StormWarning’s Counterterrorism

If you don’t know what the NAU is, then you haven’t been sucked in by one of the other conspiracy theories that has spread around the blogosphere…the so-called North American Union. Its believers somehow think that President Bush and his other North American presidents are conspiring to create a United North America…all predicated on a theoretical paper written by the Council for Foreign Relations in 2005 and the existence of the SPP (Security and Prosperity Partnership). This goes hand in hand with the supposed NAFTA Superhighway. It has to be true, doesn’t it??? All of these important guys signed it!

Now, you see, to believe that there is a secret cabal working within our government to bring about the demise of the sovereign United States is beyond reason and belief (in my opinion of course). But there are some people who actually believe it…some of those are from the “truth seekers” group, and others on in the group of “pseudo-experts.”  BTW, its supposed to happen in 2010.

As I have written in the past, while a secure perimeter around North America makes sense in many ways, there will be no removal of border controls or immigration requirements…certainly not while the Mexican government cannot control its own outmigration.

While anyone can try to debate this, even Snopes debunks it.  One of the things lacking in today’s World of “read it on the Internet and scoop other bloggers mentality” is critical thinking (its one of those things like creativity…if you’ve got it, you’ve got it…if you “don’t got it”…you can’t learn it).

critical thinking, debunking, North American Union Sphere: Related Content

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Is it beyond humanity or “fair play” that we consider “taking out” certain pesky gnats?

The question is whether it is better to strategically target a terrorist or national leader for assassination, rather than fight a lengthy war of armies. Of course it is argued that Presidential directives prohibit such actions. I counter by saying that this war against the jihad is different from all others, and that “Directives” (like Presidential Executive Order 12333) were for past wars.

As I am not not now nor have I ever been directly involved in any form of counter-terrorism employment (except of course in my writings “here and there”)…this post is therefore purely opinion and conjecture, and clearly does not reflect policy in any way…some might consider it a flight of fantasy; others might look at it as ”out of the box” thinking.  But still the question is if a targeted assassination…such as eliminating Ahmadinejad could change the course of history (before it unfolds)…So it once again occurred to me that perhaps it was time to resurrect the Phoenix Program from the Vietnam era (admitting that as Bill Colby said back then, “a lot of things were done that should not have been done.”). This was actually suggested to me by a close friend who comes from that “background.” Of course there are some people who consider even a discussion of these tactics to be off limits. But this war is not a conventional war. This War on Terrorism is an asymmetrical chess game. As a result, in my opinion, strategies and tactics of 25 years ago should not be considered sacrosanct.

So why not (selective/targeted assassinations)? How different would things be today if a bullet with Hussein’s name on it had been delivered by a special ops team? I continue to ask why Osama bin Laden remains either at large or has not been found. Even ask the question of why certain bothersome individuals now populating the world stage remain on the stage (lets name names…Chavez and Ahmadinejad)…in the end, we had not hesitation in bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki to “save lives.” Of course, I’m not an insider…so what do I know? But, al-Sadr…he’s a pain in the butt. Why is he still alive? What will stop a jihadist from taking the shot at Karzai if the opportunity arises?  Note, as mentioned in a comment re-provided below, there may be a difference between the targeting of a head of state versus that of a known terrorist.

The following is a brief description of the Phoenix Program according to Wikipedia.

The Phoenix Program(Vietnamese: Kế Hoạch Phụng Hoàng, a word related to fenghuang, the Chinese phoenix) or Operation Phoenix was a covert intelligence operation and assassination program undertaken by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in close collaboration with South Vietnamese intelligence during the Vietnam War. The program was designed to identify and “neutralize”—capture; induce to surrender; kill; or otherwise disrupt—the noncombatant infrastructure of Viet Cong (VCI) cadres who were engaged both in recruiting and training insurgents within South Vietnamese villages, as well as providing support to the North Vietnamesewar effort. The operation was directed by the CIA’s Evan J. Parker, then by Ted Shackleyand his deputies, including Thomas Clines, Donald Gregg, and Richard Secord.While the Phoenix operations were originated by the CIA, they were eventually turned over to the US Army and Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) military, and later as part of the “Vietnamization” program they were transitioned to a Republic of Vietnam military program with just a handful of US military advisors assisting. The Phung Hoang operations were officially established by Republic of Vietnam Presidential decree on July 1, 1968, although the program existed unofficially prior to that date.Gary Leroy and Karl Sherrick were two of the most effective advisors having 23 kills in the month of March. President Thieu would later declassify the program, and announce its existence publicly on October 1, 1969, in order to gain wider acceptance and cooperation from South Vietnam citizens.

Here is an interesting article on the subject: CIA and Operation Phoenix in Vietnam…and just in case you’re interested in reading further, here is the link to a Google search on “CIA Phoenix Program Vietnam.”

