The Counter Terrorist Magazine - February/March 2011

Avrasaya hostages • security contracting • al shabaab • pyroterror

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

Counter The

february/march 2011

Volume 4 • Number 1

Shiite support for sunni terrorists?

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www.thecounterterroristmag.com The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 1

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Counter

The Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals february/march 2011

Volume 4 • Number 1

COVER story:

32

contents

8

32

44

Shiite support for sunni terrorists?

By Anthony Tucker-Jones

FEATURES:

8

Firsthand: security contracting in afghanistan

By Kelly Alwood

22

Case Study: MV Avrasaya Hostage Siege

By Phillip Null

44

60

Profiles in Pyroterrorism

By Robert Baird

american citizens join al shabaab

By Richard Marquise

departments: 6 From a Reader Hooyah, SEALs

30 Book Review Shariah: The Threat to America

69 Innovative Products AW-FAPC, SWATSCOPE, M145 Moving Target System

72 Training Review Tactical Tracking Operations School

Cover: Shia and Sunni Muslims make their way to the Imam Husayn Shrine in Karbala, Iraq.

Photo: USDOD

72

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 5

Counter The

From a reader:

Hooyah, SEALs

By Rob DuBois

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

Volume 4 • Number 1

february/march 2011 Editor Chris Graham Director of Operations Sol Bradman Director of Advertizing Carmen Arnaes Director of Production Kelli Richardson

O

Rob Dubois and Marcus Luttrell. Photo courtesy of the author.

n January 1, 1962, President Kennedy established the SEAL

Teams. That makes 2011 our 50th year. Ours is an honorable legacy and a fierce reputation. Please also remember, however, that before and after Team life SEALs are sons, brothers, husbands and dads.

You’ve probably heard of my friend, Marcus Luttrell, and the painful story of losing our Teammates in his book, Lone Survivor. Much detail has been recorded about Operation Redwing already, but like Marcus, I want to focus on some of my closest buddies behind that epic tragedy.

Prior to earning the Medal of Honor by fighting like a lion and sacrificing everything for his brothers, Mike Murphy was one hell of a nice guy. He had a big heart to match the larger-than-life accounts of his valor.

We’d rather have him back with a beer and a laugh, than remember him as a fallen hero.

James Suh was a humble kid with a quick-draw smile. He flew into that deadly battle with the resolve required, but I also hope that you know that he was a kind soul. Like most SEALs, he joined to unleash his greatest potential; not because of a violent spirit.

I dedicated my Navy retirement to Dan Healy. He was brawny, blunt and devoted to his mission and Teammates. We joked around in Russian.

We’d beat each other senseless at grappling, then shake hands and laugh it off.

I had transferred to DC and the agency life before Op Redwing occurred. I couldn’t help them and that hurt deeply. Yet each follows his own path, and the brotherhood continues to grow and thrive. These are not the only four heroes. There are many more and we will continue to honor our own.

See you in a year!

Rob DuBois Retired SEAL and author of the blog: PowerfulPeace.net 6 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Contributing Editors Eeben Barlow Jennifer Hesterman Richard Marquise Steve Young Graphic Design Morrison Creative Company Copy Editor Laura Town Office Manager Lily Valdes Publisher: Security Solutions International 13155 SW 134th St. • STE 204 Miami, Florida 33186

ISSN 1941-8639 The Counter Terrorist Magazine, Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals is published by Security Solutions International LLC, as a service to the nation’s First Responders and Homeland Security Professionals with the aim of deepening understanding of issues related to Terrorism. No part of the publication can be reproduced without permission from the publisher.

The opinions expressed herein are the opinions of the authors represented and not necessarily the opinions of the publisher.

Please direct all Editorial correspondence related to the magazine to: Security Solutions International SSI, 13155 SW 134th Street, Suite 204, Miami, Florida.

33186 or info@thecounterterroristmag.com The subscription price for 6 issues is $34.99 and the price of the magazine is $5.99.

(1-866-573-3999) Fax: 1-786-573-2090.

For article reprints, e-prints, posters and plaques please contact: PARS International Corp.

Web: www.magreprints.com/quickquote.asp Email: reprints@parsintl.com Phone: 212-221-9595 • Fax: 212-221-9195 Please visit the magazine web site where you can also contact the editorial staff:

www.thecounterterrroristmag.com © 2010 Security Solutions International

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Firsthand:

security contracting in afghanistan

By Kelly Alwood

Counter The

8 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Low profile movement in Afghanistan. Photo courtesy of the author.

“You have got to be kidding me!

The GPS tracker is down too?

Kushhal, we got a problem,” I spat out.

We were in the middle of Jalalabad Highway, in the middle of nowhere.

M

y cell phone had no

signal, Sat phone took the day off, radio signal wouldn’t punch out of the valley, and now my GPS tracker (with panic button) batteries had died.

No one knew where I was and no one would be able to come if things became ugly. Of course I had extra batteries—it’s a four- to five-hour drive from Kabul to where we were going and I brought six packs of two.

I scrambled through speed reloads of batteries into the GPS and they were all dead. Brand new, purchased the day prior in Kabul; I should have known.

My only hope was that backup plans would be in motion if I didn’t check in. But that was not for another six hours; a lifetime in Indian country.

I told Kushhal, my interpreter and driver, to find the nearest place to buy batteries. At this point he was very concerned, and told me it was too dangerous to stop. “Taliban controls this whole area Mr. Kelly,” he said.

“If they recognize you, they will start shooting immediately.” It was decision time: should I stop to get the tracking gear back online, or keep pushing on and hope we have no more close calls. We already had three in the first two hours.

I was dressed in indigenous clothing, and mingled daily with locals on the streets, so I was quite confident in my disguise. My armament consisted of a Krinkov-type assault rifle with five magazines, a Makarov with three magazines, and an evasion

Mahi-Par Mountain Pass in eastern Afghanistan.

Photo: Aryob Zazai.

His final words of advice were, “Whatever happens, don’t stop. Shoot your way through.” I could hear the firefight raging in the background as I spoke with him.

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 9

Kelly Alwood and a US Army Special Forces soldier pose for the camera. Photo courtesy of the author. kit in a backpack. Not enough to put up a real fight, just the bare minimum to escape and evade until Troy could come. Troy is a close friend of mine from Fort Bragg, a Green Beret with a 20-plus-year army career. He has enough medals to sink a small boat, and the most training and skill sets of any operator that I have ever met.

He is a treasured friend and mentor.

Already established at the Special Forces camp that I was trying to reach, Troy couldn’t come get me if he didn’t

10 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

know where I was. We had to stop for batteries.

This week had seen steady attacks all over the neighboring provinces.

Yesterday in Kabul, I watched five United Nations’ workers gunned down in their SUVmarked “humanitarian, NO WEAPONS inside.” The day before, there was a shooting in front of my hotel with two more killed. I needed information and equipment to continue scouting routes and movements for a civilian audit team.

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I usually went solo or with one other American. This time it was just me. It was lower profile; driving in a Toyota Corolla with local plates and a driver.

As I left Kabul, I called Troy to confirm my departure and expected arrival time. He told me his camp was hit by a VBIED (vehicle-borne improvised explosive device AKA a car bomb), and they were still engaged.

“It’s pretty sporty here right now, but come on in if you want.” He also warned me of the recent attacks on the highway from the past week, and the regular kidnappings happening on the road. His final words of advice were, “Whatever happens, don’t stop. Shoot your way through.” I could hear the firefight raging in the background as I spoke with him.

We rolled into a small town along

the highway. “Here Kushhal, stop here.

There has to be batteries in one of these shops,” I said. He did not want to stop the car, but I told him that we must. He asked me how many to buy and I gave him $20 worth of Afghani currency and said, “all of them.” I waited in the car.

We rolled out without incident and proceeded down the dangerous stretch of road toward the camp. Just outside the city limits, the cell signal came back and I called Troy. He asked what I was driving and said to come on in. I told him I was more than a little nervous about driving up to the back gate of the compound because everyone was on edge from the suicide attack, and I was wearing a man-dress and was armed. He said, “No worries.

I will meet you at the gate myself and

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The Pol-e-charki Afghan National Army base located off the Jalalabad Road. Photo: AED Circle 172 on Reader Service Card

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 13

Afghan National Army soldiers. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Scott Cohen, U.S. Navy.

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I instructed Kushhal to drive our predetermined movements to establish our bonafides for distinction of our vehicle from suicide bombers. Our driving Page 1 pattern worked, we were

identified, and as we drove through the front gate, Troy looked in and stared at me. It took him a second to recognize me. He broke into a smile and nodded his head for us to proceed to the next gate.

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On the other side of the tunnel , a few vehicles in front of us, a truck took rocket-propelled grenade fire.

I went inside and Kushhal waited outside the camp. I removed my mandress and got an informal situation report from Troy and his team. We went to the armory to top off my magazines and to resupply my medical kit, and then we tried out a few indigenous weapons and reconfirmed the zero on my Krinkov. We had dinner, and then attended a meeting of various agencies to discuss and debrief the day’s events.

I had a shower, then sat in Troy’s hooch catching up on events since we had seen each other last at Fort Bragg. We felt a shake and then heard a boom. “That’s a rocket,” I told Troy.

