North Korea Ship Has Turned Around
A North Korean ship tracked by the US Navy and suspected of transporting weapons or military know-how in violation of UN sanctions has turned around, a Pentagon official said.
The official declined to provide details, including where the Kang Nam 1 ship — reportedly originally bound for Myanmar — could now be headed, but news reports out of South Korea suggested the ship may be returning home two weeks after it set sail June 17.
A diplomatic source speaking on condition of anonymity told the Korea Herald that the ship was “near our waters,” which could suggest that sanctions were having an effect on reclusive North Korea.
“If the ship is on its way back, it would mean that Resolution 1874 is taking effect and causing the North to retreat,” Kim Tae-woo, vice president of the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, told the newspaper.
The Kang Nam 1 quickly drew the attention of the US military under new UN sanctions designed to punish Pyongyang over its May 25 underground nuclear test.
The US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, confirmed Sunday that the United States was tracking the cargo ship.
“Obviously we’re pursuing and following the progress of that ship very closely,” she told the CBS network.
al Qaeda Warns France Of Revenge For Burka Stance
Al-Qaeda’s North Africa wing threatened on Tuesday to take revenge on France for its opposition to the burka, calling on Muslims to retaliate against the country, the US monitoring service SITE Intelligence reported.
Earlier this month, President Nicolas Sarkozy said the burka, which covers the whole face, was not welcome in the strictly secular country.
“Yesterday was the hijab (the Islamic headscarf long banned in French schools) and today, it is the niqab (the full veil),” Abu Musab Abdul Wadud, head of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb was quoted as saying.
“We will take revenge for the honour of our daughters and sisters against France and against its interests by every means at our disposal.”
The group also called on Muslims to retaliate for what it called French “hostility” against the community and its attempt to obstruct Islam’s practice on its territory.
“For us, the mujahedeen … we will not remain silent to such provocations and injustices,” Abdul Wadud said without elaborating, according to SITE.
Tennis Ball Bomber Denies Terrorism Charges – UK
June 30, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
A “bigoted and racist” neo-Nazi was planning to use tennis ball shrapnel bombs in a hate campaign against Asians, a court heard today . Neil Lewington, was said to have been on the brink of a bombing spree when he was “fortuitously” arrested for being drunk and disorderly at a Suffolk railway station.
Police found he was carrying two home-made fire bombs in a holdall, the Old Bailey heard. In a raid on the 43-year-old’s home in Tilehurst, Berkshire, which he shared with his parents, police found a bomb factory, it was alleged. Lewington denies eight charges under anti-terrorism and explosives laws.
Bombs Found Metro Manila, Terrorists Planning To Destabilize?
Is there an ongoing destabilization operation? Yesterday, a bomb was found at the Department of Agriculture (DA) in Quezon City, a day after the Office of the Ombudsman, also in Quezon City, was bombed.
Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap told reporters the DA incident might be part of a concerted effort to sow destabilization or confusion.
A “suspicious package” was also found outside a condominium across Ateneo de Manila University along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City.
President Arroyo and her family had once occupied a penthouse suite at the condominium – the One Burgundy Plaza. As of last night, police have not confirmed whether the package contained an explosive device.
Police suspect the DA and Katipunan incidents are related.
Witnesses told reporters the package was contained in a red belt bag that a security guard found outside One Burgundy Plaza at around 7 a.m.
The police blotter at Anonas police station showed the security guard had reported his find.
Witnesses said the package was found near an electric post between One Burgundy Plaza and Prince David condominium.
Warren Air Force Base Conducts National-level Terror Exercise
June 30, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
A simulated terrorist attack on a 90th Missile Wing ICBM launch facility provided the exercise scenario for Nuclear Weapon Accident/Incident Exercise 2009.
This national-level exercise involving 11 federal agencies and 1,300 personnel was the largest and most complex exercise ever conducted at a missile base.
Accident response and associated consequent management procedures are routinely practiced by local responders and the 90th Missile Wing; however, this exercise was made far more complex by the criminal aspect associated with terrorist activities.
Close and careful coordination with a number of federal agencies, particularly the FBI, was essential to gather information swiftly to identify and capture the terrorists responsible for the attack.
The exercise challenged responders in several ways. Balancing the need for personnel safety in a potentially hazardous situation while allowing law enforcement officials to gather time critical evidence for criminal response, required a clear understanding of the risks involved.
Minutes counted in determining which terrorist group was responsible and developing courses of action to track and capture them.
As response elements arrived from across the nation, the wing’s initial response force transitioned to a response task force with a formal transfer of incident command between the wing commander Col. Mike Morgan, 90th MW commander, and the
Twentieth Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Roger W. Burg.
