True Terrorism

Defense Department Further Institutionalizes "Threat Finance Cell" Concept

2008-12-05T15:10:39Z

Michael Yon has posted the new directive, sigend three days ago by Deputy Defense Secretary England, which provides the clearest statement yet of DoD policy and command responsibilities for "counterthreat finance" operations. The directive permanently institutionalizes the "threat finance cell" concept which has been the subject of joint operations between the Treasury and Defense Departments for over three years, and that I have written about for over a year here (see previous posts and my remarks...(read more)

After Mumbai: Deciphering the Horizons

2008-12-04T23:11:52Z

As the crisis between India and Pakistan is drawing the attention of the international community and the diplomatic efforts of the United States, public opinion has shown an increased interest in the Jihadi agenda in India. In this regard the Counter Terrorism community is focusing on analyzing the long term strategic agenda of the Terror forces involved in the attack. Today's panel discussion in Congress at the invitation of the Counter Terrorism Foundation opened several perspectives in projecting...(read more)

NBC News: "Pakistani militants deny role in Mumbai terror attacks"

2008-12-04T18:03:32Z

NBC News: Pakistani militants deny role in Mumbai terror attacks The sole surviving terrorist of the Mumbai attacks allegedly spent 18 months training at camps run by Lashkar-e-Taiba (LET), a banned Pakistani militant organization with a long history of high-profile attacks in India and Indian-controlled Kashmir. And, as NBC News has reported, Indian authorities also have found the names of several high-ranking LET members in the satellite phone used by one of the Mumbai perpetrators. So what is...(read more)

A Nuclear Venezuela?

2008-12-04T17:19:16Z

Almost unnoticed in the chaos created by recent terrorist events is the nuclear agreement signed between Russia and Venezuela signed when Russian president Medvedev visited Caracas last week. His visit coincided with the arrival of Russian naval ships for joint operations with the Venezuelan navy. The ships, in their first post-Cold War venture into Latin America, included the Peter the Great, the flagship missile cruiser of the Russian navy, and several other vessels. Under the accord, Russia would...(read more)

Mumbai Style Attack in the US: A Skeptical Analysis

2008-12-04T15:20:59Z

The Mumbai massacre may not be a “new” terror tactic. The mass firearms attack riveted the world in 1972 when the Japanese Red Army gunned down 27 people at Ben Gurion Airport. Since then the annals of terrorism have included innumerable other examples, most notably al-Gamaa Islamiya’s 1997 Luxor Massacre in which 59 tourists were murdered. Still, the Mumbai attack stands out in its scale and has led many analysts to wonder if the mass firearms and bomb attack will be tactics of...(read more)

New Seventh Circuit Boim Decision Puts All On Notice - Liability Will Attach to Those that Contribute Funds to Foreign Terrorist Organizations

2008-12-04T04:29:39Z

Last December I used this space to express concern that the 2-1 decision handed down by a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals three-judge panel in the Boim case represented a serious setback to victims of terrorism seeking to hold accountable those who provide material support to the terrorists that harm them. This decision has now been substantially altered, on appeal, by a second Seventh Circuit panel ruling. The earlier decision had erected significant and complex impediments to establishing liability...(read more)

Congressional Commission Warns of Bio and Nuclear Terrorism threats in 5 years.

2008-12-04T03:30:33Z

Greater government efforts and adequate follow-up budgets are needed to head off the threat of major biological terrorist attacks in the United State or overseas within the next five years, leaders of a congressionally mandated Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction warned today. Excerpts of the “ World at Risk” report of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism” had been selectively released to some media earlier this week but...(read more)

Boim Judgment Upheld: Charity Donations to Terrorist Groups Illegal

2008-12-03T20:41:24Z

A federal appeals court in Chicago today upheld a $156 million judgment against several Palestinian charities accused of funding Hamas. A full history of the history of the Boim case, covered extensively on this blog, is available here . In an earlier appeal the original judgment against the defendants was overruled based on the Seventh Circuit’s disturbing finding -- now reversed -- that “plaintiffs must be able to produce some evidence permitting a jury to find that the activities of...(read more)

