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About a dozen retired generals and admirals, trying to add momentum to President Barack Obama’s effort to close the Guantanamo Bay military prison, are accusing former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter Liz of scaremongering about the dangers of closing it. “It’s up to all of us to say these arguments advanced by Cheney and his acolytes are nonsense and that really what they’re doing is undermining our national security by delaying the date at which Guantanamo is closed,” retired Brig. Gen. James Cullen, a former chief judge of the Army’s Court of Criminal Appeals, told POLITICO Tuesday. “Some...

NEW YORK (AP) — An Afghan immigrant pleaded not guilty Tuesday to plotting a terrorist attack on New York City using chemicals bought in beauty supply stores and was ordered held without bail. A lawyer for 24-year-old Denver airport shuttle driver Najibullah Zazi entered the plea in a federal courtroom in Brooklyn. Officials say he and co-conspirators bought products in Colorado containing hydrogen peroxide and acetone — key ingredients for homemade bombs. Prosecutors believe Zazi received explosives training from al-Qaida in Pakistan and may have planned to target mass transit in the New York City area.

(snip) "This is not easy and I would expect that the public would ask some very tough questions," Obama said last Friday. "That's exactly what I'm doing, is asking some very tough questions." Obama telephoned Senator John McCain, his Republican opponent from last year's election campaign, on Saturday to get his advice on Afghanistan. McCain supports sending more troops. "I think he has a very difficult decision," McCain told ABC's "This Week" on Sunday. "The base of his party, Americans are weary, understandably they're weary. And it's a very difficult decision for him. But I believe he'll make the right...

Note: The following text is a quote: Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges Members and Associates of Colombian Guerilla Front with Terrorism and Hostage-Taking of U.S. Citizen Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michele M. Leonhart, the Acting Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Michael J. Folmar, the Acting Special Agent-in-Charge of the Miami Division of the FBI, announced today the unsealing of two indictments charging a total of 12 members and associates of the 57th Front of the Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), a Colombian terrorist group, with conspiracy to provide...

NEW YORK — After interrupting what they believed was a terrorist plot on New York City with a series of raids and arrests, authorities have intensified their focus on possible accomplices of the suspected Al Qaeda associate at the heart of the case, a law enforcement official said Monday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation continues, confirmed that investigators know the identities of at least three people believed to be in on a bombing plot they say might have targeted mass transit in the New York area. Authorities released a flurry of terrorism warnings for...

Next time you're in Afghanistan, make sure to keep an eye out for the U.S. Army's Space and Missile Defense Command's giant blimp-like surveillance airship

The administration is finally revealing to the public what most of us already knew. Yesterday, unnamed administration officials first revealed that GITMO will most likely still be open come January 22,2010, when it was scheduled for closure. Today, here's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said trying to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has proved more complicated than anticipated. Gates said "it's going to be tough" for the president to meet his goal of shutting the prison in January. He said there are difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and...

The administration is finally revealing to the public what most of us already knew. Yesterday, unnamed administration officials first revealed that GITMO will most likely still be open come January 22,2010, when it was scheduled for closure. Today, here's what Defense Secretary Robert Gates revealed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said trying to close down the detention center at Guantanamo Bay has proved more complicated than anticipated. Gates said "it's going to be tough" for the president to meet his goal of shutting the prison in January. He said there are difficulties in completing the lengthy review of detainee files and...

IDF jets attacked an Islamic Jihad unit preparing a rocket for launch toward Israel Friday night, killing three militants, an IDF spokesperson said yesterday. The attack was a joint operation by the IDF and the Shin Bet Security Service. The unit was located in preparation for the launch in the north of Gaza City. An IDF aircraft fired a single rocket at the group, killing three - Mahmoud Bana, Kamal Dahdouh and Muhammed Marshoud. Another militant was wounded. Security sources said they believe this unit was responsible for firing a rocket at Sderot on Rosh Hashanah. Kamal Dahdouh was the...

It was back in May when Press Secretary Robert Gibbs had this exchange in a press briefing regarding the closure of GITMO. Q Robert, does the President still expect to close Guantanamo Bay one year after his announcement, which would be I guess January 20, 2010? And is -- MR. GIBBS: I think it's the 21st or 22nd, but, yes. Q Twenty-first, thank you. And is he still planning on issuing a detailed map, if you will, of how to get there in another two months from now? MR. GIBBS: I don't understand the second part. Q Did he not...