General Burg then led the federal agency response for consequence management along with supporting the FBI in their counter-terrorism mission.
In addition to the FBI, major exercise players included the Department of Energy providing weapon system technical expertise, Homeland Security and FEMA for consequence management, US Northern Command for operational command of the IRF/RTF, the State of Wyoming and the Wyoming Guard for initial response and logistical support, and Air Force Space Command for filling key RTF leadership positions.
“This is the first time the country has brought together military operators with a very robust interagency package,” said Exercise Director and Director of Nuclear Support at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency U. S. Army Brig. Gen. Ernie Audino “This is a complex exercise with many moving parts.” “It is critical to make the U.S. military the best in the world,” he continued. “And it’s not just the extensive training we go through, but it’s how we capture the lessons learned from that training. It is an endless, necessary cycle.”
DHS Report Concludes General Aviation Security Threat is Limited
June 30, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
The National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) recently welcomed a conclusion in a recent report conducted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General (DHS-0IG) that “general aviation presents only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security.”
“This report validates what we in the general aviation community have said before: General aviation does not represent a significant security threat,” said NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen. “The industry has always emphasized security, and in the years since the 9/11 attacks, we have remained diligent and adopted numerous measures to ensure that our aircraft, crews and passengers are safe and secure.”
Following are the key findings included in the 30-page study by the DHS-OIG:
* “We determined that general aviation presents only limited and mostly hypothetical threats to security. We also determined that the steps general aviation airport owners and managers have taken to enhance security are positive and effective.”
* “The current status of [general aviation] operations does not present a serious homeland security vulnerability requiring TSA to increase regulatory oversight of the industry.”
* “Although [TSA's Office of Intelligence] has identified potential threats, it has concluded that most [general aviation] aircraft are too light to inflict significant damage, and has not identified specific imminent threats from [general aviation] aircraft.”
“We recognize that this report doesn’t mean our industry can take its eye off the ball on security,” Bolen continued. “We will continue working with policymakers to promote effective proposals for enhancing security while recognizing the business aviation community’s need for mobility and flexibility. At the same time, we welcome this recognition of our industry’s long-standing commitment to security, and the effective measures we’ve taken to minimize security threats.”
U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen Outlines Top U.S. Threats
June 29, 2009 by national
Filed under Homeland Security News
At any given moment, U.S. Adm. Mike Mullen is juggling at least a half dozen critical situations around the world.
The final hours before taking off for Moscow to iron out details of a military cooperation agreement with Russia were no different for the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the fight against the Taliban inside Pakistan, al-Qaida’s intent to attack the U.S. and Iran are the issues Mullen says he is grappling with right now.
“The biggest concern I have right now is in the broader Middle East,” says Mullen. “We are in a position in Iraq where we’re decreasing our footprint over the next year and a half, considerably to meet the president’s direction to have all troops out of Iraq by the end of 2011.”
At the same time Mullen says, “We’re increasing the number of forces we’ve got in Afghanistan and Pakistan. It is in that region — in Afghanistan and Pakistan — I think the No. 1 threat that we have right now, is al -Qaida.”
Mullen says al-Qaida’s main goal “is to attack Western interests.”
But another threat, North Korea, is most pressing.
“What is most important in my view is that somehow this leader gets the message that he’s just continuing to isolate himself and his people,” says Mullen.
He pulled no punches when discussing Kim Jong il’s behavior.
“He is somewhat unpredictable. Clearly that’s the case,” says Mullen.
When asked about U.S. military preparation to deal with a possible missile launch in the direction of Hawaii, Mullen responded confidently.
“I think we’re very well postured and in a position to be able to address the threat. I have great confidence in our forces and our ability to do that.”
When pressed on just what would be done, Mullen says the U.S. would “take all necessary measures to defend our people.”
While clear on the threats, he’s keenly aware of the advantage he has.
via Mullen outlines top U.S. threats – wtop.com.
Planned Racial Violence Spurs Lockdown By Sherriff Arpaio
June 29, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
Ten thousand inmates in Maricopa County jails were placed on lockdown after authorities got word of a planned race riot.
The lockdown means visitation, phone calls and nonessential movement will be restricted and SWAT teams will be on standby, according to Lt. Brian Lee, sheriff’s spokesman.
Inmates will be allowed out of their cells for court appearances only.
Lee said in a press release that the planned riot was spurred by the inmates’ dislike of sharing cells with people of other races.
The lockdown will continue until tensions subside.