Finally, here is a compilation of articles on the subject of the Phoenix Program. The Memory Hole Documents from the Phoenix Program (from this site):

The Phoenix Project and Its Creator, Nelson Brickham
by Douglas Valentine

Nelson Brickham joined the CIA in 1949, serving first in the sedate Directorate of Intelligence, then transferring in 1955 to the Operations Division, where he served in the high-profile Soviet-Russia Division. Brickham gained a wide range of experience, from running black propaganda and false-flag recruitments, to gathering information on Soviet missile silos. Over the years he developed his own “systems approach” to spookery that he later employed when developing the Phoenix Program…

Upon assuming the job as Chief of Field operations, Brickham inherited and sharpened three existing programs:

1) The Hamlet Informant Program (HIP), in which principal agents working for the CIA and Special Branch recruited informants in the hamlets. This was dangerous work, because no one likes a snitch, and because the snitches often lied and set-up innocent people. Informants know they are unliked, and they need to be motivated. Some of them were blackmailed into becoming informants; others did it for revenge. Money was the most common motivating factor used in recruiting people for the HIP Program. (The eerie resemblance to Ashcroft’s short-lived TIPS program need not be emphasized.)

2) The Province Interrogation (PIC) Program. The CIA began building a secret torture chamber in each of South Vietnam’s 44 provinces in 1964. Try to file an FOIA for information on them and see what happens. The CIA hired Pacific Architects and Engineers to build these facilities. Information from defectors and captured documents was put into the PIC Program reporting system, to which the CIA had total access.

3) Penetrations into the Viet Cong Infrastructure (usually by blackmailing or terrorizing a member of a targetted individual’s family) were the most sought-after means of gathering information. Brickham conducted penetrations unilaterally and in liaison with the Special Branch. CIA province officers trained their counterpart Special Branch officers on how to mount penetrations, how to interrogate suspects, and how to recruit informants…[more]

I never did get to read this book.

Outrageous thinking? Maybe. Uninformed thinking? Maybe. I’d love to hear an unclassified explanation of why such operations aren’t now feasible and why they wouldn’t shorten the path to peace from jihadist terrorism. If it hasn’t already risen, perhaps the Phoenix should rise again? Besides, unlike the Vietnam era, these strategic kills might not even require a “human hand” rather than a Predator strike (in fact recent events suggest the efficiency of “UAV hits”).  Whose rules are we fighting this war by anyway? There are alot of bad actors on the World stage today…why waste time, money and lives?

By the way, this is a replay of posts from before: Re-Evaluating Strategic Assassinations and The Return of the Phoenix - Taking the Offensive on Counterterrorism.

One of the key comments from an earlier iteration of this post was posted by Darrell from Morning Coffee:

You bring up some great points here, and though I dont come from a special ops background, I’ll still offer my opinion on the subject.

First off Assassinating Ahmadinejad or Chavez is completely different from taking out al-Sadr. Ahmadinejad & Chavez are both heads of state al-Sadr is Jim Jones in a Thoub suit. We are still officially at peace with Iran and Venezuela, an assassination attempt on their heads of state would be an act of War. No matter how much they deserve it, that is not how we declare war. Al-Sadr is cultist leader directing an insurgent militia against our forces and against the recognized government of Iraq… He is fair game..

Now if we were already at War with Iran/Venezuela, targeting their military leadership and lines of communication is fair game, if Mahmood or Hugo happen to be there at the time no great loss.

There is one other line of thought that deserves some consideration. In WW2, had Hitler been assassinated say in 42 or 43, the War in Europe may have lasted much longer than it did, just because of the competence of the German Military Leadership.

I would say that it would deserve consideration only on a case by case basis, and someone has to make a judgement call based on the Intel they have. That judgement call must come from the President, perhaps delegated to Sec Def under specific direction from the President. But I don’t ever see even a theatre commander or other military official making the decision to specifically take out a political leader. That is a political decision, and just as Politicians should leave the military decisions to Generals, Generals need to leave the Political decisions to Politicians.

Interesting and thought provoking post.

Darrell

Just a thought…”Yeah, I know!” We can’t.

CIA, Executive Order 12333, Project Phoenix, State Department, targeted assassinations, Vietnam Sphere: Related Content

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I WAS WRONG. GAME, SET MATCH.

It is spreading like wild fire. Didn’t ya hear? The words “jihad” and “jihadist” have been banned from use by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Its not in any news blurb…its not announced on the State Department website. It has been posted by one blog and then repeated, and repeated and repeated etc. Even by some bloggers of “some repute.” I also note that while it may not be a subject that would normally be covered, websites like Counterterrorism Blog, the Investigative Project on Terrorism, Doug Farah, Evan Kohlmann, Powerline, Bill Roggio (Long War), StrataSphere, Small Wars Journal, BlackFive, and others of that level mention nothing about this “ban.” Perhaps later on in the day??? It is also not shown on the State Department website. There is currently no substantiation of this claim.

