Sunday, July 31, 2011

BKNT--The STRATCOM Opportunity of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame --OS

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION
US/1

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The STRATCOM Opportunity of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame

No matter where I go or who I talk to in the US Navy, the one thing folks give me a hard time about is that it is suggested I often spend too much time focusing on piracy in Somalia and not enough time discussing Al Shabaab. That is fair, I guess, although I was the guy who suggested we buy the services of pirates to fight Al Shabaab, after all at least we know the motivation of pirates is money...

But on a more serious note, US officials have been talking up the threat posed by Al Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula over the last few months. It turns out, they had a very credible intelligence source of information regarding the threat of those two organizations. A few details from Luis Martinez of ABC News.


After secretly holding and interrogating a Somali man captured off the coast of Africa for two months, the United States indicted him, claiming he was a liaison between terrorist groups.

The Somali man, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, believed to be in his mid-20s, is a top leader in the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab terrorist group in Somalia who has been acting as a go-between with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the U.S. Justice Department alleged in an indictment Tuesday.

Many thoughts, not very well collected, come to mind as I observe this event.

First, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was captured at sea on April 19, 2011 and taken to USS Boxer (LHD 4) where he was interrogated and held before being transferred to New York. To capture the man while at sea obviously suggests an impressive intelligence operation took place behind the scenes, and while it shouldn't need to be said - the reason the US did capture him on what was almost certainly a short notice window to respond to intelligence is because the US Navy is globally deployed and always present. It is probably a bit of luck that some pirate event didn't have our ships out of position to respond to this intelligence, a detail that needs to be stated because it is important to note piracy is a distraction for maritime forces, not a maritime mission the US Navy is currently, actively dealing with directly.

Second, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame was captured at sea. The sea is playing an important but rarely discussed role in Al-Qaeda's lines of communications. Around The Horn of Africa there is a lot of attention given to piracy as the major problem at sea, but piracy is a symptom of the bigger regional lack-of stability problem and by no definition is piracy a threat to the national interests of the United States. Task Force 151, the international task force against piracy, is symbolic of US military activities lately - it is a halfhearted military solution that can never solve the political problem that sources the piracy in the first place. I do not know why it is the policy of the United States to sail the fleet in circles off the Horn of Africa pretending to protect commerce from piracy threats, but at some point effective and efficient use of the fleet needs to focus on forwarding legitimate security solutions. In this instance, that claim can be made.

Third, I intend to leave the legalities of taking Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to civilian court to the experts, and highly recommend the good folks at the Lawfare Blog. They have made available a copy of the full indictment of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame at this link (PDF), and have already gone into the coverage of this very important development. Does it matter? Yes, how we deal with terrorists is a legal issue that rises to the level of a Presidential election issue. Will this trial get as much coverage as Casey Anthony? It would be a tragedy regarding the judgment and quality of American journalism that balances ratings in favor of national importance if it didn't, which also means it probably won't get anywhere near as much attention as Casey Anthony on the US cable news networks.

Fourth, the politics of this are also very important. George Bush left office with no way to deal with detained terrorists except to release them to the custody of other nations. Some people say the Guantanamo Bay solution works just fine, but it really doesn't. The bottom line on the Guantanamo Bay solution is that it has always been a temporary solution with no replacement, and both the Executive and Congress has been unable to come up with a better replacement for almost a decade now.

But more important than the detainment politics to me is the war narrative politics. For a couple of years now the US Army has cited only "hundreds" or less Al Qaeda operating in Afghanistan and Iraq, but Al Shabaab alone is well over 5,000, with access to tens of thousands more disenfranchised folks in Somalia alone. No one really knows how big Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is, but best verifiable numbers range over 500, and they have access to many thousands of disenfranchised folks in Yemen. While it is unlikely the Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame case will bring it up, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is on the rise and becoming the next big problem with thousands in their ranks.