Detonated Blasting Cap Found On Tracks Near Train Station
June 29, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
Wenham Mass. Kids looking for rocks along the train tracks yesterday made a puzzling discovery: a detonated blasting cap on the tracks near the commuter rail station.
The discovery temporarily shut down a section of the parking lot near the Shoppes at Hamilton Crossing and police made a passing train continue to the Ipswich station without stopping.
Police Sgt. Jeffrey Tobey said there was no evidence of any explosive material on the tracks or else they would have shut down the Newburyport line.
In fact, the detonated blasting cap wasn’t even on the tracks anymore.
Tobey said the two kids brought their discovery to the Hamilton police station down the road.
Hamilton police contacted MBTA police who are now working with the FBI on an investigation, Tobey said.
via Detonated blasting cap found on tracks near train station – SalemNews.com, Salem, MA.
Yemeni Jet Crashes Near Comoros Islands – 150 Onboard
June 29, 2009 by national
Filed under Incident Reports
A Yemeni airliner with 150 people aboard has crashed near the Comoros Islands, an aviation official in Yemen says.
An airliner with 150 people on board belonging to Yemeni state carrier Yemenia Air crashed in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Comoros Tuesday, a senior government official said.
“We don’t know if there are any survivors among the 150 people on the plane,” Comoros vice-president Idi Nadhoim told Reuters from the airport at the main island’s capital Moroni.
Nadhoim said the accident happened in the early hours of Tuesday, but could not give any more details.
The location was not immediately known, but a medical worker in the town of Mitsamiouli, on the main island Grande Comore, said he had been called into the local hospital.
“They have just called me to come to the hospital. They said a plane had crashed,” he told Reuters.
A Comoran police source said the plane was believed to have come down in the sea. “We really have no sea rescue capabilities,” he added.
N. Korea: U.S. Plotting Pre-Emptive Nuclear War
The rhetoric out of North Korea continues…
North Korea criticized the U.S. on Monday for positioning missile defense systems around Hawaii, calling the deployment part of a plot to attack the regime and saying it would bolster its nuclear arsenal in retaliation.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has said he ordered the deployment of a ground-based, mobile missile intercept system and radar system to Hawaii amid concerns the North may fire a long-range missile toward the islands, about 4,500 miles away.
“Through the U.S. forces’ clamorous movements, it has been brought to light that the U.S. attempt to launch a pre-emptive strike on our republic has become a brutal fact,” the North’s main Rodong Sinmun newspaper said in a commentary.
The paper also accused the U.S. of deploying nuclear-powered aircraft and atomic-armed submarines in waters near the Korean peninsula, saying the moves prove “the U.S. pre-emptive nuclear war” on the North is imminent.
The commentary, carried by the official Korean Central News Agency, said the North will bolster its nuclear arsenal in self-defense.
The North routinely accuses the U.S. of plotting to invade the North. But the U.S., which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, has said it has no such plan.
Honduras President Ousted In Coup, Chavez Threatens To Invade
June 28, 2009 by national
Filed under World Report
Honduras was plunged into a political crisis that threatened to spill across the region hours after President Manuel Zelaya was thrown out by the army and exiled to Costa Rica prompting his leftist ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, to threaten military intervention.
In the first successful military coup in Central America since the end of the Cold War, the army sent masked soldiers into the presidential palace before dawn. The President, who was in dispute with his military about a planned constitutional referendum, was then escorted to a military plane which took him into exile.
Mr Chavez went on state television later in the day claiming that the coup leaders had taken away the Cuban ambassador to Honduras and left the Venezuelan ambassador by the road in the capital, Tegucigalpa, after beating him. He said that if troops enter his embassy “that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war,” and “we would have to act militarily”.
The Congress in Honduras said later that it had received a letter of resignation from Mr Zelaya, purportedly signed on Friday. In a show of hands, representatives accepted that he had stepped down from office.
More…
Army ousts Honduras president in vote dispute…
President calls arrest ‘kidnapping’…
ASKS FOR ASYLUM IN COSTA RICA…
Troops surround presidential palace…
OBAMA SAYS DEEPLY CONCERNED ABOUT DETENTION, EXPULSION…
Iranian Regime Turns Tables On Protesters Using Social Media
Millions of sympathizers around the world looked forward to seeing Iran’s protest movement using the Internet for the first online coup in history. Instead, the Iranian Islamic regime turned the tables: Its Internet police, arguably the largest in the world, pushed “control,” “halt,” “delete” and “send” buttons to activate a deadly weapon for suppressing the movement, as soon as it took to the streets to protest the June 12 election which was believed to have given Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a false victory.
