World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #6 Disinformation, Inc.

VEVAK learned its methodology from the Soviet KGB and many of the Islamist revolutionaries who supported Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini actually studied at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University, the Oxford of terrorism. Documented Iranian alumni include the current Supreme Leader (the faqih) Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under whose Velayat-e Faqih (Rule of the Islamic Jurisprudent) apparatus it has traditionally operated. Its current head is Cabinet Minister Hojatoleslam Gholam-Hussein Mohseni-Ezhei, a graduate of Qom's Haqqani School, noted for its extremist position advocating violence against enemies and strict clerical control of society and government. The Ministry is very well funded and its charge, like that of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (the Pasdaran) is to guard the revolutionary Islamic Iranian regime at all costs and under all contingencies.

From the KGB playbook, VEVAK learned the art of disinformation. It's not so difficult to learn: tell the truth 80% of the time and lie 20%. Depending on how well a VEVAK agent wants to cover his/her tracks, the ratio may go up to 90/10, but it never drops below the 80/20 mark as such would risk suspicion and possible detection. The regime in Teheran has gone to great lengths to place its agents in locations around the world. Many of these operatives have been educated in the West, including the U.K. and the United States. Iranian government agencies such as embassies, consulates, Islamic cultural centers, and airline offices regularly provide cover for the work of VEVAK agents who dress well and are clean shaven, and move comfortably within our society. In this country, because of the severance of diplomatic relations, the principal site of VEVAK activities begins at the offices of Iran's Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Teheran has worked diligently to place its operatives in important think tanks and government agencies in the West. Some of its personnel have been recruited while in prison through torture or more often through bribery, or a combination of both. Others are Islamist revolutionaries that have been set up to look like dissidents - often having been arrested and imprisoned, but released for “medical reasons”. The clue to detecting the fake “dissident” is to read carefully what he/she writes, and to ask why this vocal “dissident” was released from prison when other real dissidents have not been released, indeed have been grievously tortured and executed. Other agents have been placed in this country for over twenty-five years to slowly go through the system and rise to positions of academic prominence due to their knowledge of Farsi and Shia Islam or Islamist fundamentalism.

One of the usual tactics of VEVAK is to co-opt academia to its purposes. Using various forms of bribery, academics are bought to defend the Islamic Republic or slander its enemies. Another method is to assign bright students to train for academic posts as specialists in Iranian or Middle East affairs. Once established, such individuals are often consulted by our government as it tries to get a better idea of how it should deal with Iran. These academics then are in a position to skew the information, suggesting the utility of extended dialogue and negotiation, or the danger and futility of confronting a strong Iran or its proxies such as Hizballah (Hezbollah). These academics serve to shield the regime from an aggressive American or Western policy, and thereby buy more time for the regime to attain its goals, especially in regards to its nuclear weaponry and missile programs.

MOIS likes to use the media, especially electronic media, to its advantage. One of VEVAK's favorite tricks is setting up web sites that look like they are opposition sites but which are actually controlled by the regime. These sites often will be multilingual, including Farsi, German, Arabic French, and English. Some are crafted carefully and are very subtle in how they skew their information (e.g., Iran-Interlink, set up and run by Massoud Khodabandeh and his wife Ann Singleton from Leeds, England); others are less subtle, simply providing the regime's point of view on facts and events in the news (e.g., www.mujahedeen.com or www.mojahedin.ws). This latter group is aimed at the more gullible in our open society and unfortunately such a market exists. However, if one begins to do one's homework, asking careful questions, the material on these fake sites generally does not add up.

Let's examine a few examples of VEVAK's work in the United States. In late October, 2005, VEVAK sent three of its agents to Washington to stage a press event in which the principal Iranian resistance movement, the Mojahedin-e Khalq (MeK), was to be slandered. Veteran VEVAK agent Karim Haqi flew from Amsterdam to Canada where he was joined by VEVAK's Ottawa agents Amir-Hossein Kord Rostami and Mahin (Parvin-Mahrokh) Haji, and the three flew from Toronto to Washington. Fortunately the resistance had been tracking these three, informed the FBI of their presence in Washington, and when the three tried to hold a press conference, the resistance had people assigned to ask pointed questions of them so that they ended the interview prematurely and fled back to Canada.

Abolghasem Bayyenet is a member of the Iranian government. He serves as a trade expert for the Ministry of Commerce. But his background of study and service in the Foreign Ministry indicates that Bayyenet is more than just an economist or a suave and savvy businessman. In an article published in Global Politician on April 23, 2006, entitled “Is Regime Change Possible in Iran?”, Bayyenet leads his audience to think that he is a neutral observer, concerned lest the United States make an error in its assessment of Iran similar to the errors of intelligence and judgment that led to our 2003 invasion of Iraq, with its less than successful outcome. However, his carefully crafted bottom line is that the people of Iran are not going to support regime change and that hardliner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually has achieved greater popularity than his predecessors because of his concern for the problems of the poor and his fight for economic and social justice. To the naive, Bayyenet makes Ahmadinejad sound positively saintly. Conveniently overlooked is the occurrence of over four thousand acts of protest, strikes, anti-regime rallies, riots, and even political assassinations by the people of Iran against the government in the year since Ahmadinejad assumed office. So too, the following facts are ignored: the sizeable flight of capital, the increase in unemployment, and the rising two-figure rate of inflation, all within this last year. Bayyenet is a regime apologist, and when one is familiar with the facts, his arguments ring very hollow. However, his English skills are excellent, and so the naОve might be beguiled by his commentary.

Mohsen Sazegara is VEVAK's “reformed revolutionary”. A student supporter of Khomeini before the 1979 revolution, Sazegara joined the “imam” on his return from exile and served in the government for a decade before supposedly growing disillusioned.

He formed several reformist newspapers but ran afoul of the hardliners in 2003 and was arrested and imprisoned by VEVAK. Following “hunger strikes”, Sazegara was released for health reasons and permitted to seek treatment abroad. Although critical of the government and particularly of Ahmadinejad and KhameneМ, Sazegara is yet more critical of opposition groups, leaving the impression that he favors internal regime change but sees no one to lead such a movement for the foreseeable future. His bottom line: no one is capable of doing what needs to be done, so we must bide our time. Very slick, but his shadow shows his likely remaining ties to the MOIS.

I like the way this man thinks, so am sharing what I found, there are several articles to read, he does give one something to think about.
granny

http://www.bestideashawaii.com/Articles/103.aspx

Death or Life from Iraq?

Posted by beattym on Thursday, May 25, 2006 (CST)

Death or Life from Iraq? What is the sacrifice of a military member really worth?

Article for May 21, 2006

Death or Life from Iraq?

News reporters across the United States update us on the latest toll: “More Military killed in Iraq.” This simple statement, however, covers up a subtle but deceitful use of the word “kill,” and hides the real number we should be concerned with—3,768.

The word “killed” often means “died tragically for no particular purpose” as in “34 people are killed in homicides in Detroit each month,” or “approximately 200,000 people were killed last year in the United States through medical malpractice,” or “since 2003 over 400,000 people were killed in Darfur.”

We should not use the word “killed” without qualification when talking about a marine, soldier, airman, sailor or coasty who died in Iraq. Some might say that each death is unacceptable because President George W. Bush is generally horrible so everything he does is generally horrible. This goes along with assumption, “The world hates the United States because of a personality conflict with President Bush.” The President’s critics are naïve about the threat.

The correct idea is that each military death saves 3,768 US citizens here in the United States. On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists killed 2,986 Americans, meaning that each terrorist killed 157 people. In Vietnam, about 24 Viet Cong were killed for every US death causing communist Vietnam to be one week away from surrendering when the United States gave up. Assuming the same 1 to 24 ratio, each US military person who gives his or her life in Iraq saves 3,768 (157 X 24) of us here who can safely walk in shopping malls, send our kids to schools, and work in crowded buildings.

In Iraq some 2,448 US military personnel have been killed. The sorrow for each family member of the deceased is real and the value of their sacrifice might not help the angry and grieving parent, spouse or child. From my viewpoint, however, 9,224,064 (2,448 X 3,768) citizens of the United States are safe. That includes your children and mine who are safe to learn math correctly.

Mark Beatty, MA, THM, PHD, MBA, JD served in Operation Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom. He lives in Kaneohe Hawaii where he is campaigning for the US Senate seat now held by Dan Akaka (see www.electmarkbeatty.com). His other articles can be found at www.bestideashawaii.com.

http://www.bestideashawaii.com/Articles/default.aspx

20 February 2006 12:30

Noor Anayat Khan: The princess who became a spy

She was a Sufi pacifist who fought for Britain and died at the hands of
the
Gestapo. As a new biography separates truth from myth, Boyd Tonkin
celebrates the remarkable Noor Anayat Khan

Published: 20 February 2006

This is the story of a young Indian Muslim woman who joined a secret
organisation dedicated to acts of sabotage, subversion and terrorism
across
Europe. A fierce critic of British imperialism, she worked with passion
and
audacity to damage and disrupt the forces of law and order. Captured,
she
proved impenitent and uncontrollable. She died a horrific death in
custody.
And now, perhaps, is the right time to revisit the life of Princess
Noor-un-nisa Inayat Khan, George Cross, Croix de Guerre with gold star,
MBE:
the British secret agent who was kicked into a "bloody mess" on the
stone
floors of Dachau concentration camp through the night of 13 September
1944,
and then shot with the word "Liberté" on her lips. Hers, after all, is
a
remarkable chapter in the history of Muslims in Britain and the West.