The point is, Afghanistan gets all the attention but that isn't where Al Qaeda is. I've put together a little map to put my thoughts in context, and included a few pointers to where one might notice a few dumpster fires.

One Hot Mess

There are more Al Qaeda at the end of those arrows on this map than all other places not shown on this map combined, and you do not see major parts of Pakistan or Afghanistan on that map. The Obama administration knows this, hell everyone knows this, but the question is what is anyone going to do about it and what should the United States be doing about it?

The Obama administration is going to send Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame to civilian court, which means evidence will be presented publicly and a narrative will emerge from that evidence.

We are about to find out if the United States has any STRATCOM at all in the State Department, because this court case is without question the single most important STRATCOM moment of the next decade in the fight against terrorism - not just on the prosecution legal side but also on the operational side.

So lets all generically think about what is happening here. News reports are claiming Somalia is not only a failed state, but Somalia is a dead state with as many as 54,000 people fleeing the war stricken drought zone in June alone. Pirates are now organized enough to use the Yemen controlled island of Socotra as a fuel depot. News headlines tomorrow will discuss a pirate hijacking inside the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor, about 30 miles from Aden if my sources are correct. But none of this news items about Somalia actually matters, because none of these developments represent a threat to the national interest of the United States.

Those are other peoples problems and should be left for other people to deal with. It might be hard to swallow, but when one starts counting problems in Somalia, piracy looks more and more like the least of the problems folks are facing, at least it is
unless piracy is part of the income model for Al Shabaab. No government has officially made that claim yet though.

The threat comes from Al Shabaab, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) - all of whom are capable and have desires to strike at US interests both globally and domestically. Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame represents the link between Al Shabaab and Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which
makes him potentially the most important Al Qaeda member captured outside Pakistan or Afghanistan since 9/11. If similar links between these organizations and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) exist, we are in serious trouble... and those links probably exist.

Think about the map. Right now Libya is a dumpster fire with no local functioning security system, which means it represents a tremendous opportunity for organizations linked to Al Qaeda to move and operate freely around the current military contest for political control. Libya has all the makings of a prolonged, uncontrolled tribal war similar to Somalia where groups are likely to link up with elements of Al Qaeda like AQAP and AQIM for support towards taking political control once Gaddafi is removed.

Folks also better start paying attention to the news on the western side of Africa, because another front is starting to open up in Africa (see here, here, and here) - and I'm not talking about Independence day in Sudan this Saturday - which is where the UN is focused.

Right now we are fighting wars on the ground in Afghanistan and Iraq, with the political objective hopefully to reduce the military presence in both nations over the next few years. Pakistan is going to remain a target in an extended air campaign for years.
The only sure thing we know from the announced arrest of Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame is that the United States is about to really spin up air operations in Yemen and Somalia over the next days, weeks, and months.

Libya is a strategic catastrophe, or as it is more commonly being called privately - an Obama Boondoggle - and it will surely look like one that even the best political spin doctors can't hide as European nations begin to withdraw from combat operations next month. Libya is also emerging as the new nexus in North Africa for Al Qaeda, and anyone who says otherwise is ignoring how that
fight against Al Qaeda is the fight everyone knows is coming after Gaddafi loses power. The easiest prediction one can make right now is that some form of covert US military operations against AQIM and their efforts in Nigeria are coming - sooner rather than later. Finally, the Obama administration has a "no massacre" policy, so if things get heated after South Sudan declares independence, expect US military activity there too.

Since
AFRICOM stood up, the focus has been engaging African nations at their request in what is described as a "supportive role" towards security. That must change in the very near future.

At some point it is time to admit that strategically, the US military efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq to consolidate and contain Al Qaeda to those two states has failed miserably, and the US must adapt. I do not know what that adaptation looks like, but western, northern, and eastern Africa are dumpster fires where Al Qaeda presence is growing - and AFRICOM needs to grow up from its touchy, feely hands off approach and be a real Unified Combatant Command if they are going to productively deal with these emerging problems. The United States is facing Al Qaeda on three sides of a continent we have neglected as policy for decades, and our best friend on the continent - Egypt - is enduring some internal issues that remove the nation as a regional leader we can count on.

