Julian Assange Arrest Warning from White House? Bradley Manning Held in Secret Kuwait Jail?

Julian Assange, the Wikileaks editor-in-chief, says he has been warned by sources inside the U.S. government that he may be detained or arrested if he returns to the U.S.  The Drudge Report headline saying the source is from the White House is taken from a Telegraph headline - but there is nothing in the Telegraph article claiming the White House is involved. PFC Bradley Manning, a U.S. Army intelligence analyst, is under arrest for funneling the classified information to Wikileaks. Assange also says the U.S. is trying to "hide" Manning from effective civil representation in a secret Kuwait jail which is "a second Guantanamo Bay."

Julian Assange - Wikileaks

Assange says his government sources say he will be charged as a co-conspirator to espionage if he returns to the U.S. Wikileaks leaked 92,000 pages of classified military document about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with more to come. He claims he gave the information to the White House weeks before he posted the documents online, and he asked if there was anything the White House wanted redacted, but received no response. The White House basically said Assange was lying and they knew nothing about the documents.

The 39 year-old told journalists at the Frontline Club last night that US government insiders had informed him about discussions to charge him as a co-conspirator to espionage.

An Australian, Julian Assange, takes classified intelligence documents from a disgruntled member of the U.S. Military and is warned by our own government that he should not enter the U.S. I have to ask what is happening to our Military? They can't keep a PFC in line? Why did a PFC have access to classified documents, or at least the ability to retrieve them? And what is the real story? Are White House sources in touch with Assange or the State Department...what's up the Telegraph's headline?

Moscow Black Widow Bombers - 21 More Expected

Moscow believes there are 21 Black Widow Bombers preparing to attack the country. Thirty women are alleged to have received training in Turkey. Nine have already died. Thirty-nine citizens died in the attack of a Moscow metro station.

See photos of a man who accompanied the women to the blast area, along with photos of the two Black Women bombers here.

Exploding Breasts Back in the News

From the Religion of Peace exploding breasts for female jihadists. Brit intelligence believes this is in the works. Take a silicone breast implant, implant an explosive substance or device, and it's impossible to spot  with any type of known surveillance, other than a "sophisticated X-ray. This is a win-win for al-Qaeda. Once on a mission,  jihadists obviously cannot change his/her mind and take these things out.

It is believed the doctors have been trained at some of Britain's leading teaching hospitals before returning to their own countries to perform the surgical procedures.

M15 has also discovered that extremists are inserting the explosives into the buttock of some male bombers.

"Women suicide bombers recruited by al Qaeda are known to have had the explosives inserted in their breasts under techniques similar to breast enhancing surgery," terrorist expert, Joseph Farah claims.

Slightly off-topic is a report of a female airport worker in a body scan unit at London Heathrow who says she is "totally traumatised," after the "made a crude remark" about her breasts.

The same article says that had the Christmas Day Underpants bomber been successful, only "a sachet containing as little as five ounces of PETN could blow" a sizeable hole in an airplane and bring it down. Go here to see a breast implant containing an explosive device, and read the entire article..

Glenn Beck on Tom Hanks' Military Annihilation Accusations

First, a word from Tom Hanks:

Pacific, now, is coming out where it represents a war of racism and terror. It seemed as though the only way to complete one of these battles on a small speck of rock, in the middle of nowhere, is to, I'm sorry, Kill them all. Does that sound familiar with what we are going through today.

Is this what schools teach today? Is this what young adults believe the War in the Pacific was all about?

Japan was set to expand into Asia to countries that did not welcome her. She needed oil. No one  assumed she would not find the oil and take it. There were many complexities in Japan's relations with Britain and France, which complicated matters in the U.S.  Once Japan replaced the Peace Party with their War Party, the stage was set. The plan was to seize the oil fields in the Indies, and they saw the U.S. as an enemy in that endeavor. So they attacked Pearl Harbor.  How is this argued any other way?

America had two choices to end the war. Invade Japan or drop the bombs. An invasion was estimated to leave 35% of our landing forces dead - at least, depending on the size of the Japanese forces greeting us. Civilians were in training to join the fighting forces. Estimates of the dead including both Japanese and American forces were estimated at 250,000 to five million. Some 105,000 people perished in the explosions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The original purpose of the atomic bomb was to clear the beaches for a land invasion, so had the war not ended with the bombings of two cities, the bombs would likely have been used on the beaches. And Americans would have died.

Is Hanks' case that after the Japanese attacked us at Pearl Harbor, American soldiers should have, in the end, laid down their lives for the Japanese, rather than ending the war. Apparently, that is what he thinks.

Had we wanted to "kill them all," we could have killed them all. Instead we killed fewer, while they were killing us. If we wanted to "kill them all" today, we could do so. Obviously, that is not our goal. We are building schools, hospitals, electrical grids and water plants. None of which worked for the people under Saddam Hussein.

It deeply offends me that Tom Hanks says the war with Japan was about racism and terror, and that today, we want to "kill them all," as our own soldiers have been blown apart trying to make Iraqi towns safe for the people.

These days, Sean Penn is more palatable than Tom Hanks.

More from Hanks:

Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kiss us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"

I read a comment saying that Tom Hanks' had more in common with Forrest Gump than we could imagine, but Forrest was a patriot. He didn't make stuff up. It was what it was, and it wasn't what Tom Hanks says it was.

The video below is Glenn Beck with radio sidekicks Pat and Stu. This is a longer discussion but one worth having and listening to. Beck makes the point that America must begin looking out for herself. The way we do that is strike a lethal blow when we are struck, get back to our lives as quickly as possible - and in the main, quit protecting those able to protect themselves.

Watch the video here or go over to RightScoop and read the commentary there before watching the video.

Glenn Beck -America's Military Might and Tom Hank's Annihilation Accusations (video)

Tom Hanks Rewrites History: Tom Hanks Calls the US Annihilators

Last night, O'Reilly talked about Tom Hanks latest absurd remarks, which were essentially that America wanted to 'annihilate' Japanese during WWII because they were different, and believed in different gods, and we are doing the same today in the Middle East. The attack on Pearl Harbor and the World Trade Towers couldn't penetrate Hanks' liberal thought processes. While we love much of his work, especially Band of Brothers and John Adams, and await this Sunday's premier of The Pacific, his efforts to rewrite history are more than a little aggravating, and deeply disrespectful to this country.

Tom Hanks

John Nolte at Big Hollywood has some powerful commentary on Hanks:

...when it comes to leftist Hollywood, whenever Tinseltown and America meet, you have to brace yourself for it — and by “it” I mean the leftist sucker punch. Throughout, Hanks sounds perfectly reasonable, intelligent and even patriotic for a couple of thousand words. But of course that’s just the lure to get us on his side before we’re walloped with this left cross<

And to answer Hanks’s question: No — annihilating people who are different sounds NOTHING like what’s going on today.

This country spends billions and billions of dollars on weapons designed to target the enemy and save the lives of  people who are “different” — those who are not our enemy but still manage to look different, speak languages we don’t and worship in ways unfamiliar to us. The irony is that as Hanks spoke those slanderous words, the American Military remains in the middle of two conflicts that have cost us thousands of precious lives and hundreds of billions of dollars all towards the noble goal of liberating 50 million “different” people in Iraq and Afghanistan. And we all know that had we practiced a more selfish and barbaric form of war the enemy would’ve been destroyed faster, American lives would’ve been saved, and the financial cost would not have been nearly as high.

But there’s no reason to speculate about America’s motivations during WWII because history has proven Hanks wrong.We had every opportunity to annihilate these “different” people. Instead we chose, at great expense, to rebuild Japan and return the sovereignty of that nation over to the “yellow, slant-eyed dogs who believed in different gods.” Or, as most people prefer to call them: our newly liberated allies.

But that’s not who we are.

Whether they’re “yellow, slanty-eyed dogs that worship different gods” or the people of the Middle East who share the same language and religion as those pledged to murder us, America selflessly protects the innocent who are “different” and as humanely as possible seeks to “annihilate” only those — even if they’re not “different” (like, say, Germans and Italians)– who practice an ideology that actually does believe annihilating those who are different.

