CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly Heck of a job: Cash-strapped FEMA "operating in a new political and fiscal climate that may be as treacherous as some of the disasters to which it must respond" . . . Virtual terrorism: Miami terminal evacuated when woman draws picture of bomb and the word "BOOM" on friend's luggage . . . Inquiring minds: Are the FBI's "massive network of spies to prevent another domestic attack busting terrorist plots -- or leading them?" These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- No "specific or credible intelligence" points to an al Qaeda attack on next Sunday's 9/11 tenth anniversary, the Los Angeles Times' Michael A. Memoli cites DHS's Janet Napolitano — while The Washington Post's Peter Finn and Jerry Markon find securicrats "acutely aware" that the late Osama bin Laden was fixated on striking the United States anew on that date, and The American Forces Press Service's Karen Parrish sees Defense authorities, too, "keenly aware" of perilous possibilities. State, meantime, has issued a world travel alert pegged to the commemoration, USA Today's Laura Bly adds — and CNN's Carol Crotty hears the FBI and DHS alerting to small aircraft attacks. "It is clear that there can be no letdown in watchfulness," The New York Times editorializes. Homies: DHS is warning the public to beware email scams and cyberattacks related to Hurricane Irene and the upcoming anniversary, The Associated Press' Lolita C. Baldor relates. "My first reaction was one of stunned disbelief that such a thing could happen, both in size and scale and just the basic evil of it," Napolitano tells The Arizona Republic of her response to 9/11 as state attorney general. FEMA "is running out of money and finds itself operating in a new political and fiscal climate that may be as treacherous as some of the disasters to which it must respond," the Post's Ed O'Keefe and Rosalind S. Helderman recount. Feds: "The FBI has built a massive network of spies to prevent another domestic attack. But are they busting terrorist plots — or leading them?" Mother Jones' Trevor Aaronson explores — as IPT News condemns "weak examples" upon which the magazine allegedly relies. "In what amounts to a fight over who gets to write the history" of the 9/11 era, the CIA insists on censoring a former FBI agent's memoir, the Times' Scott Shane recounts — while the Times' Charlie Savage also sees internal info showing the FBI more likely to target security threats than ordinary criminals, but finding little of either, and The Guardian's David Batty reports files found in Tripoli detailing close counterterror ties between the CIA and Libya's secret police. If al Qaeda can make it here: Somehow, "9/11 has become all about New York," with D.C.'s Pentagon attack relegated to a footnote, a Post op-ed protests. Since 9/11, the NYPD has targeted ethnic communities in ways that would violate civil liberties rules if practiced by the feds, an AP probe shows — and read another AP take on the Finest's post-9/11 cooperation with smaller neighboring forces "to better deal with major threats." A N.Y. state assemblyman who doesn't live in the congressional district he seeks to represent is "bizarrely claiming credit" for DHS dollars allocated to NYC Jewish institutions, Yeshiva World News yelps. Uncle Sugar: "The Pentagon, federal and state governments are spending about $75 billion a year on domestic security . . . But how effective has that 10-year spending spree been?" the L.A. Times asks and answers — and see The Project Syndicate on "The Price of 9/11." Wisconsin is better prepared for terrorism and such thanks to $425 million in DHS grantage, something Congressional cuts in favor of more attack-worthy locales may undo, The Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism reports. "They were just throwing money at people like us who never had any money. It was like Christmas came early," a Colorado county official tells The Denver Post in re: the flush early days — while The Sioux City Journal laments that "Iowa's readiness grants [were] not always used wisely." Bid-ness: Post-Sept. 11 spending "opened the doors of opportunity" for Maryland firms in the security biz, The Baltimore Sun says. A contractor billing dispute affords a rare glimpse into the CIA's terrorist rendition program, the Post reports. While federal security jobs have clocked 377 percent growth since 9/11, security employment overall has declined in many areas, Scripps Howard says. Concerning DHS's $13.4 billion in annual purchases, "the next generation is open, transparent — much more communication with industry upfront," its top buyer promises the Post, again. India's Reliance Industries has joined with Siemens, "its first tie-up since establishing a homeland security division early this year," The Economic Times informs. Bugs 'n bombs: Globally, terror attacks rose by some 5 percent in 2010, yet the number of lives claimed dropped, ABC News quotes from State's "Country Reports on Terrorism." According to a study in The Lancet, 12,000 Iraqis and 200 coalition soldiers died in suicide bombings between 2003-10, The Christian Science Monitor mentions. Florida has announced a 9/11 anniversary-linked hotline number, to be dialed "when something is out of place," The Tampa Tribune tells — while NBC Connecticut sees State Police mounting a counterterror "Operation Iron Eagle" throughout the month. Phoenix police have found explosives stolen from the airport last week during a training exercise, The Arizona Republic reports. Close air support: A Miami terminal was evacuated after a prankster drew a picture of a bomb and the word "BOOM" on a friend's luggage, the Herald Tribune tells — as KNTV 13 News sees an L.A.