Which takes us back to Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame's day in court and the associated STRATCOM. What will the court files reveal about Al Qaeda? What will be the emerging narrative from a terrorist trial in the US at a time where the nation is suffering from war fatigue, and oh by the way, the future is darker than the present. How strong are our alliances and are they sufficient to address emerging challenges?

How can the US and
China work together in solving the emerging Al Qaeda problem in Africa? We are engaged with China on this, right? If the answer isn't yes, we have much work to do. How long before Europe bails in dealing with problems on their own southern lawn? How much longer will US war hawks trumpet the cause in Afghanistan with other, much more serious problems emerging in Africa and the Middle East? How long can the US sustain "air campaigns" and claim that activity legitimately forwards a solution, as opposed to doing what air campaigns always do - prolong the problems?

The US Navy is heavily investing in force structure to fight the big war against China in the Pacific while the nation is engaged in 6 campaigns - none currently deployed from the sea - in 6 countries across the Middle East and Africa. The most important nation in Africa besides the United States is China. In other words, the Navy is organizing to fight the one nation that has the most shared interest with us towards an Africa that is connected to the global trade system - something Al Qaeda stands squarely against. Is this approach to national security interests our naval strategy, or our naval strategery?

What does the logistics of distributed regional naval support presence look like when low end counter terrorism problems are to be addressed in the maritime domain by the Littoral Combat Ship?

Tell me what WWIII might look like. Take your hand and rub it on a globe from Nigeria to Pakistan on land, and if we count piracy - go from the Gulf of Guinea up towards the Med, down the Red Sea and all the way over to the west Indian coast topped by the Persian Gulf all the way down to the southeastern coastline of Africa. Is that a sufficient amount of territorial mass to conduct military operations and potentially be big enough to be a world war? By 2012 that is almost certainly going to be the range of land and sea where the US is conducting air strikes and maritime security operations against legitimate Al Qaeda related terrorism threats. This is not a hollow prediction, the US has consistently fought Al Qaeda wherever they go, and right now that enormous swath of territory is the area Al Qaeda is attempting to influence politically. Think about it.

STRATCOM matters in ideological struggles, and right now the expansion of Al Qaeda across Africa represents a weakness in our ideological struggle against the legitimacy of Al Qaeda as a credible alternative to the global trade system. If the global trade system isn't effectively reaching the people of African nations, which in many cases it is not; Al Qaeda represents a legitimate alternative to an offering we can't make to disenfranchised people.

The STRATCOM from the Obama administration offers nothing productive to disenfranchised people in Africa, and unfortunately that is the one lesson everyone stands witness to with the Arab Spring. That also might explain why the Obama administration does not stand up for folks like Mubarak and Gaddafi, hoping the result will offer the US better access to disenfranchised people. Will we have compelling alternatives for the people once dictators are out of power? I don't think anyone really knows, primarily because we are still quite uncertain how it all turns out in Egypt.

Are we fighting the right fights with the right tools? Today the Obama administration claims air campaigns aren't war; they are simply an evolved variation of armed humanitarian intervention. If humanitarian air strikes isn't the STRATCOM for Libya, then what exactly is? What about Somalia? What about Pakistan? Yemen? Sudan? Nigeria? Are we shaping the information environment for political action, or simply shaping the battlefield for the next air campaign?

The United States is a strategic hot mess right now in our fight against Al Qaeda.
We are engaged in two land wars and air campaigns in four countries, and we do not have a policy that can be articulated as an acceptable plan for successfully ending any of these military campaigns. Why is defense cuts the most highlighted spending issue by this administration when the Presidents policies continue to call for more and more open ended military activity across Africa and the Middle East? How does any of this end?

Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame is sure to be another political parade of some sort, but is the United States preparing to lead the parade by establishing a narrative that explains the use of global forces or are we simply going to operate as usual
pretending 6 different simultaneous military campaigns are no big deal? I believe the event represents a real opportunity for the administration to take control of the counter terrorism narrative to forward a more reasonable realignment of counter terrorism policy.

If the President can't establish a narrative that explains the constantly expanding use of military force globally as his primary political tool in the war against terrorism, then he needs to be replaced for getting the United States involved in (and also failing to lead during) what is by any definition the largest hot battlefield globally the nation has fought on since World War II. It is quite concerning that US political leaders are not being held accountable for that remarkable fact.



[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

Saturday, July 30, 2011

CyBER-BlackSEC: SCAREWARE Ring ARRESTED, $74 Million in WORLDWIDE Scam

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION
US/1
Department of Justice Disrupts International Cyber Crime Rings Distributing Scareware
U.S. Department of Justice June 22, 2011
  • U.S. Department of Justice 202) 514-2007/TDD (202) 514-1888
WASHINGTON—Today the Department of Justice and the FBI, along with international law enforcement partners, announced the indictment of two individuals from Latvia and the seizure of more than 40 computers, servers and bank accounts as part of Operation Trident Tribunal, an ongoing, coordinated enforcement action targeting international cyber crime. The operation targeted international cyber crime rings that caused more than $74 million in total losses to more than one million computer users through the sale of fraudulent computer security software known as “scareware.”

Scareware is malicious software that poses as legitimate computer security software and purports to detect a variety of threats on the affected computer that do not actually exist. Users are then informed they must purchase what they are told is anti-virus software in order to repair their computers. The users are then barraged with aggressive and disruptive notifications until they supply their credit card number and pay for the worthless “anti-virus” product. The product is, in fact, fake.

Warrants obtained from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington and elsewhere throughout the United States led to the seizure of 22 computers and servers in the United States that were involved in facilitating and operating a scareware scheme. In addition, 25 computers and servers located abroad were taken down as part of the operation, including equipment in the Netherlands, Latvia, Germany, France, Lithuania, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

The first of the international criminal groups disrupted by Operation Trident Tribunal infected hundreds of thousands of computers with scareware and sold more than $72 million of the fake antivirus product over a period of three years. The scareware scheme used a variety of ruses to trick consumers into infecting their computers with the malicious scareware products, including web pages featuring fake computer scans.

Once the scareware was downloaded, victims were notified that their computers were infected with a range of malicious software, such as viruses and Trojans and badgered into purchasing the fake antivirus software to resolve the non-existent problem at a cost of up to $129. An estimated 960,000 users were victimized by this scareware scheme, leading to $72 million in actual losses. Latvian authorities also executed seizure warrants for at least five bank accounts that were alleged to have been used to funnel profits to the scam’s leadership.

A second international crime ring disrupted by Operation Trident Tribunal relied on online advertising to spread its scareware products, a tactic known as “malvertising.” An indictment unsealed today in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis charges the two operators of this scareware scheme with two counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and computer fraud. 

The defendants, Peteris Sahurovs, 22, and Marina Maslobojeva, 23, were arrested yesterday in Rezekne, Latvia on the charges out of the District of Minnesota. According to the indictment, the defendants created a phony advertising agency and claimed that they represented a hotel chain that wanted to purchase online advertising space on the Minneapolis Star Tribune’s news website, startribune.com. The defendants provided an electronic version of the advertisement for the hotel chain to the Star Tribune, and technical staff at startribune.com tested the advertising and found it to operate normally.

According to court documents, after the advertisement began running on the website, the defendants changed the computer code in the ad so that the computers of visitors to the startribune.com were infected with a malicious software program that launched scareware on their systems. The scareware caused users’ computers to “freeze up” and then generate a series of pop-up warnings in an attempt to trick users into purchasing purported “antivirus” software, which was in fact fake. Users’ computers “unfroze” if the users paid the defendants for the fake antivirus software, but the malicious software remained hidden on their computers. Users who failed to purchase the fake antivirus software found that all information, data and files stored on the computer became inaccessible.

