Category: Spooks
CIA Passed Up Chance To Catch Ex-SD Imam
Last October, the Yemeni government came to the CIA with a request: Could the agency collect intelligence that might help target the network of a U.S.-born al-Qaeda recruiter named Anwar al-Aulaqi?
What happened next is haunting, in light of subsequent events: The CIA concluded that it could not assist the Yemenis in locating Aulaqi for a possible capture operation. The primary reason was that the agency lacked specific evidence that he threatened the lives of Americans — which is the threshold for any capture-or-kill operation against a U.S. citizen. The Yemenis also wanted U.S. Special Forces’ help on the ground in pursuing Aulaqi; that, too, was refused.
Even if the CIA had obtained hard evidence in October that Aulaqi was a threat, and Special Forces had been authorized for a capture operation, permission from the National Security Council would have been needed. That’s because any use of lethal force against a “U.S. person,” such as Aulaqi, requires White House review.
The subsequent chain of events was a chilling demonstration of Aulaqi’s power as an al-Qaeda facilitator: On Nov. 5, U.S. Army Maj. Nidal Hasan killed 13 of his fellow soldiers at Fort Hood, Tex.; Hasan had exchanged 18 or more e-mails with Aulaqi in the months before the shootings, according to the Associated Press. Then, on Christmas Day, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian who had been living in Yemen, tried to blow up an airliner bound for Detroit; he is said to have confessed later that Aulaqi was one of his trainers for this mission.
Former SD Imam Calls for Jihad on US
Partial transcript of remarks by former San Diego imam and SDSU grad student Anwar al-Awlaki, who’s holed up in Yemen and corresponded with Maj. Nidal Hasan before the Fort Hood shooting (Via Fox News):
… I for one was born in the U.S., I lived in the U.S. for 21 years. America was my home. I was a preacher of Islam involved in non-violent Islamic activism. However, with the American invasion of Iraq and continued U.S. aggression against Muslims I could not reconcile between living in the U.S. and being a Muslim.
And I eventually came to the conclusion that Jihad against America is binding upon myself just as it is binding on every other able Muslim. Nidal Hasan was not recruited by Al-Qaeda. Nidal Hasan was recruited by American crimes and this is what America refuses to admit. America refuses to admit that its foreign policies are the reason behind the man like Nidal Hasan — born and raised in the U.S. turning his guns against American soldiers. And the more crimes America commits the more mujahedeen will be recruited to fight against it. …
SBInet: "Can we Get a Refund?"
Two House subcommittees held a hearing today on the ongoing problems with the multi-billion dollar “virtual border fence” being built by Boeing Corp. along the U.S.-Mexico border.
Earlier this week, DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano froze funding out of concerns that the program, called SBInet, was plagued with problems. More than $1b has already been spent but the system has only been installed along 28 miles of the 2,000-mile border.
At the current rate of 28 miles every 4.5 years, it would take 320 years – or until the year 2330 – to deploy SBInet technology across the Southwest border.
The GAO’s latest findings reveal that 1) he number of problems in the program are outpacing those being fixed and 2) about 70 percent of SBInet testing procedures apparently were changed at the last minute to “pass the test” rather than qualify the system.
Asked Chairman Chris Carney, D-Pa., “Can we get a refund?”
DHS Halts Border Security Boondoggle
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has ordered an immediate freeze on all funding of an expensive “virtual fence” of tower-mounted cameras and sensors along the U.S.-Mexico border called SBInet.
The program has been “plagued” with cost overruns and missed deadlines, DHS Homeland Secretary Janet Napolitano said today in a statement.
The delays mean that Border Patrol agents have had to use existing cameras that don’t work well. Thanks mostly to the Senate ,the Border Patrol also has no leader, but that’s another story.
As of July, the government had given $1.1 billion to SBInet contractor Boeing Co. according to this GAO report.
A 2006 DHS strategic plan estimated that installing the system along the Southwest border would cost $7.6 billion through fiscal 2011.
SBInet is really another name for C3I or C4I (command, control, computers, communications, and intelligence) — an Orwellian integrated surveillance system that can cover a huge area.
Greece hired a consortium led by SAIC to install a similar system for the 2004 Olympic games, but the system was delivered in time for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
The DHS says it is re-allocating $50 million of $100 million in Recovery Act funding slated for SBInet to off-the-shelf cameras, light detectors, radios, cameras, laptops.
It’s unclear to me what prolonging a wasteful program has to do with economic recovery. Update: If you take a look at Recovery.gov, you’ll find one of the reasons — I’m not making this up — is helping the steel industry by building all those towers.
The Boeing SBInet core team includes
- Centech — Arlington, Va.
- DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group — Palm Bay, Fla.
- Kollsman Inc. (an Elbit Systems of America company) — Merrimack, N.H.
- L-3 Government Services Inc. — Washington, D.C.
- L-3 Communication Systems West — Salt Lake City, Utah
- Lucent Technologies — Murray Hill, N.J.
- Perot Systems — Plano, Texas
- Unisys Global Public Sector — Reston, Va.
- USIS — Washington, D.C.
Washington Post Corrects Awlaki Story
The Washington Post has corrected its blockbuster Jan. 27 front-page story that reported that three U.S. citizens, including former San Diego imam Anwar Awlaki, were on the CIA’s “kill or capture” list.
Awlaki, a U.S. citizen who lived in San Diego in the 1990s and attended graduate school, is now living in a remote area in Yemen.
U.S. authorities believe he served as a “spiritual advisor” to some of the 9/11 hijackers and he corresponded with Maj. Nidal Hasan, the alleged Fort Hood shooter. There are also reports, which Awlaki has denied, that he directed the attempted Christmas Day jetliner bombing.
Even though he’s apparently not on a CIA list, Awlaki may still be marked for death. The military’s Joint Special Operations Command also maintains a separate list of high-value targets (HVTs) targeted for kill or capture. The Post is sticking by its original reporting that “several” Americans are on it.
Still it’s an embarrassing correction. ProPublica’s Stephen Engleberg sympathizes with the Post reporter, Dana Priest, and compares covering the intelligence community like fumbling around in a dark room.
He also notes some of the discrepancies that I pointed out earlier between Priest’s story and a Jan. 31 follow by the LA Times’ Greg Miller.
I still have doubts about this whole assassination story. As a U.S. citizen, Awlaki is protected under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution. Like it or not, even traitors have rights in our country.
Trump / Russia 