• King urges full FBI investigation into AQAP operation leaks

    In a letter to FBI director Robert Mueller, King asks that investigation encompass “everyone who had access to this vital information”; King says at least three aspects of the leak are highly disturbing: “(a) the lives of a unique intelligence source and others may have been jeopardized; (b) the operation had to be aborted before its potential was maximized; and (c) critical intelligence relationships have been damaged”

  • New law allows mobilizing reservists to respond to natural disasters

    Except for a crisis involving a weapon of mass destruction, the U.S. military reserves historically have been prohibited from providing a homeland disaster response; new authority in this year’s Defense Department authorization act changes that

  • More arrested on terrorism charges in Chicago

    The number of anti-NATO protesters arrested on terrorism-related charges has risen to five; three were arrested last Wednesday, and the police found Molotov cocktails and other weapons in the apartment of one of them; the other two were arrested for making terrorist threats; lawyers for those arrested charge that law-enforcement engaged in entrapment 

  • Homeland Security appropriations bill passes Senate subcommittee

    The bill provides $45.2 billion in discretionary spending — $1 billion below fiscal year 2012; , among the measure’s highlights: $8.9 billion in discretionary spending for the Coast Guard, $6.1 billion for the Disaster Relief Fund (DRF), and $16.9 million for cyber education; it also includes a provision adjusting the criteria used to determine whether Community Disaster Loans provided after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are eligible for cancellation

  • U.S. security agents have 20,000 contacts a year with people on terrorist watch lists

    U.S. law enforcement and security agencies encounter, on average, fifty-five “known or suspected terrorists” a day — at airports, border crossings, ports, and more; this means that U.S. security agencies have more than 20,000 contacts per year with known or suspected terrorists

  • FAA moves on integrating drones into U.S. airspace

    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now allows a government public safety agency and first responders to operate drones weighing 4.4 pounds or less in the U.S. air space, but under certain restrictions: these drones should be used for training and performance evaluation, they must be flown within the line of sight of the operator, less than 400 feet above the ground, during daylight conditions, inside Class G (uncontrolled) airspace, and more than five miles from any airport or other location with aviation activities; the FAA says that if safety agencies then apply for a waiver, the agency will allow the operation of drones weighing up to twenty-five pounds

  • Bios of female terrorists contradict stereotypes: study

    Much like their male counterparts, female terrorists are likely to be educated, employed, and native residents of the country where they commit a terrorist act, new research finds

  • Congress considering biodefense measure

    H.R. 2356, the WMD Prevention and Preparedness Act of 2011, will soon be debated before four different House committees, before going to the Senate to be debated further – all this four years after a congressionally mandated commission defined bioterrorism as a grave threat to the United States; critics charge that the reason is the unwieldy and dysfunctional manner in which Congress oversees DHS: currently there are 108 congressional committees and subcommittees with oversight responsibilities for different parts of DHS

  • U.K. faces problem of security service members with links to terrorism

    Abdul Rahman, a 33-year old Scotland Yard constable of Bangladeshi descent, had his security clearance revoked in 2006 — he chose to resign rather than be dismissed — following an MI5 investigation which concluded that, in 2001, he spent time in a terrorist training camp in Pakistan; he is one of three members of the U.K. security forces dismissed because of links to terrorism; this case made the headline because he is suing the service for compensation, and the secret legal proceedings are about to begin

  • Lawmakers call for adding the Haqqani Network to U.S. terror-group list

    A group of Republican and Democratic lawmakers are calling for the Obama administration to add the Haqqani Network to the U.S. list of terrorist organizations; the administration is not quick to move on the issue of designation because of the on-going U.S.-Pakistan-Taliban negotiations about the future of post-withdrawal Afghanistan, but the military drone attacks on Haqqani targets is continuing unabated

  • Sinai Peninsula lawlessness worries terrorism experts

    The other day, Egyptian forces seized a large quantity of weapons near the Libyan border; Egypt says the large weapon shipment was bound for the Sinai Peninsula further to destabilize the area and stir up trouble ahead of upcoming presidential elections

  • FBI sting operations become more common

    The FBI is using more and more informants in sting operations aiming to spot, and thwart, terrorist attacks in the United States; this use of informants and undercover agent by the FBI is being questioned by defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates, who ask whether such operations are preventing crimes that could have resulted in scores of deaths, or creating a crime that would not have occurred without the FBI’s help

  • Fears of cyber espionage hinder U.S. license to China Mobile

    Serious concerns over cyberspying have fueled a debate among U.S. national security agencies about whether communications giant China Mobile should be granted a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license to provide international service to American customers

  • CIA thwarts second underwear bomber attempt

    The CIA has foiled a second attempt to down a U.S. airliner by means of an underwear bomber; this device was more sophisticated than the Christmas Day airline bombing attempt over Detroit in 2009; the new bomb contains no metal, making it likely it will avoid detection at airport security checkpoints

  • Maryland teen pleads guilty in plot to support Irish terror cell

    A Maryland teen, who had won a scholarship to Johns Hopkins University, pleads guilty to being part of a plot, hatched by “Jihad Jane” from Pennsylvania, to launch a Jihad in European