The scam allegedly led to at least $2 million in losses. If convicted, the defendants face penalties of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on the wire fraud and conspiracy charges, and up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000 on the computer fraud charge. The defendants also face restitution and forfeiture of their illegal profits. An indictment is merely a charge and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

“Today’s operation targets cybercrime rings that stole millions of dollars from unsuspecting computer users,” said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division. “These criminal enterprises infected the computers of innocent victims with malicious scareware, and then duped them into purchasing fake anti-virus software. Cyber crime is profitable, and can prey upon American consumers and companies from nearly any corner of the globe. We will continue to be aggressive and innovative in our approach to combating this international threat. At the same time, computer users must be vigilant in educating themselves about cyber security and taking the appropriate steps to prevent dangerous and costly intrusions.”

“This case shows that strong national and global partners can ensure there is no sanctuary for cyber-crooks,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan of the Western District of Washington. “We will continue to work with the public and the computer industry, to fortify our cyber defenses. A combination of safe on-line habits and smart technology will help reduce the threat posed by these organized criminal groups.”

“The global reach of the Internet makes every computer user in the world a potential victim of cyber crime,” said U.S. Attorney B. Todd Jones of the District of Minnesota. “Addressing cybercrime requires international cooperation; and in this case, the FBI, collaborating with our international law enforcement and prosecution partners, have worked tirelessly to disrupt two significant cybercriminal networks. Their efforts demonstrate that no matter the country, Internet criminals will be pursued, caught and prosecuted.”

Assistant Director Gordon M. Snow of the FBI’s Cyber Division said, “Scareware is just another tactic that cyber criminals are using to take money from citizens and businesses around the world. This operation targeted a sophisticated business enterprise that had the capacity to steal millions. Cyber threats are a global problem, and no single country working alone can be effective against these crimes. The FBI thanks the participating foreign law enforcement agencies for their ongoing partnership and commitment in disrupting this threat.”

Operation Trident Tribunal was conducted by the FBI’s Cyber Division, Seattle Field Office and Minneapolis Field Office; the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and the Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota; and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. Operation Trident Tribunal was the result of significant international cooperation and substantial assistance from the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs. 

Multiple foreign law enforcement partners provided invaluable assistance in this operation, including the Cyprus National Police in cooperation with its Unit for Combating Money Laundering (MOKAS); German Federal Criminal Police (BKA); Latvian State Police; Security Service of Ukraine; Lithuanian Criminal Police Bureau; French Police Judiciare; the Netherlands’ National High-Tech Crime Unit; the Cyber Unit of the Swedish National Police; London Metropolitan Police; Romania’s Directorate for Combating Organized Crime; and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

To avoid falling victim to a scareware scheme, computer users should avoid purchasing computer security products that use unsolicited “free computer scans” to sell their products. It is also important for users to protect their computers by maintaining an updated operating system and using legitimate, up-to-date antivirus software, which can detect and remove fraudulent scareware products.

Additional tips on how to spot a scareware scam include:
  • Scareware advertising is difficult to dismiss. Scareware purveyors employ aggressive techniques and badger users with pop-up messages into purchasing their products. These fake alerts are often difficult to close and quickly reappear. 
  •  
  • Fake anti-virus products are designed to appear legitimate, and can use names such as Virus Shield, Antivirus or VirusRemover. Only install software from trusted sources that you seek out. Internet service providers often make name-brand anti-virus products available to their customers for free. 
  •  
  • Become familiar with the brand, look and functionality of the legitimate anti-virus software that is installed on your computer. This will assist you in identifying scareware.
Computer users who think they have been victimized by scareware should file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, www.ic3.gov.