For more than half a century, myths, misconceptions and outright
fantasies
have crowded around the memory of Noor Inayat Khan. She was the first
female
radio operator sent into Nazi-occupied France by the Special Operations
Executive (SOE). Through the frantic, terrifying summer of 1943, the
untried
29-year-old spy found herself virtually in charge of Resistance
communications in the Paris area as the Gestapo arrested cell after
cell
around her. The daughter of a famous Sufi mystic and musician, and an
Indianised American mother, she was remembered by all as a "dreamy",
sensitive child. Yet Noor the spy became a tigress whose bravery and
defiance startled - and outraged - her German jailers and torturers. A
few
responded differently. When told during his postwar interrogation about
her
death in Dachau, Hans Josef Kieffer - head of the Gestapo headquarters
in
Paris - apparently broke down in tears.

Controversies and rumours still abound. Noor's posthumous career as a
war
heroine began in earnest in 1952, when her friend and comrade Jean
Overton
Fuller did her best to dispel the fog of confusion and misinformation
left
by her death in a book, Madeleine - Noor's Resistance codename. Maurice
Buckmaster, Noor's colonel in SOE, and the top cryptographer Leo Marks
both
recalled her in their memoirs with an intense, possessive - but rather
patronising - affection that often makes for more heat than light.
Marks,
briefed to expect as his latest apprentice a "potty princess",
typically
begins his recollections of their first encounter by writing that "no
one
had mentioned Noor's extraordinary beauty".

From her spellbound SOE trainers at Beaulieu Manor to the governor of
Pforzheim jail who came almost to revere the prisoner he kept in
chains,
Noor left no one unmoved. Yet her quiet charisma made fancy corrupt
fact. In
recent years, two colourful novels have embroidered her tale with the
interests and penchants of their authors: the French writer Laurent
Joffrin's frankly romanticised All That I Have, and Shauna Singh
Baldwin's
more politically engaged The Tiger Claw.

However, the recent declassification of personal files has allowed the
always-murky deeds of SOE and its "F Section" agents who spied (and
died) in
France to emerge further into the light of history. Fresh material
surfaced
when, last year, Sarah Helm's A Life in Secrets traced the biography of
Vera
Atkins: the SOE staff officer who, plagued by remorse at the hideous
fate of
so many of her F Section "girls", made a secret postwar enquiry into
their
betrayal and capture. Now, Shrabani Basu - a historian and journalist
based
in London as correspondent for an Indian newspaper group - has pieced
together Noor's story more fully and reliably than ever before in a new
biography, Spy Princess.

For Basu, "60 years after the war, Noor's vision and courage are
inspirational". She has proposed to English Heritage that a blue plaque
should mark Noor's address at 4 Taviton Street in Bloomsbury, and a
decision
will be made in June. Thanks to her book, a new generation can grasp
what
Noor did, and how she did it, with much greater clarity. Yet the "why"
remains, in some sense, as elusive as ever.

Noor Inayat Khan was the great-great-great granddaughter of Tipu
Sultan, the
Muslim ruler of Mysore whose celebrated military prowess stalled the
advance
of East India Company forces at the end of the 18th century. Ever
after, the
British in India treated the family with the utmost suspicion. Yet
Hazrat,
her father, turned his back on this rebel and warrior tradition when he
became a Sufi teacher and founded an order to spread - via music - his
peaceful, tolerant and non-dogmatic faith to the world. A gifted singer
and
instrumentalist from a family of virtuosi, he met his American wife on
tour
in California. By the time Noor was born, in January 1914, the Inayat
Khans
were living and performing in Moscow, and her mother, the former Ora
Ray
Baker, had donned sari and veil as "Amina Begum".

After an infancy in the chilly wartime squares of Bloomsbury, Noor grew
up
in the suburbs of Paris, at "Fazal Manzil": a much-loved house in
Suresnes
outside which a military band still plays in her honour every 14 July.
The
eldest child of four, seen by all as kind, vague and artistic, she
suddenly
had to take charge of the family when her father's death on a visit to
India
in 1927 left her mother immobilised by grief. For the first, but not
the
last, time, crisis turned Noor the dreamer into Noor the leader.

In the 1930s, Noor studied music (especially the harp) at the Paris
conservatory, and child psychology at the Sorbonne. She also became a
talented writer and broadcaster of children's stories. On Amazon you
can
find Noor's Twenty Jataka Tales (1939): charming Buddhist fables in
which,
eerily, animals overcome their fragility to perform feats of bravery
and
sacrifice. At this time, she got engaged to a pianist of Jewish origin,
one
aspect - together with rumours of a later, wartime engagement to a
fellow
British officer - of a still-mysterious emotional life.

After Germany invaded France in June 1940, Noor the Muslim Sufi
pacifist -
and passionate believer in India's right to independence from colonial
rule
- made the moral choice that fixed the course of her life, and death.
She
and her brother Vilayet decided, in the face of Nazi aggression, that
non-violence was not enough. They jointly vowed that they would work -
as
Vilayat told Shrabani Basu in 2003 - "to thwart the aggression of the
tyrant".

Surviving the chaos of the mass flight from Paris to Bordeaux, they
made a
dramatic seaborne escape to England. There, Noor volunteered for the
WAAF
(Women's Auxiliary Air Force) and started on the long road of signals
and
wireless training that would lead her - a woman raised in France,
perfectly
bilingual, and with advanced radio skills - to recruitment as a secret
agent
in November 1942. Selwyn Jepson, the novelist-turned-spy who first
interviewed her for SOE, later found himself remembering Noor with a
"very
personal vividness... the small, still features, the dark quiet eyes,
the
soft voice, and the fine spirit glowing in her". No one ever forgot
Noor, or
ever felt indifferent about her, though some SOE trainers doubted her
suitability for espionage and tried to block her progress into the
field.

They failed, and within days of her arrival in France in June 1943 she
had
proved them wrong. As the broken Prosper network of Resistance cells
collapsed, Noor dodged from safe house to safe house in Paris,
outwitting
the Gestapo and transmitting messages with immense speed and accuracy
in
hostile conditions. "Single-handedly," according to Basu, "she did the
work
of six radio operators." In London, code-master Leo Marks noted that
"her
transmissions were flawless, with all their security checks intact".

With F Section still in disarray, but starting to rebuild thanks to her
work, Noor was finally betrayed in October - probably by Renée Garry,
sister
of her first contact in Paris. Within minutes of being taken to the
Gestapo
HQ at 84 avenue Foch, she had climbed onto a bathroom window ledge in
an
escape attempt. Forced by the Germans to keep up radio transmissions
(the
"radio game" inflicted on captured agents), Noor duly sent the agreed
18-letter signal to alert SOE about her capture. It was ignored: one of
a
catalogue of SOE blunders. Later in her interrogation, she joined with
other
agents to plan another daring escape that involved loosening, and then
removing, the bars on their windows. It almost succeeded - ironically,
a
simultaneous RAF air raid on Paris prompted a sudden security check.

Now viewed as incorrigibly dangerous and uncooperative, Noor was sent
in
November 1942 to Pforzheim prison in Germany, where - bound by three
chains,
in solitary confinement - she endured 10 months of medieval abuse. She
ranked as a Nacht und Nebel ("Night and Fog") inmate, earmarked only
for
oblivion and death. Shackled, starved, beaten, she never talked. Then,
in
September 1944, came the transfer to Dachau along with three other
female
agents, and the end of her sufferings.

Knowing the whole truth - or almost the whole truth - about Noor does
not
make her any less paradoxical. Basu, who quashes so many myths about
this
"Muslim woman of Indian origin who made the highest sacrifice for
Britain",
also stresses that she fervently backed the struggle for Indian
liberty.
Indeed, Noor shocked - and maybe rather impressed - the interview panel
when
she went for an WAAF commission in 1942 by arguing that, after the war,
she
might feel obliged to fight the British in India. That makes her -
although
a commissioned British officer, and a holder of the George Cross - a
curious
national heroine. As for her Muslim identity, the Inayat Khans' brand
of
all-inclusive Sufism would count as heresy or worse to the kind of
hardliner
who now presumes to speak for Islam in and to the West.

The key to her career may be that this child of a liberal, cultured
home
freely chose her fate. She chose to fight Nazism; she chose to do it
alongside the British; she chose the risks of espionage; and she chose
to
stay in Paris when SOE ordered her home. At a memorial service in
Paris,
General de Gaulle's niece summed up her achievement: "Nothing, neither
her
nationality, nor the traditions of her family, none of these obliged
her to
take her position in the war. However, she chose it. It is our fight
that
she chose, that she pursued with an admirable, an invincible courage."
When
she died with "freedom" on her lips, it was hers. And it was ours as
well.

