The Counter Terrorist Magazine - October/November 2010

DOWNED AIRLINER • A HOSTAGE’S JOURNEY • AL-QAEDA • GREEK RIOTS

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

Counter The

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VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 5

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The Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2010 VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 5

COVER STORY:

32

MEXICAN CRIME CARTELS CROSS THE BORDER

By Jennifer L. Hesterman

CONTENTS

FEATURES: 32

18

46

58

8

Firsthand: A HOSTAGE’S JOURNEY: THE STORY OF ARJAN ERKEL

By Andrew Balcombe

18

Case Study: SURFACE-TO-AIR MISSILE DOWNS AIRLINER

By Anthony Tucker-Jones

46

AL-QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA TARGETS THE UNITED STATES

By Steve Young

58

THE GREEK RIOTS AND TWITTER: LESSONS FOR FIRST RESPONDERS

By J.J. Stepien

DEPARTMENTS: 6

From the Editor

30

Book Review

69

Innovative Products

72

Training Review

Economy Of Force

Mao Tse-Tung On Guerrilla Warfare Bawidamann GUNNR, Glaser Safety Slug, SunLinq Solar Charger, Black Hat, DEF CON

Cover: The towns of Nogales, Ariz., left, and Nogales, Mexico, stand separated by a high concrete and steel fence. Many consider the area one of the most dangerous along the border. Photo: Sgt. 1st Class Gordon Hyde

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Counter The

FROM THE EDITOR:

Economy Of Force

By Chris Graham

W

Journal for Law Enforcement, Intelligence & Special Operations Professionals

VOLUME 3 • NUMBER 5

e have all heard a well intended person speaking of a given expenditure of resources or course of action say, “If it saves just one life, it is worth it.” This statement is, in fact, false.

From the warlord Sun Tzu in 500 B.C. China to the squad leader, Sergeant Smith in 2010 Afghanistan, anyone who has shouldered the burden of combat leadership is aware of something that a well intended civilian may not be. Not only does an expenditure of resources or the undertaking of a given course of action have to produce favorable results, but it must provide results sufficiently favorable as to justify the commitment. Allocating resources to one course of action precludes allocating the same resources to other, perhaps superior courses of action.

Economy Of Force (EOF) is a concept all commanders must appreciate.

EOF is often held to be the principle of employing available combat power in the most effective way possible. It is the judicious employment and distribution of forces in support of primary objectives. It prevents resources from being squandered on efforts that are not of primary benefit and it endeavors to ensure that sufficient power is available for allocation where it is most important.

Commanders who do not understand this concept are defeated.

EOF concepts are not only applicable to military campaigns and the employment of law enforcement agencies, but must be applied to all endeavors.

The November, 2008 congressional elections produced the 111th United States Congress. These men and women were sworn into office with the burden of an existing 2008 national deficit of approximately, $455,000,000,000 (CBO). In just two short years they were able to run the national debt past $13,350,000,000,000 (www.usdebtclock.org, 19 August 2010). This, of course, does not take into account “creative” accounting practices and even greater future financial commitments resulting from their chosen policies. This spending is accomplished by the massive printing of additional currency and borrowing under increasingly disadvantaged terms from governments such as the People’s Republic of China.

If you determine that your representative has been complicit in negligent spending, and the pursuit of counter productive policies, the November 2010 elections will provide you the opportunity to fire him (and her).

Semper Fidelis,

OCTOBER /NOVEMBER 2010 Editor Chris Graham Director of Operations Sol Bradman Director of Advertizing Carmen Arnaes Director of Production Kelli Richardson 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:

Chris Graham Editor of The Counter Terrorist

www.thecounterterrroristmag.com © 2010 Security Solutions International

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Firsthand:

A HOSTAGE’S JOURNEY The Story of Arjan Erkel

By Andrew Balcombe

“In 2002 I was contacted by the American embassy in [the Russian Republic of] Dagestan and was told that two of their people wanted to visit my Mêdecins Sans Frontiêrs Swiss (MSF) mission in Russia. The embassy said they do humanitarian work in Dagestan, so I had no reservations about meeting them.

Counter The

Arjan Erkel. Photo: Jos van Zetten

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The militants put me in an underground room with only a candle for light.

I felt completely alone and all sorts of things ran through my head. “Is this the end of my life? Should I try to escape?”

W

hen they arrived, however, it was clear they were not humanitarians. We had dinner together and they openly told me that they were military attachés. They said they wanted to observe the Russian military exercises off the coast of the Caspian Sea while embedded with us.

I said no. But during that time, MSF was closely watched by the Russian federal security service, the FSB. It was always suspected that we were spying for the West. Someone saw me talking with the Americans, so this did not do our cause much good at all. The FSB had already raided our offices and confiscated all of

our satellite phones. Soon after that, I was kidnapped.

On reflection, there are obviously a lot of things I would have done differently to avoid being taken as a hostage. Better training for my driver also would have been helpful.

When the FSB had previously warned us that we were being targeted, we sent six of our workers back to Moscow. But I didn’t want armed security. Working for a humanitarian organization, I was supposed to be neutral.

Like everyone else, I guess I never thought it would happen to me. I had just had dinner at the house of my

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fiancée’s parents and my driver and I were on our way home. On the road ahead, a Lada blocked the road and three men armed with handguns got out. My driver was slow to react and by then it was too late. I thought it was best to get out and walk toward them to avoid a shootout. If that was the right decision, I don’t know.

They pistol whipped me then kicked me when I lay on the ground. When all the fight was out of me, they put me in the passenger seat with a gun against my head and one pressed against my heart and we drove off.

Afterward they said, ‘Why did you try to escape? Look, now there is blood all over the backseat.’ The beating broke my finger, put deep cuts in my scalp, and knocked out some teeth.

After a week I was handed over to a second group of people. The first group were criminals of some kind. But the second bunch, they were clearly Islamic militants.

The militants put me in an underground room with only a candle for light.

I felt completely alone and all sorts of things ran through my head. “Is this the end of my life? Should I try to escape?” It was like being partially buried in a grave, like I was in the twilight zone between life and death.

After the first two weeks, acceptance eventually came to me and that was the most important thing. I had to try and change the things I did have influence over, such as persuading them to let me have medicine for my injuries.

In the initial weeks, I was just treated like a piece of livestock with a price on my head. There were 12 men in the group; they had masks on, so I didn’t recognize them. That gave me a little bit of hope that I might be released. At first, I tried not to look into their eyes. I

thought it might antagonize them. That’s what I learned anyway, but they asked me, ‘Why don’t you look at us? Are you afraid?’

I knew I had to make contact—a good relationship could save my life. If I showed them too much weakness, I would undermine their respect for me.

After that, I forced myself to look into their eyes. I wanted them to start treating me like a person.

These guys were macho and death was around them every day. The Russian forces were hunting for them all the time.

I had seen the videos where their fellow militants had cut the throats of Russian prisoners. So despite my fear, I had to become macho and show I was not afraid to die. I wanted them to like me, so if the order came, they would hopefully debate among themselves whether to kill me.

Over time, I got them talking. In the beginning they just spoke about girls, politics, or religion, then slowly, we created a kind of relationship.

After acceptance, the most important thing I did to help myself was to keep my emotions under control. I worked on my social interaction with my kidnappers.

After a while, I was invited out of my hole to talk to them while they cooked.

At other times, I was invited to play chess or just watch TV.”

June 2002 Ultimatum Video “At a certain moment in time, I had to star in my own ultimatum video. The script was simple and consisted of ‘Hurry up; if you don’t pay by the end of June, I die!’

After the video, we talked about how they would kill me. I asked, ‘Will you cut my throat? Or put a bullet in my head?’

They said, ‘If we shoot you in the temple, there will be a large hole in the other side

of your head. That wouldn’t be good for your family to see.’

There were other times when I felt close to death. If the Russian army was nearby, my captors would get very nervous. Once, they came to me and said, ‘Maybe we have to run for it, or maybe we will have to kill you because you will slow us down. Maybe the Russians will even kill you because you have a beard and a camouflage suit.’

Eventually we agreed, if the time came, they would shoot me in the middle of the forehead. They said it wasn’t 100 percent certain, but at least it would look better for my family. If I was going to die, then I wanted it to be fast.”

Release “After 20 months my captors said they were going to move me again, but I didn’t have to bring my stuff. I thought it was the end. But what can you do? I just did what I was told and hoped for the best.

They drove me around in the middle of the mountains until we stopped at a house. I said farewell and actually embraced the leader, who was known as ‘The General.’ I didn’t thank them for not killing me, but it could have been worse.

The new group put me in the trunk of a bigger car this time and told me not to feel offended. By this time, I was used to trunk travel. We drove to a village and I heard a lot of barking dogs. I was taken out of the trunk and brought to what I thought was a basement. Then they took off my blindfold and I saw two very scary-looking faces smiling at me. In 20 months, I had never seen anyone’s face.

I thought, ‘What’s going on here?’ They said, ‘You are free, welcome home.’ I said, ‘Welcome home?’ They said, ‘Yeah you are free, we freed you, there was a military raid and we freed you.’

I didn’t believe them; I thought they were just trying to taunt me. But then I

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looked around and saw that I was in the FSB office in Makhachkala.

They took me to a hotel and I washed.

When I looked in the mirror, I saw I had lost a lot of weight, 18 kilos to be exact.

I didn’t shave; the FSB said you shouldn’t shave until you get back to Moscow because it looks like you have been through an ordeal.”

same set of ideals. I described how he radicalized, what his views are, and the views of his group. If we don’t understand the causes of radicalization we will never be able to effectively prevent it.”

SAMIR AZZOUZ

In January 2003 Samir Azzouz and a friend were arrested on the Ukraine border with Chechnya. They wanted to AFTERMATH join the jihad to fight the Russians. After “I heard three days before my their release because of lack of evidence, liberation, the Dutch embassy received they were sent back to the Netherlands. a phone call stating one million euros On their arrival, every move they made should be paid as ransom for me. The was monitored by the Dutch General embassy assembled the money and gave Intelligence and Security Service (AIVD). it to a group of ex-Russian KGB veterans.