You almost get the sense that Hanks suddenly felt uncomfortable talking about America so extensively without throwing a bone to his MSNBC fanbase.

Moshtarak Update: Three Months to Complete Marjah Mission

The fighting continues in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, as U.S. Marines and Nato forces try to move Taliban out of the village Marjah.

Operating Moshtarak

Six Nato soldiers died on Thursday, February 18th, along with one on Friday. Nato-led troop deaths now total twelve. A British commander in Marjah, Nick Carter, said "stiff resistance" remains from insurgents. "It will be some days before we can be completely confident that Marjah is secure."

Maj-Gen Carter said it could take another three months to determine how successful the operation had been.

The clean-up of Marjah, using a force of Afghan military, is the start of an offensive to provide secure population centers in Southern Afghanistan, but as suspected, Taliban have hidden in compounds where troops can see women and children on the rooftops in or in second or third floor windows, providing human shields and preventing Nato air strikes.

It is difficult for the Afghan army and Nato to storm Taliban-held areas because to do so may inflict heavy civilian casualties and there are still a lot of civilians in Marjah.

"Whenever they launch an attack, the Taliban take refuge in civilians' homes."

Operation Moshtarak has focused on Marjah, located about 360 miles southwest of Kabul, because agricultural opportunities are fertile there, and the hope is that with financial aid, farmers can be turned away from their poppy crops, to crops that provide not only a living, but security without Taliban interference.

Plans call for NATO to rush in a civilian administration, restore public services and pour in aid to try to win the loyalty of the population in preventing the Taliban from returning.

Norm Hooben noted that a CBS embedded reporter spilled the fact that an elite team of Marines were dispatched "behind Taliban lines...on Friday," and a Marine officer spoke "on condition of anonymity because of security concerns," confirmed the mission. As Hooben pointed out, if there are security concerns, why is anyone talking?

U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Larry Nicholson says Marines have taken control of main roads, bridges, markets and government centers in Marjah:<

I'd say we control the spine" of the town, Nicholson said as he inspected the Marines' front line in the north of the dusty, mud-brick town. "We're where we want to be.

Nicholson said they are taking fire from Taliban sharp-shooters, who they believe are not from the Marjah area, but some calm is beginning to come to the area. Against the advice of U.S. Marines, some residents returned to their homes, some markets opened in the open-air bazaar in the north end of Marjah, and some people ventured out to stock their pantries for the first time in a week, and Nato forces still face difficult challenges with the people:

"We couldn't do anything when one of them was forcing his way into our house. What could we do?" said Sayed Wakhan, a sunburned, middle-aged opium poppy farmer in northern Marjah.

But Wakhan, who spoke to reporters as he mixed mud to make repairs on his house, also said he didn't trust the government forces who now occupy his neighborhood. 

"I have suffered at the hands of police, and I don't like the international forces coming into our area," he snapped. His remarks were a reminder of the tough job ahead for NATO and Afghan authorities in winning over locals used to an uneasy peace under the Taliban.

War on Terror News has updates on Marjah resident's gratitude for Operation Moshtarak. Holger Awakens has good commentary on Marjah.

Fort Jackson Food Poisoning Story - Updated

There is a lot of criticism on the reporting of this story today - and wouldn't you know Media Matters would be at the top of the heap. The bottom line is that the investigation is open and continuing. See a video below, and note that three of the five soldiers have now been cleared. Two remain under investigation.

The FBI has not been called into the case. An Army spokesman has said: "Two months of investigation, there has been no credible evidence to support the allegations,"...but the investigation is still open and continuing. There may or may not have been arrests, but the reporting by Katherine Herridge at FOX News, still stands as correct - and did I mention that the investigation is still...open and continuing.

Erick Stakelbeck's report for CBN yesterday was the first available to link to, after I heard Herridge's report. Read my original reporting here, where you can see the timeline as the report began to make news.

From among all of these reports, you can see that there have been numerous confirmations. Apparently, Media Matters does not think it worthwhile to talk about an incident - poisoning soldiers - that could have happened, but didn't.

Media Matters obviously sees no merit to an investigation that is "open and continuing," but I do, so here is the latest update from Erick Stakelbect at CBN, and at the end finish reading the rest of the story by Chuck Holton, Stakelbeck's colleague and a CBN Military Correspondent.

by Erick Stakelbeck:

This morning, I spoke to Army CID spokesman Christopher Gray and learned more details about a possible poisoning plot that I first reported here yesterday after CBN confirmed with Patrick Jones of Fort Jackson's Public Affairs Office and a reliable source with intimate knowledge of the investigation. Here is the latest on what we do know.

According to Gray, the Army is investigating allegations that a group of soldiers from the 09 Lima program (more on that later in this post) at Fort Jackson--which is based in South Carolina--had talked about poisoning food in the base's mess hall. The men were questioned about two months ago, around Christmas. Gray said that to protect the integrity of the investigation, he could not comment further. He stressed that the investigation is "open and continuing." 

CBN News also spoke to a Department of Homeland Security official with knowledge of the investigation who wished to remain anonymous. The official confirmed that the investigation was ongoing and said that someone in the Lima 09 program overheard five Muslim colleagues talking about poisoning food at the base. The person then reported the men, who were brought in for questioning.

The DHS official stressed that after the terrorist massacre at Fort Hood, the Army is taking a zero tolerance policy towards any potential threatening statements and is now extremely sensitive about any allegations in that regard.

Terrorism expert Patrick Poole, an anti-terrorism consultant for the U.S. military and law enforcement,  told CBN News that "if this incident had become public in late December while the military was still working on the Ft. Hood report it would  have no doubt been catastrophic. What exactly happened at Ft. Jackson and why is this only coming out now? That's a question that Congress should be asking. "
 
"As noted in the Washington Times last month,"  Poole continued. "My colleagues and I have been warning of jihadist threats - both external and internal - for several years. The Pentagon has entirely ignored us and the Ft. Hood report released last month is evidence of the culture of willful blindness that wants to pretend this threat doesn't exist. Regardless of how the Ft. Jackson incident is resolved, it demonstrates that this threat is not going away."

I spoke today to Army spokesman Christopher Garver, who said the five men are not currently in custody. He was unclear whether the men who were questioned were U.S.citizens. And that brings us to another interesting wrinkle to this story.

According to my colleague, CBN Military Correspondent Chuck Holton, the 09 Lima program, which these men are a part of:

...is specifically geared towards non-US citizens who bring to the table one very in-demand skill - the ability to speak fluent Arabic, Dari, Pashto, or some other needed language.  But these recruits also have a handicap - their grasp of the English language is not sufficient to allow them to make it through basic training.  So the 09 Lima program puts them through a sort of pre-basic basic, where they learn American culture, Army culture and work on their English language skills.  Once they finish the course, they are then able to enter normal basic training.  It' is a very small program, with something less than forty recruits in each class.
Holton continues:

Here's the interesting part.  According to Lt. Col. Frank Demith, these recruits are offered an "expedited citizenship program, once they serve one day of honorable active duty." 


Read more at CBN.

H/T to GatewayPundit for video




Fort Jackson Food Poisoning Update - 3 soldier cleared (video) My original report with updates is here

Airport Roving Carts: Chemical Swabs Check Passengers for Explosives

Roving carts will roll through airports, checking for explosives by randomly taking chemical swabs from passengers and their carry-on luggage.

Five airports began using the carts after the Christmas Day underpants bomber misfired.

Screeners will push carts with bomb-detection machines around airport gates and checkpoint lines to randomly check passengers' hands and carry-on bags for explosive residue.

There is another security plan in the works. Some 10,000 Transportation Security Administration (TSA) employees will begin receiving security briefs including "secret intelligence" pertaining to "terrorist attacks on planes." Approximately 750 people have been cleared for the program, but it will take two years to get the full 10,000 workers cleared.