I could not mistake that sound for anything. The siren sounded about 30 seconds later and a prerecorded voice came over the public address (PA) system confirming that it was a rocket attack.

I was exhausted from nearly 30 hours without sleep and the treacherous trip to get to the camp. I wanted to lie back and get some rest, but we ran outside the hooch, looked around, and saw that everyone was gearing up for another assault on the compound.

Another soldier ran up to me, handed me my vest, and said, “Get ready, Kelly.” I knew I wasn’t going to sit this one out. “Comms are up and everyone is being accounted for.

We are at 100 percent security as per SOP.” With the wall of the compound 50 meters off the highway, we were vulnerable to explosives being thrown over the wall and we were prepared to repel insurgents climbing over the wall.

As the team gathered behind cover, Troy directed his Afghani guards to their positions for the attack.

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A Soviet tank run off the road between Jalalabad and Kabul. Photo: Todd Huffman shorts, tank top, flip-flops, and 10-inch suppressed M4 arrived. Half of us had Kalashnikovs and half had M4s. NODs (night observation devices) out, we watched the walls for a breach while we ducked more incoming rockets.

The rockets had ceased for about 15 minutes when we heard an even bigger explosion just south of our position. It was another suicide bomber detonating at the front gate of the Afghan National Army compound just down

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the street, killing eight and destroying the front entrance.

More rockets poured into the camp and we braced ourselves for each explosion, never knowing where each would impact, but vigilant for Taliban coming over the walls. We saw Predators (unmanned aerial vehicles) launch blacked-out, going in search of the attackers. We were all hoping for the chance to put these elusive fighters in our sights.

Ultimately, we were hoping that at least a Predator would put it on them, even if we didn’t get a shot. I took time to quickly make two phone calls.

One to do my check-in because I was not certain that my GPS was really transmitting properly yet, and I was already late doing so, and the other to my father to tell him I was good to go because the former SOF sergeant major would be waiting by the phone for sure.

He was less than impressed with the idea of driving to the camp in the first place, especially alone. If not for Troy, I would not have attempted this trip at all. Dad could hear the rounds impact in the background as we spoke, so I reassured him that I was not alone, and in fact was in the best company I could be with: Troy’s team. Few places would be safer than here with them.

The PA system kept announcing “threat over,” and then a few minutes later more rockets would impact. The team made the decision to call it over around 0100. The attacks were indeed finished for the night. I was exhausted from the long day’s events and racked out in a concrete shelter.

I awoke at 0430, hungry, but refreshed and alert. I walked the perimeter and talked to the guards until breakfast was ready. I ate a quick bite of rice and chicken prepared by

the local cook. I gathered my gear and did my checks in preparation for my drive back to Kabul. I wanted to leave early because there were prime hours of travel on the highway. Between certain hours, it was Taliban-attack rush hour.

I talked with Troy as I packed. He told me I should stay another day

Can anything else go wrong or break down in a 24-hour period?

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 19

We reached the tunnel at the city limits, and boom!

because today would be a dangerous day to travel. But I had to leave. I was supposed to have returned the day before actually, but that didn’t happen because the attacks halted all movements in or out.

Kushhal was out getting the car repaired, which was not a good sign.

Our departure was now delayed to an “uncomfortable” time frame, but at least our vehicle would be reliable for the trip. Kushhal returned with the car and news that the repairs could not be made. “Can anything else go wrong or break down in a 24-hour time period?”

I thought to myself. I called my boss in Kabul to tell him the news. He advised me that we had meetings in Kabul that evening and could not delay them.

I departed at peek attack hour to make my window on the other side.

Troy and I took a few pictures, said goodbye, and I left the gate with my

‘terp’ in our Corolla. We reached the tunnel at the city limits, and boom!

On the other side of the tunnel , a few vehicles in front of us, a truck took rocket-propelled grenade fire. A firefight ensued as we turned the vehicle around and headed back to Troy’s camp.

I called to tell him I’d be having lunch with him after all. We returned and hung out until the fighting on the road ended and the road became passable.

We made it back to Kabul just in time to pick up the principal and get him to his meetings.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Alwood is an instructor with onPoint Tactical and founder of www.pipehitterstactical.com He is a bounty hunter with more than 300 felony arrests in the United States and Mexico and a former security contractor in Iraq.

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Case Study:

MV Avrasaya

hostage siege

By Phillip Null

Counter The

22 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Photos: World News/Turkish State Television

On a chilly January day at approximately 2000 (local), 188 passengers boarded the MV Avrasaya, a 3,383– ton, Panama-flagged ferry, in the Black Sea port of Trabzon, Turkey, for a 12- hour voyage to Sochi, Russia.

After the passengers were onboard, a group of gunmen wearing ski masks boarded from the ship’s stern ramp and made their way to the bridge and passenger decks.

A

s they ascended the stairs to

the main deck, a port security supervisor confronted them and fired two rounds from his sidearm.

The shots missed their target before the weapon reportedly malfunctioned.

The gunmen returned fire, wounding the security officer in the foot before disarming and binding him.1 The men then continued their effort to take the ship, ultimately seizing the bridge and taking all passengers and 45 crew members hostages. Witnesses on shore and a Russian passenger who escaped the ferry at the onset of the attack reported the incident to authorities and stated gunfire had been heard onboard. The escaped passenger said many passengers had been wounded in the assault and she described the gunmen as numbering half a dozen males who spoke Turkish.2 On the ship the gunmen closed the boarding gate before collecting the hostages’ passports and identifying the nationality of each: 144 Russians, 44 Turks, and 45

crewmen of undisclosed nationality.

The captain was not found on the bridge by the gunmen during their assault, but believing he was onboard, the hostages were corralled onto the mess deck and an ultimatum was issued. One hostage would be killed every 10 minutes until the captain presented himself and agreed to sail from the port. The captain quickly stepped forward and soon after the vessel was underway. Turkish authorities appear to have made no attempt to prevent its departure.

As the ship pulled away from the dock, the group’s leader, identified only as Mohammed, contacted Turkish State Television via telephone and identified himself and 50 other hijackers onboard as Chechen resistance fighters. He also outlined the attackers’ demands, stating the ferry was being diverted 650 nautical miles to Istanbul, Turkey, and demanding safe passage in addition to the withdrawal of Russian troops from Chechnya, an end to Russian hostilities against

Uzungöl lake and village. Trabzon, Turkey.

Photo: Aleksasfi

“We are like dynamite ready to explode. We will, with the help of Allah, enter the Bosphorus.

We have no alternative.”

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 23

Turkish authorities later found through interrogation of the terrorists that prior to deciding to hijack the ferry they considered blowing up one of the two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus with explosives to block the strait to traffic.

The O1 Motorway and the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul. Photo: Kara Sabahat Chechen separatists in Pervomayskoye, and the safe return to their country of a Chechen militia group holding hostages in Dagestan. If those demands were not met, he stated the group was prepared to kill all Russian passengers and, after freeing the Muslims, blow up the ship.3 The following morning, Wednesday, January 17, 1996, Turkish Navy and Coast Guard vessels began shadowing the ship and authorities established communication with the hijackers on VHF radio where negotiations were conducted. In early conversations, the men indicated they would release 30 Turkish hostages if allowed to proceed

unhindered into Istanbul. The Turkish government had severe concerns about this route, however, because it would necessitate a transit through the Bosporus Strait, the waterway connecting the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.

As negotiations were ongoing, Turkish State Television continued to speak with the terrorists and in one case was permitted to speak with the ship’s captain, Mustafa Tuncay, who said no one had been hurt since the ferry was seized. In a separate radio interview with Anatolia News, Mohammed was quoted as saying, “The reason why we have commandeered this ship is very simple. I do not know

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what the world is thinking, but what we are after is saving our homeland, living with our own culture ... And we do not think there is a force which can prevent that, because, our only choice is between freedom and death. This struggle will go on until the Russians withdraw and a confederation of Caucasus peoples is established.”

On Thursday, January 18, the ferry stopped outside the Bosphorus and a three-man delegation of the CaucasiaAbhazia Solidarity Committee and Turkish State Television were permitted to board the ferry from a small boat to assist with negotiations.4 A reporter commented on the scene in published articles, saying the Russian passengers were very “scared and nervous” with some crying, and described the terrorists as “heavily armed with TNT sticks strapped to their bodies.” He reported that he “never got the sense they were bluffing.”

The delegation brought news that Turkish Interior Minister Teoman Unusan would not allow the ship to transit the Bosporus Strait, citing international law. The terrorists’ immediate reaction was to again threaten to blow up the ship and to demand the withdrawal of surrounding warships.

One gunman was quoted as saying, “We are like dynamite ready to explode. We will, with the help of Allah, enter the Bosphorus. We have no alternative.”

The gunmen also requested food, fuel, and clean water. As Turkey continued its negotiation tactic, Russian President Boris Yeltsin vocally argued that Turkey was delaying a solution to the hijacking and stated that Russian forces, including two destroyers, a hospital ship, and 150 special operations troops, were staged at the Ukranian port of Sevastopol for a rescue operation.