A reliable source has informed me that Condoleeza Rice has approved a new lexicon for State Department usage, absolutely forbidding the use of the terms “jihad” and “jihadist” by any State Department official.

[:]

I will publish more information on this when possible.

The “I” is not me, Stormwarning (the “I” refers to the originator of the information). But publish more information indeed…when possible, of course. The reliable source isn’t named. The origin of the “information” isn’t verified.

Previous post on StormBlog: Double Speak and the Lunacy of Language and The War on Terror - Facing Reality.

I don’t know about you, but I’m involved in an early morning conference call in which the term GWOT was used yesterday and will be used today.  Its the “war of words” versus the reality of the War on Terrorism against the Global Jihad.

As always and as is my practice, when (if) corroboration of this “report” is shown, I will eat my words. In fact, I might actually give up blogging if my name isn’t StormWarning (really? - well, maybe).

jihad, jihadist, lexicon, U.S. State Department Sphere: Related Content

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A very large percentage of you will never see anything like this (or care for that matter).  I am not interested at all in this one (I don’t even understand the subject).  For the uninitiated, this is what a request for a proposal from the government looks like. Without DARPA and other programs like it, this Nation’s technical and scientific requirements would go unmet. Some still do (go unmet).

FUNDING OPPORTUNITY DESCRIPTION
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency often selects its research efforts through the Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) process. The BAA will appear first on the FedBizOpps website, http://www.fedbizopps.gov/, and Grants.gov website at http://www.grants.gov/. The following information is for those wishing to respond to the BAA.

DARPA is soliciting innovative research proposals in the area of Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST). Proposed research should investigate innovative approaches that enable revolutionary advances in the fundamental understanding of quantum information science related to “small” quantum systems. Specifically excluded is research which primarily results in incremental improvement to the existing state of practice or knowledge.

Considerable progress has been made in recent years in understanding the fundamentals of quantum information science on both experimental and theoretical sides. In spite of this progress, many fundamental issues remain unresolved and many fundamental challenges remain. The objective of the QuEST program is to identify and address the most important outstanding challenges and opportunities, both experimental and theoretical, related to “small” coherent quantum systems, and resolve or exploit them to enable revolutionary advances in the field. In this context, “small” refers to quantum systems with minimal quantum resources (e.g. number of coherent qubits, entanglement, quantum memory, etc.). Results of such research are expected to lead to revolutionary advances in quantum information science and technology.

It takes alot of experience to even understand how to write these things. My work isn’t anywhere near as complex as this subject matter. But, welcome to my “day job.”  Any questions?

BAA Sphere: Related Content

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Ms. Townsend served as President Bush’s Homeland Security Advisor for 4+ years.  She headed the Homeland Security Council and gave daily security updates. President Bush said, “has ably guided the Homeland Security Council. She has played an integral role in the formation of the key strategies and policies my administration has used to combat terror and protect Americans” and that “We are safer today because of her leadership.”  Dana Perino (White House Press Secretary) said Townsend “dedicated 110 percent of her time and effort to making sure that American citizens could live free from terror.”

During the Clinton years, Townsend found herself in the middle of a struggle over the line between intelligence and criminal prosecution. As gatekeeper for intelligence wiretap requests, her office fought efforts to invoke the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in matters that could result in criminal cases, fearing that prosecutors would use warrants under that law instead of amassing the evidence needed to meet the more difficult threshold for obtaining a criminal wiretap.

She was often quoted as saying that she fought against “The Wall” that impeded information sharing. When Ashcroft became AG, she moved to a position as Chief of Intelligence of the Coast Guard…but was snatched by Condi Rice to go to the White House as Homeland Security Advisor in 2003.  Even upon her resignation, Townsend was quoted as warning about terrorism and the 2008 elections.

“We know that al-Qaeda” tends to view elections “as a period of vulnerability,” Townsend, 45, said in an interview. “I don’t know if there will be a particular threat, but we can’t ignore what we have already seen.”

However, none of these glowing testimonials (see below) talks about one of Townsend’s most consequential and lasting legacies in the field of counterterrorism.  Its actually part of her hidden legacy as written by Brian Hecht of the Investigative Project on Terrorism and posted on the Counterterrorism Blog, while at the Justice Department, Townsend was also responsible for hampering an investigation into the activities of Hamas operatives in the United States -

The investigation at issue was the case against Muhammad Salah and Abdelhaleem al-Ashqar, associates of current Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chief Mousa Abu Marzook (indicted in absentia along with Salah and al-Ashqar). Last year, Salah was convicted of obstruction of justice and al-Ashqar of both obstruction of justice and contempt of court, but both were acquitted of the larger racketeering charge involving funneling money to Hamas.Muhammad Salah and Abdelhaleem al-Ashqar, associates of current Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chief Mousa Abu Marzook - Salah was eventually sentenced to 21 months in prison and al-Ashqar’s sentencing, after several delays, is set for this coming Wednesday.