The agency, viewed by some as throngs of workers pawing through luggage at checkpoints, hopes to empower its higher-level workers as part of an effort to professionalize airport security. 

The 10,000 people in line to get classified information are managers, supervisors and "behavior detection officers" who roam airports looking for suspicious people. They represent about 20% of the TSA's airport workforce and exclude screeners who scan passengers and bags.

The information could include copies of terrorist training videos or tips vaguely describing a terrorism suspect, experts said. "Some classified information seems innocuous but is classified because it was derived from an intercepted phone conversation," said Steven Aftergood, an intelligence-policy specialist for the Federation of American Scientists.

Security clearances will for the TSA employees in this program will rank above "Confidential" but below "Top Secret." The ACLU is fighting the body imaging scanners, but has sanctioned the chemical swabs as "less invasive."

This sounds like a good idea to me, although our Vice President, Joe Biden does not believe we will have another large-scale terrorist attack in the U.S. - that prediction as current as February 11, 2010! He will not acknowledge how close we came on Christmas Day to another airliner going down, and taking out surrounding areas at the same time - perhaps even the Detroit airport.

A question about those roving carts. Once you have been "swabbed," do you get a receipt that you have already been cleared? The cart stops you, and checks you...and then what? Does it start all over again at the gate, or are these carts inside gates checking passengers who have already gone through a security check?

Moshtarak Taliban: Moshtarak Taiban Half are Dead or Gone: Marja Elders Help NATO Forces

Operation Moshtarak still continues slowly according to all reports out of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, with half of the Taliban either dead or gone. See video below.

 

Marines - Helmand Province

According to the NYT-Asia Pacific, on the third day of Moshtarak, Taliban fighters in the area have dropped by about half. At one time, it was thought as many as 1,000 Taliban might be in the village of Marja at the start of the Operation last Saturday, but today's estimate is 400, with about one-fourth of them now dead and one-fourth fleeing the area - to unknown parts.

Among the Taliban fighters still in Marja, American and Afghan officials said, morale appears to be eroding fast, in part because the holdouts feel abandoned by their leaders and by local Afghans who are refusing to shelter them.

“They cannot feed themselves, they cannot sustain themselves — that is what we are hearing,” Col. Scott Hartsell told a group of senior officers at a briefing near Marja that included Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the commander of NATO forces; and Abdul Rahim Wardak, the Afghan minister of defense. “They are calling for help, and they are not getting any.”

Commanders believe the combat phase of the Operation will wind-up with three or four days.

It has been obvious since word of the coming Operation was purposefully leaked, that many in Marja welcomed the NATO forces, but they also feared for their lives at the hands of the Taliban:

A Marja tribal elder, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that a local shura — or council — had assigned 10 local Afghans to assist American and Afghan military units.

“They are here to help us, and it’s our duty to help them,” a tribal elder said in a telephone interview, speaking on the condition of anonymity. “They might kill me for telling you this.”

A missile strike recently, inside Marja, killed eleven civilians. There is confusion about the strike as Military struggles to figure out what happened. First, American military said the rocket was designated for the house next the one actually hit. Yesterday, military sources said the rocket hit the house it was supposed to hit, but they were unaware that civilians were inside. The Marines on the ground, however, say they were "startled" by the missile strike, which a Company Commander requested earlier in the day, but permission was denied.

In the photo above, you can see the difficult terrain in Helmand Province. The series of canals and bridges were originally built by the U.S. military in the hopes of bringing agriculture to the area, which can also support livestock, fishing, forestry and horticulture. Instead, Afghans chose to grow poppies - from which 90% of the world's opium, used to make heroin is harvested, and provides 60% of Afghanistan's economy. An Afghan farmer, growing products to make cereals, makes only a pittance compared to a crop of poppies.

Here is a look from July 2009, at what it is like when the U.S. Marines show up in the Helmand - this time in the village of Nawa:

Before a battalion of U.S. Marines swooped into this dusty farming community along the Helmand River in early July, almost every stall in the bazaar had been padlocked, as had the school and the health clinic. Thousands of residents had fled. Government officials and municipal services were nonexistent. Taliban fighters swaggered about with impunity, setting up checkpoints and seeding the roads with bombs.

In the three months since the Marines arrived, the school has reopened, the district governor is on the job and the market is bustling. The insurgents have demonstrated far less resistance than U.S. commanders expected. Many of the residents who left are returning home, their possessions piled onto rickety trailers, and the Marines deem the central part of the town so secure that they routinely walk around without body armor and helmets.

"Nawa has returned from the dead," said the district administrator, Mohammed Khan.

 The article on the Marines coming to Nawa in July 2009 is here. It is a very good read.


Photo Credit: DOD US Army Photographer Staff Sgt. Gary A. Witte



U.S. Marines Enter Marja (video)

UK to Publish Torture by US?

A United Kingdom judge has ruled that British courts must release statements from Guantanamo Bay terrorist Binyam Mohamed, about "torture" received at the hands of American military or intelligence.

London's High Court ruled in 2008 that the British government must disclose all evidence held against Mohamed.

The court excluded seven sensitive paragraphs supplied by U.S. intelligence services, and judges said later the United States had threatened to end intelligence cooperation if the evidence of alleged torture was released.

But last October, two High Court judges ruled there was "an overwhelming public interest" in releasing the details, a decision the Appeal Court upheld Wednesday.

"The treatment reported ... could be readily contended to be at the very least cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities," the now public judgment said.

Take a look at this. It appears the same information has already gone through a U.S. court:

Miliband said the Appeal Court would have upheld the principle that no country should disclose intelligence from another without its agreement -- had the substance of the paragraphs not already been put into the public domain by a U.S. court judgment in a separate case in December.

If that isn't all the proof we need that enemy combatants should not be in U.S. courts, I don't know what is. He was in Guantanamo Bay, and should have stayed there.

Trace Adkins West Point Cadet Glee Club: Can't Come Home Til the Last Shots Fired Video

"It's not about the war, it's about the warrior."

Support the Wounded Warrior Project:

Trace Adkins and the West Point Cadet Glee Club -   Can't Come Home til the Last Shot's Fired (video)

Military Chain of Command Responsible for Combat Outpost Keating

On October 3, 2009 Afghan insurgents attacked two American combat outposts. Eight American soldiers and two Afghan police died that day in a violent battle for Combat Outpost Keating (COP Keating), as a full-out Taliban assault breached the camp perimeter. Today we learn that "inadequate measures taken by the chain of command" facilitated the attack.

The lessons of COP Keating will not be soon forgotten. In the summer of 2009, the decision was made to close Keating, but those in command just didn't get around to doing it. That indecision brought a "mindset of imminent closure" which kept the outpost's defenses from being improved and updated - even though intelligence warned of a strike by a large enemy force. "These inadequate defenses made Keating "an attractive target" for the Taliban.

COP Keating was manned by the Bravo Troop of the 3rd Squadron of the 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. The regiment's commanding officer was Lt. Col. Robert Brown, and his superior officer was Col. Randy George.

According to Gen. Stanley McChrystal appropriate action" has been taken, but no names have been released.

At dawn of Oct. 3, a force of some 300 fighters, supported by indirect fire from surrounding mountains, managed to overrun Keating's perimeter, torching its generators, disabling its tactical operations center, and suppressing the American troops' ability to fire mortars in self-defense, the investigation report said.

The insurgents also took over the nearby Afghan police station, while Afghan army soldiers guarding the eastern side of the outpost failed to hold their positions.

With the help of air support, Bravo Troop's soldiers regained control of the outpost in the afternoon and recovered the bodies of their comrades. While the U.S. military criticized the decisions up the chain of command, it praised the members of the Bravo Troop for distinguishing themselves "with conspicuous gallantry, courage and bravery."

COP Keating was placed at the bottom of a steep ravine. Tactically, perhaps not the best placement. Reconnaissance, intelligence and surveillance for COP Keating was diverted to other areas:

The U.S. military had decided to close the outpost by July-August 2009, but delayed the move because of other military operations in a nearby district.