In 2004 two of Azzouz’s friends, a What they did with it and where the Dutch Moroccan, Mohammed Bouyeri, money ended up, I don’t know. and a Dutch American, Jason Walters, A court case was fought between were arrested for murder and attempted MSF and the Dutch government later. murder. Bouyeri killed the Dutch The Swiss court ordered that MSF pay filmmaker and Islam critic Theo van 500,000 euros (half the ransom) back to Gogh while he was riding his bike in Amsterdam. Using an HS 2000 9-mm the Dutch. pistol, Bouyeri shot van Gogh eight times Initially, the ransom was going to then cut his throat, nearly decapitating be kept a secret and the line that I was him. Taking a second dagger, Bouyeri freed by a military action was going to pinned a message from the Koran into be held. This didn’t last long though. A van Gogh’s chest, along with a death list, worker from MSF soon told the story to the French newspaper Le Monde and the including the names of several politicians. truth came out.”

Bouyeri managed to shoot a policeman before he was shot in the leg and subdued; the policeman survived, saved UNDERSTANDING by his body armor.

RADICALS In December 2006 Azzouz was When I was kidnapped I tried to arrested in the Netherlands for the third understand the people who held me and final time. The public Prosecution captive. Later, I started thinking about Service accused him of being the leader the situation in the West with youths of a group of Islamic radicals called wanting to go on jihad or become the Piranhagroep. Azzouz was accused terrorists. of several crimes, including plotting I sought out a man named Samir attacks on the AIVD headquarters in August Mission: 21-29, 2009 Azzouz who seemedAugust to be radicalized and November Mission: November 6-14, 2009 Leidschendam, the national parliament in I interviewed him in prison. I visited him the Hague and a nuclear power station in three times and he gave me his journal. the south of the Netherlands.

I used his story as an example of how Jason Walters, the son of an African young people around the world have the

Amsterdam site where Theo van Gogh was assassinated on November 2, 2004. Photo Iijjccoo at nl.wikipedia.

Using an HS 2000 9-mm pistol, Bouyeri shot van Gogh eight times then cut his throat, nearly decapitating him.

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Dutch SOF training.

Photo courtesy of the author.

American soldier who served in the Netherlands and a Dutch mother, was also a senior member of a terrorist cell called the Hofstadgroep. Bouyeri was a member of the same cell.

On November 10, a few days after Mohammed Bouyeri was arrested, a Dutch police arrest team raided Walters’s home in the Hague’s Laakkwartier. At 2:30 a.m., a battering ram was used to try and break down the front door. In response, Walters threw a Yugoslavianmade fragmentation grenade from an upstairs window. The explosion injured four police officers. The arrest team then fired shots and withdrew, taking their wounded with them.

An hour later, the Dutch Marines Counter Terrorism Unit, the Bijzondere Bijstands Eenheid (BBE), arrived and a sniper section from the Dutch Royal Military Police, the Brigade Speciale Beveiligingen (BSB), set up firing

positions on adjacent roofs. At this time, a 7-km-wide, no-fly zone was being enforced above the city and government helicopters circled the building.

Walters later told his friend Azzouz that while all this was going on outside, he often slept. Walters also told Azzouz that he called the police emergency line 112 and told them a “large number of terrorists were in another building just down the street.”

At 14:30 the next afternoon, police advised any civilians still in the area to take cover. The local energy company then shut down the power to the apartment.

At 17:15 BSB snipers fired shots into the apartment and Walters was hit in the shoulder. Twenty minutes later the BBE used a frame charge to breach the door and storm the entrance of the building.

Walters and another man sharing the flat with him surrendered and Walters was

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taken to a hospital. A motorized robot was sent further into the building to search for any booby traps but none were found.

Walters was sentenced to life in prison for attempted murder and membership in a criminal organization.

Samir Azzouz spends his days in the terrorism wing of Vught prison in the southern Netherlands reading the Koran and learning Russian. He has four years of his sentence left to serve.

Arjan Erkel works as a guest speaker for international organizations and companies, and donates time to several charities. He has also written another book called YEP, which promotes “Young Ethnic Professionals.”

retrieved July 21, 2009 “Man accused of Van Gogh killing refuses to recognize Dutch court” Jan Kanter: Mohammed B. schweigt, Die Welt, July 12, 2005 Anthony Browne: Muslim radical confesses to Van Gogh killing in court tirade, The Times, 12 July 2005 Jan Kanter: Van-Gogh-Mörder hält

Attentat für Waffe im Glaubenskampf, Die Welt, February 3, 2006 Requisitoir in de strafzaak tegen Mohammed B. (Indictment of the criminal case against Mohammed B.) (Waybacked).

“Life in jail for brutal killer of Dutch film-maker Van Gogh”

About the Author Mr. Balcombe is an Australian freelance journalist and cameraman based in the Netherlands. He reports on international justice, defense, and security issues. This article is based on his interviews with Arjan Erkel.

endnotes Samir, by Arjan Erkel Balans, Amsterdam copyright 2007 ISBN 978 90 5018 870 8 (uses material taken from the diary of Samir Azzouz and interviewed him face to face) http://www.nu.nl/algemeen/438959/ grote-anti-terreuractie-in-den-haag.html http://nos.nl/archief/2005/ nieuws/artikelen/2004/11/10/ tijdlijnactiedenhaag.html “Media Silence on Van Gogh Killer’s Islam Views”. NIS News. 2007-11-05.

Retrieved 2008-03-23.

Terror on Trial: First hand report on the Hofstadgroep trial by Emerson Vermaat The Secret Life of Mohammed Bouyeri Gunman kills Dutch film director,

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Case Study:

Surface-to-Air Missile Downs Airliner

By Anthony Tucker-Jones

A British C-130J Hercules aircraft launches defensive countermeasures prior to being the first coalition aircraft to land on the newly reopened military runway at Baghdad International Airport. Photo: Master Sergeant Robert R. Hargreaves Jr

The commercial aviation industry has been confronted by the possibility of a surface-to-air missile (SAM) shooting down a passenger airliner at least since the 1980s when a Stinger missile fell into Iranian hands. Today the greatest threat posed to aircraft by shoulder-fired missiles is during takeoff and landings.

Counter The

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The late Afghan guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud said there were only two things the mujahideen needed in their Holy War against the Soviets—the Koran and the Stinger.

Four confiscated Serbian SA-7B MANPADS lie in a hole in the ground awaiting destruction by members of the 61st Ordnance Company (EOD) at a site near Route Delaware on the Zone of Separation (ZOS) in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Photo: Specialist Christopher R. Salaza

F

ollowing the collapse of the USSR the proliferation of the Soviet-designed SA-series man portable air defense systems (MANPADS) increased dramatically. The spread of these weapons vastly exceeded the infamous theft of the US-made Stinger. During the 1991 and 2003 Iraq wars, the threat from MANPADS was a factor that had to be considered in Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses operations.

Modern countermeasures appear to have largely succeeded in thwarting the aging technology that is the majority of available MANPADS. Before the attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan, both countries were assessed to be equipped with Strela-2/SA-71 and quantities of these missiles and possibly others fell into insurgents hands, but they are reported

to have generally missed their targets.2 Following the coalition intervention in Afghanistan, some 5,600 shoulder-fired SAMs were captured; many more, though, are available on the black market.

Around 20 countries have produced more than a million MANPADS, though less than half are assessed to be operational3 with them in service with almost 60 countries. It has been claimed that up to 150,000 missiles fell into terrorists hands4 and are operated by about 30 terror groups.5 Although such estimates are unverifiable, the legal transfer of MANPADS internationally is largely unhindered. In recent years, efforts have been made to destroy surplus stocks and the US Department of Homeland Security runs a Counter-MANPADS Special Program Office.

Two insurgents in Iraq with SA-7b and SA14 MANPADS. Photo: U.S. Department of Homeland Security

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A Marine fires a FIM-92A Stinger missile at an unmanned aerial target during training at San Clemente Island. Photo: Christopher O’Quin, U.S. Marine Corps

The late Afghan guerrilla leader Ahmad Shah Massoud said there were only two things the mujahideen needed in their Holy War against the Soviets—the Koran and the Stinger. The latter first went into action in Afghanistan on September 25, 1986.6 Whereas the use of the SA-7 and Stinger against the Soviets was deemed beneficial, the fear of their use against unapproved targets was a completely different matter. The Central Intelligence Agency and British Joint Intelligence Committee were very alert to the danger of a commercial aircraft being brought down over Afghanistan or the Gulf.

Indeed, Iranian Revolutionary Guards stole half a dozen Stinger missiles the following year from a convoy en route to guerrilla forces operating near the western Afghan city of Herat.7 Skeptics suspected that Washington cooked up this story to hide the possibility that Afghan rebels had sold them.8

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After Moscow’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, at least 300 Stinger missiles remained unaccounted for and there was a real danger that they might end up in Iranian hands or with terrorist groups such as Hezbollah or Hamas.

The more immediate anxiety was that a commercial airliner would be shot at while transiting Afghanistan’s airspace.

Washington adopted its oft-practiced policy of throwing money at a problem, outbidding any interested parties by offering $55 million for the return of the missiles.9 Although the Irish Republican Army (IRA) sought MANPADS in Europe, it was much harder to smuggle arms into Northern Ireland than into Afghanistan.

Only the IRA’s Libyan connection seemed to bear any fruit. Following Muammar Gaddafi’s involvement, the vessel Eksund, containing up to 50 Libyan SA-7 missiles, was seized by the French in 1987. Reportedly, one was fired at a British Army Lynx four years later in South Armagh, but it missed its target.

The IRA’s East Tyrone Brigade is rumored to have made an acquisition attempt, but without any success. In 1994 intelligence officials warned that the IRA was trying to obtain Stinger missiles; ultimately, IRA SAM stocks exposed were small—just seven were decommissioned in 2005.

On November 28, 2002, two SA-7 missiles fired at an Israeli Boeing 757 flying out of Mombassa, Kenya, missed their target. Similarly, two years later on November 22, 2004, an Airbus A300 leaving Baghdad airport survived missile wing damage and was forced to land. It was deemed a write-off.