According to the Chicago Tribune (“Hamas probe nearly fell apart,” August 22, 2004):

The investigation started in Chicago in 1996 and was closed by the FBI in 2000–a victim of turf warfare inside the bureau, political sensitivity about Saudi Arabia and bureaucratic bungling, according to former and current officials involved with the case.

Had the investigation been allowed to proceed, charges could have been brought years ago, these officials said.

“We’re five years behind because of the FBI dragging its feet and because of conflicts within the organization,” retired FBI agent John Vincent said.

Mark Flessner, the federal prosecutor in charge of the case in the 1990s, said former Justice Department official Frances Fragos Townsend–who became President Bush’s homeland security adviser in May–played a central role in stymieing the investigation…

…Townsend has been criticized by Justice Department officials for impeding investigations by rigidly enforcing the separation of the FBI’s criminal and intelligence branches

Fran Townsend was not the only Justice Department official to make mistakes…and there were plenty of mistakes that happened before September 11th…and afterwards. The fact however remains that in this one instance, at least, Ms. Townsend was at least partially responsible for hindering an investigation into Hamas.  L’est we also not forget that on September 10, 2001, former Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected FBI requests to add funding for Arabic language translators.  We are still lagging in the area of translators.  No one can deny that.  And its a critical element of the reasons why “we are safer, but not safe.”

Homeland Security Adviser May Be Endangered Role NPR - 1 hour ago by Pam Fessler All Things Considered, November 19, 2007 · Fran Townsend’s successor will face a number of challenges, including fighting complacency when it …

Homeland Security Adviser Resigns New York Times, United States - 3 hours ago By BRIAN KNOWLTON WASHINGTON, Nov. 19 — Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House adviser on terrorism and homeland security, whose tough and aggressive …

Domestic security advisor is latest Bush aide to resign Los Angeles Times, CA - 3 hours ago Ron Edmonds / AP Fran Townsend gives no reason for her departure. White House won’t speculate on potential successors. By James Gerstenzang, Los Angeles …

AP Top News at 6:28 pm EST The Associated Press - 4 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Fran Townsend, the leading White House-based terrorism adviser who gave public updates on the extent of the threat to US security, …

Homeland Security Adviser Resigns Washington Post, United States - 5 hours ago By Peter Baker President Bush’s chief terrorism adviser announced this morning that she is stepping down, becoming the latest in a series of high-level …

Townsend Says Election Is Potential Terrorism Target (Update1) Bloomberg - 6 hours ago By Holly Rosenkrantz Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Frances Fragos Townsend, who announced today she’s leaving her job as White House homeland security adviser, …

Bush’s top homeland security adviser resigns CNN - 8 hours ago WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush’s top adviser on homeland security is stepping down after 4½ years on the job, the White House said Monday. …

Bush Homeland Security Adviser Townsend to Resign (Update1) Bloomberg - 10 hours ago By Ryan J. Donmoyer Nov. 19 (Bloomberg) — Frances Fragos Townsend, the Homeland Security adviser to President George W. Bush since 2003, is resigning to …

Abdelhaleem al Ashqar, but not safe, Frances Fragos Townsend, Hamas, Homeland Security Council, John Ashcroft, Muhammad Salah, Washington Post, we are safer Sphere: Related Content

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“Tornados, floods, fires, blackouts and manmade disasters such as cyberattacks can all have devastating consequences, but having a plan in place can minimize the impact of a disaster.”  Thanks to the Comcare Alliance for this information.

AT&T 2007 Business Continuity Study (www.att.com/gen/press-room?pid=7922)

30 % of businesses across the country are still not prepared for the worst case scenario.

Of the 10 cities surveyed this year, businesses in New York ranked first in terms of being the most prepared for natural and man-made disasters, while businesses in Cleveland came in last.

24% of companies surveyed suffered from a natural or manmade disaster. Causes for these include: 

• 11% blackouts
• 6% hurricanes
• 5% cyber attacks
• 5% floods
• 5% extreme weather or snow

77% of companies that experienced a disaster increase the priority they place on business preparedness. 

• 90% include cyber security in their plans
• 78% educate employees
• 76% define corporate security policies
• 41% take action when a government alert is issued

1 out of 7 executives indicate that preparedness is not a priority
13% of executives claim that the probability of disaster is too small

Loss of Data (National Archives & Records Administration)

U.S. businesses lose over $12 billion per year because of data loss. This loss is due to: 

• 78% hardware or system failures
• 11% human errors 
• 7% software corruption 
• 1% natural disasters

93% of companies that lost their data center for 10 days or more due to a disaster filed for bankruptcy within one year of the disaster.
50% of businesses that found themselves without data management for this same time period filed for bankruptcy immediately.

Computer Security Breaches (ID Theft Resource Center)

In 2005, there were at least 151 reported breaches have exposed more than 57.7 million Americans to potential ID theft.

Currently 35 states require companies to publicly disclose security breaches involving personal information, such as credit card data and Social Security numbers.

