* 911 Imam Awlaki’s Call From Grave: Attack With Bioweapons ; Awlaki Was Coordinating With Ali Al-TImimi Who Shared A Suite With the Leading DARPA-funded Ames Researchers
Posted by DXer on May 4, 2012
******
******
- Comment
- Reblog
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
CASE CLOSED ... what really happened in the 2001 anthrax attacks? 
DXer said
In ‘The Hot Zone: Anthrax,’ Matthew Ryker races to stop anthrax attacks after 911.
https://en.brinkwire.com/entertainment/in-the-hot-zone-anthrax-matthew-ryker-races-to-stop-anthrax-attacks-after-911/
DXer said
In interviews through his lawyer with ProPublica and in his statements to the FBI, Johar denied having been asked by Thumairy to assist the hijackers as well as allegations that he provided lodging for them at Thumairy’s direction. According to the 2016 report, he said that a few days after the lunch meeting, he took Hazmi and Mihdhar to a Greyhound station to catch a bus to San Diego. They were met there by Bayoumi, who found them an apartment in his building, loaned them money to rent it, helped them arrange English classes and flying lessons, and introduced them to a circle of other Muslims, including the future Qaida cleric Anwar al-Awlaki.
https://wallstreetwindow.com/2021/09/long-secret-fbi-report-reveals-new-connections-between-9-11-hijackers-and-saudi-religious-officials-in-u-s-tim-golden-and-sebastian-rotella/
DXer said
Because of the FBI’s redactions (which the CIA supports), we won’t know if the memorandum written by Robert Mueller’s right-hand man, head of Amerithrax investigator Richard Lambert, discussed Al-Timimi or Anwar Awlaki. Perhaps a look behind-the-scenes Robert Mueller told the investigators in Fall 2004 that they needed to fish or cut bait — and they did not come up with any evidence that warranted any charge beyond what they brought. But if that’s so, an unconstitutionally vague statute should not be allowed to impose an excessively harsh sentence.
There were lots of ways in which Al Qaeda could have obtained virulent Ames.
We’ll learn far more from a book by Dr. Al-TImimi than we’ll ever learn from the FBI or CIA. Hopefully, he’ll write it for a broad true crime audience and give the “Clash of Civilizations” schtick a rest.
https://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
http://www.startribune.com/islamic-scholar-s-terror-convictions-reviewed-in-virginia/511781842/
Islamic scholar’s terror convictions reviewed in Virginia
By MATTHEW BARAKAT Associated Press JUNE 25, 2019 — 1:35PM
FALLS CHURCH, Va. — A judge is considering tossing out parts of a 10-count conviction against an Islamic scholar serving life in prison for persuading some of his followers to travel overseas after the Sept. 11 attacks and try to join the Taliban.
The review in the case of Ali Al-Timimi of Fairfax comes after the Supreme Court on Monday struck down part of a federal law regulating crimes of violence as unconstitutionally vague.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema issued a show cause order Tuesday giving prosecutors 30 days to explain why she shouldn’t overturn three of the 10 counts on which Al-Timimi was convicted at his 2005 trial.
Vacating those convictions would likely still leave a significant sentence on remaining counts, which include soliciting treason. But the life sentence would be unlikely to survive.
Al-Timimi was indicted in 2004, and prosecutors said the U.S.-born scholar — who had earned his doctorate in computational biology shortly before his arrest — enjoyed rock-star status among his small group of followers.
At a private gathering a few days after the Sept. 11 attacks, Al-Timimi told his followers that an apocalyptic battle between Muslims and the West loomed, and that Muslims were obliged to defend the Taliban if they had the ability to do so, according to trial testimony.
***
But the “crime of violence” statute has been under constitutional assault for several years, and several members of the paintball conspiracy have already been released from jail early as a result of previous court rulings.
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling Monday in U.S. v. Davis, though, directly affects Al-Timimi’s case, according to his lawyer, Jonathan Turley.
The high court “has unequivocally invalidated the … clause that formed the basis for Al-Timimi’s convictions under Counts 1, 7, and 8,” Turley wrote in a brief Monday urging the court to take action.
***
Al-Timimi’s case has been up and down through the appellate courts for much of the last 15 years. A broader challenge to his convictions is pending, claiming prosecutors failed to disclose before trial evidence that the government used a northern Virginia cleric named Anwar al-Awlaki as an informant, and that he tried unsuccessfully to lure Al-Timimi into illegal conduct as part of a government sting.
Al-Awlaki later left the U.S. and became a leader in al-Qaeda before he was killed in a U.S. drone strike.
Prosecutors have argued consistently that there is no evidence related to al-Awlaki to which Al-Timimi’s lawyers would have been entitled.
Comment: Although I didn’t agree with Professor Turley’s endorsement of Michael Avenatti, I do admire his defense of Ali Al-Timimi. I think Turley is acting in the tradition of First Amendment scholar Professor Archibald Cox, who set a high standard of dispassionate advocacy and morality.
Truth be told, Al-Timimi’s rhetoric and occasional hyperbole was less inflammatory than Trumps tweets on any given day. Prosecutor GK could have listened to hours and hours of Al-Timimi lectures and come away with nothing that approached a red line.
Dr. Al-Timimi got in trouble for putting religion before nation state — which got him in trouble in this secular world. His sentence was very harsh. What was it? Two life sentences plus 70 years? Perhaps justice has been done based on the charges brought and proved — based on the years already served.
I, for one, am eagerly waiting to read the draft of Dr. Al-TImimi’s book.
DXer said
This book reviewer, Glenn Cross, got his PhD at George Mason University. The book review bio notes: “Ken Alibek, was his dissertation advisor. Dr. Cross went on to do a postdoctoral fellowship at Georgetown University Medical School developing means for attributing biological weapons attacks.” Ken Alibek told me that they were using Ames. (Hands-on research was done at SRI in Frederick).
So Glenn, if the United States is attacked using Ames, it happened on your watch because you did not bother to obtain and keep a copy of the emails — the only documents relied upon by your colleague R. Scott Decker in closing the case — that were quoted in the Amerithrax Investigation Summary. The documents being withheld by both Dave Hardy of the FBI and John Peterson of the USAMRMC establish Bruce ivins’ alibi. They were specifically culled with the full knowledge of a large committee of DOJ and FBI folks reviewing production to me. The NYT’s Scott Shane had made the original FOIA request for the emails in September 2008.
Here is Glenn’s book review of his FBI colleague’s book which rehashes his Ivins conjecture. His book relies upon the addictions counselor who wrote a book about how she thought an alien controlled her through a chip inserted in her butt and that astral spirits associated to her clients trying to kill her each night.
Decker did not read his star witnesses book sold on Amazon and apparently STILL has not read it. He still relies on her.
Most incompetent investigative practice I’ve ever seen in my life. His wife, another investigator, apparently has not read it either. Just incredible.
Death in the Air: Revisiting the 2001 Anthrax Mailings and the Amerithrax Investigation
Glenn Cross
January 16, 2019
Book Reviews
“The book is Decker’s first-person account of his role in the case. This perspective is both the book’s major strength and its major weakness. Decker’s focus was on developing and refining the scientific approach to the investigation, so he deftly weaves a compelling account of the scientific aspects of Amerithrax. At the same time, although he certainly was aware of other aspects of Amerithrax, Decker’s book offers no insight into the efforts to examine possible international terrorist involvement in the mailings, an early concern that continued late into the case.”
https://warontherocks.com/2019/01/death-in-the-air-revisiting-the-2001-anthrax-mailings-and-the-amerithrax-investigation/
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
https://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
https://www.emptywheel.net/tag/drones/?print=print
July 30, 2018
10 Years of emptywheel: Jim’s Dimestore
DETAILS OF SILICON-TIN CHEMISTRY OF ANTHRAX ATTACK SPORES PUBLISHED; WILLMAN TUT-TUTS
Sandia National Laboratories image of attack spore. In the upper frame, silicon, in green, is found exclusively on the spore coat and not on the exosporium (outer pink border).
Perhaps my favorite topic over the years has been a technical analysis of the evidence presented by the FBI in its Amerithrax investigation. It is absolutely clear from this analysis of the anthrax attacks of 2001 that the FBI failed to demonstrate how Bruce Ivins could have carried out the attacks on his own. This post goes deep into the technical weeds of how the spores in the attack material were treated so that they would disperse easily and seem to float on air. The bottom line is that high amounts of silicon are found inside these spores. The silicon could not have gotten there naturally, and it took very sophisticated chemistry to get it there and treat it to make sure it stayed. Ivins had neither the expertise nor the equipment to achieve this highly advanced bioweaponization. Earlier work I did in this series showed that Ivins also could not have grown the anthrax used in the attacks. My favorite candidate for where it was produced is an isolated lab built by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency on what is now called the Nevada National Security Site (formerly the Nevada Test Site) that Judy Miller described on September 4, 2001. That article by Miller has always stood out to me as the ultimate limited hangout presented by DoD before the fact, where we see a facility of the perfect size for producing the amount of material used in the anthrax attacks. Those attacks occurred just a short time after the article was published. Miller’s assurance in the article that the site only was used for production of harmless bacteria sharing some characteristics with anthrax just never smelled right to me.
DXer said
“After Rahami was captured, investigators found blood-spattered papers on him that “contained a reference” to Anwar al-Awlaki, according to a federal law enforcement official who asked not to be identified discussing the ongoing investigation.
Awlaki, an American-born cleric who was a top leader for al-Qaida in Yemen, was killed in a 2011 drone strike, but his rhetoric continue to resonate online. His teachings have been implicated in numerous terrorist attacks, including the 2009 Fort Hood shooting, and authorities say the gunman in Orlando earlier this year and one of the attackers in San Bernardino, Calif., last year had viewed Awlaki’s lectures.”
Investigators found reference to al-Qaida figure on suspected bomber Ahmad Rahami, official says.
http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20160920/investigators-found-reference-to-al-qaida-figure-on-suspected-bomber-ahmad-rahami-official-says
DXer said
The Biothreat Is Real — And We’re Not Ready, Report Says, OCT 28 2015, 11:02 AM ET
by MAGGIE FOX
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/biothreat-real-were-not-ready-report-says-n452906
Lieberman says it’s urgent.
“The more we looked at this, the more real we concluded the threat is,” he said. “You have got groups like ISIS looking to and willing to do the most terrorizing things they can possibly do. They specifically endorsed biological warfare and threatened to attack the U.S. homeland with biological weapons.”
DXer said
Biochemistry student Ferid Imam watched Anwar Awlaki videos. Where did he do his co-op(s)?
http://www.news-journal.com/news/2015/apr/13/state-native-faces-terror-charge/
State native faces terror charge
By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD, New York Times
April 13, 2015 at 12:02 a.m.
NEW YORK — A Texas-born man who had apparently joined al-Qaida in Pakistan has been flown back to the United States, where he was arraigned Thursday in Brooklyn on a charge of providing material support to terrorists.
The man, Mohanad Mahmoud Al Farekh, developed extremist views while a student at the University of Manitoba in Canada, according to the criminal complaint in U.S. District Court, and often watched online videos about jihad, including some from Anwar al-Awlaki, a onetime leader of al-Qaida.
In 2006, he, a classmate, Ferid Imam, and another person talked about leaving Canada for Pakistan. There, the authorities say, they planned to train in order to commit jihad against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.
DXer said
Al Qaeda leader breaks 11-month silence, By Kristina Wong – 08/14/15
http://thehill.com/policy/defense/251123-al-qaeda-leader-releases-new-video-after-11-months-of-silence
“Al-Zawahri’s message underscores that al-Qaida remains close to the Taliban,” he said.
Riedel said in a warning to the United States, Al-Zawahiri said, “Our common enemy does not know what is coming its way.”
DXer said
Except from motion filed June 29, 2015 in Al-Al-TImimi appeal:
APPELLANT’S MOTION FOR REMAND, OR, IN THE ALTERNATIVE, AN ORDER ALLOWING THE INCLUSION OF FBI DOCUMENT
“The release of the new document (Exhibit A) has raised serious questions regarding the withholding of material information in this case. Lead defense counsel received this document in March 2015 from the nationl Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The document references “Squad IT-3” of the Washington Field Office (WFO) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) .. and confirms prior investigations of Appellant that were not disclosed to defense.”
Note: Pre-911, Ames anthrax researchers Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey served as consultants to Battelle.
DXer said
“The document itself is material to the case and further references multiple investigations prior to 2003 with possible hundreds of documents related to Dr. Al-Timimi, Anwar al-Aulaqi, and/or Al Qaeda.”
Appeal: 14-4451 Doc: 51 Filed: 06/29/2015 Pg: 4 of 21
DXer said
Appeal: 14-4451 Doc: 53 Filed: 07/10/2015 Pg: 2 of 9
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff-Appellee v.
ALI AL-TIMIMI, ) ) Defendant-Appellant )
GOVERNMENT=S RESPONSE TO MOTION TO REMAND
On June 29, 2015, the Court directed the United States to respond to Ali Al- Timimi=s motion to remand for further proceedings his appeal from his convictions for soliciting treason and counseling others to levy war against the United States, aid the Taliban, assist terrorists, and engage in related firearms offenses. The United States opposes remanding this case for further proceedings.
Al-Timimi was convicted and sentenced in 2005. Although he promptly appealed, the next year he moved this Court to remand his case to the district court for consideration of his allegations that the government failed to provide him with the pre-trial discovery to which he was entitled. The United States denied his allegations but did not oppose that motion, and this Court granted it.
Between 2006 and 2014, Al-Timimi raised numerous and varied alleged discovery violations before United States District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema. Judge Brinkema resolved the last of those allegations in May 2014, and found that none had merit. This renewed appeal followed.
Now, Al-Timimi seeks another remand so that Judge Brinkema may consider a new claim regarding another allegation of a discovery violation. This motion is based on Al-Timimi’s speculation about the contents of the un-redacted portion of a document that he obtained in cryptic, redacted form, from the National Archives and Records Administration. The motion should be denied. Al-Timimi’s speculation to the contrary, the document (referred to by Al-Timimi as the “Squad IT-3 Document”) is not evidence of any discovery violation.
We have located the still-classified un-redacted copy of the “Squad IT-3 Document,” and agree that it refers to Al-Timimi. Further, we agree that it refers to the course of an investigation involving him. Notwithstanding its reference to Al-Timimi and an investigation of him, however, it simply was not discoverable in his criminal case.
As Al-Timimi’s writes, “[o]ne of the key issues in this appeal is the refusal of the district court to order additional discovery despite indications that Dr. Al- Timimi was the subject of undisclosed and material investigations and surveil- lance.” Al-Timimi’s Motion for Remand, at p. 3. He is mystified by Judge
Brinkema’s adverse discovery rulings over the last nine years because he maintains a fundamental misconception about the nature of discovery in a criminal case.
This motion is simply another manifestation of Al-Timimi’s unwillingness to recognize the contours of the government’s discovery obligations under the law In asserting that the “Squad IT-3 Document” is discoverable because it refers to him and to an investigation involving him, Al-Timimi overlooks – – as he has overlooked for the last nine years – – the fact that all information in the possession of the government that relates to a defendant is not necessarily required to be disclosed in discovery to him in connection with his prosecution.
“There is no general constitutional right to discovery in a criminal case.” Weatherford v. Bursey, 429 U.S. 545, 559 1977). Aside from the obligation to provide exculpatory and impeaching evidence under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 105 (1972), the government’s discovery obligations are set forth in Rule 16 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure (and the Jencks Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3500). Pursuant to Rule 16(a)(2), however, the government is generally not obligated to disclose reports or other internal government documents in connection with the investigation of the case.
In pertinent part, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16(a)(2) provides:
Except as Rule 16(a)(1) provides otherwise, this rule does not authorize the discovery or inspection of reports, memoranda, or other internal government documents made by an attorney for the government or other government agent in connection with investigating or prosecuting the case.
Fed.R.Crim.P. 16(a)(2) (emphasis added).
“Rule 16(a) specifies the evidence that the government must, upon request,
provide to the defendant prior to trial. Though much of the government’s evidence is subject to disclosure under Rule 16(a), the rule ‘does not authorize the discovery or inspection of reports . . . made by . . . government agents in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the case.’ Fed.R.Crim.P. 16(a)(2).” United States v. Lewis, 35 F.3d 148, 150 (4th Cir. 1994).
“Reports, memoranda, or other internal government documents created by a government agent in connection with the investigation or prosecution of the case are immune from discovery.” United States v. Polk, 715 F.3d 238, 249 (8th Cir. 2013). See United States v. Fort, 472 F.3d 1106, 1114 (9th Cir. 2007) (police reports created by federal law enforcement officers “plainly” are protected under Rule 16(a)(2)); United States v. LiCausi, 167 F.3d 36, 51 (1st Cir. 1999) (Fed.R.Crim.P. 16(2) barred defendant from access to the result of the agent’s investigation where it was neither Brady or Giglio); United States v. Mann, 61 F.3d 326, 331 (5th Cir. 1995) (“Rule 16(a)(2) clearly exempts certain types of government materials from discovery, with the reports at issue being among them”).
In essence, the “Squad IT-3 Document” is an investigative report by an FBI agent regarding an investigation that involved Al-Timimi. The “Squad IT-3 Document” contains no information that would make it discoverable.1
Al-Timimi argues that the “Squad IT-3 Document” is material to his defense because it refers to his meeting with Anwar Awlaki in October 2002. Motion to Remand at 14. Evidence favorable to a defendant is “material” pursuant to Brady
“when it could reasonably be taken to put the whole case in such a different light as to undermine confidence in the verdict.” Cone v. Bell, 556 U.S. 449, 469-70 (2009). In other words, favorable evidence is subject to constitutionally mandated disclosure only if it is “likely to have changed the verdict.” United States v. Bartko, 728 F.3d 327, 338 (4th Cir. 2013).
Al-Timimi was convicted on charges that focused on his actions in September and October 2001, when he induced Khan, Kwon, Hasan, Aatique, and others to travel to Afghanistan to fight against the American troops that he expected to be sent there; Awlaki was not mentioned in the lengthy indictment, and his name did not come up in the trial in connection with the events of September and October 2001. In light of the temporal gap between Al-Timimi’s actions right after 9/11 and his meeting with Awlaki fully a year later, the proposition that the report of a meeting between Al-Timimi and Awlaki in October 2002 might contain information that would be “material” to Al-Timimi’s defense pursuant to Brady is virtually unfathomable.
Notwithstanding the improbability of an FBI report of a meeting between Al-Timimi and Awlaki in October 2002 containing information actually “material” to Al-Timimi’s defense regarding his actions the previous year, such a report could not constitute Brady information because Al-Timimi was present at the meeting. After all, “information actually known by the defendant falls outside the ambit of the Brady rule.” United States v. Roane, 378 F.3d 382, 402 (4th Cir. 2004). See United States v. Catone, 769 F.3d 866, 871 (4th Cir. 2014) (“no Brady violation exists when the evidence is available to the defense from other sources or through a diligent investigation by the defense”). Inasmuch as Al-Timimi admittedly was involved in the meeting with Awlaki that is alleged to be referenced in the “Squad IT-3 Document,” the document hardly can include information about that meeting of which Al-Timimi was not already aware or could not reasonably have found out on his own.
In sum, the “Squad IT-3 Document” is not discoverable by Al-Timimi. As the Supreme Court has stated, a defendant has no constitutional right to conduct his own search of the government=s files, because Ait is the State that decides which information must be disclosed and the prosecutor’s decision on disclosure is final. Pennsylvania v. Ritchie, 480 U.S. 39, 59 (1987). See Kasi v. Angelone, 300 F.3d 487 (4th Cir. 2002) (quoting Ritchie for the principle that it is the prosecutor and not the defendant who gets to make the determination of materiality for purposes of disclosure). AMere speculation about the existence of potentially exculpatory or impeaching evidence is insufficient to give the defense access to materials under Brady and Giglio.@ United States v. Jones, 378 Fed.Appx. 359, 360 (4th Cir. 2010).
Al-Timimi has litigated his discovery claims before District Judge Brinkema for over 10 years. In that time, he has produced mountains of filings, but unearthed no discovery violations. It is time for him to brief his appeal or forego it.
Finally, we oppose inclusion of the “Squad IT-3 Document” in the record before this Court. It makes no sense to present arguments to this Court that were never previously presented to the district court. It also makes no sense to try to resolve any issues on the basis of such a cryptic redacted document when its un- redacted original remains outside the record.
To the extent that Al-Timimi’s existing appellate arguments are meritorious, the discovery violation he now alleges will be moot. Alternately, to the extent that his appeal is denied, he can seek relief regarding this allegation through a collateral attack on his conviction.
DXer said
In Appellant’s reply, Professor Turley, who represents Ali Al-Timimi, writes:
“Squad IT-3 is not only facially material to the case
but also only one of the documents previously sought on remand and only obtained by counsel through independent means. The fact that this document could be produced in redacted form (and references potentially hundreds of other documents) should militate heavily in favor of a remand in this case. As to the alternative motion for incorporation of this document in the appellate record, its value is made obvious by the government’s recurrent argument that the claim of
undisclosed evidence is “speculative.” There is nothing speculative about this document or those referenced in it.”
…
The existence of the prior investigations into both Al Qaeda and Aulaqi are now known through Squad IT-3.
***
Squad IT-3 (and the hundreds of documents referenced therein) raises a classic example of the withholding of material evidence favorable to the accused in violation of the guarantee to due process and a fair trial. Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 87 (1963); see Kyles v. Whitley, 514 U.S. 419, 433-34 (1995) (discussing precedent). Under Brady, a defendant must show that favorable evidence was withheld and “material,” by way of a “reasonable probability” that disclosure
would have produced a different result at trial. Strickler v. Greene, 527 U.S. 263, 281-82 (1999)
**
Defendant laid out detailed and documented examples of the materiality of Squad IT-3, including its contradiction of specific statements made to the district court during the remand inquiries. First, much of the discussion below with the trial court concerned the existence and disclosure of prior investigations of Dr. Al- Timimi. In both pre-trial and post-remand hearings, the government denied the existence of such investigations and evidence. On remand, Assistant United States Attorney Gordon Kromberg answered affirmatively when directly asked to confirm the court’s understanding that “the government insists that there was no material investigation of Timimi until 2003.” In addition, Special Agent Ammerman testified that the investigation began in early 2003. (Trial Tr. 1337:6 (Apr. 11, 2005)); see also Dkt. No. 220, Hr’g Tr. 38:9-11, (Jan. 16, 2007). On its face, Squad IT-3 is evidence of a material investigation before 2003 and refers to hundreds of other potential material documents that could further undermine the government’s false representations to the lower court.”
DXer said
Here is an excerpt from the docket in the matter of Ali Al-Timimi.
06/22/2015 50 ORDER filed [999607107] granting Motion to extend filing time [49], updating/ resuming briefing order deadlines. Opening brief and appendix due 08/24/2015. Response brief due 09/21/2015. Copies to all parties.. [14-4451] (CB)
06/29/2015 51 MOTION by Appellant Ali Al-Timimi to remand case. Date and method of service: 06/29/2015 ecf. [999610915] [14-4451] Jonathan Turley
06/29/2015 52 NOTICE ISSUED to Gordon D. Kromberg for US requesting response to Motion to remand case [51]Response due: 07/13/2015.[999610971]. [14-4451] (TW)
07/10/2015 53 RESPONSE/ANSWER by US to notice requesting response [52]. Nature of response: in opposition. [14-4451] Gordon Kromberg
07/13/2015 54 NOTICE by Appellant Ali Al-Timimi that a reply will be filed.[999619480] [14-4451] Jonathan Turley
07/13/2015 55 REPLY by Ali Al-Timimi to Response [53], Notice [54]. [14-4451] Jonathan Turley
DXer said
In the new video by As Sahab, Anwar Awlaki used the phrase “The Dust Will Never Settle Down!” numerous times — at 1:16 they have already used it a half dozen times, with repeating audio from Anwar Awlaki. When does Scott’s book on Awlaki come out?
“The Dust Will Never Settle Down: From France to Bangladesh”
DXer said
Suspect identified in shooting at Mohammed cartoon contest
By Joe Tacopino and Yaron SteinbuchMay 4, 2015
http://nypost.com/2015/05/04/suspect-identified-in-shooting-at-mohammed-cartoon-contest/
***
Elton Simpson, an Arizona man who was previously the subject of a terror investigation, has been implicated, a senior FBI official told ABC.
The account, which has since been deleted, showed a photo of Anwar Awlaki, an American-born cleric killed by a drone strike in Yemen in 2011. …The gunmen jumped out of their vehicle at the Curtis Culwell Center in Garland at 7 p.m. and shot a security guard. They were quickly gunned down by cops, who were among a group of 40 security personnel hired to protect the event.
DXer said
Elton Simpson tweeting as “Shariah is Light” posted this prior to the shooting.