RALEIGH, N.C. - Israel denied entry two years ago to members of a North Carolina family that includes three men accused of plotting to execute terror attacks in foreign countries, an official said Wednesday. Daniel Boyd, 39, was arrested Monday with six others, including two sons. Authorities claim Boyd was the ringleader of a group that was gearing up for a "violent jihad," though prosecutors haven't detailed any specific targets or timeframe. If convicted, the men could face life in prison. An eighth suspect is believed to be in Pakistan. Boyd's wife, Sabrina, told a Raleigh newspaper that he and...

BANNU, Pakistan, Sept 26 (Reuters) - At least five people were killed in a suspected suicide attack at a police station in Pakistan's northwestern Bannu on Saturday, police and witnesses said. The death toll is expected to rise as the police station and several nearby houses collapsed in the explosion. "I myself have seen five dead bodies," Mohammad Zahid, a witness at the scene, told Reuters. Bannu is gateway to North Waziristan, a volatile tribal region on the Afghan border and a major sanctuary for al Qaeda and Taliban militants.

A 19-year-old Jordanian citizen accused of trying to blow up a downtown Dallas skyscraper told a federal magistrate this morning at his first court appearance that he understands the charges against him. Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, who was provided a court-appointed attorney, is charged with trying to detonate a weapon of mass destruction. He is expected to enter a plea at a later hearing. Smadi was arrested Thursday after he parked a vehicle laden with government-supplied fake explosives in the underground parking garage of Fountain Place, a 60-story tower at Ross Avenue at Field Street, authorities said. [Hosam Maher Husein...

A Denver resident from Afghanistan who is accused of involvement in a potentially far-reaching weapons of mass destruction plot in the United States was transferred to New York Friday to face federal terror conspiracy charges. Najibullah Zazi, 24, was ordered held without bail in Denver Friday and sent to New York City to face charges of conspiracy to use explosives — in this case liquid bombs, according to the Justice Department — against Americans on U.S. soil. Those charges carry a life sentence upon conviction. Zazi was indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury in New York in the terror...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A 29-year-old man has been arrested on charges that he allegedly planned to bomb a federal courthouse in Illinois and kill employees there. Federal officials say the case has no connections with the major terrorism investigation under way in Colorado and New York.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 24, 2009 PRESS RELEASE BROOKLYN RESIDENT INDICTED FOR CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT MURDER OVERSEAS AND CONSPIRACY TO PROVIDE MATERIAL SUPPORT TO TERRORISTS An indictment was unsealed in federal court this morning charging Betim Kaziu, a U.S. citizen and resident of Brooklyn, with conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country and conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists.1 Kaziu is scheduled to be arraigned later today before United States Magistrate Judge Joan M. Azrack, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The charges were announced by Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for...

"Moroccan police arrest 24 from network coordinating with jihadists "in Sweden, Belgium and the Syria-Iraq zone"" SNIPPET: "The security services in Morocco have arrested 24 members of a "terrorist network" linked to Al-Qaeda that recruited volunteers for suicide bombings in Iraq, the interior ministry said Wednesday. In a statement carried by the official MAP news agency, it said the network -- coordinating "with terrorists in Sweden, Belgium and the Syria-Iraq zone" -- also sought recruits for Al-Qaeda to fight in Afghanistan and Somalia. The suspects -- now being questioned by police -- were arrested in several cities in Morocco, said...

Bishkek, September 23, Interfax - Kyrgyzstan's Security Council wants the Supreme Court to weigh up a ban on Tablighi Jamaat as an organization posing "a threat to national security," local media reported on Wednesday. The Prosecutor General's office early this year filed a lawsuit with a district court in Bishkek to demand that Tablighi Jamaat be entered on the list of extremist and terror organizations.

Eight Marine soldiers were killed Monday afternoon in an ambush staged by Abu Sayyaf bandits in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, military officials said. AFP public affairs office chief Lt. Col, Romeo Brawner Jr, said troops from the 4th Marine Battalion Landing Team were on their way to their base when they were waylaid by the Abu Sayyaf at Sitio Talatac in Bato-bato village around 1:30 p.m. Lt. Col. Ariel Caculitan, head of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 4 (MBLT 4), said his men were able to return fire, resulting to the death of five bandits. “Five died on...

