Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FBI. Show all posts

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Terry Loewen, Al Qaeda, "Most Muslims," and Assumptions


(From FoxNews.com, used w/o permission.)
Terry L. Loewen, 58: aviation technician and would-be Al Qaeda suicide bomber, apparently.

Mr. Loewen wrote that he planned to be "martyred in the path of Allah," and that "most Muslims in this country will condemn what I have done." 1

I don't doubt that he was sincere. I also think that he was right about "most Muslims in this country."

But I'm not surprised that he doesn't "look Muslim."

I've been over this before: quite a few Muslims come from the Middle East, but Islam isn't an ethnic group.

Eventually, all but the most ardently chauvinistic WASP supporters in America may get used to the idea that someone can 'look American' and be a terrorist. Maybe they'll even decide that folks don't have to look English to be American: but I doubt it.

Learning the Right Lesson: Or Not

I'm very glad that Mr Loewen didn't succeed in becoming a "in the path of Allah:" for his sake, and for the sake of everyone else he would have killed.

How and why he made the choices he did may or may not come out as his case goes through the courts.

Based on what's been in the news so far, and depending on what folks assume, we could learn that:
  1. The FBI conspires to hurt innocent Americans
  2. You can't trust white people
  3. Religion kills
  4. All of the above
  5. None of the above
I think "E" is the right answer: but there's a tiny element of truth in "D."

Innocent people have been unjustly accused. Steven Hatfill is a recent, and happily rare, example.

Some white people are untrustworthy. I'd be astounded if any large group of human beings was entirely free of folks who are untrustworthy: or worse. But assuming that a few individuals are typical of a group is not, I think, usually prudent.

Religion of the 'kill a commie for Christ' or 'death to the great Satan America' variety is, in my considered opinion, dangerous. But I think that sort of attitude is often rooted in a desperate desire to preserve a dead or dying culture.

But I think that the FBI often serves a beneficial function, that many folks are trustworthy, that religion isn't necessarily a psychiatric condition: and those are other topics.

My take on:
In the news:
1 Excerpts from the news:
"FBI: Man spent months planning bomb plot at ICT Explosives were fake, U.S. Attorney says"
Adam Knapp,KWCH (December 13, 2013)

"A Wichita man has been arrested and charged in federal court for attempting to blow up Mid-Continent Airport in a suicide bombing Friday.

"Terry Lee Loewen, 58, who worked at the Hawker Beechcraft Services facility at Mid-Continent Airport, is alleged to have spent months developing a plan to use his airport access card to drive a van loaded with explosives to the terminal. He planned to pull the trigger on the explosives himself and die in the explosion, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said.

"The explosives were fake, Grissom said....

"...According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Loewen:
  • Studied the layout of the airport and took photographs of access points.
  • Researched flight schedules.
  • Assisted in acquiring components for the car bomb.
  • Talked about his commitment to trigger the device and martyr himself.
" 'The threat was real,' said Michael Kaste of the Federal Bureau of Investigations. 'But I assure you, the public was never at any risk at all.'

"Loewen, who is not believed to be involved with any religious affiliation in the Wichita community, was arrested at 5:40 a.m.

"He faces one count of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction against people and property within the United States, one court of attempting to damage property by means of an explosive and one count of attempting to provide material support to Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

"In a 21-page complaint filed in federal court, documents found that Loewen engaged in an online conversation with an undercover FBI agent to reflect his 'desire to engage in violent jihad on behalf of al Qaeda.'

"Lowen wrote, 'Brothers like Osama bin Laden and Anwar al Awlaki are a great inspiration to me, but I must be willing to give up everything (like they did) to truly feel like a obedient slave of Allah.' He went on to say 'I MUST be active in some kind of jihad to fell I'm doing something proactive for the Ummah.'

"In October, Loewen sent numerous photographs of his airport access badge, entrance gates to the tarmac and devices used to access the gates. He told the undercover agent he felt a morning attack at the airport would be best....

"...Loewen and the undercover agent met at a Wichita hotel Friday morning, drove to the location of where the bomb was being stored, the complaint read. The two arrived at Mid-Continent Airport at 5:40 a.m., where Loewen was arrested after two attempts at opening the gate to the tarmac.

"In a letter to family members dated December 11, 2013, Loewen said,
" 'By the time you read this I will - if everything went as planned - have been martyred in the path of Allah. There will have been an event at the airport which I am responsible for. The operation was timed to cause maximum carnage + death. My only explaination is that I believe in jihad for that sake of Allah + for the sake of my Muslim brothers +sisters. Fact is, most Muslims in this country will condemn what I have done. I expect to be called a terrorist (which I am), a psychopath, and a homicidal maniac.' "
"Loewen made his first appearance in federal court on terrorism charges at 3 p.m. U.S. attorneys will present the case to a grand jury for indictment next Wednesday....

"...Beechcraft released a statement saying Loewen is suspended from employment pending the outcome of the investigation...."
"Arrest made in attempt to bomb Wichita airport, FBI says"
Edmund DeMarche, FoxNews.com (December 13, 2013)

"A Kansas man who authorities say in the past made threats to engage in violent jihad against the U.S. was charged Friday for allegedly plotting to detonate a car bomb at the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport.

"Terry L. Loewen, 58, an aviation technician who FBI agents say was inspired by Usama bin Laden, spent months planning the attack and was intent on using his employee access card to drive the vehicle loaded with explosives to a terminal, Barry Grissom, the U.S. Attorney for the district of Kansas, said, citing the criminal complaint. Loewen planned on dying in the explosion as a martyr, Grissom said.

"The complaint says an undercover FBI employee told Loewen about a recent trip overseas and a meeting with members of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. This agent told Loewen that 'brothers' were interested in his airport access, and asked if he'd be willing to plant 'some type of device,' the complaint said.

"Loewen allegedly responded, 'Am I interested? Yes. I still need time to think about it, but I can't imagine anything short of arrest stopping me.' The U.S. citizen allegedly wrote to the FBI agent that he was inspired by Usama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki.

"He was arrested at 5:30 a.m. without incident while trying to gain access to a tarmac, Grissom said. At the time, his access card did not work and he was with the vehicle he allegedly believed was filled with explosives.

"Authorities said there was never a bomb that could explode and the public was not in danger.

"Loewen has been under investigation by the Wichita Joint Terrorism Task Force since early summer 2013. It is alleged that in the past he has made statements that he was resolved to commit an act of violent jihad.

"The affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint alleges that Loewen studied the airport's layout, researched flight schedules, assisted in acquiring car bomb components and talked about sacrificing his own life in the attack....

"...His wife and attorney declined comment after the hearing....

"...Authorities said they believe Loewen acted alone. No other arrests are expected...."
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Thursday, June 20, 2013

TWA Flight 800, Assumptions, and Facts

I'm quite certain that hundreds of people died when TWA Flight 800 exploded off the Long Island shore.

Until late Tuesday, I was also fairly certain that a fuel-air explosion in one of the airliner's tanks caused the explosion.

'It Made a Good Story'

Ronald Reagan's "trust, but verify" quote apparently is from a Russian proverb: "Доверяй, но проверяй." I think it's good advice. I like to trust folks, but have been around long enough to realize that what some sincerely believe is not accurate: and a few folks deliberately lie.

The official explanation for TWA Flight 800's abrupt conclusion made sense, given what had been published about the incident. Jet fuel is notoriously easy to ignite, and accidents happen.

I was impressed at how many folks seemed convinced that they'd seen something heading toward the jet, or reported something else that wasn't consistent with an internal explosion. But eyewitness testimony is not particularly reliable.

Eyewitness Testimony?

