• Al Qaeda plot to use kamikaze dogs failed

    Al Qaeda operatives in Iraq tried to bring a plane down by deploying a pair of kamikaze canines on a U.S.-bound airplane; terrorists placed the bombs inside the dogs’ bodies, then took the dogs to the Baghdad airport in kennel carriers, destined for a flight to the United States; the plot failed because the bombs were so poorly stitched inside the dogs, that the dogs died

  • Rep. Peter King: DHS has more "refined" approach to terrorism

    The likely incoming chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Representative Peter King (R-N.Y.) has been one of the administration’s loudest critics on issues of counterterrorism and homeland security in the past year; he had repeatedly criticized White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, and has called for his firing; King has a softer tone toward the administration now, a week after the federal government prevented a series of possible attacks against cargo jets — and two month before assuming the chairmanship of the House Homeland Security Committee

  • U.K. outlines counter-terrorism priorities

    The Home Secretary’s priorities are to: enhance protective security measures, invest in conflict prevention and stopping overseas terrorist plots, refocus the U.K. strategy for preventing radicalization, and strike a better balance between liberty and security

  • Plotters had no control over where cargo bombs would go off

    The plotters behind last week’s unsuccessful mail bombings could not have known exactly where their Chicago-bound packages were when they were set to explode; the communication cards had been removed from the cell phones attached to the bombs, meaning the phones could not receive calls, making it likely the terrorists intended the alarm or timer functions to detonate the bombs; each bomb was attached to a syringe containing lead azide, a chemical initiator that would have detonated PETN explosives packed into each computer printer toner cartridge; both PETN and a syringe were used in the failed Christmas Day bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner linked to an al Qaida branch in Yemen

  • Not your father's police dept.: Tarrytown police adopts latest technology

    Tarrytown police cruisers are now rolling with the latest technology and software; two of the software systems at the fingertips of the police are the Mobile Plate Hunter 900 and the TraCS (Traffic and Criminal Software) system; used in conjunction with dual, rear-mounted license plate readers, an officer can catch an offending driver, check a driver’s background, and print up a ticket and a court summons in a matter of minutes

  • Detecting terrorist plots the old-fashioned way

    New study of eighty-six terrorist plots since 1999 found that 80 percent were discovered through old-fashioned police work or tips from the public, not technology-driven counter-terrorism operations; the authors said the authorities should cultivate good relations with “communities with persons in or near radical movements, an ability that is jeopardized by indiscriminately targeting individuals and groups due to their race, ethnicity, religion or ideology”

  • Bombs in flight -- Friday's false alarm not false

    Friday’s emergency activity concerned with finding explosive devices initially reported as a false alarm — early reports indicated no explosives were found; this proved to be wrong in subsequent reports, live devices containing PETN were found in the U.K. and Dubai; in the instance of the Dubai device, the bomb package had been flown on two passenger flights; U.S. intelligence analysis identify bombmaker; Yemeni authorities arrest and later release female student on suspicion of complicity

  • False alarm at U.S., U.K. airports

    Several United Parcel Service flights arriving at U.S and U.K. were moved to areas isolated from other aircraft, and searched for explosive devices; to this point no explosives have been found

  • Police, SAS train for Mumbai-style attack in U.K.

    Commandos of Britain’s elite Special Air Squadron(SAS) are reportedly conducting a series of counter-terrorism exercises to train the country’s police to foil 2008 Mumbai-style attacks on England; police armed response units are being given more powerful weapons; the job of the police would be to contain the situation while the job of the SAS (Special Air Service), if called upon, would be to resolve it

  • Pakistan spy agency deeply involved in Mumbai attack

    Pakistan’s intelligence agency was deeply involved in planning the 2008 terror attack on Mumbai, going so far as to fund reconnaissance missions to the Indian city; the Pakistani spy agency provided handlers for all the top members of the group, gave them direction, and provided their funding; the attack killed 166 people, paralyzed India’s business capital, and froze peace efforts between Pakistan and India; David Headley, who pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to laying the groundwork for the attack, told Indian interrogators that officers from Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency were deeply intertwined with Lashkar-e-Taiba

  • Saudis warn France of new terror threats

    France says that Saudi Arabia has warned French authorities of a terror plot, hatched by al Qaeda elements in the Arabian peninsula, directed specifically at France; France is already on heightened terror alerts following terror threats last month; speculation on the source of those terror threats centered on al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, another al Qaeda offshoot, which took five French citizens hostage in Niger in September

  • U.S. fears there are Pakistani Taliban operatives inside U.S.

    Senior U.S. officials are concerned over recent intelligence indicating that the Pakistani Taliban, which orchestrated the failed Times Square bombing, may have successfully placed another operative inside the United States to launch a second attack; based on the intelligence, authorities believe the Pakistani Taliban, also known as Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, would have directed the individual to attempt another Times Square-style operation, but not necessarily in New York City

  • Eighteen Guard members killed in Iran base blast

    The Iranian Revolutionary Guard was created in 1979 as an ideological bulwark to defend the clerical rule; in time, the Guard has become a vast military-based conglomerate, amassing a network of economic and political power that extends to virtually every aspect of life in Iran; as the West’s covert action against Iran’s nuclear weapons program intensifies, we note more and more “accidents” in Revolutionary Guards bases; in the most recent such accident, 18 Guardsmen were killed and fourteen wounded

  • Cole's legacy: a different U.S. Navy

    The terrorist bomb attack on the destroyer Cole on 12 October 2000 was a watershed moment in modern Navy history; it was also a wake-up call on the need for better force protection, damage-control training, intelligence sharing, shipboard equipment, and mass-casualty response

  • G8 joins fight against al Qaeda in North Africa

    Representatives of the G8 meet with African counterparts to formulate strategy to fight al Qaeda’s growing strength on the continent; role of African Union and the Economic Community of West African States among topics discussed