By Sunday, June 28, when the Guardian Council was to hand down its final verdict on their complaints, the street rallies had petered out.
Part of the reason, intelligence sources report, was their organizers’ heavy reliance on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Flickr and other social sites to orchestrate their protest movement. They did not at first appreciate that Iranian intelligence Internet experts, operating from secret headquarters established months ago, were using their communications to shoot them down.
According to our sources, that headquarters is located at the telecom center on Sepah (Khomenei) Square in Tehran. It was built for the Shah in the 1970s by the Israel construction contractors Solel Boneh and designed by Israeli intelligence and telecommunications experts.
The high-end apparatus, installed in late 2008 by the German Siemens AG and Finnish Nokia Corp. cell phone giant, gave Iranian intelligence the most advanced tools anywhere for controlling, inspecting, censoring and altering Internet and cell phone messaging. Those tools were being used weeks before the poll to identify penetrations by alien spy services, their local agents and dissident activists.
This system is capable of conducting “deep packet inspection” of every type of text and video communication in all parts of Iran on three tracks:
1. Like other advanced electronic spy systems in the world, this one uses such keywords as attack, weapons, cash, data, explosives, meeting, demonstration, resistance, protest, etc. to alert Iran within milliseconds to feeds of interest by computer or phone – mail, signals or visuals.
In a flash, intelligence analysts get a fix on the sender and the electronic addressee which are then placed on a surveillance list for further monitoring. Once identified, the sender or receiver and their connections are closely shadowed by field agents.
2. By “deep packet inspection,” the secret controllers can cause delays in online data transfers, which surfers may attribute to glitches connected with their providers. The more targets under surveillance, the more online transfers are slowed down.
DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report that the day after the presidential poll and resulting street outbreaks, Iran’s Internet control and tracking supervisors took over the 10 leading service providers in the country. Their first action was to slow down incoming and outgoing cyber traffic from 1,500 to 54 kilobytes to make sure that not a single byte by Internet or cell phone to or from protest leaders escaped their notice.
Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-06-28
June 28, 2009 by national
Filed under National Interest
- Rocket Attack on U.S. Base in Afghanistan Kills 2 Troops, Wounds 4 Americans… http://ff.im/4f6zK #
- Homeland Security Television is coming to National Terror Alert 24/7. Take a quick preview tonight. http://tinyurl.com/m4jxzr #TCOT #HHRS #
- Dept. Homeland Security To Kill Domestic Satellite Spying http://tinyurl.com/nknuce #
- People On Terror Watch List Allowed To Buy Guns – http://tinyurl.com/lulw8a #
- Pakistans Nuclear Nightmare – http://tinyurl.com/kra7l5 #
- Preview Homeland Security Television, now on National Terror Alert 24/7 http://tinyurl.com/m4jxzr #
- Pensioners Kidnap, Torture Financial Advisor Who Lost £2m – http://tinyurl.com/mn2fnh #
- Man Threatens To Crash Plane, Shoot Police – Phoenix – http://tinyurl.com/m3dcd7 #
- 8 Children Burned In Homemade Acid-Bomb Attack – http://tinyurl.com/kmohul #
- How Safe Is Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal – http://tinyurl.com/mnherv #
- Taliban Use Stolen U.S. Gear Against U.S. – http://tinyurl.com/lpkfps #
- Buck Knives CEO Nervous About Switchblade Rule – http://tinyurl.com/lzpw5y #
- Study Explores Emergency Training In Second Life – http://tinyurl.com/llp7bh #
- Homeland Security Television Returns to NationalTerrorAlert.com. Available 24/7 http://tinyurl.com/l3hj46 #
- Somali Islamists Cut Off Hands and Feet of 4 Thieves : Homeland Security News http://bit.ly/jVbQi #
- Getting Executive Buy-in For Disaster Preparedness : Homeland Security News http://bit.ly/YKJhb #
- After Minneapolis, FBI Eyes Atlanta’s Somalis : Homeland Security News http://cli.gs/7h3LA #
- Homeland Security Television (HSTV), the world's first online, on-demand Homeland Security Television Network 24/7. http://bit.ly/1aSKqF #
- Alleged ETA Terror Members Arrested Gathering Intel – Paris : Homeland Security News http://tinyurl.com/njlgz5 #
- "Mango scare at Columbus airport | Gadling.com" http://bit.ly/153PMJ #
- Requesting an invite for Tweetboard Alpha (http://tweetboard.com) by @140ware, for my site: http://www.nationalterroralert.com #
- Tweetboard is up and working on National Terror Alert. Tell us what you think. http://posted.at/RnF #