For example, I saw "SAVING PRIVATE YARN" on a theater marquee downtown. I'd been driving by, not paying attention to the sign, and was past the theater when the words filtered into the parts of my mind that weren't driving.

That was a really odd title for a movie, so I drove around the block and took a look. "SAVING PRIVATE RYAN" was playing. I'm not particularly dyslexic: but I am a very fast reader. Something in my brain had taken the letters from "Ryan," and put them together as a word I'm more familiar with.

The point is that I'd 'witnessed' and remembered something that wasn't, quite, there.

I was willing to believe that the NTSB was right, and eyewitnesses remembered things in a curiously consistent, but inaccurate, way.

That was then, this is now.

Another Good Story

Maybe the eyewitnesses were right.
"...A group of former investigators ... argue that new evidence shows that an external force, from something such as a rocket or missile, may have brought down the Boeing 747 minutes after it left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"The petition claims 'new analyses of the FAA radar evidence demonstrate that the explosion that caused the crash did not result from a low-velocity fuel-air explosion as the NTSB has determined. Rather, it was caused by a detonation or high-velocity explosion.' ...

"People have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' ...."
(Los Angeles Times)

"... 'We don't know who fired the missile,' said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association, one of a half-dozen experts seeking a new review of the probe. 'But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile.'..."
(FoxNews.com)
I put more, and longer, excerpts from the news are at the end of this post.1 They're interesting in several ways, and I'll get back to that.

Rip roaring good action-adventure stories can involve government conspiracies. There can be a good reason for keeping quiet about something monumentally newsworthy. Keeping something like "Independence Day's" undercover study of a crashed spaceship might be best kept quiet: if the only advantage humanity had was that the space-alien aggressors didn't realize that we knew they existed.

In general, though, I think it's a good idea to be open about why an airliner explodes. Particularly if there are people inside it at the time.

Obviously - - - This is Unsettling

Some folks seem to believe that 'the government' never tells the truth. Others seem equally convinced that the nation's leadership can do no wrong. Folks believing either extreme can be liberal, conservative, or simply crazy: depending on the individual, and who's in White House at the time.

TWA Flight 800 went down during the Clinton administration, which may or may not be involved in the disconnect between eyewitness accounts, the official explanation, and what some investigators are saying. Then again, maybe not. I really don't know.

I am very concerned that some of the folks involved in studying the wreckage of TWA Flight 800 are, 17 years later, saying that the investigation was botched: at best. "It's obvious that the truth was not allowed to be pursued...." When a professional who has retired - and doesn't have to worry about continued employment - says that, I'm quite willing to take the claim seriously.

News, Opinion, and Facts

Like I've said before: it's important to study the news, not just read it. Journalists are supposed to be be accurate, and 'unbiased.' However, it seems easy to mistake assumptions for facts. Particularly if 'everybody knows' that some unconsidered assumption is a fact.

On top of human shortcomings, like preconceived notions, news outlets inevitably have an editorial 'slant:' an attitude which they've found tends to attract more readers or viewers. Provided that reporters and editors don't deliberately lie, I accept this as part of the social and economic realities we deal with: and a reason to think about what we read.

Finally, I am not at all comfortable with the situation that we seem to have: where the NTSB is deciding whether or not the NTSB investigation of TWA Flight 800 should be reviewed.

In the news:
Related posts:
1 Excerpts from the news:
"What brought down TWA Flight 800? Group wants investigation reopened"
Michael Muskal, Los Angeles Times (June 19, 2013)

"Federal officials are weighing a request to reopen the investigation of the 1996 explosion and crash of TWA Flight 800 that went down off the coast of Long Island, killing all 230 people aboard.

"A group of former investigators, interviewed in a documentary to be released next month, have petitioned the National Transportation Safety Board for the new probe. They argue that new evidence shows that an external force, from something such as a rocket or missile, may have brought down the Boeing 747 minutes after it left New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.

"The petition claims 'new analyses of the FAA radar evidence demonstrate that the explosion that caused the crash did not result from a low-velocity fuel-air explosion as the NTSB has determined. Rather, it was caused by a detonation or high-velocity explosion.'

"The theory of such a strike was heavily investigated by the FBI and other agencies at the time and found to be unsupported. The NTSB eventually determined that a center fuel tank had exploded when an electrical short-circuit caused a spark.

"Tom Stalcup, a coproducer of the documentary to be aired on the cable TV premium channel Epix next month, told CNN's morning show 'New Day' that there was radar and other evidence for an external explosion.

"People have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' Stalcup told the cable news program...."
"Filmmaker asserts new evidence on crash of TWA Flight 800"
Mike M. Ahlers, CNN (June 19, 2013)

"A documentary on the 1996 explosion that brought down TWA Flight 800 offers 'solid proof that there was an external detonation,' its co-producer said Wednesday.

" 'Of course, everyone knows about the eyewitness statements, but we also have corroborating information from the radar data, and the radar data shows a(n) asymmetric explosion coming out of that plane -- something that didn't happen in the official theory,' Tom Stalcup told CNN's 'New Day.'

"A number of people have come forward, 'all saying the same thing: that there was an external force -- not from the center wing tank, there's no evidence of that -- but there is evidence of an external explosion that brought down that plane,' Stalcup said.

"He cited 'corroborating information from the radar data' and complained that 'not one single eyewitness was allowed to testify -- that's unheard of.'

" 'The family members need to know what happened to their loved ones,' he said.

"Asked why such information might have been suppressed, Stalcup said, 'That's a question that should be answered when this investigation gets reopened.'..."
"Former investigators of TWA Flight 800 want new probe"
USA Today (June 19, 2013)
"Former investigators of the TWA Flight 800 crash off Long Island are calling on the National Transportation Safety Board to re-examine the case.

"The retired investigators claim that findings were 'falsified.' A documentary on the subject is coming out in July.

"The 1996 crash of the Paris-bound flight killed 230 people.

"Initial speculation ranged from maintenance problems to a bomb and even a meteorite. Some critics theorized that a Navy missile accidentally brought down the jetliner.

"The NTSB concluded that Flight 800 was destroyed by a center fuel tank explosion, probably caused by a spark from a short-circuit in the wiring...."
"Investigators want missile theory probed in '96 TWA Flight 800 crash"
FoxNews.com (June 19, 2013)

"A handful of aviation experts, including a number of investigators who were part of the original probe of TWA Flight 800, have come forward in a new documentary to say evidence points to a missile as the cause of the crash off the coast of Long Island 17 years ago.

"The New York-to-Paris flight crashed July 17, 1996, just minutes after takeoff from JFK Airport, killing all 230 people aboard. In the weeks that followed, the plane was reassembled in a hangar from parts retrieved from the sea. But the cause of the crash was not identified immediately, and after authorities said the crash was caused by static electricity ignited fuel fumes, many skeptics cast doubt on the theory. Adding to the controversy were multiple eyewitness accounts of a fireball going up from the ground and hitting the plane before it went down, accounts which the FBI dismissed at the time.

"The half-dozen investigators whose charges will be fleshed out in a documentary set to air July 17 - the anniversary of the crash - say they were never allowed to get at the truth. But they are confident a missile brought down the plane.

" 'We don't know who fired the missile,' said Jim Speer, an accident investigator for the Airline Pilots Association, one of a half-dozen experts seeking a new review of the probe. 'But we have a lot more confidence that it was a missile.'

"The group is comprised of people who worked for the National Transportation Safety Board, TWA and the Airline Pilots Association, all of whom have since retired. All six say that the evidence shows the plane was brought down by a projectile traveling at a high speed.

" 'It all fits like a glove,' said Tom Stalcup, a physicist who is considered one of the foremost independent researchers and participated in the documentary, said during a press conference on Wednesday. 'It is what it is and all the evidence is there.'

