brill recently retired as director of the National Coun- terproliferation Center as well as counterproliferation mission manager for the director of national intelligence (DNI). In this joint capacity, he was prin- cipal advisor to the DNI on issues relating to weapons of mass destruction proliferation and delivery. A career foreign service officer, he served from September 2001 through July 2004 as U.S. representative to both the Interna- tional Atomic Energy Agency and the Vienna office of the United Nations. He was appointed to his current post in 2005. Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess, Jr., is director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, a position he assumed in March 2009. Previously, he served in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence as director of the intelligence staff (2007– 2009) and as deputy director of national intelligence for customer outcomes (2005–2007). A lieutenant-general, he has nearly thirty-five years of commis- sioned service in military intelligence and has also held key intelligence posi- tions at the Joint Special Operations Command, the U.S. Southern Command, and the Joint Staff. Lt. Gen. (Ret.) James Clapper, Jr., is undersecretary of defense for intelli- gence, the principal staff assistant and advisor to the secretary and deputy sec- retary of defense regarding intelligence, counterintelligence, and security mat- ters. In addition, he is director of defense intelligence, serving as the director of national intelligence’s principal advisor on that sector. From September 2001 to June 2006, he served as the first civilian director of the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. In 1995, he retired from the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant- general following a thirty-two-year career. Michael Downing, a twenty-seven-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, is deputy chief of the Counter-Terrorism and Criminal Intelligence The Washington Institute for Near East Policy v Bureau. In that capacity, he commands two operational divisions that oversee the Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Center, Anti-Terrorism Intelligence Section, Criminal Investigative Section, Organized Crime Section, Surveil- lance Support Section, Criminal Conspiracy Section, Liaison Section, Haz- ardous Devices/Materials Section, LAX-K9 Section, and Archangel Section. His work in counterterrorism has taken him to Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and France, all in an effort to examine best practices and build a network of practitioners. Richard Falkenrath has served since July 2006 as deputy commissioner for counterterrorism in the New York City Police Department, where he oversees counterterrorism operations and training. The principal author of the U.S. gov- ernment’s National Strategy for Homeland Security, he was centrally involved in the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security, the Terrorist Threat Integration Center (predecessor of the National Counterterrorism Cen- ter), and the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center. Todd Hinnen was appointed deputy assistant attorney-general for law and pol- icy in the Justice Department’s National Security Division in February 2009. Previously, he served as chief counsel to then-senator Joseph Biden of Delaware. From August 2005 to January 2007, he served as director of the National Secu- rity Council’s Counterterrorism Directorate, chairing the interagency body responsible for coordinating U.S. efforts to combat terrorism financing. Michael Jacobson is a senior fellow in the Institute’s Stein Program on Coun- terterrorism and Intelligence. Previously, he served as senior advisor in the Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence and as counsel on the 9-11 Com- mission. His areas of focus include sanctions and financial measures to com- bat national security threats, as well as other issues related to counterterrorism, national security law, and intelligence reform. He is the author of the recently released Terrorist Dropouts: Learning from Those Who Have Left (2010), and coauthor, with Matthew Levitt, of numerous Institute studies, including The Money Trail: Finding, Following, and Freezing Terrorist Financing. Matthew Levitt is a senior fellow and director of The Washington Institute’s Stein Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence. Previously, Dr. Levitt served as deputy assistant secretary for intelligence and analysis at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played a central role in efforts to protect the U.S. financial system from abuse by terrorists, weapons proliferators, and other rogue actors. He is the coauthor, with Yoram Cohen, of the 2009 study Deterred but Determined: Salafi-Jihadi Groups in the Palestinian Arena (2009). Adm. Eric Olson is the eighth commander of U.S. Special Operations Com- mand (USSOCOM), headquartered at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. He qualified as a Naval Special Warfare officer in 1974 and has served as a SEAL instructor, strategy and tactics development officer, joint special operations staff officer, and assistant deputy chief of naval operations. His overseas assign- ments have included service as a UN military observer in Israel and Egypt and as a navy programs officer in Tunisia. vi Policy Focus #103 Acknowledgments We are grateful to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy for affording us the time and space to compile this volume. Institute exective direc- tor Dr. Robert Satloff and deputy director for research Dr. Patrick Clawson have been unflagging in their support of the Stein Program on Counterterror- ism and Intelligence, in general, and this lecture series, in particular. Organizing and publishing the content produced at these events is a labor- intensive process, and we are especially grateful to the Institute’s research and publications staff for their able assistance throughout. The lecture series would not have been possible without their support. Special thanks go to our outstanding research assistants and interns Stephanie Papa, Ben Freedman, Julie Lascar, and Becca Wasser for their help in compiling and analyzing the various lectures. Finally, we extend sincere thanks and appreciation to the many generous donors to the Stein Program: you make all our work possible. Matthew Levitt Michael Jacobson April 2010 The Washington Institute for Near East Policy vii Introduction Matthew Levitt and Michael Jacobson In April 2009, The Washington Institute hosted Todd Hinnen, deputy assistant attorney-general for law and policy in the U.S. Justice Department’s National Security Division, who