Shrabani Basu's 'Spy Princess: the life of Noor Inayat Khan' is
published by
Sutton Publishing (£18.99). She will be talking with Ian Jack and MRD
Foot
at the Nehru Centre, Indian High Commission, 8 South Audley Street,
London
W1, on 1 March

http://www.google.com/search?q=Noor+Anayat+Khan&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Boyd+Tonkin&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=radio+operator+sent+into+Nazi-occupied+France+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Hans+Josef+Kieffer+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Maurice+%0D%0ABuckmaster&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=Selwyn+Jepson&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.google.com/search?q=+code-master+Leo+Marks+&client=netscape-pp&rls=com.netscape:en-US

http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/publications/CEF_quarterly.htm

http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/publications/CEF_quarterly.htm

Click HERE to access a PDF of the November 2006 CEF Quarterly (1 Mb)

November 2006

Content:

Editor's Note 1

Kazakhstan and the United States in a Changed World, p.7
Evan A. Feigenbaum

The Logic Behind Sino-Iranian Cooperation, p.15
Ilan Berman

NATO Battles the Taliban and Tests Its Future in Afghanistan, p.15
Julianne Smith

Russia’s Energy Leverage over China and the Sinopec-Rosneft Deal, p.31
Nicklas Norling

Kyrgyzstan’s Unfinished Revolution, p.39
Alisher Khamidov

Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy, p.45
Lt. Gen. ® Talat Masood

Pakistan and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, p.51
Rizwan Zeb

Central Asia and China’s Energy Security, p.61
Xuanli Liao

Recreating the Silk Road: The Challenge of Overcoming Transaction Costs, p.71
Alan Lee Boyer

The Ecology of Strategic Interests: China’s Quest for Energy Security from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea to the Caspian Sea Basin, p.97
Tarique Niazi

The Energy Security in Central Eurasia: the Geopolitical Implications to China’s Energy Strategy, p.117
Guo Xuetang

China’s Central Asia Policy in Recent Times, p.139
Ramakant Dwivedi

Politico-military Developments in Central Asia and Emerging Strategic Equations, p.161
Vinod Anand

http://www.silkroadstudies.org/new/inside/publications/CEF_headlines.htm

Headlines:

Security Situation and Regional Cooperation
Economics, Trade, and Assistance
Energy and Natural Resources
Politics
Summits and Meetings

Security Situation and Regional Cooperation

U.S. TAKES OVER NATO FORCE
On February 4, Britain handed over control of the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan
to the United States. At a ceremony in Kabul, Afghan
President Hamid Karzai thanked Commander General David
Richards for Britain's efforts in 2006. U.S. General Dan
McNeill will be in charge of the operation from now on.
During Richards' nine months in charge, the 37-nation ISAF
has increased from 9,000 to more than 33,000 troops.
(Stratfor, February 4)

AFGHAN GOVERNMENT ATTEMPTS TO RETAKE MUSA QALA
On February 4, Taliban fighters attacked Afghan National Army
(ANA) soldiers in Afghanistan's Farah province. The attack
came following the Afghan government's attempts to retake
Musa Qala in southern Afghanistan that has been taken by the
Taliban. It was also reported the same day that Taliban
commander Mullah Ghafour had been killed in an airstrike near
Musa Qala. Taliban fighters overtook southern Afghanistan's
Musa Qala district in Helmand province on February 1.
(Stratfor, February 3-4)

CHINA URGES REPATRIATION OF SUSPECTED TERRORISTS
On February 1, a Foreign Ministry spokesman of the PRC said
China wants the United States to repatriate the suspected
Chinese terrorists being held at Guantanamo Bay as soon as
possible. The spokesperson, Jiang Yu, stressed that the
alleged "East Turkistan" terrorists also "are part of
international terrorist forces."
(Xinhua, February 1)

UZBEK AUTHORITIES ACCUSE UMIDA NIYAZOVA FOR AKRAMIYA
AFFILIATIONS
On January 30, AP reported that Uzbek authorities have
brought new charges against Umida Niyazova, a known human
rights activist, who was arrested last week for alleged
illegal border crossing and smuggling. Uzbek investigators
allege that documents found in Niyazova's laptop link her to
Akramiya, the Islamic group involved in the Andijan uprising
in 2005.
(AP, January 30)

US TO GIVE TAJIK TROOPS COUNTER-TERROR TRAINING
From January 28-March 9, a joint Tajik-US military training
will be held at the training ground of the Fakhrobod military
training complex (35 km southwest of Dushanbe. According to,
the State Committee on National Security of Tajikistan [SCNS]
a group of US infantrymen will teach sub-units of the Tajik
special task force and the Tajik border troops tactics in the
fight against armed extremist groups.
(Asia-Plus, January 25)

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 10 AFGHAN LABORERS NEAR NATO BASE
On January 23, at least 10 Afghan laborers were killed and
more than 14 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up
outside the NATO-led Salerno base of the International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the eastern city of
Khost. All the dead and injured were civilians.
(Times of Central Asia, January 24)

SCO'S NEW SECRETARY-GENERAL ASSUMES OFFICE
On January 22, the newly-elected Secretary-General of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Bolat Nurgaliev
assumed office in Beijing. Bolat Nurgaliev had served as vice
foreign minister of Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan's ambassador to
the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan.
(Xinhua, January 22)

TOP TALEBAN SPOKESMAN ARRESTED
On January 22, Afghan intelligence agents said that a leading
spokesman for the Taleban had been arrested near the Pakistan
border. Intelligence service spokesman Sayed Ansari named him
as Dr Muhammad Hanif, who has been Taleban spokesman since
October 2005. Mr Ansari said Dr Hanif was detained in the
border town of Towr Kham in Nangarhar province after crossing
the Afghan-Pakistan border.
(BBC, January 22)

KYRGYZ POLICE OFFICER KILLED IN GUNFIGHT
On January 19, a member of the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry's
special purpose detachment died in a special operation on
Bishkek's outskirts in the village of Prigorodnyy. According
to Kyrgyz 24 kg news-website, the special operation targeted
two criminals, who were notorious Rysbek Akmatbayev's [crime
boss shot dead by unknown gunmen in 2006] close accomplices.
(BBC via 24kg website, January 19)

THE DIRECTOR OF THE KYRGYZ KARA SUU MARKET KILLED
On January 19, the Kyrgyz Interior Ministry stated that the
director of one of the largest bazaars in Central Asia, the
Kara Suu Market in the Kyrgyz south, had been gunned down in
his home. The killing of Yrysbek Jooshbekov follows a pattern
of similar murders in the past few years. The Kara Suu
market's previous director, Abdalim Junusov was shot dead
along with his driver in September 2005. Weeks after
the murder of Junusov, unknown assailants killed the market's
previous owner, controversial lawmaker Bayaman Erkinbayev.
(AP, January 19)

continued..............

Apart from the premise that terrorist networks can be analyzed like
online
communities, the major flaw in this presentation is that there is no
limiting factor on the number of 150 member organizations that can be
associated; nor is there a limit on the number of cells that can be
created
within organizations.

In fact, al-Qaeda is organized as an association of virtually unlimited
cells and autonomous organizations...all with the same goals and
ideology.

-posters comment above, not mine:

http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/03/what_is_the_opt.html

Wednesday, March 24, 2004

THE OPTIMAL SIZE OF A TERRORIST NETWORK

Distributed, dynamic terrorist networks cannot scale like hierarchical
networks. The same network design that makes them resiliant against
attack
puts absolute limits on their size. If so, what are those limits?

A good starting point is to look at limits to group size within
peaceful
online communities on which we have extensive data -- terrorist
networks are
essentially geographically dispersed online communities. Chris
http://www.lifewithalacrity.com/2004/03/the_dunbar_numb.html

Allen
does a
good job analyzing optimal group size with his critique of the Dunbar
number.

His analysis (replete with examples) shows that there is a gradual
fall-off
in effectiveness at 80 members, with an absolute fall-off at 150
members.
The initial fall-off occurs, according to Chris, due to an increasing
amount
of effort spent on "grooming" the group to maintain cohesion. The
absolute
fall-off at 150 members occurs when grooming fails to stem
dissatisfaction
and dissension, which causes the group to cleave apart into smaller
subgroups (that may remain affiliated).

Al Qaeda may have been able to grow much larger than this when it ran
physical training camps in Afghanistan. Physical proximity allowed al
Qaeda
to operate as a hierarchy along military lines, complete with middle
management (or at least a mix of a hierarchy in Afghanistan and a
distributed network outside of Afghanistan). Once those camps were
broken
apart, the factors listed above were likely to have caused the
fragmentation
we see today (lots of references to this in the news).

This leads us to optimal group size, which according to Chris Allen's
online
group analysis, can be seen at two levels: both small and medium sized.
Small, viable (in that they can be effective at tasks) groups (or
cells) are
optimized at 7-8 members. A lower boundary can be seen at 5 (with
groups
less than 5 not having sufficient resources to be effective) and an
upper
boundary at 9. Medium sized groups are optimal at 45-50 members, with a
lower limit of 25 and an upper limit of 80. Between these levels is a
chasm
that must be surmounted with significant peril to the group. This is
due to
the need for groups above 9-10 members to have some level of
specialization
by function. This specialization requires too much management oversight
to
be effective given the limited number of participants in each function.
At
25 members, the group gains positive returns on specialization given
the
management effort applied (a break-even point).