"Hank Hughes, a retired senior accident investigator for NTSB, said probers were not allowed to seek answers once the FBI took over the crime scene. 'We just want to see the truth come out,' Hughes said. 'We don't have hidden agendas. The only thing we are looking for is the truth.'

"Speer, who says he found explosive residue on a part from the right wing which also had three holes, agreed.

" 'It's obvious that the truth was not allowed to be pursued,' said Speer. 'A majority of people working in that hanger did not feel as if the evidence was properly being handled.'

"The NTSB said it will review the petition...."
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Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Anthrax, the FBI, and Absolute Certainty

The 2001 anthrax attack - or attacks, since quite a few anthrax-loaded items were sent through the mail - is in the news again. Looks like it isn't absolutely, positively, totally possible to pinpoint exactly how anthrax got loose in the mail system: killing a number of people, making more ill, and scaring a fair fraction of the American population.

If this was a show inspired by the X-Files, there'd be at least one sinister conspiracy: and quite likely space aliens. If I was doing the writing, I might be tempted to have those shape-shifting, space-alien lizard men be the heavies.

But we're not in a television drama. This is the real world: and folks who commit heinous acts aren't always obliging enough to leave a clear trail of evidence. Preferably with written notes on what they did. And a confession recorded on video.

The FBI and Absolute Certainty

I've gotten the impression that there are folks who assume that anything FBI agents say is true. I've also gotten the impression that there are others who assume that everything FBI agents say isn't true.

I'm definitely not among the dreadfully earnest bunch who fear the FBI and CIA more than Al Qaeda, the Taliban, or Iran's ayatollahs. I also don't think every branch of the American government is staffed entirely by paragons of virtue and rectitude. I don't even think that everyone on the federal payroll is competent.

What I do think is that folks investigating the anthrax attacks probably discovered where the lethal microcritters came from - originally, at any rate. I also think there's a pretty good chance that the fellow they finally fingered, Dr. Bruce Ivins, actually was responsible for putting anthrax in the mail.

Too bad he (just happened?) to die as the FBI was about to take him in. That sort of thing makes for a rousing good thriller - in fiction. In situations like this, Dr. Ivin's inconvenient - or convenient - death adds more uncertainty to a high-profile terrorist attack.

Like I said, complete notes and a video confession would have been nice.

Fingering the Wrong Man - on Silly Evidence

Remember Steven Hatfill? He's the man that federal investigators tried to pin the anthrax attack on. Maybe that's putting it unfairly. On the other hand, as I wrote back in 2008:
"...The methodical, fact-based, reasoned approach that the FBI has been using lately is a welcome relief from the comic opera antics that led to Steven Hatfill being fingered as suspect number one. In large part, apparently, because he was seen in Charley's Place with a few of a Sultan's bodyguards.

"That Keystone Cops act was an unpleasant reminder of how law enforcement and the news media jumped on Richard Jewel with both feet, after the Olympic Park bombing...."
(September 17, 2008)

Conspiracy Theories, Anyone?

Space-alien lizard men aren't needed for a rousing good conspiracy theory. I could say that a cabal of Rosicrucians and Shriners joined forces with the Girl Scouts in a plot to make everybody wear funny hats. Their original plan was to spread anthrax in cookies - until someone pointed out how easily that'd lead back to the conspirators.

So they used subliminal messages imprinted on latte served in the DC area, to make FBI agents suspect first one innocent dupe and then another - and you get the idea.

The way I put it sounds silly. But I didn't bother to use emotional terms and muddle up the claims I was making.

I really do not think that the Girl Scouts is involved in the anthrax attacks, by the way. Or the Shriners, or Rosecrutians, by the way.

I'm even reasonably certain that Dr Ivins really is solely responsible for the attacks.

Or, maybe he was involved, along with others - who decided to drop that sort of attack after federal investigators worked their way around to Ivins.

Or, and I really do not think this is the case, the Girl Scouts, Shriners and Rosecrutians control the FBI, the CIA, and Turner Network Television. Now that would make a story.

Attention-Grabbing Headline, A Fair Amount of Explanation

From today's news:
"Panel Finds No Conclusive Evidence to Identify Source of 2001 Anthrax Attacks"
Catherine Herridge, State & Local, Politics, FoxNews.com (February 15, 2011)

"Despite the FBI's conclusion that an Army scientist sent anthrax letters sent to Congress and the media in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, a new report casts doubt on the bureau's findings.

"After a lengthy review, the National Research Council said the source of the anthrax powder could not be definitively identified.

"While evidence supports the FBI's contention that it came from Ft. Detrick, a U.S. Army installation outside Frederick, Md., a report by the NRC released Tuesday found that based on the science alone, no conclusion could be reached.

"The report is a significant blow to the FBI's long-standing case against Army scientist Bruce Ivins, who died of a suspicious Tylenol overdose in 2008..."

"...Among the findings by the congressionally chartered committee released Tuesday:

"* The FBI correctly identified the dominant organism found in the letters as the Ames strain of B. anthracis....
"* Spores in the mailed letters and in RMR-1029, a flask found at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute for Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), share a number of genetic similarities consistent with the FBI finding that the spores in the letters were derived from RMR-1029. However, the committee found that other possible explanations for the similarities -- such as independent, parallel evolution -- were not definitively explored during the investigation.
"* Flask RMR-1029, identified by the U.S. Department of Justice as the 'parent material' for the anthrax in the attack letters, was not the immediate source of spores used in the letters. As noted by the FBI, one or more derivative growth steps would have been required to produce the anthrax in the attack letters. Furthermore, the contents of the New York and Washington letters had different physical properties.
"* Although the FBI's scientific data provided leads as to the origin of anthrax spores in the letters, the committee found that the data did not rule out other possible sources. The committee recommended that realistic expectations and limitations regarding the use of forensic science need to be clearly communicated to the public...."
That article also lists some of the evidence the FBI sorted out, including:
  • 10,000 witness interviews
  • 80 searches
  • 26,000 e-mail reviews
  • Analyses of 4 million megabytes of computer memory
Bottom line? I think the least-unlikely explanation for how anthrax wound up in the U. S. mail is that Dr. Ivins put it there. I also think this is going to have folks coming up with imaginative alternatives for decades.

Related posts:
In the news:
More:
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Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Homeland Security Report: American Veterans are Potential Terrorists - I am Not Making This Up

'As is well known,' 1 American soldiers are trained to use weapons, including explosives.

Timothy McVeigh was an American soldier.

Veteran Timothy McVeigh helped blow up Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995.

Obviously, American veterans are very dangerous people, and should be watched closely.

No, I don't believe it: but that's apparently the sort of logic that Homeland Security is using these days.

I'm Not Making This Up

"Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," is a Homeland Security/FBI collaboration. And, parts of it may make sense.

"Though the nine-page report said it had 'no specific information that domestic right-wing terrorists are currently planning acts of violence,' it said real-estate foreclosures, unemployment and tight credit 'could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past.'..." (CNN)

"Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment" may be very nice and sensible. But if it's anything like the (draft, I trust) copy of a MIAC report with a similar subject, everybody to the right of Pelosi could be in trouble.

MIAC identified people who supported Ron Paul, Chuck Baldwin, or Bob Barr in the last election as potential terrorists. Also people who were pro-life.

As I said, I am not making this up.

I wish I were.

Looking Forward to a Nicer America?

I think I can understand the current administrations preference for dropping the term "War on Terror." It's so, well, warlike. And most people agree that war isn't nice.

From the sounds of the current Homeland Security head, we may be in for at least four years of euphemisms.