Such a "mindset of imminent closure" prevented the unit from improving the outpost's defenses even as intelligence reports warned of a planned strike by "a large enemy force," Friday's report said. These inadequate defenses, in turn, made Keating "an attractive target" for the Taliban, the report said.

Reprimands underway?

As many as five battlefield commanders have received letters of reprimand in the past month or have been the subject of an investigation by a general who recommended disciplinary action. A sixth commander received a less-severe formal letter of admonishment. None of the investigations or letters of reprimand has been released publicly.

The military's invigorated focus on accountability also seems driven by commanders' experience in war zones. Many of today's senior commanders in Iraq nd Afghanistan are on their second or third combat tours and are more willing to judge their field subordinates. Meanwhile, the military is showing a greater willingness to study and learn from its mistakes, senior military officials said. 

When we first heard the news of COP Keating there was something about it that grabbed our hearts. Our men had lost everything. They had only the clothes on their backs. A soldier in the fight was quoted saying "most people back home don't even know...no one gives a shit." This from the only reporter on the scene, Karen Russo of ABC News:f

Flying into the besieged Afghan base during a nighttime firefight this weekend was a harrowing mix of overwhelming noise, stomach dropping maneuvers and shadows hurrying through the gloom.

When the chopper lifted off moments later with three wounded soldiers, it left behind others who wer wounded but refused to be MEDEVACED out of the combat zone so they could return to fight with their buddies.

Responsibility has been assigned now. How difficult it must be for our men and women in uniform, of all ranks, who fight bloody wars under a Commander-in-Chief and Congressmen who signal such low regard for success on the battlefield.

More on COP Keating:
Threat Matrix Bill Roggio - Army releases report on battle at Combat Outpost Keating
The Battle of COP Keating: an earwitness account
Lone Airman at COP Keating recounts enemy attack

Marines in Afghanistan - A Death Run Every Day: A Different War in Afghanistan

US Marines in Southern Afghanistan say there is something different about this war. Everyday is a death run across IED-mined poppy fields.

Awaiting the arrival of a large contingent of the 30,000-strong troop surge to their area, today's reality are heavily mined poppy fields, mud and thorny, cutting weeds - between the soldier and the Taliban's machine-gun fire.

"I pray in the morning and at night, hoping that someone up there is looking after me," says Lance Corporal Justin Blancas, serving with the Marines 1st Battalion, 6th Regiment Alpha Company's 2nd Platoon.

"I have already made my peace with God because this war is different, it's not conventional," the 23-year-old bespectacled Chicago native says.

"These Taliban have learned their lesson. They adapt as fast as we do, but we are bound by our strict rules. They are not," he adds, panting after a 100-metre dash for cover behind an abandoned mud house.

"It can be a death run like this every day."

While Karzai tries to woo Taliban leadership into the fold of community life with money, money, and money - this, known as a "political solution."

But the challenges on the ground are immense. Fields are littered with improvised explosive devices (IEDs) responsible for most of the deaths of foreign troops in Afghanistan, which hit a record 520 fatalities last year.

The Taliban are also entrenched in their strongholds holding sway over the population and setting up shadow governments across the country, meaning they have the local intelligence that the Marines desperately need.

Remember the Marine above said, "we are bound by our strict rules." This is certainly a different war in Afghanistan.

Obama Iran Diplomacy Fails: Missiles and Warships to Persian Gulf: Patriot Missiles to Qatar UAE Bahrain Kuwait

Confirmed: Obama diplomacy with Iran failed. Time to do something. In an overt attempt to tamp down Israel, President Obama has ordered Patriot missiles to Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwit. Two warships will stay in the Persian Gulf capable of shooting down Iranian missiles - and the US is helping Saudi Arabia develop ways to protect their oil installations.

From The Guardian:

Washington has not formally announced the deployment of the Patriots and other anti-missile systems, but by leaking it to American newspapers the administration is evidently seeking to alert Tehran to a hardening of its position....

An unnamed senior administration official told the New York Times: "Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don't feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well."

Petraeus said the US is keeping cruisers equipped with advanced anti-missile systems in the Gulf at all times to act as a buffer between Iran and the Gulf states.

The Democrat administration didn't do this by themselves:

Pro-Israel lobby groups in the US have joined Republican party leaders in trying to build public pressure on the administration to take a tougher line with Iran. One group, the Israel Project, has been running a TV campaign warning that Iran might supply nuclear weapons to terrorists.

Imagine Washington DC under missile attack from nearby Baltimore," it says. "A nuclear Iran is a threat to peace, emboldens extremists, and could give nuclear materials to terrorists with the ability to strike anywhere....

The move is a continuation of the military build-up begun under former president George W Bush. In the past two years, Abu Dhabi has bought $17bn (£11bn) worth of weapons from the US, including the Patriot anti-missile batteries and an advanced anti-missile system. UAE recently bought 80 US-made fighter jets. It is also buying fighters from France.

Petraeus said in a speech in Bahrain last year the UAE air force "could take out the entire Iranian air force, I believe".

 Read more about failed diplomacy:
Obama Repeats Mistakes in Afghanistan: Purposeless Engagement

Related and Background:
Iran to Deliver Blow to Global Powers on February 11th

Hakimullah Mehsud Dead...Finally? Wali-Ur-Rehman Now Taliban Commander?

In August 2009 Hakimullah Mehsud shared a second-in-command position under Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud. Both were reported dead. Turns out, Hakimullah Mehsud was very much alive, but Baitullah was not. After a power struggle with Wali-ur-Rehman, who was also reported dead, but wasn't...Hakimullah became the new Taliban leader in South Waziristan. Today Pakistan television reports that Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a CIA-directed drone attack, perhaps on January 17th.

 

Hakimullah Mehsud and Wali-ur-Rehman

 Pakistan military is trying to confirm the report.

An elder in the Mamuzai area of Orakzai tribal agency said he attended Mehsud's funeral on Thursday, the Associated Press reported. Speaking anonymously for fear of retaliation, the elder said Mehsud died at his in-laws' home.

A Reuters report, quoting a Pakistani intelligence official, said the Taliban leader may have been fatally wounded following a 17 January drone attack on two vehicles in North Waziristan.

He was also speculated to be dead in a January 13th drone attack. That report was incorrect. Hakimullah Mehsud's territory has been targeted in retaliation of the suicide bomber attack in Afghanistan that killed seven CIA agents. The bomber, a Pakistani doctor, was recruited as a double agent, or so the CIA thought. After the attack, a video showed him sitting beside Hakimullah, issuing a statement of his coming death.

At this moment, 9:35 a.m. Sunday morning, FOXNews' Eric Shawn has announced that top "intel sources" confirm that he is dead. Assuming this is true, that leaves Wali-ur-Rehman  commander. These two men previously, "physically" fought for the commander position after Baitullah Mehsud's death.

Hakimullah Mehsud man has a history of having more than one life, and after reports of his demise, he has a habit of phoning a Western journalist for a few laughs. We'll see if that phone call comes.

Related and Background:
Baitullah Meshud Successor is Alive

Hakimullah Mehsud Dead: Wali-ur-Rehman Dead - Successors Kill Each Other?

Baitullah Mehsud is Alive: Baitullah Mehsud is Dead

Abdulrahim Sulaiman Enters Elementary School with Knife: Tappen Zee Elementary Muslim in hallway with knife

Abdulrahim Sulaiman, a Muslim with a knife, entered Tappan Zee Elementary School in Piermont, New York.

The school's Principal, William Lee saw Sulaiman, 23,  in the hallway and immediately called police. He questioned the man for a short time and asked him to leave, which he did. The police apprehended and arrested him in a nearby convenience store.

Police said Sulaiman was carrying a gravity knife at the time of his arrest. The knife is similar to a switchblade.

Sulaiman was charged with third-degree criminal trespass and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both misdemeanors.