Treasury Department’s Office of Technical Assistance estimates cybercrime proceeds in 2004 were $105 billion, greater than those of illegal drug.

In 2005 and 2006, DHS itself suffered 844 cybersecurity incidents

Visit http://www.ready.gov for more information. Business Preparedness means developing a business continuity plan, testing and updating the plan at least annually, educating employees, establishing redundant servers and backup sites to protect continuous operations, and having processes in place to take action when the federal or state government issues an alert.

all hazards, busines spreparedness, business continuity, disaster. COMCARE Alliance Sphere: Related Content

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In case you missed it, today, new rules went into effect requiring valid Passports to leave or enter the U.S.  No, this won’t stop illegal immigration, but it will reduce the flow of people crossing the border…especially pedestrians.  Some go for work, some visit relatives.  All now need a valid U.S. Passport.

Human nature being what it is, alot of people left it to the last minute to get their’s.  Frankly, I’m one of them.  I’ve been procrastinating about getting a new passport for over a year.  But I haven’t had a valid passport for over 20 years, so my process won’t be as simple as just renewing one.  Here are some interesting statistics though:

Statistics kept by the Rio Grande Valley Partnership, a regional chamber of commerce, show more than a million crossings to Mexico over the Valley’s nine international bridges for the month of June alone. Of those, 233,917 were pedestrians, which averages to about 7,800 people walking across each day.

These numbers are just at the nine Rio Grande Valley bridges…in one month, June…over a quarter of a million people.  It’s not hard to see how illegals could find their ways to the U.S. with such a crowd, especially when the Border Crossing Guards have had such a difficult time checking and validating the Border Crossing Cards.

This is all part of the implementation and expansion of the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

• Traveling to Canada, Mexico and Bermuda by Air
• Traveling to Canada, Mexico and Bermuda by Land/Sea
• Passport Requirements
• Other Acceptable Documents
• Traveling To and From U.S. Territories
• Presenting Insufficient Documentation
• About the Initiative

There are new and additional requirements coming…The new exit requirement for US-VISIT, which would require people to have biometric identity cards scanned as they leave the country, is still in the research and planning stages.

There are a ton of problems associated with these new rules, including the very long wait (probably 120 days) and the cost (unexpedited turnaround is $97).  Beyond that lies the very real questions that still exist about whether any or all of the security attached to these new passports (often referred to as the “e-passport” to reflect the fact that they have identity chips embedded in them that have reportedly been cloned).  We’ll see…like they say, “we’re safer but we’re still not safe.”

Cross posted on Real Clear Politics

e passports, US Visit, were safer but were still not safe, Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative Sphere: Related Content

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The proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) is a "plum" worth billions of dollars to the selected site.  Five locations were recently selected as finalists.  There are two interesting stories; the tiny town in Mississippi that made the final five and the question of hearings on LI about Plum Island (and whether there might still be a chance of DHS deciding to upgrade Plum Island rather than re-locate the NBAF to one of the five finalist locations.  Also please see previous Storm posts on the NBAF shown below.  Additional discussion about Mississippi’s efforts shown below.

The following sites have been chosen to advance to the next phase in
the competitive process to select the location for the proposed
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF).

• Flora Industrial Park, Madison County, Miss.
• Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan.
• Texas Research Park, San Antonio, Texas
• Umstead Research Farm, Granville County, N.C.
• University of Georgia/South Milledge Ave., Athens, Ga.

The next step in the selection process is to conduct an
environmental impact statement (EIS) as part of the National
Environmental Policy Act process. Plum Island, as a government-owned site will be considered as one of the alternatives that are evaluated in the EIS.

Flora Mississippi, a town of 1546 people is by far the smallest of the final locations.  There was a public meeting in Flora today to discuss the impact the NBAF would have on that tiny community (don’t know the actual results of that meeting yet).  In an understatement, the Mayor said (prior to the meeting):

"There’s no doubt in my mind. This could be bigger than the car plants," he said, referring to the Nissan plant located in nearby Canton and Toyota in north Mississippi.

About 200 of the nation’s top scientists would move to central Mississippi to work at the lab, which would test and evaluate combating bio and agro terrorism threats.

Another 150 support workers would converge in the Flora Industrial Park on U.S. 49 daily. Pharmaceutical companies likely would locate nearby, hoping to sell the results of the medical research.

The average salary of the 400 jobs it will provide is $75,000 - with a total payroll of about $30.5 million annually.

Considering that other locations were dropped at the last cut because they "lacked the infrastructure to support the lab" (one particular site comes to mind immediately), it is pretty surprising that Flora made the cut.  But it seems that Bennie Thompson (D) represents that District and also Chairs the House Homeland Security Committee (considering one of the other disappointed locations was in the CD of the former Chairman of the House Appropriations sub-committee for Homeland Security, I find it hard to believe that there could be a connection, but stranger things have happened in partisan politics and "bringing home the bacon")…

Partners collaborating on developing the facility include University of Mississippi Medical Center, the Ole Miss School of Pharmacy, Mississippi State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, and Jackson State University. This facility should provide a multiplier effect of more research, more grants, more jobs — all high-tech, high-paying — making the competition to land it intense. Greaves said that the metro area offers the quality-of-life features along with the technical support to land this project, but public support is critical to landing it. The hearing in Flora is open to all interested and should answer any questions the public may have about the proposed facility.