DXer said
Al Qaeda branch claims responsibility for Paris attack
http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/14/europe/al-qaeda-attack-claim-analysis/
The al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula statement claims that the late Anwar al-Awlaki was somehow involved operationally in the plan to target Charlie Hebdo. That is a hugely potent statement. Al-Awlaki, a recruiter and radical preacher for al Qaeda and an American citizen of Yemeni heritage, has long been dead — killed by an American drone strike in 2011.
Said and/or Cherif Kouachi were in Yemen in 2011, according to witnesses and officials, although investigators are still working out their exact movements, with Said possibly there as early as 2009 when it is alleged he roomed briefly with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the “underwear bomber” who targeted a plane to Detroit in 2009.
Were al-Awlaki the organizer of the attack — someone who laid on the logistical support, financing or chose the target as the al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula statement suggests — then the Kouachi brothers would have been dormant for three years before launching their attack on January 7. Investigators will be desperate to know if there was any further contact between 2011 and the Paris attacks — whether the orders and logistics were in place by 2011, or further assistance or instructions came closer to the moment. Were it the former, this would be a truly chilling sleeper cell — idle for years, and then, at a moment’s notice, deadly.
Above all, Wednesday’s long and florid statement shows an al Qaeda desperate not to be eclipsed by its newer — and at times, in the gruesome jousting of this world — more radical cousin, ISIS. The names and faces of their leaders, alive and dead, live on, particularly that of al-Awlaki, who, it is said, “threatens the West both in his life and after his martyrdom.” It’s a chilling sign al Qaeda may very much be a current and real danger.
Comment: History seems to show that neither the Malaysian nor Pakistan government were particularly cooperating with regard to the detainees in their custody — at least certainly neither would agree to turn them over.
Is Pakistan at least fully cooperating with any intel that can be gleaned from Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s wife?
DXer said
Fear of More Attacks By Apostles of American-Born al-Qaeda Cleric al-Awlaki
By Joshi Herrmann 1/11/15 at 8:20 AM
http://www.newsweek.com/american-born-terrorist-mastermind-who-funded-paris-attackers-298436
DXer said
Ghost of slain cleric Awlaki looms over Paris attack
http://news.yahoo.com/ghost-slain-cleric-awlaki-looms-over-paris-attacks-224336826.html
Al Qaeda turncoat who helped US nail Al-Awlaki warns of more sleeper cell
By Perry Chiaramonte
Published January 09, 2015
FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2015/01/09/al-qaeda-turncoat-who-helped-us-nail-al-awlaki-warns-more-sleeper-cells/
“Deception is their warfare,” Storm said on a conference call facilitated by the New York-based terrorism research group Clarion Project. “One of the things that these groups believe in is that you are allowed to trick someone into believing that you stand for something else when you really have other agendas. They will act as normal members of western society.”
How the Kouachi brothers turned to terrorism
Peter Bergen and Emily Schneider
Updated 0216 GMT (1016 HKT) January 10, 2015
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/09/opinion/bergen-brothers-terrorism/
DXer said
I studied Morten Storm’s “Agent Storm” today — about his work undercover work in planting a device to be delivered to Anwar Awlaki. There are parallels with the implanting of a device in the battery delivered to Bin Laden for his satellite phone.
It was interesting to Morten muse whether Awlaki’s support for terrorism was retaliation for the FBI outing of his frequent use of prostitutes. NYT’s Scott in his forthcoming book will paint a similar picture of Awlaki, pointing to the likelihood that his beliefs evolved. Based on my conversation with Hal, however, who was Awlaki’s roommate during Hajj in Saudi Arabia in Spring 2001, I think of Anwar as always having been privately hardcore.
Hal says Anwar’s public persona was very different than his persona privately. But there would be no reason for OBL to share operational plans with him. It is possible to serve a broader network without being “in the know.” (In any event, I’ll leave it to Scott to disclose and address Awlaki’s trip to Afghanistan years earlier).
The investigation beginning in 1999 of Awlaki stemmed from his acquaintanceship of a member of the Blind Sheik Abdel-Rahman’s entourage. Elsewhere, there is description of a “Bin Laden procurement” agent who visited Awlaki — coming from Saudi Arabia. That seems to fit Ziyad Khaleel very well.
In December 1999, Khaleel was captured in Saudi Arabia. He reportedly described Bin Laden’s operations in the US and then was released.
http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a122999ziyad
December 29, 1999: Bin Laden’s ‘Procurement Agent’ Detained in Jordan, Said to Describe ‘Bin Laden’s US Operations’
“Ziyad Khaleel in Missouri in 1996. [Source: Evan Kohlmann]
Police in Jordan detain Ziyad Khaleel, who the FBI calls a Florida-based “procurement agent” for Osama bin Laden. The FBI says Khaleel’s role is to “procure computers, satellite telephones, and covert surveillance equipment” for al-Qaeda leaders. [NEWSWEEK, 2/7/2000] [In 1996] using money sent by others, the FBI monitored him as he helped bin Laden buy a satellite phone (see November 1996-Late December 1999 and November 1996-Late August 1998). He continued to buy new minutes and parts for the phone at least through 1998 (see July 29-August 7, 1998). [KNIGHT RIDDER, 9/20/2001] *** US intelligence also linked him to the Al-Kifah Refugee Center in 1994, a charity front with ties to both bin Laden and the CIA (see 1986-1993). Once in custody, Khaleel cooperates with the FBI and is said to provide “crucial evidence about bin Laden’s US operations.” But he is quickly released. *** He will leave the US around early 2001 and apparently dies in a car crash in Saudi Arabia in 2002. [ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 1/22/2003; NEWSWEEK, 10/20/2004]”
Note: In his mosque, as I recall, it was rumored that Ziyad Khaleel was not really dead. At some point, did Ziyad Khaleel become an agent either for the Saudis or for the US CIA? You may recall that there was a tracking and/or listening device in the battery that the CIA supplied for Bin Laden’s satellite phone. That is reminiscent of the failed CIA
attempt to put a tracking device in the Samsonite luggage bought for Awlaki’s chosen wife, Aminah, when she went to Awlaki in Yemen. See AGENT STORM (2014). There was a device in the make-up kit also, as I recall Morten’s account. But an astute Al Qaeda operative caused everything to be left, except for some make-up in a plastic bag.
Morton Storm thus made $250,000 for his work as matchmaker and the CIA professed to be pissed that it had nothing to show for the $250,000 for the attempt to put the bug in equipment delivered to Awlaki.
Rule No. 1 of accepting gifts: Never accept a thumb drive or jewelry box from an undercover or spy unless you want to cut the agents a break (or appreciate the gift of a free thumb drive and jewelry box). Same with a free ham radio transmitter. You may accept the physical gifts if you deem it the most effective way of transmitting and controlling information to the target group. Besides, it give the undercovers and spies a way to make a living.
Rule No. 2. relating to surveillance cameras: Always have one more than the person expects — and install it after he checks for cameras. Pay cash for all such purchases. You can save some money by having some of the cameras be dummies.
DXer said
The London Times will later report that in Sudan, “bin Laden used an $80,000 satellite phone and al-Qaeda members used radios to avoid being bugged…” [LONDON TIMES, 10/7/2001] Bin Laden is mistaken in his belief that satellite phones cannot be monitored; a satellite phone he buys in 1996 will be monitored as well (see November 1996-Late August 1998).
1992: Bin Laden’s Main Charity Front in US Turns Focus to Supporting Bosnian War
.
The Al-Kifah Refugee Center in Brooklyn, New York, is al-Qaeda’s main foothold in the US and most of the 1993 WTC bombers are closely tied to it.
***
http://www.historycommons.org/searchResults.jsp?searchtext=satellite+phone+battery&events=on&entities=on&articles=on&topics=on&timelines=on&projects=on&titles=on&descriptions=on&dosearch=on&search=Go
A Virginia man named Tarik Hamdi (seeMarch 20, 2002) helped set up Miller’s interview. He goes with Miller to Afghanistan and gives bin Laden a new battery for his satellite phone (seeNovember 1996-Late August 1998). Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center, will later claim that this battery was somehow bugged to help the US monitor bin Laden. [NEWSWEEK, 8/10/2005] In 2005, Miller will become the FBI’s assistant director of the Office of Public Affairs. [ALL HEADLINE NEWS, 8/24/2005]
Comment:
Adnan El-Shukrijumah should have been a leading candidate for anthrax mailer from the very start. He was an associate of Mohammed Atta, connected to the Al Qaeda’s charity in Brooklyn, and his whereabouts were unknown after being known to have trained in Afghanistan.
The FBI knew he had travelled to the US after September 1, 2001 based on the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah, who was captured in March 2002.
Amerithrax, IMO, is the biggest counterintelligence failure in the history of the United States.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
.
DXer said
“Enemy or Asset? FBI documents show radical cleric Awlaki communicated with federal agent in ’03,” by Catherine Herridge, October 1, 2014
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/01/enemy-or-asset-fbi-documents-show-radical-cleric-awlaki-communicated-with/
DXer said
“Newly-Declassified CIA Document Says Ben Franklin Was A Security Risk”
http://io9.com/newly-declassified-cia-document-says-ben-franklin-was-a-1641256025
“Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents—but safeguarding state secrets was not among them. According to a recently released article by a CIA analyst, when Franklin was on a diplomatic mission in France, he allowed his offices to be penetrated by British spies during a crucial period in the American Revolution.”
–Poor Richard’s Almanack: “If you would keep your secret from an enemy, tell it not to a friend.”
Comment:
It seems that the DOJ and FBI, like the CIA, are constantly being damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.
They are the quarterback — we can only hope that when they fumble the ball they pick it up.
DXer said
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/10/01/enemy-or-asset-fbi-documents-show-radical-cleric-awlaki-communicated-with/
“In another email, an FBI agent bristles at attempts by the 9/11 Commission to locate al-Awlaki and interview him independently, describing the requests as “numerous and unrelenting.” The email says the 9/11 Commission wanted to talk to the cleric after it learned he had been phoning and emailing with FBI agents.
Significantly, the email traffic shows that while the 9/11 Commission was trying to find al-Awlaki, an FBI agent was in direct contact with the cleric and set up a meeting with him in March 2004.
“SA [redacted] has had a conversation with Aulaqi and has tentatively set up an interview for mid-March in London. With the VA. Jihad trial scheduled for early Feb. this will be the earliest SA (redacted) can meet Aulaqi … If the 9/11 commission needs to meet with Aulaqi, we will provide the contact information so they can set up their own interview.””
Would this be AUSA Kromberg, lead prosecutor in the Virginia Jihad case? If so, that is to his great credit that he sought out Anwar even after Anwar had gone abroad.
The best way to get information is to ask the person directly.
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Scholar Is Given Life Sentence in ‘Virginia Jihad’ Case
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: July 14, 2005
DXer said
Here are 900 pages produced under FOIA to Judicial Watch about Anwar Awlaki to include documents from 2003. I haven’t reviewed them yet. They include emails from Anwar to the FBI.
http://www.judicialwatch.org/document-archive/1488-full-production/
DXer said
MAY 23, 2014
THE LAWYER AND THE KILL-LIST MEMO
POSTED BY RYAN LIZZA
Somewhat overlooked in the coverage of Awlaki is how much of a threat he was to the United States. Klaidman reports that, in addition to his links to Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, and Al Shabaab, the Somalian terrorist group, and the killer at Fort Hood, intelligence linked Awlaki to “multiple plots to kill Americans and Europeans” that he was “deeply involved in at an operational level,” including “plans to poison Western water and food supplies with botulinum toxin, as well as attack Americans with ricin and cyanide.”
Whether or not one believes these alleged plots allowed the President to strip Awlaki of his constitutional rights as an American citizen, it is shameful that the White House has worked for several years to conceal the secret legal opinion making that case.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2014/05/the-lawyer-and-the-kill-list-memo.html
DXer said
Obama Administration Desperate to Censor Assassination Memo, May 30, 2014
http://www.allgov.com/news/controversies/obama-administration-desperate-to-censor-assassination-memo-140530?news=853278
Most intelligence is open source.
Anthrax, Al Qaeda and Ayman Zawahiri: The Infiltration of US Biodefense
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Terror Suspect Admits in Brooklyn Federal Court to Trying to Recruit for al-Qaida
The FBI said Babafemi used his English language skills to help produce al-Qaida’s Inspire magazine
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Nigerian-Terror-Suspect-Pleads-Guilty-Brooklyn-al-Qaida-Recruiting-257226361.html
Lawal Olaniyi Babafemi, 33, traveled from his home country to Yemen where he took direct orders from now-deceased terror leader Anwar al-Awlaki, prosecutors said.
The FBI said Babafemi used his English language skills to help produce al-Qaida’s Inspire magazine.
DXer said
The erudite post by Ali Al-Timimi’s defense counsel includes the actual request made by the NYT reporters.
Jonathan Turley ~ Second Circuit Orders Obama Administration To Release Drone Memos On Killing U.S. Citizens
jonathanturley April 22 2014
http://www.shiftfrequency.com/jonathan-turley-second-circuit-orders-obama-administration-to-release-drone-memos-on-killing-u-s-citizens/
Cryptome provides the actual Second Circuit Court opinion.
Click to access nyt-doj-awlaki-197-205.pdf
Isn’t still true that most intelligence in 2014 is “open source”?
DXer said
What we don’t know about the killing of Anwar Awlaki
The government must be forthcoming not only about the legal rationale for this extraordinary act of violence but also about the factual evidence.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-awlaki-memo-20140422,0,3765478.story#ixzz2zbx3Btm8
The government must be forthcoming not only about the legal rationale for this extraordinary act of violence but also about the factual evidence. That is a standard the administration has failed to meet in the Awlaki case
.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Here is the Court of Appeal’s decision ordering the release of the legal memo justifying killing Awlaki.
http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/2b683224-dd08-483c-903a-422156e30e39/1/doc/13-422_opn.pdf#xml=http://www.ca2.uscourts.gov/decisions/isysquery/2b683224-dd08-483c-903a-422156e30e39/1/hilite/
Also ordered release is a redacted Vaughn Index. (I’m surprised that a redacted Vaughn Index had not been required at the start; Glomar responses were allowed) I think less will be learned than hoped. But this opinion now could be useful precedent in connection with the pending motions involving Awlaki documents in the Al-Timimi case.
DXer said
http://freebeacon.com/national-security/feds-curtail-major-counterterror-exercise-in-washington/
Feds Curtail Major Counterterror Exercise in Washington
Scaled down drill followed new al Qaeda threat to conduct car bombings in D.C., Virginia
Al Qaeda’s ‘Inspire’ magazine
BY: Bill Gertz
April 1, 2014 4:03 pm
The White House sharply curbed a major counterterrorism drill scheduled for Tuesday in Washington that was designed to test the federal government response to threats of car bombs attacks and a chemical weapons strike on the Metro subway system.
The exercise, code named Eagle Horizon 2014, was cut back instead to small-scale communications checks within federal agencies.
***
“The important thing is that you target people and not buildings,” the [ recent article about car bombs in Al Qaeda’s] magazine states.
Police Review Video Surveillance In Search For Missing Student
http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/Police-Review-Video-Surveillance-In-Search-For-Missing-Student-253436851.html
The search for Mena Rezkalla continued Tuesday with no new information on his whereabouts.
He’s the Egyptian exchange student attending Alexandria Central School who went missing during a trip to the Destiny USA mall in Syracuse Saturday.
Syracuse police said they’re reviewing surveillance video from the mall and the nearby bus and train station as well as the airport.
Despite being missing for three days, police still say they don’t believe his disappearance is suspicious.
Comment: In an age of heightened sensitivities, Mena Rezhalla should at least phone his host mom (if he hasn’t already) and explain where he is so she doesn’t worry. Why haven’t they been able to track him using his cell phone?
In a totally unrelated story, Muhammad Abdullah Hassan, also known as “Booker”, should simply return to his normal life. I don’t see that he’s done anything chargeable and so it would be horrible if the news of the manhunt then made him feel he was backed into a corner. It seems that he can just resume his old life — though I think the U.S. Marine Corps may have withdrawn any offer of employment.
FBI hunting for Army recruit suspected of planning a ‘Fort Hood-inspired jihad’: report
The FBI’s Kansas City, Mo., division sent out an alert about a recent recruit named Booker, also known as Muhammad Abdullah Hassan. The man had reportedly bid farewell to his friends and expressed a desire to commit an act of violence.
BY CAROL KURUVILLA NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Tuesday, April 1, 2014, 1:16 PM
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-hunts-army-recruit-suspected-plotting-jihad-report-article-1.1741776
DXer said
GI Jihadi: Ex-Army recruit’s online terror threats exposed
By Jana WinterPublished April 01, 2014FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/04/01/exclusive-self-professed-jihadist-was-weeks-away-from-basic-army-training/
He is now in an undisclosed mental health facility, sources told FoxNews.com. …
“We have interviewed this individual,” an FBI spokesman said. “There is not a manhunt and there never was one. There is no imminent threat to public safety, nor should the public be concerned that this threat exists from an individual at large.”
But weeks earlier, even as Booker was being recruited by the Army and preparing to report, a check of his activity on various social media sites might have revealed he was not fit to serve. As far back as five months before enlisting, he was actively posting in support of the murder of U.S. troops overseas.
The Facebook profile believed to have been created by Booker was taken down on Monday night, though FoxNews.com obtained numerous screen shots of his posts and photos. The page, as well as numerous YouTube rants, painted a picture of a troubled radical with bad intentions long before he was recruited by the Army, or interviewed by the FBI’s Kansas City office.
“I wanna be a martyr (shaheed)!!! YA, brothers and sisters,” he said on a YouTube video some seven months ago. “Make a dua for me asking Allah to make me a martyr, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!! My name is above in blue.”
“Oh those of the ummah of the Prophet Muhammad(S)j. I will soon be leaving you forever so goodbye!” it read. “I am going to wage jihad and hopes that i die. I want to be with my lord so bad that I cry but I will miss you guys I am not going to lie. I wish I could give you guys more but I am just a guy who is so very poor. I am telling you I am so broke that my pockets are soreJ I cannot wait to go to the Prophet Muhammad’s(S) door and prank Isa bin Maryan and party so hard that it will rock Jannah to its core. Only Allah knows what the future has in store so that should make you fear Allah much much more.”
DXer said
The Egyptian student boarded a bus in Syracuse to New York City. So long as he let his host family know, I think seeing the big Apple at 17 is as good a reason as any to play hooky.
Mena did a lot of volunteer work to include weekly dinners at his church for the sponsoring host organization CCI. FWIW, he had some familiarity with the Y through volunteering there. It seems he had logged 81 of 100 volunteer hours for the exchange organization. He seems to have been in the country at least 7 months. His English seems good.
Host students often face difficulties — sometimes as mundane as academic difficulties due to courses being in a foreign language. But having hosted a French girl this past summer and had my daughter go live her family in the mountains where there was no wireless, I understand that safety is the paramount consideration of both the natural and host parent. That sort of conduct is a reason for him to return home. Unless his school is on break, it seems that he is in technical violation of his visa. His parents in Egypt likely have heard from him and so they should provide his whereabouts.
Failing that, if law enforcement cannot track down an errant 17-year-old Egyptian exchange student in New York City, it doesn’t serve to inspire confidence. Even though presumably a routine matter of an unapproved vacation by a worldly 17-year-old, I think authorities should identify his location by tracking his cell phone. If the USG is going to invade the privacy of Americans, let’s at least have something tangible to show for it in terms of locating missing persons. Judging from his activity reports, Mena presented a number of presentations to groups at school. It is even less “suspicious” if he voluntarily boarded a bus — there was always a remote chance that he was mugged and left seriously hurt at the mall.
Part of preparedenss requires that the NYPD Intelligence Unit run down every possible lead and not depend on a police department in Upstate.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/04/missing_egyptian_exchange_student_boarded_bus_to_new_york_city_police_say.html#incart_m-rpt-2
http://greenheartclub.org/members/mena55970/
DXer said
Mr. Rezkalla had been staying with Penny A. and Gene P. Kring … In a conversation between police and Mrs. Kring, she said Mr. Rezkalla has not returned any phone calls and did not alert the family to his destination. She told police that Mr. Rezkalla had planned a trip to New York City during his time here.
Mr. Rezkalla’s phone was “pinged” using GPS to find his location, as well as accessing recent activity on his phone, police said, but the effort was unsuccessful. …
He was last seen wearing a red and white baseball cap, blue jeans, red shoes and a black jacket.
http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20140403/NEWS07/704029765
Comment:
With respect to “pinging” his cell phone to find his location, I don’t know anything about what law enforcement can do with cell phones beyond what I see in the movies and read in the newspaper.
But I believe I’ve read that the FBI can turn on a phone that is turned off and listen in. (I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in the movies and I suppose the FBI doesn’t like the mafiosa to know that).
Even if the FBI is not involved, I suspect the NYPD Intelligence Unit has the same capability if they have any requisite authority or cause. Do they?
Mena was in Alexandria Bay, a wonderful tourist community that is hopping during the summer season. But Upstate Winters can be cold and long (if you don’t ski or snowmobile or snowshoe etc). So Mena likely felt wanderlust with the first signs of spring.
Even natural children can frustrate parents with their independence. I suppose that sometimes goes double for mature exchange students. Growing up, our family had many exchange students and without exception they were all incredible. I highly recommend the experience.
DXer said
The limits of existing technology are unclear to me. But the pattern of NSA/FBI intrusion techniques seems to involve embedding what needs to be installed at the manufacturer level. That eliminates the need for physical possession of a device.
So if I were Mena, I would call both his natural parent and host parent(s) and apologize for any trouble. A very possible scenario is simply that he has lost charge on his phone and is not getting the messages from his host mother.
His computer likely will point to the inquiries he made relevant to where he is staying. (I have no idea how the privacy interests should be balanced under these facts; but he is a minor and he was living in their home; perhaps he was using the home computer).
December 1, 2006 2:20 PM PST
FBI taps cell phone mic as eavesdropping tool
By Declan McCullagh and Anne Broache
Staff Writers, CNET News
Last modified: December 1, 2006
http://news.cnet.com/2100-1029-6140191.html
The FBI appears to have begun using a novel form of electronic surveillance in criminal investigations: remotely activating a mobile phone’s microphone and using it to eavesdrop on nearby conversations.
The technique is called a “roving bug” …
the technique has been discussed in security circles for years.
The U.S. Commerce Department’s security office warns that “a cellular telephone can be turned into a microphone and transmitter for the purpose of listening to conversations in the vicinity of the phone.”
…
Security-conscious corporate executives routinely remove the batteries from their cell phones, he added.
Details of how the Nextel bugs worked are sketchy. Court documents, including an affidavit (p1) and (p2) prepared by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Kolodner in September 2003, refer to them as a “listening device placed in the cellular telephone.” That phrase could refer to software or hardware.
One private investigator interviewed by CNET News.com, Skipp Porteous of Sherlock Investigations in New York, said he believed the FBI planted a physical bug somewhere in the Nextel handset and did not remotely activate the microphone.
…
But other experts thought microphone activation is the more likely scenario, mostly because the battery in a tiny bug would not have lasted a year and because court documents say the bug works anywhere “within the United States”–in other words, outside the range of a nearby FBI agent armed with a radio receiver.
DXer said
My friend who is tech savvy re computer security this morning tells me that when smartphones arrived on the scene, he realized that they could be programmed as spy tools just like Declan’s article talks about. Commands to turn on and off the microphone, he suggests, can be done via text messages.
A phone can also be programmed to look like it is off when it is really on. I don’t know anything about these gadgets but I’ve discussed the wonderful user-friendly locator feature on an IPAD. At the end of the day, many Columbia college freshmen are 17-years-old and so it is no big deal for a 17-year old to explore New York without “Mom’s” approval. The story caught my interest only because he went missing at my mall — and I just won four free tickets to Wonderworks there and was headed out the door. They have a rope course 70 feet off the floor.
DXer said
Andrew Weber, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs, said there are numerous emerging biological threats worldwide due to the easy accessibility of materials involved in the production of biological weapons during a lecture Thursday.
“Today, there is a lack of need for infrastructure that only a nation state would have,” he said. “[Ingredients are] available at Home Depot.”
With regard to terrorist groups, Weber said he was concerned that al-Quaida has asked for brothers with degrees in microbiology or chemistry to develop weapons of mass destruction.
***
In 1995, during his stay in Kazakhstan as a United States Foreign Service Officer, Weber said he saw the world’s largest anthrax production facility in Stepnogorsk, Kazakhstan, which housed 300 metric tons of anthrax agent.
However, Weber said it was not the sheer size of the facility — which has since been safely destroyed and turned into a green field — that impacted him.
“I was surprised by how low-tech it really was … like from a black and white movie,” he said. “But it can produce mind-numbing amounts of anthrax agents.”
http://cornellsun.com/blog/2014/03/28/u-s-government-official-stresses-danger-severity-of-emerging-biological-threats/
DXer said
In the case of anthrax, pretty much anyone would be affected by a mass attack given the ruinous effect it would have on the economy.