Police say the case is "open." He is held in the Rockland Country jail under bail of $5,000 - which is chump-change for CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations), and due back in court on February 3rd. Well see how quickly he is bailed out.

Is there anyone thinking a horrible catastrophe was not avoided? Anyone thinking this 23-year-old man was not looking for his quota of virgins? Anyone think Sulaiman was not a threat to these children and staff?


Others talking about Abdulrahim Sulaiman:
Infidel Blogger's Alliance

Jihad Watch

Britain Biggest Threat to World Security: Al Qaeda Threat Huge: Intel Insanity

In less than 30 days, since the Christmas Day bomb plot, the U.S. has determined that al-Qaeda has restructured and now is capable of a wide range of terror attacks against Western targets. Less than 30 days...that is all it took to come to this astonishing conclusion. However a report out yesterday, shows that two separate reports did not determine whether or not Major Nidal Hasan's attack on Ft. Hood was terrorism.

For most of us average Americans out here...we are not surprised that al-Qaeda is on a roll. We never quit suspecting that when the time was right, they would strike again. It is why we want to profile. We remain wary. Intelligence, apparently, has been on a long lunch break.

The other conclusion of the intel gathered since Christmas Day is this:

American officials now believe Britain poses a major threat to Western security because of the large number of al-Qaeda supporters that are active in the country.

Now, we all know this is true, and it has been true for a very long time. This can be very, very good news for the people of Britain who battle Muslim extremists daily. The extremists are taking over and Parliament had aided and comforted the local rabble. If we can convince England to ship the Muslims back home, the West might have a chance to survive Islamization.

Two years ago Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, estimated that there were 2,000 al-Qaeda sympathisers based in Britain – the largest concentration of al-Qaeda activists in any Western country.

But American officials, who regularly refer to “Londonistan” because of the high concentration of Islamic radicals in the capital, believe the figure is growing all the time. They point out that recent al-Qaeda terror attacks planned in Britain have been the work of British-based Muslims, many of whom have been trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“The level of al-Qaeda activity in Britain is becoming a major source of concern,” said a senior State Department official. “The organisation’s ability to use Britain as a base to plot terror attacks constitutes a serious threat to the security of Britain and other Western countries.” 

Here's the rest of the story:

The recent surge in al-Qaeda terror attacks has led U.S. officials to conclude that al-Qaeda is planning a series of new attacks later in the year, some of them in Britain.

I guess the US is ticked that Britain didn't give us the intel about Abdulmutallab, but really, we had enough that we didn't need anything from Britian. It would have helped, and it would have given us a longer lead time, but you know...Britain didn't want to invade Mr. Abdulmutallab's privacy. The US must not depend on anyone else. We have the manpower and the resources. We just need to do our job. American Airlines seems to be doing their job. Did you know that AA, taking heed of Canada's newly elevated airport security, allows zero carry-ons (almost) on flights from Canada to the U.S. It has everything to do with the suspected terrorist attempts coming our way.

John Brennan Connection to Death of CIA Slain Base Chapman Chief? CIA Alec Station Michael Scheuer Gloria Borger Interview

The CIA Chief of Forward Operating Base Chapman in Afghanistan's Khost Province was a woman and mother of three. She had a long career in counterterrorism, and specifically in hunting Osama bin Laden. A former CIA agent, Michael Scheuer, interview with CNN's Gloria Borger last week and spoke of a CIA agent who "arranged an operation in 1998 that would have killed or captured Osama bin Laden. That agent may have been the assassinated Base Chapman Chief. But the kicker is what Scheuer said about Obama's Deputy Security Adviser, John Brennan and how he may have been connected to the Base Chapman Chief. Another thought is former CIA, Michael Schueur's warning that an event, just like this one, may be used to "clog" the intelligence pipeline. See links to that discussion below.

Osama bin Laden passport photo

 Thank you to larwyn for the Scheuer-Borger tip.

The unnamed Chief Officer was a part of the famous, embattled and now disbanded CIA  Alec Station, which in summer 2001 saw more than a few glimpses of the September 11th attacks of the same year. Michael Scheuer, the head of the CIA's bin Laden hunt group told Gloria Borger that one of their officers (unknown if that office if the Base Chapman Chief) arranged an operational hit on Osama bin Laden in 1998, but John Brennan stopped it.  Speaking of the Christmas Day bombing, Scheuer said:

...it hurts morale even more because one of the officers who got killed had arranged an operation in 1998 that would have killed or captured Osama bin Laden. And Mr. Brennan was instrumental in preventing that operation from occurring. Instead he said the Americans should trust the Saudis to take care of bin Laden.

So it's a painful-- it's a painful death, but more importantly it's a death that didn't need to occur had Mr. Clinton -- Mr. Brennan, George Tenet, and Mr. Berger had the courage to try to defend Americans.

The following details some of the hunt for bin Laden, which the CIA Base Chapman chief was apparently involved in with Alec Station - but in no way is a criticism of her, and I cannot identify her as the agent Scheuer was speaking about. Note that I only assume she was a member of Alec Station, as is reported by the New York Times. I do not know this with any certainty.

Here is a look into this officer's past - the people she worked with and the intrigue the Alec Station was engaged in:

Working from a small office near C.I.A. headquarters, the group, known inside the agency as Alec Station, became increasingly alarmed in the summer of 2001 that a major strike was coming. One former officer recalls that the woman had a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of Al Qaeda’s top leadership and was so familiar with the different permutations of the leaders’ names that she could take fragments of intelligence and build them into a mosaic of Al Qaeda’s operations

“She was one of the first people in the agency to tackle Al Qaeda in a serious way,” said the former officer, who, like some others interviewed for this article, spoke on the condition of anonymity because the victims’ identities remain classified.

Source - History Commons: While we do not know when the Chief Officer joined Alec Station, the unit was tailing Osama bin Laden in Sudan by the end of 1991. Alec Station originated in 1995 or 1996. Members of the unit were reassigned within the CIA's Counterterrorist Center. Michael Scheurer, the first head of the unit said bin Laden had been confirmed as a serious threat as early as 1997. But in1996, Alex Station was complaining that the National Security Administration (NSA) gave them only summarized transcripts of intercepted calls between al-Qaeda members. Scheuer wanted verbatim transcripts.

Scheuer later said:

“Over time, if you read enough of these conversations, you first get clued in to the fact that maybe ‘bottle of milk’ doesn’t mean ‘bottle of milk.’ And if you follow it long enough, you develop a sense of what they’re really talking about. But it’s not possible to do unless you have the verbatim transcript.”

He also charged that the summaries they received from NSA were not timely - "they came once a week or something lie that."

Alec Station’s desire for verbatim transcripts will intensify when it discovers the NSA is intercepting calls between bin Laden and his operations center in Yemen:

However, the NSA constantly rejects its requests. Scheuer will later say: “We went to Fort Meade to ask then the NSA’s deputy director for operations [Barbara McNamara] for the transcripts, and she said, ‘We are not going to share that with you.’ And that was the end.” He will add that McNamara “said that the National Security Act of 1947 gave her agency control of ‘raw’ signals intelligence, and that she would not pass such material to CIA.”

In December 1996, the CIA learns from a CIA operative "detailed" to the NSA, that the NSA has discovered an al-Qaeda communications hub in Yemen. The CIA refuses to share and threatens punishment for the CIA officer who alerted Alec Station. The officer continued to funnel info to the team. Alec Station evenutally built its own "listening post."

Scheuer continues to complain, and is upset once more, and after asking for U.S. military special operations officers, he is refused. Late in 1996, Scheurer prepares a 50-paragraph report describing in detail how Osama bin Laden sought to obtain nuclear weapons. Some of the report was developed from info obtained fromal-Qaeda defector Jamal al-Fadl.

However, Scheuer’s superiors refuse to distribute the report, saying it is alarmist. Instead, only two of the paragraphs are circulated, buried in a larger memo.