"...During her confirmation hearings, Napolitano told a Senate committee she preferred to use the term 'man-caused disasters' in lieu of 'terrorism' to describe the threats and potential threats with which her department must deal...." (USN)

If this keeps up, we may have to learn contemporary newspeak, just to figure out what our leaders are saying.

Overseas, a Mixed Bag of Opinions

I found two rather different takes on the report:
  • "The Obama administration has issued a chilling warning to US police forces about the threat of a rise in violent rightwing extremist groups...." (guardian)
  • The Homeland Security/FBI report "is the latest wheeze dreamed up by the Obama administration to distract us from the fact that roughly half America now realises the man's New Deal II project is a slow-motion car crash...." (telegraph)
I won't go as far as Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, in throwing terms like "leftwing" and "rightwing" around. But, I think he may have a point:

"...'Their leftwing assessment identifies actual terrorist organizations, like the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front. The rightwing report uses broad generalizations about veterans, pro-life groups, federalists and supporters of gun rights,' said Smith. 'That's like saying if you love puppies you might be susceptible to recruitment by the Animal Liberation Front. It is ridiculous and deeply offensive to millions of Americans.'..." (FOXNews)

Actually, I'm delighted and a bit surprised that ELF and ALF were identified as being similar to 'terrorist' organizations. For much of my life, their sabotaging of logging operations and setting the odd fire was viewed as overly-fervent political statements. Or, by the news, ignored outright. As I've said before, I've done time in academia.
'Those People' Again?
It's possible that the report suffered from lack of direct contact with dangerous people like veterans. I don't know exactly who put the report together. It's quite possible that they were people who have had extremely little direct contact with American veterans.

There hasn't been a military draft since 1973. I don't have statistics, but I think it's possible that an all-volunteer armed forces has resulted in fewer people having had personal contact with people who served, or are serving, in the armed forces. The American military today isn't, demographically, an exact replica of America as a whole. They're better educated, more likely to be from the middle class, and disproportionately Asian or Hawaiian / Pacific Islander than your group of "average American." (January 4, 2009)

It's possible that, after leaving the armed forces, veterans don't go into the elite circles that drafted "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

And, the people who drafted the report are human beings. It's a very human thing to fear the unknown.

Lets Hope the Nice Talk Today is True

As Timothy McVeigh demonstrated, you don't have to be an Islamic Arab to be a terrorist.

And, as I've written before, every system of belief has it's crazies.

I'm glad that Homeland Security realizes that not everyone who is concerned about environmental issues is a potential terrorist. I just wish that the same courtesy would be extended to people who served in America's armed forces, supported Ron Paul, or have views that are not in accord with Nancy Pelosi's.

Related posts: In the news:
1 A tip of the hat to Walt Kelly, creator of the Pogo comic strip. "As is well known" was a catch-phrase, if I recall correctly, of a character in that strip: one Simple J. Malarky, Walt Kelly's take on Senator J. McCarthy.
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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Somalia, Minnesota, and Common Sense

Somalis in Minnesota are in the international news again. A Somali man, one of around 20 who disappeared, was spotted at the Minneapolis Mall. Or someone who looked like him, anyway. Those news accounts are, in my opinion, hovering around the borders of 'some-guy-told-me-he-heard' credibility.

The Abubakar As-Saddique Mosque in Minneapolis, on the other hand, is getting investigated: by the FBI, which I think makes sense; and by the Senate, which is what Senators do, I suppose.

A "nonprofit journalism enterprise" wrote:

"Some Somalis say the mosque invited scrutiny and suspicion by helping to radicalize young Somali men for jihad in their homeland. Others say the mosque is a wrongly accused victim of the politics of war in East Africa." (Minnesota Post)

And
"If U.S. counterterrorism agencies took these commendable measures to correct President George Bush's myriad blunders in the war on terror, it was mindboggling to note the complete disregard of these suggestions in a recent meeting between Minneapolis-St. Paul Somali community and staff for Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Joe Lieberman. This three-member group stated its mission as a fact-finding one to shed light on the recent disappearance of young Somali men from the Twin-Cities and the allegations that these men returned to Somalia to join Al-Shabab, an organization listed as a terrorist group with the United States government.

"An ongoing FBI investigation is looking into how young men like Shirwa Ahmed, who is considered the first known American suicide bomber in Somalia, came to become 'radicalized.' While there have been very few details as to what the FBI has uncovered thus far, FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, referring to the Somali community in the Twin-Cities, stated that 'the prospect of young men, indoctrinated and radicalized in their own communities … is perversion of the immigrant story.'

"Lieberman's staff coming to the Twin Cities to correct 'the mishandling of this investigation' by the FBI and to get the story straight from the horse's mouth for a Senate hearing on the issue of terrorist cells in America was initially viewed by many Somalis who attended these meetings as a commendable first step to stop the media hysteria surrounding this story. This perception changed, however, once members of this staff started their queries with 'What is radicalizing young Somali men?' in the Twin Cities. This framing of the problem, and its unbounded generalization not as a problem of a handful of individuals among a community of 30,000 or more, was the first indication that gaining the trust of the Muslim community in America, let alone winning the hearts and minds of Muslims around the world, was far from the agenda these men." (Minnesota Post)
(I try to avoid huge block quotes like that: but I wanted the MP's remarks available in context.)

Obligatory Bush-bashing notwithstanding, the MP may have a point: The Senatorial staff's "What is radicalizing young Somali men?" line is, if not offensive, entirely too broad. Only 20 or so young Somali-Minnesotans have disappeared. That reminds me of the 'good old days' that I'm (thank God) too young to remember, when this country's best and brightest might have asked "what makes Irishmen drink too much?"

On the other hand, I must be terribly insensitive: I don't see how the FBI's statement - that someone could be radicalized (the MP put it in quotes, apparently they see something dicy about the word) in his or her own community - is naughty. The FBI fellow said that radicalization like that is "perversion of the immigrant story." He did not say that it's what happens with Somalis. Or, if that's what he did say, the MP should have included that quote.

And, for that "...there have been very few details as to what the FBI has uncovered thus far...," business: This is an on-going investigation. I'd be worried if the FBI was publicizing who they suspected, where they got their information, and exactly how much they knew. People who talk people into blowing up other people are not nice, and might skedaddle if they knew the jig was up. That's a best-case scenario. If the 'suspects' were smart, they'd kill whoever ratted on them, or might know too much, and then leave the area.

As for what's going on in Minnesota, I'm glad that the investigations are not entirely in the hands of Senators out on a junket. There appears to be a real problem in my state: Minnesotans are disappearing, probably radicalized by some of their neighbors

Shirwa Ahmed is one of the young Minnesotans who disappeared. A great many pieces of him showed up in Somalia, with enough DNA to identify him. He's back with his family now, "...buried simply as a Muslim man...." (FOX 9 (December 3, 2008))

What happened to Shirwa Ahmed is wrong. What he apparently did is wrong. And, I think, investigating how he and - almost certainly - others were radicalized is right. Even if members of Senatorial staffs need to be reminded that there are a whole lot of 'funny-looking Americans' around these days.

As I've written before, "there's a war on."

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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Minnesotans Recruited for Terror?

To someone who grew up in the heyday of the Civil Rights Movement in America, the headline is a bit ominous: "Somalis in Minneapolis fall under FBI suspicion". It's true, by the way: an FBI investigation did focus on Somali-American communities in Minnesota.

Somalis? in Minnesota?!

People from Somalia don't come to Minnesota for the climate (a winter storm is winding down as I write this, in central Minnesota). It's because this is a good place to find jobs. Particularly if you're new to America, and are still developing English language skills.

Nothing new here: I think Minnesota - and America - will benefit as people with a new set of ideas and traditions settle in.