Here’s some additional insight about the Mississippi proposal from the Sunshine Project on the NBAF.

Unqualified Connections: Battelle, based in Ohio, conducts classified research at its West Jefferson (OH) lab. Battelle also operates national labs, including Oak Ridge (TN), and Pacific Northwest (WA). Mississippi has little to offer in the way of expertise. Battelle has an insatiable appetite for federal dollars and may appreciate weak partners in Mississippi’s educational institutions. This proposal features the crack political team of Gov. Haley Barbour (Chair of George Bush’s 2000 Presidential Campaign Advisory Committee) and Penrose "Parney" Albright, until recently a top DHS official. Between them, just about any relevant ear can be bent.

URL: http://www.governorbarbour.com/NABF.html

But why are they holding town hall meetings and hearings about the possibility of Plum Island (the existing BSL3 facility) getting the "nod?"

Enhanced Defense Facility Proposed For Plum Island
Plum Island, which houses the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, is a
prospective site for a new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility,
which would handle pathogens threatening to humans. Though Plum Island
is not one of the leading prospective locations, representatives from
the US Department of Homeland Security hosted a public scoping meeting
to provide information to and solicit comments from the Southold Town
community on August 23. The two main concerns voiced by residents were
how the government planned to secure the island and protect residents
on the East End…

Homeland Security seeks input on Plum Island disease lab

Even though Plum Island is not on the list of five sites being considered for a new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility, the Department of Homeland Security
is holding a public meeting Thursday night in Southold to solicit
comments on whether the island would be a good site for the lab…

Plum Island, located off Orient Point and home of the Plum Island
Animal Disease Center scheduled to be superceded by the new facility
after 2013, hasn’t been considered for the new lab that will study more
dangerous pathogens in part because the state’s two Democratic
senators, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Charles Schumer, and Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) oppose the idea as being too dangerous.

But the Long Islanders want the lab to remain at Level 3.  They could build a new facility at the current site, or if, as expected, the NBAF goes to one of the five finalists, Plum Island would, as currently planned, be decommissioned.  Strange doin’s though.  In my opinion of course.

Previous Storm posts on the NBAF:
Biodefense Labs - Power Outage Shows Flaws in CDC Lab
NBAF Finalists Announced - San Antonio Makes the Cut!
National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NBAF) News
Texas, A Terrorist Target Because…
BioHazard Level 4 - Target for Terrorism?
NBAF Update
UPDATED: Plum Island and NBAF - Conspiracy Theories and the Spreading of Fiction
San Antonio Stays in the Running for the National Bio-Defense Lab
Biolab Level Four - Update
Safety of Bio-Defense Labs Questioned

Current Affairs, Domestic Terrorism, Federal Policy, National Security, Opinions, Technology, US Federal Policy Sphere: Related Content

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Except for certain objections, it is clear that the drug wars on the southern side of our border with Mexico are creating serious concerns, so much so that the U.S. is allocating money to help Calderon’s cartel battles.  Now the justified question is raised whether Mexico is the next Columbia.

Drug gangs are terrorizing Mexican cities. Severed heads show up on the doorstep of police stations and newspapers—often with warnings from drug gangs targeting officials by name. Over 370 young women have been murdered in Ciudad Juarez. Eleven journalists have been murdered in the last year making Mexico the second most dangerous country for journalists—after Iraq.

In spite of Calderon’s stated objectives and efforts to rid the country of the cartels, and his efforts to federalize the police departments in a number of Mexican states, the violence continues.  Some of the U.S.-Mexico efforts were recently covered in National Security, Border Security and the Mexican Drug War.

But last week, after two Mexican agents were found murdered in Santa Catarina (Nuevo Laredo) four suspects (deperados) were arrested.

The agents were naked, their limbs and heads bound with what appeared to be duct tape, state and federal police said…

…In all, about 90 people have died in organized crime-related violence since January in or near this industrial city 140 miles south of Laredo.

Of course, this is further substantiated by the Stratfor Mexico Security Memo of August 20, 2007:

Violence returned to Nuevo Leon state this week with the Aug. 17 discovery near Monterrey of the bodies of two federal law enforcement agents who had been kidnapped the night before. Far to the west, Baja California state also stood out this week as an area to monitor as the commanders of joint local, state and federal security forces confirmed they would continue security operations in the state. Their announcement came in response to claims by a business group that organized crime in the state was reaching record levels, especially kidnapping. It is likely that additional federal resources will be sent to the state as security operations are expanded. As an indication of the level of violence throughout the country, 677 known cartel-related killings took place in Mexico in the first quarter of 2007, according to U.S. counterterrorism sources.

