menu

Topic:

Intelligence

The Yemen Air Cargo Attack Means Increased Security Measures Are Imminent

|
November 4, 2010

As the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its allies in the intelligence community assess the serious attack on international aviation that originated in Yemen, these key considerations should be foremost in their minds: defeating the terrorist threat relies on multi-national information sharing; increasing economic globalization requires a dynamic and secure air cargo supply chain; and attacking international commercial aviation remains a terrorist priority.

▾ Read More

Air Cargo: Caution – Reactionaries at Work

|
November 3, 2010

Reports are that the air cargo industry is nervous about regulatory or legislative responses to the recent terrorist attempt to send package bombs to the United States on cargo aircraft. It should be. Reactionaries in Washington don’t rest. Recent quotes from legislators suggest that the provisions of the Air Cargo Security Act of 2010, as with current mandates, should be enforced globally for cargo-only aircraft. Federalizing the security of the supply chain serves as blunt instrument, a reactionary’s tool of choice, to the problem.

▾ Read More

Will the Elections Affect Cyber Efforts?

|
November 3, 2010

Here are the issues. None of the big legislative players lost on November 2. In that regard, all the legislative efforts should continue to move through the system. But will the new Congress be open to bipartisanship? Will these key areas of cooperation improve or fall by the wayside? On the executive side, theoretically, nothing has changed. That, however, is only a theory. Reality will steamroller that theory in a heartbeat. Cyber efforts could be deemed second-tier stuff and lose what momentum they have finally started to gain. I certainly hope not.

▾ Read More

Air cargo group urges global cooperation

|
November 3, 2010

Air cargo group urges global cooperation – GovExec
Security regulators around the world must work together to ensure that the movement of air freight is safe and secure, especially after last week’s discovery of package bombs on cargo flights headed to Chicago from Yemen, an air cargo group says.

▾ Read More

Experts: cargo bombs raise questions about adequacy of technology

|
November 2, 2010

Experts: cargo bombs raise questions about adequacy of technology – Homeland Security Newswire
The bombs found on board two U.S.-bound cargo aircraft this weekend demonstrate that current freight-screening technology still cannot guarantee air security, according to experts.

▾ Read More

Ridge: Attempted Attacks Part of Post-9/11 Reality

|
November 2, 2010

Ridge: Attempted Attacks Part of Post-9/11 Reality – CQ Homeland Security
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Monday that intelligence was the key factor in Friday’s discovery of two improvised explosive devices in U.S.-bound cargo packages. But while he called the sharing and analysis of information critical to preventing future attacks, he said he worries that congressional regulation of the intelligence community has made its work overly procedural.

▾ Read More

Lessons from abroad – Countering terrorism in Japan – Part II (on the system)

|
November 2, 2010

Unlike America’s federalized police, Japan’s national police force is overseen by the National Public Safety Commission, a five-member oversight body appointed by the Prime Minister. Regional bureaus, which serve supervisory roles over prefectural police, add another layer of bureaucracy to Japan’s police system. Japan’s constitution is what really provides the legal framework (some say, constraints) within which the police conduct counterterrorism. Looking to Japan’s many government bodies, one gets a genuine sense of the bureaucratic politics and challenges facing the Japanese government.

▾ Read More

Ridge: Intelligence Still More Important Than Technology in Cargo Security

|
November 2, 2010

Ridge: Intelligence Still More Important Than Technology in Cargo Security – CQ Homeland Security Ridge noted that intelligence appeared to be the key factor in the recent case of the explosives found disguised as printer ink cartridges in a UPS plane in Britain and a FedEx plane in Dubai. “I think the facts are undeniable,” […]

▾ Read More

Markey Looking for Bipartisan Support on Cargo Security Proposal

|
November 1, 2010

Markey Looking for Bipartisan Support on Cargo Security Proposal – CQ Homeland Security
Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., didn’t seek support from other lawmakers before announcing that he intends to file a bill to mandate explosives screening for all U.S.-bound packages – on cargo planes as well as passenger planes — but he’s hoping his colleagues will stand behind the proposal.

▾ Read More

Resisting the Threat from Radicalized Immigrants and Citizens

|
November 1, 2010

As investigations continue into the bombs shipped from Yemen to the United States, the news last week about a plot to bomb Washington, DC Metro stations should not be forgotten. Indeed, the arrest of Farooque Ahmed, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Pakistan, is evidence of another kind of ongoing terrorist threat to the United States, one that stems from citizens and immigrants. Ahmed’s arrest shows the threat of smaller-scale terrorist attacks carried out by U.S. citizens is growing. U.S. citizens are particularly attractive to al Qaeda and other terrorists because they can more easily plot and prepare for attacks without drawing the attention of law enforcement, the intelligence community or the Department of Homeland Security.

▾ Read More