This chasm (between 9-25 members) nicely matches the problem period in
the
development of terrorist and guerrilla networks that studies of
guerrilla
groups refer to. The amount of damage a small (7-8 member) group can do
is
limited to narrow geographies and therefore does not represent a major
threat. Once a network grows to 45-50 members, they can mount large
attacks
across multiple geographies. They are also very difficult to eliminate
due
to geographically dispersion of cells. However, during the transition
to a
larger group they are vulnerable to disruption. This vulnerability
necessitates fast counter-terrorist action (this gives credibility to
the
military strategists who claim we didn't have enough troops in Iraq
immediately after the war, nor were we quick enough to establish
martial
law) during that short period of time a network is transitioning in
size.

This size dynamic can also be seen in criminal organizations. The mafia
(BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1998026.stm

despite
their
widespread influence, has closely mirrored the limits on group size:

* The Genoveses are the largest of the five families in New York and
they recruited nine new foot soldiers, bring their total to 152.

* The Gambinos, had a terrible year from 2000-2001, losing 33 members,
but they still managed to retain 130, making them the second largest in
terms of manpower.

* Meanwhile the Luccheses have initiated three more gangsters, lifting
them to third place with a total of 113 hoods on the streets, according
to
FBI reports.

A recent Washington Post article on Islamic terrorist cells in Iraq
says:

Dempsey said he estimated there were only about 100 "foreign
terrorists" in
Baghdad, organized into about six cells. In Anbar province, which
stretches
across western Iraq and includes the strife-torn cities of Ramadi and
Fallujah, Maj. Gen. Charles H. Swannack Jr. of the 82nd Airborne
Division
said he believed there were a total of 50 to 80 foreign fighters in
eight to
10 cells.

This indicates a cell size (the optimal size of the smallest viable
network)
of between 5-12 members.

Note: The limits on organizational size does not mean that terrorist or
crime organizations can't expand their ranks on a temporary basis.
There are
plenty of "contract" employees available. Also, there is also the
potential
for intergroup cooperation (we see this in both crime and terrorism).

Posted by John Robb on Wednesday, March 24, 2004 at 11:54 AM |
Permalink
http://globalguerrillas.typepad.com/globalguerrillas/2004/03/what_is_the_opt.html

Secret Camps Offer Operational Courses in Jihad Tactics

â–º
http://www.jamestown.org/terrorism/news/article.php?articleid=2369943

â–º Jamestown Foundation / by Stephen Ulph

Mar 29 2006 â–º Mar 28. An interesting recent posting on the Abu
al-Bokhary jihadi forum (http://www.abualbokhary.net/) provides some useful
insight about the current conditions and the priorities in the training
of mujahideen. The anonymous author of a "Basic Course for Beginners in
Secret Mujahideen Camps," describes a "five day course for first
beginners in jihadist activity." He states that it is derived from practical
experience in a fast-tightening environment, in which "time is against
the brothers, and in which there is the necessity to train by any means
available." This means camps "in secluded places whose existence is
limited to one week." After first detailing the type of equipment,
communications and weaponry to be brought, the posting gives an hour-by-hour
program of events.

DAY ONE of the course is taken up with constructing the camp and
establishing the group dynamics of the 14-member team, apportioning roles and
appointing the amir (commander). The 30-by-10 meter site of the camp is
to contain a mosque, sleeping rooms, latrine and kitchen, for each of
which the details on measurements, location and camouflage are provided.
Time is to be set aside for instilling the importance of discipline,
"the fear of God and obedience to the amir" and of banishing levity,
while each day is to contain time slots both for physical training and
spiritual exercises in the form of readings from the Quran.

On DAY TWO the military training begins in earnest and includes the
following sections:

--Hand weapons: assembly and disassembly of revolvers and Kalashnikovs;

--Training in Islamic law and appropriate Islamic conduct;

--Lessons in night patrols and the use of security measures, such as
passwords.

DAY THREE is made up of lessons that may last from 30 minutes up to one
hour and include the following subjects:

--The concealment of light weapons in clothing: how to conceal a
Kalashnikov in the clothing of two persons and maneuver with these
Kalashnikov parts; practice in throwing the parts from one to another while
moving;

--Assassination techniques: throttling, knife assault, obtaining the
enemy's knife, how and where to deal fatal blows to the body;

--Setting up cells, maneuvering and communications between them;

--Bodyguard duties and the defense of the commander;

--Maneuvering while armed or firing the weapon;

--Map reading, route analysis and distance calculation, and determining
the enemy's armor;

--Rapid trench digging, dugouts behind enemy lines, camouflage;

--Intelligence gathering, the planning and study of targets, and access
and escape.

DAY FOUR is devoted to live-fire exercises. The course lays emphasis on
the use of silencers for training exercises, the importance of
collecting and burying spent cartridges and the restoration of the area to its
pristine state after use. Courses then follow on discreet food
preparation, cooking and storage of food supplies for up to two weeks.

DAY FIVE consists of a performance assessment by the commander and
elaborate measures to disguise the camp's brief existence. An unexpected
feature of this last day is the time given to lessons on the life and
military campaigns of the Prophet Muhammad, on the nature of God and the
Afterlife and the punishments of Hell. A feature of this section, with
no further details offered, is the "instilling of fear in others of Hell
and of God's punishments."

The author finally concludes with the promise to provide more
information subsequently on details of the course. Immediately noticeable from
the posting is the sense of concern that training should to be carried
out under greater levels of secrecy and in ever-shorter timeframes than
before. Some of these camps, the author explains, "have lasted less
than two days, made up of 48- or 72-hour courses." It is also interesting
to note that even under such perilous conditions, elements relating to
doctrine are still retained.

The Middle East on a Collision Course 5 : Iran Steps up Threats to Retaliate 8 February 2007 memri.org

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Special Dispatch-Iran
February 9, 2007
No. 1457

The Middle East on a Collision Course (5): Iran Steps up Threats to
Retaliate in the Event of an American Attack

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD145707 .

Alongside intensive contacts with Saudi Arabia aimed at halting the
deterioration in the Middle East and at resolving the crisis in the
region, Iran has in the last three weeks also voiced increasingly
severe
threats to harm Western forces and interests, both in the Middle East
and
outside it. It has also threatened to use the "oil weapon," i.e. to
stop
the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.

The following are the main points of recent threats by Iran:

Threats Against U.S. Forces and Interests in the Middle East and
Against Israel

In a meeting with Iranian air force commanders on February 8, 2007,
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened that any attack by the
U.S.
would be met with a forceful Iranian response: "[The U.S.] is not
frightening the Iranian nation with its [threats of attack]. After all,
hasn't America attacked Iran before? Moreover, the enemies know well
that
any aggression [on their part] will be met with a forceful response on
the part of the entire Iranian nation against the aggressors and
against
their interests all over the world."(1)

In a February 8, 2007speech, Expediency Council Chairman Ali Akbar
Hashemi Rafsanjani, who is considered the No. 2 figure in the Iranian
regime, warned the U.S. that "any military attack on Iran will cost the
enemies of Islam dearly."

Iranian Expediency Council Secretary Mohsen Rezai warned the U.S. of
the serious consequences it could expect if it attacked Iran: "The
Iranian people will deal... America 10 slaps in the face, so that it
will
never be able to again show a presence [in the region].... America
knows
that the Iranian people are completely different from the Iraqi people
and the Afghani people, and therefore Iran cannot be dealt with by
means
of a military strategy..."(2)

During a conference at the Revolutionary Guards Naval Forces
headquarters, Revolutionary Guards Corps Commander Yahya Rahim Safavi
threatened
that "in the event of [the realization] of any kind of military threat,
even limited or local, Iran's armed forces will provide a crushing and
inconceivable response against the invaders, and will endanger the
interests of the foreigners in the region... Any kind of attack on Iran
will bring in its wake American humiliation in the world..."(3)

Iranian Defense Minister: "Iran's Reaction [To An Attack] Will Be Such
That It Will Cause the Invaders to Forever Regret their Action..."

In a February 6, 2007 interview, Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Najar
told Al-Jazeera TV: "There is no doubt that any threat against Iran
will meet with the most deterring and destructive aggressive force, and
its reaction will be such that it will cause the invaders to forever
regret their action... We say to America that if it ignites the fire of
war, it will doubtless engulf the White House more than it burns
others..."(4)

Kayhan: "[When] the Mighty Missiles Are Launched from Iran, Israel Will
Become a Scorching Hell for the Zionists"

A January 22, 2007 editorial titled "Is War on the Way?" in the Iranian
daily Kayhan, which is affiliated with Iranian Supreme Leader Ali
Khamenei, noted that an attack on Iran would bring harsh Iranian
retaliation
against U.S. forces in the Middle East, their allies, and Israel:
"...Even though all the signs indicate that America's threats of a
military
strike against Iran are [nothing but] psychological warfare... the
option [of a military strike], however small and negligible, must not
be
discounted. Senior Iranian officials must maneuver Iran's resources and
levers of power, and place them on the alert [for possible action],
while preparing all the means and making all the necessary arrangements
for
the fateful day which may come... Fortunately, we are already prepared
and on alert... The victory of Hizbullah – which is the symbol of
Islamic Iran's strength – in its 33-day war in Lebanon, and the
political and security earthquake in Israel, cannot be denied...