The delegation remained onboard until Friday, January 19, when it departed via a small boat with eight sick passengers released by the terrorists. At 1200 local

the ferry arrived at the approaches to the Bosphorus and throughout the morning made several attempts to enter, but her path was blocked each time by warships from the Turkish Navy and Coast Guard. During the standoff, Semsettin Yusuf, a senior Chechen secessionist and minister of foreign affairs for the self-declared Chechen Republic, was DT 5008 CT FEB.pdf 1 12/1/10

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 25

delivered via helicopter to the ferry to act as an intermediary. Yusuf was able to quickly persuade the hijackers that they had succeeded in winning the world’s attention and could achieve nothing positive by carrying out their violent threats, informing them Russian forces had already routed the rebels in Pervomayskoye.

Following these talks, the terrorists agreed to abort their attempts to enter Bosphorus and instead anchored in a cove at Sogan Island, with their leader saying, “We have stopped, we have no intention of doing anything now.” At 1730 local four hijackers threw their weapons into

the sea before Turkish Coast Guard officers boarded the ferry and removed them from the ship. Thirteen passengers, all suffering from illness or injury, were also removed and brought to a nearby hospital. Naval officers remaining on the ferry then ordered the ship’s captain to proceed with the remaining passengers to the port of Eregli. Throughout the crisis, authorities were unable to determine the actual number of terrorists onboard, but were aware of at least six, and commenced a search for the remaining men, who tried to hide amongst the passengers without success.5 Seven men, five Turks and two Chechens, were

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 27

Last stop on the Asian side of the Bosphorus Strait, Anadolu Kavagi. Photo: John Beattie

eventually identified as the perpetrators of the attack and taken into custody by Turkish forces, including one who hid inside the ship’s smokestack.

Turkish authorities later found through interrogation of the terrorists that prior to deciding to hijack the ferry they considered blowing up one of the two suspension bridges over the Bosphorus with explosives to block the strait to traffic.

The leader of the militants, Mohammed Tokcan, escaped from the prison in Dalaman on October 6, 1997.

Tokcan was arrested again at Atatürk Airport in Istanbul on April 29, 1999, when he tried to flee to Kosovo under a false passport. He was paroled as part of a general amnesty of prisoners on December 22, 2000. On April 22, 2001, just before midnight, a group of 12 militants led by Tokcan seized the Swiss hotel in Istanbul and took hostages to draw attention to the new war in Chechnya, demanding the United States use its influence to denounce the Russian war. The crisis ended again without bloodshed when all gunmen surrendered after 12 hours. On December 30, 2002, Mohammed Tokcan was sentenced to 12 years in prison.6 Hostage taking has long been a prolific tactic. Recent years may have seen this

28 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

tactic eclipsed in terrorist campaigns by other violent acts, but as long as this technique has the possibility of creating gains for its practitioners (as evidenced by the resurgence in international maritime piracy and al-Qaeda training to seize hostages, obtain media attention and execute them), it will continue to be practiced.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Null is a deployable U.S. Coast Guard team leader. He currently serves with the Maritime Safety and Security Team in Miami, Florida. He is responsible for training and qualifying USCG personnel in law enforcement, port security, advanced boat tactics, and CBRN-E skills.

ENDNOTES Hijacked Ship Creeps toward Istanbul, The Independent, January 18, 1996 2 Rebels Grab 165 on Ferry, New York Daily News, January 17, 1996 4 Negotiators on Board Hijacked Ferry, The Hour, January 19, 1996 3 Chechen Crisis Deepens, Daily Mail, January 1996 5 Hostage Takers Surrender Ferry, Irish Times, January 19, 1996 6 Istanbul’s Gang Leader, BBC News, April 23, 2001 1

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 29

Book Review

Shariah: The Threat to America

By LtGen. William Boykin, LtGen. Harry Soyster, Christine Brim, et al.

Reviewed by: Chris Graham

T

he Center for Security Policy

endeavored to evaluate if shariah

represented a threat to the United States, and if so, to what degree. In 2010, the findings of former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence LtGen. William Boykin, former Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, LtGen. Harry Soyster, a former FBI Counter-Terrorism Division agent, a former USN theater commander-inchief, a former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, a former Department of Defense inspector general, a former Director of Central Intelligence, and 12 other notable authors released their findings. Their document was entitled, “Shariah: The Threat to America” and can be accessed for free at http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy. org/upload/wysiwyg/article%20pdfs/ Shariah%20-%20The%20Threat%20 to%20America%20(Team%20B%20 Report)%20Web%20Version%20 09302010.pdf or ordered in traditional book form from Amazon.com.

This document defined shariah as Islamic law that dictates legal, political, and military doctrine based on the Quran and hadiths (sayings of Mohammed). The writers state, “Many millions of Muslims around the world do not practice their faith in a manner consistent with shariah…those that do have grounds for arguing that their version of Islam is the authoritative one.”

The document quotes some of the most violent suras of the Quran, such as: be “merciful to one another, but

ruthless to the unbelievers” (Q48:29).

It acknowledges that the incitements to supremacist violence are contradicted by other peaceful suras, but points out

that abrogation is the Islamic concept that more recent suras amend earlier ones. The authors write, “Quaranic abrogation results in a known doctrinal footprint that subordinates the milder, more moderate verses of the Quran from the Meccan period of revelation, to the later and violent verses of the Medina period…When our shariah-compliant enemies cite from the most violent verses of the Quran to justify their actions, they are completely aligned with Islamic law and doctrine.”

The document describes the Muslim

30 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Brotherhood (MB) and many of the terrorist groups and well-known activist groups that were founded by, or linked to, that group. It states, “The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Its express purpose was two-fold: (1) to implement shariah worldwide, and (2) to re-establish the global Islamic State (caliphate).”

The document states that MB is active in more than 80 countries and says, “As Louay Safi, a top [MB] member operating in the United States who is nonetheless considered by many officials to be a respected “moderate,” wrote in his 2001 book Peace and the Limits of War: Transcending Classical Conception of Jihad: “the war against the apostates is carried out not to force them to accept Islam, but to enforce Islamic law…”

The paper identifies the surprising and alarming trend of governmental agencies’ failure to see the significance of the advancement of shariah in violation of the U.S. Constitution or to take reasonable action. It documents law enforcement agencies regularly using Islamic supremacists to provide internal “sensitivity” training, and the external influence that is permitted to choose military and prison Muslim chaplains, and also states, “Of particular concern are the 2010 versions of the Pentagon’s Quadrennial Defense Review, the Homeland Security Department’s Quadrennial Review, and the White House-issued National Security Strategy. All hew to the same troubling language guidelines promulgated by

DHS, the FBI’s Counterterrorism Analytical Lexicon, and the National Counterterrorism Center’s vocabulary regulations to the effect that no reference to Islam, jihad, or shariah may be made when discussing the threat. This is not simply incompetence. It amounts to malfeasance and it places the U.S. government demonstrably and officially in compliance with Islamic law on slander—a posture that puts the nation in grave peril.”

Unfortunately, the paper also documents influence given by the private sector to Islamic supremacists.

The authors write, “Proponents of shariah-compliant finance often convey the impression that SCF is an ‘ethical’ financial system whose roots and practice are to be found in the Quran, hadiths, and traditions of early Islam. In fact, it was invented out of whole cloth in the mid-20th Century by Muslim

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Brotherhood figures like Sayyid Qutb and Sayyid Abdul A’la al-Mawdudi.

Its purpose was to provide yet another method to penetrate and undermine Western societies by stealthily insinuating shariah into their capitalist free markets.”

The authors assert that SCF is used to inhibit transactions with “Western defense,” but not “Muslim militaries.”

They say, “Among major international firms with a presence on Wall Street that now offer SCF products are: AIG, Bank of America, Citicorp, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Capital, and Wachovia/ Wells Fargo.”

The writers find that, “Our government structure fails to recognize this strategy [subversion] because it is focused so exclusively on kinetic attacks. As a result, the United States remains crippled in its ability to engage this enemy effectively on his primary battlefield.”

Finally, the writers articulate some recommended actions. They state, “In keeping with Article VI of the Constitution, extend bans currently in effect that bar members of hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan from holding positions of trust in federal, state, or local governments or the armed forces of the United States to those who espouse or support shariah.” They say, “Immigration of those who adhere to shariah must be precluded, as was previously done with adherents to the seditious ideology of communism.”

The United States will not mount an efficient defense against jihadi terrorists and Islamic supremacists until the information contained in this document becomes common knowledge to both voters and politicians. You and your teammates will find “Shariah: The Threat to America” extremely interesting.

•

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 31

shiite support for sunni terrorists?

By Anthony Tucker-Jones

Iran’s exploitation of the rift between the two key strands of Islam has resulted in some surprising alliances. Traditionally, Shia Iran has been at bloody loggerheads with Sunni-dominated Iraq since the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s. There is also an ethnic element because the Iranians are predominantly Persian, not Arab. However, since the coalition’s invasion of Iraq, it often appears evident that the Iranians pursue a policy of “my enemies’ enemy is my friend.”

Counter The

Suicide bombings in Iraq since 2003 have killed thousands of people, mostly Iraqi civilians.