On March 23, 2007, a Belarussian TransAVIAexport Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 was shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia.

One eyewitness recalled, “I saw with my eyes when the plane was flying low level, was hit by a rocket, and then fell to the ground.”10 Later it was said that the aircraft with the Belarusian National

Airline had been shot down by a SAM. Available information suggests that Iran may have been behind this attack having already taken the decision to supply the Taliban with such weapons to employ against coalition forces. According to intelligence sources, Iran supplied Somali Islamists with around 200 SA-7s in 2006 and the following year it was alleged DT 5008 CT copy.pdf 1 7/27/10

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that Iranian QW-1s and SA-7s had been delivered to insurgents in Iraq. Iran had reportedly reverse engineered the QW-1 and had been buying up surplus SA-7s in the Far East.

In April 2007 the British Special Boat Service operating in Afghanistan’s Nimroz province interdicted trucks coming over the Iranian border carrying SA-7 missiles.11 Despite this successful capture, on July 22, 2007, the Taliban attempted to bring down an American C-130 Hercules over Nimroz using an SA-7 of Soviet or Chinese origin brought in from Iran.12 The Taliban at that point was actively seeking SAMs because their only

This was the first time that the Taliban was known to have attempted to take down a coalition aircraft using a SAM.

successes against coalition helicopters had been with rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), which only have an effective range of approximately 500 yards. On this occasion, the Hercules’s pilots took evasive action and dropped flares to successfully escape destruction.13 This was the first time that the Taliban was known to have attempted to take down a coalition aircraft using a SAM. Previously, Washington had moved to head off this threat by offering a bounty of $40,000 per system.14 In the run up to the more recent Belarussian airlines attack, it seems the shooters not only conducted a trial

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An AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missile, launched from an F/A-18C Hornet scores a direct hit on an air launched LUU-2B/B illumination flare during a live fire missile exercise over the Indian Ocean. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Mark J. Rebilas run, but also tried to hide their tracks.

On March 9, 2007, a weapons team reportedly equipped with an RPG got into position on the approaches to Mogadishu’s airport and shot at Belarussian Il-76 Flight EW-78826 carrying Ugandan peacekeepers.

Although the aircraft was heavily damaged, it managed to land, but was deemed unairworthy. The Somalis may have tightened security within RPG range creating a false sense of security.

Later that month Belarussian IL-76 Flight EW-78849 arrived in Mogadishu to deliver equipment and to try and salvage EW-78826. On March 23 EW78849 took off at approximately 1700

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hours destined for Minsk with a refueling stop in Djibouti. The flight was carrying eleven people, including four engineers who had been working on the damaged aircraft. It appears that up to three SAM teams may have been waiting for an opportunity, with one deployed to a nearby farmers’ market and one in a small boat offshore.

The crew had just turned back after developing a problem with its number two engine when a wing exploded and plummeted into the Indian Ocean. The stricken plane crashed in the uninhabited Kuluweyne district 19 miles north of Mogadishu. Ten crew members were killed instantly; miraculously, an eleventh

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s.

was found staggering around amongst the wreckage, but died of his injuries later that day.15 According to the Aviation Safety Network, “Shortly after takeoff three missiles were fired at the plane.

Reportedly one of the missiles hit the wing. Control was lost and the airplane crashed.”16 There were conflicting reports that the projectile had been fired from a farmers’ market or a small boat.

Investigators concluded a missile had hit the aircraft.17 The threat to commercial aircraft and civil airports remains. Over the period 1983–2004, it appears that around two dozen civilian aircraft were shot down by shoulder-fired missiles resulting in 500 deaths. Just six incidents involved large turbojet airliners and only two of those were catastrophic.18 Nonetheless, fending off third-generation infrared SAMs using multiple target detectors with the

ability to reject flare decoys is difficult.

Once fourth-generation SAMs become widely available, the problem will become greater. There is no single defensive fix for the commercial aviation industry. Cost may deter widespread employment of electronic countermeasures unless attacks become more frequent. And, of course, no technology is a panacea.

•

About the Author Mr. Tucker-Jones served within the British intelligence community and now serves as a military historian and defense writer. His latest book The Rise of Militant Islam (Pen & Sword Military, 2010) examines from an insider’s perspective how Western intelligence misinterpreted landmark events on the road to 9/11 and failed to curb global jihad.

Over the period 1983–2004, it appears that around two dozen civilian aircraft were shot down by shoulderfired missiles resulting in 500 deaths.

Available in

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endnotes “Since its appearance in the 1960s, more than 50,000 Strela-2/SA-7s have been built. The Chinese HN5 reverseengineered version led to the Pakistani Anza (which has been exported to Malaysia). The QW-1 successor to the HN-5 appeared in the mid-1990s and Iran also developed the Mithaq-1/2.

2 According to American intelligence analysts Saddam Hussein stockpiled at least 5,000 shoulder-fired missiles and fewer than one-third were recovered.

Stocks were primarily the aging SA-7 and SA-14s. The Iraqis were not thought to have the later and more sophisticated SA16s and SA-18s.

3 The MANPADS Menace: Combating the Threat to Global Aviation from ManPortable Air Defense Systems, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US State Department, Fact Sheet, September 20, 2005 4 ‘Mombassa Attack Highlights Increasing MANPADS Threat,’ Jane’s Intelligence Review, February 2003 5 Christopher Bolkcom & Bartholomew Elias, Homeland Security: Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles, CRS Report for Congress, February 16, 2006 6 The resistance fired five missiles 1

scoring three hits against Soviet helicopters over Jalalabad airfield. At Kabul three missiles missed, but it did not matter because history had been made. Mohammad Yousaf & Mark Adkin, Afghanistan The bear Trap, (Leo Cooper 2001), p.174-176 7 Alex Brummer, ‘Stinger missiles snatched from Afghan rebels,’ The Guardian, 15 October 1987. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Iran obtained nine Stingers that were either captured or purchased by Iran from the Afghan Mujahideen, SIPRI Yearbook 1988, p.191 8 In total about 1,000 were delivered by the late 1980s, and its introduction ended Moscow’s ability to conduct heliborne ops largely unhindered, see Anthony R. Tucker, ‘The Soviet War Over Afghanistan,’ Jane’s Soviet Intelligence Review, June 1989, p.271. It was not until toward the end of 1988 that in response to these reports of mujahideen groups selling missiles to Iran and in the face of thawing relations with Moscow that Washington stopped supplying Stinger. See ‘Kabul regains air supremacy as US halts Stinger supply,’ The Times, 24 January 1989 9 It was assessed that because of the sensitivity of the battery coolant unit

many of the remaining missiles were time expired and inoperable.

10 ‘Missile hits plane in Somalia,’ ABC News Online, March 24 2007 11 ‘Taliban in first heat-seeking missile attack,’ Telegraph.co.uk, July 28 2007 12 Intelligence indicated that Iran was acting as a conduit for Chinese SAMS after it was alleged the Chinese HN-5 had been discovered in the hands of the Taliban. ‘London confronts Beijing over Chinese weapons in Taliban hands,’ www. afghanistanwatch.org, September 5 2007 13 ‘Taliban in first heat-seeking missile attack,’ Telegraph.co.uk, July 28 2007 14 Taliban’s failed first use of SAM still worrisome,’ The Washington Times, July 29, 2007 15 Mohamed Olad Hasan, ‘Missile “brought down aid flight” with no survivors,’ The Independent, March 25, 2007 16 Criminal Occurrence Description, Preliminary March 23 2007, aviationsafety.net 17 Sahal Abdulle, ‘Belarus says plane shot down in Somalia,’ Reuters, March 24, 2007 18 Homeland Security: Protecting Airliners from Terrorist Missiles

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BOOK REVIEW

Mao Tse-Tung on Guerrilla Warfare Translated by: Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith

M

ao Tse-Tung was a communist guerrilla leader who developed his tactics while fighting to expel Japanese forces from China and struggling to gain and retain control of that country. For Mao, propaganda, political manipulation, and terrorism were key tactics used to support a broad guerrilla effort.

USMC Brigadier General Samuel B. Griffith translated Mao’s treatise on guerrilla warfare and Praeger Publishing released Mao Tse-Tung on Guerrilla Warfare (1961). This book reveals many important facets of Mao’s tactics that are widely emulated today.

Mao identified seven necessary steps for his campaign against the Japanese:

Reviewed by: Chris Graham any need to seek permission, which side will have the initiative?

The author states, “The establishment of innumerable anti-Japanese bases behind the enemy’s lines will force him to fight unceasingly in many places at once, both to his front and his rear. He thus endlessly expends his resources.” This is precisely a principle that jihadists attempt to exploit against their enemies. Even incompetent attacks provoke disproportionate governmental

1. arousing and organizing the people 2. achieving internal unification politically 3. establishing bases 4. equipping forces 5. recovering national strength 6. destroying the enemy’s national strength 7. regaining lost territories He stated, “The basic method is the attack in a violent and deceptive form.”

He adds, “When guerrillas engage a stronger enemy, they withdraw when he advances; harass him when he stops; strike him when he is weary; pursue him when he withdraws.”

The author observed, “In guerrilla warfare, small units acting independently play the principal role, and there must be no excessive interference with their activities.” This raises a question. If there are two opposing sides and one invests massive resources to acquire the most advanced communications technology available to support rapid decision making between different levels of command, and the other is technologically primitive, but simply encourages its elements to act without

expenditures and reorientation of organizational postures.

Mao recognized that violence was to be employed synergistically with other equally important efforts to gain what he wanted. He wrote, “Propaganda materials are very important. Every . . . guerrilla unit should have a printing press . . .”

Many jihadist cells adhere to this very principle by fielding videographers and posting clips on the Internet immediately following an action.

Mao added, “While military affairs and political affairs are not identical, it is impossible to isolate one from the other.”

Thus, in the present day, we see lawabiding Islamists who share the goals of violent terrorists filing lawsuits that appear to pursue the strategic degradation of governmental counter-terrorism efforts.