By analogy, in terms of bringing suit against the NYS DEC for its planned kill of all free-ranging swans in the State, pretty much any state resident that knows and appreciates swans likely has legal standing.
When the government makes a mistake, in a democracy, the government counts on the mistake being pointed out.
I wish the legislators and Friends of Animals the best of luck in passing their bill.
But failing that, others are still getting their ducks in order to seek an injunction.
This week on ‘NYN’: Speaking up for mute swans
Posted on March 28, 2014 at 12:14 pm by Casey Seiler, Capitol bureau chief in New York Now
http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/209625/this-week-on-nyn-speaking-up-for-mute-swans/
DXer said
The really bad guy who they are thinking of killing with a drone used to know Anwar Awlaki in the US.
White House reportedly debating whether to target US citizen with drone attack February 10, 2014
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/02/10/white-house-reportedly-struggling-to-target-us-citizen-with-drone-attack/
The target was not named, but had a relationship with American cleric Anwar al-Awlaki when he was living in the US before 2003.
“We are extremely concerned about this individual,” the official told Fox News. “He’s a really bad guy.”
Comment:
In the defense of Adnan El-Shukrijumah — if that is who folks are talking about — note that ideally we still would want to ask him what he thinks of Rachel’s “Ivins Theory.”
It would be unfortunate for the USG to kill my only suspect for mailer just when there is a risk in the various pending court cases some former colleague fingers him as the anthrax mailer.
This transparency is interesting but should lead to the best possible decisionmaking — including facilitating lessons learned.
Besides, he’s got a mother and siblings who love him.
That should be reason enough to first study more closely whether there is not also reason to indict him for the anthrax mailing.
One U.S. official told the Associated Press the Defense Department was divided over whether the man is dangerous enough to merit the potential domestic fallout of killing an American without charging him with a crime or trying him, and the potential international fallout of such an operation in a country that has been resistant to U.S. action.
[On the possibility it is not El-Shukrijumah, note that El-Shukrijumah was indicted in the subway plot involving Zazi].
DXer said
This law review article by Alberto Gonzalez is somewhat off the subject, but I will link it given the possible important decision(s) forthcoming in the matter of Ali Al-Timimi and the evidence relating to Anwar Awlaki,
It is relevant background given the author of this law review article is the former famous Attorney General who was making key decisions relating to Awlaki early on.
Drones: The Power to Kill, The George Washington University Law Review
Alberto R. Gonzales*
Click to access GonzalesPowertoKill02042014.pdf
“New technology is already changing the way wars are fought in the twenty-first century. Long distance targeted killings by drones, artillery, or air-to-ground missiles will become more common. In anticipation of these probabilities, at least with respect to drones, this Article describes a framework that balances the fundamental rights of American citizens with the need for the Commander in Chief to have the flexibility and discretion to deal with evolving national security threats using the most advanced technology.”
DXer said
I am now looking at Discovery Letter #11, dated February 16, 2005 in the Ali Al-Timimi case which includes things returned to Ali Al-Timimi. It is signed by AUSA Gordon D. Kromberg.
At the same day, hour and minute that FBI Agents raided Ali Al-Timimi’s townhouse, 100 agents spread out across Syracuse, conducting searches and simultaneously interviewing 150 people.
Al-Timimi is a guy with whom the key DIA threat assessment fellow Charles Bailey (who was a leading Ames anthrax researcher with a multi-million DARPA contract) shared a suite.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Charles was in business with Russian defector and leading Ames researcher Ken Alibek. Alibek was in the same suite. They did their research in downtown Frederick, at Southern Research Institute.
(DIA, you may recall, was in charge of Project Jefferson.)
Amerithrax represents the greatest counterintelligence failure in the history of the United States. Wade Ammerman, it turns out, was on PENTBOMB, not AMERITHRAX which may help explain why the ball was dropped.
There are lots of things relating to anthrax that are still classified — even case numbers. There are motions being filed under seal.
But it is interesting to see the focus on Bassem Khafagi, the head of the Ann Arbor charity IANA, and his connection to Ali Al-Timimi. IANA’s charity spin-off was here.
On September 15, 2001, a storage unit in Alexandria that Khafagi had opened was closed. Many of the documents there were about jihad and being translated from Arabic to English.
The Arabic language publication of iANA at the time had noted Egyptian scholars discussing the tactics that would be appropriate to free the Blind Sheik. The former founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad was one of IANA’s key writers.
Kamal Habib was a friend of Ayman Zawahiri and had been in a cell with him in the late 1970s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamal_Habib
Here are some of the found in the raid that day of Ali Al-Timimi’s townhouse.
Some items taken from Ali Al-Timimi’s townhouse:
1) Hand-written notes about death to America,
2) Handwritten note, warning to America that if it does not repent from its war against Muslims… then it will be destroyed.
3) Article of 35 pages on Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
4) hand-written, predicts destruction of west and America
5) A Call To Muslims to Leave America
6) Hawali (Bin Laden’s sheik) and Khaliq’s telephone numbers.
7) Handwritten notes regarding Hadith on dealing with the infidels.
8) UBL statement on “The War that America is Launching on Afghanistan is a Religious One”
9) questions and answers, conditions that need to be met in order to wage jihad
10) comments regarding verses from the Qu’ran regarding the jews and how they will be punished.
11) hand-written re status of ummah, courses of action re jihad, making Islam dominant
12) UBL/Zawahiri/Gaith comments on 9/11/01
13) hand-written contact info for Benhkahla and Abu Ali [Note: I believe Ashraf Nubani, Abu Ghaith’s defense counsel, represented Abu Ali]
14) hand-written notes signs of day of judgement.
15) printed and hand-written re requirements to prepare for jihad, includes info re training * Preparing means for war.
16) hand-written outline of speech, Muslims should become knowledgeable about jihad, etc.
17) outline the signs of the end of time
18) and there was an article about the shuttle disaster.
But like Ken Alibek was fond of saying, this isn’t rocket science.
DXer said
It it was Nabil Gharbieh who drove Anwar Awlaki to the October 2002 meeting with Ali Al-Timimi that is the focus of defense counsel’s and FoxNews’ attention.
Here is a Memorandum providing background on the “Virginia Paintball” case.
Click to access 468.pdf
Amerithrax was badly botched, IMO, during this 2003 period and simply never recovered.
The “Ivins Theory” was just Hatfill Theory redux.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Here is a WashPo article.
By Jerry Markon
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, April 5, 2005; Page B04
He’s a terrorist using his “rock star” status to incite his devoted followers to wage war against the United States.
He’s a peaceful Islamic scholar simply exercising his First Amendment right to free speech.
The clashing portraits of Ali Timimi were on display yesterday in a federal courtroom in Alexandria, where the spiritual leader is being tried on charges that he encouraged a group of Northern Virginia Muslim men to train in terrorist camps in Pakistan and fight U.S. troops seeking to oust Afghanistan’s former Taliban rulers.
“He had lectured around the world. He was like a rock star,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg said of Timimi, 41, of Fairfax County. “The young men he spoke to, a lot of them held him in awe. They did their best to do what he told them to do.”
Defense attorneys acknowledged that some of Timimi’s statements constituted “very obscene and offensive speech,” including Timimi’s reported celebration of the 2003 crash of the space shuttle Columbia and statement that America is the greatest enemy of Islam.
“Some of it, frankly, rises to the level of hate speech,” defense attorney Edward B. MacMahon Jr. told the 12-member jury. “Remember, he has a First Amendment right to have these opinions. You don’t have to agree with him to realize he has a right to free speech. Ladies and gentlemen,” MacMahon added, “that’s the truth. Muslims around the world believe the United States is their greatest enemy.”
Whether Timimi is a terrorist whose words pose a danger or a religious leader exercising his First Amendment rights is one of the central questions of the case. Timimi is charged with soliciting or inducing others to commit a variety of crimes, such as conspiring to levy war on the United States, using firearms and carrying explosives.
If convicted on all counts, Timimi faces up to life in prison. The trial, before U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema, is expected to last as long as three weeks.
Timimi’s trial is an outgrowth of a federal investigation in which 11 Muslim men, all but one from the Washington area, were charged with participating in paramilitary training — including playing paintball in the Virginia countryside — to prepare for jihad, or “holy war,” abroad. Nine of those men were convicted in 2003 and last year.
Prosecutors said Timimi was the spiritual leader of the group when he was the primary lecturer, in 2000 and 2001, at the Center for Islamic Information and Education, also known as Dar al-Arqam, in Falls Church.
Prosecutors told the jury that days after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon, Timimi attended a meeting in Fairfax with some of the men who were later convicted. With the curtains drawn and the phones unplugged, Timimi told the men that “the time had come” for them to go abroad and support Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers against the impending U.S.-led invasion.
“He said it was time to go fight,” Kromberg said.
MacMahon cast that meeting, on Sept. 16, 2001, in a different light. He said that those in attendance were concerned about anti-Muslim violence in the wake of Sept. 11 and that Timimi told the men “that if they didn’t feel safe in this country, they should leave.”
A witness who was at the Sept. 16 meeting supported elements of both versions. Muhammed Aatique testified that Timimi encouraged his listeners to leave the United States and move to Muslim countries.
Views of Va. Muslim Leader Differ as Terror Trial Opens
But Timimi said they should do that only if they could not take part in the fighting against U.S. troops, Aatique said.
“He encouraged us to participate in the coming jihad,” said Aatique, who pleaded guilty in 2003 to aiding and abetting and a gun charge and is serving a prison sentence of 10 years and six months. “He said the battle in Afghanistan was imminent and that the Americans were going to attack.”
Aatique also quoted Timimi as calling the Sept. 11 attacks “legitimate” and saying that the victims were “combatants, not civilians” because their tax dollars fund the U.S. government, which is at war with Islam.
After Timimi stopped speaking, “me and everyone else at that meeting was excited and charged up,” Aatique testified.
Another government witness said Timimi had implicitly blessed the plan for the men to train by playing paintball. Annandale resident Nabil Gharbieh, one of the founders of the paintball group, said he and other group members told Timimi about the training in 2000.
“He was our respected elder and a person we looked up to,” Gharbieh said. “He just, I guess, accepted that we were doing it. He didn’t say, ‘Don’t do it.’ ”
Later, group members approached Timimi again to tell him the FBI was investigating the paintball games. “He said it was something we had brought on ourselves because we used to meet publicly, in a big group, covered in camouflage gear,” Gharbieh testified.
After Timimi advised the group to keep playing but be more discreet, Gharbieh said, the games became more secretive.
DXer said
I don’t read “Inspire” magazine but I notice this mention in March 2013 that refers to “X” that has the periodical touting anthrax again.
AL QAEDA INSPIRE MAGAZINE CALLS FOR PRODUCTION OF ANTHRAX
http://watchdogwire.com/florida/2013/03/02/al-qaeda-inspire-magazine-calls-for-production-anthrax/
DXer said
Comment: Abu Ghaith, in the news today, is the fellow who in a June 2002 statement urged that Al Qaeda’s had the moral right to kill 4 million using a bioweapon or other WMD.
As I recall, he complained that he had to pee while handcuffed and that his aim was off.
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/26/ny-judge-says-ex-bin-laden-spokesman-statements-to-fbi-can-be-used-at-his/
NY judge says ex-bin Laden spokesman’s statements to FBI can be used at his terrorism trial
Published November 26, 2013Associated Press
NEW YORK – A New York judge says statements Osama bin Laden’s son-in-law made to U.S. authorities when he was brought to the United States can be used against him at a terrorism trial.
Judge Lewis Kaplan also declined Tuesday to toss out conspiracy charges that were brought against Sulaiman Abu Ghaith (SOO’-lay-mahn AH’-boo GAYTH).
Kaplan issued his ruling after conducting a lengthy hearing to decide issues raised by lawyers for the former bin Laden spokesman.
The lawyers had challenged statements their client made during a 14-hour flight to the U.S. earlier this year.
Abu Ghaith has pleaded not guilty to charges he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaida’s spokesman after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
DXer said
Defense counsel’s indictment here in Syracuse does not seem to have hampered his defense of Abu Ghaith. It would be fun to take Attorney Cohen to Dinosaur BBQ and hear all the fascinating war stories but he has important things to do. There’s a video of Abu Ghaith alongside of Bin Laden and Zawahiri, as I recall, shortly after 911 so I think Abu Ghaith’s Thanksgiving goose is cooked. He urged that among the 4 million that Al Qaeda could kill with a bioweapon or other WMD, 1 million could be children.
http://wtaq.com/news/articles/2013/nov/26/us-court-refuses-to-dismiss-plot-case-against-bin-ladens-son-in-law/
Kaplan said Abu Ghaith was “treated humanely” during the flight, where he had been given a medical evaluation, was regularly offered food and water, and was allowed to pray, stretch, take bathroom breaks and nap.
“Abu Ghayth was not overcome by fear such that his will was overborne and his ability to act voluntarily was compromised,” Kaplan wrote. “The government has offered consistent and credible testimony that Abu Ghayth was treated well and that he was competent to speak with the FBI throughout the flight. Abu Ghayth has offered scant evidence to the contrary.”
Stanley Cohen and Geoffrey Stewart, the lawyers for the defendant, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
DXer said
Udall: Attack on U.S.-born al-Qaida leader was legal
Share on printShare on emailMore Sharing Services
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 26, 2013;
DENVER — Colorado’s Mark Udall and two other senators say the U.S. drone strike that killed an American-born al-Qaida leader in Yemen was legal.
Sens. Udall, Ron Wyden of Oregon and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico said Tuesday Anwar al-Awlaki (ahn-WAHR’ al-aw-LAH’-kee) made himself a “legitimate target” by joining al-Qaida and help plan and carry out attacks on the U.S.
But the senators said the U.S. government needs to publicly state the rules for such strikes.
Al-Awlaki was killed in 2011. He had been linked to a 2009 attempt to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner and a 2010 plot against cargo planes.
Udall, Wyden and Heinrich are Democrats and members of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.
They made their comments in a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder.
– See more at: http://www.chieftain.com/news/2051698-120/udall-qaida-awlaki-born#sthash.56lODFJR.dpuf
DXer said
I hadn’t had my coffee this morning. It is U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the District of Columbia — not a Court of Appeals panel — who heard the motion and will issue a ruling. The District Court judge “expressed doubt about the defense requests. She said she was persuaded in part because of secret evidence the government submitted in the case, which even Turley, who holds a security clearance, has not been allowed to see.”
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/defense-treason-case-seeks-info-al-awlaki
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she will issue a written ruling later on the motion, but expressed doubt about the defense requests. She said she was persuaded in part because of secret evidence the government submitted in the case, which even Turley, who holds a security clearance, has not been allowed to see. …
Al-Timimi’s lawyers said Friday at a hearing in U.S. District Court in Alexandria that they are suspicious about a 2002 visit al-Awlaki paid to al-Timimi. The defense now suspects al-Awlaki, who has since been killed, went there as an informant to get incriminating information on al-Timimi. If so, they say al-Awlaki’s role as an informant should have been disclosed at trial.
At the meeting, al-Awlaki purportedly tried to get al-Timimi’s help in recruiting men for jihad, but al-Timimi rejected him. Al-Timimi’s lawyer, Jonathan Turley, said government documentation of the meeting would refute the case made at trial by prosecutors that al-Timimi was urging Muslims to fight. They also say it would show that al-Timimi had been in the government’s crosshairs back in 2002, which would have contradicted other testimony that the government did not begin investigating al-Timimi until 2003.
The suspicions about al-Awlaki stem from newly discovered information that FBI agents involved in Al-Timimi’s case may have facilitated al-Awlaki’s return to the United States in 2002. Al-Awlaki had been imam of a northern Virginia mosque at the time of the 2001 attacks but left the U.S. shortly thereafter.
He had contact with some of the Sept. 11 hijackers, and in years after the 2001 attacks emerged as a top al-Qaida leader before being killed in a drone strike in 2011. There has been debate as to whether al-Awlaki hid long-held al-Qaida sympathies in his time in the U.S. or radicalized after leaving the years after Sept. 11.
Also released earlier this year were FBI documents showing that agents observed al-Awlaki in 2001 and 2002 hiring prostitutes, but never brought charges against him.
Prosecutors say they’ve turned over everything required of them. In court papers and at Friday’s hearing, they gave no information on whether al-Awlaki may have been an informant. Instead, they say they are only obligated to turn over information that would assist the defense, and said the law gives prosecutors the discretion to make that determination.
The law “does not entitle any defendant to the disclosure of the extent and nature of the government’s investigative tools or tactics simply because he suspects that materials are in the government’s possession that might prove interesting to him,” prosecutor Gordon Kromberg wrote.
DXer said
The “Teflon Terrorist” And Risk Of Infiltration
As the judges and clerks in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals study the issue of how the First Amendment to the case of Ali Al-Timimi, we might as well exercise our own First Amendment rights to tell you what is really going on. I’m sure that Professor Turley would work just as hard to protect Americans as he is working to protect the rights of Al-TImimi to urge violent jihad.
In 2000, Al-Timimi’s charity, Islamic Assembly of North America radio ran an item “CIA to Monitor Foreign Students.” The item as published on the IANA website read: “American anti-terrorism policies are ‘seriously deficient according to the US National Commission on Terrorism, a body created by Congress after the bombing of 2 US embassies in East Africa.’”
In November 2007, FBI Director Mueller gave a speech in which he warned against the need to guard against spies at universities, who for example, may have access to pre-patent, pre-classification biochemistry information.
“Al Qaeda is tremendously patient and thinks nothing about taking years to infiltrate persons in and finding the right personnel and opportunity to undertake an attack.”
Infiltrator Ali Mohamed was the “Teflon terrorist.” Ali Mohammed, an EIJ member who was associated with the unit that killed Sadat, had an alibi for the Sadat assassination. He was at an officer exchange program studying at the JFK Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Green Beret and Delta Force officers trained there. After he was forced out of the Egyptian Army for his radical beliefs, he went to work at Egyptair. As a security advisor, where he learned how to hijack airliners. He then joined the CIA and the US Army. He was a supply sergeant at the US Army’s Fort Bragg. He lectured Green Beret and Delta Forces on the middle east. He stole high resolution maps from the map shack and brought them to Zawahirii in Afghanistan. In 1989, Ali Mohamed traveled from Fort Bragg to train men that would later commit WTC 1993. When Ali Mohammed traveled to Brooklyn, he stayed with Islamic Group and Abdel-Rahman’s bodyguard Nosair, the man who would assassinate Rabbi Kahane in 1990.
In 1991, when Bin Laden wanted to move from Afghanistan to Sudan, Ali Mohammed served as his head of security and trained his bodyguards. Along with a former medical student, Khalid Dahab, Ali Mohamed recruited ten Americans for “sleeper cells.” After the 1998 embassy bombings, when FBI agents secretly swarmed his California residence, they found a document “Cocktail” detailing how cell members should operate. Even Al Qaeda central would not know the identity of members and different cells would not know each other’s identity. It was Ali Mohamed who was the source for the December 4, 1998 PDB to President Clinton explaining that the brother of Sadat’s assassin, Islambouli, was planning attacks on the US. In November 2001, did the Quantico profilers know of this egregious history of infiltration and harm flowing from treating the Nosair case as a “lone wolf” rather than an international conspiracy? One man’s “lone wolf” experiencing howling loneliness is another man’s Salafist operating under strict principles of cell security and “need-to-know.”
A former FBI agent in the New York office who asked not to be identified, told author Peter Lance: “Understand what this means. You have an Al Qaeda spy who’s now a U.S. citizen, on active duty in the U.S. Army, and he brings along a video paid for by the U.S. government to train Green Beret officers and he’s using it to help train Islamic terrorists so they can turn their guns on us. By now the Afghan war is over.”
Not even Ali Mohammed, however, could boast the letter of commendation from the White House once given Ali Al-Timimi, previous work for White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, or a high security clearance. Ali Mohammed did not even have a security clearance but was merely a supply sergeant at the base where Special Operations was located. ‘Dr. Ali Al-Timimi’s Support Committee’ in an email to supporters dated April 5, 2005 explained: “This is a summary of the court proceedings that took place yesterday April 4th 2005. We will send a summary everyday inshallah. *** “In his opening statement, Defense attorney Edward B. MacMahon Jr. said that Al-Timimi was born and raised in Washington DC. He has a degree in Biology and he is also a computer scientist, and a mathematician. He worked for Andrew Card, who’s now the White House chief of staff, at the Transportation Department in the early 1990s.”
There was an elephant in the room no one talked about. A colleague of famed Russian bioweaponeer Ken Alibek and former USAMRIID Deputy Commander Charles Bailey, a prolific Ames strain researcher, has been convicted of sedition and sentenced to life plus 70 years in prison. He worked in a program co-sponsored by the American Type Culture Collection and had access to ATCC facilities, as well as facilities of the DARPA-funded Center for Biodefense at George Mason University then run by Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey. The bionformatics grad student once had a high security clearance for mathematical support work for the Navy.
Many commentators have long held strong and divergent opinions of what has been published in the media about Amerithrax and their political views. But it turns out that they apparently have just been seeing the elephant in the living room from a different angle. Actually, they’ve just been in a position to see the elephant’s rump from outside the living room door. One US law professor, Francis Boyle, who has represented islamists abroad, first publicized the theory that a US biodefense insider was responsible. He has served as legal advisor to the Palestinian Liberation Organization and as counsel for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Separately the theory was adopted by professor Barbara Rosenberg. But Professor Boyle and Rosenberg were not so far from the truth — just incorrect as to motive. The documentary shows that Zawahiri’s plan was to infiltrate the US and UK biodefense establishment, and the evidence shows that is exactly what he did.
In a June 2005 interview in a Swiss (German language) weekly news magazine, Ken Alibek addresses the anthrax mailings:
A. “What if I told you Swiss scientists are paid by Al Qaeda? You could believe it or not. It has become somewhat fashionable to disparage Russian scientists. Americans, Iraqis, or whoever could just as well be involved with Al Qaeda. Why doesn’t anyone speculate about that?”
Q. “But could one of your students build a biological weapon in the garage?”
A. “Let me reply philosophically: Two hundred years ago, it was unthinkable to believe that people would be using mobile telephones, wasn’t it? Everything changes. Our knowledge grows, and technology develops incredibly quickly. … I am not saying that a student is in a position to build a biological weapon all by himself. But the knowledge needed to do it is certainly there.”
No one who responded to my inquiries ever knew Al-Timimi to ever have been involved in any biodefense project. For example, former Russian bioweaponeer Sergei Popov did not know of any such work by Al-Timimi. Anna Popova had only seen him in the hall on a very rare occasion. Dr. Alibek thought of him as a “numbers guy” rather than a hands-on type. Given that the FBI knows what Al-Timimi had for dinner on September 16, 2001 and lunch on September 17, it is very likely that the past years have involved a continued search for the mailer and/or processor. His attorney emphasizes that while they searched for materials related to a planned biological attack when they searched his townhouse in late February 2003, they came up empty.
DOD official Peter Leitner, who also taught at GMU, supervised a 2007 PhD thesis by a graduate student that explores biosecurity issues at GMU. The PhD biodefense thesis on the vulnerability of the program to infiltration explains:
“As a student in the biodefense program, the author is aware that students without background checks are permitted to work on grants, specifically Department of Defense, that has been awarded to NCBD under the Department of Molecular and Microbiology at GMU. Students are also permitted to do research separately from work in the lab for their studies. Work and studies are separate, but related by the lab. Thus, student access, research and activities go unchecked and unmonitored. Students have access to critical
“Now we see that Sergeant Rasool was the subject of a several-year long investigation – in fact, he was under investigation at the time he lodged his complaints against us — and was recently convicted of a very serious security breach involving misusing FBI databases to assist another person under FBI investigation for Federal terrorism charges.” Fairfax County Police Department Sergeant Rasool sought to stop the training work being done by Dr. Leitner, who taught biosecurity work at George Mason University’s Center for Biodefense.
DXer said
The Other “Anthrax Weapons Suspect”: White House Chief of Staff’s Former Assistant Ali Al-Timimi
The decision by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals can perhaps be expected by December 22, 2013. The more time that passes before decision, perhaps the more substantial the opinion can be expected to be and perhaps the greater likelihood that Ali Al-Timimi’s motion will be granted. In that proceeding, it was defense counsel Turley who first told us that Ali Al-Timimi was an “anthrax weapons suspect.”
In a filing unsealed in United States v. Al-Timimi, with lots more yet to be unsealed, Dr. Ali Al-Timimi’s lawyer, Professor and MSNBC commentator Jonathan Turley, explained that his client “was considered an anthrax weapons suspect.” Al-Timimi was a computational biologist who came to have an office 15 feet from the leading anthrax scientist and the former deputy commander of USAMRIID. A motion filed in early August 2008 seeking to unseal additional information in federal district court was denied. The subsequent proceedings were highly classified.
