• Details, timeline of attack on Benghazi compound emerge

    The details and time line of the assault on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi raises questions about whether internal and external security arrangements were sufficient; the relative ease with which the assailants managed to enter the compound, and then shoot their way from building to building, suggests that there were not enough security guards to protect the compound; but there are also questions about the security arrangements between the United States and Libya. It is not clear why it took the Libyan government – or the local police – nearly four hours to respond: the assault began at 10:00 p.m., but Libyan units did not arrive in force until 2:00 a.m.

  • U.S. Middle East embassies under attack

    Three U.S. embassies in the Middle East and North Africa came under attack on Tuesday and Wednesday; the attacks, in Cairo, Benghazi, and Sanaa, have raised different questions; the attack in Cairo, which saw a score of ultraislamist demonstrators scale the walls of the embassy and pull down the U.S. flag, raised questions about a press release issued by the embassy, a release which, some charged, appeared to be more concerned with the hurt feelings of Muslims than with the security of U.S. personnel and the rule of law; the Benghazi attack raised questions of a more operational nature, concerning intelligence and protection

  • Are Americans safer today than they were four years ago?

    The presidential campaign is dominated by economic issues, so the question the two candidates invite their audience to ponder is: “Are you better off now than four years ago?”; the question “Are you safer today than you were four years ago” is hardly, if ever, posed; security experts agree that while security challenges posed by China, Iran, and Islamists in Africa have grown, Americans are safer today than they were four years ago because the Obama administration, relative to its predecessor and, has pursued the campaign against terrorism and terrorists more aggressively and more single-mindedly; sustained drone strikes and secretive special operations have weakened al Qaeda considerably over the last four years

  • In Pakistan, stronger support for militant groups among the middle class than the poor

    Expectations that poorer people are more susceptible to the appeals of violent groups have contributed to U.S. policies that focus on using aid to reduce poverty as a way to combat militant violence; a new survey found, however, that the poor in Pakistan were substantially more negative toward militant groups than their middle class countrymen

  • More traffic deaths following 9/11

    In the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, many Americans started driving more due to a fear of flying — and lost their lives in traffic accidents; why did this happen more frequently in some states than in others? Why did Spanish driving habits not change in the same way following the 2004 train bombings in Madrid? Psychologists offer an answer

  • Lawmakers threaten Pakistan aid unless jailed Pakistani doctor is released

    Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is threatening to hold up Senate business unless a discussion is scheduled on the fate of the jailed Pakistani doctor Shakil Afridi, who helped the United States locate Ossama bin Laden; Paul has been working for a month to bring the issue of U.S. aid to Pakistan to a vote – and he is gathering support for a vote on freezing all aid to Pakistan until Afridi is freed

  • The historical and future probabilities of 9/11-size terrorist events

    On the eleventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, two statisticians apply statistical methods to try and accurately estimate the probability of a 9/11-size terrorist attack occurring during the next decade; examining the historical data from 1968 to 2007, they show that the likelihood of a 9/11-size attack occurring within this time frame was between 11 and 35 percent; looking forward, the likelihood increase to between 25 and 50 percent – and, under certain circumstances, to 95 percent

  • Questions raised about cost, reliability of BioWatch upgrade

    One year ago, DHS said a new contract for Biowatch, a system for detecting biological attacks on the United States, would be awarded in May 2012 and would cost an estimated $3.1 billion during its initial five years of operation; now DHS has decided to postpone the plans due to concerns about cost and reliability

  • DHS funds more tests of autonomous power buoy for ocean surveillance

    Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has entered into an agreement with DHS Science & Technology Directorate to perform a new round of in-ocean tests on the company’s Autonomous PowerBuoy to demonstrate its use for ocean surveillance

  • Assassination attempt on Quebec’s premier-elect foiled

    A man shouting “The Anglos are waking up” broke into a victory party held by Pauline Marois, Quebec’s premier-elect and the leader of the separatist Parti Quebecois (PQ), after the party won the provincial election on Tuesday; the gunman missed Marois but killed one man and wounded two others; the PQ emerged as the largest party in the province, but it failed to win an outright majority; its minority government status means that it will not be able to push for a referendum on Quebec’s independence from Canada

  • The costs, benefits, and efficiency of aviation security measures

    The threat of terrorist attack on American aviation has made the system the focus of intense security efforts, but it is difficult to determine if the benefits outweigh their cost; efficient security policy — a focus on getting the most security for the least cost — should be the priority in an era of fiscal austerity, says a new RAND report

  • Last year’s east coast earthquake has the region preparing for another one

    Last year an earthquake that was centered in Virginia shook up the entire east coast, surprising everyone; it did not result in any deaths and was considered relatively light compared to many tremors on the West Coast, but it was bad enough to force some states to prepare themselves in case of another quake

  • Photographers and security personnel fight over access to buildings

    In the years after 9/11 and the 7 July 2005 London bombings, photographers have been waging a war with security personnel of public and private buildings; photographers argue that anything that one can see from the street can be photographed, even if it is a privately owned building, but security people – both private and the police – are worried about terrorists gathering information for a possible attack

  • Campaign against terrorist financial networks complicated, demanding

    The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) last week announced the seizure of $150 million in cash from “entities linked to Hizballah,” including the now-defunct Lebanese Canadian Bank (LCB); the announcement may seem like a big win in the war on terror, but it is merely a small dent as terrorist organizations use a myriad of tactics to move their money around undetected

  • DHS using Boston subway system to test new sensors for biological agents

    Bioterrorism is nothing new, and although medicines have made the world a safer place against a myriad of old scourges both natural and manmade, it still remains all too easy today to uncork a dangerous cloud of germs; DHS’s Science and Technology Directorate (DHS S&T) has scheduled a series of tests in the Boston subways to measure the real-world performance of new sensors recently developed to detect biological agents