Investigations of Violent Crimes Start at Home

The FBI was questioning Somali-Americans in Minnesota because a Somali-American disappeared, and then showed up in pieces in Somalia.

There was enough left of Shirwa Ahmed to identify through DNA analysis. His remains were sent home, so his family could give him a decent Islamic burial here in Minnesota. My sympathies, by the way, to the family.

His death had to be investigated, because he seemed to have been a suicide bomber. And, one of quite a few young Somali men from Minnesota who had dropped out of sight.

Investigations of violent crimes start, I understand, with the people most closely associated with the victim. That generally starts with family and works its way out through the neighborhood and community.

Shirwa Ahmed was a Somali-American. Unless he was a really odd person, quite a few of the people he knew were probably Somali, too. I'm not being racist: just realistic. America isn't so much a melting pot as a crazy quilt: people tend to choose others with similar interests. And tastes in food, for that matter. I don't have a problem with that: I like an America where everybody isn't exactly alike.
Let's Get Hypothetical
Let's say that someone named Jim Eriksson was recruited by a group of radical Scandinavians who were blowing up things and people in defense of lutefisk and lefse. (In case a Jim Eriksson is reading this: I don't mean you! This is hypothetical, remember.)

Anyway, Jim joins the radical Swedes' Ragnarokathon. (Remember, I'm making all this up.) Then he gets killed. The FBI starts investigating.

Remember, Jim was a Swedish-American.

Would it make sense to start questioning Minnesotans at random? Or start with Acadian-Minnesotans and going alphabetically until you hit the Swedes? I don't think so. In this hypothetical case, I'd start by questioning those tall, pale, blue-eyed Minnesotans with last names ending in -sen and -son. Nothing racist about it: it's just that those were the people Jim hung out with, by and large.

Sensitivity to Ethnic Distinctions, and Common Sense

A local paper seemed to assume that Somalis in Minnesota were the victims of bias and persecution. I think this perception may be why the disappearance of so many Somalis was covered so quietly - when it was covered at all. From the point of view of the traditional journalists, they probably thought they were protecting that particular socio-economic mass from white racism.

I'm not that sensitive. When it looks like somebody's making Minnesotans drop out of sight, I think it's a problem for all of us.

Recruiting Minnesotans for Terror

From what came out in last year's news, it looks like Somali-Americans are being recruited by terrorists. My guess is that young Somali men were targeted because they're Muslims and dealing with the sort of stress that most immigrants have felt.

Think about it: if you were a terrorist recruiter for an outfit like Al Qaeda or the Taliban, who would you concentrate on: young Somali-American Muslims, or young Swedish-American Lutherans? Take your time.

I'm not saying that all Somalis in Minnesota are terrorists just waiting to go berserk. But I do think the FBI was sensible, concentrating its investigation on people who might have been involved, instead of delicately ignoring the victim's ethnic heritage.

The War on Terror: It's Us vs. Them

As judgmental or harsh as "the War on Terror" sounds, I think it's a fairly accurate way of describing the conflict between people who want to impose their quaint version of Islam on others, and those who would just as soon stay alive, and choose what clothes they wear.

Although there are many non-Muslim terrorists, like the Tamil Tigers, it's Islamic terrorists who are a threat to Muslims they don't approve of, and non-Muslims, around the world.

It's a matter of "us" vs. "them."

Just who is "us" and who is "them" isn't quite what old-school journalists seem to think, though: and the border doesn't run along ethnic or religious lines.

Related post: In the news: Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
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Friday, January 30, 2009

FBI, CAIR, and Hamas - This is Interesting, but Not News

The FBI cut ties with CAIR last summer.

Apparently, because CAIR may have ties with Hamas.

And, this little matter hasn't been in the news.

CAIR: Unindicted Co-Conspirator in Texas Holy Land Foundation Trial

CAIR is one of many unindicted co-conspirators in the Texas Holy Land Foundation trial. I've written before about my views on "unindicted co-conspirators" and the Holy Land Foundation trial: "...it looks like federal law enforcement is being thorough, compiling a list of who might, possibly, be involved in funding terrorists, and letting the judicial process sort out who's actively involved, and who's not...."

CAIR may or may not be tied to Hamas. And, the FBI's severing of ties with CAIR doesn't prove that a link exists. As a letter from an FBI special agent, explaining why CAIR affiliates could not participate in an FBI program, put it:

"...As you know, members of the United States Government, especially those serving in a law enforcement capacity, have a duty to be judicious in our activities as representatives of the Federal Government. As a result, if CAIR wishes to pursue an outreach relationship with the FABI, certain issues must be addressed to the satisfaction of the FBI. Unfortunately, these issues can not be addressed at the local level and must be addressed by the CAIR-National Office in Washington, D.C...."

CAIR, Hamas Linked - Maybe

This isn't J. Edgar Hoover's FBI of the sixties.

I don't have unconditional confidence in the FBI, any more than I do in any other human institution. But, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is not the Keystone Cops collection of incompetents and ideologues that traditional news media depicted four decades ago.

I have trouble believing that the top federal law enforcement organization would drop ties with an advocacy group like CAIR without very good reason. CAIR is not just America's "largest Muslim advocacy group" - it seems to have a great deal of clout with traditional news services.

In October, 2007, I speculated about why CAIR gets such polite coverage from old-school journalists:
I could be wrong, but I'd guess that there are two major reasons why so many news outlets don't report the a major civil rights group (allegedly) helping the other side of the War on terror:
  • Most editorial boards are staunch supporters of civil rights, and the groups they think are supporting civil rights
  • CAIR has a marked tendency to identify any attack, real or imagined, on a Muslim person or group, as some sort of bigotry - at best
(October 22, 2007)

FBI: Islamophobic? Bigoted? Racist?

That letter from the FBI ended with:

"...The FBI continues to be an ardent supporter of maintaining valuable dialogue with American Muslim communities and its leaders to forge new and enhanced relationships at both the local and the national level. The goal of the FBI's outreach is to eliminate retaliatory, hate-motivated crimes against Arab/Muslim-American individuals and to enlist the American Muslim communities' cooperation in the global war on terrorism.

"It is hoped the issues with CAIR can be resolved in a expeditious manner. In the near future the FBI will be contacting you to reschedule this important event."

I don't see indications of bigotry, racism, or islamophobia in that, but I don't work for CAIR.

CAIR, Hamas Link Suspected, FBI Drops CAIR Connection: This Isn't News?

What impresses me is old-school news media's lack of awareness of, or interest in, the FBI's blackballing of CAIR last summer. No matter what sort of editorial stance was preferred, the story's dramatic:
  • FBI Rejects CAIR Overtures
    Islamophobia in high places?
  • CAIR-Hamas Link Suspected
    Terror connection: investigation continues
  • CAIR Participation in FBI Events Postponed
    Pending trial affects outreach program
I'm sure there are other possible angles on the story.

The point is, the FBI's decision to sever relations with CAIR involves war, international intrigue, community programs, civil rights: and, for all I know, Hollywood stars and the endangered bog turtle.

Traditional news media should have been having a field day with the story. Instead, they maintained the sort of polite reticence that has helped make the blogosphere a serious competitor of traditional information gatekeepers.