Photo: Jim Gordon. Right: Sunni Triangle

32 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

T

o that end, Iran’s mullahs have poured funding, training, and weapons not only into the Shiite insurgency in Iraq, but also into the alQaeda-led Sunni insurgency. Many of the civilian deaths and coalition casualties in Iraq in recent years have been attributed to specific types of explosive devices deployed by the insurgents, who have demonstrated increasing technical competence. The bombs are reportedly very similar to those employed by Hezbollah, an acknowledged Iranian surrogate, in southern Lebanon.

Whereas Christianity is divided

predominantly by the Catholic and Protestant faiths, Muslims are also split into two main groups. The division between the Sunnis and the Shia is the largest and oldest in the history of Islam.

The split occurred after the Prophet Mohammad’s death in the seventh century, culminating in the battle of Karbala (the Sunnis backed the accession of Mohammad’s closest companion, while the Shia supported his son-in-law).

Today worldwide the Sunnis constitute the largest strand of Islam, while the Shia, who make up about 10 percent, are the second largest grouping.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Photo: IsaKazimi

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 33

Although there is no love loss between Baghdad and Tehran, Iran under the ayatollahs is unlikely to reconcile itself with the “Great Satan,” as it dubbed America. For three decades, America has vigorously sought to contain Iran’s regional ambitions. Washington branding Iran part of the “axis of evil” did little to

34 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

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increase the likelihood of rapprochement.

I believe that Iran’s strategic thinking is that it is well to keep America preoccupied in Iraq and Afghanistan to alleviate some of the potential pressure that might otherwise be targeted against Iran’s nuclear program.

Another school of thought argues that Iran’s attainment of nuclear weapons would enable that nation to back terrorism with impunity. The rulers of Iran have clearly gained much from the subversive employment of their proxies against those who stand in their way, and it is believed that adversaries may be more circumspect in opposing Iranian-backed terrorism and subversion if Tehran has recourse to nuclear weapons.

There may be some merit in this, but I believe that Iran has greater priorities than sheltering its terrorist initiatives by wielding a nuclear arsenal. I believe that Tehran’s biggest potential gain would be from the acquisition and ownership of nuclear weapons. These may be most likely attained by keeping Washington distracted with military commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan, thereby delaying confrontation by the United States in response to noncompliance with Iran’s “civil” nuclear program.

The regional balance of power in the Gulf was irreversibly altered after the rise of the fundamentalist ayatollahs and placed into a state of flux with Iran remaining, to this day, vehemently antiAmerican. Shortly after the fall of the shah in 1979, the Iran-Iraq War polarized the Arab world into two loose factions that were no longer firmly united against Israel.1 To safeguard Iran’s fledgling revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini created the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which made up for inexperience with Islamic zeal, innovation, and loyalty to the ruling council.

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 35

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When Saddam Hussein attacked Iran’s Arab-dominated Khuzestan province in 1980, he hoped the population would rise up against their Persian oppressors.

When this did not happen, eight years of bloodshed followed. Iran was severely traumatized. In terms of casualties, it is the third largest postwar conflict after Korea and Vietnam. Although total Iranian losses remain unclear, there were probably at least a million casualties.2 Nor was Iran blind to the fact that America had supported Iraq as a bulwark against Iranian fundamentalism throughout the 1980s. Closer to home, Saddam had to contend with the Iraqi Shia al-Dawa al-Islamia (Islamic Call Party), which sought to end his regime and that of the Gulf kingdoms.

Although more than half of Iraq’s population are Shia, at the end of the 1991 Gulf War the ayatollahs failed to fully support their coreligionists in Iraq.

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Shia rose up against Saddam in Karbala, Najaf, and other Iraqi Shia-dominated cities. Although Iran covertly directed the Revolutionary Guards and forces from the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI, based in Tehran) to assist where they could, the Iranian air force stood by and did nothing as Iraqi ground forces and helicopters swiftly crushed the ill-equipped rebels.

During Operation Desert Storm Saddam’s army folded in just four days of fighting, leaving no more than seven of its 43 divisions operational. Crucially, when the dust settled these remaining divisions were in the Baghdad area and enabled Saddam to cling to power despite his defeat in and around Kuwait. Washington made it clear (under pressure from Sunni Saudi Arabia) that it would not assist the Shia uprising, nor would it tolerate an Iranian-style Shia Islamic Revolution in Iraq. The intervention of the Iranian Air

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38 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

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Northern Tehran City, Iran with Alborz Mountains in the background. Photo: Apcbg Force could have made all the difference, but Iran was pragmatic because such an act could have brought swift retribution from Washington.

Both the West and Iran abandoned the Iraqi Shia rebellion to its fate. In the bloody aftermath, around 3,000 Iraqi Shia clerics fled to the Iranian city of Qom, the second holy city of Shia Muslims. Today, Khuzestan is home to in excess of 100,000 Iraqi Shia migrants.3 The opposition Badr Organization, part of the SCIRI under Shia cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, was not short of potential recruits. However, following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, at Washington’s invitation al-Hakim, minus his Iranian-backed army, was allowed to return home to help form an interim Iraqi government. Al-Hakim was assassinated and Badr championed a militant uprising.

Washington asserted that one of its reasons for attacking Iraq was the presence of Sunni Ansar al-Islam (The Partisans of Islam) in northern Iraq,

which had links with Baghdad and subsequently evolved into al-Qaeda in Iraq. Ansar came into being in the late 1990s when it split from the Islamic Movement of Iraqi Kurdistan. Notably, the commander of the Arab contingent was Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian who had fought in Afghanistan. He was connected with alleged al-Qaeda plots in Jordan in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Al-Zarqawi had been wounded in the leg during the coalition invasion of Afghanistan and like some other al-Qaeda operatives, passed through Iran before rejoining operations against coalition forces in Iraq.

Washington’s worst suspicions about Ansar al-Islam were confirmed after its remaining fighters fled into Iran only to filter back later. Their spiritual leader, Mullah Mustapha Krieka, likened Ansar’s operations to al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

After the Ansar enclave was overrun, al-Zarqawi fled to northwestern Iraq to the “Sunni triangle” area. Gathering his followers, he dubbed them Tawhid

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 39

wal Jihad (Monotheism and Holy war).

It appears that he was supported by networks from Saddam’s old intelligence and security services. He based himself in the city of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. It took major US operations involving highintensity combat to pacify Fallujah.

Following the coalition’s invasion

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of Iraq, it became clear that Iran was supporting die-hard Sunnis, many of them former Saddam loyalists or alQaeda supporters.4 Within two years of the fall of Saddam, the United Kingdom was lodging formal protests after evidence emerged that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had supplied Iraqi insurgents with shaped explosive charges. Iran was also accused of providing training, and small arms (including .50 caliber sniper rifles) to the insurgents.

Following the invasion, looting was common and organized attacks grew into an insurgency in the Sunni central region.

Most of the militants were Iraqis who had offered resistance to the invasion— namely the Fedayeen, though they were soon to be reinforced by foreign Islamists who exploited Iraq’s long, porous borders. The insurgency had many of the hallmarks of the Palestinian Intifada: hitand-run gunmen, car bombs, and suicide bombers. It was particularly intense for American forces in the Baghdad area and the Sunni triangle. The insurgency rapidly became unmanageable.

The election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards, as Iran’s sixth president in July 2005 inevitably heightened tensions with the West and Iran continued supporting Islamist groups in Iraq. While Iran sought to create mischief in the Iraqi Sunni areas, its key efforts were directed in assisting the main Shia militias, in particular the Mahdi Army and the revitalized Badr Corps, which paid lip service to the SCIRI. Thanks to Iranian training facilities, the 5,000-strong Mahdi Army was able to dominate Najaf and Sadr City in eastern Baghdad.5 Ultimately, Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani ordered the army’s members to lay down their arms in Najaf.

Eventually, insurgents were becoming better equipped and were receiving considerable assistance from Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah.6 According to U.S. intelligence officials, up to 2,000 members of Moktada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army and other Shia militias received extensive training in Lebanon at the hands of Iranian-backed Hezbollah. A Mahdi commander admitted to sending 300 fighters, known as the Ali al-Hadi Brigade, to Lebanon.7 Because of Syria’s long-standing support of Palestinian groups, such as Hamas, Islamic jihad, and Hezbollah, it may have become inevitable that Syria would be a conduit for Iranianbacked jihadists flowing into Iraq.

In addition to logistical support, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard also provided training for Iraqi Shia fighters inside Iran itself. According to British Intelligence sources, the Iraqi Badr Organization retained “strong links” with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, which funded, trained, and armed the militia group totalling up to 20,000 men.8 In the summer of 2005, insurgents were attacking British forces in the Amarah area bordering Iran with increasing sophistication.

At their height, the estimated number of insurgents was about 5,000, of which up to 3,000 were estimated to be foreign fighters—a clearly significant proportion.9 However, American generals on the ground reported that only small numbers of prisoners were foreign nationals.