Mao said, “Revolutions rarely compromise; compromises are made only to further the strategic design.

Negotiation, then, is undertaken for the dual purpose of gaining time to buttress a position (military, political, social, economic) and to wear down, frustrate, and harass an opponent. Few, if any, essential concessions are to be expected from the revolutionary side, whose aim is only to create conditions that will preserve the unity of the strategic line and guarantee the development of a ‘victorious situation.’” Obviously, this ploy is practiced from Pyongyang to Tehran and by many groups in between.

It should be noted that the author’s writings may give a misimpression of nobility to his actions. In fact, Mao was complicit in, “. . . terrorist massacres claiming thousands of victims . . .”1 A fellow guerrilla chief stated, “We killed a great number of traitors, so that the people had no choice but to continue on the path to revolution.”2 Here too, we see a tactic that many jihadists have embraced.

Previous generations may have studied the horrors of communism more closely than we generally do today, but Mao Tse-Tung is still relevant to the world we live in. There are politicians in virtually every nation of the world who have been inspired by Mao’s policies. Mao’s tactics have been studied by the most competent guerrilla and terrorist groups in the world. Our adversaries have learned much from Mao. So must we.

Stephane Courtois, Nicolas Werth, Jean-Louis Panne’ et al. The Black Book of Communism. (Harvard University Press, 1999) page 475 2 Ibid.

1

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Violence in Mexico and on the US border continues to escalate as the Mexican crime cartels fight to improve their position. Mexican law enforcement, military leadership, and government officials have been primary targets. The armed enforcement wings of the cartels have not retreated from law enforcement; they have confronted and engaged. Their tactics are paramilitary in nature and their armament plentiful. Their killings can be indiscriminate or meticulously planned.

In addition to these challenges, terrorist factions and citizens from countries that sponsor terror are exploiting this multifaceted conflict.

Counter The

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano announces a Border Security task force. Photo: DHS

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MEXICAN CRIME CARTELS CROSS THE BORDER

By Jennifer L. Hesterman

T

he cartels are engaging asymmetrically by partnering with gangs, corrupting our federal officers and system, and engaging in direct action attacks on both sides of the border. The stakes are high as Mexico and the United States battle for control with an enemy that shows no willingness to acquiesce.

CARTELS IN THE HEARTLAND Nearly every state in our country has seen Mexican drug cartels’ activity.

Using multiple points of entry at the border via “plazas” and leveraging contacts with gangs inside the United States, the cartels are here and they are entrenching. Federal agencies recently announced the conclusion of a 22-month counternarcotics operation, Project Deliverance1 In addition to the arrest of more than 2,200 individuals on drug-

related charges during the course of this operation, the assets seized by agents are staggering: $154 million; 2,600 pounds of heroin and methamphetamine; 71 tons of cocaine and marijuana; and more than 500 weapons and 500 vehicles.

Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) press release regarding Project Deliverance is entitled “Fighting Cartels on the Southwest Border,” this statement actually outlines nationwide activity. For example, on June 10, 429 individuals in 16 states were arrested during the final phase of the operation. Cartel activity was present not only in border states, but in locales such as Montana, Tennessee, and Illinois.

Cartels may be attempting to reduce their visibility. Some reports indicate that in the last few years, they have relocated operations out of major cities and now target small towns to serve as

DOUGLAS, Ariz. (March 17, 2009) Two men scale the border fence into Mexico. Photo: US Navy.

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ICE officials testified that members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the Southwest border.

their distribution hubs and lab locations.

For instance, the Drug Enforcement Administration discovered during its 2008 Project Xcellerator that the Sinaloa Cartel was using the small airport in Stow, Ohio, to move tons of cocaine into California. In fact, Xcellerator uncovered 70 cartel distribution cells in 26 states.2 Super meth labs operated by criminals associated with cartels have been discovered in suburban areas like Smyrna, Georgia, and Modesto, California.

Breaches at the Border Issues concerning illegal aliens at the border are exacerbating security issues and providing a way for criminals to enter our country. An investigative report prepared by the House Committee on Homeland Security, “Line in the Sand: Confronting the Threat at the Southwest Border”3 cites data indicating only 10–30 percent of illegal aliens are apprehended at the border. This means at least four

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million slip though annually, either starting new lives in the United States or using our country as a transit point to other destinations.

Of those caught trying to illegally enter, most are from Central and South American countries. However, government reports indicate that

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hundreds of these aliens come from “countries of concern,” some of which are sponsors of terror. While investigating how most-wanted terrorist Adnan Shukrijumah made his way from Mexico to Atlanta, Georgia, just prior to 9/11, WSBTV in Atlanta obtained sensitive documents from a congressional staffer containing data about apprehensions at the border. This document, called the “OTM” list (Other Than Mexicans) was created by US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and is not typically released to the public (although it is regularly referred to in congressional testimony).

OTMs from countries of concern caught illegally attempting to enter the United States from Mexico between FY 07-094:

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Mexican army performs arrest in Michoacan. Photo: Diego Fernández

North Korea .............. 4 Syria ......................... 7 Afghanistan ............. 12 Yemen ..................... 22 Iran ......................... 42 Iraq ........................ 42 Somalia................... 70 Pakistan................. 112 Russia ................... 145 China................. 3,000 U.S. law requires Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to detain illegal aliens and then arrange a hearing. However, the sheer number of illegals captured (200,000 from Central and South American countries during this FY07-09 period) means most are returned to their country of origin with

a future court date if they wish to return and plead their case. Most do not.

Terrorists and others with nefarious intentions have crossed into the United States at the Mexican border. ICE investigations have revealed that aliens were moved from the Middle East to staging areas in Central and South America before being smuggled illegally into the United States. Also, ICE officials testified that members of Hezbollah have already entered the United States across the Southwest border.5 A government report regarding this threat includes apparent photographic proof of radical Islamist presence just north of the southwest border in the United States. A jacket found in Jim Hogg County, Texas, by the Border Patrol had Arabic military patches:

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one depicting an airplane flying over a building and heading toward a tower, and another showing an image of a lion’s head with wings and a parachute emanating from the animal. The bottom of one patch read “martyr,” “way to eternal life,” or “way to immortality.”

Cartel Violence Intensifies More than 23,000 people have been killed since the Mexican government launched an offensive against the cartels in 2006. Last year was the worst on record, with 9,635 cartel-related deaths.

Epic levels of violence seized Mexico again this year, marked by mass killings of the innocent, grisly murders, and vile acts meant to shock and inflict terror. The increased violence started on January 9, 2010, when a record 69 people were killed in cartel violence across the country. Killed in the spree was 36-yearold Hugo Hernandez who was kidnapped in the state of Sonora and taken to the neighboring state of Sinaloa, apparently by rival cartel members who carved his body into seven pieces, dropping them at separate locations. Finally, his face was sliced off and stitched to a football, which was the delivered to Los Mochis city hall in Sinaloa.6 On January 31 masked gunman attacked teenagers in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, children who were enjoying a combination birthday and high school soccer victory party: 16 dead, 14 wounded. The very same evening in Torreon, in the border state of Coahuila, gunman ambushed students in a college bar: 10 dead, 11 wounded. In both cases, no solid relevance to the cartels was evident; the shootings were simply meant to send a message to law enforcement and the government, as well as to terrorize

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the public.7 By February 3, 1,000 people had died in Mexico as the result of cartel violence, roughly 1 person every 48 minutes.

Thousands more were killed throughout the spring, as the Gulf cartel declared war against Los Zetas, a paramilitary cartel that previously operated under its umbrella, but recently broke away. Rival cartels La Familia and the Sinaloa cartel appeared to be helping the Gulf cartel fight the Zetas, and a new wave of violence erupted from Monterrey to Matamoros. On March 15 in a brazen attack against American officials, a pregnant US consular employee and her husband were gunned down inside their sport utility vehicle in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez near the Santa Fe International Bridge.

Miraculously, their infant in the vehicle’s backseat was unharmed. Minutes later, the gunmen also killed the husband of another consular employee and wounded his two young children. The employees were on their way home from a gathering at a coworker’s house.

On July 2 a deadly shootout just 12 miles south of the Arizona border left 21 dead and 6 injured. This event demonstrated the escalation in violence between cartels that are battling for control of the Arizona border and routes between the border cities of Nogales and Tucson. The same day, in Nogales, two charred human heads were found hanging on a fence outside the Del Rosario cemetery near the US border with a “warning” from a cartel.

Beheadings, hangings in effigy, acid baths, and death by gasoline-fueled fire are hallmarks of the cartels, particularly paramilitary groups such as the Zetas.

Another weapon in the cartels’ battle for control was demonstrated on July

Military patches found along the Texas border. Source: http://www.house.gov/sites/ members/tx10_mccaul/pdf/InvestigaionsBorder-Report.pdf

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Mexican soldiers on parade in Mexico’s independence day parade in 2009, Mexico. Photo: eeliuth

As the need for agents grows, the hiring pool is increasingly tainted. CBP officials told Congress earlier this year that a full 60 percent of CBP applicants fail the polygraph test and are unsuitable for duty.

15 with the successful detonation of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) in the border city of Ciudad Juarez. The Juarez cartel apparently targeted first responders by placing a bound, wounded man in a police uniform at the scene, luring law enforcement and medical personnel to the area. A nearby vehicle, inconspicuously containing 22 pounds of Tovex, exploded moments later killing three and wounding 20. Tovex is a water gel explosive that is a widely used substitute for dynamite for industrial and mining purposes. Theft of Tovex is a common occurance; in February, 2009, masked gunmen stole 900 cartridges of the substance from a U.S. firm in Durango, Mexico.8 VBIEDs are widely used by terrorist groups. The targeting of first responders is also not a new tactic. However, the

cartels’ use of these tactics appears to be an innovation within the region and calls for increased vigilance on the U.S. side of the border as the violence pushes north.

Corruption Complications Corruption of government officials and law enforcement officers in Mexico continues to plague this battle. For instance, Mario Villanueva Madrid, former governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, was recently charged with providing police protection to assist the Juarez cartel and laundering money through US corporations. Others recently rounded up include a bodyguard of another governor, police involved in the shooting of an Army general, and several police chiefs.