Vaguely-related posts: Background:
  • USA v. Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, Exhibit List
  • copy of October 8, 2008, letter from FBI special agent James E. Finch to "MCOP Invitee" (pdf)
    • MCOP is "Muslim Community Outreach Program"
  • "FBI Cuts Ties With CAIR Following Terror Financing Trial"
    FOXNews (January 30, 2009)
    • "The FBI is severing its once-close ties with the nation's largest Muslim advocacy group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, amid mounting evidence that it has links to a support network for Hamas.
    • "All local chapters of CAIR have been shunned in the wake of a 15-year FBI investigation that culminated with the conviction in December of Hamas fundraisers at a trial where CAIR itself was listed as an unindicted co-conspirator.
    • "The U.S. government has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
    • "An official at the FBI's headquarters in Washington confirmed to FOX News that his office directed FBI field offices across the country to cut ties with local branches of CAIR.
    • "In Oklahoma, FBI officials had worked with CAIR's local branch from its founding in 2007 and attended the fundraising banquet that launched the office. But just over a year later, the local FBI froze all its programs involving CAIR...."
  • "Beware Of CAIR"
    Investor's Business Daily, Editorials & Opinions (January 30, 2009)
    • "Homeland Security: You'd think the Council on American-Islamic Relations would be savoring the results of an election that favors its agenda. Instead, it's having to do major damage control.
    • "Over the past several months, the Washington-based pressure group has suffered a series of punishing blows to its reputation as a self-proclaimed "moderate" voice for Muslim-Americans. In the latest setback, a "Dear Colleague" letter sent out to every House member warns lawmakers and their staffs to "think twice" about meeting with CAIR officials.
    • " 'The FBI has cut ties with them,' the letter says. 'There are indications' CAIR has links to Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group.
    • "The letter, signed by five Republicans, including the head of the Congressional Anti-Terrorism Caucus, is attached to an article by a homeland-security news service. It reports that the FBI has been canceling outreach events across the country with CAIR, following a recent directive from headquarters to cut ties with the group.
  • "CAIR's True Colors"
    The Investigative Project on Terrorism (January 30, 2009)
    • "Though it represents itself to be a Muslim civil rights organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) devoted most of its resources earlier this month to mobilizing opposition to Israel's attempt to neutralize Hamas militarily. It organized petition drives and bus caravans from chapters across the country to a protest held January 10th in Washington, D.C.
    • "On Thursday, the Investigative Project on Terrorism reported that the FBI has cut off contact with CAIR due to unanswered questions about the organization's roots in a Hamas-support network. Earlier this month, the IPT showed how CAIR officials dutifully avoid mentioning Hamas by name when discussing the conflict. Yet no major media outlet or political figure is challenging CAIR's positions or tactics...."
  • "Investigative Project on Terrorism: CAIR's Hamas Ties Prompt FBI Cut Off"
    PR Newswire (January 29, 2009)
    • "WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The FBI has cut off communications with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the wake of damning court evidence that ties the group's founders to a Hamas-support network in America, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned."
    • "It is a stunning rebuke to the organization which promotes itself as 'arguably the most visible and public American Muslim organization.' The decision to end contacts with CAIR was made quietly last summer as federal prosecutors prepared for a second trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), an Islamic charity convicted in November for illegally routing money to Hamas. CAIR was named as an un-indicted co-conspirator in the case...."
  • "FBI Cuts Off CAIR Over Hamas Questions"
    The Investigative Project on Terrorism (January 30, 2009)
    • "The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has cut off contacts with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) amid mounting concern about the Muslim advocacy group's roots in a Hamas-support network, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned.
    • "The decision to end contacts with CAIR was made quietly last summer as federal prosecutors prepared for a second trial of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF), an Islamic charity accused of providing money and political support to the terrorist group Hamas, according to people with knowledge of the matter...."
Related posts, on tolerance, bigotry, racism, and hatred.
Update (January 31, 2009)

Except for FOXNews, the FBI-CAIR-Hamas situation still isn't in American national news.

It is, however, getting discussed in the blogosphere. And, there's a 'contact Congress' campaign going on, More, at "FBI to CAIR: Take a Hike" (SlantRight (January 31, 2009)).

As I've said before, this isn't the 'good old days' - and traditional information gatekeepers have stiff competition.

http://anotherwaronterrorblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/honor-killing-muzzammil-hassan-and.html
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008

CAIR, Yaser Said, and the FBI: Don't Say "Honor Killing"

The Dallas, Texas, CAIR director was right about one thing. Muslims don't have a monopoly on jealous husbands and crazy fathers.

" 'As far as we're concerned, until the motive is proven in a court of law, this is [just] a homicide,' Mustafaa Carroll, the executive director of the Council of American-Islamic Relations in Dallas, told FOXNews.com.

"He said he worries that terms like 'honor killing' may stigmatize the Islamic community. 'We (Muslims) don't have the market on jealous husbands ... or domestic violence,' Carroll said."

Who Said it was an Honor Killing: A Reality Check

It wasn't the FBI that called Yaser Abdul Said's murder of his two daughters an honor killing. It was the girls' great-aunt.

"The girls' great-aunt, Gail Gartrell, says the girls' father killed them both because he felt they disgraced the family by dating non-Muslims and acting too Western, and she called the girls' murders an honor killing from the start."

But it's the FBI's fault for calling the murder of Sarah and Amina Yaser Said an honor killing. After almost a year of investigating the case.

Because it might make Muslims look bad. Excuse me. Not Muslims. It might make "the Islamic community" look bad.

I'd have been a trifle more sympathetic with the CAIR director, if the FBI had made an accusation with flimsy evidence, like the comic-opera cases of Richard Jewel and Steven Hatfill.

In the case of Sarah and Amina, it was the better part of a year before the FBI would concede that their great-aunt was right.

And now, they're criticized for stigmatizing the Islamic community.

Honor Killings: Yes, They're Real

Like it or not, a number of Islamic countries have an ancient tradition of honor killing. I think that honor killing is more of a cultural thing, than part of Islam.

Pakistan's Islamic Party went a step further. They say that honor killing is against Islam.

The problem is that quite a few people don't make fine distinctions between cultural traditions and Islamic teachings.

Some of them are people who come from places where a father is expected to kill his kids if they don't act the way their great-great-great-grandparents did, or make him look bad some other way,

And some are their new, non-Muslim, neighbors.

The United Nations seems to think that honor killings are real, and a problem, too.

"The United Nations estimates that 5,000 women are killed worldwide every year in honor killings — mostly in the Middle East, where many countries still have laws that protect men who murder female relatives they believe have engaged in inappropriate activity. A U.N. report includes chilling examples of such cases."
(FOXNews (October 14, 2008))

Given the United Nation's quite non-Islamophobic behavior ("United Nations Treats Islam More Equally Than Other Religions" (October 3, 2008)), I'd say if a United Nations agency claims honor killings are a problem, they just might be.

Just a Homicide, Domestic Violence, and Honor Killing

I think that there's a difference between:
  1. Someone who shoots a convenience store clerk during a robbery
    • He (it's usually a man) doesn't have anything against the victim, personally
  2. An out-of-control guy who kills his kids or his wife because he feels like it
    • He (rarely, she) attacks that particular victim because of a personal relationship
  3. A man who believes that he's supposed to kill members of his family when they don't act the way people do in the old country
    • He attacks that particular victim because of a personal relationship
      • And because he believes it is his duty - as well as being personally convenient
The differences become particularly important, when #3's old neighbors would have supported his action, and many of his new ones don't.

Some Muslims Don't Like to Hear "Honor Killing" - and I Can't Blame Them

I sympathize, in a way, with Muslims who don't like to hear the phrase "honor killing." It's a bit of an embarrassment right now. Islam, the religion, is very closely associated with the Middle East. In fact the king of that quintessentially Middle Eastern country, Saudi Arabia, likes to be called "Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques," which connects the House of Saud and Saudi Arabia quite closely with Islam: and vice versa.