Dr. David Kilcullen Added to Tomorrow's Mumbai Panel

2008-12-03T17:18:48Z

We are very pleased that Dr. David Kilcullen will join Dr. Walid Phares and Farhana Ali as panelists at tomorrow's event to discuss the Mumbai attacks. To quote from the biography released last week by CNAS: "Dr. David Kilcullen has joined CNAS as a senior fellow. Kilcullen was a non-resident senior fellow with CNAS for more than a year and collaborated with CNAS on Iraq and Afghanistan reports, as well as violent extremism and grand strategy Solarium projects in 2007 and 2008. Kilcullen's position...(read more)

Material Support: From Mumbia to Hamas

2008-12-02T23:34:55Z

Well-planned deadly terrorist attacks such as the one in Mumbai last week against targets scouted out in advance are not conducted on the spur of the moment at a cost of mere pennies. The large amounts of ammunition and the advance planning by the terrorists who attacked 10 targets within a short time period is a reminder that terrorist attacks often need funding and other material support for their deadly activities. Too often, though, as seen in the recent trial of the Holy Land Foundation for...(read more)

2008-12-02T23:19:20Z

President Clinton’s January, 2005 executive order designed to curb money flows to 12 groups (10 Arab and two Jewish) that threatened the use of violence against the Middle East process was followed up by more detailed legislation that Congress eventually enacted as part of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996. (Public Law No. 104-132, 110 Stat.) A material support provision, 18 U.S.C. 2339B, makes it a criminal offense for American citizens or residents to knowingly provide...(read more)

Financial Setbacks for Hamas

2008-12-02T22:00:10Z

Over the past few weeks, Hamas's international financial support network suffered a series of setbacks, most notably the U.S. federal court conviction of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its leaders on charges of providing material support to Hamas. Despite these convictions and the broad sanctions in place against Hamas, however, the group remains capable of raising substantial funds, through both traditional and innovative means. On November 24, a Dallas jury...(read more)

Reflections on Al-Qa’ida from the Management Perspective

2008-12-02T19:17:54Z

A number of my colleagues here on CT Blog, among others, have commented on the recent address by Al-Qa’ida’s (AQ) number two, Ayman Al-Zawahiri. Needless to say, the overall response has not been on the favorable side. It is time, past time, actually, since Zawahiri is a self-proclaimed representative of AQ and the Muslim World, to take the examination and commenting a step further and look more closely at AQ itself, in addition to the individual members who have become media darlings....(read more)

NEFA Report: "Inside As-Sahaab: The Story of Ali al-Bahlul and the Evolution of Al-Qaida’s Propaganda."

2008-12-02T04:46:12Z

The NEFA Foundation has released a new report that I have written titled “Inside As-Sahaab: The Story of Ali al-Bahlul and the Evolution of Al-Qaida’s Propaganda.” The report is based upon previously unseen evidence presented during the recent Guantanamo Bay military commissions trial of Yemeni national Ali Hamza Ahmad Suliman al-Bahlul. In November 2008, a military jury convicted al-Bahlul of conspiracy, solicitation, and providing material support to terrorism. During questioning...(read more)

Contributing Experts to Discuss Mumbai Attacks At December 4 Event

2008-12-01T17:06:13Z

The Counterterrorism Foundation and The Counterterrorism Blog will hold a special panel on the Mumbai attacks this Thursday, December 4, at 11 am ET in room 2220 of the Rayburn House Building on Capitol Hill in Washington. Contributing Experts Walid Phares and Farhana Ali will participate, I will moderate the event, and a third panelist might be added. You can RSVP through this e-mail address (acceptances only, please). I will post a transcript of the event soon afterwards. Walid Phares posted analyses...(read more)