Dr. Al-Timimi’s counsel summarizes
“we know Dr. Al-Timimi:* was interviewed in 1994 by the FBI and Secret Service regarding his ties to the perpetrators of the first World Trade Center bombing;
* was referenced in the August 6, 2001 Presidential Daily Briefing (“Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US”) as one of seventy individuals regarding whom the FBI is conducting full field investigations on a national basis; * was described to his brother by the FBI within days of the 9-11 attacks as an immediate suspect in the Al Qaeda conspiracy;
* was contacted by the FBI only nine days after 9-11 and asked about the attacks and its perpetrator
* was considered an anthrax weapons suspect;
[redacted]
* was described during his trial by FBI agent John Wyman as having “extensive ties” with the “broader al-Qaeda network”;
* was described in the indictment and superseding indictment as being associated with terrorists seeking harm to the United States;
* was a participant in dozens of international overseas calls to individuals known to have been under suspicion of Al-Qaeda ties like Al-Hawali; and
* was associated with the long investigation of the Virginia Jihad Group.
***
The conversation with [Bin Laden’s sheik] Al-Hawali on September 19, 2001 was central to the indictment and raised at trial. ***
[911 imam] Anwar Al-Aulaqi goes directly to Dr. Al-Timimi’s state of mind and his role in the alleged conspiracy. The 9-11 Report indicates that Special Agent Ammerman interviewed Al-Aulaqi just before or shortly after his October 2002 visit to Dr. Al-Timimi’s home to discuss the attacks and his efforts to reach out to the U.S. government.
[IANA head] Bassem Khafagi was questioned about Dr. Al-Timimi before 9-11 in Jordan, purportedly at the behest of American intelligence. [redacted ] He was specifically asked about Dr. Al-Timimi’s connection to Bin Laden prior to Dr. Al-Timimi’s arrest. He was later interviewed by the FBI about Dr. Al-Timimi. Clearly, such early investigations go directly to the allegations of Dr. Al-Timimi’s connections to terrorists and Bin Laden [redacted].”
The first week after 9/11, FBI agents questioned Al-Timimi. Turley asks whether Aulaqi was an informant and yet the more interesting question is whether Al-Timimi was the informant. He was a graduate student in a program jointly run by George Mason University and the American Type Culture Collection (”ATCC”). Ali, according to his lawyer, had been questioned by an FBI agent and Secret Service agent in 1994 after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He had a high security clearance for work for the Navy in the late 1990s. Someone’s cooperation led to the capture of Ramzi Youssef under the Rewards For Justice program according to its website. The defense webpage reported he had once served as the assistant for the White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card. (Mr. Card had been Secretary of Transportation in 1992-1993; from 1993 to 1998, Mr. Card later was President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Automobile Manufacturers Association.) As time off from his university studies permitted, Ali was an active speaker with the Ann Arbor-based charity Islamic Assembly of North America.
A letter attached as an exhibit notes that in March 2002 Al-Timimi spoke with Al-Hawali about assisting Moussaoui in his defense. Al-Hawali was Bin Laden’s sheik who was the subject of OBL’s “Declaration of War.” Moussaoui was the operative sent by Bin Laden reportedly to be part of a “second wave” who had been inquiring about crop dusters. Moussaoui had been given $35,000 and a $2,500 monthly stipend by Yazid Sufaat. Sufaat says that he formerly was part of the Malaysian Armed Forces biological weapons program and went to Afghanistan to develop biological weapons for Al Qaeda.
The filing and the letter about Al-Timimi’s connection to Moussaoui each copy defense co-counsel, the daughter of the lead prosecutor in Amerithrax. That prosecutor pled the Fifth Amendment concerning all the leaks hyping a “POI” of the other Amerithrax squad, Dr. Steve Hatfill. His daughter finally withdrew as Al-Timimi’s pro bono counsel on February 27, 2009.
‘Dr. Ali Al-Timimi’s Support Committee’ in an email to supporters dated April 5, 2005 explained: “This is a summary of the court proceedings that took place yesterday April 4th 2005. We will send a summary everyday
inshallah. *** “In his opening statement, Defense attorney Edward B. MacMahon Jr. said that Al-Timimi was born and raised in Washington DC. He has a degree in Biology and he is also a computer scientist, and a mathematician. He worked for Andrew Card, who’s now the White House chief of staff, at the Transportation Department in the early 1990s.”
In 2002 and 2003, the FBI and CIA may have been concerned that there might have been unauthorized access to the Ames strain. That would explain their aggressive prosecution of various matters related to Al-Timimi’s charity,IANA. IANA was based in Ann Arbor. IANA promoted the views of Bin Laden’s sheiks. Al-Timimi was IANA’s most celebrated speaker. He was in active contact with one of those sheiks, who had been Ali’s religious mentor at university in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Timimi was a current associate and former student of Bin Laden’s spiritual advisor, dissident Saudi Sheik al-Hawali. Ali Al-Timimi preached on the end of times and the inevitability of the clash of civilizations. He was in active contact with al-Hawali whose detention had been the express subject of Bin Laden’s 1996 Declaration of War. At GMU, Dr. Bailey would publish a lot of research with the “Ames strain” of anthrax. The anthrax used in the anthrax mailings was traced to Bruce Ivins’ lab at USAMRIID, where Ivins, according to a former colleague, had done some work for DARPA.
Al-Timimi would speak along with the blind sheik’s son at charity conferences. The blind sheik’s son served on Al Qaeda’s WMD committee. Al-Timimi’s mentor Bilal Philips, mentioned by Dr. Smith in her PhD thesis, was known for recruiting members of the military to jihad. Bilal Philips was a good friend of Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s father, who had been Blind Sheik Abdel-Rahman’s translator. I have long urged that Adnan El-Shukrijumah is the anthrax mailer. He called his mom on or about September 13, 2001 to tell her he was coming to the United States. She protested that he would be arrested for 9/11 but he wouldn’t listen.
This is not a time to suffer fools gladly. This is not a time to allow career-minded government employees to play hide-the-ball.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
The United States Government Knew That Al Qaeda Was Seeking Weaponized Anthrax And So It Was Negligent To Allow Ali Al-Timimi Work Alongside the DARPA-funded Researchers
A laptop evidencing Al Qaeda’s intent on weaponizing anthrax was seized in Baku in July 1998. Two months later, Dr. Ken Alibek, then Program Manager, Battelle Memorial Institute, testified before the Joint Economic Committee on the subject of “Terrorist and Intelligence Operations: Potential Impact on the U.S. Economy” about the proliferation of know-how. Dr. Alibek noted that “[t]here are numerous ways in which Russia’s biological weapons expertise can be proliferated to other countries.” Indeed. Sometimes such proliferation is funded by DARPA and any student who wanted to apply to work in the building could submit an application. One applicant accepted was this Salafist preacher seeing signs of the coming day of judgment and the inevitable clash of civilizations. He had been mentored by the sheik named in Bin Laden’s declaration of war in 1996. In 1999, Al-Timimi had a high security clearance for work for the Navy. His father worked at the Iraqi embassy.
Dr. Alibek testified before the House Armed Services Committee Oversight Panel on Terrorism again in May 2000 about the issue of proliferation of biological weapons. He explained: “Terrorists interested in biological weapons are on the level of state-sponsored terrorist organizations such as that of Osama bin Laden; on the level of large, independent organizations such as Aum Shinrikyo; or on the level of individuals acting alone or in concert with small radical organizations.”
Dr. Alibek in 2003 told me he knew Ali was a hardliner. More recently he described Ali as a fanatic. Dr. Alibek explained to the Congressional Committee in May 2000: “When most people think of proliferation, they imagine weapons export. In the case of biological weapons, they picture international smuggling either of ready-made weapons material, or at least of cultures of pathogenic microorganisms. However, this area of proliferation is of the least concern. Even without such assistance, a determined organization could obtain virulent strains of microorganisms from their natural reservoirs (such as soil or animals), from culture libraries that provide such organisms for research purposes, or by stealing cultures from legitimate laboratories.” American Type Culture Collection, the largest microbiologist depository in the world, co-sponsored Ali’s bioinformatics program. Dr. Alibek explained: “The proliferation issue is particularly complex for biological weapons. In many cases, the same equipment and knowledge that can be used to produce biological weapons can also be used to produce legitimate biotechnological products.”
By 2001, Al-Timimi was allowed access to the American Type Culture Collection (“ATCC”), the most diverse microbiological repository in the world and allowed to work alongside staff at the DARPA-funded Center for Biodefense. The Center for Biodefense personnel were working under the largest biodefense award in history. Delta (avirulent) Ames was supplied by NIH and work with virulent Ames was done at Southern Research Institute in Frederick, Maryland under a subcontract.
The lead FBI scientist, Jason Bannan, was the collection scientist for the bacteriology division at ATCC to which Ali Al-TImimi had unfettered access. No vetting was done in allowing access to the largest microbiological collection in the world.
Al-Timimi had supervised Cairo-based militants writing for the Pittsburgh-based Assirat and then for IANA. One of them, Kamal Habib, was the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and a friend of Ayman Zawahiri. The Cairo-based writers Kamal Habib and Gamal Sultan approached the blind sheik Abdel Rahman about starting a political party in early 1999. On March 1 and 2, 1999, Lynne Stewart and translator Yousry visited Abdel Rahman in prison in Rochester, Minnesota and relayed the proposal. On March 6, 1999, the first press reports about anthrax appeared quoting the blind sheik’s Cairo lawyer, Montasser al-Zayat, and two key detainees in a massive trial al-Zayat was defending. Attorney Zayat and the two defendants explained that Ayman likely was going to use anthrax against US targets to retaliate against the rendering and detention of the Egyptian militants.
On March 9, 1999 following the visit in prison at which the political idea had been proposed, Abdel Rahman issued a statement rejecting a proposal that the Islamic Group form a political party in Egypt. That day, the Islamic Group military commander Mustafa Hamza spoke with the blind sheik’s liaison, US Post Office employee Abdel Sattar. The next month, the Blind Sheik’s publicist Sattar spoke with Taha, the IG head close to the Taliban and Bin Laden, in a three-way call with Cairo attorney Al-Zayat. Sattar also spoke on the telephone with Vanguards of Conquest spokesman Al Sirri (based in London). From the beginning, the weaponization of anthrax for use against US targets was inextricably linked to the detention of senior militant Egyptian leaders, including the blind sheik.
Ayman Zawahiri’s brother Muhammad was rendered to Cairo in April 1999. Mamdouh Ismail, Al-Zayat’s co-founder of a key reform party, represented the Al-Zawahiri family in connection with Muhammad’s rendition and detention. Ayman Zawahiri and Muhammad’s sister, Heba, a Pharmacology Professor at Cairo Medical, were concerned that he might be mistreated by Egyptian security services. A recent graduate from the same department, Tarek Hamouda, soon was working alongside Bruce Ivins with virulent Ames at Ft. Detrick.
Bruce Ivins had supplied the virulent Ames strain of anthrax to Ann Arbor researchers. One of the researchers, Dr. Hamouda, obtained his PhD in microbiology from Cairo Medical in 1994. He and his wife came to the United States to settle that year. By 1998, he was working on a DARPA-funded project involving nanoemulsions and a biocidal cream. In December 1999, he and two colleagues travelled to a remote military installation in Utah, Dugway, to test its effectiveness in killing aerosolized anthrax surrogates. An April 2001 report describing testing at Dugway concluded that the best performing decontamination agents were from University of Michigan, Sandia National Laboratories, and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLNL). The FBI first was faxed the 16 pages describing the research on March 2005. The FBI seriously dropped the ball in not obtaining record of that research earlier.
DXer said
Al-Timimi’s Connection to AQ WMD Comm. member Mohammed Abdel-Rahman
While Al-Timimi was recruiting for the Taliban, he was also connected to one of the principals on Al Qaeda’s WMD Committee, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman. Mohammed Abdel-Rahman spoke at the first conference of the Islamic Assembly of North America (”IANA”) in 1993 and was noted to be from Afghanistan. Mohammed Abdelrahman spoke alongside Ali Al-Timimi again, for example, in 1996 in Toronto and again that December in Chicago at the annual conference. The December conference was held after blind sheik Abdel-Rahman was indicted. Mohammed Abdel-Rahman was close to bin Laden and was engaged in planning key operations. OBL considered him like a son. Mohammed was on the three member WMD committee with Midhat Mursi. Mohammed Abdel-Rahman ran a training camp that was part of the larger complex of several camps. He was an explosives trainer.
The “Superseding Indictment” in United States of postal employee Ahmed Abdel Sattar and others explains that on February 12, 1997, with Mohammed Abdelrahman back in Afghanistan, a statement issued in the name of the Islamic Group threatened, “The Islamic Group declares all American interests legitimate targets to its legitimate jihad until the release of all prisoners, on top of whom” is Abdel Rahman. Three months later, on May 5, 1997, a statement issued in the name of the Islamic Group threatened, “If any harm comes to the [S]heikh [,] al-Gama al-IsIalamiy[y]a will target [] all of those Americans who participated in subjecting his life to danger.” The statement also said that “Al-Gamaa al-Islamiyya considers every American official, starting with the American president to the despicable jailer [] partners endangering the Sheikh’s life,” and that the Islamic Group would do “everything in its power” to free Abdel Rahman.
Al Qaeda continued to seek religious approval from blind sheik Abdel-Rahman for its attacks. The US indictment of the Post Office worker in contact with Mohammed Abdel-Rahman alleged: “On or about June 19, 2000, one of Abdel Rahman’s sons, Mohammed Abdel Rahman, spoke by telephone with SATTAR and asked SATTAR to convey to Abdel Rahman the fierceness of the debate within the Islamic Group about the initiative, and said SATTAR should tell Abdel Rahman to calm the situation by supporting “the general line of the Group.” The indictment of the US Post Office worker Sattar further alleges: “On or about June 20, 2000, SATTAR spoke by telephone with Mohammed Abdel Rahman and advised him that a conference call had taken place that morning between Abdel Pahman and some of his attorneys and that Abdel Rahman had issued a new statement. The press release issued in Abdel-Rahman’s name containing additional points which made clear, among other things, that Abdel Rahman was not unilaterally ending the initiative, but rather, was withdrawing his support for it and “stating that it was up” to the “brothers” in the Islamic Group now to reconsider the issue.
The indictment of the US Post Office employee Sattar further alleges: “On or about September 21, 2000, an Arabic television station, Al Jazeera, televised a meeting of Usama Bin Laden (leader of the al Qaeda terrorist organization), Ayman al Zawahiri (former leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization and one of Bin Laden’s top lieutenants), and Taha. Sitting under a banner which read, “Convention to Support Honorable Omar Abdel Rahman,” the three terrorist leaders pledged “to free Abdel Rahman from incarceration in the United States. During the meeting, Mohammed Abdel Rahman was heard encouraging others to “avenge your Sheikh” and “go to the spilling of blood.”
Mohammed Abdel-Rahman was arrested in mid-February 2003. Ali Al-Timimi’s townhouse was searched two weeks later.
DXer said
“The Straight Path”: Connecting the Dots
Al-Timimi’s attorney explained in a court filing that unsealed in April 2008 that Ali “was a participant in dozens of international overseas calls to individuals known to have been under suspicion of Al-Qaeda ties like Al-Hawali” and “was described during his trial by FBI agent John Wyman as having ‘extensive ties’ with the ‘broader al-Qaeda network.” Al-Timimi was on an advisory board member of Assirat al-Mustaqueem (”The Straight Path”), an international Arabic language magazine. Assirat, produced in Pittsburgh beginning in 1991, was the creation of a group of North American muslims, many of whom were senior members of IANA. Its Advisory Committee included Bassem Khafagi and Ali Al-Timimi. As Al-Timimi’s counsel explained in a court filing unsealed in April 2008:
“[IANA head] Bassem Khafagi was questioned about Dr. Al-Timimi before 9-11 in Jordan, purportedly at the behest of American intelligence. [redacted passage ] He was specifically asked about Dr. Al-Timimi’s connection to Bin Laden prior to Dr. Al-Timimi’s arrest. He was later interviewed by the FBI about Dr. Al-Timimi. Clearly, such early investigations go directly to the allegations of Dr. Al-Timimi’s connections to terrorists and Bin Laden.”
Two staff members who wrote for Assirat then joined IANA’s staff when it folded in 2000. They had been members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad and were activists in the movement. One of the former EIJ members, Gamal Sultan, was the editor of the quarterly IANA magazine in 2002. The most prominent writer was the founder of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Kamal Habib. He led the Egyptian Islamic Jihad at the time of Anwar Sadat’s assassination when young doctor Zawahiri’s cell merged with a few other cells to form the EIJ. Two writers for Assirat in Pittsburgh had once shared a Portland, Oregon address with Al Qaeda member Wadih El-Hage. Wadih al Hage was Ali Mohammed’s friend and served as Bin Laden’s “personal secretary.”
Kamal Habib had been a founding member of Egyptian Islamic Jihad and had spent 10 years in jail for the assassination of Anwar Sadat. In the late 1970s, the cell run by the young doctor Zawahiri joined with three other groups to become Egyptian Islamic Jihad (EIJ) under Habib’s leadership. After a visit in 2000, Gamal Sultan said Pittsburgh was known as the “American Kandahar,” given its rolling hills. In Egypt he formed the Islah (“Reform”) party with Gamal Sultan. While contributing to Al Manar al Jadeed, the Ann Arbor-based IANA’s quarterly journal, the pair sought the blind sheik’s endorsement of their political party venture in March 1999. They were not seeking the official participation of organizations like the Egyptian Islamic Jihad or the Egyptian Islamic Group. They were just hoping the groups would not oppose it. The pair wanted members of the movement to be free to join in peaceful partisan activity. They were not deterred when the blind sheik responded that the project was pointless, at the same he withdrew his support for the cease-fire initiative that had been backed by the imprisoned leaders of the Egyptian Islamic Group.
In early April 2001, Nawaf Alhazmi and Hani Hanjour rented an apartment in Falls Church, Virginia, for about a month, with the assistance of a man they met at the mosque. Nawaf Al-Hazmi had been at the January 2000 meeting at the Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) condominium of my one-time Facebook Friend, Yazid Sufaat, in January 2000. (Yazid’s court date is this next week). Hijackers Nawaf and Hani Hanjour, a fellow pilot who was his friend from Saudi Arabia, attended sermons at the Dar al Hijrah mosque in Falls Church, where Al-Timimi was located until he established the nearby center. The FBI reports that at an imam named Awlawki who had recently also moved from San Diego had closed door meetings with hijackers Nawaf Alhazmi and Khalid Almihdhar in 2000 while all three of them were living in San Diego. Police later found the phone number of the Falls Church mosque when they searched the apartment of 9/11 planner Ramzi bin al-Shibh in Germany. In his 2007 book, Center of the Storm, George Tenet noted that Ramzi bin al-Shibh had a CBRN role.
Yusuf Wells, who was a fundraiser for the Benevolence International Foundation, visited Northern Virginia over the April 14-15, 2001 weekend. The previous month he had been at Iowa State University on a similar visit. On April 15, 2001, he was brought to a paintball game. In the second season, they had become more secretive after an inquiry by an FBI Special Agent was made in 2000 of one of the members about the games. Part of BIF fundraiser Wells’ job involved writing reports about his fund raising trips. In his April 15, 2001 report he writes:
“I was taken on a trip to the woods where a group of twenty brothers get together to play Paintball. It is a very secret and elite group and as I understand it, it is an honor to be invited to come. The brothers are fully geared up in camouflage fatigues, facemasks, and state of the art paintball weaponry. They call it ‘training’ and are very serious about it. I knew at least 4 or 5 of them were ex US military, the rest varied.
Most all of them young men between the ages of 17-35. I was asked by the amir of the group to give a talk after Thuhr prayer. I spoke about seeing the conditions of Muslims overseas while with BIF, and how the fire of Islam is still very much alive in the hearts of the people even in the midst of extreme oppression. I also stressed the idea of being balanced. That we should not just be jihadis and perfect our fighting skills, but we should also work to perfect our character and strengthen our knowledge of Islam. I also said that Muslims are not just book reading cowards either, and that they should be commended for forming such a group.
Many were confused as to why I had been ‘trusted’ to join the group so quickly, but were comforted after my brief talk. Some offered to help me get presentations on their respective localities.”
A man named Kwon recalled driving Al-Timimi home from the mosque September 11, 2001 after the terrorist attacks. He said Al-Timimi and another scholar argued, with Al-Timimi characterizing the attacks as a punishment of America from God. “He told me to gather some brothers, to have a contingency plan in case there were mass hostilities toward Muslims in America.” Kwon said Al-Timimi told the group that the effort to spread Islam in the United States was over and that the only other options open to them were to repent, leave the U.S. and join the mujahadeen —preparing to defend Afghanistan against the coming U.S. invasion.
After 9/11, although a dinner that night was cancelled in light of the events of the day, Al-Timimi sought “to organize a plan in case of anti-Muslim backlash and to get the brothers together.” The group got together on September 16. Al-Timimi when he came in told the group to turn of their phones, unplug the answering machine, and pull down the curtains. Al-Timimi told the group that Mullah Omar had called upon Muslims to defend Afghanistan. Al-Timimi read parts of the al-Uqla fatwa to the group and gave the fatwa to Khan with the instructions to burn it after he read it. Al Timimi said the duty to engage in jihad is “fard ayn” — an individual duty of all Muslims. Over a lunch with two of the group on September 19, Al-Timimi told them not to carry anything suspicious and if they were stopped on the way to Pakistan to ask for their mother and cry like a baby. He told them to carry a magazine. The next day the pair left for Pakistan. The group from the September 16 meeting met again in early October, and a number left for Pakistan immediately after that meeting.
Al-Timimi’s lawyer explains that Al-Timimi was in telephone contact with Al-Hawali on September 16, 2001 and September 19, 2001:
“The conversation with Al-Hawali on September 19, 2001 was central to the indictment and raised at trial. Al-Timimi called Dr. Hawali after the dinner with Kwon on September 16, 2001 and just two hours before he met with Kwon and Hassan for the last time on September 19, 2001.”
Al-Timimi was urging the young men go defend the Taliban against the imminent US invasion. A recent open letter to Ayman Zawahiri from a senior Libyan jihadist, Bin-Uthman, now living in London, confirms that Ayman Zawahiri and Atef, at a several day meeting in Kandahar in the Summer of 2000, viewed WMD as a deterrent to the invasion of Afghanistan.
Kwon, who had just become a U.S. citizen in August 2001, went to the mountain training camps of Lashkar-e-Taiba. The U.S. placed on its terrorist list in December 2001. Kwon practiced with a semi-automatic weapons and learned to fire a grenade launcher, but he was not able to join the Taliban. The border between Afghanistan and Pakistan closed as U.S. forces took control of Afghanistan shortly before Kwon completed his training. His trainers suggested that he instead go back to the United States and gather information for the holy warriors. Kwon told jurors at al-Timimi’s trial how he first heard Al-Timimi speak in 1997 at an Islamic Assembly of North America conference in Chicago and then found that Al-Timimi lectured locally near his home in Northern Virginia. “Russian Hell” — a jihad video that featured bloody clips of a Chechen Muslim rebel leader executing a Russian prisoner of war — was a favorite among the videos that the group exchanged and discussed. “They (the videos) motivated us. It was like they gave us inspiration,” Kwon told the jurors.
In 2001, Al-Timimi kept the personal papers of IANA President Khafagi at his home for safekeeping. His taped audio lecturers were among the most popular at the charity Islamic Assembly of North America in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He knew its President, Khafagi, both through work with CAIR and IANA. The same nondescript office building at 360 S. Washington St. in Falls Church where Timimi used to lecture at Dar al Arqam housed the Muslim World League.
Al Timimi was close to his former teacher Safar al Hawali, the dissident Saudi sheik whose writings hail what he calls the inevitable downfall of the West. (Under pressure from authorities after 9/11, Al Hawali has played a public role in mediating between Saudi militants and the government.) Al-Timimi sought to represent and explain the views of radical sheik Al-Hawali in a letter he sent to members of Congress on the first anniversary of the mailing to the US Senators Daschle and Leahy. The Hawali October 6, 2002 letter drafted by Al-Timimi was hand delivered to every member of the US Congress just before their vote authorizing the use of force against Iraq, warning of the disastrous consequences that would follow an invasion of Iraq. Dr. Timimi’s defense committee explained on their website:
“Because Dr. Al-Timimi felt that he did not have enough stature to send a letter in his name on behalf of Muslims, he contacted Dr. Al-Hawali among others to send the letter. Dr. Al-Hawali agreed and sent a revised version which Dr. Al-Timimi then edited and had hand delivered to every member of Congress.”
In addition to the October 6, 2002 letter, drafted by Al-Timimi, Hawali had sent a lengthy October 15, 2001 “Open Letter” to President Bush in which he had rejoiced in the 9/11 attacks. One Al-Hawali lecture, sought to be introduced in the prosecution of the IANA webmaster, applauded the killing of Jews and called for more killing, praised suicide bombings, and said of Israel that it’s time to “fight and expel this hated country that consists of those unclean, defiled, the cursed.”