In 1997, Alec Station notifies CIA Director George Tenet that al-Qaeda intelligence from Saudi Arabia should be considered "hostile service." In the years to come, this claim is validated. When the Alec Station assessment of al-Qaeda as a serious threat was formally known, the assessment was not deemed credible by others in the the intelligence community. Michael Sheuer was said to have an "abrasive style:"

He and counterterrorism “tsar” Richard Clarke do not get along and do not work well together. Scheuer also does not get along with John O’Neill, the FBI’s most knowledgeable agent regarding bin Laden. The FBI and Alec Station rarely share information, and at one point an FBI agent is caught stuffing some of the unit’s files under his shirt to take back to O’Neill.

 The Alec Unit was almost disbanded in April and May 1998:

The CIA’s bin Laden unit, first created in early 1996...is ordered disbanded. It is unclear who gave the order. The unit appears to have been the most vocal section of the US government pushing for action against bin Laden.

Apparently CIA Director George Tenet is unaware of the plans to disband the unit. He intervenes in mid-May and preserves the unit.

Michael Scheuer, the head of the unit, later will comment that by doing so, Tenet “dodged the bullet of having to explain to the American people why the [CIA] thought bin Laden was so little of a threat that it had destroyed the bin Laden unit weeks before two US embassies were demolished.” Scheuer also will comment, “the on-again, off-again signals about the unit’s future status made for confusion, distraction, and much job-hunting in the last few weeks” before the embassy attacks.

Later Scheuer says in a one-year period beginning May 1998, the CIA gave the U.S. "about ten chances to capture bin Laden or kill him...but the decision was made somewhere that "the intelligence was not good enough." Richard Clarke "strongly disagrees with Scheurers account of the events. Both Clarke and Scheuer agree that George Tenet was the only person to kill the attack operations - not the White House.

In late summer 1998, after the African embassy bombings, the CIA asks Alec Station what it needs to get bin Laden. Scheuer again asks for verbatim transcripts of intelligence interceptions, and in particular the intelligence between bin Laden, al-Qaeda, Yemen and Afghanistan, and says the code cannot be cracked without verbatim reports.

Higher officials order the NSA to comply, and they do, but only for less than 12 requests. Then the system returns to the way it was, with NSA only sharing summaries. The reason for the change back is unclear, although bin Laden stops using his satellite phone around this time

And here is a mammoth screw-up:

The CIA seems not to understand permission given by President Bill Clinton to assassinate Osama bin Laden. The instruction was contained in a memorandum of notification signed by Clinton authorizing the agency to use a group of tribal fighters to kill bin Laden. Previously, the tribal leaders had only been authorized to capture bin Laden, and this new memo marks an important shift in policy.

According to author Philip Shenon, the memo is “written in stark language” and it makes it very clear “that the president was telling the tribal leaders they could kill bin Laden.”

However, the actual memo is closely held within the CIA, and the 9/11 Commission will comment, “This intent [to have bin Laden killed] was never well communicated or understood within the agency.”

Apparently, it is never even communicated to Michael Scheuer, head of Alec Station, the CIA’s bin Laden unit. Scheuer will later express his frustration at not being allowed to try to kill bin Laden, “We always talked about how much easier it would have been to kill him.”

In May 1999 George Tenet decides against striking on bin Laden's location three times.

Mike Scheuer, head of the CIA’s Bin Laden Unit, writes to a colleague in the field, “having a chance to get [bin Laden] three times in 36 hours and foregoing the chance each time has made me a bit angry…”

There is one more opportunity to strike bin Laden in July 1999, but after that there is apparently no intelligence good enough to justify considering a strike.

In June 1999, Scheuer loses his job and is reassigned but remains inside the Alec Station:

Deputy Director of Operations Jack Downing tells Scheuer he is being fired...Downing says he will get a medal and a monetary award, but should tell his subordinates he has resigned. Scheuer refuses to lie to his officers, signs a memo saying he will not accept a monetary award, and tells Downing “where he should store the medal.”

Richard Blee takes Scheuer's position at Alec Station. Scheuer stays with the Alec Station until 2004. Relations with John O'Neill at the FBI do not improve.

Six months later on December 29, 999, NSA notifies Alec Station that they have listened in on al-Qaeda phone calls which include contact with Khalid Almihdhar, Nawaf Alhazmi and Salem Alhazmi - all three hijackers on American Airlines Flight 77 on 0-11-01. By the time the three hijack the plane, Almihdhar and Alhazmi are on the FBI's terrorist-alert list. The FBI is also notified. The information overheard reveals that the three will attend a "summit in Malaysia in January 2000."

The CIA and other "friendly" foreign intelligence agencies track Almihdhar, hoping he will lead them to bigger fish. They learn his full name and the find that he has a "mulitple entry visa to the US valid through April 2000. BUT - they DO NOT place him on a terror watch list and they fail to tell the FBI about the visa.

Although Alec Station, the CIA’s bin Laden unit, is coordinating surveillance of al-Qaeda’s Malaysia summit, it fails to draft a full report on it to alert the rest of the intelligence community.

“Despite the importance of the operation, [Alec Station chief Richard Blee] had never bothered to write up and distribute an intelligence report on it

However, Doug Miller an FBI agent assigned to Alec Station drafted is report for FBI superiors and the timing is important - between 9:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m on January 5, 2000, the following happens (there is no, absolutely no, intimation here that "Michelle" is the Base Chapman Chief mentioned at the beginning of this article):

A CIA officer known as “Michelle” accesses Miller’s draft about an hour after he writes it. The cable is then blocked on the orders of the station’s deputy chief, Tom Wilshire, as a few hours after Miller drafts the cable Michelle attaches a message to it saying, “pls hold off on [cable] for now per [Tom Wilshire].” Miller is also told, “This is not a matter for the FBI.”

Author James Bamford will later comment: “A potential terrorist and member of al-Qaeda was heading for the US, the FBI’s jurisdiction—its turf—and he [Miller] was putting the FBI on notice so it could take action. There was no reason to kill the message.”

'Michelle" drafts a cable falsely saying that the information about Almihdhar’s visa has been shared with the FBI and there will be a discussion the next day about whether the cable should be sent.

The Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General will later call the failure to pass the information to the FBI a “significant failure”...

The 9/11 Commission will know of the incident, but will relegate it to an endnote in its final report, omitting Wilshire’s role entirely.

Around 7p.m. on January 5, 2000:

A CIA officer known only as “Michelle” sends out a cable saying the information that 9/11 hijacker Khalid Almihdhar has a US visa has been sent to the FBI “for further investigation.”

The cable, which is lengthy and summarizes information about Almihdhar and three other operatives planning an al-Qaeda summit in Malaysia, is sent to some overseas CIA stations, but not the FBI.

...[The CIA] will repeatedly tout this cable as evidence that it had actually informed the FBI of Almihdhar’s visa, or at least thought it had done so.

However, this appears not to be true, as after 9/11 the FBI will be unable to find any record of receiving such information and the CIA will be unable to find any record of having sent it.

Michelle will apparently lie about this cable to the Justice Department’s inspector general and CIA Dirctor George Tenet.

The three hijackers disappear...the story goes on an on and Alec Station is placed with the CIA's Counterterrorist Center between January and July 2000 - which is characterized as "a larger group within the CTC. It appears that Richard Blee heads that group, and that placement is seen as a promotion.

On March 5, 2000 the CIA learns from CIA Bangkok, Thailand that Alhazmi has arrived in the US with an unnamed "companion" from Thailand on January 15, 2000. It is assumed that Almihdhar is the "companion," - although the CIA disputes the identification of Almihdhar. The agency is criticized for not placing the two terrorists on a watchlist until August 2001 - and both are apparently already in the U.S.

The FBI is not informed that the men are in the U.S. although it was widely-spread through the CIA.

In February 2001: CIA Islamabad, Pakistan asks Alec Station to "touch base" with FBI agents investigating the bombing of the USS Cole. That never happens. The CIA has identification of al-Qaeda leader Khallad bin Attash was at the Malaysia summit, doesn't tell the FBI about bin Attash - and later bin Attash is later connected to the 9/11 hijackers Almihdhar and Alhazmi.

