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Hamas: Gaza youth "corrupted" by Israeli aphrodisiac chewing gum
Hamas charges Israeli intelligence with spreading aphrodisiac chewing gum in Gaza in order to increase Gaza youth’s sex drive and thus destabilize the Palestinian territory
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Expert consider New Jersey's disaster preparedness
State officials and medical professionals say they are continuously preparing for such events and other disasters.
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Middle East peace may be closer as Israel successfully tests Iron Dome
Peace between Israel and the Palestinians depends on Israel feeling secure enough to make deep territorial concessions to the Palestinians in the West Bank; Israel has been reluctant to make such concessions because of the security risks they entail; the successful tests of Iron Dome, a defensive system against short-range rockets, may ease Israel’s security concerns, making concessions more likely
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Senate moves to tighten federal buildings security
The GAO reported that undercover investigators were able to smuggle explosives-making materials into federal buildings, then assemble explosive devices — all without security guards being aware of what was taking place under their noses; the Congress is unhappy
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U.S., Spain in safer-flight agreement
The United States and Spain have formalized a program that identifies high-risk travelers Airport before they can board a flight to the United States
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Smuggled cigarettes used to finance terrorism
It costs $100,000 to produce 10 million cigarettes in China, which can reap revenues as high as $2 million in the United States; 9/11 cost al Qaeda only about $500,000 to pull off; other terrorists have noticed
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U.K. government: Best cyber defense is cyber offense
New National Security Strategy document includes, for the first time, a public cyber security strategy; unnamed high government source: “We don’t want to engage in cyber war but we can’t remain a target for criminals to take a pop at”
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Simpler, cheaper planes steal the show in Paris
Simpler, slower, and cheaper planes, loaded with weapons, attract attention at the Paris Air Show; these planes are more suitable for the budget-conscious Pentagon — and for fighting insurgents; Stephen Biddle: “Somebody roaring by at 500 miles per hour has a harder time of distinguishing between civilians and insurgents”
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Hamas, Hezbollah employ Russian hackers for cyber attacks on Israel
During Israel’s January campaign in the Gaza Strip, Israeli government’s Web site were attacked, and some were paralyzed for hours; Israeli intelligence suspects the attacks were carried out by a criminal organization from the former Soviet Union and paid for by Hamas or Hezbollah
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U.K. to centralize cybersecurity functions
Following President Obama’s cybersecurty initiative, the U.K. government will move to centralize cyber security functions in Whitehall as part of an on-going major review of U.K. cybersecurity
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Palestinians in Gaza try to build new foundations from the ruins of old ones
Tight Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade of the Gaza Strip prevents building materials from entering the Hamas-controlled area; Gazans have come up with ingenious ways of rebuilding their city
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U.K. security services acted properly with the information they had
Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee: “we cannot criticize the judgments made by MI5 and the police based on the information that they had and their priorities at the time”
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GPO reveals confidential U.S. nuclear information by mistake
A 2004 agreement between the United States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires the United States to submit to the agency a detailed list of the addresses and specifications of hundreds of U.S. nuclear-weapons-related facilities, laboratories, reactors, and research activities, including the location of fuel for bombs; the Department of Energy (DOE) prepared the report, and Government Printing Office (GPO) printed it so it could be submitted to the IAEA — but the GPO went ahead and, mistakenly, posted 268-page dossier on its Web site
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Pakistan's security gadgets market booming
Dealers say people more interested in installing CCTVs, night-vision cameras at houses, filling stations, jewelry shops, hotels, restaurants
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9/11 attacks cloud Americans' view of terrorism
There were 80,000 terrorist attacks around the world from 1970 to 2007; of those attacks, only 1,350 attacks, or 1.6 percent, hit American targets — mostly overseas; this percentage plummets to 0.08 percent when attacks on domestic targets are calculated
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The long view
Extremist Ideology Is Hard to Pin Down
When it comes to extremist motivations for political violence, their varied sources and the role of mental health make it difficult to attribute a root cause and who might have been responsible for leading them down that road. Benjamin Allison writes that thelack of ideological clarity among those who commit acts of political violence is not uncommon.
U.S. Domestic Terrorism Is Increasingly Motivated by Partisan Politics
One of the most alarming trends in terrorism is the growth in anti-government extremism. “The heightened risk of terrorist attacks motivated by partisan beliefs does not just endanger individual lives but also threatens the democratic process itself, casting a shadow over open discourse and discouraging civic engagement,” Riley McCabe writes.