[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

Friday, July 29, 2011

BKNT--DNI: No Speak'a American to Senators--LD

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION
 US/1;
 

Intelligence Chief To Wyden: It Would Be Difficult To Reveal What You Want Us To Reveal Because We Don't Want To Reveal It

 

from the got-it dept

 

We've been covering Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall's attempts to get folks working in national intelligence to explain their secret interpretation of certain provisions of the PATRIOT Act. It hasn't been too difficult to piece together the implication that the government has interpreted the already controversial Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to allow it to gather geolocation data of pretty much anyone in the US from their mobile phone provider without a warrant or any other oversight. If you're unfamiliar with it, Section 215 was the part of the PATRIOT Act that allowed the feds to demand "any tangible thing (including books, records, papers, documents and other items)," from an organization, just as long as the records are being asked for "in connection with" a terrorism investigation.


A while back, there was an attempt to change the language of the law to make it specific that the collection of such records had to actually be about a terror subject, rather than the much broader initial definition (how hard is it to claim that collecting any data is "in connection with" a terrorism investigation these days?) Combined with a few other novel legal theories, and some convoluted loophole finding, it appears likely that the feds believe they can get pretty much real-time info on almost anyone without any warrant, which allows them to do all sorts of things that seem to go way beyond what people would normally think of as a "reasonable" search.

Of course, the feds don't want to admit that this is how they're (ab)using the PATRIOT Act. However, Senator Wyden has been pretty insistent in asking intelligence officials about the federal government's authority to collect geolocation info. He recently asked this question specifically to Director of National Intelligence James Clapper... who has provided a display in tap dancing as an answer. You can see the full letter from Clapper below, but the key point: 

The questions you pose on geolocational information are difficult to answer in an unclassified letter. It is our understanding, based on a conversation with your staff, that you are most interested in learning about the government's authority to collect cell phone mobility data of American citizens in the United States for intelligence purposes. As you acknowledge, the government has some authority to collect cell phone mobility data under appropriate circumstances but there have been a diverse set of rulings concerning the quantum of evidence and the procedures required to obtain such information. We will work closely with the relevant agencies to define the government's view of the full contours of this authority and will get back to you. 
In other words, we can't tell you what you want to know because that would look bad. 

Still, this answer definitely seems to further confirm Julian Sanchez's original speculation on what was going on here. In that report, he discussed the government's highly questionable "hybrid theory," of picking and choosing tiny pieces of different statutes, to put together the fake authority to get location info without a warrant. As Sanchez noted at the time, "many courts have been skeptical of this theory and rejected it--but at least some have gone along with this clever bit of legal origami..."


That certainly sounds like the "diverse set of rulings," mentioned in the letter.


The rest of the letter is full of similar tap dancing, explaining the rather plain interpretation of what the laws seem to say (i.e., they're not supposed to track Americans in the US), but any time it gets close to actually revealing the "secret" interpretations or the results of those interpretations, the letter basically says "that's not possible." For example, there's this:

While it is not reasonably possible to identify the number of people located in the United States whose communications may have been reviewed...

In other words, yeah, we're spying on so many people we can't even count 'em all.


The letter, of course, points out repeatedly that intelligence agencies report the answers to what Wyden is asking in classified briefings. In other words, they're saying "hey, look, we already provided the answers to your questions in secret, and you know the answers and we know you know the answers, and we sure as hell don't want the public to know the answers." When Senator Wyden brought this issue up a couple months ago, he noted that if the public knew these answers, it would make them "angry." It seems that the intelligence folks don't want the public angry... but sure as hell don't want to give up their broad and questionable interpretation of the PATRIOT Act.

READ FULL STORY and MORE HERE...