Bin Laden referred to Sheik al-Hawali in his 1996 Declaration of War on America. Prior to the 1998 embassy bombings, Ayman’s London cell sent letters to three different media outlets in Europe claiming responsibility for the bombings and referring to Hawali’s imprisonment. In two of the letters, the conditions laid out as to how the violence would stop were (1) release of Sheik al-Hawali (who along with another had been imprisoned in Saudi Arabia in 1994) and (2) the release of blind sheik Abdel Rahman (who had been imprisoned in connection with WTC 1993). Hawali was released in 1999 after he agreed to stop advocating against the Saudi regime.
Al-Timimi sent out a February 1, 2003 email in Arabic containing an article that said:
“There is no doubt Muslims were overjoyed because of the adversity that befell their greatest enemy. The Columbia crash made me feel, and God is the only One to know, that this is a strong signal that Western Supremacy (especially that of America) that began 500 years ago is coming to a quick end, God willing, as occurred to the shuttle.”
As Ali later explained to NBC, “To have a space shuttle crash in Palestine, Texas, with a Texas president and an Israeli astronaut, somebody might say there’s a divine hand behind it.”
DXer said
CLASSIFIED: Do Not Read This Without The Necessary Clearance If You Are Employed By The Government
Project Jefferson, GMU Center for Biodefense, and Discovery Hall
Ali Al-Timimi worked at George Mason University’s Discovery Hall throughout 2000 and 2002 period. The Mason Gazette in “Mason to Pursue Advanced Biodefense Research” on November 17, 2000 had announced: “The School of Computational Sciences (SCS) and Advanced Biosystems, Inc., a subsidiary of Hadron, Inc., of Alexandria, are pursuing a collaborative program at the Prince William Campus to enhance research and educational objectives in biodefense research. The article noted that the program was funded primarily by a grant awarded to Advanced Biosystems from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). A 2007 GMU PhD thesis explains that the “An Assessment of Exploitable Weaknesses in Universities” by Corinne M. Verzoni offices and research located in Discovery Hall, making this an attractive building on the Prince William Campus to target for information and technology.” The 2007 PhD student biodefense student explained: “Discovery Hall currently has BSL 1, 2 and 2+ labs in which students work with attenuated and vaccine strains of Fracella tularemia, anthrax and HIV. GMU will eventually have new biological labs featuring a BSL-3 lab which will have anthrax and tularemia.”
Instead of starting a center from scratch, GMU chose to join forces with Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey’s existing research firm, Hadron Advanced Biosystems Inc. Hadron was already working under contract for the federal government, having received funding from DARPA. Dr. Alibek told the Washington Post that he and Bailey had spent their careers studying an issue that only recently grabbed the country’s attention, after the anthrax mailings the previous fall. Dr. Bailey and Alibek met in 1991, when a delegation of Soviet scientists visited USAMRIID at Ft. Detrick. Dr. Bailey explained that the purpose of the tour was to show the Soviets that the US was not developing offensive biological weapons. Bailey said he tried to engage Alibek in conversation but Alibek remained aloof. Alibek, for his part, explains that he was suspicious of this American smiling so broadly at him. A year later, Alibek would defect to the US and reveal an illegal biological program in the Soviet Union of a staggering scope. Alibek says that one reason he defected was that he realized that the Soviet intelligence was wrong — that the US research was in fact only defensive. Read the civil depositions about to be produced by USAMRIID FOIA and highlight all the references to the Vaccine Resistance Study. Don’t be confused or distracted by whispered mention of the DIA’s Project Jefferson. Keep your eye on the man who expressed an intent to use anthrax against US targets to retaliate for the rendering and imprisonment of senior Egyptian Islamic Jihad leaders.
Former USAMRIID Deputy Commander and Acting Commander Ames researcher Bailey coinvented, with Ken Alibek, the process to treat cell culture with hydrophobic silicon dioxide so as to permit greater concentration upon drying. He was in Room 156B of GMU’s Discovery Hall at the Center for Biodefense. The patent application was filed March 14, 2001. Rm 154A was Victor Morozov’s room number when he first assumed Timimi’s phone number in 2004 (and before he moved to the newly constructed Bull Run Hall). Morozov was the co-inventor with Dr. Bailey of the related cell culture process under which the silica was removed from the spore surface.
One ATCC former employee felt so strongly about lax security there the scientist called me out of the blue and said that the public was overlooking the patent repository as a possible source of the Ames strain. ATCC would not deny they had virulent Ames in their patent repository pre 9/11 (as distinguished from their online catalog). The spokesperson emailed me: “As a matter of policy, ATCC does not disclose information on the contents of its patent depository.” Previously, though, the ATCC head publicly explained that it did not have virulent Ames and certainly the FBI has operated under that stated conclusion.
George Mason University, Department Listings, accessed August 17, 2003, shows that the National Center For Biodefense and Center for Biomedical Genomics had the same mail stop (MS 4ES). The most famed bioweaponeer in the world was not far from this sheik urging violent jihad in an apocalyptic struggle between religions. Dr. Alibek’s office was Rm. 156D in Prince William 2. The groups both shared the same department fax of 993-4288. Dr. Alibek advises me he had seen him several times in the corridors of GMU and was told that he was a religious muslim hard-liner but knew nothing of his activities. At one point, Timimi’s mail drop was MSN 4D7.
Charles Bailey at 3-4271 was the former head of USAMRIID and joined the Center in April 2001. He continued to do research with Ames after 9/11. Dr. Alibek reports that shortly after the mailings, he wrote FBI Director Mueller and offered his services but was advised that they already had assembled a large group. A 2004 report describes research done by Dr. Alibek and his colleagues using Delta Ames obtained from NIH for a research project done for USAMRIID. There were two grants from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency from 2001. One $3.6 million grant dated to July 2001 and the other was previous to that.
Ali Al-Timimi had the same telephone number that Dr. Victor Morozov of the Center for Biodefense would later have when he joined the faculty and occupied the newly constructed Bull Run Building, which opened in late 2004 (Rm. #362). Dr. Morozov focuses on the development of new bioassay methods for express analysis, high-throughput screening and proteomics. He developed a new electrospray-based technology for mass fabrication of protein microarrays. Dr. Morozov supervised a DOE -funded research project directed at the development of ultra-sensitive express methods for detection of pathogens in which slow diffusion of analytes is replaced by their active transport controlled and powered by external forces (electric, magnetic, gravitational or hydrodynamic). His homepage explains that: “A variety of projects are available for students to participate in “*** 7. Develop software to analyze motion of beads. 8. Develop software to analyze patterns in drying droplets. 9. Develop an electrostatic collector for airborne particles.”
Al-Timimi obtained a doctorate from George Mason University in 2004 in the field of computational biology — a field related to cancer research involving genome sequencing. He successfully defended his thesis 5 weeks after his indictment. Curt Jamison, Timimi’s thesis advisor, coauthor and loyal friend, was in Prince William II (Discovery Hall) Rm. 181A. The staff of Advanced Biosystems was in Rm. 160, 162, 177, 254E and several others. Computational sciences offices were intermixed among the Hadron personnel on the first floor of Prince William II to include 159, 161, 166A, 167, 181 B and 181C. Rm. 156B was Charles Bailey, former commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, who was head of the Center for Biodefense. Defense contractor Hadron had announced the appointment of Dr. Bailey as Vice-President of Advanced Biosystems in early April 2001.
“Over 13 years, Dr. Bailey had served as a Research Scientist, Deputy Commander for Research, Deputy Commander and Commander at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute. As a USAMRIID scientist, he designed and supervised the construction of BL-3 containment facilities. His hands-on experience with a wide variety of pathogens is chronicled in 70 published articles. During his 4 years with the Defense Intelligence Agency, he published numerous articles assessing foreign capabilities regarding biological weapons.” When I asked Dr. Bailey to confirm Al-Timimi’s room number relative to his own, his only response was to refer me to University counsel. Counsel then never substantively responded to my inquiry regarding their respective room numbers citing student privacy. Alas, Charles Bailey never told me anything about the DIA’s Project Jefferson. Ali’s friend and thesis advisor, Dr. Jamison never responded to an emailed query either. GMU perhaps understandably was very nervous about losing the $25 million grant for a new BL-3 regional facility to be located very near our country’s capitol.
Dr. Charles Bailey for DIA wrote extensively on the the biothreat posed by other countries (and presumably terrorists). Project Jefferson was led by DIA. Bailey shared a fax number with Al-Timimi. What came over that fax line in Spring and Summer of 2001? At some point, Dr. Al-Timimi, Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey also shared the same maildrop. It certainly would not be surprising that the two directors who headed the DARPA-funded Center for Biodefense — and had received the biggest defense award in history for work with Delta Ames under a contract with USAMRIID — would have been briefed on the threat of mailed anthrax. The reports on the study on the effectiveness of the mailed anthrax in the Canadian experiment was reported in private briefings in Spring and Summer of 2001. An insider thus was not dependent on the published report later that Fall. (The date on the formal report is September 10, 2001). The 1999 short report by William Patrick to Hatfill at SAIC on the general subject was far less important given that it did not relate to actual experimental findings.
It is common sense that while someone might use as a model something they had surreptitiously learned of — they would not use as a model something in a memo that they had commissioned (such as Hatfill commissioned the SAIC study). Thus, it was rather misdirected to focus on the 1999 SAIC report commissioned by Dr. Hatfill rather than the 2001 Canadian report. The Canadian report related to the anthrax threat sent regarding the detention of Vanguards of Conquest #2 Mahjoub in Canada. Mahjoub had worked with al-Hawsawi in Sudan (the fellow with anthrax spraydrying documents on his laptop). The anthrax threat in late January prompted the still-classified Presidential Daily Brief (“PDB”) in early February 2001 by the CIA to President Bush on the subject.
In Fall 2001, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (”AFIP”) had detected silicon dioxide (silica) in the attack anthrax — with a characteristic big spike for the silicon. No silica was observable on the SEMs images that Dr. Alibek and Dr. Matthew Meselson saw. The Daschle product was “pure spores.” Was silicon dioxide used as part of a microdroplet cell culture process used prior to drying to permit greater concentration? As explained in a later related patent, the silica could be removed from the surface of the spore through repeated centrifugaton or an air chamber.
Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey had filed a patent application in mid-March 2001 involving a microdroplet cell culture technique that used silicon dioxide in a method for concentrating growth of cells. The patent was granted and the application first publicly disclosed in the Spring of 2002. Weren’t the SEMS images and AFIP EDX finding both consistent with use of this process in growing the culture? It’s been suggested informally to me that perhaps the silicon analytical peak was due to silanol from hydrolysis of a silane, used in siliconizing glassware. But didn’t the AFIP in fact also detect oxygen in ratios characteristic of silicon dioxide? Wasn’t the scientist, now deceased, who performed the EDX highly experienced and expert in detecting silica? Hasn’t the AFIP always stood by its report. In its report, AFIP explained: “AFIP experts utilized an energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (an instrument used to detect the presence of otherwise-unseen chemicals through characteristic wavelengths of X-ray light) to confirm the previously unidentifiable substance as silica.” Perhaps the nuance that was lost — or just never publicly explained — was that silica was used in the cell culture process and then removed from the spores through a process such as centrifugation. The applicants in March 2001 for an international patent relating to vaccines were a leading aerosol expert, Herman R. Shepherd, and a lonstanding anthrax biodefense expert, Philip Russell.
Dr. Morozov is co-inventor along with Dr. Bailey for a patent “Cell Culture” that explains how the silicon dioxide can be removed from the surface. Perhaps it is precisely this AFIP finding of silicon dioxide (without silica on the SEMs) that is why the FBI came to suspect Al-Timimi in 2003 (rightly or wrongly, we don’t know). The FBI would have kept these scientific findings secret to protect the integrity of the confidential criminal/national security investigation. There was still a processor and mailer to catch — still a case to prove.
After 9/11, intelligence collection takes precedence over arrests. As Ron Kessler explains in the new book, Terrorist Watch, many FBI officials feel that they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. Outside observers are constantly second-guessing them about how to proceed rather than trusting that they are in the best position to balance the competing considerations of national security, intelligence gathering, the pursuit of justice, and the safeguarding of civil liberties. Above all, in disclosing the theory of access to know-how, the FBI has needed to protect the due process rights of Al-Timimi while he defended himself on other charges.
An example from October 2006 of equipment that went missing from GMU’s Discovery Hall was a rotissery hybridization oven belonging to the Center for Biomedical Genomics. “This equipment can be used to manufacture biological agents and genetically modified agents, which could potentially be used as biological weapons,” Corinne Verzoni explained in her PhD 2007 thesis. “Upon hearing about instances or missing equipment in Discovery Hall, the author contacted campus security who was unaware of instances of missing equipment. Missing equipment should be reported to the equipment liaison. Missing equipment may not be reported to campus security because labs tend to share equipment. Equipment also goes missing because it is not inventoried if it is under $2,000.”
One of her other examples was equally dramatic:
“A DI system is a de-ionized water system, which removes the ions that are found in normal tap water. The assistant director for operations noticed the DI system in Discovery Hall was using the entire 100 gallons in two days, which is an enormous amount of water for the four DI taps in the whole building. According to the assistant director for operations, it is difficult to calculate the reason for that much water since no leak was found. A large amount of water used over a short period of time for unknown reasons could indicate that the research is being conducted covertly.”
“A student with legitimate access to Discovery Hall,” she explained, “has easy accessibility to equipment. A student with access to the loading dock could steal equipment on the weekend when campus security is not present in Discovery Hall. A student could also walk out of the entrance with equipment on the weekend without security present.” She concluded: “The events at GMU demonstrate opportunity to create a clandestine lab, the ability to sell items illegally, or the ability to exploit school equipment.” In a late September 2001 interview on NPR on the anthrax threat, Dr. Alibek said: “When we talk and deal with, for example, nuclear weapons, it’s not really difficult to count how much of one or another substance we’ve got in the hands. When you talk about biological agents, in this case it’s absolutely impossible to say whether or not something has been stolen.”
Al-Timimi’s prosecution was remanded while the defense is given an opportunity to discover any documents that existed prior to 9/11 about al-Timimi and to address an issue relating to NSA intercepts after 9/11. Ali’s defense counsel explained to the federal district court, upon a remand by the appeals court, that Mr. Timimi was interviewed by an FBI agent and a Secret Service agent as early as February 1994 in connection with the first World Trade Center attack. The agents left their business cards which the family kept. Defense counsel Johnathan Turley further explained that “We have people that were contacted by the FBI and told soon after 9/11 that they believed that Dr. Al-Timimi was either connected to 9/11 or certainly had information about Al Qaeda.” In November 2013, the judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals are finalizing their decision on a motion by defense counsel urging that the US withheld key documents relating to Awalaqi’s 2002 meeting with Ali Al-Timimi. What the documents show however is far more dramatic than even FoxNews Catherine Herridge imagines.
Al-Timimi worked for SRA in 1999 where he had a high security clearance for work for the Navy. At a conference on countering biological terrorism in 1999 sponsored by the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies. Dr. Alibek was introduced by a former colleague of Dr. Bailey:
“Dr. Llewellyn: This is rather strange because I just met Dr. Alibek today. He was introduced to me by Dr. Charlie Bailey, who now works for SRA. But Charlie and I were associated with the Army Medical Research and Development Command Defense Program for over 20 years.”
When I emailed Dr. Bailey in December 2007 to confirm Ali had the room right near his at Discovery Hall and whether he had worked with Al-Timimi at SRA he politely referred me to counsel and took no questions. Dr. Alibek and Dr. Popov have told me that Ali is not known to have worked on any biodefense project. Dr. Popova told me I should direct any such questions to Dr. Bailey. Dr. Bailey told me I should direct any questions to University counsel. University counsel declined to answer any questions. Remember: If you ever learn anything about Project Jefferson and Al Qaeda’s infiltration that is classified, you didn’t learn it from me.
DXer said
In Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill, Chapter 2 is “Anwar Awlaki: An American Story” and Chapter 5 is “The Enigma of Anwar Awlaki”.
http://www.lawfareblog.com/2013/11/dirty-wars-the-world-is-a-battlefield/
Book Review: Dirty Wars: The World is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill
Published by Nation Books (2013)
Reviewed by Nick Basciano
Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 9:04 PM
“Elsewhere, Scahill simply skips over facts that don’t promote his narrative of Awlaki. One such example comes in Awlaki’s relationship with Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the “Christmas Day Bomber” who attempted to detonate almost three ounces of PETN aboard Northwest flight 253 on its descent to Detroit. A publically-available and widely-cited sentencing memorandum for Abdulmutallab describes how Awlaki housed Abdulmutallab in Yemen and took him to AQAP’s primary bomb-maker, Ibrahim Al Asiri. There, they “discussed a plan for martyrdom mission” and Awlaki himself gave the bombing plot “final approval and instructed Defendant Abdulmutallab on it.” Awlaki’s “last instructions,” the memorandum continues, “were to wait until the airplane was over the United States and then to take the plane down.” Without dealing with this evidence from the Abdulmutallab trial, Scahill admits that Awlaki was only “in touch” with Abdulmutallab, insisting that “no conclusive evidence [was] presented, at least not publicly, that Awlaki had played an operational role in any attacks.” Why such a relevant piece of evidence isn’t included in Scahill’s retelling of the Abdulmuttallab plot is unclear, but it isn’t the only instance of turning a blind eye to evidence linking Awlaki directly to terrorism. In early 2010 Awlaki corresponded with Rajib and Tehzeeb Karim, two brothers who had plotted to plant a bomb on U.S.-bound flight. In encrypted emails confiscated from Rajib’s hard drive by British authorities, Awlaki asks Rajib to “please specify your role in the airline industry, how much access do you have to airports, what information do you have on the limitations and cracks in present airport security systems.” These questions largely contradict Scahill’s contention that Awlaki was not involved in operational planning. In another email, Awlaki names the ultimate target for smuggling a bomb on a plane: “Our highest priority is the US. Anything there, even if on a smaller scale . . . would be our choice. So the question is: with the people you have, is it possible to get a package or a person with a package on board a flight heading to the US?” These emails quite convincingly provide evidence that Awlaki was intimately involved in AQAP’s operational mission to attack America. Scahill fails entirely to mention either the Karim brother’s plot or Awlaki’s emails.
By stacking the deck through omission of evidence and unsubstantiated disbelief of official statements, Scahill claims that Awlaki was not a operational member of AQAP and therefore not an immediate threat. With this false ambiguity in hand, Scahill argues that the U.S. unlawfully killed Awlaki without due process. That the U.S. has a right to defend itself against immediate and ongoing threats, that Awlaki’s active engagement in hostilities against the United States might affect his right to due process, that Yemen was unwilling or unable to arrest him, or that any unilateral capture operation poses tremendous difficulties Scahill fails to address at all.
Dirty Wars delivers a significant argument against destructive counterterrorism operations by recounting the terrible human loss involved in at least some strikes and raids. Beyond the obvious human cost, it suggests that overly-aggressive and lethal tactics can, in some cases, play a role in increasing radicalization and thereby hampering the effectiveness of these tactics. Yet, Scahill’s depiction of American efforts to “kill its way to victory” is a crude caricature, one that fails to address countless aspects of a complex and broad set of policies and tactics on which any serious treatment would dwell at length. His wholesale disapproval of all closed-door agreements, intelligence operations, and the use of lethal force yields few viable options for dealing with the cold realities of global terrorism. The tactics of law enforcement bring hope that there is, in fact, a way forward, a way that offers protection without necessitating lethal force. But Dirty Wars utterly fails to offer the necessary clarity, balance, or sobriety in which to weigh the risks and benefits of integrating military and intelligence approaches into counterterrorism. America needs people like Scahill to remind it of the moral and human costs involved when it wages war, but it also needs those people to count those costs carefully—something Dirty Wars fails to do.”
DXer said
In 2011, the CIA offered Anwar’s brother $5 million to help arrange for his capture. Mr. Scahill’s excerpted account is riveting, detailed, and seems well-sourced.
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/04/25-9
Anwar al-Awlaki’s youngest brother, Ammar, was nothing like him. While Anwar embraced a radical interpretation of Islam and preached jihad against the United States, Ammar was pursuing a career at an oil company in Yemen. Ammar was Canadian-educated and politically well connected. He dressed in blue jeans, wore hip Armani eyeglasses and sported a goatee. His hair was slicked back, and he had the latest iPhone. In February 2011, Ammar told me, he was in Vienna on a business trip. He had just returned to his hotel after sampling some of the local cuisine with an Austrian colleague when the phone in his room rang. “Hello, Ammar?” said a man with an American accent. “My wife knows your wife, and I have a gift for her.”
Ammar went down to the lobby and saw a tall, thin white man in a crisp blue suit. They shook hands. “Can we talk a bit?” the man asked, and the two sat down in the lobby. “I don’t actually have a gift for your wife. I came from the States, and I need to talk to you about your brother.”
“I’m guessing you’re either FBI or CIA,” Ammar said. The man smiled. Ammar asked him for identification.
“Come on, we’re not FBI, we don’t have badges to identify us,” the man said. “The best I can do is, I can show you my diplomatic passport…. Call me Chris,” the American added.
“Was that your name yesterday?” Ammar replied.
Chris made it clear that he worked for the CIA. He told Ammar that the United States had a task force dedicated to “killing or capturing your brother”—and that while everyone preferred to bring Anwar in alive, time was running out. “He’s going to be killed, so why don’t you help in saving his life by helping us capture him?” Chris said. Then he added, “You know, there’s a $5 million bounty on your brother’s head. You won’t be helping us for free.”
Ammar told Chris that he didn’t want the money, that he hadn’t seen Anwar since 2004 and had no idea where he was. The American countered, “That $5 million would help raise [Anwar’s] kids.”
“I don’t think there’s any need for me to meet you again,” Ammar told Chris. Even so, the American told Ammar to think it over, perhaps discuss it with his family. “We can meet when you go to Dubai in two weeks,” he said. Ammar was stunned: his tickets for that trip had not yet been purchased, and the details were still being worked out. Chris gave Ammar an e-mail address and said he’d be in touch.
Ammar returned to Yemen and talked to his mother. “You stop it. Don’t even reply to them, don’t contact them again,” she said. “Just stop.” When Chris began e-mailing him after their meeting, Ammar didn’t respond. …
On the morning of September 30, 2011, Awlaki and Khan, a young Pakistani-American from North Carolina who is believed to have been the editor of Inspire, finished their breakfast inside the house. US spy cameras and satellites broadcast images back to Washington and Virginia of the two men and a handful of their cohorts piling into vehicles and driving away. They were headed toward the province of Marib. As the vehicles made their way over the dusty, unpaved roads, US drones, armed with Hellfire missiles, were dispatched to hunt them down. The drones were technically under the command of the CIA, though JSOC aircraft and ground forces were poised to assist. A team of commandos stood at the ready to board V-22 helicopters. As an added measure, Marine Harrier jets scrambled in a backup maneuver.
Six months earlier, Awlaki had narrowly avoided death by US missiles. “This time eleven missiles missed [their] target but the next time, the first rocket may hit it,” he had said. As the cars sped down the road, Awlaki’s prophecy came true. Two of the Predator drones locked onto the car carrying him, while other aircraft hovered as backup. A Hellfire missile fired by a drone slammed into his car, transforming it into a fireball. A second missile hit moments later, ensuring that the men inside would never escape if they had managed to survive.
The Yemeni government sent out a text message to journalists. “The terrorist Anwar Awlaki has been killed along with some of his companions,” it read. It was 9:55 am local time. When villagers in the area arrived at the scene of the missile strike, they reported that the bodies inside the car had been burned beyond recognition. There were no survivors. Amid the wreckage, they found a symbol more reliable than a fingerprint in Yemeni culture: the charred rhinoceros-horn handle of a jambiya dagger. There was no doubt that it belonged to Anwar al-Awlaki.
Jamiya dagger
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janbiya
DXer said
AUSA Gordon Kromberg has never given me more than copies of some filed briefs in the Al-Timimi litigation. Ali’s wife Ziyana, when I called, never offered me more than graciousness. (She and Ali travelled to China with a Syracuse doctor from Ali’s charity years ago.) And defense counsel Attorney Turley did not respond to my emailed query.
But most intelligence is “open source.”
The District Court judge hearing Attorney Turley’s motion may think that the information on which she has been briefed is so special that even Attorney Turley, who has a security clearance, cannot learn it.
But Attorney Turley does not need the documents to “connect the dots.” He is overlooking the narrative that is provable based on documents already in the public domain — in an attempt to spin the equities in favor of his client as an innocent scholar.
The judge should err on the side of transparency and the disclosure of documents — not only to promote confidence in the USG’s handling of the Al-Timimi prosecution and application of First Amendment precedent, but because the USG is using secrecy to further CYA rather than national security. The CYA relates to the FBI’s dropped ball relating to Hazmi and Midhar’s contact with Awlaki and Al Al-Timimi’s sharing of the suite of the leading DARPA-funded virulent Ames researchers. Dr. Bailey worked for years at USAMRIID for DIA on threat assessment — and he did the same work when he shared the suite with Ali Al-Timimi.