This corruption has spread into

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Part of $207 million confiscated during the bust of an illegal drug ring. 24 July 2007. Photo: DOJ the United States as drug trafficking organizations actively attempt to compromise the CBP system. Since 2004 more than 100 CBP agents have been lured by vast sums of money and arrested or indicted for drug smuggling, money laundering, conspiracy, or human smuggling.9 Perhaps the most grievous case was that of Michael Gilliland, a retired Marine. His 16 years of duty with CBP came to an unceremonious end with his conviction for human smuggling.

Gilliland helped hundreds of people enter

the United States unchecked through the Otay Mesa crossing in San Diego where he was posted. He worked together with two Mexican women who ran smuggling rings south of the border and the money flowed freely; one of the women had $500,000 in US money stashed in her bedroom at the time of her arrest.10 Cartels also attempt to plant operatives in CBP. Margarita Crispin joined CBP in 2003 with the intent of working with drug smugglers. Before her arrest, she allowed thousands of pounds of

Cocaine bricks seized during Project Coronado. Photo: DEA

42 The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010

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marijuana to pass through her inspection lane in El Paso. In 2008 Crispin was sentenced to 20 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $5 million in bribes she was paid while wearing the CBP uniform.

As the need for agents grows, the hiring pool is increasingly tainted. CBP officials told Congress earlier this year that a full 60 percent of CBP applicants fail the polygraph test and are unsuitable for duty.11 Facing a daunting manpower challenge, CBP has also been forced to divert precious resources to address the growing threat of corruption: in the last four years, the number of internal affairs investigators leapt from just 5 in 2006 to 214 at present.12 The FBI is also involved in the fight: it now fields six Border Corruption Task Forces with hundreds of agents that solely work bribery and corruption issues along the 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico.13

Countering the Threat With the pause of the $6.7 billion “virtual fence” project SBINet, which sought to install tower-mounted sensors and other surveillance gear along the border, it’s back to a human approach to address growing violence and illegal immigration issues at the border. Reminiscent of the 2006 troop deployment, an executive order was signed in May and 1,200 National Guard troops were deployed to augment border security.

These activations are not without cost: the 2006 operation cost $1.6 billion and the current one may top it.

An often overlooked “cost” is that these deployments deplete the Guard presence in states that may need to call upon their resources in the event of natural disaster, such as a hurricane, or preparation for

As the violence escalates and spills across the border, our government must be careful not to neglect threats to the northern border either. another National Special Security Event.

Also, many states are contributing a great deal of their Reserve and Guard forces to the war efforts abroad, so taskings related to border security exacerbate their shortfalls.

The governors of the border states need more than manpower and a request to Congress is pending for an additional $500 million for border security-related training, facilities, and equipment.

The 28th Annual Border Governors Conference was cancelled when the governors of the Mexican border states boycotted because of recent legislation passed in Arizona regarding illegal immigrants.

Local and federal law enforcement (as well as the military where constitutionally permitted) must work together to control the border region. Diplomatic ties with Mexico must remain strong and our support unwavering as the Mexican government meets the cartels head on and fights for control.

As the violence escalates and spills across the border, our government must be careful not to neglect threats to the northern border either. Terrorists, money launderers, and Mexican drug cartels

t was this fierce civilitswar that led to Present 6th Annual the toppling of Somalia’s president, Major General Mohammed Siad Barre, in 1991. As the commander of the Somali armed forces, Barre had seized power in 1969 and ruled the country as a dictator for more than 20 years. Somalia soon gained a reputation for its brutal Securing our borders crackdowns and human rights abuses. with policy, procedure, During this period, Barre courted the andandtechnology Soviet Union the United States, and both countries provided him with aid 1 and assistance.

His25 ousting Somalia October – 27,left 2010 without a central government and created Crystal Gateway Marriott a power vacuum that warlords Arlington, VA were quick to exploit. In the process, they destroyed the already crippled infrastructure andReceive reduced a up-to-the large percentage of the minute briefings on: population to starvation.

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have already penetrated or attempted to cross illegally into our country from Canada. The old saying is true: a nation is only as strong as its borders. In this battle, the resolve of our citizens to resist the anarchy created by crime cartels must be matched by equally effective governmental action.

•

About the Author Ms. Hesterman is a retired US Air Force colonel. She is currently a senior analyst for the MASY Group, a global intelligence and risk management firm, as well as a professor of counter terrorism studies at American Military University.

Her book Transnational Crime and the Criminal-Terrorist Nexus was published in 2005. She also authors a scholarly blog, www.counterterrorforum.com.

ENDNOTES http://www.fbi.gov/page2/june10/ deliverance_061010.html 2 http://www.justice.gov/dea/speeches/ xcellerator.pdf 3 http://www.house.gov/sites/members/ tx10_mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-BorderReport.pdf 4 http://www.wsbtv.com/news/23436627/ detail.html 5 http://www.house.gov/sites/members/ tx10_mccaul/pdf/Investigaions-BorderReport.pdf 6 http://www.thenewamerican.com/index. php/world-mainmenu-26/north-americamainmenu-36/3123-escalating-chaos-onour-border 7 http://www.thenewamerican.com/ index.php/world-mainmenu-26/northamerica-mainmenu-36/3123-escalatingchaos-on-our-border 1

44 The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010

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http://www.dailyherald.com/ story/?id=394786&src=109 9 http://hsgac.senate.gov/public/index. cfm?FuseAction=Files.View&FileStore_ id=1f3a69c1-aa4d-41d4-b3820f003f139025 10 http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/ stories/mexico704/interview/reed.html 11 http://abcnews.go.com/US/ wireStory?id=10075038 12 http://hsgac.senate.gov/ public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Files.

View&FileStore_id=1f3a69c1-aa4d41d4-b382-0f003f139025 13 http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/ pressrel09/cartels040209.htm 8

other source http://hosted.ap.org/specials/ interactives/_international/mexican_ cartels/index.html?SITE=WYCHE

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AL-QAEDA IN THE ARABIAN PENINSULA

Targets the United States

By Steve Young

The Arabian Peninsula. Photo: SeaWiFS Project, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, and ORBIMAGE

Counter The

46 The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010

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On December 25, 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab arrived in Detroit, Michigan, aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253 under the control of the cabin crew and passengers after attempting to detonate an explosive device that had been sewn into his underwear.1 Under questioning by US law enforcement personnel, Abdulmutallab admitted his ties to al-Qaeda. Within the next few days, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) claimed responsibility for the attack.2

US

authorities apparently believed that Abdulmutallab was acting alone. US law enforcement initially dismissed the idea that a little-known, self-described terrorist group from Yemen had the ability to carry out the plot. What has since been demonstrated is that remotely located terrorist groups with no visible international connections, under the right circumstances, have the ability to recruit disaffected individuals with the potential to acquire US visas and send them to the United States to commit terrorist acts. Moreover, it is these types of attacks that may have the greatest potential to succeed because these individuals may

not be on any terrorism watch list such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) Terrorist Screening Center, and the individual has a minimal signature because there may be little or no support network. AQAP may be the group that has been the most active in carrying out these types of attacks against the continental United States.

AQAP’S THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES Before he became known as the 2009 Christmas bomber, Abdulmutallab was simply the son of Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, a wealthy Nigerian banker living in the north central city of Funtua, a town

Imam Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen October 2008. Photo: Muhammad ud-Deen.

The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010 47

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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab. U.S. Army Major Nidal MaPhoto: US Marshals Office/EPA lik Hasan. Photo: Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

Faisal Shahzad. Photo: U.S. Marshall’s Service

...it has since been determined that all three individuals had had either direct or indirect contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric born in New Mexico.

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noted as the focal point of Nigeria’s Islamic culture. Abdulmutallab had all the privileges of wealth while growing up, attending the British International School in Lome, Togo, and studying engineering and business finance at the University College in London.3 Abdulmutallab had been previously described as being very religious, but nonthreatening to fellow students at University College.

Nevertheless, he was remembered as having once defended the Taliban’s activities in Afghanistan while in high school. He is believed to have become estranged from his father in the months prior to his suicide bombing attempt. 4 Before he became known as the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, born in Alexandria, Virginia, in 1970 to Palestinian immigrants, was a graduate of Virginia Tech University with a degree in biochemistry. He served in the US Army as an enlisted man before receiving his medical degree in 2001 from the military’s Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Before arriving at Fort Hood in July 2009, he worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center achieving proficiency in disaster and preventive psychiatry.5 According to one of his university classmates, Hasan described himself as a Muslim first and an American second.

In April 2009 Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani immigrant living in Connecticut, received his American citizenship. Raised in Peshawar, Pakistan, and the son of a prominent military officer, he arrived in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 2000 and enrolled at the University of Bridgeport. By 2006 he had married and bought a house in Shelton, Connecticut. But the Pakistani government’s raid in July 2007 on the Red Mosque where militants held hostages greatly outraged Shahzad.

© ATS 2010

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In addition, he was very upset about continued US government unmanned air vehicle strikes in the Pakistani Tribal Areas.6 Shahzad was seemingly a welladjusted Pakistani immigrant settling into life in the United States. Unlike Abdulmutallab and Hasan, he did not become an extremist through deep religious conviction, but was reportedly

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Other than their common Muslim religion and the fact that each was well educated, it would seem that there was little in common among Abdulmutallab, Hasan, and Shahzad. Abdulmutallab was a deeply religious Nigerian and son of a wealthy banker. Hasan was born in the United States of Palestinian immigrants and a qualified psychiatrist who was also deeply religious. Shahzad, a newly minted US citizen with a college degree, was apparently working toward an American life in suburbia. However, it has since been determined that all three individuals had had either direct or indirect contact with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric born in New Mexico.