-bound flight returning to Las Vegas by a passenger's bomb threat. Logan International now hosts the first airport-based Joint Terrorism Task Force, The Boston Herald relates. Federal screening has impeded foreign enrollment in civilian flight schools, where some of the 9/11 hijackers got their training, but the most rigorous checks don't apply to all comers, yet another AP retrospective relates. Body scanners being tested at Hamburg Airport are so error-prone that Germany won't introduce them nationally for now, The Local relates. Courts and rights: An assistant U.S. attorney in Boston has aided Justice's efforts to forge new ties with regional Muslims while prosecuting several local Muslims for terrorism, The Washington Post profiles.The FBI last month secretly arrested a Maryland juvenile for allegedly conspiring with the admitted terrorist known as Jihad Jane, The Philadelphia Inquirer informs — as The Detroit News sees the Underwear Bomber arguing that he should be judged by the Koran, not U.S. laws. A pair of South Florida imams and a third man accused of funding the Pakistani Taliban will go to trial next April, CBS Miami mentions. Lawyers for a Muslim FBI agent in a retaliation suit against the bureau have asked a federal appeals court to keep intact its ruling sending the case back to trial, Legal Times tells. Talking terror: "Historians will label [Sept. 11] the most destructive act of terrorism ever committed . . . But I suspect they will also judge America's last decade as one of history's worst overreactions," H.D.S. Greenway insists in The International Herald Tribune. "It's tempting to see the 9/11 attacks as having fundamentally changed U.S. foreign policy. It's also wrong," Melvyn P. Leffler maintains in Foreign Affairs — though Post columnist Anne Applebaum asserts that they reverberated "nowhere more profoundly than in U.S. policy toward the outside world." According to a recent study, "politicians might not have much incentive to prepare for the most likely kind of terrorist attacks," Justin Moyer briefs for, once again, the Post — while Slate touts tomorrow's NYU debate over "a contentious and timely topic: Is it time to end the war on terror?" The to-do list outlined in the 9/11 Commission's Tenth Anniversary Report Card "is long," a Chicago Tribune editorial edifies. "To put it bluntly, [homegrown lone wolves] are the scrubs of international terrorism," Danger Room's Adam Rawnsley relates. Over there: The Council of Europe's rights commissioner accuses Euro-governments of being "deeply complicit" in illegal U.S. anti-terrorist activities over the last decade, The Daily Telegraph tells. "The clear victor of the global war on terror appears to be China," Anatol Lieven argues in The Australian. Canadians consulted on a proposed perimeter security deal with the United States aren't sold on boosting collaboration between the two countries' law enforcers, The Canadian Press hears a ministerial report stating — as The Ottawa Citizen reports that three arrestees were preparing to build IEDs for attacks in Canada. The Australian Security Intelligence Organization asked the United States to place 23 Aussies on a "no fly" list due to alleged terror links, The Melbourne Herald Sun sees secret docs revealing. Qaedastan: Al Qaeda's "nerve center" lies in Pakistan even though the recent killings of bin Laden in May and now its No. 2, Atiyah abd al-Rahman, has dealt it "a severe blow," The Pakistan Observer hears the Pentagon propounding — while The Long War Journal has an ex-Guantanamo detainee who became a key al Qaedaite after returning to Afghanistan being killed, and CNN hears Pakistani intel proclaiming the arrest of a senior al Qaeda leader who sought to attack targets in the United States, Europe and Australia. With their ranks thinned by relentless drone strikes, "al Qaeda's operatives in Pakistan resemble a driver holding a steering wheel that is no longer attached to the car," The New York Times adds. According to Pentagon terrorist hunter, there are perhaps four important al Qaeda leaders left in Pakistan, and 10 to 20 leaders worldwide, the Times also profiles. The Autumn of the Patriarch: "The mystery surrounding Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi's whereabouts was resolved today as the dictator announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in a town hall meeting in Concord, N.H.," The Borowitz Report reports. "In announcing his candidacy, the Libyan madman joins a Republican field which is believed to number in excess of seven hundred candidates," Andy Borowitz writes. "While some New Hampshire Republicans seemed surprised to see Col. Qaddafi shaking hands and kissing babies at the Concord town hall, an aide to the Libyan strongman said his transformation to GOP candidate made perfect sense. 'In those final days in Tripoli he was becoming increasingly disconnected from reality,' said the aide.'So I think he'll fit right in.'" Read also, in Not The Los Angeles Times: "Kadafi won't resign unless protesters figure out spelling of his name." 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