Let’s not have a situation where 50 years later the country is bemoaning the wrongfully withheld (and destroyed) documents.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
That meeting in Fall 2002 related directly to FBI Agent Wade Ammerman pursuing a red hot Amerithrax lead relating to the Ames anthrax strain.and Dr. Ayman Zawahiri’s anthrax program.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
My graphics were done by a wonderful federal undercover — and under the First Amendment principles as I understand them I’m not under any obligation to keep the secret. (Of course, it would be different if they had paid me.) If I’m wrong, perhaps Attorney Turley will represent me pro bono.
DIRTY WARS (2013) explains:
“According to declassified FBI files on Awlaki’s meetings with federal agents after 9/11, Awlaki described [911 hijacker] Hazmi as “a loner,” adding that he was a “a very calm and extremely nice person.” …Soon after that meeting, the FBI returned again and asked Awlaki to work with them in their investigation. The next time they visited, Awlaki got a lawyer. An FBI file after the meeting stated: “Investigation continues at WFO [the Washington Field Office] into the association between Anwar Aulaqi and persons connected to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.” [Awlaki’s name is alternatively spelled Aulaqi.]
According to subsequent FBI testimonies to the 9/11 Commission, Awlaki had a series of phone conversations in 2000 with Saudi Omar al Bayoumi, who helped Hazmi and Mihdhar [and note that these are the hijackers who met at my onetime Facebook Friend Yazid Sufaat, the Al Qaeda anthrax lab director] find apartments in San Diego. An FBI investigator told the commission that he believed that the men were using Bayoumi’s phone at the time, implying tha Awlaki had had direct contact with the hijackers. Yet, based on those early interviews, the investigators concluded that the future hijackers “respected Awlaki as a religious figure and developed a close relationship with him” but added that “the evidence is thin as to specific motivations.” [Remember: They came to San Diego from the condo of anthrax Al Qaeda lab Director Yazid Sufaat.]
***
The author gave some relevant background:
“In 1999, Anwar had his first run-in with the FBI, when he was flagged by his alleged contact with Ziyad Khaleel, an al Qaeda association who US intelligence believed had bought a battery for bin Laden’s satellite phone. He had also been visited by a colleague of Abdel Rahman, the “blind sheikh” convicted of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.”
Making the Zawahiri satellite phone connection between Falls Church, Va and St. Louis, MO.
“There is another strange mystery regarding Anwar’s early run-ins with the FBI, one that will likely never be solved. While he was an imam in San Diego, Anwar was busted twice on charges of soliciting prostitutes. In the first case, he pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and paid a $400 fine and in the other, he was fined $240, given three years’ probation and sentenced to two weeks of community service. The arrests would later be used to paint Anwar as a hypocrite, but the preacher offered up a different explanation: the US government was trying to blackmail him into becoming an informant. In 1996, Anwar claimed, he was in his minivan at a stoplight waiting for it to turn green when his vehicle was approached by a middle-aged woman who knocked on the passenger-seat window. “By the time I rolled down teh window and before even myself or the woman uttering a word I was surrounded by police offiers who had me come out of my vehicle only to be handcuffed,” he recalled. “I was accused of soliciting a prostiute and then released. They made it a point to make me know in no uncertain terms that the woman was an undercover cop. I didn’t know what to make of the incident.” Then, Awnar said, a few days later he was visited by two men he said identified themselves as federal agents, who told him they wanted his “cooperation.” Anwar said they wanted him t o”liaise” with them concerning the Muslim community of San Diego. I was greatly irritated by such an offer and made it clear to them that they should never expect such cooperation form myself. I never heard back from them again until” a year later. That was his second bust for soliciting. “This time I was told that this is a sting operation and you would not be able to get out of it,” Anwar recalled.”
The United States will be far more persuasive in advocating to a world audience if they prevent careerist USG (FBI) government employees from playing hide-the-ball.
As for AUSA Kromberg, he is not playing hide-the-ball. He is the quarter-back running down the ball to the end zone. He’ll still have his victory bounce — and the ball will bounce far higher — if disclosure is now made and the dots are now allowed to be connected so that the role of the “911 imam” can now be better understood.
DXer said
Yazid Sufaat has not yet given his account. But let’s consider what his good friend, Zacarias Moussaoui, has made public through defense counsel. (Yazid has given an interview about his friendship with Moussaoui).
Click to access 939.pdf
John received a responsive e-mail dated July 13, 2001 from a CTC Bin Laden Unit Supervisor. That e-mail stated “Mary” had been assigned to hand the request for additional information on the Malaysia meetings. at the KL condo of Al Qaeda anthrax lab director Yazid Sufaat.
On July 23, 2001, having seen no action, … John noted, “When the next big op is carried out by the UBL hardcore cadre, Khalad will be at or near the top of the command food chain… That makes people who are available and who have direct access to him of high interest.”
Thus, given Anwar Awlaki’s direct contact with Al-Mihdhar and Nawaf Hazmi, Awlaki in 2002 was of high interest if the CIA and FBI — and he would have been prior to 2001 if the CIA and FBI had timely and effectively pursued the information that they had.
“On August 22, 2001, John met with Corsi and Mary in his office at FBI Headquarters. They discussed Corsi and Mary’s discovery that Mihdhar recently had entered the United States and that there was no record of his departure. All of them agreed that it was important to initiate an investigation whether Mihdhar was still in the United states and locate him if he was.”
So was the FBI anxious to develop and share the information that Mihdhar had met at the Al Qaeda anthrax lab director’s KL condo just before coming to the US? No.
Was the FBI eager to bring Sufaat to the US to testify about the meeting? Well, FBI Director Mueller went to KL in Spring 2002 and we at least know he was unsuccessful in arranging Yazid’s presence in the US.
Was the FBI eager to produce the comparison of Atta’s handwriting to the anthrax letters? No. Five years after the FBI unofficially closed Amerithrax the handwriting report — which concludes Atta’s handwriting is consistent with the handwriting on the Fall 2001 anthrax letters — still hasn’t been produced.
Was the FBI eager to show the film of Atta copying at KINKOS the day he sent the money order to the fellow, Al-Hawsawi, with the anthrax spraying documents on his laptop? No. Five years after the FBI unofficially closed Amerithrax it still hasn’t been produced.
Was the FBI eager to reveal its development of Ali Al-Tumiim’s close connection in 2001 to the “911 imam” Awlaki in regular contact with Mihdhar and Nawaf Hazmi? No. The DOJ opposes its release.
Yet it the failure to share information that led to 911.
Judge Brinkema should so all she can to ensure there is not another 911. That under all the circumstances may weigh in favor of greater disclosure of information.
If the US is ever attacked by Dr. Ayman Zawahiri in a mass attack with anthrax, it will be the FBI’s and CIA’s fault.
Amerithrax represents the greatest failure in counterintelligence analysis in the history of the United States. It is greater than 911 because it is still ongoing.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Free Ali al-Timimi (Facebook)
October 5
Update:
On Friday, 4 Oct 2013, Dr Ali had an appeal hearing where the defense pressed the judge to order the government to disclose information that was not disclosed during the trial in 2005.
The judge did not rule immediately on the motions but has said that a written ruling will be issued at a later date. ….
DXer said
What does it mean to be a government informant? Awlaki of course was interviewed by the FBI and spoke to the FBI. Ali Al-TImimi similarly was interviewed by the FBI and spoke to the FBI.
Al-Timimi’s first defense lawyer (Mr. McMahon) once argued that Al-Timimi did not know Awlaki — and yet Ali had spoken alongside fellow Falls Church imam in Canada and England in July and August 2001 alongside a doctor from Syracuse. So I am highly skeptical of any characterization of their relationship by defense counsel.
While I tend to favor greater disclosure of documents, the notion that Ali wasn’t urging Muslims to fight is belied by his own speeches and writings.
For example, I’ve previously uploaded the flyer from the camp in the park outside Frederick.
The defense is based “on newly discovered information that FBI agents involved in Al-Timimi’s case may have facilitated al-Awlaki’s return to the United States in 2002. ”
FBI Agent Wade Ammerman in fact was pursuing a lead relating to the fact that Ali Al-Timimi was an “anthrax weapons suspect” (which is his counsel’s term).
And the meeting in fact was electronically monitored — judging by what has been reported in the newspapers.
Given I think Wade Ammerman was spot on in his suspicions, and think Amerithrax “Ivins Theory” is mistaken, I would love to see those documents as much as Professor Turley.
On First Amendment defense generally, I will leave that to Attorney Turley, who is a scholar in the field and MSNBC commentator.
I had great admiration for another First Amendment scholar, Archibald Cox. It is a very worthy endeavor.
Yazid Sufaat’s defense is likely to be very similar to Ali Al-Timimi’s defense.
In Ali’s case, as I vaguely recall, he gave the advice to the young men to wear cologne, carry magazines and if stopped at the airport cry like a baby for their mother.
And so on balance I was persuaded by the prosecutor’s argument.
Feds fight request to learn if Awlaki was informant
Published October 07, 2013
FoxNews.com
Lawyers for a Muslim scholar in prison for recruiting Taliban warriors to fight against the U.S. got their court hearing last week as they try to learn whether Al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki was once a government informant — a fact that could impact their client’s 2005 conviction.
Prosecutors, though, fought the request in court and a judge expressed doubt about the defense requests.
Defense lawyers for Ali al-Timimi said Friday at a hearing in U.S. District Court in northern Virginia that al-Awlaki paid a 2002 visit to their client in which he purportedly tried but failed to get al-Timimi to recruit men for jihad after the 9/11 attacks.
Al-Timimi lawyer Jonathan Turley said government documentation of the meeting would refute the prosecution’s case that al-Timimi was urging Muslims to fight.
Court documents show defense lawyers requested the hearing to “compel the government to produce previously requested information and unlawfully withheld evidence” that would have allowed them to “impeach testimony of at least two key government witnesses.”
Turley did not return a message Monday asking whether he is trying to overturn his clients’ life-in-prison conviction.
Al-Timimi played paintball to train for holy war. Several of his recruits got as far as Pakistan, training with the militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba.
Defense lawyers raised suspicion about whether al-Awlaki, who has since been killed, went to the 2002 meeting as an informant to get incriminating information on al-Timimi. If so, they say, al-Awlaki’s role as an informant should have been disclosed at the trial.
The suspicion is based on newly discovered information that FBI agents involved in Al-Timimi’s case may have facilitated al-Awlaki’s return to the United States in 2002. Al-Awlaki had been imam of a northern Virginia mosque at the time of the 2001 attacks but left the country shortly thereafter.
The suspicion also is based on reporting by Fox News and Judicial Watch that found al-Awlaki was released from custody at JFK airport upon arriving to the United States in 2002, despite an active warrant for his arrest, with the OK of the FBI.
Also released earlier this year were FBI documents showing that agents observed al-Awlaki in 2001 and 2002 hiring prostitutes, but never brought charges against him.
Prosecutors say they’ve turned over everything required of them. In court papers and at Friday’s hearing, they gave no information on whether al-Awlaki may have been an informant.
Instead, they say, they are obligated only to turn over information that would assist the defense and the law gives prosecutors the discretion to make that determination.
The law “does not entitle any defendant to the disclosure of the extent and nature of the government’s investigative tools or tactics simply because he suspects that materials are in the government’s possession that might prove interesting to him,” prosecutor Gordon Kromberg wrote.
U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema said she will issue a written ruling later on the motion, but expressed doubt about the defense requests.
She said she was persuaded in part because of secret evidence the government submitted in the case, which even Turley, who holds a security clearance, has not been allowed to see.
Al-Timimi attended Friday’s hearing but did not speak, wearing a jail jumpsuit and sporting long hair and a beard significantly grayer than at his 2005 trial.
DXer said
There is now new precedent in the First Circuit Court of Appeals.
Federal appeals court upholds Mass. man’s 2011 conviction of trying to aid al-Qaida
Published November 13, 2013
Associated Press
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/11/13/federal-appeals-court-upholds-mass-man-2011-conviction-trying-to-aid-al-qaida/
The appeals judges said the trial court balanced concerns over national security and constitutional freedoms.
Prosecutors say [Tarek] Mehanna traveled to Yemen for training in a terrorist camp and intended to go to Iraq to fight U.S. soldiers. They say that when that failed, he returned to the United States and disseminated materials promoting violent jihad.
Mehanna’s lawyers say he didn’t give any tangible support to al-Qaida, and his online activities were protected free speech.
DXer said
Now it has oft been said that Al Qaeda has designs on using ricin but a half-assed ricin letter to a federal judge sounds more like a disgruntled litigant. Perhaps thef a letter to the Post Office further clarifies the motive. One Al Qaeda manual with a chapter on “Poisonous Letters” speciflcally urges that silicone sealant be used on the interior of the envelope so as to avoid hurting the mail carrier.
Yemen: Barack Obama warned that al-Qaeda planning ricin attack …
http://www.telegraph.co.uk › News › World News › Middle East › Yemen
Aug 13, 2011 – Counter-terrorism officials are said to have warned President Barack Obama that an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen is trying to produce the deadly …
Qaeda Trying to Harness Toxin, Ricin, for Bombs, U.S. Says …
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/13/world/middleeast/13terror.html?…all
Aug 12, 2011 – According to classified reports, Al Qaeda’s Yemeni branch is trying to acquire castor beans for making ricin, a toxin so deadly that just a speck …
DXer said
Bin Laden’s 1996 Declaration of War focused not only on the imprisonment of Ali Al-Timimi’s mentor, dissident Saudi sheik al-Hawali, but also invoked the detention of the Egyptian sheik Abdel-Rahman, the so-called “the blind sheik.” Three years earlier, on July 4, 1993, United States Postal employee Ahmed Abdel Sattar had spoken to the press about Abdel Rahman’s arrest and said “we haven’t decided the time or place, but our Muslim community will demonstrate its outrage at the arrest of the Sheik.” In the indictment of the Staten Island Post Office employee who worshipped in Brooklyn, the United States government alleged that following his arrest, Abdel Rahman, in a message to his followers recorded while he was in prison, urged: “Oh Muslims! Oh Muslims! It is a duty upon all the Muslims around the world to free the Sheikh, and to rescue him from his jail.” Referring to the United States, he implored, “Muslims everywhere, dismember their nation, tear them apart, ruin their economy, provoke their corporations, destroy their embassies, attack their interests, sink their ships, and shoot down their planes, kill them on land, at sea, and in the air. Kill them wherever you find them.” His list is a pretty concise summary of the terrorist actions taken over the next decade. That same line from Blind Sheik Abdel-Rayman was quoted by Montreal cell-member Abderraouf Jdey in his 1999 letter explaining his reasons for seeking martyrdom in jihad.
The tactic of lethal letters delivered by the US Post Office — although not mentioned in this list by Abdel-Rahman — was not merely the modus operandi of the militant islamists inspired by Abdel-Rahman, it was their signature. The islamists sent letter bombs in late December 1996 from Alexandria, Egypt to newspaper offices in New York City and Washington, D.C. and people in symbolic positions. Musical Christmas cards apparently postmarked in Alexandria, Egypt on December 21, 1996 contained improvised explosive devices. The bombs were mailed on the Night of Decree or Night of Measures. It is known as the Night of Qadr. The letters were sent in connection with the earlier bombing of the World Trade Center and the imprisonment of the blind sheik. The former leader of the Egyptian Al-Gamaa al-Islamiya (”Islamic Group”), Abdel-Rahman was also a spiritual leader of Al Qaeda. There initially was an outstanding $2 million reward. Under the rewards for justice program, the reward now is up to $5 million. There was no claim of responsibility. There was no explanation. Once one had been received, the next ten, mailed on two separate dates, were easily collected. Sound familiar? Two bombs were also sent to Leavenworth, where a key WTC 1993 defendant was imprisoned, addressed to “Parole Officer.” (The position does not exist).
The FBI suspected the Vanguards of Conquest, a mysterious group led by Egyptian Islamic Jihad head Ayman Zawahiri. The group can be thought of as either the military wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad or perhaps just EIJ by another name. It is sometimes known as the New Jihad. Yassir Al-Sirri was the Egyptian Islamic Jihad/ Vanguards of Conquest publicist and worked out of his London-based home while on the public dole. Another group under suspicion for the mailings was the Egyptian Islamic Group. The blind sheik Abdel Rahman simultaneously was the spiritual leader of Al Qaeda, Egyptian Islamic Group and Egyptian Islamic Jihad/Vanguards of Conquest. The next month, on February 12, 1997, the Islamic Group, for its part, issued a statement: “The Islamic Group declares all American interests legitimate targets to its “jihad until the release of all prisoners, on top of whom is Abdel Rahman.” Abdel-Rahman’s friend, Ayman Zawahiri, was head of Al Qaeda’s biochemical program. The blind sheik’s son, Mohammed, was on Al Qaeda’s three- member WMD committee.
Another group committed to Abdel-Rahman’s release was Jemaah Islamiah (”JI”) in Indonesia. JI-member Yazid Sufaat was a member of Al Qaeda. The US-trained Malaysian biochemist Yazid Sufaat met with 9/11 plotters and two hijackers in January 2000. JI has ties with the Moro Front. Sufaat used his company called Green Laboratory Medicine to buy items useful to Al Qaeda. Zacarias Moussaoui, who had a crop dusting manual when he was arrested, stayed at Sufaat’s condominium in 2000 when he was trying to arrange for flight lessons in Malaysia. Yazid Sufaat provided Moussaoui with a letter indicating that he was a marketing representative for Infocus Technologies signed “Yazid Sufaat, Managing Director.” Sufaat had given Moussaoui an e-mail greenlab@usa.net that was accessed by authorities on September 19, 2001. The crop dusters were to be part of a “second wave.” Al Qaeda’s regional operative, Hambali, was at the key January 2000 meeting and supervised Sufaat. Khalid Mohammed’s involvement dates back to Bojinka, as did Hambali’s. The money for Bojinka, a plot to simultaneously bomb airliners and to assassinate the Pope, went from Bin Laden’s brother-in-law Khalifa to the Abu Sayyaf Group, Al Qaeda’s primary Philippine affiliate, and then on to the cell that included KSM. Yazid Sufaat, whose next court date is May 17, 2013, should forthrightly address these issues and should explain why Al Qaeda thought the use of anthrax was consistent with the hadiths.
Al-Kifah in Brooklyn had long since become the headquarters of Abdel-Rahman’s supporters in the US. After the anthrax mailings, the Amerithrax investigation naturally considered whether the solution to the mystery had its roots in Brooklyn. Abdel-Rahman was the spiritual leader of both Egyptian Islamic Group and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. He was close to Ayman Zawahiri, known to be head of Al Qaeda’s anthrax project. FISA warrants were initiated immediately after 9/11 but did not prove fruitful. At Fitzgerald’s urging, a criminal investigation of the two charities, Benevolence International Foundation and Global Relief Foundation, was opened in October 2001. Down in Florida, the 5’4″ Adnan El-Shukrijumah was holding garage sales to raise money for Global Relief Foundation when he was not off to Afghanistan for training or in Saudi Arabia. The 9/11 Commission Report notes that in December 2001, “[t]hese plans were dramatically accelerated when CIA analysts, drawing on intelligence gathered in an unrelated FBI investigation, expressed concerns that GRF could be involved in a plot to attack the United States with weapons of mass destruction (WMD).”
On December 14, 2001, the FBI raided the charity offices of the two charities. BIF and GRF offices were raided in Illinois — a BIF office in Newark, New Jersey also was searched. Germs author and New York Times journalist Judy Miller (or her colleague) called the GRF office in Illinois the night before the search. Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was furious. He had been the AUSA who handled the prosecution of Bin Laden earlier that year in the case involving the bombing of the 1998 embassy bombings. Authorities had planned on waiting and watching to see how the US charity personnel responded to a search of offices abroad, but their hand was forced when GRF officials in Illinois began shredding documents. At a White House press conference on December 17, 2001, Ari Fleischer said: “There is nothing that has been final that has been concluded. But the evidence is increasingly looking like it was a domestic source. But, again, this remains something that is not final, nor totally conclusive yet. I can just report to you the information that I’ve heard. I can’t give you the scientific reasons behind it. But you can assume that they’re based on investigative and scientific means.” He emphasized: “There’s a big difference between the source of it and who sent it, because the two do not have to be tied.” In March 2002, the FBI raided the offices of the Muslim World League at 360 Washington St., the small building that also housed Al-Timimi’s Dar Arqam Center.
DXer said
Ali Al-Timimi’s mentor, former Canadian imam Bilal Philips, was a good friend of Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s father. Philips wrote in his guestbook on the family website his son created about learning Arabic:
“He was one of my first teachers in Arabic and is a dear friend, though geography and world politics has separated us.
Tell him that, as always, I love him for the sake of Allaah. Was salaam, Bilal.”
Adnan’s family website also contained a picture of another “unindicted co-conspirator” of the ’93 bombing, Siraj Wahhaj, who would speak as the same Falls Church mosque as Al-Timimi.
In Saudi Arabia, Al-Timimi had been mentored by the Saudi-trained Bilal Philips.
Philips was Al-Timimi’s Islamic Studies teacher at Manaret Riyadh High School in the early 1980s. Al-Timimi adopted Philips’ view that “The clash of civilizations is a reality,” and “Western culture led by the United States is an enemy of Islam.” Between 1991 and 1993, Philips relocated to the Mindinao, Philippines, where he taught at an islamic school. In 1993, according to an interview he gave in a London-based Arabic-language magazine interview,
Philips ran a program to convert US soldiers to Islam stationed in Saudi Arabia during the first Persian Gulf War. Philips was made a proselytization official by the Saudi Air Force. Philips followed up in the US, with telephone calls and visits intended to recruit the veterans as potential members of Bin Laden’s network. He enlisted assistance from others based in the U.S. and members of Islamic centers all over the US. These conversion specialists financed pilgrimages for US veterans and would later send Muslim clerics in the United States to their homes. Bilal Philips encouraged some converts from this program to fight in Bosnia in the 1990s.
Blilal Philips enlisted WTC plotter Clement Rodney Hampton-El to help him with the program. Hampton-El was associated with the Al-Kifah center in Brooklyn — where Adnan El-Shukrijumah’s father was based. El-Shukrijumah’s served as a character witness for Clement Rodney Hampton-El. Hampton-El in trial testimony described a meeting at the Saudi embassy in 1992 at which Philips gave him a list of US Army personnel to approach. Bilal Philips was named along with Osama bin Laden and Bin Laden brother-in-law Khalifa as unindicted co-conspirators in the Day of Terror trial that sent the “blind sheik” to prison.
DXer said
“Make a bomb in the kitchen of your Mom” in the first issue of INSPIRE instructs on how a pressure cooker can be used to make a bomb. A pressure cooker was used to make the two bombs detonated at the Boston marathon this week.
Did Anwar al-Awlaki oversee that piece with Samir Khan editing? Were the ingredients used the same?
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
A Short Recent History of Pressure Cooker Bombs
“Authorities are now saying that the explosive devices in Boston were fashioned from pressure cookers. Yes, like the kitchen pot you might use to cook rice at home. As it happens, pressure cookers have a nefarious reputation in counterterrorism circles. In 2004, the Department of Homeland Security was concerned enough about pressure cooker bombs to issue an alert to federal and state security officials: “A technique commonly taught in Afghan terrorist training camps is the use/conversion of pressure cookers into IEDs,” the bulletin warned.
That bulletin cited several plots from 2002 to 2004 to use pressure cooker bombs in France, India and Nepal. But more recently there have been at least three other instances of would-be terrorists in the west, all of them Islamic radicals, in possession of pressure cookers for reasons that seemed not to involve having friends over for dinner. One was an Army private linked to the 2010 Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan, who had reportedly been taking bomb-making tips from the al Qaeda’s short-lived (literally) magazine Inspire and had various weapons and explosives along with his cooking pot. (The magazine reportedly recommended pressure cookers as explosive devices.) A 2010 suicide bomber in Stockholm had rigged a pressure cooker bomb that failed to detonate. And as a newer DHS warning about the kitchen devices noted, the failed 2010 SUV bomb in New York’s Times Square was a pressure cooker device featuring 120 firecrackers. The same DHS memo refers to a March 2010 bombing with a pressure cooker at a western Christian aid agency in Pakistan that killed six people.”
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/04/16/a-short-history-of-pressure-cooker-bombs/#ixzz2QfDptnO5
DXer said
Everyone clear on the recent decision relating anthrax vaccine and kids?