Known as a very charismatic individual, Awlaki had been interviewed by the FBI in 1999 and again after the 9/11 attacks because of Awlaki’s relationship with 9/11 hijackers Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaq al-Hazmi while they were in San Diego attending Awlaki’s Arribat al-Islami mosque.7 In 2004 Awlaki arrived in Yemen from Britain where he established his credentials as an anti-US, anti-West critic and jihad advocate. He was imprisoned

by Yemeni authorities in 2006 and, while imprisoned, studied the radical Islamic literature of Sayyid Qutb,8 a radical Islamic scholar who helped form Osama bin Laden’s radical Islamic views.

After his release from a Yemeni prison in 2007, Awlaki established a website that individuals such as Hasan and Shahzad found and accessed. Eighteen e-mails were exchanged between Hasan and Awlaki over a six-month period between December 2008 and June 2009.9 Shahzad also accessed Awlaki’s website and was apparently influenced by Awlaki, who reinforced Shahzad’s radical views.10 Although there has been no evidence

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elements. He has, however, been described as a coordinator, facilitator, or talent recruiter for AQAP.15 As a result of his ongoing threat to the United States, the killing of Awlaki has been authorized by the president of the United States.16 In approving the targeted killing, the administration identified Awlaki as an AQAP operative.

CONTAINMENT STRATEGY According to an intelligence analysis prepared by an interagency “fusion center” in California,17 in an October 29, 2009, posting in Sada al-Malahim, AQAP’s online magazine, AQAP leader Nasser alWuhayshi announced AQAP’s intentions to conduct attacks against the US homeland, altering its original intentions to concentrate on regional targets.

Considering the Christmas bombing

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

falk Morgenstern

SUICIDE TERROR

Understanding

edite

ophir falk and hed by nry Morgenstern

Understandin

g and Confro nting the threat

ing the threat

and Confront

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 ing rt authors’ advic ties e, readers learn how to prepare possible measures and likely scenarios and losses in the event of an attac for and implement an effective and quick response to prevent an attack. k. following an overv to minimize casua iew and historical lties review of suicide terror, the book cover • Global jihad s: • Israel’s confron tation with suicide te rrorism • America’s expe rience with suicide b ombi ngs • 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 terro r, syn thesizing the experie dealt with it firsth nce of well-known Is devastating threa and. anyone respo t should read this book and consider nsible for understanding, preventing raeli and American its recommendation , and confronting OPHIR FALK, LLB, this s with all serio usness. 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 sments for olympic has over a decade venues and critic consultant for the 2004 olympic HENRY MORGEN al games, where he natio nal infrastructure.

STERN is the Presi than 500 federal, dent of secu rity solutions intern state ational, a company first responders to Is , and local agencies to effectively 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

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

attempt, it appears that AQAP has carried out its threat. Therefore, it appears that the counterterrorist strategy of the United States and Saudi Arabia is one of containing AQAP. The United States and Saudi Arabia, the two countries with the most to lose while AQAP remains viable, are putting money and military resources into the containment effort. It is unlikely that either country will put large forces on the ground. Moreover, a recent analysis of Yemen’s security states that even though AQAP has conducted numerous smallscale attacks over the past year within the country, the overall threat to the country’s stability appears small. Reasons given for this assessment were that, among others, the group only numbers approximately 100 to 150 individuals; there is no coherent organization within the group; the organization exists within a series of small cells; and the organization lacks

www.SuicideTerror.com • 866-573-3999 52 The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010

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of Shahzad having directly contacted Awlaki,11 Awlaki has admitted having met with Abdulmutallab as well as members of AQAP in Yemen in the fall of 2009.12 Most recently, in early June 2010, a federal grand jury in US District Court for the Southern District of Texas returned an indictment charging Barry Walter Bujol, Jr. with attempting to provide material support to AQAP. Bujol, a Muslim convert, attempted to provide AQAP with currency, prepaid telephone calling cards, mobile telephone SIM cards, global-positioning system receivers, and public access-restricted US military publications.13 More importantly, Bujol had been communicating via e-mail with Awlaki, who had provided Bujol with the document “42 Ways of Supporting Jihad.”14 It is difficult to establish Awlaki’s exact role within Yemen’s Islamic extremist

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coherent control.18 Nevertheless, AQAP has demonstrated that it can convince individuals with potential access to the United States to attempt terrorist attacks.

In the end, the threat posed by Awlaki’s radical preaching and his ability to convey those radical ideas on the Internet to impressionable individuals may pose a greater long-term threat to the United States.

•

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Young is a retired CIA operations officer with tours in the Middle East, South Asia, and Europe. A former Marine, Dr. Young also served in Iraq and Afghanistan during conflict operations and with the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force in Houston. He currently teaches at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.

ENDNOTES 1

“The PETN Underwear Bomb”.

December 25, 2009. The NEFA Foundation. Available at: http://www. nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/ nefa_underwearbomb.pdf. Retrieved June 25, 2010.

2 “Officials: FBI cracked Christmas airplane bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab through family”. February 3, 2010. NY Daily News.com. Available at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ national/2010/02/03/2010-02-03_ officials_fbi_cracked_christmas_airplane_ bombing_suspect_umar_farouk_ abdulmutall.html.

Retrieved June 22, 2010 3 Jon Gambrell. “Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Detroit bomber, came from elite family, top schools.

December 27, 2009. Huffington Post.

Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost. com/2009/12/27/umar-faroukabdulmutallab_n_404512.html.

Retrieved June 22, 2010.

ProtEct your VEhIclE’s battEry

Ibid.

Brett J. Blackledge. “Who is Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan?”. November 6, 2009. MyFox.com. Available at: http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/ major-nidal-malik-hasan-fort-hoodshootings-110509.

Retrieved June 23, 2010.

6 Andrea Elliott. “Militant’s path from Pakistan to Times Square”. June 22, 2010. New York Times. Available at: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/23/ world/23terror.html?ref=faisal_shahzad.

Retrieved June 23, 2010.

7 Scott Shane and Souad Mekhennet.

“Imam’s path from condemning terror to preaching jihad”. May 8, 2010. New York Times. Available at: http://www.nytimes. com/2010/05/09/world/09awlaki. html?pagewanted=all. Retrieved June 24, 2010.

8 Ibid.

9 Brian Ross and Rhonda Schwartz.

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“Major Hasan’s e-mail: ‘I can’t wait to join you’ in afterlife”. November 19, 2009. ABC News. Available at: http:// abcnews.go.com/Blotter/major-hasansmail-wait-join-afterlife/story?id=9130339 Retrieved June 23, 2010.

10 “Times Square suspect contacted radical cleric”. May 6, 2010. NewsCore.

Available at: http://www.myfoxmemphis. com/dpps/news/times-square-suspectcontacted-radical-cleric-dpgonckm-20100506_7411371. Retrieved June 24, 2010.

11 Catherine Herridge. “Times Square bomb suspect a ‘fan’ of prominent radical cleric, sources say”. May 6, 2010. Fox News. Available at: http://www.foxnews. com/us/2010/05/06/times-square-bombsuspect-fan-prominent-radical-clericsources-say/. Retrieved June 25, 2010.

12 Joe Wolverton, II. “Anwar al-Awlaki admits meeting with Abdulmutallab”.

February 2, 2010. The New American.

Available at: http://www.thenewamerican. com/index.php/world-mainmenu-26/ asia-mainmenu-33/2872-anwaral-awlaki-admits-meeting-withabdulmutallab.

Retrieved June 24, 2010.

13 “Man indicted for aiding alQaeda”. June 9, 2010. Waller County News Citizen. Available at: http://www. hcnonline.com/articles/2010/06/10/ waller_county_news_citizen/news/ alqaeda06100.prt.

Retrieved June 11, 2010.

14 Ibid.

15 “Al-Awlaki may be al Qaeda recruiter”. December 30, 2009. CBS News.com. Available at: http://www. cbsnews.com/8301-503543_1626039811-503543.html. Retrieved June 3, 2010.

16 Scott Shane. “U.S. approves targeted killing of American cleric”. April 6, 2010.

New York Times. Available at: http://

www.nytimes.com/2010/04/07/world/ middleeast/07yemen.html.

Retrieved June 3, 2010.

17 Mark Hosenball. “Intel paper says al Qaeda’s Yemeni affiliate more determined than ever to attack inside U.S.”. May 12, 2010. Newsweek. Available at: http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/ declassified/2010/05/12/intel-papersays-al-qaeda-s-yemeni-affiliate-moredetermined-than-ever-to-attack-insideu-s.html.

Retrieved June 3, 2010.

18 Nicole Stracke. “Al-Qaeda in Yemen – still a manageable threat”.

June 15, 2009. Gulf Research Center. Available at: http://www. grc.ae/index.php?frm_action=view_ newsletter_web&int_content_ id=62540&sec_code=grcanalysis&frm_ module=contents&sec_ type=h&newwindow=1.

Retrieved June 16, 2010.

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THE GREEK RIOTS AND TWITTER: Lessons for First Responders By: J. J. Stepien

Counter The

Riots in Athens after the death of a 15 year old youth by a Greek police bullet. Photo: arpakola

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The 2008 and 2010 Greek riots demonstrate numerous facets of political demonstration and rioting in today’s technological, economic, and social environments. In addition to the traditional tactics employed by rioters, the emergence and continued presence of personal communication devices and use of the social media accessories as command, control, and coordination tools is inescapable. A brief examination of the roles that technology and social media play and will play regarding real-time and post-action intelligence is warranted.

Men of the Greek riot police (MAT) on crackdown of a student demonstration at Chania, Crete.

Photo: Athens Indymedia

T

he recent tactics employed on the street by the conglomeration of Greek protesters were traditional in many regards. Strikes targeting the transportation industry, including airplanes, trains, and ferry traffic in and out of the country, as well protests within schools, hospitals, and private businesses, left Greece paralyzed by protest.1 The primary objective of protesters was getting the people out of their routine and into the fray—a sentiment so succinctly expressed in the 2008 Greek riots by protesters who infiltrated public broadcast studios. In silent dissent, they

disrupted a message by the then prime minister with a sit-in and banner that read, “Stop watching, get out into the streets.”2 Once engaged, the rioters participated in the self-described “tactics of disobedience and social counterviolence.”3 Experienced anarchist insurrectionists, antiauthoritarians, libertine autonomists,4 and citizens of Greece challenged first responders with the traditional means of protest—ranging from passive resistance to deadly force assaults on police. Individuals threw rocks and bottles at police guarding the

Memorial near the site of the Alexandros Grigoropoulos shooting. Photo: Mendhak

Twitter has been credited with having an integral role in numerous political movements, including those in Venezuela, Iran, The Republic of Georgia, Egypt, and Iceland.