"The Americans must be warned of the terrible consequences that await
them and their allies should they act foolishly. The American soldiers
[stationed] to the east and west of the Iranian [border] are in range
of
our fire. [When] the mighty missiles are launched from Iran, Israel
will become a scorching hell for the Zionists, [in which they will
burn]
before reaching actual Hell. Some 24 million of the 30 million barrels
of oil produced daily by OPEC pass through the Strait of Hormuz. Some
of
the Arab states in the region... will not only face a large economic
and social crisis – their very existence will be in serious danger...

"The clever and civilized people of Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, and large
parts of Saudi Arabia will seize upon this security crisis in the
region
as the best possible opportunity to take revenge upon their
governments. The Americans, of course, have already tasted the
bitterness of
military conflict with Iran during the Iran-Iraq war. Back then, the
Islamic
Republic of Iran was a newly born state with limited resources and
capabilities, [whereas] today..."(5)

In another editorial, on February 5, 2007, Kayhan noted that "if Iran
wanted, and if it distanced itself somewhat from seeking peace, the
region would change completely... NATO forces in Afghanistan, the U.S.
Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, the British soldiers in southern Iraq, and
every
element identified with the American camp would see his death tangibly
in
front of his eyes..."(6)

Elements in Revolutionary Guards Threaten to Abduct U.S. Troops

In a January 29, 2007 article titled "Cheaper and Easier than Chinese
Goods" in the Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq, which is the mouthpiece of
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei circulated among the Revolutionary
Guards, elements in the Revolutionary Guards threatened to abduct U.S.
soldiers around the world: "Top American officials must understand that
because they deploy their troops in Iraq, Afghanistan, Central Asia and
the Caucasus, Pakistan, India, the African continent, Latin America,
and even in Europe, capturing them and transferring them to any
destination is easier than preparing a container of cheap Chinese goods
[for
shipment].

"When the American security officers fall easily to the untrained and
inexperienced Mahdi Army forces, and when a senior [Israeli] Mossad
official is liquidated at the wave of a hand in Paris, and when a ship
belonging to the English forces disappears in the Arvand River [in the
Persian Gulf] under unclear circumstances – all these can constitute a
clear message to those who entertain false imaginings in their minds...
All it would take is for [Iran] to open its wallet a little [to its
supporters in various parts of the world], and we will witness long
lines
of blond, blue-eyed officers who will become the prisoners of the
fighting cocks who wait only for a signal – and a word to the wise is
sufficient."(7)

In addition, Heshmatollah Falahat-Pishe, member of Iran's Parliamentary
National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said: "There is a
possibility of the outbreak of spreading war in the region, and this is
because Iran has red lines that will be crossed [even] by the entrance
of a
single missile and by [any preparation] for war... Iran's red lines are
different from those of the other countries. [The Americans] know very
well that in the event of an attack on Iran, American interests in the
[Middle East] region will be targeted, which would endanger 26% of the
world's energy sources."(8)

Iran Threatens to Use the "Oil Weapon"

Various elements in Iran's political arena threatened to use the "oil
weapon" in the event of a U.S. attack on Iran, and to interfere with
the
oil supply to the West by closing the Strait of Hormuz.

Elham Amin-Zadeh, member of Iran's Parliamentary National Security and
Foreign Policy Committee, said: "There can be no reservations regarding
Iran's being the strongest country in the Persian Gulf. We have a great
deal of say in the Strait of Hormuz, and this means that we can use
various tools in this region... If we apply temporary restrictions in
this
region [i.e. the Strait of Hormuz], the blow will be to the countries
that use this maritime passage, temporarily or permanently..."(9)

Heshmatollah Falahat-Pishe said: "The military threat to Iran in the
Persian Gulf and the Straits of Hormuz is a threat to 46% [sic] of the
world's oil and energy [supply], and this is considered the most
strategic energy [source] in the world... Instability in this region
may
undermine the world economy, and it is Iran, more than any other
[country],
that guarantees the security of this strategic waterway... Under
certain
circumstances of insecurity, these passageways will easily fall into
difficulties, and in this way the flow of oil will cease... The
countries
that host the American soldiers in the region are considered to bear
the chief responsibility for the insecurity of the Persian Gulf..."(10)

Majlis Energy Committee Chairman: "Iran Has Total Control Over the
Strait of Hormuz, Which is the Most Important Route in the World
Supplying
Energy to the West"

Majlis Energy Committee Chairman Kamal Daneshyar said: "Iran has total
control over the Strait of Hormuz, which is the most important route in
the world supplying energy to the West... Sparking insecurity in this
region will ignite a fire that cannot be easily extinguished. The
statesmen of the world know that Iran plays a major and critical role
in the
Persian Gulf region, and that it enjoys power and greatness due to its
geographic location, its Islamic ideology, its revolutionary
leadership, its executive capability, and its military capability... If
the
American forces carry out any operation aimed at striking at Iran's
interests, we will defend our interests in this region, and we will
endanger
America's security in the Persian Gulf."(11)

Endnotes:
(1) ISNA (Iran), February 8, 2007.
(2) Mehr (Iran), January 20, 2007.
(3) Fars (Iran), February 3, 2007.
(4) Aftab (Iran), February 6, 2007.
(5) Kayhan (Iran), January 22, 2007.
(6) Kayhan (Iran), February 5, 2007.
(7) Sobh-e Sadegh (Iran), January 29, 2007.
(8) ISNA (Iran), January 31, 2007.
(9) Mehr (Iran), January 20, 2007.
(10) Mehr (Iran), Iran, January 20, 2007.
(11) Mehr (Iran), January 20, 2007.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the
Middle East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as
background
information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used
with proper attribution.

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI)
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
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House of Jihad (back)

Febraury 5, 2007

by Niles Lathem

This building is ramshackle and nondescript from the outside.

But inside, trained Hezbollah operatives are plotting to carry out their fanatical leader's desire for 'armed resistance - jihad' - against U.S. troops in Iraq .

The building, near Basra , houses one of three branches that the Lebanese terrorist group has set up in Shiite southern Iraq .

The others are in Nasiriyah and in a village near the Kuwait border.

Hezbollah, which means Party of God, is a Shiite militia and political group backed by Iran .

As the war began, it was believed that the group would focus on its religious and charitable work and thus would pose no threat to U.S. forces in Iraq .

But as rhetoric between Tehran and the Bush administration heated up in recent months, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah signaled a newly bellicose stance toward Americans in Iraq .

'The American occupation poses a danger to the Iraqi people and to the region,' Nasrallah declared in a Jan. 19 interview with his group's al-Manar TV.

'We support the option of a comprehensive Iraqi resistance, with all its aspects, especially the military aspect. We believe that the solution in Iraq begins with adopting the option of armed resistance - jihad against the occupation forces,' he ranted, according to a translation provided by the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute.

Members of 'Hezbollah in Iraq' are believed to be Iraqis who received training in Iran and Lebanon from what is considered the most sophisticated terrorist group in the world.

According to U.S. military and Iraqi officials, the business of kidnapping, assassination and arming militias goes hand-in-hand with spreading Hezbollah's religious and political ideology.

U.S. officials said Hezbollah operatives from Iran and Lebanon have been in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's fall, and they function openly in the towns where branches have been set up with the tacit approval of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi government.

U.S. intelligence officials said there also was evidence during this summer's armed conflict with Israel that Iraqi Shiites - trained in Hezbollah camps along the Iraq-Iran border - were fighting Israeli troops.

Many have returned home and have been active in the sectarian violence that has engulfed portions of Iraq , these officials said.

Intelligence officials also suspect that some of the sophisticated improvised-explosive devices now being used against U.S. troops were designed by Hezbollah's master bomb makers.

Similar devices were discovered by Israeli forces during the Lebanese conflict, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Iraqi photographer who took this picture of Hezbollah's headquarters apologized for its poor quality.

The only way to get it without bringing out snipers - or having a midnight visit from a death squad - was to drive by very quickly and snap the shot, the photographer explained.

Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/02052007/news/worldnews/ house_of_jihad_worldnews_niles_lathem___post_ correspondent.htm

The Rise of al-Qaeda (back)

February 4, 2007

by Rahul Bhonsle

Fears of the rise of Al Qaeda are being expressed in the counter terrorism community. The US Department of Defence Intelligence Chief during his Annual briefing on terrorism indicated that the Al Qaeda had rejuvenated and was on the rise. A secure leadership in Pakistan with a strong link of operational connections with groups in Europe, North Africa and Middle East provided the back drop for this estimate. The network of the organization and the cults spawned by the Al Qaeda was evident with the head of Britain's MI5 indicating that her organization was tracking, '200 terrorist networks including 1600 suspects and 30 high priority plots' as per a report in the Christian Science Monitor. Other intelligence agencies including that of the USA would also be actively trailing many terrorist organizations across the globe, thus highlighting the spread of the terror network. There are also fears of battle hardened fighters leaving Iraq due to American pressure to fight in other areas. After the blooding in the intense conflict environment of Baghdad , these will have enhanced potency. India was witness to the potential of such an upsurge after fighters from Afghanistan trickled into Kashmir , greatly increasing the effectiveness of militancy in the area in the early 1990's. Another indication is the publication of Al Qaeda's old journal, the Sawt Al Jihad which has recommenced in Saudi Arabia .

The growth of a large number of smaller organizations raised in various parts of the World increasingly acknowledging their allegiance to the Al Qaeda is alarming. This clearly indicates the next dimension of the Al Qaeda from an organization to a movement. The institutionalized roots, status and seeming legitimacy of a movement makes it much more pervasive and dangerous. The spread of Al Qaeda is noticeable in Algeria , Egypt , Indonesia , Philippines , Saudi Arabia and Yemen . A number of terrorist cells have spawned in Europe as is confirmed by the British MI 5 chief which spells danger in EU countries in the months ahead.

The main Al Qaeda backed operation has occurred in Somalia . In June 2006 as reported in South Asia Security Trends July 2006 and security-risks.com, Al Qaeda got a state with a capital in Mogadishu . However the Islamic Courts Union was not able to consolidate and the Somali government which was supported by the United Nations regained control with the backing of Ethiopian forces. There is no doubt that American pressure and support enabled Ethiopia to act and facilitated eviction of the Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda escapees were targeted by the United States fighters on the Somalia-Kenyan border. However a number of fighters could have escaped as the guerrillas in Somalia rather quickly withdrew indicating that they had melted to fight another day.

Searching for Osama Bin Laden may have lost relevance. The key to defeat the Al Qaeda will have to be another movement which is a non crusade, a movement of secular globalism. The problem is non violence gets you neither fame nor a fortune.

Source: http://desicritics.org/2007/02/04/003936.php

Bad Year Ahead for Cyber-crime, Cyber-terrorism (back)

February 5, 2007

According to information released by Risk Bloggers, security and risk management experts around the world predict information security events will occur in 2007, with sophisticated criminal groups increasingly exploiting technology to keep one step ahead of consumer and corporate defenses, resulting in unprecedented losses.

Some key vulnerabilities cited were large groups of zombie computers organized into Botnets, web server security holes and uncontrolled mobile devices, such as portable storage and smart phones.

'Attack methodologies will become dramatically more sophisticated and dangerous,' said Dave Cullinane, Chief Information Security Officer and co-founder of the Alliance for Enterprise Security Risk Management. 'The risk of cyber-terrorism will continue to increase as world tensions increase. Lack of preparation and plans to deal with the consequences place countries and businesses at significant risk.'

Security expert and best selling author Ira Winkler feels these attacks will often use Botnets. 'Botnets will create the largest losses and potentially large scale Internet outages. Botnets enable spam, spim, phishing attacks, distributed denial of service attacks, extortion, etc. The attacks result in billions of dollars of thefts, millions of dollars of extortion, and billions of dollars in productivity loss.'

The experts also cited a related threat, the web browser security problem. The Chief Technology Officer of Atlanta-based security company SPI Dynamics, Caleb Sima, stated that web tools that are used by software developers are the key enabler for these hackers. He adds that in 2007, 'The security of the web application becomes the #1 concentration of security teams.'

Joel Scambray, Chief Strategy Officer of Leviathan Security and noted author, says in addition, corporations are increasingly losing control of their own networks, '...applications and data continue to perforate everything (inbound and out) and mobility proliferates beyond anything we've yet imagined.'

Of the experts interviewed, none expect any significant action by the government to address these issues this year and some felt that businesses do not have the basic understanding of how important information security and the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) are to these threats. According to Scambury, CISO job security is tenuous and to 'expect more churn as exec management continues to struggle with how to integrate security as a business imperative rather than a bolt-on.'

From a business point of view, the information security industry may break out of its many year drought of initial public offerings (IPOs). A partner with a leading venture capital firm, Greylock Partners, Asheem Chandna says, 'It has been many years since we have seen any security companies go public. We will see 3+ security company IPOs on Nasdaq in 2007. The security sector will remain over funded, though we will see a decline of new venture dollars into the security sector in 2007. 2007 will continue to be an active year for security M&A (mergers and acquisitions).'

Source: http://www.accountingweb.com/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=103119

Terrorist Compounds Inside United States (back)

February 6, 2007

by Martin Mawyer

In one of the most callous displays of indecency toward the victims of 9/11, Charlotte County , Virginia has a road sign named after an international terrorist, called ' Sheikh Gilani Lane .'

Charlotte County is a rural farming community in Central Virginia near the North Carolina border. It is peppered with hills, trees and farmland and populated by some of the most patriotic citizens in the country.

Furthermore, Charlotte County can proudly say that it is the home of one of America’s most beloved founding fathers, Patrick Henry, who is best remembered for his 'Give me liberty or give me death' speech.

Now, regrettably, Charlotte County is also known for being the only community in the United States that has a road sign named after an international terrorist.

Sheikh Mubarak Gilani is not a household name. But he is well known by the media, law enforcement officials and counterterrorism experts. His terrorist organization, called Jamaat al-Fuqra (Community of the Poor) has been linked to 17 fire bombings and 10 assassinations in the United States alone.

Most famously, Sheikh Gilani rose to national attention in January 2002, when Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and then beheaded while attempting to arrange an interview with the Pakistani cleric.

Daniel Pearl was following up on a lead that Richard Reid, the so-called 'shoe bomber' who attempted to blow up American Airlines Flight 63, was an al-Fuqra operative who was trained by Sheikh Gilani.

Sheikh Gilani dismissed Daniel Pearl’s claims and countered Pearl was really a US intelligence operative who wanted to find him and then have him assassinated. 'Obviously, Daniel Pearl was to target me and then an assassination team would be sent to kill me,' Sheikh Gilani stated his 'Pillar of Lies' autobiography.

Sheikh Gilani formed his al-Fuqra terror network in the early 80s after a visit to Brooklyn , New York . The goal of his organization, according to the US State Department, was to 'purify Islam through violence.'

Almost immediately upon his arrival, the Sheikh began recruiting African-American Muslims into his terrorist network. Some were recruited off the streets, some out of mosques, while others were recruited from American prisons. Most disturbingly, however, Sheikh Gilani recruited some of his followers out the United States military.

In a recruitment video, Sheikh Gilani made clear his goals:

'We have reached out and prepared [recruits] to defend themselves in a highly specialized training of guerrilla warfare...We are at present establishing training camps.'

The enemy included America .

'We are not fighting so that the enemy recognizes us and offers something. We are fighting to destroy the enemy. We are dealing with evil at its roots and its roots are America .'

Sheikh Gilani even wrote poems to help inspire his troops to violent Jihad. One poem was called, 'We dhikr [pray] to the beat of a submachine gun.' Another poem exhorted: 'Come join my troops and army / says our Sheikh Gilani / Prepare to sacrifice your head / A true believer is never dead / Say ‘Victory is in the air’ / The kafir’s [infidel’s] blood will not be spared.'

With recruits in hand, Sheikh Gilani established two terror organizations in the United States . One was called, 'Muslims of America.' The other, ' International Open Quranic University .'

Through these two groups, Sheikh Gilani began purchasing property in mostly rural, wooded and mountainous communities in America . According to a study funded by the Department of Justice, al-Fuqra has nearly two-dozen terrorist compounds inside the United States .

Sheikh Gilani, himself, claims to have between 10,000 and 15,000 followers in America with a presence in 22 states.

One of those compounds was called Trout Creek Pass and was located near Buena Vista , Colorado . In 1989, Colorado police raided a storage locker rented by the disciples of Sheikh Gilani’s. What they found was shocking.

Here is a partial list of the items:

Ten handguns and silencers

40 pounds of explosives

Target-practice silhouettes pierced with bullet holes

3 large pipe bombs, fused and ready to explode

A manual on 'Guerilla Warfare'

AK 47s

6,000 rounds of ammo

Bomb-making instructions

Blank birth certificates and Social Security cards

Perhaps most alarming, Colorado law enforcement officials also found 'Targeting Packets,' which were described as assassination papers on selected individuals. One of those targeted individuals was a rival Muslim cleric in Tucson , Arizona , named Rashad Khalifa.

Days after discovering the four-page plan to murder the cleric, Khalifa was lying in a pool of blood, dead after being stabbed 17 times. The assassination was a 'carbon copy' of the handwritten plan found in the Colorado storage locker.

Two individuals would later be convicted in his murder, James D. Williams and Nicholas Edward Flinton.

Both were arrested years after the crime, in 1996. Williams was arrested in Lynchburg, Va. Flinton was arrested in South Carolina after hiding out for five years in a al-Fuqra camp in Meherrin, VA. The Meherrin terrorist compound sits just 35 miles from the al-Fuqra camp in Red House, VA.