The NSA intercepts at least one call from the 9/11 hijackers in the US to an al-Qaeda communications hub in Yemen after this and does not tell the FBI.

Early April 2001 - Richard Blee meets with Northern Alliance commander Ahmed Shah Massoud in Paris. Moussad says a terrorist act, vastly biggers than the bombings of the American Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania - is imminent. Declassified documents later document that Massoud has "limited knowledge" about such an attack. The warnings were not taken seriously. They later say that Massoud may have been assassinated two days before 9/11 because he trying to alert the U.S.

In late May or early June, FBI agent Margaret Gillespie is detailed to the CIA to investigate the connection between the al-Qaeda Malaysia summit and the USS Cole bombing. Gillespie examines one database, but fails to identify a second database, known as Hercules.

It is unclear why she does not do so and whether, as an FBI agent, she has access to it. If she did access it, she would have a complete picture of the CIA’s knowledge of Almihdhar and Alhazmi and would know Almihdhar had a US visa and Alhazmi had traveled to the US.

By July 2001, the Alec Station is recognizing that Khallad bin Attash is tied to the summit and the bombing of the USS Cole, and possible the African embassy bombings.

Yet Khallad is still not put on a terrorist watch list. Wilshire asks that the FBI be passed this information, but the FBI will not actually be given the information until August 30, a week after it learns future 9/11 hijacker Khalid Almihdhar is in the US.

An FBI analyst assigned to the CTC is given the task of reviewing all other CIA cables about the Malaysian summit. It takes this analyst until August 21—over five weeks later—to put together that Khalid Almihdhar had a US visa and that Nawaf Alhazmi had traveled to the US. Yet other CIA agents are already well aware of these facts but are not sharing the information.

Working with immigration officials, this analyst then learns that Almihdhar entered and left the US in 2000, and entered again on July 4, 2001, and that Alhazmi appears to still be in the US. 

In July 2001 the CIA investigates, but sloppily, 8 Islamist radicals reportedly learning to fly in Phoenix. The investigation goes nowhere that it should have gone.

...in 2000, two friends of the main target of the Phoenix memo were detained and deported after twice attempting to enter a US airplane cockpit in what may have been practice for the 9/11 attacks. That same year it was learned by US intelligence that one of these men had received explosives and car bombing training in Afghanistan.

Other ties between the men in the memo go undiscovered; for instance, another person targeted in the memo had trained in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and will later be arrested with a top al-Qaeda leader.

The CIA will say they never received the memo, including Alec Station, but this is later fairly solidly refuted.

Between July and September 11, 2001 there is a furor of activity in the FBI and the CIA, none of it yielding anything that will stop the attack. Resources are lacking, as is focus and burn-out is in full-swing.

Within hours of the 9/11 attacks, the CIA’s bin Laden unit is tasked to come up with actions that can be taken immediately to strike back at al-Qaeda.

According to Michael Scheuer, the first head of Alec Station, one of the most promising ideas considered is to ask other countries to raid Islamist charity fronts and seize computers and documents.

Scheuer will later assert that the “suggested raids would have netted far more relevant data on how the [charity front-al-Qaeda link] worked than we ever had before.” However, he claims the White House rejects the idea because of concerns that it would offend Muslim popular opinion.

On September 12, 2001, Michael Scheuer returns to the "larger group" within the CIA Counterterrorism Center to act as an adviser, but is not allowed to debrief detainees.

Other CIA officers seek out his services, but these requests are blocked, apparently by James Pavitt, the Deputy Director of Operations. Scheuer comments: “The CIA knew that Through Our Enemies’ Eyes was respected by Islamists and that, as the author, I would be an effective debriefer. Mr. Pavitt, however, put burying my career above using me to elicit information to defend America.”

So, here we are today, with press conferences explaining how we failed to stop Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab from attempting to blow-up Northwest Flt. 253 on Christmas Day, and within days of that terrible even, we lost seven CIA, one the bureau chief who is said to have once been a member of Alec Station. Disclaimer: there are many sides to this story.

Last thought: Clogging the Intelligence Pipeline

Is this what America is facing? Will there be lawsuits filed against numerous airlines for taking disruptive Muslims off of flights? As Larwyn (with some of my thoughts woven in) says: "Pregnant/and/or/Pious Females in Burkas...Religious Conferences couched as vacations, transgendered Arabs looking for a way to 72 virgins through their underpants...is this the new normal?

Muhammad Abu Tahir is AirTran Flight 39 Passenger Threw Shoes 

AirTran Flight 297 - Muslim Men Disrupt - Disturbing Ride for Passengers lawsuit alert

AirTran Flight 175 Muslim Family Removed - lawsuit alert

Mansor Mohammad Asad - Delta Disrupter. Son Blames it on other passengers

Related and Background:

CIA Slain in Afghanistan: After CIA Agents Die in the Line of Duty (video)

John Brennan Briefed about Yemem Bombs in Briefs last October

Gloria Borger Grills John Brennan (video)

Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi is CIA Suicide Bomber Double-Agent

Reader Objects to My Calling CIA Killer and Animal and a Killer

CIA Slain in Afghanistan: After CIA Agents Die in the Line of Duty Video

The CIA sometimes holds the names of their slain officers forever nameless, and sometimes the names of the dead are released. The families must deal with this reality after their loved one dies in the line of duty. After last week's suicide bombing resulting in the deaths of seven at Forward Operating Base Chapman on the Afghan/Pakistan border, we can be fairly certain the CIA will have little to nothing to say about the dead except to honor, remember and mourn their nameless service. See a video below.

 Harold E. Brown

 Scott Michael Roberson

Four families have released the names of their loved ones, and at least one of the families said the CIA okay' it:

Harold E. Brown, Jr., 37, Bolton, Massachusetts, stationed at Fairfax Station Virginia. A former Army reservist, left behind his wife and college sweetheart, Janet, and three children ages 12, 10 and 3. He was scheduled to return to the States in April. Brown graduated Nashoba Regional High School in 1990, and attended Mt. Wachusett Community College and George Washington University. He attended the Army's intelligence school.

Mr. Brown’s mother, Barbara, said in an interview that her son — she had believed he worked for the State Department — had intended to spend a year in Afghanistan, returning home in April. He did not relish the work, she said, and talked little about it.

Scott Michael Roberson, 39, Ohio: Formerly a narcotics detective in Atlanta, spent time in Kosovo with the UN. His wife is due to give birth to their first child. Roberson was new in the employ of the CIA as a security officer.

Postings on an online memorial site describe a hard-charging motorcyclist with a remarkable recall of episodes of “The Benny Hill Show.”

'He always said that if something happened to him, he would have no regrets,' his sister said. 'He was so proud of what he was doing.'

Jeremy Jason Wise, 35, Arkansas, and a former Navy Seal: left behind his wife and young son. He worked as a security officer for Xe Services (formerly Blackwater). See a Facebook memorial here.

Elizabeth Hanson, 31, Illinois, a 2001 graduate of Colby College

In a telephone interview, her father, Duane Hanson Jr., said an agency official called several days ago to let him know that his daughter, who he said would have turned 31 next month, had been killed. He knew little of her work, other than that she had been in Afghanistan. “I begged her not to go,” he recalled. “I said, ‘Do you know how dangerous that is? That’s for soldiers.’ ”

Ms. Hanson’s economics professor, Michael Donihue, said he was shocked to discover her career path. At Colby, from which she graduated in 2002, she paired her economics major with a minor in Russian language and literature.

“She was a thoughtful person; she had an intellectual curiosity that I really liked,” Professor Donihue said.

The Daily Beast has a very interesting article written by 60 Minutes' Howard L. Rosenberg. Rosenberg explains the CIA Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor and then profiles former CIA operative Henry "Hank" Crumpton. Crumpton appeared on 60 Minutes on December 27th. See a portion of that video below.