The question is not whether the Mexican drug violence is crossing the U.S. border and directly affecting U.S. security, but whether the combination of Calderon’s intent along with U.S. aid to Mexico (sponsored by Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Texas) can stop the cross border assault.

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Well, at least one of Long Island’s fraudsters have been caught.  After fleeing the U.S. after a hedge fund fraud conviction, a Westhampton Long Island man,     Michael Berger has been arrested in Austria after being hunted for
the past five years by the FBI, according to Austrian officials.  He has been described as  "the poster child for
hedge-fund fraud."

Remaining to be captured and brought to justice are:

…Jacob "Kobi" Alexander, the former head of Comverse Technology in Woodbury; Sidney Levine, who allegedly stole millions of dollars from
investors in a scheme that involved the supposed construction of an assisted living facility in Kings Park; and Tomo Razmilovic, the former chairman of Symbol Technologies in Holtsville. All are charged with financial frauds.

Razmilovic is living in Sweden, where he is a citizen. Sweden refuses to extradite citizens. Alexander is fighting extradition from Namibia. Levine disappeared in 2005 after leaving a girlfriend’s car at a Florida airport.

Yuppers!  Three "fine upstanding" examples of business ethics.

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Rudy Giuliani, former Mayor of New York City, and "the man who would be President," continues to confound.  As confounding is the continued support he is receiving in certain ultraconservative religious social conservative circles, despite his acknowledged pro-choice position and his contradictory statements.   While it is still too early to start lining up to support a candidate, as already stated, personally, I won’t support Rudy for President (I am pro-choice and support the 2nd Amendment), and truly do not expect him to be the Republican nominee…aside from many other reasons, he would be the first mayor to be elected President.  FDR was the last NY’er to become President.  And historically, Northeasterners do not fair well in Presidential elections.

But it is his stance on abortion that makes me wonder how and why some people make their decisions to elect a person for President.

In case it was missed, here is my last post re: Rudy (the pro-Rudy crowd didn’t seem to like it much).

A man’s integrity was questioned when John Kerry ran for President in ‘04.  And, because of his shifting positions, he was branded a "flip-flopper."  How else can you characterize Rudy’s pro-choice position?  And how in blazes can anyone from the Christian social conservative right support him?  The answer is that anyone doing that is either not paying attention to the facts, or is simply too dense to realize the contradiction.

Giuliani Reaffirms Pro-Choice Stance
Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani on Friday urged
conservatives to look past his support for abortion rights, arguing
that his divergence on the issue should not disqualify him from being
the party’s GOP nominee…[more]

Frankly, if I actually liked him as a candidate, I could agree with his positions on terrorism, the War in Iraq, tax cutting, law enforcement…his position on abortion wouldn’t matter.  But the head scratcher here is how does a PRO-LIFE person find a way to support Giuliani?  I could point to one critically humorous example, but will not.

As pointed out by Charles Krauthammer, Roe v Wade is a poorly decided case.  That alone however does not forgive the contradiction of a PRO-LIFER, religious right conservative supporting Giuliani.  In "Rudy’s Abortion Gaffe" Krauthammer observes:

Legalizing abortion by judicial fiat ( Roe v. Wade) instead of by democratic means has its price. One is that the issue remains socially unsettled. People take to the streets when they have been deprived of resort to legislative action.

The other effect is to render the very debate hopelessly muddled. Instead of discussing what a decent society owes women and what it owes soon-to-be-born infants, and trying to balance the two by politically hammering out regulations that a broad national consensus can support, we debate the constitutional niceties of a 35-year-old, appallingly crafted Supreme Court decision.

On Roe Rudy states: It would be okay to repeal. It would be also [okay] if a strict
constructionist judge viewed it as precedent, and I think a judge has
to make that decision.

The nuance (another word overused from the ‘04 election) lies in the words "strict constructionist."

…one strict constructionist might look at Roe v. Wade as the constitutional travesty it is and decide to repeal it. Another strict constructionist judge could, with equal conviction, decide that after 35 years the habits and mores shaped by Roe v. Wade are so ingrained in society that it should not be overturned.

Rudy is a contradiction in fact.  But to point to the possible faults in the Roe v Wade decision as a way to waffle out of his historic track record of supporting pro-choice, is ludicrous.  Almost as ludicrous as a pro-lifer supporting him for President.

Rudy versus Pat Buchanan
Giuliani’s adversaries have long seen his liberal stands on abortion,
gay rights and gun control as key liabilities. On the stump, he rarely
mentions those topics unless prodded by questions. But in his Houston
speech, he broached all three in his bid to ultimately return his
campaign’s focus to terrorism.

He said he backed gay rights but
not same-sex mariage. On gun control, he defended New York laws that
limit weapon possession as having helped cut crime, but added that he
believed in "the personal right to bear arms."