Nonetheless, by late 2006 and early 2007, senior U.S. officials considered al-Qaeda in Iraq as the driving force behind the insurgency. Its membership was estimated to be the largest Sunni terrorist group in Iraq. Many saw the hand of Iran behind it.10 By early 2008 there were signs that al-Qaeda was withering following a mass

Iranian posing on an Iraqi T-62 tank in Khorramshahr, Khuzestan in Iran, just across the border from Iraq. Photo: Hamed Saber

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 41

defection of Sunni supporters to the U.S. military. More than 80,000 Sunnis helped the local tribal groups (Concerned Local Citizens’ militias) to successfully eject al-Qaeda from western and northern Iraq. In the Balad area north of Baghdad, Abu-Tari (the emir of the al-Layin and al-Mashahdah sector) saw his force reduced from 600 fighters to less than 20.11 It seemed as if Iran’s backing of the Sunni insurgency had failed, but with the final withdrawal of U.S. combat units in the summer of 2010, terrorist attacks continued in both Shia and Sunni neighborhoods.12 Only time will tell if coalition forces achieved strategic success in Iraq or whether Iran’s Machiavellian interests will be the ultimate beneficiary of that multi-factional conflict. The Center for Security Policy has stated, “The Sunni-Shia alliance, formed under the aegis of the Sudanese Islamic figure, Hasan al-Turabi, solidified and intensified throughout the 1990’s...”13 It appears that Iranian subversion in Iraq and Afghanistan may be some of the most recent manifestations of this relationship.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Tucker-Jones served with British Defence Intelligence and is now a historian and defense writer. His latest book, The Rise of Militant Islam, (Pen and Sword, 2010) examines how Western intelligence misinterpreted landmark events on the road to 9/11 and failed to curb global jihad.

Endnotes See Author, ‘The Strategic Implications of the Iran-Iraq War,’ Middle East Strategic Studies Quarterly, Vol. 1 No. 2, Spring/Summer 1989 2 See Dilip Hiro, The Longest War, (London 1989), p.250 & Author, ‘Iran’s Armed Forces - Fought to a Standstill?’

Armed Forces, Vol. 8 No. 5, May 1989 3 Author, ‘Iran – Rattling the Sabre,’ AIR International, Vol 65 No 2, August 2003 4 HP-759 ‘Treasury Designates Individuals, Entity Fuelling Iraqi Insurgency,’ January 9, 2008 5 Con Coughlin, Khomeini’s Ghost, (London 2009), p.317-318 6 Thomas Harding ‘Iraqi insurgents learn deadly new tricks,’ The Daily Telegraph, August 4, 2005 1

Michael R Gordon and Dexter Filkins, ‘Hezbollah Said to Help Shiite Army in Iraq,’ The New York Times, November 28, 2008 8 Defence Intelligence Staff, Armed Groups in Iraq, dated November 21, 2003, cited Edward T Pound, ‘The Iran Connection,’ USNews.com, November 22, 2004, 9 Raymond Bonner and Joel Brinkley, ‘Latest attacks underscore differing intelligence estimates of strength of foreign guerrillas,’ New York Times, October 28, 2003 10 See Kenneth Katzman, ‘Al Qaeda in Iraq: An Assessment and Outside Links’, Congressional Research Service, August 15, 2008 11 Martin Fletcher, ‘Al Qaeda leaders admit: “We are in Crisis. There is panic and fear,”’ The Times Online, February 11, 2008 12 For a fuller account of the insurgency in Iraq and Iran’s mischief making in Lebanon see the Author’s The Rise of Militant Islam, (Pen & Sword 2010) 13 LtGen. William Boykin, LtGen. Harry Soyster, Christine Brim et al.

‘Shariah: The Threat to America’, the Center for Security Policy, 2010 7

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profiles in

pyroterrorism

By Robert Baird

Counter The

44 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Night shot of August 2009 California wildfires. Photo: EyeKarma

The four cases of Raymond Oyler, Brendan Sokaluk, José Padilla, and Daniel San Diego illustrate the complex convergence of crime, terrorism, and wildfire. These profiles provide law enforcement and arson investigators examples of potential future pyroterrorists who may seek to unleash wildfire as a weapon on the population of the United States.

Fire engine in California.

Photo: John Martinez Pavliga

I

n 2007 Raymond Lee Oyler, deliberately set a series of fires in the California countryside over the span of several months. This arson spree culminated with the Esperanza fire, an exceptionally destructive wildfire fed by Santa Ana winds. Three firefighters were killed on the scene and two later died in the hospital. Had those five men been killed by a naturally occurring wildfire, the Esperanza fire would have been considered a tragedy. Instead, it was a case of murder. A California criminal court tried and convicted Oyler of five

counts of first-degree murder, 20 counts of arson, and 17 counts of using an incendiary device for a rash of blazes in the area that year.1 Oyler was sentenced to death for the destruction caused by the fire he ignited. Oyler’s tattooed arms, covered with graphic yellow flames, were identified by a witness and used as testimony against him. The tattoos illustrated to the jury that his inclination toward arson was both premeditated and deliberate. According to Riverside County Superior Court Judge W. Charles Morgan, “Mr. Oyler set on a mission...to

He knew that young men and women would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway.

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 45

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wreak havoc in this county by setting fires by his own design for his own purposes and as proven by the evidence he became more and more proficient…He knew that young men and women would put their lives on the line to protect other people and property and he continued anyway.”2 The weapon of these five murders was wildfire. Oyler’s case provides two distinct trends worth noting. First, he was a serial arsonist because he later admitted to lighting various fires over a span of years. Second, as the judge succinctly points out, Mr. Oyler steadily improved his proficiency at unleashing these arson wildfires.

This case is important for law enforcement and arson investigators to seek out trends in arson-induced fires in a given region and potentially project times of vulnerability and indicators of serial pyroterrorists. This concept is akin to the U.S. military’s effort to defeat insurgent networks that emplace improvised explosive devices by projecting trends in an attempt to be preventative. Instead of being reactive, fire management officers and homeland security analysts may evaluate trends and take measures to mitigate times and areas of vulnerability.

Researchers Jeff Prestemon and David Butry studied wildland arson as an autoregressive crime and demonstrated that temporal clustering of incidents occurs, “which supports the hypothesis of either serial or copycat fire setting.”3 The researchers further infer that projections may be made for law enforcement and fire managers on which specific areas of vulnerability may be at greater risk during certain times. This provides a template for law enforcement to target given areas where perpetrators may act.

The limitation of this type of projection is that unless the number of arson fires is tracked and sought to be reduced, it is very difficult to determine how many

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Beetle-killed forests such as the area pictured above, may be a viable target for “forest jihad”.

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fires were prevented. Further research in specific regions is needed, however, the premise of tracking wildfire arson trends, and projecting potential behavior, is relevant and useful.

The second case that profiles a potential pyroterrorist is that of Brendan Sokaluk, a 39-year-old former volunteer firefighter accused of lighting one of several blazes in Australia during the 2009 wildfire season.

Overall the season resulted in 189 dead, 1,800 houses destroyed, and 7,000 people homeless.4 As arson investigators attempted to build a case against Sokaluk, they were confronted with the difficulty of proving a causal relationship between the location of the acts of arson and the locations of the deaths.

Australian investigators revealed that they encountered a great deal of difficulty in proving exactly what damage and deaths Sokaluk was directly responsible for,

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48 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

because different fires would join and feed others.5 Sokaluk’s case illustrates that the more complex the fire, and the more it interacts with other naturally occurring wildfires, the harder it will be to develop a causal link of the deaths in a wildfire to the pyroterrorism defendant. As a result, Sokaluk was only charged with starting fires that resulted in the death of 11 people and limited property damage.

The Australian wildfires provide a worstcase scenario for how several large arson wildfires in the United States could wreak havoc in the American wildland urban interface and the challenges in building cases for prosecution.

José Padilla, the third case study, is a convicted terrorist who has shown the desire to unleash wildfire to cause destruction to terrorize the American people in an urban environment. Padilla was born in the United States and

“Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organization were to claim responsibility for [starting] the forest fires…You can hardly begin to imagine the level of the fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia, and in Australia.” travelled in 2001 to Pakistan to meet with Kahlid Shaikh Mohammed and other senior al-Qaeda leaders. While with al-Qaeda, Padilla was recruited to conduct terrorist acts in the United States. He was initially suspected of plotting to detonate a “dirty bomb,” but was ultimately convicted of a plot of “blowing up apartment buildings (using natural gas)… [in] as many as twenty simultaneous explosions, probably in New York.” 6 Padilla, a known gang member in Chicago, is an example of how future jihadists may be recruited from US citizens who have, and can exploit, ties to U.S. criminal networks for illicit funding, illegal weapons, false credentials, and safe havens.

