CQ Behind the Lines

From CQ Homeland Security

Behind the Lines for Friday, July 8, 2011 — 3 P.M. By David C. Morrison, Special to Congressional Quarterly We're glad you asked that: "When will terrorists stop potentially embedding bombs in things we actually like and need, and start [weaponizing] Hummel dolls?" . . . Desperate measures: "Cockamamie ideas like surgically implanted explosives are a sign that the terrorists are in very, very bad straits," DHSer judges . . . Threats we maybe never considered: Detroit Bomb Squad investigates suitcase found on man crossing Detroit River on inflatable raft. These and other stories lead today's homeland security coverage. --------------------------------- "Medical experts say surgically implanting explosive devices into the body is medically feasible and wouldn't require extensive training," The Wall Street Journal's Shirley S. Wang learns, following up on Wednesday's federal warning. "When will terrorists stop potentially embedding bombs in things we actually like and need, and start coming up with plans to, say, weaponize Hummel dolls and Thomas Kincade paintings?" The Washington Post's Alexandra Petri protests. Homies: "If al Qaeda and company are turning to cockamamie ideas like surgically implanted explosives, it's a sign that the terrorists are in very, very bad straits," a nameless "DHS explosives specialist" e-mails Danger Room. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., "was initially a contributor to the legislation creating the TSA in 2001, but now recommends private contractor screeners under supervision by the TSA," The Ponte Vedra (Fla.) Recorder's Nicole Santeiro spotlights. The Coast Guard and other DHS agencies yesterday unveiled an "unprecedented" Maritime Operations Coordination plan to improve coordination among federal entities responding to water-borne threats, All Headline News' Tejinder Singh leads. Feds: Prolonged questioning by U.S. agents in international waters of a terror-charged Somali militant "may become a sticking point in his prosecution," Reuters' Basil Katz and Jeremy Pelofsky quote the judge overseeing the case — while The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot's Tim McGlone sees a Somalian pleading guilty yesterday to piracy for his role in the hijacking of a yacht that left four Americans dead. A British inquiry will investigate CIA prisoner transfer practices as part of a probe into claims that terror suspects were routinely tortured, The Associated Press' David Stringer updates. By adding a former Dearborn resident to its most wanted terrorists list, the FBI "puts Faouzi Ayoub among some of the most hunted and dangerous men in the world," The Detroit News' Robert Snell notes. State and local: ICE is investigating complaints that immigration detainees have been mistreated at the Wake County jail in Raleigh, N.C., WCTI 12 News notes. DHS urban areas grant cuts "have brought into sharper focus the debate over who most deserves the money," The St. Louis (Mo.) Beacon explores at surprising but rewarding length. The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office has been made the southern regional hub for a joint Cyber Terrorism Task Force under an agreement with the New Jersey State Police, The West Deptford Patch reports. A Louisiana official responsible for administering homeland security grants defended his decision to take control of monies allocated to the East Baton Rouge Parish, The Baton Rouge Advocate relates. Bugs 'n bombs: The Detroit Police Bomb Squad was called to investigate a suitcase found on a man paddling across the Detroit River on an inflatable raft, WDIV Detroit News notes — as The New York Daily News urgently advises: "Beware the breast implant bomb." Amidst elevated concern over cyberattacks "there is a closely related and much less widely appreciated threat in the form of physical attacks launched using cyber-physical systems," a Brookings Institution paper warns. DHS is working on a wallet-sized "Citizen's Dosimeter" for the detection of ionizing radiation caused by nuclear accidents or dirty bombs, Gizmag spotlights. The founder of Pakistan's nuclear bomb program asserts that North Korea bribed top military officials in Islamabad to obtain access to sensitive nuke technology in the late 1990s, the Post reports. Chasing the dime: "The recent rash of attacks on dozens of websites including those of the CIA, the FBI and even PBS is roiling the security industry and increasing demand for cyberdefense experts," the Los Angeles Times spotlights. Following on weeks of damaging and costly hack attacks, Sony CEO Howard Stringer proclaimed to shareholders that "cyberterrorism is now a global force," Business Insider informs. "The $22 billion security industry is a little less, well, secure, these days . . . but that hasn't stopped some entrepreneurs from developing new ways to keep thieves away," The Wall Street Journal surveys. The Chief Minister of the Punjab acknowledged in London this week that without eradicating the scourge of extremist terrorism, Pakistan cannot attract foreign investment, The Associated Press of Pakistan reports. More than two years after Guyana's Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorism law was enacted, there has been no known case brought against anyone, The Stabroek Times takes note. Close air support: "I'm not going to put [my children] in the position to essentially be sexually assaulted by TSA agents, by my government," a Sedgwick County (Kan.) commissioner vehemently vows to The Wichita Eagle. Thanks to the newly bruited implanted bomb threat, millions of air travelers "could see more pat downs, questioning and use of scanners or other, newer technologies," NBC Washington forecasts — even as NewBay Media mentions that "explosive devices surgically implanted inside suicide bombers would likely not be detected by most scanning equipment." With hundreds of pro-Palestinian foreign activists planning to fly into Tel Aviv this week, Israel warned that security would be beefed up at the country's already heavily fortified international airport, AP reports. Coming and going: Ten years past 9/11, "Amtrak remains unable to even identify who is on its trains at any given moment, as evidenced by the 28 passengers who were 'unaccounted for' immediately following the truck-train crash near Reno," the Gazette-Journal leads. The presence of a Portland and Western-owned rail line has prompted the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium to offer a free DHS-certified course, called AWR 147 Rail Car Incident Response, The South County (Ore.) Spotlight spotlights. The question remains whether the border crossing of Mexican trucks will result in unsafe conditions on U.S. roads and a security threat generally, The Christian Science Monitor considers. Courts and rights: A Brooklynite who transcribed Osama bin Laden videos on his MySpace page was convicted yesterday of conspiring to commit murder overseas and supporting terrorism, Bloomberg relates — while The Detroit News sees a federal judge refusing to delay trial for the "underwear bomber." Seeking to avoid a contentious trial over its liability for the 9/11 hijackings, the Massachusetts Port Authority argues that Logan International had no role in screening passengers and no "causal connection" to the attacks, The Boston Globe relates."We had a feeling people in Bowling Green were too smart to be taken in by [Sen. Mitch] McConnell's politically motivated hysterics" over where to try two terror suspects, The Lexington Herald-Leader comments. Over there: After weeks of conflicting reports, U.S. counterterrorists have concluded that a senior al Qaeda leader implicated in terrorist plots in South Asia and Europe is dead, Reuters reports. Scotland Yard is investigating the possibility that investigators for the much-reviled News of the World tabloid — which is abruptly closing shop — hacked into the phones of victims of the 2005 London bus bombings, ABC News notes. A Russian government newspaper has published a detailed list of 1,510 identified terrorist or extremist groups, ranging from al Qaeda to the Order of the Devil, The Moscow News notes. The Silver Scream: While "South Park" (Comedy Central) "seems like an equal opportunity offender, attacking Guitar Hero and terrorism with equal gusto, it is actually one of the most staunchly conservative/libertarian shows on television," The Agoura Hills (Calif.) Patch posits. The Konrad Aderer doc "Enemy Alien" (Third World Newsreels) "aims to bring attention to the mistreatment of minorities and immigrants in the wake of 9/11," The New York Observer observes — and check Miami New Times' roster of "The Top Ten Films About The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict." Michael Bay's "terrorism analogies are overt, and his eco-terrorism only slightly less so. But 9/11 isn't the only bit of modern American history that figures prominently in 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon' [Paramount]," The L Magazine relates. Between the Covers: "The Dark Knight was evidently unable to properly kick al Qaeda's ass for Frank Miller's forthcoming graphic novel 'Holy Terror' [Legendary Comics]. Now the job falls to Miller's new antihero, The Fixer," Underwire leads — as the L.A. Times recalls that "in 2006, Miller had talked publicly about the project as a Batman epic titled 'Holy Terror, Batman!'" J.G. Ballard's posthumous "Millennium People" (W.W. Norton) "presents a parallel-reality London convulsed by revolution and terrorism, but the novel is also about . . . the aphrodisiacal thrill of rebellion," The Wall Street Journal reviews. "In an airplane 30,000 feet above the ground, a crazed man bursts out of the lavatory and kills everyone on board. This is the opening scene of Ben Percy's newest novel, 'Red Moon' [Grand Central]," Iowa State Daily leads. Jeffrey Deaver's new James Bond reboot, "Carte Blanche" (Simon & Schuster) transpires "in a counterterrorism spy milieu that's much more like the one of Jack Bauer on '24.' It shouldn't work but it does," Comic Book Resources critiques. Weave, weave as though your life depended on it: "Four days after criminal organization Comando Vermelho seized control of the Novo Mundo Resort, activities director Janet Puchesy, 28, continues to make the most of the tense situation, bringing fun and creativity to the storage room where she and her fellow survivors are trapped, the hostages reported Monday," The Onion reports. "'Okay, gang, who wants to have a sing-along?" Puchesy said quietly, hoping to avoid being added to the pile of nearly 30 resort guests and employees brutally slain so far during the takeover. Little is known about this faction of the Comando Vermelho, other than that it is well-armed and demanding the sum of $500,000 from local government authorities for the return of the 44 remaining prisoners. Until the government complies, Puchesy will continue to use her extensive knowledge of arts and crafts to raise the spirits of her fellow hostages. Today, Puchesy taught fellow captives how to weave friendship bracelets using locks of hair cut from the heads of the corpses stacked at the back of the room." 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