So, it's easy to assume that the Saudi way is the Islamic way. And the Saudi way of dealing with the world is rather, well, a tad out of touch with the post-18th century world:
  • A Saudi cleric said that women should use only one eye at a time
  • The Chairman of the Saudi Supreme Judicial Council declared open season on network owners whose networks are "immoral"
    • He's also an Islamic cleric
    • That judgment was a fatwa, issued in his role as a cleric
And that's just some of what hit international news in the last month.

Between Al Qaeda in Iraq having established beheading as a typically Islamic practice, and Saudi cleric/judges saying that it's okay to kill network owners, Islam has some rather serious public relations problems.

And honor killing is one of them.

Ignore Honor Killings: Maybe They'll Go Away

It sounds like a nice idea: Don't talk about honor killings. When a Muslim father kills his daughters because they weren't being Islamic enough, point out that non-Muslim fathers kill their daughters, too.

I don't think this is a good idea.

The CAIR director said, "We (Muslims) don't have the market on jealous husbands ... or domestic violence," which is true enough. But, although honor killing is, in a way, a form of domestic violence, having the weight of tradition and contemporary societal support makes it different.

Think about it this way. Say that a husband in Kansas City killed his wife. After some investigation, law enforcement called it a case of domestic violence. Then the director of HAIR (Husbands Against Incendiary Rhetoric - an imaginary advocacy group I just made up) in Kansas City said that they shouldn't call it domestic violence, because that might stigmatize the husband community.

HAIR has a point, sort of. Some people think that all men, husbands in particular, abuse women. But that's no reason to avoid calling a case of domestic violence, "domestic violence."

I think that the Islamic Party of Pakistan has the right idea: Say that honor killings happen, and say that they're against Islam.

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Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Anthrax Letters: Dotting the "I"s, Crossing the "T"s

I doubt that this will reassure people who are convinced that 9/11 was an inside job, and see the FBI as a greater threat than Al Qaeda, but:

Robert Mueller, the FBI's Director, say's he'll have an independent review of the scientific process and evidence that led from anthrax-loaded letters to Bruce E. Ivins.

The FBI director also says that the FBI is widening its investigation of mortgage-related fraud. By now they're looking into 24 corporations which may have misstated their assets. But that's another matter.

The methodical, fact-based, reasoned approach that the FBI has been using lately is a welcome relief from the comic opera antics that led to Steven Hatfill being fingered as suspect number one. In large part, apparently, because he was seen in Charley's Place with a few of a Sultan's bodyguards.

That Keystone Cops act was an unpleasant reminder of how law enforcement and the news media jumped on Richard Jewel with both feet, after the Olympic Park bombing.

Just the same, I think this sounds sensible: "I believe the American public and this committee want us to understand that potential threat and do what is necessary to try to identify persons who travel to Pakistan whatever their heritage, whatever their backgrounds, whatever their ethnicity," even if the FBI director said it.

I think it would be well, if national leaders remembered that America has enemies, and that one of them isn't the FBI. I ranted a little about that, in "FISA: Senate Decides Al Qaeda Bigger Threat than FBI" (July 9, 2008).

In the news: "FBI director seeks outside review of anthrax investigation" (CNN (September 17, 2008))
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Wednesday, August 6, 2008

FBI: Bruce Ivins Worked Alone in Anthrax Attack

It sounds like good news: the 2001 anthrax attacks were the work of one man, Bruce Ivins. Dr. Ivins had:
  • Control of a flask of very pure anthrax spores
    • Mutations in those spores are identical to mutations in the anthrax spores that killed five people
  • All the equipment he needed to prepare the spores in the Fort Detrick lab
  • Time alone with the equipment
    • Ivins worked extended hours because " 'home was not good' and that he went to the laboratory 'to escape' from his home life," an affidavit says (CNN)
  • Given FBI agents the wrong bacteria samples from his lab
He had a few possible motives, including wanting to get more attention and funding for his research, hoping to cash in on being a co-inventor of a vaccine, or having a weird thing for Kappa Kappa Gamma girls.

Kappa Kappa Gamma girls?!

Given what may be some loose screws in Dr. Ivins' head, and the FBI's Keystone Cops fingering of Steven Hatfill, I can understand why some people are dubious about the latest claim.

What's different this time is that the FBI has evidence, not the 'I saw him with some guys at Charley's Place' testimony they had against Hatfill.

An example of the FBI's rather more detail-conscious approach this time is the list of items taken by FBI, from Bruce Ivins' home: Receipt for Property Received/Returned/Released/Seized"

In the News:
  • "Prosecutor calls researcher sole culprit in 2001 anthrax attacks"
    CNN (August 6, 2008)
    • "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A federal prosecutor declared Army biological weapons researcher Bruce Ivins the sole culprit in the 2001 anthrax attacks Wednesday, after releasing a stack of documents from a "herculean" investigation that lasted nearly seven years. 'We are confident that Dr. Ivins was the only person responsible for these attacks,' Jeffrey Taylor, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
    • "The Justice Department released the documents implicating Ivins in the attacks, which killed five people and sickened more than a dozen people.
    • "Authorities said Ivins committed suicide last week as federal prosecutors prepared to present the results of their investigation to a grand jury.
    • "Taylor said prosecutors are "confident" they could have proved their case against him.
    • "Ivins was the custodian of a flask of a highly purified anthrax spores that had "certain genetic mutations identical to the anthrax used in the attacks," according to the court documents unsealed Wednesday.
  • "Intended anthrax target has doubts about probe"
    CNN (August 4, 2008)
    • "WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An intended recipient of one of the anthrax-laced letters sent in 2001's anthrax scare said Monday he was "very skeptical" of the government's investigation.
    • "Former Sen. Tom Daschle, who was Senate majority leader at the time, said he is suspicious of the case against researcher Bruce Ivins because of the government "bungling" of Steven Hatfill's case.
    • "Hatfill, who was named by the Justice Department as a "person of interest" in 2002, was never charged and later sued the department. They reached a multimillion dollar settlement in June.
    • " 'Given their checkered past and the difficulty that they had in getting to this point -- the bungling of the Hatfill part of the investigation -- leads me to be very skeptical,' the former South Dakota senator said.
    • "Ivins, an anthrax researcher at Fort Detrick, Maryland, committed suicide last week before he was to have discussed a plea deal in the anthrax case with prosecutors, officials said....
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Monday, August 4, 2008

President Bush Responsible for Lax Security at Bioterrorism Labs

It must be true: I read it in Pravda.

And Salon.com. And FOXNews, for that matter.

What Went Wrong at Fort Detrick?

Now that a new technique for identifying DNA led the FBI to Ivins, it's obvious that he shouldn't have been working at the Fort Detrick bioweapons research center.

And, since this is a presidential election year in America, interesting and odd things are going to be said. In this case, there's a grain of truth in this post's headline.

The Pravada, Salon, and Fox articles are each lightly edited versions of the same Associated Press story. And, all three reveal that President George W. Bush was responsible for the anthrax letters. Sort of.

A Rutgers University chemistry professor named Richard Ebright, who's been really interested in the increase in bioterrorism research lately, says that President Bush was wrong.

Dr. Ebright's logic seems to be this:
  • The biological warfare agents that terrorists might use are very dangerous
  • People who have access to these bugs might use them to kill other people
  • The more people having access to these bugs means more chances that someone will use them to kill other people
  • Scientists are people
  • Therefore, the number of scientists allowed to study these bugs should have been decreased
I see his point.

It might have been better to have assembled a smaller, better, cadre of scientists working on how to deal with a doomsday bug attack.

Dr. Ivins, after all, was an utter outsider: he earned his PhD in microbiology from some place called the University of Cincinnati. It's pretty obvious that if access to bioweapons had been limited to Harvard and Yale grads, the anthrax letters would never have been mailed.

America Hires Mad Scientist!