Today on Special Report Charles Krauthammer relayed an interesting timeline. The president replaced General Mckiernan with General McChrystal in May. Here is what the President said all the way back on March 27th. Today, I'm announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan. And this marks the conclusion of a careful policy review, led by Bruce, that I ordered as soon as I took office. My administration has heard from our military commanders, as well as our diplomats. We've consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, with our partners and our NATO allies, and with other donors and international...

American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2009 – Afghan soldiers and police, working with international troops, in recent days have detained insurgents in southern and eastern Afghanistan and seized large amounts of weapons and explosives, military officials reported. Yesterday, a joint force of Afghan and international troops detained several suspected insurgents after searching a series of buildings in Khost province and compounds in Kandahar province. The buildings in Khost were known to be used by a Haqqani terrorist cell responsible for distributing improvised explosive devices and IED-making material throughout the region. In a compound search north of Kandahar City,...

WASHINGTON — The top military commander in Afghanistan warns in a classified assessment of the war there that he needs additional troops within the next year or else the conflict “will likely result in failure.” The grim assessment is contained in a 66-page report that the commander, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, submitted to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates on Aug. 30, and which is now under review by President Obama and his top national security advisers. The disclosure of details in the assessment, first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by a senior Obama administration official, coincided with new...

ISLAMABAD – A successful army offensive, a shift in public opinion against the militants and the killing of top Taliban leaders have given grounds for cautious optimism in Pakistan as progress across the border in Afghanistan appears stalled amid spiraling violence and post election turmoil. The Obama administration has made it clear it sees victory in the fight against Islamist extremism as dependent on successes in both South Asian nations. Forging a common strategy for "AF-Pak," as the region is now dubbed in Washington, is a key priority.

PESHAWAR: A top Taliban commander who was injured in a military operation in which he was arrested last week, died from his injuries on Sunday, the Pakistani military said. 'Sher Mohammad Qasab, who had multiple bullet wounds succumbed to his injuries on Sunday morning,' it said in a statement. The army had Wednesday arrested Sher Mohammad Qasab, who is one of the most senior Taliban commanders on a most wanted list in the Swat valley that offered Rs10 million in reward money. 'A team of army doctors was treating Sher Mohammad Qasab but he could not survive,' the statement said....

SNIPPET: "Do we arrest potential terrorists too early and allow them to plead to lesser charges? Or do we wait and risk an attack?" SNIPPET: "The case raises important questions about how domestic terrorism should be fought. Should law enforcement wait until a threat becomes “imminent” before acting? If not, then at what point should law enforcement intervene given that much of a plot’s details may remain unknown? It also raises important questions about just how much faith law enforcement can place in the cooperation of some Muslim clerics in terrorism-related cases." SNIPPET: "In either case, this means that law...

War On Terror: Indonesian police killed the deadliest terrorist in East Asia Thursday, avenging the murders of 200 and striking a blow against al-Qaida. It took time, but Indonesia never gave up. This is how wars are won.Noordin Mohammed Top, diabolical mastermind behind every major terror attack on Indonesia since 2002, got the death he deserved — cowering in a toilet as the edifice around him exploded and burned. It was a long time coming. Malaysian-born Noordin became Indonesia's nightmare in 2002, after his role in the al-Qaida-affiliated Jemaah Islamiyah blasts on Bali, killing 202. In 2003, he bombed a...

LONDON – Recent targeted attacks that killed militants in Somalia, Indonesia and Pakistan have chipped away at al-Qaida's power base, sapping the terror network of key leaders and experienced operatives who train recruits and wage attacks. Intelligence officials said Friday that the military strikes have reduced al-Qaida's core leadership to only a handful of men and diminished its ability to train fighters. This, they said, has forced al-Qaida to turn to its global affiliates for survival. The killings of Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in Somalia, Noordin Muhammed Top in Indonesia and Baitullah Mehsud in Pakistan — all in recent weeks...

NATO-led forces are investigating the death of four Marines in eastern Afghanistan after their commanders reportedly rejected requests for artillery fire in a battle with insurgents, the Pentagon said on Wednesday. Tuesday's incident was "under investigation" and details remained unclear, press secretary Geoff Morrell told a news conference. A McClatchy newspapers' journalist who witnessed the battle reported that a team of Marine trainers made repeated appeals for air and artillery support after being pinned down by insurgents in the village of Ganjgal in eastern Kunar province. The U.S. troops had to wait more than an hour for attack helicopters to...