THE DOCUMENTS
wydenreply







[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

Thursday, July 28, 2011

OSLO Shooter Targeted 700 Journalists With FLAMETHROWER.S and Grenades

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION US/1
[ed.note: Not that some Members might agree with the below strategy, they might find the tactics a tad harsh, if you know what I mean?]
Published on iWatch News (http://www.iwatchnews.org)
Norway massacre suspect Anders Behring Breivik detailed plans to kill as many journalists as possible


By Traver Riggins

July 25, 2011

Confessed Oslo attacker Anders Behring Breivik mentioned journalism conferences that attract droves of reporters and editors from around the globe as major targets for possible attacks to advance his xenophobic, right-wing agenda. 

In his 1,500-page manifesto, Breivik called these gatherings “THE MOST attractive targets for large scale shock attacks" of what he deemed "category B traitors." 

The screed, titled 2083 European Declaration of Independence, detailed a potential attack on an annual gathering of journalists in Oslo hosted by SKUP, a volunteer group that promotes investigative and critical journalism in the Norwegian press. Breivik said his goal is to cause "maximum casualties." He outlined a plan to use explosives to first collapse the conference building, then employ flamethrowers, assault rifles and grenades in “executing survivors of the initial blast(s).”
 
Taking advantage of “light or non-existent security,” the conference would have been a “perfect target” of category B traitors, a group Breivik characterized as the second most influential tier in society. More than 700 journalists attended SKUP’s most recent conference in April. 

SKUP’s chairwoman, Heidi Molstad Andresen, said that, while slightly shaken by the baleful mention, she’ll use it as an opportunity to speak to fellow journalists. She posted a statement on SKUP’s website [4] and several journalism organizations’ listervs and Facebook walls.
“It’s meant as a reminder to our colleagues who are putting their lives at risk all the time ... that we ourselves can be targets,” Andresen told the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists [5]. “We are used to putting on our bullet proof vests and helmets, to go report in dangerous zones, but this proves that we can be targets as well in our small, peaceful counties. The free word is a threat itself to somebody. They want to shut our mouths.” 

She said, contrary to Breivik’s claim, security precautions are taken at SKUP conferences, especially when high-profile or controversial guests attend. Last April, for example, Israeli Army spokesperson Avital Leibowitz addressed the gathering. The SKUP conference also hosted Julian Assange two years ago, before the Wikileaks founder had publicly released a video of a U.S. helicopter attack on civilians and journalists from Reuters in Iraq. 

The conference, pulled together by “hundreds and thousands” of volunteer hours by journalists who also juggle full time jobs, is “about sharing the message about democracy and freedom of speech,” Andresen said. 

“To make that kind of initiative a goal of terrorism kind of shows the absurdity of all of it,” said Andersen, who is a reporter for Dagbladet, Norway’s third largest newspaper. 

Breivik, who today pleaded not guilty to charges of terrorism, has been denied his request for an open court hearing. He will be kept in complete isolation for a month. Letters, visitors and journalists are banned until September 26. 

Breivik's combined violent efforts, several bombings and a shooting spree at a youth convention, are responsible for a current count of 76 deaths with several people still missing. Norway has no death penalty. The maximum prison sentence in the country is 21 years.



[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Spencer Ackerman: After Oslo, Group Accuses Thousands of Being Homegrown Terrorists

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION
US/1;  Higgins CTC  
      Member CONTRIBUTIONS


Prev.Ref: BKNT--Dr. Peter Leitner's Higgins CT Research Center Homegrown Islamic Brotherhood Presentation—LD : Tue 7/26/2011 : 1700 ET – WITH Dr. LEITNER’s REPORT ATTACHED.

Thanks Scott.  I will be available to talk after 7 pm.
[Peter Leitner]

On Jul 26, 2011, at 5:06 PM, "BKNT-HQ" <> wrote:

- LIMITED DISSEMINATION
 US/1; ATTN: HST/2; *  HST/2; *  HST/2; * HST/2; * HST/1

[Herr Doctor Peter Leitner]

Suhkran and Sookria,

Thanks very much for yesterday’s performance. It was almost fun--what with the nine-member Saudi contingent poking and pointing to OSLO shooter as a Christian JIHADI. They were mostly correct, ironically.

