| Behind the Lines for Monday, Sept. 27, 2010 — 3 P.M. None of your beeswax: Justice goes all "state secrets" on ACLU bid to prohibit CIA targeting of U.S. citizen, jihad inciter Anwar al-Awlaki . . . The victor, the spoils: House GOPers eye Obama counterterror policies, not least plans to shutter Guantanamo, if victorious in November . . . Funny you should ask: "Could New York City's World Trade Center have actually been nuked on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001?" These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- The Obama administration early Saturday filed a legal brief citing state-secrets privilege and asking a federal judge to deep-six a lawsuit seeking to bar the CIA from killing an American citizen accused of ties to al Qaeda, The New York Times’ Charlie Savage recounts. The info used to direct CIA drones is collected by a web of Afghani Pashtun informants who infiltrate militant networks across the border in Pakistan, Danger Room’s Spencer Ackerman affirms, adding: “Sometimes the targets are U.S. citizens.” Feds: House GOPers plan an assault on Obama administration counterterror policies if they win a majority in November, the chief target being flailing efforts to close Guantanamo, Government Executive’s Chris Strohm recounts. FBI warrants for Friday’s search of eight Minneapolis and Chicago locations suggest an interest in “connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East,” The Associated Press’ Steve Karnowski recounts — as the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s Randy Furst and Abby Simons sees computers and papers seized from the homes of five anti-war protesters there, and The Chicago Tribune’s Dan Hinkel hears activists rousted in that city loudly denying any wrongdoing. Homies: Under questioning by Sen. John McCain, R.-Ariz., last week, DHS chief Janet Napolitano conceded that Mexican drug cartels pose a terrorist threat to the U.S., Cybercast News Service’s Edwin Mora mentions — as Politico’s Scott Wong sees Napolitano subsequently “reaching out” to newly minted immigration hardliner McCain. TSA boss John Pistole last week made his maiden appearance before a Hill panel, addressing security clearances for screeners, Aviation News Today takes note. Two CBP and one TSA agent at Fort Lauderdale airport are now serving mucho tiempo for aiding a plot to smuggle narcotics from the Dominican Republic, The Miami Herald’s Jay Weaver relates — while the Los Angeles Times’ Richard Marosi reports a CBP inspector charged Friday with waving cocaine and methamphetamine smugglers through the Calexico border crossing. State and local: Pennsylvania homeland officials argue that their protective mission would have been “severely hindered” without controversial threat bulletins from a no-bid contractor, The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relates — as The York Daily Record sees that firm’s co-director slated to testify before a state Senate panel today. Lemont, Ill., will spend a $200,000 DHS buffer zone protection grant on two security cameras near the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area, The Lemont Reporter reports — as The Auburn Journal sees DHS grants allowing Auburn, Calif., to outfit five patrol cruisers with in-car cameras and install another in Central Square. The price of Oregon’s planned emergency radio network has soared $107 million over budget due to “mismanagement, missed deadlines and hidden costs,” The Oregonian leads. The ACLU of Illinois, meantime, seeks records on how State Police protect citizen privacy while running names through Statewide Terrorism & Intelligence Center data bases, The Chicago Tribune tells. Bugs ‘n bombs: A Connecticut man has been charged with sending more than 50 anthrax hoax and bomb letters to post offices, judges and officials across the country, The Hartford Courant recounts — as Portland (Maine)’s WCSH 6 News reports a chemical bomb detonating in a parking lot near the Islamic Society there. Police are still puzzling out a Florida bank job in which robbers strapped a bomb to an abducted teller’s chest, The Miami Herald relays. “Persons engaged in conduct aiding terrorism may be blocked from boarding airplanes, but not from buying as many assault rifles as they can afford. This is nuts,” a Huffington Post op-ed protests. “Countries are now required by international law to report certain outbreaks or public-health events and to upgrade their disease surveillance and response capabilities,” The Wall Street Journal surveys. Know nukes: “Could New York City’s World Trade Center have actually been nuked on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001?” an American Free Press contributor queries. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s U.N. speech suggesting a U.S. hand in 9/11 could bolster Israeli voices labeling Iran an “irrational actor,” The Christian Science Monitor in turn suggests. Asophisticated computer worm that has long been burrowing into industrial systems worldwide may have been a “search-and-destroy weapon” built to take out Iran’s new Bushehr nuclear reactor, The Register reviews — while RIA Novosti notes that Russia will not deliver S-300 air defense missiles to Iran to defend its nuclear facilities for fear of violating U.N. sanctions, and Voice of America reports that enhanced sanctions are prompting tighter controls on Iranian consumer goods. Iran, meanwhile, seeks a seat on the decision-making board of the same U.N. nuclear agency probing Tehran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, AP reports. Close air support: A Toronto-Karachi PIA flight finally reached its destination yesterday following a Saturday’s emergency landing in Sweden prompted by a grudge bomb threat phoned into Canadian authorities, Geo Television tells. In a “major security lapse” at Newark Liberty Airport, trucks packed with cargo sail past security checkpoints onto the tarmac with little to no inspection, FOX 5 News reveals — while Miami’s CBS 4 News sees its six-month investigation into airport security “raising serious questions.” Work to overhaul the screening area at New York’s Elmira Corning Regional Airport is imminent, The Steuben Courier recounts. Police authorities and aviation officials worry about ever-increasing reports of pranksters pointing lasers at aircraft cockpits, potentially temporarily blinding pilots, The Boston Globe reports. On track: European airports and other transport hubs are on “high alert” amid fears of a spate of attacks by Algerian female suicide bombers, Sify News relays. In a security-driven display of “significant force,” New Jersey State Police swarmed platforms, parking lots and waiting rooms at three Garden State rail commuter stations last Thursday, The Times of Trenton tells. Two more high-level Wackenhut execs surrendered to authorities Friday in the face of new warrants relating to an alleged scheme to overbill Miami-Dade taxpayers for security work not done at Metrorail stations, the Herald relates. The Indiana Rail Road Company has put up a $20,000 reward for the arrest and conviction of perpetrators in a 2009 derailment that caused $4 million in damages, The Greene County Daily World recounts — while The Montreal Gazette details a Canadian Pacific freight derailment yielding a massive pileup described as “a 50-foot wall of steel.” Courts and rights: The feds want to use Osama bin Laden’s words to help convict his former bodyguard in the 1998 al Qaeda-tied bombings of two American East African embassies, The New York Post reports — as The New York Times sees the juror questionnaire for that pending Manhattan trial running 11 pages while touching “on some of the most volatile issues today.” Pakistan’s P.M. say he will work for the release of the “Lady al Qaeda,” the Pakistani scientist sentenced last week to 87 years in prison for attempted murder, The Christian Science Monitor recounts — while CBS New York reports a new poll showing 67 percent of Gothamites believing the proposed Ground Zero Islamic center should be voluntarily moved elsewhere, regardless of First Amendment issues. Over there: The killing of the chief military commander of Colombia’s terror-listed FARC insurgency “is a devastating blow to the guerrilla army that may mark a turning point in the country’s bloody conflict,” The Miami Herald assesses. As the Commonwealth Games loom, security concerns have increased following attacks in Delhi, Channel NewsAsia updates — as the Games’ top exec tells Sky News that athlete security is of “great concern,” and The Sydney Morning Herald notes that terror threats are nothing new to touring Australian teams. Malaysia on Friday handed over to Singapore a terror suspect who had staged a dramatic 2008 escape from a high-security prison’s john, FOX News relays. The U.K., finally, has raised the threat level from the dissident Real IRA from “moderate” to “substantial,” denoting that a terror attack on mainland Britain is a “strong possibility,” BBC News notes. Qaeda Qorner: A senior official confides to CNN that Yemen may be exaggerating the scale of its campaign against al-Qaeda-in-the-Arabian-Peninsula to secure more aid. The al Qaeda-linked Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan has taken credit for the Sept. 19 ambush that killed 25 Tajik troops, while threatening further attacks, The Long War Journal relates. Al Qaeda sees an opening in the Indo-Pak clash over Kashmir, and last Sunday’s assault on tourists in New Delhi could presage more of the same as it strives to hijack the Kashmiri struggle, Asia Times assesses — and, for helpful background, check The New York Review of Books: “Kashmir: The Time Has Come.” As the United States steps down military ops in Iraq, some fear a resurgent al-Qaeda-in-Iraq-linked Islamic State of Iraq “may target Iraq’s oil infrastructure as part of its campaign against the disunited Baghdad government,” Terrorism Monitor mentions. Thank you for not setting car bombs: “DHS officials admit that Faisal Shahzad, 30, the alleged ‘Times Square Bomber,’ was released on bond at the behest of New York City officials in a plea deal where Shahzad agreed to disclose the name of individuals who consistently ignore and evade the city’s anti-smoking regulations, The Spoof spoofs. “‘It is not unusual for plea deals to be made with accused criminals in the hope of gaining information leading to the prosecution of even more dangerous criminals,’ a DHS spokesman said. ‘In cases such as these, the person who actually tries to perpetrate an act of violence is often the weakest link in the chain. So, sometimes law enforcement has to hold its nose and make these deals so we can truly protect the public.’ NYPD insiders who did not wish to be identified because they were not authorized to speak to the press, confirmed the arrest of six suspects in the case and two others for possession of cell phones which might have been used to take photos of the arresting officers and ‘steal their souls.’” |
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