See this source for some of the individual profile information

Henry Crumpton, former CIA, on 60 Minutes (video)

Michael Leiter NW Flt 253: CIA sent Abdulmutallab info to Leiter's Counterterrorism Center

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was already known as "The Nigerian" and already suspected of meeting with "terrorist elements" in Yemen at the time of his failed bombing attempt of NW Flight 253. By August 2009, the CIA knew about "The Nigerian." The CIA did not know "The Nigerian's" name was Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. And they did not put the two together when the father went to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria and met with a CIA agent in November 2009. Who was responsible for connecting the dots? From documents found online, it appears the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) is responsible for gathering and disseminating information to the No-Fly List.

Michael Leiter

The CIA forwarded the information to the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC). The connection was still not made. What does the NCTC do? Here are two pull-out quotes, more below:

...the Director of NCTC is responsible for providing strategic CT plans and for effectively integrating CT intelligence and operations across agency boundaries, both inside and outside the US.  

...and:

The primary source for all information relating to international terrorist identities in the TSDB is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) ...The NCTC, “serve[s] as the primary organization in the United States Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States Government pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism,...

As we learned during the 9-11 Commission hearings, Jaime Gorlick's "Wall of Separation," specifically built to keep the intelligence community from sharing information, enabled the 9-11 bombers. How high and at what depth is today's Wall of Separation? The Wall still stands. Here is a statement from the Vice-Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, Lee Hamilton, about the Christmas Day bombing:

"We must get better at collecting these bits of information, putting them together at a central point, analyzing them and then acting," said Lee Hamilton, the vice-chair of the 9/11 Commission. 

"We're sharing information better than we did prior to 9/11, but this incident surely illustrates we've got a long ways to go," Hamilton said

CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said after the meeting with the father in November, they worked with the U.S. Embassy to get Abdulmutallab's name into the "government's terrorist database:"

We also forwarded key biographical information about him to the National Counterterrorism Center. This agency, like others in our government, is reviewing all data to which it had access - not just what we ourselves may have collected - to determine if more could have been done to stop Abdulmutallab."

Yet, Abdulmutallab's name didn't make it to the No-Fly List. Clearly, someone was not paying attention. Michael E. Leiter's National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) did...what?...nothing? Leiter is the Director of NCTC and the following are a few comments from his testimony to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in September 2009:

Despite our counterterrorism (CT) progress, al-Qa‘ida and its affiliates and allies remain resilient and adaptive enemies intent on attacking US and Western interests—with al-Qa‘ida’s core in Pakistan representing the most dangerous component of the larger al-Qa‘ida network.  We assess that this core is actively engaged in operational plotting and continues recruiting, training, and transporting operatives, to include individuals from Western Europe and North America. ...

The NCTC evolved from legislation creating "a civilian-led unified joint command" for counterterrorism. Is it nothing more than another entity which decided to do nothing?

For the first time, an organization outside the Executive Office of the President was given the responsibility for government-wide coordination of planning and integration of department and agency actions involving “all elements of national power,” including “diplomatic, financial, military, intelligence, Homeland security, and law enforcement activities within and among agencies.”

Pursuant to this authority, the Director of NCTC is responsible for providing strategic CT plans and for effectively integrating CT intelligence and operations across agency boundaries, both inside and outside the US. 

Our CIA and FBI works under a President, a State Department and a Homeland Security Secretary that believes there is no war on terror, believes there are no foreign enemy combatants and believes there is no terrorism. Who places a name on the "No-Fly" list, or the "selectee" list, which alerts airline officials of the need for further, and deeper, examination of the person? Is it the Transportation Safety Administration (TSA), the CIA, the State Department, Homeland Security, or all of the above? Since "the government" administers the list, is the civilian NCTC involved at all? Apparently so, and apparently the NCTC is directly responsible for the list. The following is from a declassified Homeland Security document dated July 2009, page 9:

The primary source for all information relating to international terrorist identities in the TSDB is the Office of the Director of National Intelligence’s National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) ...The NCTC, “serve[s] as the primary organization in the United States Government for analyzing and integrating all intelligence possessed or acquired by the United States Government pertaining to terrorism and counterterrorism, excepting intelligence pertaining exclusively to domestic terrorists and domestic counterterrorism.”...

This information is provided to the NCTC through nominations of individuals made by federal agencies, often with the explicit intent for the record to then be exported to the TSDB [Terrorism Screening Datebase] for watch-listing.

So how many martini lunches and conferences to exotic locations were expensed by the NCTC?

President Obama referred to the attack on NW Flight 253 as an "alleged" attack. He wasn't specifically talking about the would-be-bomber - he was talking about the attack itself. It is possible to misidentify the bomber and refer to him as allegedly "Abdulmutallab," but, please, not the attack itself. He characterized the "alleged" attack as the work of an isolated extremist, after al-Qaeda in the Saudia Arabian peninsula had already taken credit for Abdulmutallab's actions - and yet he was already known as "The Nigerian," not "a Nigerian," but specifically "The Nigerian." His Director of National Counterterrorism knew Abdulmutallab's name, and so knew that he was connected to Yemen - yet refererred to him as an "isolated extremist." Knowing all this, at no time did he mention "jihad," "Islam," "Muslims,"  or radicals."

In Obama' second statement about the attack, the President said there were failures with our intelligence community in piecing the known information together, and then distributing that information. He said it was an unacceptable "systemic failure."  Abdulmutallab allegedly paid cash for his ticket and had no luggage; the CIA and the NCTC knew about him. At the simplest level, an airline accepted his cash, and checked no luggage, yet he was not tagged for a full pat down. Still yet, the President has not said the words "jihad," "radical Islam," or "Muslim."

If you are interested in additional information on Michael Leiter and the NCTC, the following are snippets from their "implementation plan:"

[Four Pillars]
1) protect and defend against terrorists;

2) attack their capacity to operate;

3) work diligently to undermine the spread of violent extremism and retard radicalization around the world; and

4) prevent terrorists from utilizing WMD. ...

On the domestic front, NCTC enables, informs and supports federal, state and local government efforts to engage with communities across our country.  Central to this effort is NCTC’s leadership of an interagency group to coordinate engagement projects and activities conducted by the FBI, DHS, State, Justice, Treasury and others.  In particular, NCTC has worked diligently through this group with its partner agencies to enhance the level of engagement between the US.

According to The NCTC, they are partners with the CIA, the FBI, the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Department of State, The Department of the Treasury, the departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, and Agriculture, as well as the U.S. Capitol Police, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency - and "foreign partners."

The Center provides a unique environment to optimize the USG's collective knowledge and formidable capabilities to identify and counter the terrorist threat to the nation.

What happened to the "formidable capabilities" of the NCTC in the Christmas Day attack?
Read NCTC Transcript   View Michael Leiter Video P.S. just listening to Catherine Herridge on FOXNews and the NCTC is spinning at warp speed.

Related and background:
 Noteworthy News on Abdulmutallab: Eric Holder's Federal not Military Court

Gloria Borger grills John Brennan (video)

John Brennan Briefed about Yemen Bombs in Briefs last October 

 Travel Blog says Terrorists Plant Explosives Up their Anus!

Michael Leiter Sidesteps Christmas Day Bomb Attempt: Dennis blair's DNI CIA Turf War

 Obama's Pre-Christmas Security Briefing: Authorities Lie About Second Man Detained

 Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab attended Islamic school in Houston

 Michael Leiter NW Flt 253: CIA sent Abdulmutallab info to Leiter's Counterterrorism Center

Abdulmutallab and al-Qaeda in Saudia Arabia: Claims Christmas Day Attack

Jaspar Schuringa is Flight 253 hero: Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab - son of prominent Nigerian banker

Amsterdam and the al-Qaeda threat is a Homeland Security Failure

Abdul Mudallad is Nigerian NW Flt. 253 Bomber - al-Qaeda failed in airline bomb attempt


Other Airline Terrorists:
Shoe Bomber Richard Reid Wins: Terrorism and Jihad wins