NPR (blog)
Panel: Thumbs down on anthrax vaccine test in kids
Fox News-5 hours ago
Test of anthrax vaccine in children gets tentative OK
Reuters-13 hours ago
Bioethics Panel Warns Against Anthrax Vaccine Testing On Kids
NPR (blog)-10 hours ago
US panel: Wait on anthrax vaccine testing for kids
Highly Cited-Los Angeles Times-4 hours ago
Panel urges limited tests of anthrax vaccine in kids
In-Depth-Detroit Free Press-4 hours ago
DXer said
Southern Medical Journal:
January 2013 – Volume 106 – Issue 1 – p 49–54
Healthcare System Preparedness
Use of Medical Simulation to Teach Bioterrorism Preparedness: The Anthrax Example
Olsen, Martin E. MD
Abstract: The 2001 anthrax bioterrorism attacks demonstrated vulnerability for future similar attacks. This article describes mechanisms that can be used to prepare the medical community and healthcare facilities for the diagnosis and management of a subsequent bioterrorism attack should such an event occur and the fundamentals of medical simulation and its use in teaching learners …
Comment: The full-text is available for free online.
DXer said
The drone lecture was enjoyable. One aspect of the contest is to design an App helpful in drone journalism (that takes into account the legal and ethical constraints). I am hoping to team with a new friend from Indonesia I met there who knows how to write apps.
The take-home? Don’t use a drone on the national mall. In journalism, don’t use it near people or buildings — or over 400 feet. Also, if you are using it to expose a pigeon shoot, expect it to be shot down. Privacy is a big issue. Perception too.
During the demonstration, at a key point there was some sort of interference with the wi-fi signal that shut down the demonstration. Perhaps it was just the University not permitting generation of a signal. Or perhaps it was someone demonstrating an app that could terminate the flight of any drone. Now that would be a cool app.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
U of C researcher raises alarm about risks of drones in hands of public
BY JASON VAN RASSEL, CALGARY HERALD JANUARY 24, 2013
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/calgary/researcher+raises+alarm+about+risks+drones+hands+public/7869421/story.html
Columbus senator targets drones
http://columbustelegram.com/news/local/columbus-senator-targets-drones/article_c3916cf0-6671-11e2-8034-001a4bcf887a.html
Comment:
At the local Brookstone, the sales clerk tells me a Police Chief was in recently to buy a drone to use to look for pot plants. I met someone this week from a rural part of the county who said the same thing — noting that the sheriff’s department typically used a helicopter to look in their corn field. They expected drones would be next. (He said it was not uncommon for pot to be found).
Are drones lawful for hobbyists to use in city/county/state parks in NYS/US? I don’t even know. It wasn’t mentioned by the professor at the SU lecture.
I would prefer a camera on the street (at a key intersection) that could check for cars passing shortly after an armed robbery.
Should we object to warrantless aerial surveillance by law enforcement? Would you rather the local FBI have to pay $600-800 an hour to rent a helicopter?
Locally, the greatest usefulness might be seeing over a pool fence to check for underage drinking. I imagine that would be very upsetting to the nude sunbather. But there commonly will be pros and cons of new technology.
What is the proper balance between the right to privacy and the public’s need for security?
I believe the issue of “plain view” is the subject of at least dictum in Supreme Court decisions under the 4th Amendment. My friend, clerking for Chief Justice Burger, told me that he had dropped a footnote in 1986 at the time that would afford room to argue against certain warrantless aerial surveillance. But I’ve never looked at the case law.
Given Al Qaeda has been researching (and even experimenting) with payloads of drones, isn’t there a very real possibility that Al Qaeda will strap on explosives to a drone and fly the drone into a crowd? In one plot, the plotters were planning to attack servicemen gathered at a shopping mall. In another plot, in Columbus, Ohio as I vaguely recall, the research concerned a remote controlled boat.
Of course, powder weighs a lot less than explosives.
In these County anthrax drills, if the news reports that anthrax was aerially dispersed by a drone, how likely is it that people will want to get out of their car to go into the school gymnasium to be counseled on their options for antibiotics?
DXer said
The boss authorized purchase of the drone and I have a meeting Monday with top area coders.
But here is a cautionary tale from DC in which the FCC shut down a planned drone smackdown within a 15-mile radius of DC.
In that case, in addition to being shut down by the FCC, the competitor drones were shut down due to a disabling of unsecured wi-fi network.
The writer, in discussing the low weight that can be added as payload, seems unaware perhaps what 2 grams can do if it is powderized anthrax.
And if they don’t realize that Al Qaeda was working with virulent anthrax, then they are not paying close enough attention.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
One programming tweak that has already been done is that a course can be set using WayPoints. So if an Al Qaeda operative were killed, that would not necessarily affect the drone’s course.
https://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/capitalcomment/local-news/faa-grounds-drones-inside-washington-dc.php
“Having reported a lot on drones recently, I’ve concluded that a future of robot-filled skies is inevitable. And eventually, these drones won’t be controlled by human pilots at all. They’ll be largely autonomous. As silly as it seemed for the FAA to keep us from flying a few toy planes around a park on a Sunday afternoon, I understand the basis of their anxiety. Drones are the future. And we’re really not ready for them.
As it happened, even after we moved the Smackdown to Virginia, just outside the restricted zone, our hopes of intense aerial combat were dashed—not by regulators, but by hackers.
With the help of some expert computer coders, Wittes’s 11- and 14-year-old children got into the competing drones’ wi-fi networks and disabled their controls. The human pilots, who were steering their ill-fated aircraft with an iPhone app, found themselves cut off from their drones or unable to control them once they (barely) got off the ground. The Wittes kids delighted in their digital shenanigans, which, they explained to more than one baffled adult, were quite simple really: The competitors had all left their networks open and undefended.
Two lessons there: 1) Ignore basic cybersecurity at your peril. 2) Children are the future. Also robots.”
DXer said
Of course, some dance moves would be nice too.
DXer said
The development company outdid my brainstormed pie-in-the-sky list. Before the 2/23 deadline, they are going to test:
The ability to control an UAS using a gesture interface (leapmotion.com) and an operator’s hand. Afford the user the ability to precisely manage the altitude, roll, pitch, and yaw of an UAS.
DXer said
1. States propose limiting use of drones by police
MATT GOURAS | February 5, 2013 02:48 PM EST |
HELENA, Mont. — Lawmakers in at least 11 states are looking at plans to restrict the use of drones over their skies amid concerns the unmanned aerial vehicles could be exploited to spy on Americans.
2. City in Virginia Becomes First to Pass Anti-Drone Legislation
Resolution bans all municipal agencies from buying or leasing drones
February 5, 2013
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2013/02/05/city-in-virginia-becomes-first-to-pass-anti-drone-legislation-
Comment:
I have my first “hacks and hackers” meeting and “hacking journalism” seminar tomorrow. I may learn from some of the programmers what ideas there have been for hacking the Parrot 2.0 drone. I don’t have an opinion on the policy issues raised by proposed legislation. I just want to take unusual aerial shots. I’ve enjoyed using the revolutionary Lytro camera this winter. The Lytro permits you to focus after the fact — more like a computer than a camera. Imagine Lytro technology (once it is further advanced) on a drone. It would be like google earth but in real-time.
DXer said
A Knight-Mozilla Fellow, Dan Schultz, who did his graduate work at MIT’s Media Lab, presented an enjoyable presentation on “Hacking Journalism: Using The Internet To Save The World”
I’m a bit old-fashioned. I think the best bit of journalism along these lines elating to Amerithrax was pretty straight-forwardly done by ProPublica (but at considerable effort and expense). ProPublica and its partners for the story uploaded voluminous documents and even permitted annotation of the documents.
Frederick News-Post also had an commendable early effort to upload documents.
I’d love to see a good interactive spider analysis of WIKILEAKS detainee assessments, organized by key word.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Dan discusses a number of journalistic innovations that are being tried out.
It was streamed here (after a 30 second commercial).
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hackj
DXer said
PACER, too, strikes me as a huge potential resource ripe for harvesting by innovative use of computer applications.
DXer said
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/armed-drones_n_2527242.html?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl19%7Csec1_lnk1%26pLid%3D260435
Armed Drones Could Target President: Former U.S. Intelligence Chief
WASHINGTON — As the technology for arming drones spreads around the
world, terrorists could use the unmanned, missile-firing aircraft to
attack and kill the president and other U.S. leaders, the former chief
of U.S. intelligence said Tuesday.
Retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who served as President Obama’s first
director of national intelligence, told reporters he was concerned
that the proliferation of armed drones — a potential outgrowth of the
U.S. reliance on drones to attack and kill terrorists — could well
backfire.
“I do fear that if al Qaeda can develop a drone, its first thought
will be to use it to kill our president, and senior officials and
senior officers,” Blair said during a conference call with reporters.
“It is possible without a great deal of intelligence to do something
with a drone you cannot do with a high-powered rifle or driving a car
full of explosives and other ways terrorists now use to try killing
senior officials,” he said.
Comment: I used to have lunch on a balcony at Hotel Washington that overlooked the White House — and worked in a building in the adjacent blocked in a building that towered over the WH.
I always thought it was ridiculous that you could bring a bazooka concealed in a cello up the elevator to lunch and it seemed no one would notice. There have been a number of active plots by Al Qaeda operatives involving drones and remote control vehicles (three occur to me without googling).
DXer said
I consider book author and journalist Deb Scroggins to be the most quotable expert on Aafia. A lengthy, informative passage in her book on the subject can be found here.
http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/read-it-now-wanted-women-faith-lies-and-the-war-on-terror-the-lives-of-ayaan-hirsi-ali-and-aafia-siddiqui/#1
Did Aafia Siddiqui know KSM’s nephew Ramzi Yousef from Karachi?
Did Aafia know subtilis expert Walied Samarrai, who lived within 20 miles of the mailbox in 2001 and called the number associated with Ramzi Yousef up until the hour of Blind Sheik’s arrest?
Was Walied associated with Al-Kifah like his friends?
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Wanted Women—Faith, Lies and The War on Terror: The Lives of Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Aafia Siddiqui
by Megan O’Grady
http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/read-it-now-wanted-women-faith-lies-and-the-war-on-terror-the-lives-of-ayaan-hirsi-ali-and-aafia-siddiqui/#1
In February 1995, Pakistan had arrested Ramzi Yousef, chief planner of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Yousef came from a jihadi family with ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. One of his uncles, Zahid Sheikh Mohammed, ran Mercy International, the charity whose video Aafia had volunteered to distribute in Karachi. Another was Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the future planner of 9/11. In a press statement announcing Yousef’s arrest, the government of Benazir Bhutto asked the U.S. and other Western governments for help in combating religious extremism. Aafia sent around a copy of Bhutto’s remarks with a scornful note attached. “Pakistan has officially joined the typical gang of our contemporary Muslim governments . . . like Egypt, Algeria,” she wrote. She closed the e-mail with a quotation from the Quran that warns believers against taking Jews and Christians for friends.
DXer said
Aafia Siddiqui and WikiLeaks
By EditorialPublished: April 27, 2011
http://tribune.com.pk/story/157873/aafia-siddiqui-and-wikileaks/
Diehard supporters of Aafia Siddiqui have maintained her innocence from when she was arrested in Ghazi in 2008, where she was caught in possession of chemicals, through to her trial in New York City in 2010, where she was handed down an 86-year sentence for shooting at her US interrogators. However, the latest revelations from WikiLeaks show that she was part of an al Qaeda cabal plotting to smuggle explosives into the US, and that she volunteered to manufacture biological weapons. This is unlikely to dampen the ardour of her vociferous supporters, but for the rest of us it should now be abundantly clear that Aafia was deeply tied to al Qaeda.
Much of the information in the WikiLeaks files concerning Aafia comes from testimony from 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was waterboarded nearly 200 times in Guantanamo Bay. It is possible that he may have agreed with everything his interrogators demanded of him because of the torture methods employed. Still, the coincidences are far too damning to buy the story that Aafia was trapped in a web of US conspiracies. According to the cables, Mohammed’s nephew, Ammar Baluchi, who was allegedly married to Aafia, was the person who asked Aafia to work on manufacturing biological weapons. The file of Guantanamo detainee Saifullah Paracha, another cause celebre in Pakistan, says that Aafia opened a PO box in the US as part of a plan to smuggle explosives into the US. That Paracha’s son was in possession of the key to that box is again damning for Aafia.
This is not to say that the US has handled Aafia’s case according to international norms. Her whereabouts since her disappearance from Karachi in 2003 till she was arrested in 2008 in Afghanistan remain a mystery and she may well have been illegally detained by either the US or Pakistan. She has also never been charged with or tried for terrorism in a court. In the court of public opinion, however, she should now be considered guilty.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 28th, 2011.
DXer said
One of the blind sheik’s sons was on the AQ WMD Committee and was involved in recruiting specialists. He spoke alongside Ali Al-Timimi at a mid-1990s conference sponsored by the Ann Arbor-based charity IANA. As I recall, on the tape where Bin Laden and Zawahiri declared war on the US, the son could be heard “go to the spilling of blood.”
It was foolish not to view the anthrax mailings through the prism of what was known about Dr. Ayman’s anthrax planning and the announced plan by blind sheik lawyer Montasser Al-Zayat that Ayman would use anthrax against US targets to retaliate for the rendering of the blind sheik Abdel-Rahman and other senior EIJ leaders. The media never reported the announcement in Spring 1999 of Dr. Ayman’s plans.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
From today’s news:
“Abdullah, the son of the blind Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, writes to request the US release his father, who has been serving a life sentence for allegedly planning the 1993 World Trade Centre attack in New York.
In the press statement released in Arabic on Saturday, Abdullah says: “The American administration’s arrogance and stubbornness towards one of the Muslim world’s scholars, Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, is putting the lives of its people at risk and costing them a lot.”
Abdullah goes on to justify violent attacks and the kidnapping of Americans by Islamist militants, such as Al-Qaeda, explaining that it is the US administration’s treatment of his father that “has pushed the Muslim youth to anger for the cleric.”
The murder of US ambassador Christopher Stevens to Libya in September during an attack by unknown armed men on the consulate in the city of Benghazi is one example Abdullah cites.
The attack on the US consulate in Libya took place on 11 September 2012 in the wake of massive, world-wide protests organised by Islamists to denounce a US-made film mocking the Prophet Mohamed.
Abdullah warns in his statement that although his family has chosen to protest peacefully others have seen that “the arrogance of the US is not to be dealt with in any other way except through violence and the killing of Americans.”
DXer said
Aafia Siddiqui is a very good speaker and quite appealing. Below is a rare 1991 video of her speaking in Houston.
Amidst the very sensible and articulate (albeit religious*) talk of women’s rights, she urges that women are equally good warriors — giving the example of the woman who killed 9 non-believers with a tentpole.
Towards the end, she bemoans that the muslim empire that had expanded to three continents was the third world.
It was announced she was transferring from Houston to study genetics. While she married KSM’s nephew post-911, she knew KSM from Karachi well before 911.
http://www.amerithraxwordpress.com
DXer said
It’s naive to think that Al Qaeda could not have obtained Ames just because it tended to be in labs associated with or funded by the US military. US Army Al Qaeda operative Sgt. Ali Mohammed accompanied Zawahiri in his travels in the US. (Ali Mohamed had been a major in the same unit of the Egyptian Army that produced Sadat’s assassin, Khaled Islambouli). Ali Al-Timimi was working in the building housing the Center for Biodefense funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”) and had access to the facilities at both the Center for Biodefense and the adjacent American Type Culture Collection. Michael Ray Stubbs was an HVAC system technician at Lawrence Livermore Lab with a high-level security clearance permitting access. That was where the effort to combat the perceived Bin Laden anthrax threat was launched in 1998. Aafia Siddiqui, who attended classes at a building with the virulent Vollum strain. She later married a 9/11 plotter al-Balucchi, who was in UAE with al-Hawsawi, whose laptop, when seized at the home of a bacteriologist, had anthrax spraydrying documents on it. The reality is that a lab technician, researcher, or other person similarly situated might simply have walked out of some lab that had it. What was NanoBio’s old street address? Why is Aafia Siddiqui associated with an address at 1915 Woodbury Drive in Ann Arbor? An Assistant United States Attorney has claimed in open court (in the opening argument in United States v. Paracha) that Aafia was willing to participate in an anthrax attack if asked.
DXer said
A decade ago the BOLO first issued for Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate Aafia Siddiqui (who was about 31 at the time). Majoring undergraduate in biology, anthropology and archaeology, she went on to get a PhD in neurology. She studied neurological science and has studied at the MIT and Brandeis University in Massachusetts, as well as at Houston, Texas. She is believed to have ties to a person from Florida thought to be poised to carry out a terrorist strike. Authorities were interested in suspected links between Siddiqui and alleged terrorist Adnan El Shukrijumah also known as “Jaffar the pilot.” Aafia’s sister Fowsia Siddiqui, a Harvard MD in neurology, also lived in the same high-rise.
After 911, Aafia’s family argues that it is her husband, Mohammed Khan, who made her look guilty — for example, by buying night goggles and a book on how to make explosives using her email account. But we now know that was a crock. After 911, she then married 911 plotter Al-Balucchi, KSM’s nephew. Aafia left for Pakistan on September 19 and so was not in the country at the time of the second anthrax mailing.
Aafia returned from Pakistan and set up a mailbox for an Al Qaeda operative. She was part of an active Al Qaeda conspiracy and operation.
She and her estranged husband, a Harvard-trained anaesthesiologists were officers of Institute of Islamic Research and Teaching Inc. In the mid-1990s, she worked for the United Islamic Organization (“UIO”), an education and relief organization of which her mother was President and her sister also volunteered. Through the group, for example, Siddiqui raised money for Bosnian refugees and the widows and orphans from that conflict. The organization was founded in Zambia in 1974 by Aafia’s mom, Ismat Siddiqui. Its head office was in Karachi, Pakistan and it had branches in the United States, Canada, and Saudi Arabia. Aafia knew KSM and his family from Karachi.
Ismat Siddiqui, Aafia’s mother, reports that a stranger came to her house and told her that her daughter was safe and that she should not raise a hue and cry for her release. A family member in the US has hired an attorney in the US who has inquired of the FBI as to Aafia’s whereabouts but the FBI reports that they do not have her in custody. Aafia has spent a lot of time in front of a keyboard and so has left quite a paper trail, to include a thumb drive containing correspondence with US-based operatives about past attacks in the United States. In 2003, her mother Ismaat blamed her son-in-law but the FBI’s interest was always in Aafia rather than her first husband. “You don’t know her like we know,” one agent is quoted as saying.
In 1995, Aafia wrote this:
“Pakistani govt. has officially joined the gang of our typical contemporary govts. of Muslim countries. I mean Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and the likes of them….Here’s what I read in this friday’s issue of the “Muslim News,” something that was confirmed a few days earlier by some articles in local newspapers like The Boston Globe and the New York Times etc:
BENAZIR ASKS FOR THE WEST’S HELP AGAINST “EXTREMISM” Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s prime minister, called on the west to help her eradicate religious opposition. She said that Pakistan is a “moderate” Islamic country and it is the first defense line against “terrorism,” and hence needs international support. She added that the arrest of Ramzi Yousef and giving him to the United States is a simple proof. She added that Pressler’s amendment deprived Pakistan from U.S. aid and helped strengthen “religious violence.” Muslim opposition used this amendment to show the double standard as India has nuclear weapons and still gets aid from the U.S. In her answer to one of the questions, she said: One of the messages that I am sending to the American government is that your country likes “justice.” We were your allies and we need your help and assistance to support and strengthen the “moderate” forces in Pakistan.” …
After quoting the news item, Aafia closed:
———–
“O you who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for protecting friends (auliyaa’). They are the protecting friends of one another. Whoever among you takes them for protecting friends is (one) of them. Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” (Qur’an 5:51)
Aafia worked for the Boston branch of the Blind Sheik’s group which merely had changed its name after the WTC 1993 bombing and continued the same work.
DXer said
Source regarding connection to Blind Sheik’s group.
“E-mails Show MIT Grad Taught School While Raising Money for Terror-Linked Group”. Fox News. August 22, 2008.
Emails sent by Siddiqui while she at MIT show she was soliciting money for Al-Kifah Refugee Center — a known Al Qaeda charitable front tied to Usama bin Laden and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.
Al-Kifah was considered Al Qaeda’s U.S operational headquarters, a sort of underground railroad that was funneling funds and supplies to the terror group, according to government investigators. The U.S. government froze its assets shortly after the September 11 terror attacks.
In the e-mails — sent to students through various Middle Eastern and European Islamic newsgroups — Siddiqui said that the funds were being raised on behalf of Bosnian orphans and widows, but she asked for checks to be cut to Al-Kifah.
In one thread entitled “women available for marriage” dated March 15, 1993, less than a month after the first World Trade Center bombing, Siddiqui wrote:
“Kindly fill the pledge form and return to Al-Kifah. If I don’t hear from you, I will assume that things are fine and taken care of.
“To those of you who had volunteered to find other sponsors within your community as well, kindly send at least one sponsor’s info. (if you have not already done so) so I can mail you one form initially which you can use to inform others and get more commitments.
“Please keep up the spirit and motivate others as well!!!!!! The Muslims of our Ummah need ALL the help we can provide them.”
She signed this e-mail, “humbly, your sister Aafia.”
Terrorism expert Steven Emerson, head of The Investigative Project on Terrorism, said he wasn’t aware of the e-mail but that the apparent link to Al Kifah fits, considering what’s known by federal investigators about Siddiqui’s role as the group’s fundraiser.
“She was active in trying to resuscitate Al Kifah after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing,” Emerson said. “After all the scrutiny from law enforcement, Al Kifah suffered a big hit then.”
In other e-mail, Siddiqui added a verse from the Koran about charity that stated:
“O you who believe! let not your riches or your children divert you fromthe remembrance of Allah. If any act thus, the loss is their own.
And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We havebestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say,”O my Lord! Why did you not give me respite for a little while? I shouldthen have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of thedoers of good.”
But to no soul will Allah grant respite when the time appointed (for it)has come; and Allah is well acquainted with (all) that you do.”
(Qur’an, Surah Munafiqoon v.9-11)
In the mid 1990s, after graduating from MIT, Siddiqui continued her double life. She began a Ph.D. program in neuroscience at nearby Brandeis University, all the while raising funds for charity groups bankrolling Al Qaeda operations, according to government and court records.
According to Brandeis records, Siddiqui continued to teach at the university. In the spring of 1999, she taught 22 students General Biology Lab, a course required for undergraduate biology majors, pre-med and pre-dental students.
DXer said
It was Khalid Mohammed who told authorities about MIT-trained biologist Aafia Siddiqui, who at one time was thought to be traveling with a Florida “Atta level” pilot. All the Pakistani press was reporting that she was nabbed in Karachi after being spotted at the international airport on March 29 years ago. It was not until three weeks later that NBC, relying on an unnamed senior official, first reported her captured. For the longest time, no US newspaper had yet reported that she was captured and instead stories continued to state that the FBI is seeking her for questioning. If the sources relied upon by these journalists did not even know (or would not reveal) that Aafia had been caught, why did these reporters think they know what’s going on in the Amerithrax matter? Amerithrax was a confidential investigation. The Pakistan ISI and CIA rarely grant press interviews in connection with an ongoing manhunt. As agent Van Harp, then head of the Amerithrax investigation said at the time, the information coming from Khalid Mohammed was classified.
According to the Pakistan reports, she was spotted at the international airport and detained (after she was followed to a relative’s house. Some reports say she was coming from abroad, but the original report the others are all copying say she was coming from “upcountry.” (Karachi is in the south). She in fact was going to visit her uncle SH Faruqi up north. I have uploaded an account of his visit with Aafia in January 2008 that, as I best recall, he emailed me. His account is dramatically different than the account of Fowzia and Ismaat.
The reports at the time said she is suspected of having been a member of Al Qaeda’s “Chemical Wire Group.” Perhaps something got lost in the translation, but the phrase “Chemical Wire Group” has appeared in all the English Pakistan and India papers.
Officials have not publicly confirmed anything about the detention or interrogation. Reliable sourcing is difficult. The “Atta-level” Florida pilot that Siddiqui is thought to have known and been assisting is still at large. El-Shukrijumah is said by one FBI agent to be “very, very, very” dangerous. The United States can no longer allow themselves misconceptions about this doe-eyed jihadist.
DXer said
GAO, did the beautiful and pious Aafia Siddiqui have potential access to the virulent Ames strain at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston? She reports she was tasked by someone named “Abu Lubaba” to research germ warfare.
Veterinarian and anthrax expert Martin Hugh-Jones, a professor at Louisiana State University, has said: “It was like trading baseball cards.” Hugh-Jones reports he got most of his anthrax from Peter Turnbull at the Porton Down lab in Great Britain, one of those that had received the Ames strain directly from Ft. Detrick. Dr. Theresa Koehler at Houston and Hugh-Jones discussed the distribution of Ames on NPR in January 2002:
Ms. KOEHLER: Because Ames is used by investigators all over the world, does it matter if originally the strain came from Texas or came from Iowa? I don’t think so.
***
Mr. MARTIN HUGH-JONES (Louisiana State University): I think the most important point is that we didn’t have Ames in this country in anybody’s collection prior to 1980. I think that’s very, very clear. And I think that limits the list of possible suspects quite considerably.