Al-Fuqra members recruited by Sheikh Gilani are trained in the nearly two-dozen terrorist compounds in America . Those who are selected to live on the compounds agree to 'abide by the law and discipline of Jamaat al-Fuqra.'

Recruits also agree to sign an oath stating: 'I shall always hear and obey, and whenever given the command, I shall readily fight for Allah’s sake.'

The most loyal and faithful followers are then sent to Pakistan to more extensive training in guerilla warfare.

At a 2001 bond hearing for a Red House convict named Vicente Rafael Pierre, ATF Special Agent Thomas Gallagher told the court: 'Individuals from the organization are trained in Hancock, N.Y., and if they pass the training in Hancock they are then sent to Pakistan for training in paramilitary and survivalist training by Mr. Gilani...We have information from an informant that one individual from Red House did further his training by going to Afghanistan.'

In a 2006 'Threat Assessment' report conducted by Canadian officials, the scope of recruitment by Sheikh Gilani is chilling:

'The Fuqra believe criminally oriented converts are ideal recruits as they are susceptible to rejecting Western values and adopting militant interpretations of Islam. With this philosophy in mind, the Fuqra targets Afro-American converts with criminal backgrounds for recruitment.'

The current danger of Sheikh Gilani and his al-Fuqra camps have not gone unnoticed by American law enforcement officials either.

In a 2005 Department of Homeland Security report called the 'Integrated Planning Guidance Report,' Homeland Security warned, 'Other predicted possible sponsors of attacks include Jamaat al-Fuqra, a Pakistani-based group that has been linked to Muslims of America.'

In Charlotte County a Red House terrorist camp boldly boasts in a large, green entrance sign that it is a part of 'Muslims of America.' The very same organization the Department of Homeland Security has 'predicted' will sponsor a terrorist attack upon America .

Near that audacious sign sits another sign...a road sign named ' Sheikh Gilani Lane '...a known international terrorist...a road sign that can be found on the maps of Charlotte County and even on a vehicle’s GPS system.

This is not only an embarrassment to the citizens of Charlotte County it is a disgrace to the entire country and an insult to the victims of 9/11 and those fighting overseas in the war against terrorism.

Patrick Henry said, 'Give me Liberty or Give me Death.' The motto of Sheikh Gilani and his terror compounds is only, 'Give me Death.'

This road sign must be removed. Get involved. Here are the addresses and phone numbers to the Charlotte County Board of Supervisors, the only political authorities who currently have the power to take this disgraceful sign down.

Write them. Call them. Email them.

Source: http://www.christianaction.org/sheikh_gilani_runs_terrorist_ compounds_in_america.htm

[this has been posted before, but should be with the other U.S. cell post, so will repost it]

Sleeper Cells in the United States and Canada (back)

February 2, 2007

There is every reason to suspect that we will endure suicide missions by Islamist sleeper cells. They are already in place. They are waiting for the right time. I know this from experience.

I have worked over 15 years as a U.S. Federal Agent, a U.S. State Department Arabic linguist, and the first civilian Federal Agent deployed into Iraq at the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Since returning from Iraq I have been involved in terrorism analysis, specifically the mindset of terrorists. During my extensive research on sleeper cells I have talked with hundreds of people from the Middle East from all walks of life, and have talked with Iraqi Government officials, Iraqi military, and Iraqi police officers. In addition I have interviewed numerous counter-terrorism specialists in the U.S. and abroad. In the last year alone I have trained over 4000 U.S. Law Enforcement officers in Basic Investigative Arabic and counter-terrorism. The conclusion of my research is the title of this article.

Before I departed for the Middle East in 2003 I had been assigned to Kirtland AFB, NM. Kirtland has some of the best scientists in the world working on U.S. Government projects. I had been working closely with these scientists who specialized in nuclear energy, directed energy, laser technology, bio-weapons and more. I fully understand the impact if suicide bombers begin progressing from conventional explosives to unconventional methods.

The Middle East

In Jan 2003, I was assigned to Arar Air Base Saudi Arabia . Arar is located near the border of Iraq . My mission was to interact with Saudi military officials in order to determine the support we could expect from the Saudi government, to determine if Iraqis were monitoring the activities of the U.S. forces at Arar, and to infiltrate the encampments of the Bedouin community (Saudis and Iraqis living in the desert of Arar ). This involved leaving the relatively safe confines of Arar Air Base and driving to the Bedouin camps.

It was most important the Saudis did not know we were leaving the compound because they had forbidden us to do so. Four U.S. special Agents would use our ATV's and/or four wheel drive vehicles to conduct these missions. The Saudi Government had active spies collecting information pertaining to our troop strength, our weapons, and any other intelligence they could obtain. The Saudis were providing the intelligence to the Saudi Government, and we were very confident it was also being passed to Iraqi intelligence.

During January 2003 and Feb 2003, Saudi Intelligence officers would boast that the American military was overreacting about Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction. Their bravery changed as we approached the invasion of Iraq in Mar 2003. The high-ranking Saudi officers were scrambling to obtain gas masks and other protective equipment. They knew their equipment was substandard and they wanted U.S.-made protective equipment. We gave them some of ours. The Saudi Intelligence officers were visibly frightened about a potential chemical, biological, or nuclear attack and expressed their fears. This was my first confirmation Saddam Hussein still had WMD material and the capability to use them.

The Saudis knew Saddam had WMD and would use them if he had the opportunity.

When I arrived in Nasiriyah , Iraq (after the start of war) my team and I immediately began interviewing (in the field) Iraqis from all walks of life to determine where the WMD sites were located. At the beginning of the war Iraqis were very helpful and provided us exact locations and proof WMD was at certain locations (primarily southern Iraq because Saddam knew the UN Weapons Inspectors had seldom inspected any locations in this area). They had always focused in northern Iraq .

Four primary suspected WMD sites were located. We tried from April until July 2003 to have the Iraq Survey Group come and excavate these sites. They advised us they did not have the manpower nor the heavy equipment needed to excavate the sites, which were underground bunkers (beneath waterways). We were frustrated. I have received information from various sources that the WMD I had attempted to have excavated was subsequently looted (after the war) and transferred to Syria .

While in Iraq we determined the following:

1. Russian activity in Iraq had been rampant several months prior to the war and up until the day before the invasion.

2. Iranians were infiltrating southern Iraq by the thousands and were preparing to assist insurgents in removing U.S. forces from Iraq .

3. We found numerous pieces of evidence indicating WMD were in Iraq before the war began and some were still in Iraq .

4. I and other agents were informed by Iraqis that a civil war would erupt and violence against U.S. forces would increase due to the Iranian and Russian influence.

All of this information was provided through intelligence channels, but was ignored. Today we are seeing the results of our intelligence being ignored in 2003.

Vulnerability at home

Upon returning from Iraq I left Federal Service to pursue a career educating U.S. law enforcement in the U.S. I wrote a book titled 'Arabic for law enforcement and military'. During my lectures to local, county, and state law enforcement officers it was revealed the true first line defenders in the U.S. are not trained nor prepared to combat terrorism in the U.S. (through no fault of their own). The local law enforcement agencies were not receiving adequate funds or assistance from the Federal Government to fight terrorism. The majority advised they were supposed to be the first line defenders, but in actuality they did not even know what Al-Qaeda meant, and/ or could not point out Iraq or Iran on a map. They had no Arabic language training.

I began conducting research and talking with experts from various fields and determined three significant facts that I corroborated by further research:

1. The terrorists groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas, and Al-Qaeda each had different leaders and to some degree operated in different ways, but they each had the same two goals (destroy Israel and destroy America and any country that supported either).

2. Our nuclear research centers were very vulnerable to an attack and the potential for a suicide bomber using a dirty radiological bomb from these facilities was and is a high probability. Note: Vic Walter and Brian Ross of ABC News did an excellent report on the lack of security at these facilities. I received an enormous amount of information from individuals associated with Russian nuclear programs that there is nuclear material being sold on the black market and nuclear material is in the hands of Islamic Extremists.

3. Terrorist sleeper cells are located primarily in North Carolina , Michigan , and Canada . The 'sleepers' are prepared to conduct terrorist attacks within the U.S. , and nuclear material is available to them. 'Prepared' in this instance indicates they have the necessary tools to carry our their attacks and are prepared to die.

About nine months ago a lady from Morehead City , NC contacted me and asked for assistance because she had been ignored by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), the FBI, and local law enforcement. Her allegation: A group of people who were citizens of Lebanon was operating from NC and was involved in financially supporting Hezbollah. The members were also befriending United States Marine Corps personnel (to include the Marine Corps Base Commander at Cherry Point USMC Base). The Lebanese citizens had free access to the Marine Corps base and had frequent parties with USMC members. She had ledgers; photographs of U.S. Marines with the Lebanese members, numerous passports (some falsified), duplicate drivers licenses, social security cards, and financial transactions log books both in Arabic and English. I obtained the information from her and conducted research. I turned my information over to the NCSBI office.