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traditional symbols and targets of the state and economic institutions. Rioters were witnessed shattering pavement and marble statues with hammers to create ammunition to throw when the usual fair was spent.5 Protesters created barricades and reportedly attempted to counteract the effects of tear gas disseminated by police by igniting trash bins and overturned cars.6 Fires were also used for more nefarious means—petrol bombs and Molotov cocktails caused significant damage. As might be expected from the cradle of democracy and political activism, the people of Greece wrote new pages in the ever-evolving playbook of tactics during the 2008 and 2010 riots.

Most importantly, the Greek riots highlight an interesting phenomenon in the command, control, and coordination (C3) of riots. Personal communication devices and the pervasive social networks associated with them were the primary forms of communication and coordination used by the protesters. In addition to hundreds of small “affinity groups,” or small long-standing closed and trusted social networks, the “primary form of coordination was from friend to friend through mobile phones.”7 As of February 2009 it was reported that in addition to Indymedia and other independent news sources in Athens, there were “at least 15 Facebook groups, the most popular of which comprised more than 130,000 members . . . more than 3,000 photographs posted on Flickr using the tag [#griots], and possibly many more uncategorized; more than 700

amateur videos posted on YouTube” and a host of blog websites dedicated to the Greek riots.8 Although much has been written about the role of social media, especially Twitter,1along with Facebook, Flickr, and Short Message Service (SMS, [known as “texting”]), in the arena of political protests and rioting, experts are not in agreement about how it is employed or that it has any tangible impact other than post-event reporting.

Twitter has been credited with having an integral role in numerous political movements, including those in Venezuela,9 Iran, The Republic of Georgia, Egypt, and Iceland.10 The US State Department believed so much in the role Twitter played in the June 12, 2009, elections in Iran that it implored Twitter to delay a scheduled network upgrade that would have disrupted the service to protesters disputing the presidential election.11 TXTmob, a massmessaging program often credited as the forerunner of Twitter, was an integral part of the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City.12 In fact, the inventor of TXTmob and MIT alum Tad Hirsch reported that the idea for TXTmob “evolved from conversations about how police departments were adopting strategies to counter large-scale marches that converged at a single spot.”13 The end goal for TXTmob, then, was “to create a very dynamic, fluid environment” and to “transform areas around the entire city into theaters of dissent.”14

In short, Twitter messages, or Tweets, can originate from a multitude of locations from e-mail to cell phone text messages and blogging software. Anyone can subscribe to, search, and receive Tweets from anonymous sources that are cataloged by “tags” or “hashtags” agreed upon for the relevant subject. For instance, the Greek riots operated under the agreed-upon tag “#griots” and the Iranian protests “#IranElection.” Information, from messages less than 140 characters, pictures, and links to video are available to be accessed and “retweeted,” or forwarded to subscribers or interested parties.

1

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Others are not as fast to knight Twitter as a panacea against heavy-handed dictatorships in the so-called iRevolution.

In the often labeled “Twitter Revolution,” “skeptics note that only a small number of people used Twitter to organize protests in Iran and that other means— individual text messaging, old-fashioned word of mouth, and Farsi-language websites—were more influential.”15 In reality, the importance that Twitter and similar social media have in political protests may fall somewhere between the C3 silver bullet and a medium for protesters to blog about their thoughts and feelings. The question is, then, what role social media will occupy in the realm of the law enforcement and security agencies (LE) tasked with managing and quelling rioting and dangerous criminal episodes.

First and foremost, Twitter provides a rich catalog of open-source information for law enforcement, supplied by the protesters themselves. In some cases, such as the 2008 Greek riots, “the police were informed much later than the anarchists about the reason they were facing attacks from the people.”17 After the shooting of teenage Alexandros Grigoropoulos on October 6, 2008, “thousands of young people took to the streets after quickly spreading the news via Facebook, Twitter, and SMS.”18 In addition, Twitter messages, or Tweets, often contain information about what tactics the protesters and police are employing, where reinforcements—on both sides—

are needed and being deployed, “march status, location of police barricades, and arrest information.”19 At an event in San Francisco marking the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war, a group called “Direct Action to Stop the War” used Twitter to coordinate its movements, update participants at strategic moments, quell rumors, and alert protesters of impending police sweeps.20 Additionally, social media messages often contain photographs and video clips posted within minutes of an event’s occurrence. This real-time information, pulled from the midst of the barricades, is a vital piece of the puzzle that decision makers can use for tactical and strategic formulation. Even the often downplayed messages conveying anger and frustration provide context and possible motivations, invaluable insight into the mind of one’s opponent.

Moreover, the LE community must predetermine its permitted level of control and manipulation of Twitter.

As the messages on Twitter are public, broadcasted open-source information from faceless sources, the ability to disseminate misinformation in furtherance of the LE/security cause is undeniable. In effect, Twitter can serve as a “virtual” double agent, propagating disinformation that could slow, even stifle, the opposition. By spreading false, calculated operational intelligence, directives, tactical insight, and sentiment, security forces can manipulate rioters to their end and cast a shadow of mistrust and doubt on legitimate protester

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messages. This window was not lost on Iranian intelligence, which was reportedly “spreading disinformation online”22 and “infiltrating the Twitter network itself, manipulating it to its own advantage.”23 Next, the possibility of shutting down Twitter and private communication entirely must be evaluated and reviewed against existing laws. The vulnerabilities of Twitter and social media are an enticing invitation for government entities to interfere with private citizens’ interpersonal communication. According to James Cowie, Chief Technology Officer of Renesys—a firm well versed in Internet activity—it is relatively simple for “the state to take control” of the choke points through which Internet data passes and to “block IP addresses delivering tweets through them. The SMS network is even more centralized and structured than the Internet, and hence even easier to censor.”24 It is widely rumored that the Iranian authority tampered with Twitter traffic during the 2009 Iranian elections, including blocking IP addresses sending tweets within Iran and IP proxy addresses donated by sympathizers outside of Iran.25 As discussed above, Iranian authorities did not completely shut down Twitter, however, because they might have found “Twitter useful as a way of monitoring protesters, gathering data on them, and even tracking them down.”26 There are times where the need to shut down private communication in the field may arise. Similar to the use of cell phone jammers in the Middle East to mitigate the threat of improvised explosive devices, the government may be compelled to end the rioters’ ability to coordinate their movements and counter LE response to critical incidents. For example, the difficulties experienced by Greek fire crews in reaching the scene of the Marfin Bank fire on May 5, 2010, because of demonstrations moving

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through the area27 raise a compelling argument for subjugating private communication in favor of emergency operations. Although it is impossible to gauge what effect limiting the protesters’ C3 capability could have played in this situation, the hindrance of emergency crews responding to the scene of the occupied bank lit on fire by petrol bombs is inexcusable. Three bank employees, one four months pregnant, died in the incident. Conceivably, the need for first responders, especially emergency fire and medical technicians, to move freely in an active environment could trump the need for protesters to communicate via cell.

One could counter that citizens must be able to call for help in the first place, but the ability to seek assistance is moot if first responders cannot do their job once summoned.

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Lastly, the prosecution of Twitter use in relation to mass movements is a relatively unexplored arena. Legal precedent regarding the use of Twitter and social media as criminal tools has not, by its very nature, kept pace with the technology itself. That being said, two men associated with the 2009 Pittsburgh G20 summit protests were arrested and accused of: Communicating with various protestors, and protest groups…[via] Internet-based communications, more commonly known as ‘Twitter.’ The observed ‘Twitter’ communications were noted to be relevant to the direction and

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movement of the Protestors . . . in order to avoid apprehension.29 The charges the men faced, “criminal use of a communication facility, possessing instruments of crime, and hindering apprehension,”30 are topics of debate. The above charges, as well as the federal antiriot statute 18 USC 2101 that makes it criminal to engage in interstate travel to “organize, promote, encourage, participate in, or carry on a riot”31 are perhaps applicable, but appear to tread very closely to infringing upon constitutional rights. Federal and state legislation must come to a conclusion regarding the evolution of technology and its use in protests. As noted by one lawyer, the above approach “starts to criminalize dissent, to conflate terrorism with demonstrations, and that’s a very, very dangerous notion.”32 State entities must decide now what they are willing to pursue for evidentiary value and what they are willing to permit regarding Twitter and its role in political protests.

In sum, the spectrum of social media presents a fascinating opportunity/ opponent for LE in relation to largescale riots. The role this technology plays for LE, be it actionable opensource intelligence, a misinformation/ counterintelligence tool, or evidence for post-action prosecution must be defined and codified. The very nature of modern technology and globalization, which encourages invention and methods of streamlining intercommunication between individuals, dictates that legal precedent and legislation will be hard pressed to keep pace with technology. The temptation—and perhaps necessity—for LE to confront social media connections directly must be addressed and legislated.

If these issues are not addressed pragmatically and constitutionally, the common thread of mistrust of government and the police apparatus

may fuel the fire of dissent, fear, and desperation that incite protests, such as the 2008 and 2010 Greek riots, in the first place.

•

About the Author Mr. Stepien is a police officer in the Denver area and holds a Master’s Degree in International Security from the University of Denver.

Endnotes Kathimerini (2008): n. pag.

Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. ekathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ ell_100041_13/12/2008.

2 “Protestors Target Riot Police and State TV.” Kathimerini Englsih Edition. Kathimerini, 17 12 2008.

Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_ politics_100012_17/12/2008_103102>.

3 “From the Greek Streets.” Anarchy is struggle for life, freedom and dignity.

Occupied London, 25 May 2010. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www.occupiedlondon. org/blog/2010/05/25/299-anarchy-isstruggle-for-life-freedom-and-dignity/>.