The second concept that Padilla’s case introduces is “forest jihad.” Jonathan Fighel, senior researcher at The Terrorism Studies Group, has studied the concept of forest jihad for more than a decade and states that it is critical for responders and analysts to understand that militant jihadists have considered setting forest fires as a form of economic warfare, identified targets, and discussed appropriate manpower for more than a decade. Fighel concludes that, “The socalled ‘Forest Jihad’ is being championed

by Islamic scholars and Osama bin Laden’s terror strategists who believe setting fire to dry woodlands will produce maximum damage at minimum risk.”7 The forest jihad concept was also openly discussed in the book Knights Under the Prophet’s Banner by bin Laden’s associate, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who encouraged

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FIRSTHAND AC COUNTS AND FROM FRONTL INE PERSONNE ANALYSES L AND ExPERT IN THE wAR AG S AINS T TERROR Based on

edite

ophir falk and hed by nry Morgenstern

Understandin

g and Confro nting the threat

nfronting the th

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U.s. and policymakers, first israeli experiences and detailed interv responders, and threat of suicide students of home iews with frontline personnel, terro Suicide Terror enab land security to understand and for future attacks. r. it analyzes recent suicide attac deal with the grow les ks as well as our following the expe current vulnerabili Moreover, they learn rt authors’ advic ties and likely scena ing e, readers learn how to prepare for and losses in the and imple ment an effective possible measures to prevent an rios event of an attac attac and quick response k. following an overv to minimize casua k. iew and historical lties review of suicide terror, the book cover • Global jihad s: • Israel’s confron tation with suicide te rroris m • America’s expe rience with suicide b ombings • Internationalizat ion of suicide terroris m • High-risk scena rios and future trends • Methods for co nfronting suicide terror • Medical manag ement of suicide terro rism Using eye-witnes s accounts, the text recreates the studies help reade look and feel of rs actua these very dangerousget into the minds of suicide terro rists in order to unde l terrorism incidents. Detailed threats. case rstand how to best This book is a defin prevent and confr itive study of suicide ont experts who have terror, synthesizing t dealt with it firsth he ex perience of well-kno devastating threa and. anyone respo wn Israeli and A t should read this nsible for unde meric rstan book and consider its recommendation ding, preventing, and confrontin an OPHIR FALK, LLB, g this s with all seriousne ss. institute for Coun MBA, is a Partner at the Naveh, K ter terrorism, wher of experience in e he has published antor Even-Har law firm and a Rese vario numerous articles carried out risk asses us security capacities and serve in the field. Mr. falk arch Fellow at the d as a consultant sments for olympic has over a decade for the venue 2004 s and critical natio HENRY MORGEN nal infrastructure. olympic games, where he STERN is the Presi than 500 federal, dent of security state solutions internation first responders to Is , and local agencies to effectively al, a company that of suicide terror. He rael to study Homeland Security. Mr. confront the threat of terror and regul has trained more radio stations, and has offered expert commentary on tMorgenstern is a widely publishe arly takes groups of d aut Web broadcasts. error-related issu es for NBC, ABC hor on the subject , CBS, Fox, numerous

SUICIDE TERROR Understanding and Co

SUICIDE TERROR

falk Morgenstern

Ophir Falk and Henr y Morgenstern have serious about winn compiled a book that should be read ing the war on terro better understan r. By painstakingly by anyone who is d the nature of analyzing the empi our enemies and rical data, they they offer important why they employ help us insights on how these barbaric tacti terrorism can be In so doing, they cs. Most crucially, effectively confr have performed onted and ultim an invaluable servi crucial battle. ately defeated. ce for all those who are committed to winning this —Benjamin Neta nyahu, former Prime Minister of Israe l

jihadists to “move the battle to the enemy’s ground to burn the hands of those who ignite fire in our countries.”8 In December 2007 a message posted online at aljazeeratalk.net said, “Imagine if, after all the losses caused by such an event, a jihadist organization were to claim responsibility for [starting] the forest fires…You can hardly begin to imagine the level of the fear that would take hold of people in the United States, in Europe, in Russia, and in Australia.”

This post was signed by Abu Thar AlKuwaiti on behalf of a group called the Al-Ikhlas Islamic Network.9 The forest jihad concept was also tracked by Adam Dolnik, director of research at the University of Wollongong’s Centre for Transnational Crime Prevention. He noted that postings on jihadist websites during 2009 called for simplified terrorist attacks to counteract failures of more

www.SuicideTerror.com • 866-573-3999 50 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

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First responders to a suspected arson fire may not expect to be the targets of a terrorist, but they are susceptible to attack while focusing on fire suppression and incident management.

complex operations.10 Educating leadership is critical to understanding the threats. An example of a pilot program is the coordination of the New York City Fire Department with the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, to educate fire and emergency personnel.

Fire managers must integrate closely with law enforcement personnel in prevention and threat understanding. Beyond local police, it is also important to integrate with the FBI’s regional Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF). A cooperative regional terrorism early warning center increases the capability to prevent pyroterrorist attacks by timely sharing of information. Fire behavior analysts and arson investigators should establish reporting links to these centers in the event arson wildfire cases follow any discernable pattern. Some fire managers, responsible for high-threat regions, may

ProtEct your VEhIclE’s battEry

go as far as the FDNY, which installed the electronic technology to receive classified information in the FDNY Operations Center.11 By more closely integrating with law enforcement at a variety of levels or attending homeland security training, fire managers can be aware of likely terrorism indicators and early warnings. Phoenix, Scottsdale, and Rural/Metro Fire Departments in cooperation with the Phoenix JTTF provides an example of success in integration that led to the apprehension of a pyroterrorist who set fire to luxury homes to reduce urban sprawl.12 The final profile in pyroterrorism is the case of Daniel Andreas San Diego.

San Diego illustrates the potential for perpetrators to be wanted domestic terrorists who desire to commit pyroterrorism within the United States against an array of wildland and urban targets. San Diego has the unique

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distinction of being the first domestic terrorist on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. His body is tattooed with grizzly renderings of arson destruction to both woodlands and urban areas. San Diego is alleged to have set two bombs in the same vicinity, the second set to detonate an hour after the first, apparently intending to murder first responders.

While his first attempt was discovered by clearing the area before the detonation, San Diego showed intent to kill with his devices and is still at large.13 While San Diego is known to be a dedicated vegan, he still seeks to harm humans to further his animal rights agenda. Incident commanders must be aware that terrorists regularly target first responders for multiplied benefit.

First responders to a suspected arson fire may not expect to be the targets of a terrorist, but they are susceptible to attack while focusing on fire suppression

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A C-130 Hercules dumps fire retardant to help battle the raging wildfires in Southern California. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Roy. A. Santana)

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 53

Active flame front of the Zaca Fire, the second largest fire on record in California. U.S. Forest Service photo by John Newman. and incident management. Today, the Internet and mass media provide detailed information on the current and projected fire danger ratings with the intent of reducing negligent fires.

However, the result is an abundance of information enabling a terrorist cell

to target first responders while law enforcement personnel are busy with evacuation duties.

Additionally, terrorists may block evacuation routes out of fire-threatened areas to create havoc, mayhem, and mass casualties—material ripe for broadcast

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through the national media and effectively increasing the psychological effect of pyroterrorism in the American population. National Type 1 Interagency Incident Management Teams should be considered national assets when dispatched in response to a significant terrorist attack, because they are at risk of being targeted themselves. In the post 9/11 world, incident management should encourage self-protection and integrate with both US Northern Command, and federal and local law enforcement for threat awareness and security.

The US military uses the concept of the force protection officer to address threats to the armed forces in a similar manner. A worthy consideration would be to establish the same function on the incident command and general staff.

Those staff officers would liaison with local law enforcement, JTTFs, and officials of the Homeland Security and Defense departments, request regional early warning information from local and federal law enforcement, as well as inform the incident management team.

Finally, the force protection officer would also coordinate with the plans section to project potential wildfire threats to critical infrastructure, and alert and coordinate with the Department of Homeland Security and regional critical infrastructure protection agencies.

Finally, it is not reasonable to expect that all the nation’s vulnerable areas (urban, forests, and wildland urban interface) could be physically guarded against arsonists bent on massive destruction. All terrorists use violence as a means to coerce governments, alter public opinion, and stir media sensationalism of an event as a sort of violent theater to broadcast their agenda.14 In the event terrorism is determined, or revealed through other media outlets

Rancho Bernardo, CA, October 26, 2007. Sifting through their belongings following the devastating fire that destroyed a home.

Photo: Andrea Booher/FEMA or the Internet, it is vital that authorities respond with credible counter-messages that reduce public fear and inspire confidence. Incident commanders, local emergency responders, law enforcement, and elected officials must all win the “battle of the narrative� and demonstrate their effectiveness and progress in handling the situation and restoring order while clearly articulating the despicable criminal actions and wanton destruction on the part of the terrorist.

Consequently, law enforcement and homeland security planners at federal, state, and local levels should conduct contingency planning to focus on rapid identification of arson-induced fires. In the event a terrorist group takes claim for a wildfire and its destruction or killing, the incident commander and local,

state, and federal agencies must be fully prepared for an orchestrated multimedia terrorist information blitz meant to reduce confidence in the government response, invoke fear, and incite general civil unrest. Responses may include preplanned public affairs messages and themes that inspire confidence and reduce the perception of weak security.

Countering the potential terrorist web posts or videos claiming responsibility for an arson wildfire will be absolutely critical to reducing fear while law enforcement and fire investigators gain time to apprehend perpetrators.

Wildfire has the destructive power to cause tremendous damage and kill on a massive scale as evidenced in the recent Australian bushfires. In this post 9/11 era, we may be weary of how many ways

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 57

Wildfire has the destructive power to cause tremendous damage and kill on a massive scale as evidenced in the recent Australian bushfires.

we are vulnerable to attack from unseen perpetrators or global jihadists seeking our destruction. Vigilance and readiness to fight arson-induced wildfires already exists. Using this information about new and emerging types of terrorism threats, homeland security planners can anticipate an attack, institute ways to mitigate the severity of the destruction, and protect our population.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Baird is a lieutenant colonel and counterinsurgency lead for the Marine Corps Center for Irregular Warfare.