Colin Cramphorn, a policeman who served with distinction in Northern Ireland among many other places, observed that while every location is different, all are nonetheless connected. He realised not only that local knowledge is critical, but that the fate of one location often depends on the destiny of another. This insight was almost John Donnesque, akin to his observation that “no man is an island”. It is a key insight for our security: no problem can be viewed in isolation.

Thank you Detachment 88. -Cindy # Nick Grace contributed to this report. PHOTO CAPTION: "A photo of Noordin Mohammed Top after he was killed during a raid in Java. The photo was taken with a cell phone. Photo provided by Nick Grace." SNIPPET: "Southeast Asia’s most wanted al Qaeda-linked terrorist has been killed during an overnight raid by counterterrorism police in Solo in Central Java, Indonesia. Police have confirmed that the elusive Noordin Mohammed Top has been killed along with four other terrorists during the assault on a safe house in Java." SNIPPET: "Within the past 24 hours, Indonesia's elite...

“FBI raids Denver home in suspect Al-Qaeda plot: ABC” (AFP) – 1 hour ago WASHINGTON — SNIPPET: “About a dozen agents arrived at the home of Najibullah Zazi, 24, and one confirmed to ABC a search warrant was being executed. “Zazi’s travels to New York last weekend triggered a round of highly publicized raids in the New York area,” the ABC report said adding that “authorities told members of Congress the raids had helped to disrupt a plot to carry out a major attack on New York.” Authorities said they found 14 new black backpacks in the New York raids,...

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan - Across just a few deadly yards of rocky terrain, the private’s cries grew weaker. Even though bullets came pouring in like hail, Staff Sgt. Jared Monti made a break for it. The enemy was strong — maybe 50, to the 16 Americans. But Pvt. Brian Bradbury was Monti’s guy. He was isolated and bleeding badly on this grim mountain ridge in northeastern Afghanistan’s Nuristan province. Monti didn’t get far. A barrage of fire cut down the 30-year-old moments before air cover he’d requested arrived. Exhausted and reeling from a desperate fight that left Monti and another...

A Moore High School graduate who attended the University of Oklahoma on a track scholarship before joining the military has died in Afghanistan. Featured Gallery Advertisement Army 1st Lt. David Timothy Wright II, 26, died Monday. Details of his death were not available from the Department of Defense. His parents, Tim and Michele Wright, issued a statement through Primrose Funeral Service. "We want to say how much we appreciate the prayers and support that has been shown to our family during this very difficult time. David was a true soldier, who cherished the opportunity to fight for his country. "We...

MOGADISHU, Somalia - American special operations forces killed an al-Qaida terrorist during a helicopter commando assault in Somalia on Monday, NBC News reported. U.S. officials told NBC that Saleh Ali Nabhan, suspected in the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania and the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, was killed when at least one U.S. special operations helicopter opened fire on a suspected al-Qaida convoy south of Mogadishu. Ali Nabhan was also suspected of operating al-Qaida training camps inside Somalia, NBC reported. Two men were killed and two others wounded when foreign troops in helicopters...

If you read the counter insurgency manual by General Petreaus, it's amazing just how much of counter insurgency is very similar to grassroots politics. In fact, Petraeus' overall strategy: clear, hold, and build is rooted in grass roots politics much more than it is in military strategy.

As Americans commemorate the eighth anniversary of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, many of us are conscious of another symbol of the war on terror: the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, whose fate is still uncertain. If the crumbling twin towers conjure memories of America's shock and pain, Guantanamo is a monument to our nation's reaction after 9/11—and the moral dilemmas we face in this difficult new era.

Facing fire from his own party over the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan, President Obama is getting cover from an unlikely source: Republicans. Sen. John McCain of Arizona and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor of Virginia are among a growing faction of congressional Republicans speaking up for the Democratic president as he faces questions of whether to escalate the U.S. troop presence in an increasingly bloody conflict. Mr. Cantor, who has helped lead the fight in the House GOP caucus against much of Mr. Obama's domestic agenda, voiced support Friday for Mr. Obama's willingness to carry the fight to the Taliban...

No. I am not talking about the idiots in the mainstream media that just can’t bring themselves to report that billions of your tax dollars (stimulus money) is being funneled to an organization that is trying to help criminals cheat the IRS even when told that the criminal activity involves an international sex trafficking ring of girls as young as 13. Yes, all you have to do is donate a small yearly fee to ACORN and they will help you get loans for housing, claim illegal immigrants as dependents and even classify the sex acts of 13 year old prostitutes...

