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Thread: Terrorism in the USA:threat & response

  1. #241
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    The "O" in OPSEC doesn't stand for "Oops"

    The New York Post is quivering in fear and outrage over a graduate level course for intelligence analysts that requires students to write a fake terrorism plot, complete with methods of execution, sources of funding, number of operatives needed and the target government’s reaction.

    Students, who are training for intelligence and counterterrorism careers, must take into account the “goals, capabilities, tactical profile, targeting pattern and operational area,” the syllabus states — according to the Post‘s harrowing story Monday.

    The Post‘s crack investigative team uncovered the covert training of terrorists by obtaining the syllabus of the class offered by NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies Center for Global Affairs.
    http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...rism-homework/
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  2. #242
    Council Member AdamG's Avatar
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    PORTSMOUTH, Ohio (WSAZ) -- A dead science teacher, weapons of mass destruction, first responders in hazmat suits and the Ohio Army National Guard all near the Municipal Stadium in Portsmouth, Thursday. There's no cause for alarm -- this is just a drill!

    The mock disaster training exercise is being done with Scioto County first responders and the Ohio Army National Guard 52nd Civil Support Unit.

    "It's the reality of the world we live in," says Portsmouth Police Chief Bill Raisin. "Don't forget there is such a thing as domestic terrorism. This helps us all be prepared."

    The make-believe scenario is timely. Two school employees who are disgruntled over the government's interpretation of the Second Amendment, plot to use chemical, biological and radiological agents against members of the local community.
    http://www.wsaz.com/news/headlines/M...187322931.html
    A scrimmage in a Border Station
    A canter down some dark defile
    Two thousand pounds of education
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  3. #243
    Council Member bourbon's Avatar
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    FBI agent testifies that Oregon terrorism suspect had trouble with adult tasks. Associated Press, 16 January 2013.
    The attorney also played recordings in which the agents asked Mohamud to rent a large storage shed in which to build the bomb.

    Youssef testified the FBI assigned such tasks to test the Mohamud's resolve. In this test, however, Mohamud initially didn't understand what type of storage unit the agents wanted, and then took a month to follow through. The agent acknowledged that he and another agent had to prod Mohamud, eventually giving him the name of a storage company and driving by.

    "Not much of a test if you're pointing out the right one," Hay said.
    I cant help but think that one of these days there is going to be a serious terrorist cell inside our country, and the FBI is going to be judicially hamstrung because they have wasted whatever wiggle room they had - when it comes to entrapment and provocation - on feeble-minded suspects.
    “[S]omething in his tone now reminded her of his explanations of asymmetric warfare, a topic in which he had a keen and abiding interest. She remembered him telling her how terrorism was almost exclusively about branding, but only slightly less so about the psychology of lotteries…” - Zero History, William Gibson

  4. #244
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    Default Turning Sheep into Wolves

    from Bourbon
    I cant help but think that one of these days there is going to be a serious terrorist cell inside our country, and the FBI is going to be judicially hamstrung because they have wasted whatever wiggle room they had - when it comes to entrapment and provocation - on feeble-minded suspects.
    Good point.

    I'm not a fan of the entrapment defense: subjectively (Another successful sting); analytically in considering individual cases (Augustin Sting Operation Affirmed by 11th Circuit); and objectively in considering its overall failure rate (It usually does fail):

    2005 Michigan Law Review, Psychology, factfinding, and entrapment

    Although accurate statistical evidence of the frequency with which the entrapment defense succeeds is difficult to come by, anecdotal evidence suggests that it is seldom successful. One survey of practicing criminal defense attorneys described it as "judicially unpopular," (17) best used only "in desperate circumstances," (18) or "in a few cases with ideal facts," where "plea bargaining has proved unsuccessful," (19) and "no other defense is possible." (20) Another survey of State's Attorneys in Chicago reveals a perception that in narcotics sales cases where the defendant pleads entrapment, "the jury will convict almost every time." (21) The author of one police manual on the execution of sting operations states that he has "never, in hundreds of cases, ever lost one to entrapment," and that in all the sting operations he has studied, he has "not heard of a single case being lost to a defense of entrapment." (22)
    But, going to the well too often (when the well is already fouled) is potentially not healthy for living prosecutions.