Dr. Ivins seems to have had an assortment of screws loose. One of today's news tidbits is that he had a weird thing about the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. That would explain the case's Princeton connection, it seems.

I wouldn't say that I'm skeptical: but I'm reserving judgment on this. I remember wild stories in the news after the 9/11 attacks: some may even have been true.

And, maybe Dr. Ivins sent the nation into a panic, killed five people, and finally killed himself, just because he just couldn't get over a Kappa Kappa Gamma girl.

Ivins is Dead: Now What?

It's almost inevitable that there's going to be a full-press Congressional investigation into bioweapons, national security, and sorority girls. It's even possible that some useful information may come out of the hearings, interviews, photo ops, and sound bites.

I hope, that in addition to the political hoopla, someone takes a good look at what the facts are. And, how to lower the odds that biological weapons will get used like that again.

Anthrax Letters, Congress, and the Next Few Years

Here's what I think:
  • Should there be a thorough review of how security screening is done: at all weapons labs?
    • Obviously.
  • Is America spending too much on figuring out how to stop bioterrorism?
    • That's debatable, and I don't know enough.
      Offhand, I'd say "no."
  • Have we heard the last of the anthrax letters?
    • In an election year?! Obviously not.
In the news:
  • " 'Anthrax Killer' Suspect Had Sorority Obsession"
    FOXNews (August 4, 2008)
    • " The Army scientist believed to have committed the 2001 anthrax killings exhibited classic "offender behavior," sources told FOX News on Monday as officials said he had an obsession with a sorority less than 100 yards away from the New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent.
    • "Officials tell FOX News that in the days following the mailings of anthrax-laced letters, Bruce Ivins exhibited erratic behavior such as mood swings, pronounced anxiety and a preoccupation with the media...."
  • "Officials say sorority obsession may link suspect to N.J. anthrax-laced letters in 2001"
    Minneapolis Star Tribune (August 4, 2008)
    • "...U.S. officials said Bruce Ivins' fixation with Kappa Kappa Gamma could explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case: why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, N.J., 195 miles from the lab it's believed to have been smuggled from...."
    • "...Multiple U.S. officials told The Associated Press that Ivins was obsessed with Kappa Kappa Gamma, going back as far as his own college days at the University of Cincinnati when he apparently was rebuffed by a woman in the sorority. The officials all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case publicly...."
  • "'Anthrax Killer' Obsessed With Sorority, Exhibited Classic 'Offender Behavior'"
    FOXNews (August 4, 2008)
    • " The Army scientist believed to have committed the 2001 anthrax killings exhibited classic "offender behavior," sources told FOX News on Monday as officials said he had an obsession with a sorority less than 100 yards away from the New Jersey mailbox where the toxin-laced letters were sent.
    • "Officials tell FOX News that in the days following the mailings of anthrax-laced letters, Bruce Ivins exhibited erratic behavior such as mood swings, pronounced anxiety and a preoccupation with the media.
    • "Authorities also confirmed reports Monday that Ivins was obsessed with the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, which may indirectly explain one of the biggest mysteries in the case: why the anthrax was mailed from Princeton, N.J., 195 miles from the Army biological weapons lab the anthrax is believed to have been smuggled out of...."
  • "Another Bruce Ivins may lurk in biodefense laboratory anywhere in America
    Pravda (August 4, 2008)
    • "Source: AP © There could be another Bruce Ivins lurking in a biodefense laboratory anywhere in America.
    • "There could be another Bruce Ivins lurking in a biodefense laboratory anywhere in America.
    • "These research facilities have expanded so quickly since the anthrax attacks in 2001 that the U.S. government cannot keep close tabs on the sites or their thousands of scientists. At most labs, security procedures are designed to prevent accidents, not weed out people like Ivins who work with deadly toxins while privately battling dark psychological problems....
    • "...'You cannot persuade me there are not more disturbed or disgruntled persons with a political agenda in such a large group,' Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University who has closely followed the lab expansion, said in an interview Sunday.
    • "Ebright said President George W. Bush's response to the 2001 anthrax cases increased the risk of further attack. While a biodefense program is needed, he said the president should have reduced - not increased - the number of scientists with access to potential biological weapons. Yet the administration pumped billions of dollars into the program, swelling the number of labs to nearly 1,400.
    • "Rep. Elijah Cummings, a Democratic member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Ivins case revealed a potential security flaw in the biological defense system. He said it would be irresponsible for Congress not to investigate...."
  • "Experts: Security at Bioweapons Labs a 'Nightmare'"
    FOXNews (August 4, 2008)
    • " There could be another Bruce Ivins lurking in a biodefense laboratory anywhere in America.
    • "These research facilities have expanded so quickly since the anthrax attacks in 2001 that the U.S. government cannot keep close tabs on the sites or their thousands of scientists.
    • "At most labs, security procedures are designed to prevent accidents, not weed out people like Ivins who work with deadly toxins while privately battling dark psychological problems....
    • "...'You cannot persuade me there are not more disturbed or disgruntled persons with a political agenda in such a large group,' Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University who has closely followed the lab expansion, said in an interview Sunday.
    • "Ebright said President Bush's response to the 2001 anthrax cases increased the risk of further attack.
    • "While a biodefense program is needed, he said the president should have reduced — not increased — the number of scientists with access to potential biological weapons.
    • "Yet the administration pumped billions of dollars into the program, swelling the number of labs to nearly 1,400....
  • "Is another Bruce Ivins lurking in a biolab?"
    Salon.com (August 3, 2008)
    • "Aug 3rd, 2008 | WASHINGTON -- There could be another Bruce Ivins lurking in a biodefense laboratory anywhere in America.
    • "These research facilities have expanded so quickly since the anthrax attacks in 2001 that the U.S. government cannot keep close tabs on the sites or their thousands of scientists. At most labs, security procedures are designed to prevent accidents, not weed out people like Ivins who work with deadly toxins while privately battling dark psychological problems.
    • "Military laboratories have policies intended to spot mentally troubled scientists. But those policies apparently weren't enough to flag Ivins, with his reported history of homicidal and sociopathic behavior. He killed himself Tuesday, knowing prosecutors were about to charge him with murder.
    • "At private and academic labs, the policies are even more lax.
    • "An estimated 14,000 scientists are cleared by the government to work with the most dangerous substances known as 'select agents.' Nearly all of them have access to potential biological weapons....
    • "...'You cannot persuade me there are not more disturbed or disgruntled persons with a political agenda in such a large group,' Richard Ebright, a chemistry professor at Rutgers University who has closely followed the lab expansion, said in an interview Sunday.
    • "Ebright said President Bush's response to the 2001 anthrax cases increased the risk of further attack. While a biodefense program is needed, he said the president should have reduced — not increased — the number of scientists with access to potential biological weapons. Yet the administration pumped billions of dollars into the program, swelling the number of labs to nearly 1,400.
    • "Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said the Ivins case revealed a potential security flaw in the biological defense system. He said it would be irresponsible for Congress not to investigate...."
About Dr. Ivins:
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Blogroll

Note! Although I believe that these websites and blogs are useful resources for understanding the War on Terror, I do not necessarily agree with their opinions. 1 1 Given a recent misunderstanding of the phrase "useful resources," a clarification: I do not limit my reading to resources which support my views, or even to those which appear to be accurate. Reading opinions contrary to what I believed has been very useful at times: sometimes verifying my previous assumptions, sometimes encouraging me to change them.

Even resources which, in my opinion, are simply inaccurate are sometimes useful: these can give valuable insights into why some people or groups believe what they do.

In short, It is my opinion that some of the resources in this blogroll are neither accurate, nor unbiased. I do, however, believe that they are useful in understanding the War on Terror, the many versions of Islam, terrorism, and related topics.