And insanity is no excuse.  Were Mohammed Atta and Lee Harvey Oswald insane?

Sorry we missed you at Union Station and you missed Tony Shaffer at the Rayburn Building—but another day—and soon. At least I got to meet Catherine Herridge in the flesh, so to speak.

Scott 
W.Scott Malone 
Add caption
Days after a Norwegian terrorist allegedly motivated by a fear of Muslim infiltration killed 76 people, a Florida group took to Capitol Hill to accuse thousands of American Muslims of being a “fifth column.” Its presentation, a link analysis compiled from “open source” material, is collected into a database and brought to Washington by an influential Congressman.

An obscure nonprofit called Citizens for National Security compiled a “database” of “almost 6000 individuals and almost 200 organizations” in the United States linked in some way to the Muslim Brotherhood, the influential 80-year old Egyptian Islamic group.

These individuals and organizations “form a fifth column movement, a subversive movement intended to help undermine the United States as a secular government, as a Judeo-Christian society, ” said Peter Leitner, one of the founders of Citizens for National Security. Leitner identified himself as a retired federal employee who used to perform “counterterrorism-type analysis.”

Citizens for National Security would not name any individual listed in the database, which it maintains is compiled exclusively from “open-source” material. Asked by Danger Room who would have access to it, Leitner said it would be available to “someone in the government [or] law enforcement.” U.S. intelligence and Homeland Security agencies have recently warned about the rising threat of “lone-wolf” homegrown terrorists, which al-Qaida is trying to inspire.

But U.S. citizens don’t need to have been charged with any crime to be mentioned in the database, he said, only “connected” to the Muslim Brotherhood, which is not a banned organization inside the United States.

To release the database to private citizens would be “irresponsible,” Leitner said, but he aggressively rejected any association between his research and the rampage allegedly committed by Anders Behring Breivik in Norway on Friday. In a sprawling online manifesto, Breivik accused European elites of acquiescing to a campaign of Muslim infiltration that threatened European civilization.

Breivik believed that “there was a certain type of threat” and might have been “correct,” Leitner said, but Breivik was a mere “lunatic. ”

“Having situational awareness of your condition,” Leitner said, “is in no ways inimical to national survival.”

Citizens for National Security released its accusation in the basement of the Cannon House Office Building on Capitol Hill, thanks to the patronage of Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who blessed the group’s work. West, an Army officer whose career ended after he fired a gun at the head of an Iraqi detainee, said the group’s research “is about the protection of each and every American citizen.”

Not everyone in attendance felt the same way. Udit Thakur, the outreach representative for the American University chapter of the Muslim Students Association — one of the nefarious organizations listed in the group’s report – said he respected Citizens for National Security’s right to make its case. “But how do I know my Facebook page won’t be an ‘open source’ of information for them?” Thakur said.

At times, Leitner said it was difficult to construct his elaborate organizational chart (pictured, above) of the offshoots of the Muslim Brotherhood operating in the United States. “It’s kind of like looking at a plate of spaghetti,” Leitner said, something that he called the result of the Brotherhood’s “intentional denial and deception campaign through intentional complexity.”

The group’s research ought to come as a relief to innocent American Muslims, Leitner suggested, since it would “free the mainstream Muslim community in the U.S. from the influence, intimidation and taint of the Muslim brotherhood.”
“You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to understand there really are conspiracies in the world,” he said.

Photo: Spencer Ackerman
See Also:
CONTINUE READING Full Story and More HERE...
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/07/thousands-accused/#more-52861

[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

Follow The Money. in HAWALA - EdgeHEDGE

Follow The Money. in HAWALA - EdgeHEDGE
NEW - Muslim who financed Times Square jihad bomber pleads guilty

FLASH - DigitalBLACK: GERONIMO ACQUIRED - FLASH - NavySEALs Capture UBL...

BlackNET Member James Bamford: Inside the NSA's Largest Secret Domestic Spy Center