    Regards

    Mike
    Last edited by jmm99; 01-23-2013 at 03:04 PM.

  5. #245
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default Back to Somalia via ICE

    The issues around the Somalia community in Minneapolis are familiar here, although other communities exist in other cities and Canada, Minneapolis appears to be the focal point.

    This Somali newspaper report indicates that removing young Somali men, long resident, but not born in the USA, are being detained pending removal to Somalia:http://horseedmedia.net/2013/01/24/m...d-as-children/

    I expect this is an executive decision and quite legal, if fraught with problems.

    Now, the Twin Cities Somali community circulates rumors of scores of their members who have been deported to Somalia and hundreds who wait their fate at detention centers. ICE officials have not confirmed the total number of Somalis who have been deported so far or kept in detention.

    Many community members have expressed disappointment in the government’s decision to send people back to the dangerous country they’ve escaped.
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  6. #246
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default U.S. Muslim Terrorism Was Practically Nil in 2012

    A different slant, a research study based on indictments, not convictions:
    ...there were nine terrorist plots involving American Muslims in 2012. Only one of them, the attempted bombing of a Social Security office in Arizona, actually led to any violence. There were no casualties in that or any other incident.
    Link to report:http://tcths.sanford.duke.edu/docume..._final2013.pdf and to short press report:http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2013...lim-terrorism/
    Last edited by davidbfpo; 04-27-2013 at 11:34 PM. Reason: Add link
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  7. #247
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default New York’s finest Islamophobes?

    Caught via Twitter is a new report on the extensively reported NYPD domestic information gathering operation, co-written by CUNY School of Law and an advocacy group. It is 50 pgs:http://www.law.cuny.edu/academics/cl...ng-Muslims.pdf

    There is a wide-ranging article in Salon, with multiple links, which is very critical:http://www.salon.com/2013/03/11/new_..._islamophobes/
    davidbfpo

  8. #248
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default AQ in the USA: A Complete Analysis of Terrorism Offenses

    An abridged edition of a 700+ page research report by the UK branch of the Henry Jackson Society, with a very comprehensive set of figures:
    .. shows how the terrorist threat within the U.S. has developed, by profiling all AQ or AQinspired terrorists who were convicted in U.s. courts (federal and military) or who participated in suicide attacks against the US homeland between 1997 and 2011.
    Link:http://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-co...WRES-Final.pdf
    davidbfpo

  9. #249
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    Default The wrong focus, it's not Jihadists

    I suspect the recent shootings of Colorado's prisons and two prosecutors in Texas have prompted the CNN piece by Peter Bergen 'Growing threat of extreme right-wing violence':http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/04/op...nce/index.html

    At the start:
    While American politicians and the U.S. public continue to focus on the threat from jihadist extremists, there seems to be too little awareness that this domestic form of political violence is a growing problem at home.

    From 2002 to 2007, only nine right-wing extremists were indicted for their roles in politically motivated murders and other types of ideologically motivated violent assaults. But between 2008 and 2012, the number mushroomed to 53, according to data collected by the New America Foundation.
    The NAF data:http://homegrown.newamerica.net/

    CNN and NAF have some interesting facts / statistics and Peter draws attention to important facts:
    Fifteen right-wing extremists were indicted in 2012 ...only six people who subscribed to al Qaeda's ideology were indicted on terrorism-related charges in the United States....it's striking that the jihadists charged with crimes were much less likely to have actually carried out a violent attack before they were arrested.
    davidbfpo

  10. #250
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    The focus on right wing violence is nothing new, and I suspect the recent announcements (past 5 or so years) calling for a focus on right wing violence is at least partly a recognization we dedicated too much focus on Al-Qaeda within our borders, which gave other groups and individuals in the criminal arena more room to maneuver.