Less than a week ago I met several citizens from the Middle East who are familiar with terrorist groups, their methodology, and more importantly the mindset of terrorists (specifically Al-Qaeda). They believe violence in Iraq will increase and the number of U.S. troops in Iraq is not a factor. The largest percentage of U.S. troops in Iraq are support troops and not combat troops. From the beginning of 2003 until now the number of troops who actually engage insurgents is actually less than 5% of all assigned troops in the region. Al-Qaeda now has a strong hold in Iraq and they will not let go. Terrorist operations are active in the U.S. and are being operated/financed in Michigan . U.S. citizens need to understand there are people trained and prepared to carry our suicide missions in the U.S. and nothing is off limits. Churches, malls, and even the schools our children attend are not off limits to suicide bombers. It is only a relatively short time before the U.S. will begin seeing suicide terrorist missions.

I will continue to research terrorism related issues in the U.S. and Canada and will bring forward the results. My next project is to follow Dr. Paul William's investigation into McMaster University located in Canada . My initial research indicates terrorists are being educated here with the approval of some university administrators. I have contacted the university and informed them of this project and will give them an opportunity to respond to each piece developed during my research on terrorism at McMaster. McMaster is not alone when it comes to nuclear reactors located on major university sites. Nuclear reactors are located on a large number of major university campuses in the U.S. There locations are not classified and are described on the internet.

Children are the ones who suffer in wartime and I want to prevent any child from ever having to experience a terrorist attack.

To assist me in my endeavors to uncover the truths behind terrorist cells in Canada and the U.S. contact me at pdgaubatz@yahoo.com or visit my website.

Source: http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/02/sleeper_cells _in_the_united_st.html

Border Policy's Success Strains Resources (back)

February 2, 2007

By Spencer S. Hsu and Sylvia Moreno

Ringed by barbed wire, a futuristic tent city rises from the Rio Grande Valley in the remote southern tip of Texas, the largest camp in a federal detention system rapidly gearing up to keep pace with Washington's increasing demand for stronger enforcement of immigration laws.

About 2,000 illegal immigrants, part of a record 26,500 held across the United States by federal authorities, will call the 10 giant tents home for weeks, months and perhaps years before they are removed from the United States and sent back to their home countries.

The $65 million tent city, built hastily last summer between a federal prison and a county jail, marks both the success and the limits of the government's new policy of holding captured non-Mexicans until they are sent home. Previously, most such detainees were released into the United States before hearings, and a majority simply disappeared.

The new policy has led to a dramatic decline in border crossings by non-Mexicans, according to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency.

But civil liberties and immigration law groups allege that out of sight, the system is bursting at the seams. In the Texas facility, they say, illegal immigrants are confined 23 hours a day in windowless tents made of a Kevlar-like material, often with insufficient food, clothing, medical care and access to telephones. Many are transferred from the East Coast, 1,500 miles from relatives and lawyers, virtually cutting off access to counsel.

'I call it 'Ritmo' -- like Gitmo, but it's in Raymondville,' said Jodi Goodwin, an immigration lawyer from nearby Harlingen .

An inspector general's report last month on a sampling of five U.S. immigration detention facilities found inhumane and unsafe conditions, including inadequate health care, the presence of vermin, limited access to clean underwear and undercooked poultry. Although ICE standards require that immigrants have access to phones and pro bono law offices, investigators found phones missing, not working or connected to non-working numbers.

With roughly 1.6 million illegal immigrants in some stage of immigration proceedings, ICE holds more inmates a night than Clarion hotels have guests, operates nearly as many vehicles as Greyhound has buses and flies more people each day than do many small U.S. airlines.

Gary Mead, assistant director of ICE detention and removal operations, said the agency is proud of its record, calling Raymondville 'a modern, clean facility' that meets federal standards -- 'which we believe are among the highest you'll find anywhere.' Mead added: 'We think the conditions of confinement there are both humane and consistent with all the rights they should be entitled to.'

Despite its spartan conditions, the facility in Willacy County, 260 miles south of Austin, is a key to President Bush's drive to create a channel for temporary foreign workers and a path toward legalization for as many as 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

To do so, the government must convince skeptics that it can credibly enforce laws aimed at illegal immigrants and their employers, and can hold and deport those caught by the U.S. Border Patrol. At the same time, the administration and its allies argue that even additional detention beds will be overwhelmed without new channels for legal immigration.

Accordingly, the United States has embarked on a huge prison building and contracting campaign, increasing the number of illegal immigrants detained from 19,718 a day in 2005 to about 26,500 now, and a projected 32,000 this summer.

About 80 percent of ICE's beds are rented at 300 local and state jails nationwide, concentrated in the South and Southwest, or at eight sites run by contractors such as the Corrections Corporation of America and Geo Group Inc., in places such as Houston , San Diego and Aurora , Colo.

ICE recently added a 1,524-bed facility in Stewart County, Ga., and a 512-bed center in Taylor , Tex. , for immigrant families, both run by Corrections Corp.

With the new beds, the administration has imprisoned and deported virtually 100 percent of non-Mexicans caught since August, under faster proceedings that deny hearings to all but asylum seekers.

The administration says this has deterred many others. After quadrupling over four years, the number of non-Mexicans apprehended fell 35 percent in 2006, to 108,026.

But immigration experts and U.S. authorities say the impact of the prison boom will be hard to sustain and still is absorbing only a drop in the bucket of illegal immigration. The Border Patrol made 1.1 million apprehensions last year -- mostly Mexicans who were promptly returned across the border -- but estimates 500,000 people evaded capture or entered legally and then overstayed visas.

An additional 630,000 are at large, ignoring deportation orders, and 300,000 more who entered state and local prisons for committing crimes are to be deported but will probably slip through the cracks after completing their sentences.

U.S. authorities acknowledge that gains from the latest crackdown will be fleeting without the major changes the president wants.

'The short answer is, it is not sustainable,' Mead said. 'There comes a point where we can't detain any more people. Hopefully, prior to getting there, the deterrence factor will kick in.'

The increased tempo of operations is a strain. ICE has no modern nationwide system to track its facilities' populations. It relies on an antiquated computer system created in 1984.

Every day since July, six officers have manually tracked and transferred detained immigrants among 24 regional offices, matching bodies to vacant beds and airplane seats in a Detention Operations Coordination Center , Mead said. 'We have all of the information,' he said. 'It's a question of automation.'

Legal advocates contend that some of the older facilities where immigrants are housed are in deplorable condition and that growing pains afflict even new facilities.

Under fire in Taylor , for example, ICE has expanded hours of daily schooling for children from one to seven hours to meet Texas guidelines.

In Willacy County , one of the country's poorest, ICE has set up 10 huge tents on concrete pads, surrounded by 14-foot-high chain-link fences looped with barbed wire. Each 'sprung structure' holds about 200 men or women, divided into four 'pods.' Similar temporary buildings were used for troop recreational facilities in Iraq .

The center is part of a chain of facilities in South Texas with 6,700 new immigration detention beds. At a cost of $78 a night per bed (compared with an ICE average of $95 a bed), the Willacy facility is not only cheaper than any bricks-and-mortar prison but also faster to construct, move or dismantle, Mead said.

Detainees are subject to penal system practices, such as group punishment for disciplinary infractions. The tents are windowless and the walls are blank, and no partitions or doors separate the five toilets, five sinks, five shower heads and eating areas. Lacking utensils on some days, detainees eat with their hands.

Because lights are on around the clock, a visitor finds many occupants buried in their blankets throughout the day. The stillness and torpor of the pod's communal room, where 50 to 60 people dwell, are noticeable.

Goodwin described a group of women who huddled in a recreation yard on a recent 40-degree day with a 25-mph wind. 'They had no blanket, no sweat shirt, no jacket,' she said. 'Officers were wearing earmuffs, and detainees were outside for an hour with short-sleeved polyester uniforms and shower shoes and not necessarily socks.'

Perhaps more troubling, lawyers said, large numbers of immigrants have been transferred from Boston , New York , New Jersey and Florida , far from their families and lawyers. Because some immigration judges do not permit hearings by teleconference, detainees are essentially deprived of counsel.

Immigration violators in the United States are held on civil grounds and have no right to appointed lawyers. But federal guidelines call for providing them law libraries, telephones and phone numbers for legal aid.

Joining a lawsuit last week, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged that severe overcrowding at a Corrections Corp. facility in San Diego poses an unconstitutional risk to detainees' health and safety, arguing that as administrative detainees, illegal immigrants should be treated better than convicted criminals.

The National Lawyers Guild and five other groups petitioned the Department of Homeland Security last month to set binding regulations for detention sites, saying U.S. standards set in 2000 are not enforceable.

And the New Jersey Civil Rights Defense Committee has announced a campaign to stop ICE's use of county jails.

'The standards are there,' said David A. Martin, a former general counsel of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, ICE's predecessor agency, who advocates concentrating detention centers in perhaps 10 cities to ensure access to lawyers and oversight. 'But there are some real indicators federal standards are not well monitored or policed. We ought to do better.'

Source: http://www.andnetwork.com/index?service=direct/0/Home/olde r.titleStory&sp=l172019

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