In a sign of
criticism he can continue to expect, Pat Buchanan, who crusaded for
socially conservative causes in three unsuccessful presidential bids,
argued in a syndicated column Friday that Giuliani was ill-suited to
"lead the family-values party into battle."

Mocking Giuliani’s
pledge to name Supreme Court justices in the conservative mold of
Antonin Scalia, Buchanan wrote: "Rudy’s pro-choice, pro-Scalia stance
seems intellectually incoherent and politically inexplicable."

I happen to like Buchanan’s words because they help to express my thoughts about anyone who is a social conservative who supports Rudy…intellectually incoherent…politically inexplicable…total contradictions.  I stand on my position, and hope that an electable Republican is nominated…in my opinion, Rudy is far from electable.

Rudy on tape talking about abortion (in detail of both sides of the issue) at Houston Baptist University in Texas.

Also cross posted on Real Clear Politics.

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Although a final decision will not be made for nearly a year, San Antonio’s three-site approach to competing for the National Bio-Defense Lab has kept it in the running.  The Department of Homeland Security will make site visits sometime this Spring.  There were originally 29 sites under consideration; the cut has been made to 14 sites.  It should be noted that in addition to the 3 San Antonio sites, Texas A&M represents a fourth Texas location.

Although it is pretty straightforward, check out the Texas Bio and Agro-Defense Consortium Powerpoint presentation.  This is a link to a 2-page description of the Texas Bio Agro-Defense Consortium and their position paper on why the Lab should be located in San Antonio.

Articles:
Bigger Than Toyota?  San Antonio Wants Bio-Defense Lab
Biodefense lab needs support of community

Websites for the three San Antonio locations:

Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research
Brooks City-Base
Texas Research Park Foundation

Video for the story

This facility is proposed to replace the lab at Plum Island off the coast of Long Island, New York.   The location of the facility is controversial given the true nastiness of some of the things that this Lab will handle.  San Antonio is now the 7th largest city in the country.  This is an important event in Homeland Security.  I remember the uproars a few years back when it was rumored that animals and birds escaping the confines of Plum Island had been responsible for spreading West Nile Virus.

I believe that my friend Moon is in favor of locating the BLS-Level 4 facility in his area (Kentucky and Tennessee NBAF Consortium) because, as he once said to me, "if there’s an accident here, it’ll kill more cattle than people."

Prior posts on this topic:
Biolab Level Four - Update
Boston University Biolab Stalled by Court Ruling
Safety of Bio-Defense Labs Questioned
USDA - Toxins and Bio-Safety

It will be quite interesting to see how this situation plays out.  Clearly, each of the proposers believes that its location is ideal.  Frankly, except for the population issues in San Antonio, the city’s research and scientific capabilities should allow it to make the finals.  The economic impact on the area would be enormous.  Even bigger, I believe, would be the boost to regional prestige and credibility that it would bring…a National Laboratory tends to do that.

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I have long held the belief that there was a convergence of Counternarcotic and Counterterrorism efforts. Its not just my “beliefs” so much as it has been the reality of those in Law Enforcement, even back in the 1990’s, that the illegal narcotics plague was as much a terrorist attack on our citizens as an attack on our soil (then referring to the first World Trade Center Bombing).

Now, controversy has arisen about the inclusion of possession of methamphetamines and the smuggling of cigarettes as offenses in the hopefully, soon to be renewed Patriot Act. Despite some of the contrarians, I can’t imagine not including anything that can be used to finance terrorist activities being permitted to go unregulated.

Once again, Andy Cochran at the Counterterrorism Blog has written a piece defending these provisions.

http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/12/cigarette_smugg.html

Matthew Levitt’s testimony on terrorist financing, http://hsgac.senate.gov/_files/LevittTestimony.pdf:

In June 2002, the Hamoud brothers were convicted of a variety of charges including funding the activities of Hezbollah from the proceeds of an interstate cigarette smuggling ring. Seven other defendants pled guilty to a variety of charges stemming from this case, including conspiracy to provide material support to terrorists, cigarette smuggling, money laundering and immigration violations.47 Mohammed Hassan Dbouk and his brother-in-law, Ali Adham Amhaz, ran the Canadian portion of this network under the command of Haj Hasan Hilu Laqis (Hezbollah’s chief military procurement officer).

Asa Hutchinson on drug smuggling and terrorist financing:

http://www.dea.gov/pubs/cngrtest/ct032002.html

There is a convergence of counterdrug and counterterrorism activities. Early after the attacks of September 11^th, some of the then “conventional wisdom” claimed otherwise… http://www.mit-technology-review.com/BioTech/wtr_12840,259,p1.html

Civil libertarians and those who want to make drug/narcotic possession legal aside, it is essential to our Nation’s security that illegal smuggling of things like cigarettes and narcotics must come under the purview of the renewed Patriot Act.

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