    I'm not comfortable with the term "right wing" violence, because too many occassociate it with the far right fringe of our political parties. They have their criminals that attack abortion clinics (though it can and is debated about who the actual criminals are), but for the most I would argue that Aryan Nation, Neo-Nazis, and others along those lines are to the far left much like the Marxists. Hitler was a socialist, and like in many in our far left who embrace burning books, telling others what they can say and think, and even telling families how they "will" raise their kids, the far left terrorists want to impose their way of life upon others. Neither the Aryan Nation or Neo-Nazis represent the conservative branch (even at its extreme) on the far right side of our political parties.

    The media focuses on the far right because it has headline appeal, but the reports also mention the traditional whackos from the the far left and the environmentalists. It should also be noted the Aryan Nation despite claims to the contrary is largely a criminal organization, and lot of their violence resembles the violence from Biker gangs. Problematic, but hardly on the scale of risk that a large scale terrorist attack intended to kill as many people as possible.

    One of the few things I agree with the President on regarding domestic policy is we need to focus more on mental health. The potential to move that field forward with the advances in science is significant and could potentially reduce a wide range of criminal behavior to include dumb kids that will grabbing a gun and killing as many kids as possible at a local school or movie theater.

    More surveillance and arrests may reduce some the violence, but it will continue to come at us unless we address more fundamental issues. Our Law Enforcement focus on the war on drugs keeps the police busy, but it doesn't seem to reduce the demand for drugs. We should all take a step back and reconsider where we need to focus to make our society safer.

  11. #251
    Council Member bourbon's Avatar
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    Default Explosion at Boston Marathon

    Breaking...occurred at finish line. I'm on scene now. 1 block from site.

    Reports of two explosions. Seems like pipe bombs.
    “[S]omething in his tone now reminded her of his explanations of asymmetric warfare, a topic in which he had a keen and abiding interest. She remembered him telling her how terrorism was almost exclusively about branding, but only slightly less so about the psychology of lotteries…” - Zero History, William Gibson

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    Pipe bombs were my first guess, a witness claimed to have seen 'suicide bombers' via Twitter, but even he doesn't seem very sure of himself. I'll try to find his post again.

    For the time being, some decent updates are coming from this account:

    https://twitter.com/911BUFF


    And a video of one of the explosions:

    http://youtu.be/oeVyJ3UgIfw


    Would anybody care to guess whether it was remotely detonated judging by the videos?

  13. #253
    Council Member bourbon's Avatar
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    Reporting and Twitter is of course a mess with conflicting reports. This is what I experienced/saw:

    - Finish line explosion reportedly occurred 2:50. I was three streets over, and did not hear or feel anything noticeable.
    - Got to site on other side of the block – and 40 minutes after explosion. Was to told clear out after reports of finding secondary devices.
    - Did not see any wounded people on the streets – only bloody nipples on the runners (gotta tape em up for the marathon, bro).
    - Must have been some fires, or was incendiary device - b/c FD was running hoses (otherwise would want to preserve crime scene).
    - ATF/FBI on scene in under an hour.
    “[S]omething in his tone now reminded her of his explanations of asymmetric warfare, a topic in which he had a keen and abiding interest. She remembered him telling her how terrorism was almost exclusively about branding, but only slightly less so about the psychology of lotteries…” - Zero History, William Gibson

  14. #254
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    Going to be a lot of first wave excitement over this one.

    Appreciate the ground floor reports.

    Curious to see what comes next . . .

  15. #255
    Council Member davidbfpo's Avatar
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    A device exploded @ JFK Memorial Library, confirmed by Boston PD.

    One academic points out that:
    The Waco siege ended 20 years ago this week. Oklahoma City occurred two years later.
    Several tweets that a suspect is in custody; alongside higher casualty figures and the inevitable array of video footage and stills.
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    Listening to some really interesting radio feeds out of Boston:

    http://www.broadcastify.com/listen/feed/6254/web

    Hard to follow everything sometimes.

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    Possibly a product of hasty/sensationalist journalism, the NY Post is reporting a Saudi national as a suspect, in custody.

    http://www.nypost.com/p/news/nationa...9uC2PDGIjYBalO

  18. #258
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    I saw that they're also reporting 12 dead and 50 injured.

    Sensationalist is exactly what comes to mind.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Fuchs View Post
    Obviously


    Nonetheless, I think it's quite hard for people to simply 'tune out' something so close to home once the initial story breaks.

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