He is a former seasonal police officer for Ocean City, Maryland, and has deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. This article does not represent the views of any governmental agency.

endnotes National Desk, California Arsonist to Face Sentencing in Murders, New York Times, March 12, 2009, p A 17.

2 Lavagnino, Javier : Raymond Oyler, Arsonist, Gets Death Penalty for Setting forest Fire. http://blogs.findlaw.com/ blotter/2009/06/raymond-oyler-arsonistgets-death-penalty-for-setting-forest-fire. html.

3 Prestemon, Jeffry P. and Butrey, David T., Time to Burn: Modeling Wildland 1

Arson as an Autoregressive Crime Function, American Journal, Agr. Econ.

87 (3) August 2005: pg. 767.

4 Associated Press, Wildfire Suspect Once Served as a Volunteer Firefighter, http://www.CTV.ca, Feb 16, 2009, accessed Apr 15, 2009, pg 1.

5 Ibid, Pg 2.

6 Eggen, Dan, “US Details Case Against Terror Suspect”, Washington Post. 2004, page A1, Wed Jun 2, 2004 No 180.

7 Fighel, Jonathan, Col (Ret), The Forest Jihad, Oct 28, 2008. pg. 1.

8 Hoffman, Bruce, The Logic Of Suicide Terrorism, The Atlantic Monthly, June 2003,© 2003, Volume 291, No. 5.

9 Gordon, Josh. Islam Group Urges Forest Fire Jihad, www.theage.com, © 2008, accessed 10 Feb 2009.

10 Gordon, ibid.

11 Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed and Dabruzzi, Kyle. Fire Fighters Role in Counterterrorism. Policing Terrorism No 3 Aug 2008. www.defenddemocracy.org p6.

12 Ibid. p6.

13 FBI San Francisco Press Release, April 21, 2009. http://sanfrancisco.fbi. gov/pressrel/2009/sf042109.htm 14 Cowen, Tyler, Terrorism as Theater: Analysis and Policy Implications, April 27, 2005. http://cip.gmu.edu/archive.

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American citizens

join al shabaab

By Richard Marquise

On July 11, 2010, suicide bombers carried out twin attacks at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant in Kampala, Uganda, killing at least 64 people while they watched the conclusion of the World Cup on television.

Counter The

An abandoned Mogadishu Street known as the “Green Line�. The street is the dividing line between North and South Mogadishu, and the warring clans. Photo: PH1 R. ORIEZ

60 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

T

he Somali group, al Shabaab, was believed to be responsible for the attacks. This Islamic militant group evolved from the armed wing of the Islamic Courts Union, which had briefly ruled Somalia in 2006. In 2009 al Shabaab announced its alliance with al-Qaeda.1 Normally, many in the West would not be concerned about a terrorist group that had only been known to be active in East Africa, but the Kampala attacks and other events of recent years may change that.

Somalia has been in a state of turmoil for more than 20 years. American intervention in 1993 led to the infamous “Black Hawk Down” incident resulting in the deaths of 18 U.S. servicemen and a rapid withdrawal of American troops. A succession of failed governments followed and the group al Shabaab emerged.

Al Shabaab, which means “the youth” in Arabic, is believed responsible for assassinations of Somali peace activists, international aid workers, and numerous civil society figures and journalists.

In February 2008 the United States designated al Shabaab a Foreign Terrorist Organization.2

Chalk Four Ranger returns to base after a mission in Somalia, 1993.

Photo: US Army Rangers

In October 2008 a 27-year-old college student from Minneapolis blew himself up in a series of coordinated suicide bombings in Somalia, making him the first acknowledged American suicide bomber.

©istockphoto.com/mpiotti The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 61

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Informational sign on the entrance to Sabri Properties, a Somali mall in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Photo: k_hargrav Although most al Shabaab targets have thus far been in Somalia, the Kampala attack being the exception, individuals who have been attracted to this group raise concerns for U.S. and Western law enforcement personnel.

In October 2008 a 27-year-old college student from Minneapolis blew himself up in a series of coordinated suicide bombings in Somalia, making him the first acknowledged American suicide bomber. In the next month, the FBI began a frantic effort to determine if other potential suicide bombers resided in the United States. Although the Minneapolis Somali community received most of the media attention, the investigation was reportedly active in Boston, San Diego, Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Maine, communities with large Somali populations.3 The director of the FBI, Robert Mueller, stated that Shirwa Ahmed, the Minnesota student, had probably been recruited in his hometown of Minneapolis “but there may have been others that have been radicalized as well.”4 This statement

62 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

would prove prescient.

The New York Times reported on July 12, 2009, that Mohamoud Hassan, a 23-year-old engineering student, had asked the question of several of his friends, “Why are we sitting around in America, doing nothing for [Somalia]?”

Hassan was a student at the University of Minnesota and in November 2008, he and other fellow students dropped out of school. They left their families behind and went to Somalia, a country most had either left as infants or had never known, and allegedly joined al Shabaab. Although many of their friends in the United States discounted the idea that any of the 20 young men believed missing would carry out a terrorist attack in the United States, American law enforcement officials worried that their ideology, training, and American passports could be used to facilitate attacks here or elsewhere in the West.5 Although many of these young men returned to the United States, others remained behind. Some died in Somalia, including Hassan, who was killed in

We’ll start doing killing here, if I can’t do it over there.

— Mohammed Alessa

Mug shots of terror suspects Mohamed Alessa (left) and Carlos “Omar” Almonte (right), who were arrested at JFK Airport in June 2010 while on their way to Somalia. Photo: USDOJ Mogadishu in September 2009. However,

by November 2009, at least seven of the Minnesota men who went to Somalia, allegedly for training with al Shabaab, had been indicted on charges of providing material support to terrorists.6 On September 17, 2009, after some of the Minnesota contingent returned from Somalia, two stolen United Nations’ vehicles packed with explosives were used to conduct a suicide attack against a peacekeepers’ base in Somalia, killing 21 people. Officials believed an 18-year-old American from the Seattle area may have been one of those involved in the suicide attack, making him the fourth American member of the group and the second American suicide bomber known to have died in Somalia.7 Although Minnesota seems to have become the diaspora for many of the Somalis who have migrated to the United States, since late 2009, Americans with no connection to Somalia in other cities have attempted to travel

there to either join al Shabaab or obtain training to fight in other places.

In early June 2010 two New Jersey men were arrested as they attempted to travel to Somalia to join al Shabaab.

Mohamed Alessa, an American-born Palestinian and Carlos Almonte, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in the Dominican Republic, were monitored by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in New Jersey as they trained, watched jihadist videos, purchased supplies that could be used in Somalia, and saved money for their “adventure.” They were secretly recorded discussing their plans and appeared to have been influenced

by Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki as well as by recruiting videos of Americans Adam Gadahn and Anwar al Awlaki. Major Nidal Hasan, the reported shooter at Fort Hood in November 2009, was himself influenced by al Awlaki. The indictment of Alessa and Almonte contains many details of the planning that went into

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their efforts to travel to Somalia to join Shabaab. Alessa was also recorded saying, “We’ll start doing killing here, if I can’t do it over there.”8 Barely a month later, Zachary Adam Chesser was arrested as he prepared to board a flight to Uganda from where he was to travel to Somalia. Chesser was an average American-born student who had grown up in the affluent northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, DC. By all accounts, he was a “normal” teenager who became interested in Islam through a Muslim girl he had dated. During his first year in college, he began frequenting the website (blog) of al Awlaki and began communicating with him. Chesser attended a local mosque and was later described as conservative in his beliefs.

No one seemed upset when he withdrew from the mosque.

In mid 2009 Chesser had come to the attention of the FBI and in an interview admitted that his philosophy was to “learn from Islam, teach Islam, fight for Islam, and to die in the name of Islam.”

By then he was on the FBI’s radar, if not for the above statements, then for his online blog writings. In April 2010 he posted a threat against the creators of the television program “South Park” over an episode that had depicted the prophet Muhammad.

After his arrest, and search of his apartment, a number of his writings were obtained. These writings indicated his interest in working with al Shababb. He has pleaded guilty to providing material support to a terrorist organization.9 Another notable al Shabaab recruit is Omar Hammami, an American citizen born in Alabama to a Syrian father and an American mother. Hammami is also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki.

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Mogadishu at the time of the UNOSOM mission. Photo: CT Snow student and an athlete, who was dating a beautiful young woman. Each was popular and Hammami, who had dreamed of becoming a physician, had just been voted president of his high school class. Although raised a Baptist, his father had introduced him to Islam.

That year, Hammami traveled to Syria and in a note he later wrote to his sister, said, “Slowly I began to incline toward Islam and my heart became tranquil.”10 He broke up with his girlfriend when she refused to convert, but Hammami was able to convince at least one classmate to do so. He began to explore Salafism and began to wear Middle Eastern clothing. Salaf (describes fundamentalist Islam and is also referred to as Wahhabism) Islam is more traditional than many sects and advocates a return to Islamic fundamentals. This movement is most prevalent in the Arabian Peninsula, Jordan, and Egypt as adherents attempt to emulate the “ancestors,” and return to the religion practiced by the first three generations of

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66 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

Muslims. They wear traditional clothing as worn in seventh-century Arabia.11 After graduating from high school, Hammami attended the University of South Alabama and joined the Muslim Student Association (MSA), becoming its president. Because of his visibility as the president of the MSA, he was often interviewed by the media after 9/11.