4 Traven, B. How to Organize an Insurrection. Crimethinc, 25 Dec 2008. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. crimethinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/howto-organize-an-insurrection/>.

5 Ibid 6 Ibid 7 Ibid 8 Tsimitakis, Matthew.2009. “Speech at the Social Media and Communication Conference” Institute of Comunication.

18 Feb 2009. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http:// www.vimeo.com/3359246>.

9 “#FreeMedia Ve: Venezuelans Using Twitter to Protest Media Crackdown.”

Mashable. Mashable, 02 Aug 2009.

Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://mashable. com/2009/08/02/freemediave/>.

10 Cohen, Noam. “Twitter 1

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on the Barricades: Six Lessons Learned.” New York Times (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http:// www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/ weekinreview/21cohenweb. html?pagewanted=print>.

11 Grossman, Lev. “Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement.”

Time (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/world/ article/0,8599,1905125,00.html>.

12 Power, Matthew. “How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail.” Mother Jones. Mother Jones, Mar 2010. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://motherjones.com/ politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riotssocial-media-activists>.

13 Moynihan, Colin. “City Subpoenas Creator of Text Messaging Code.”

New York Times (2008): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www.nytimes. com/2008/03/30/nyregion/30text.html?_ r=3&oref=slogin&oref=slogin>.

14 Ibid 15 Cohen, Noam. “Twitter on the Barricades: Six Lessons Learned.” New York Times (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http:// www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/ weekinreview/21cohenweb. html?pagewanted=print>.

16 Hirsch, Tad, and John Henry.

“TXTmob:Text Messaging for Protest Swarms.” (2005): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://web.media.mit.edu/~tad/ pub/txtmob_chi05.pdf>.

17 Traven, B. How to Organize an Insurrection. Crimethinc, 25 Dec 2008. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. crimethinc.com/blog/2008/12/25/howto-organize-an-insurrection/>.

18 Meier, Patrick. “Greek Riots, Facebook, Twitter and SMS.” irevolution (2008): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http:// irevolution.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/ greek-riots-facebook-twitter-and-sms/>.

19 Hirsch, Tad, and John Henry.

“TXTmob:Text Messaging for Protest Swarms.” (2005): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://web.media.mit.edu/~tad/ pub/txtmob_chi05.pdf>.

20 Stirland, Sarah. “S.F. Activists Use Twitter, Pirate Radio to Manage AntiWar Protestors.” Threat Level. Wired, 2008. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. wired.com/threatlevel/2008/03/sanfrancisco-a/>.

21 Grossman, Lev. “Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement.”

Time (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/world/ article/0,8599,1905125,00.html>.

22 Madden, Mike. “Twitter won’t bring down Ahmadinejad.” Salon (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www. salon.com/news/feature/2009/06/18/ iran_twitter>.

23 Grossman, Lev. “Iran Protests: Twitter, the Medium of the Movement.”

Time (2009): n. pag. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://www.time.com/time/world/ article/0,8599,1905125,00.html>.

24 Ibid 25 Ibid 26 Ibid 27 “In Greece, People ‘Quite Incredulous’ After Protests Turn Deadly.”

PBS Newshour. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http:// www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/europe/janjune10/greece2_05-05.html>.

28 “g20pgh.” Twitter. Twitter, 2009.

Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://twitter.com/ G20pgh>.

29 Power, Matthew. “How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail.” Mother Jones. Mother Jones, Mar 2010. Web. 6 Jul 2010. <http://motherjones.com/ politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riotssocial-media-activists>.

30 Ibid 31 Ibid 32 Ibid

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Corporation • www.macrousa.com............................................................................................................... 44 MecGar • www.mec-gar.com.............................................................................................................................................. 141 NTOA • www.ntoa.org....................................................................................................................................................... 92 Oshkosh Corporation • www.oshkosh-tacticalprotector.com............................................................................................. 50 PoliceOne • www.PoliceOne.com....................................................................................................................................... 3 PoliceTraining.net • www.policetraining.net...................................................................................................................... 191 QinetiQ North America • www.talonrobots.com.............................................................................................................. 52 Remotec • www.remotec.northropgrumman.com................................................................................................................. 73 ResQ-Pak • www.resq-pak.com......................................................................................................................................... 315 Ridge Footwear • www.ridgeoutdoors.com....................................................................................................................... 4 Shared Strategies for Homeland Security Conference • www.sharedstrategiesconference.com................................. 14 Smi Counter Terrorism Conference • www.counterterrorism-conf.com........................................................................... 94 Spy Cruise • www.spycruise.com....................................................................................................................................... 62 SRT Supply • www.accuracyinternationalsrt.com................................................................................................................. 30 SSI BlastSax • www.blastsaxstore.com............................................................................................................................... 171 SSI Floodsax • www.floodsaxstore.com............................................................................................................................. 131 SSI Global Security Workshop • www.homelandsecurityssi.com..................................................................................... 37 SSI Suicide Terror • www.suicideterror.com....................................................................................................................... 117 SSI SWAT Counter Terrorism Course • www.homelandsecurityssi.com........................................................................... 179 Surefire • www.surefire.com/reinventingthesuppresor.......................................................................................................... 96 Tactical Electronics • www.tacticalelectronics.com............................................................................................................. 99 Tactical Products Group • www.tacprogroup.com........................................................................................................... 98 Tripwire Operations Group • www.tripwireops.org........................................................................................................ 100 U.S. Explosive Storage • www.usexplosivestorage.com................................................................................................... 69 Z-Medica • www.z-medica.com......................................................................................................................................... 71

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Introducing the launch of the country’s newest backbone information source for First Responders.

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TRAINING REVIEW

Black Hat, DEF CON and the Evolving Battlefield in Cyberspace

By Michael Mylrea

B

lack Hat and DEF CON were once underground conferences; meeting places for hackers and digital specialists to share knowledge of the latest computer systems. Today, these back to back conferences are recognized as the foremost information security meetings in the world, where corporate executives and feds join hackers in Las Vegas for a week of training, conferences, parties and hacking competitions.

“We are paid well,” said Blake, who didn’t want to use his last name because he does penetration testing and was a former government employee. “Top banks will pay almost anything to solve new problems in cyberspace.”

A presentation by GrugQ, a senior cyber security researcher at Coseinc, detailed his ability to turn “a 10 Euro cell phone into a cyber attack tool.”

He showed a picture of a modified cell phone, a cable and code that was allegedly

Michael Lynn speaking at Black Hat 2005 on Cisco IOS vulnerabilities. Photo: Alexander Marks capable of knocking down phone service in entire cities, including emergency services.

GrugQ recounted how a company that specialized in cellular devices that transfer money, contracted him to see if their system was secure before a major rollout: “I was able to transfer unlimited amounts between accounts with ease. I told them what I was able to do, and they rolled out it out anyway,” explained GrugQ. Despite tech specialists (like GrugQ) working to make critical systems more secure, there are many hackers that take advantage of vulnerabilities because businesses may not be willing to undertake the efforts necessary to seriously challenge them.

“Jackpot Automated Teller Machines,” was the title of a presentation by Barnaby Jack, a security researcher at IOActive.

Jack demonstrated how vulnerabilities in ATM machines can be used by

criminals to steal money and customers information. To an enthusiastic crowd he showed with precision and ease how a hacker could use code on a USB drive to overwrite an ATM system. “In every ATM system I’ve looked at, I’ve been able to find flaws,” Jack said during a press conference that followed his demonstration.

In one presentation, cyber security specialists John Hering and Kevin MaHaffey said that more than a million Android users downloaded an application that covertly transmits user’s information to a server in Shenzen, China. This year numerous attacks against US government and industry have been traced backed to China. “Major online battles are occurring everyday between security professionals and hackers, corporate spies and nation state cyber warriors,” explained Def Con speaker John Bumgarner, Chief Information Officer at the US Cyber Consequences Unit, a

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non-profit private think-tank, credited for finding a smoking gun in the RussianGeorgia cyber conflict. He noted, “A cyber security professional must always be in training because technologies are constantly changing.”

“The exploits of hackers in cyberspace are three to four years ahead of those out to catch them and the gap is growing,” said Tom Talleur, a Foresnic Futurologist who has spent 36 years in executive roles in federal law enforcement and consulting. “We will have an all source 24 hour a day Ok Corral type shootout in our global techno-sphere that goes beyond the cyber threat long before the century is over,” said Talleur.

Today criminal cyber syndicates and nation states engage in advanced penetrations and exploitation of everything from large banks to our nation’s defenses. As the US government

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ramps up its offensive and defensive capabilities in cyberspace, conventions like Black Hat and Def Con have become increasingly important for the government to attend and try to recruit the next generation of cyber warriors.

In addition to about 50 computer security companies, the FBI and DOD set up recruiting and promotion booths at Black Hat. Many feel that government efforts are too little, too late and fighting a losing battle in cyberspace as our reliance on computer systems have increased faster than our ability to secure them. Securing the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our networks is imperative as our critical infrastructure (hospitals and health records, command and control defense, financial system, energy utilities and electric grid, etc.) becomes increasingly connected to the internet, explained keynote speaker Gen.

Michael Hayden, former CIA director, emphasizing that we are at war in cyberspace.

Gen. Hayden stated, “It’s important to emphasize the scoreboard more than individual performance. We don’t know how to take the entrepreneurship and discovery from you and insert it into old systems. There is a need for autonomous action and unity of effort to win the war in cyberspace.” He argued that this was necessary to be competitive in modern conflict. www.blackhat.com, www.defcon.org

•

About the Author Mr. Mylrea is an independent security consultant that has worked on cyber security projects for: Good Harbor Consulting, US Cyber Consequences Unit, Democracy Council and the US Department of Defense.

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The Counter Terrorist ~ October/November 2010 75

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Suppressor-Mini_Counterterrorist_Layout 1 8/18/10 10:47 AM Page 1

FIRST WE SUPPRESSED THE SOUND, MUZZLE FLASH, AND DUST SIGNATURE. THEN WE SUPPRESSED THE LENGTH.

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