I know that prior to September 11th, 2001 I knew about the concept of good and evil. I'm sure that I thought I understood them. As I look back eight years later however, I now understand that I never really did until I saw those planes hit the towers on September 11th, 2001.

It was the furies of the Arab world, not Afghanistan, that struck America eight years ago today. ArticleThe road that led to 9/11 was never a defining concern of President Barack Obama. But he returned to 9/11 as he sought to explain and defend the war in Afghanistan in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 17. "The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight and we won't defeat it overnight, but we must never forget: This is not a war of choice; it is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on...

SAN DIEGO - The Pentagon released the name Wednesday of a 30-year-old Camp Pendleton-based Marine Corps officer killed in combat in Afghanistan. Capt. Joshua Meadows of Bastrop, Texas, died in Farah Province on Saturday, according to the Department of Defense. Meadows was a member of 1st Marine Special Operations Battalion, Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command.

Posted in ubiwar Tagged intelligence, terrorism SNIPPET: "Friends of this blog and others, Palantir Technologies, are profiled in a new article by Siobhan Gorman in the Wall Street Journal, How Team of Geeks Cracked Spy Trade: From a Silicon Valley office strewn with bean-bag chairs, a group of twenty-something software engineers is building an unlikely following of terrorist hunters at US spy agencies."

Ashcroft liable for detentions, court finds By Tony Romm - 09/04/09 04:18 PM ET Former Attorney General John Ashcroft may be sued and held liable for wrongly detaining witnesses after the Sept. 11 attacks, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday. In its decision, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that Abdullah Al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen detained as a material witness for two weeks, may sue the former attorney general for breaching his constitutional rights. Al-Kidd claimed during the case that his brief imprisonment caused him to lose a scholarship and crippled his chances of finding employment, according...

WASHINGTON -- We are seeing the stirrings of a cross-ideological revolt against American military involvement in Afghanistan. On the right, some who accepted the Cold War as a great moral cause view the war on terror as a bother -- even as a dangerous excuse for global social engineering. Such tinkering, the argument goes, is particularly doomed in Afghanistan, brimming with warlords both primitive and invincible. And because Afghanistan is now Barack Obama's war, no partisan motive remains to support it. On the left, some view every conceivable war as a "war of choice" that should never be chosen. With...

The show is called "Death Making" in Arabic, hardly the way Al Qaeda probably wants itself described. But that is how the powerful pan-Arabic satellite channel Al Arabiya casts the terror organization and its foot soldiers in its popular television program. Hosted by female correspondent Rima Salha, the Dubai-based show is heading into its third year on Al Arabiya and aims to influence how the Arab world views Al Qaeda. "As we know, there are lots of Muslims who are brainwashed so they believe in terrorism but there are also big sections of Muslims who sympathize with terrorists," says Salha....

Note: Posting older video at this time for archival purposes. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgvUB9woVgM "NewsX Video: ATS warns of terror strike" Video Description - Quote: The Anti-Terror squad has warned that the Indian Mujahideen could be planning another terror attack. The ATS has sent a letter to the Mumbai Police, alerting them to the threat. Category: News & Politics Tags: terrorism ATS Mumbai Police Indian Mujahideen NewsX

When looking at the poll data, it turns out that raising the alert levels never benefited Mr. Bush but may actually have hurt him. So we suggest a new conspiracy theory -- that Mr. Ridge stopped the country from going to orange alert to secure the re-election of Mr. Bush. As the current hyperventilating shows, some people will believe anything.

Rich, Kathryn et al, I'm less hostile to the George Will column. It seems to me we have no very clear war aims in Afghanistan, which is never a good position to be in.

I think it's time for the country to face reality. Our President is lost. There's not one major issue that we can reasonably say he has a good handle on. Instead, on every major issue, it appears as though there's a grand piano hanging over him being held up by a small string. What the president needs is to find some direction, and quickly.

The president is in big trouble. He continues to approach a moment of truth. He had better get control of his presidency or he might see it spin out of control and not recover. The month of August couldn't have gone any worse. Town hall protesters picked apart the bill and citizens made vocal display of their dissatisfaction with the bill. The administration picked a fight with Sarah Palin and suddenly the president was trying to convince the public his bill "won't kill grand ma". He was telling everyone the public option would merely add competition. At the same time,...