Tiring of school and menial jobs, he moved to Toronto where he found an international city that welcomed Muslims in a way he never experienced in Alabama. There he began to question the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and apparently began rethinking his nonmilitant views. As Hammami started to self-radicalize, he visited jihadist websites and studied the life of Amir Khattab, the Arab who had been killed by the Russians while fighting for the Chechens. He later said that he would go to Syria to fight if the United States invaded that country.

In Canada, Hammami married a Somali woman; they later divorced. He

moved to Alexandria, Egypt, and from there began to seriously pay attention to the events that were occurring in East Africa.

In a December 2006 email he wrote, “I made it my goal to find those guys [Shabaab] should I make it to Somalia.”

Ten months later he was interviewed by al Jazzeera as Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki.

By the following summer he was leading military strikes in Somalia and had posted YouTube videos on the Internet.

American law enforcement officials have expressed concern that an American was able to play such a powerful role, commanding forces and plotting strategy with al-Qaeda operatives. He has also become a recruiting icon, with the ability to recruit Western foreign fighters for Somalia. In September 2009 a sealed indictment was reportedly returned in the United States against Hammami charging him with terrorism-related offenses.12 On August 5, 2010, the US Department of Justice announced it was unsealing an indictment which had been returned in September 2009 against Hammami charging him with providing material support to Al Shabaab.13 Each of these cases demonstrates that a group such as al Shabaab has the ability to recruit beyond its Somali base to middle-class America. Local citizens and law enforcement agencies in every community are most familiar with what is happening in their own environment.

They will see behaviors of people and determine if what they see is unusual and should be reported to the local JTTF. The threat from terrorism can be influenced by events in many parts of the world not limited to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or Yemen. The region in East Africa where al Shabaab makes its home is another example. Not all who “seek” al Shabaab are of Somali origin. Local police officials should develop and nurture

Each of these cases demonstrates that a group such as al Shabaab has the ability to recruit beyond its Somali base to middle-class America.

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The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 67

The necessary relationships must be established and maintained between police and the community to prevent the young people around us from becoming the terrorists among us. the relationships necessary to find these impressionable young people. Although all of these examples are about men, women should not be discounted.

While many of the problems of our world may only be primarily solved by strong-willed politicians with support from voters, the task of keeping our country safe will continue to fall to police at the local level. It is imperative that police and community leaders have knowledge of world events and the ability to see how these relate to their own community. The necessary relationships must be established and maintained between police and the community to

prevent the young people around us from becoming the terrorists among us.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mr. Marquise is the Director of the State and Local Antiterrorism Training (SLATT) Program and has provided counterterrorism training around the world on behalf of the US Department of State. Mr. Marquise is a retired FBI Senior Executive; he led the American task force which investigated the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and is the author of Scotbom: Evidence and the Lockerbie Investigation (Algora Publishing, 2006).

endnotes “Are Somali Militants Behind the Uganda Blasts,” by Alex Perry, Time Magazine, July 12, 2010 2 National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) Annual Report 2010 3 “Somali Americans Recruited by Extremists” by Spencer Hsu and Carrie Johnson, The Washington Post, 3/11/09 4 “Somali Americans Recruited by Extremists,” Hsu and Johnson, the Washington Post, 3/11/09 5 “A Call to Jihad from Somalia, Answered in the US”, by Andrea Elliott, The New York Times, July 11, 2009 1

Indictment, USDC, District of Minnesota, United States of America v Omer Abdi Mohamed, filed November 17, 2009.

7 http://www.kirotv.com/ news/21114040/detail.html, “FBI Tests Seattle man’s DNA in Somali Suicide Bombing Case.” 9/25/09, retrieved 11/11/10 8 Criminal Complaint, USDC, District of New Jersey, United States of America v Mohamed Alessa and Carlos E. Almonte, filed June 4, 2010.

9 “Out of Suburbia, The Online Extremist,” by Tara Bahrampour, The Washington Post, November 2, 2010.

10 “The Jihadist Next Door,” by Andrea Elliott, The New York Times, January 31, 2010 11 Website of Global Security at www. globalsecurity.org/military/intro/islamsalafi.htm, retrieved on November 11, 2010 12 “The Jihadist Next Door,” by Andrea Elliott, The New York Times, January 31, 2010 13 US Department of Justice Press Release, “Fourteen Charged with Providing Material Support to SomaliaBased Terrorist Organization, Al Shabaab,” August 5, 2010 6

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Inc • www.ruger.com/safety.......................................................................................................................... 184 Suicide Terror - Understanding & confronting the threat • www.suicideterror.com............................................................... 117 Surefire • www.surefire.com/suppressors......................................................................................................................................... 186 SWAT Scope • www.swatscope.com................................................................................................................................................ 142 Tactical Electronics • www.tacticalelectronics.com.......................................................................................................................... 99 Tactical Products Group • www.tacprogroup.com........................................................................................................................ 188 Tex-Shield • www.tex-shield.com.................................................................................................................................................... 29 Tripwire Operations Group • www.tripwireops.org..................................................................................................................... 100 U.S. Explosive Storage • www.usexplosivestorage.com................................................................................................................ 69 Zistos • www.zistos.com.................................................................................................................................................................. 192

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Training Review

Tactical Tracking Operations School

By Chris Graham

Team leader providing security for tracker. Photo Courtesy of Ryan Potts

A

s a lifelong student of the

fieldcraft and tradecraft

employed in successful counter-terrorism operations, I have long been fascinated by the visual tracking capabilities used to support tactical operations. While many nations and adversary groups have long retained tracking programs more developed than those generally found in the United States, there is one primary repository for operational visual tracking skills for Americans: the Tactical Tracking Operations School (TTOS) in Sierra Vista, Arizona. TTOS draws upon the fieldcraft experience gained by MACVSOG in Vietnam, the Selous Scouts in Rhodesia, the British military, Israeli border units, and interaction with

countless other tracking teams around the world. These skills share a common heritage with the American Indian scouts of the Plains Wars.

On a crisp autumn morning, I began two weeks of combat tracker training with TTOS. The course was taught by a law enforcement tracker named Peter who has years of tactical tracking experience in the United States and abroad, and by Jared, a former reconnaissance Marine who also has years of combat tracking experience.

The course began in the classroom. We discussed terminology and concepts. We went outside and created an aging pit.

We placed broken branches, paper, blood, human waste, food items, footprints, etc. in the sand exposed to the elements. We visited the aging pit regularly throughout

72 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011

the first week to evaluate how these items age and to create a mental database of aging evidence for time elapsed.

We also went to a spoor pit and began to read ground spoor. We successfully determined that one set of “action indicators� depicted in the sand had been two men picking up and carrying a third; another was a sniper team emplacing; a third was a fire team in a diamond halting; and the final was a meeting of four men practicing Middle Eastern courtesies. We were provided a sheet of key weapon measurements to confirm some of the most prolific weapon types, such as bipod marks or buttstock prints, from ground spoor.

We received classes on aging spoor based on the effects of the elements, practiced micro tracking, and interpreted

more scenarios that had occurred in the spoor pit. We discussed the mission and role of a tracking team, pursue and follow missions, key elements of an individual’s, print, stride, and step, and key factors for scent (dog) tracking.

Divided into two teams, we practiced tactical formations such as the Y, 1/2Y, extended line, staggered column, lazy W, V, and X. Each team practiced macro tracking and lost spoor procedures.

These included checking “gates” (likely lanes between obstructions) for spoor, searching a wedge-shaped segment of terrain focused on the direction of travel, and performing near and far 360s, box pattern searches, and crossovers.

We rehearsed immediate action drills for contact when we had the initiative, when the enemy had the initiative, and

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when we had a chance encounter. We received classes on advanced shooting techniques that were useful and IED tactics relevant to tracking operations.

The training also included classes on tires and vehicle tracks. One of the most useful aspects of training was antitracking and counter-tracking skills, all with surprising pitfalls. Teams practiced rural surveillance operations, urban tracking, and night tracking.

The value of visual tracking skills to special operations and reconnaissance elements is obvious. Perhaps less immediately obvious is how much every infantryman, rural deputy, and investigator could gain from these skills.

Some of these skills are used to detect observation posts, drug operations, border crossing points, safe houses, rat

lines, IED sites, caches and sniper hides, and to track down the people making use of them. These skills are also valuable for locating missing or captured personnel, confirming source reporting, and security operations.

Many of our adversaries have significant tracking experience. Combat tracking is a skill that no technology purchase can replace and it is one of the most valuable fieldcraft skills to acquire. The Tactical Tracking Operations School receives continuous feedback from alumni in the field, is the primary repository for these skills in the United States, and provides the opportunity to practice each skill mentioned in the hills of Fort Huachuca, Arizona. www.ttoscorp.com

•

The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011 73

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76 The Counter Terrorist ~ February/March 2011