***
KESTENBAUM: Martin Hugh-Jones also has an answer to the mystery of why one paper listed the Ames strain as dating back to 1932. He was an author on that paper. When his team got the Ames sample, it was labeled `10/32,’ which turns out to have meant `Sample number 10 out of 32.’ But they interpreted it as October 1932. David Kestenbaum, NPR News, Washington.
In 2001, Dr. Theresa M Koehler held a faculty appointment at the UT Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. She was Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics. She has had grants from the CIA, the National Institutes of Health, and others for her work on virulence. Her office was in the same complex, in the connected John Freeman Building. Aafia’s sister-in-law, Dr. Lubna Khawaja, had an office there. In Fall 2001, Dr. Koehler said she had taken the anthrax vaccine and that she got anthrax strains from Porton Down. In the Spring of 2003, Dr. Koehler explained that “It’s critical to use a genetically complete strain of the [anthrax] bacterium in experiments involving virulence.” A government study reported in April 2003 found that all of the labs that had received grants from the National Institutes of Health had unobstructed access to the floors with critical labs.
Ten million gallons of water were unleashed on the UT Medical School at Houston June 9, 2001 by Tropical Storm Allison. The basement, where the anthrax lab was located, was the hardest hit. More than 400 emergency personnel (internal and contracted) attempted to address the devastation. Throughout June, no equipment could be removed or powered up. Stairwell doors needed to be kept closed. By the first week of July 2001, the basement and ground floor was still off limits, and only one entrance was available. Ground floor occupants needed to continue to work at their temporary sites. Gross mold spore counts continued to be beyond acceptable limits in the basement, which was ventilated separately from the rest of the building.
The building was opened for business on July 11, 2001 but the ground floor and basement were construction remediation sites and off-limits except to access elevators to upper levels. Two entrances to the building were available: on the Webber Plaza side of the building near the circle drive and at the breezeway near the guard’s desk. Occupants were reminded in an employee newsletter not to block open stair well doors on any floor. The newsletter Scoop reported that in 2007, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new six-story research space completed in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Allison, “[m]any in the crowd were moved to tears as they recalled that day in June 2001. ‘All of the animals were drowned and there were $165 million in structural damages,’ President Willerson said. ‘It was a daunting task, but we didn’t give up.’”
Did the anthrax lab in the basement have virulent Ames anthrax strain, to include Ames? If so, what was done with the isolates during the devastation caused in the basement by the flood? At the time it was lawful to have virulent anthrax in its liquid form in a BL-2 facility, contrary to the occasional misperception; a hood is used in handling such isolates. A University President explained as much in a letter in connection with the incident when some live Ames spores were sent by Northern Arizona to Los Alamos in Fall 2001.
Members of the lab brought out the champagne at the lab in late 2001 when a special visa was granted to a research team member, who without it would have had to return to China. “We knew it was going to be risky,” said Dr. Koehler, a microbiologist at the school who for the past 20 years has studied the anthrax bacterium now being used as a terrorist weapon. “The question was whether current events would convince federal officials that [the researcher’s] skills are in the national interest or make them restrict workers from certain countries.”
“It is a horrible feeling to think that it could be someone I know, that the perpetrator is a microbiologist among us,” said Dr. Koehler. In September 2001, Dr. Koehler explained her anthrax research, how terrorists might deploy anthrax as a biological weapon and how physicians would treat it.
Aafia’s brother in 2001 was associated with addresses in Ann Arbor, Detroit, and Canton, Michigan — and even Harrison, NJ — in 2001. The ACLU attorney representing Aafia’s family advised me that it had been years since she was Houston — certainly before 2001 and maybe not since she was married. She added that if Aafia was there, it was to visit her brother, who has nothing to do with the med center.” The attorney reports: “there is no way they could have helped her get access to the necessary labs at the med center.”
On Research Day in 2003, the award winners for Biomedical Excellence included a graduate student working in Dr. Koehler’s lab, Melissa Drysdale, who worked on gene regulation in a virulent strain of bacillus anthracis.
Dr. Koehler received, for example, the Weybridge strain from Porton Down prior to the Fall of 2001. Did Dr. Koehler have virulent Ames from either Porton Down or somewhere else? (Her mentor was the eminent vaccine researcher Dr. Curtis Thorne who got samples directly from Ft. Detrick). Co-researcher Rick Lyons at UNM was fedexed virulent Ames from flask 1029 in March 2001 at the same time the Houston lab upgraded. This month, Dr. Lyons co-published with Dr. Koehler on virulent Ames in rabbits, along with former Houston grad student Melissa Drysdale, who is now at UNM with Dr. Lyons.
Remember: Khalid Mohammed, who told authorities about Aafia, had anthrax production documents on his assistant’s laptop (the guy working with Aafia’s future husband in UAE in the summer of 2001). She allegedly was associated with both KSM and “Jafar the Pilot” who is at large. She later married an Al Qaeda operative al-Baluchi who, like al-Hawsawi, had been listed as a contact for the hijackers and took over plots upon the arrest of KSM. Authorities have said that a Pakistani scientist , who they refused to name was helping Al Qaeda with its anthrax production program. Were they referring to bacteriologist Abdul Qudus Khan in whose home the Pakistan authorities claim KSM was captured? Was it Rauf Ahmad who Zawahiri sent to infiltrate UK biodefense? Was it the chemistry professor who met with Uzair Paracha in February 2003? Or was it Aafia who was alleged to be a “facilitator” who handled logistics. “Logistics” is handling an operation that involves providing labor and materials as needed. One government psychiatrist affidavit reports that she claims to have been tasked by an “Abu Luaba” to research germ warfare. According to a UN dossier reviewed by a journalist at the Wall Street Journal, in June 2001 she traveled to Liberia to meet Al Qaeda’s military commander, Atef, who had been head of the anthrax planning. One important mystery to resolve analysis is to determine whether the chauffeur who claims the lady was Aafia is lying or mistaken. A FBI memo from 2003 titled “Allegations Relating to al Qaeda’s Trafficking in Conflict Diamonds,” and a related 2004 presentation to the intelligence community, debunking the allegations relating to trafficking in conflict diamonds. The memo was declassified in 2006 and provided under FOIA in February 2008 to intelwire.com. If those documents represent the FBI’s current thinking, there is reason to think Aafia never went to Liberia in June 2001 — or at least that the FBI does not think she did.
The ACLU in a February 2004 publication called “Sanctioned Bias: Racial Profiling Since 9/11” described Aafia’s brother first encounter with the FBI. Muhammad A. Siddiqui is an architect in Houston and father of two young children. Someone with the same common name, as mentioned in the court record relating to Project Bojinka. United States of America v. Ramzi Ahmed Yousef et al, (August 26, 1996), page 5118. A letter was read into the record
“To: Brother Mohammad Alsiddiqi. We are facing a lot of problems because of you. Fear Allah. Mr. Siddiqi, there is a day of judgment. You will be asked, if you are very busy with something more important, don’t give promises to other people. See you in the day of judgment. Still waiting, Khalid Shaikh, and Bojinka.”
In addition to many people having this very common name, people often used aliases. The attorney, Dietrich Snell, at the time was under the impression it related to a solicitation for money. Attorney Snell was from the US Attorney’s Office. More recently, Snell acted as counsel for the 9/11 Commission. He served as Deputy Attorney General for Public Advocacy under Eliot Spitzer. What was the address of the recipient? Who was Muhammad Siddiqui with whom KSM corresponded?
Attorney General Ashcroft and Director Mueller made an on-the-record renewed push to find Aafia Siddiqui in a press conference on May 26, 2004 shortly after ACLU Attorney Annette Lamoreaux responded to my emailed inquiries about Aafia. Three days after the Pakistan Ministry of Interior claimed she had been handed over to US authorities in late March 2003.
There are the many questions surrounding the mystery of the disappearance of the lovely, intelligent and pious — and it turns out occasionally quite chatty — Aafia Siddiqui. Aafia once had an MIT alumni email account forwarded to umaisha@yahoo.com — which under one translation means lively mom. Aisha was the Prophet’s favorite wife. Maybe correspondence in that email account held the answers.
In a Pakistan news account, Attorney Whitfield Sharp reported that she didn’t know of any police report filed by the mom. In the same account, she reports that Aafia received job offer at both Johns Hopkins and the State University of New York (SUNY). It likely was SUNY downstate in Brooklyn where her sister had gone to school and lived. (Her mother Ismat is associated with addresses in Brooklyn, as well as Massachusetts, in Houston, and in Ann Arbor where Mohammad’s wife had a medical practice. Mohammad is associated with some Ann Arbor and Detroit-area addresses. Ann Arbor, coincidentally, was where IANA was located, as well as the President of Global Relief.
When he was captured, Al-Baluchi, Khalid Mohammed’s nephew and Aafia Siddiqui’s husband, “was in possession of a perfume spray bottle which contained a low concentration of cyanide when he was arrested.” He was the fellow who met with Majid Khan about using a textiles shipping container to smuggle an unidentified chemical into the country. Cyanide in perfume bottles had been suggested for use in nightclubs in Indonesia but Bin Laden reportedly nixed the plan as ineffectual.
The transcript from the Combatant Status Review Tribunal explains:
MEMBER [AL-BALUCHI]: While you were in Pakistan you describe the cyanide…
DETAINEE: [Interrupting the Member]
MEMBER: … you had in your possession, a small amount, as being textile, chemical-oriented.
DETAINEE: Yes.
MEMBER: Why would you have that on your person?
DETAINEE: Just I have. Wasn’t for specific purpose but I have. It’s ah…
MEMBER: Did you have an intent to use it once you got there? What were you going to do with it?
DETAINEE: No, no. Just ah, it’s use for clothing to remove the color. And something in Pakistan it’s something that they do. It’s bleach like kinda bleach but industrial bleach so.”
According to the DOD formal charges issued in February 2008, KSM would give the hijackers a chemical in an eye dropper to remove Pakistan visas from their passport. Perhaps the low concentration of cyanide in the perfume bottle used to remove stains just related to that — rather than consideration of a plot to spray cyanide in a nightclub that had been vetoed by Bin Laden.
But here’s a Helpful Heloise Tip. Before attempting to get that damn spot out, first get rid of that incriminating pocket litter. The transcript from the hearing on al-Baluchi’s status as an “unlawful combatant” continues: “The Detainee’s pocket litter included a letter from unidentified Saudi Arabian scholars to Usama bin Laden. The letter discussed al Qaida’s strategy in the War on Terror.” Upon her arrest in the summer of 2008, Aafia’s pocket litter included both documents about biological weapons and correspondencing with US-based cell members about attacks.
Will Aafia Siddiqui cooperate about other US-based operatives? Will Ali Al-Timimi?
Will GAO at least obtain all the unclassified documents relevant to its charge from Congress?
DXer said
According to witnesses, Brandeis neurologist Aafia Siddiqui was in Sierra Leone in June 2001 at the same time as Muhammed Atef, Al Qaeda’s military commander. When Glenn Simpson of the Wall Street Journal, however, broke the story, based on a UN dossier, I emailed the two attorneys who have represented Aafia’s family to ask if there was any information on her whereabouts in June 2001 that contradicted the report. I got no response. (In the past, ACLU Attorney Lamoreaux has been very quick to offer me evidence in conflict with reports in
the media. But I never saw any documents or heard any documents described that conflict with the Wall Street Journal report.) Until there is conflicting evidence, I think it remains very possible that Al Qaeda’s military commander met with Aafia in June 2001. I’m told her family forbade her family from cooperating with respect to the credit card receipts. Atef’s involvement is significant, not merely because he was Al Qaeda’s military commander, but because the group was claiming that the Operation “Winds of Black Death” was 90% complete used his name. Atef apparently was killed in a bombing raid in Fall 2001.
GAO and Army analysts:
I have discussed the Koehler lab in Houston and the doors being not only unlocked but actually propped open in June 2001. But did Aafia have potential access to the collection of anthrax strains at Brandeis? Did that long-held collection include Ames, the anthrax used in the Fall 2001 mailings? On March 11, 2002, the Brandeis General Counsel sent an email advising that the federal authorities had subpoenaed records in connection with the investigation of the anthrax crimes.
To: All Faculty/PIs/Scientists/Postdocs/Research Staff in Biology,
Biochemistry, Chemistry, Physics, Rosenstiel and Volen
From: Mel Bernstein, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic
Affairs
Judith R. Sizer, General Counsel
Date: March 11, 2002
Re: URGENT: Response to Federal Grand Jury Subpoena
A federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. has recently issued subpoenas
to a number of research universities, including Brandeis, in
connection with the ongoing investigation by the Department of Justice
into possible illegal use of bacillus anthracis (anthrax).
In its response to the subpoena, the University must disclose
information concerning every present and former faculty member,
employee or other person affiliated with Brandeis (e.g., post-doctoral
fellows, visiting scholars) who has maintained or worked with anthrax
at Brandeis in the last twelve years (or in the last twenty years, if
the anthrax, or an anthrax simulant, was in dry form).
In order to ensure the University’s timely response to this subpoena,
please advise us by Friday, March 15, 2002, whether or not you, or
anyone else to your knowledge, has ever maintained, handled, stored,
destroyed or transferred any strain of anthrax in any Brandeis
laboratory or facility on or after January 1, 1990 (or, in the case of
dry, powdered, dry aerosolized or weaponized anthrax or anthrax
simulants, such as bacillus thuringiensis, bacillus globigii, bacillus
cereus and bacillus subtilis, any use,production or manufacture or on
or after March 1, 1982).
PLEASE BE SURE TO RESPOND TO THIS INQUIRY, EVEN IF JUST TO CONFIRM
THAT YOU HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF ANY USE OF ANTHRAX OR ANTHRAX SIMULANTS
AS DESCRIBED ABOVE. You are welcome to respond to this message by
reply e-mail, if you wish. In order to provide a comprehensive
response to the grand jury, we need to hear from all members of the
Brandeis community who have received this message.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Ms. _____ at
XXXX@brandeis or XXXXXX. Many thanks for your cooperation.
In late February 2002, William Broad of the New York Times explained:
“In an important step for narrowing the pool of anthrax suspects, the
Justice Department is sending subpoenas to microbiology laboratories
across the country for samples of the Ames strain of Bacillus
anthracis, the kind used in the letter attacks in the fall.
Scientists working for the federal government said they hoped that
studying the samples’ genetic fingerprints would help determine which
of 12 or more laboratories is the likely source of the bacteria in the
attacks.”
Scott Shane of the Baltimore Sun wrote on February 22, 2002 of the subpoenas:
“But even as investigators pursued possible links between military
research and the anthrax-laced letters, they were learning of more
laboratories that have had the Ames strain of anthrax used in the
attacks. At last count, 25 such labs were identified, including
facilities in at least five foreign countries — and investigators
think there are more, said sources familiar with the work.”
In November 2001, the Hazmat Team and the State Department of Health was called to Brandeis after three reseachers were doing research with anthrax and Administration officials were concerned there might be contamination. The scientists were confident all
scientific protocols had been followed but Hazmat was called nonetheless. The research had been done after the anthrax mailings in response — seeking means to detect anthrax spores. Anthrax was used that had been at Brandeis a long time, having been acquired at a time
before federal regulations in 1997 required that transfers be recorded. The lab was in the Kalman Building, which was part of the complex of buildings adjoining the Volen Center. Brandeis researchers Daniel Perlman and Inga Mahler had “decided to focus on developing a
solid growth medium for cultivating B. anthracis that might be usable in the field with a minimum of equipment. They further developed the growth medium for use at room temperature thereby obviating the need for equipment such as incubators for sustaining an elevated
temperature.” The pair obtained a patent issued March 2004 titled “Selective growth medium for Bacillus anthracis and methods of use.”
Dr. Perlman has been innovative on a wide range of consumer products, such as involving Vitamin E to milk; Dr. Mahler had published on the subject of gram positive and gram negative bacteria (the subject underlying the patent) in the Journal of Bacteriology in
1989. Dr. Mahler advises me by email that the strain of Bacillus anthracis they used in December 2001 was ordered by her group at Brandeis almost 40 years ago. It came from the American Type Culture Collection and was kept viable, together with other stock strains.
She explains that before 9/11 you could simply obtain the organism from culture collections or colleagues. Their offices are in Abelson-Bass-Yalem, adjoining the Volen Center where Aafia’s lab primiarly was located. Within the complex of buldings adjoining the
Volen Center, Abelson-Bass-Yalem was home to Biological Physics.
Years ago Dr. Mahler advised me that the strain used (referred to in the paper as MC 607) — MC stands for Rosenstiel Center — was Vollum. Vollum is a strain that like Ames is used to challenge vaccines; it is marginally less lethal but still was used by the Russians as their
strain of choice. Dr. Mahler forthrightly reported that she does know of any Ames on campus. Dr. Perle did not respond to my email query.
Aafia Siddiqui, for whom the FBI has issued an international alert, studied in the neurological sciences at Brandeis. She obtained her PhD in 2001, having graduated from MIT with a degree in biology in 1994. The Visual Lab at which Aafia worked had rules: “No Hitting, No
Punching, No Pushing, No Grabbing, No Biting.” Judging from its internet page, the lab seems to have been a pleasant place to work and emphasizes in its operating manual that if you don’t know “ask.” The lab’s work under Robert Sekuler, mainly funded by a grant from the
NIH, related to how we remember, forget, or misremember things. Her 2001 183-page thesis “Separating the components of imitation,” which concerns visual learning and visual discrimination, is very far removed from questions like the Palestinian conflict or creating a
fine powder using a mini-spraydryer. It was available online for purchase.
The university webpage, when I once accessed it, explained:
“The Neuroscience laboratories are housed within the Volen Center and
adjoining buildings, and this close proximity facilitates the high
degree of collaboration and exchange for which Brandeis has become
famous. There are presently 22 Neuroscience faculty found in six
participating departments (Biology, Biochemistry, Psychology, Physics,
Chemistry, and Computer Science). There are today approximately 35
Neuroscience Program Ph.D. students, who often work side-by-side with
Ph.D. students in the other Life Sciences graduate programs at
Brandeis.”
All students are expected to attend the regular Monday afternoon
Neuroscience seminars (3:30 pm), most of the Wednesday Life Sciences
seminars at 4:00 pm. and other relevant seminars in Neuroscience.
“In the first year of their Ph.D. program, students do 4 nine-week
rotations in different laboratories of their choosing. First-year
course work includes a core class in principles of neuroscience, and
intensive graduate level seminars that give students experience in
reading original research literature and making oral presentations.
Graduate research advisors are typically chosen at the end of the
first year.”
So one question is: what different labs did Aafia work in during her first year? We know she spent 6 months working as a lab technician at the request of a 911 plotter researching biological weapons. How skilled was she? When it suits their purpose her supporters argue that this person who went to the University of Houston was Pakistan’s top student. Other times we are told that would not have been talented at lab work.
Aafia is not a geneticist as reported yesterday by the Wall Street Journal although she had planned (see 1991 video) to major in genetics. Nor is it likely she is a “senior Al Qaeda leader” as reported today by the Financial Times. Although she was married to a key 911 plotter and certainly had relationships with top people (She wrote a paper on the role of women in islam which may provide insights, as does her 1991 video when she argues that woman historically have been as important warriors against non-believers).
While we collectively try to understand where Aafia is — and what her role was — perhaps we all can agree that she is indeed astonishing.”
DXer said
The report about Sierra Leone was from 2004. AP staff (August 8, 2004). “Al-Qaeda bought diamonds before 9/11”. USA Today. Associated Press, Dakar, Senegal.
“Special Court for Sierra Leone: Office of the Prosecutor: Profile, Aafia Siddiqui” (PDF). NEFA Foundation
As for the general mystery of the missing 5 years, Wikipedia has numerous hyperlinked sources and I will leave it to someone else to come up with the most reliable sourcing — or better yet new solid evidence — about who she spent the 5 years.
Suffice it to say that I don’t consider her sister Fowzia and mother Ismaat reliable witnesses given they in fact have no personal knowledge and are highly motivated to tell a narrative calculated to garner public support. I would also note that Aafia does not address the subject even though it would be in her interest to do so if Fowzia and Ismaat and Yvonne Ridley were correct.
“According to her ex-husband, after the global alert for her was issued Siddiqui went into hiding, and worked for al-Qaeda.[20][53][72] During her disappearance Khan said he saw her at Islamabad airport in April 2003, as she disembarked from a flight with their son, and said he helped Inter-Services Intelligence identify her. He said he again saw her two years later, in a Karachi traffic jam.[20][24] Media reports Siddiqui having told the FBI that she worked at the Karachi Institute of Technology in 2005, was in Afghanistan in the winter of 2007; she stayed for a time during her disappearance in Quetta, Pakistan, and was sheltered by various people.[3][12][73] According to an intelligence official in the Afghan Ministry of the Interior, her son Ahmad, who was with her when she was arrested, said he and Siddiqui had worked in an office in Pakistan, collecting money for poor people.[12] He told Afghan investigators that on August 14, 2008, they had traveled by road from Quetta, Pakistan, to Afghanistan.[38] Amjad Khan, who unsuccessfully sought custody of his eldest son, Ahmad, said most of the claims of the family in the Pakistani media relating to her and their children were to garner public support and sympathy for her; he said they were one-sided and in mostly false.[38][53] An Afghan intelligence official said he believes that Siddiqui was working with Jaish-e-Mohammed(the “Army of Muhammad”), a Pakistani Islamic mujahedeen military group that fights in Kashmir and Afghanistan.[12] Siddiqui’s maternal uncle, Shams ul-Hassan Faruqi, said that on January 22, 2008, she visited him in Islamabad.[20][24] He said that she told him she had been held by Pakistani agencies, and asked for his help in order to cross into Afghanistan, where she thought she would be safe in the hands of the Taliban.[20][24] He had worked in Afghanistan, and made contact with the Taliban in 1999, but told her he was no longer in touch with them. He notified his sister, Siddiqui’s mother, who came the next day to see her daughter. He said that Siddiqui stayed with them for two days.[74] Her uncle has signed an affidavit swearing to these facts.[38] Ahmad and Siddiqui reappeared in 2008.[12] Afghan authorities handed the boy over to Pakistan in September 2008, and he now lives with his aunt in Karachi, who has prohibited him from talking to the press.[12][20] In April 2010, Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Maliksaid that a 12-year-old girl who was found outside a house in Karachi was identified by a DNA test as Siddiqui’s daughter Mariyam, and that she had been returned to her family.[75]
When she shot the gun, she allegedly screamed “Death to America.” The talking heads argued that a supporter of Al Qaeda could not be involved in the mailings because they wouldn’t say “Death to America.” Go figure.
On her marriage to 911 operative Ammar Al-Baluchi, see generally
“Detainee Biography: Ammar al-Baluchi”.Announcements. U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
DXer said
The Difference in Responding to Natural and Unnatural Outbreaks
• Amesh A. Adalja
The response to natural and unnatural outbreaks share many elements. However, unnatural outbreak management will consist of several additional tasks: nuanced communication strategies, concomitant forensic investigations, consideration of altered pathogen features, and bioremediation concerns.
Comment: The piece cites
Martin GJ, Friedlander AM (2010) Anthrax as an agent of bioterrorism. In: Mandell GL, Bennett JE, Dolin R (eds) Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett’s principles and practice of infectious diseases, 7th edn. Churchill Livingstone, Philadelphia
Question for Dr. Friedlander: Even if Dr. Ivins is the one who had the correspondence and notes, why weren’t the 16 pages relating to this DARPA-funded research by a former Zawahiri associate obtained and faxed prior to Spring 2005?
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
Why weren’t they faxed to the FBI in October 2001?
When were the lab notebook pages provided? What is the notebook number reflecting that research?
Where and when was the plague research done?
Question for the FBI: Why didn’t the FBI provide the lab notebook pages from 1998 reflecting this research?
DXer said
Bioterrorism and Hospital Preparedness, by J. Michael Kilby
http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=AH0V5b4UJagC&oi=fnd&pg=PT222&dq=anthrax+2013&ots=Am0mp6Yx2X&sig=lrx6hj-yjOgDnkoIQbg15fMucw4
DXer said
Zero Dark Thirty’s Wrong and Dangerous Conclusion
Posted: 12/21/2012 10:21 am
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alex-gibney/zero-dark-thirty-torture_b_2345589.html
Let me say, as many others have, that the film is a stylistic masterwork, an inspiration in terms of technique from the lighting, camera, acting and viscerally realistic production and costume design. Also, as a screen story, it is admirable for its refusal to funnel the hunt for bin Laden into a series of movie clichés — love interests, David versus Goliath struggles, etc. More than that, the film does an admirable job of showing how complex was the detective work that led to the death of bin Laden: a combination of tips from foreign intelligence, sleuthing through old files, monitoring signals from emails and cell phones (SIGINT) and mining human intelligence on the ground (HUMINT). It’s all the more infuriating therefore, because the film is so attentive to the accuracy of details — including the mechanism of brutal interrogations — that it is so sloppy when it comes to portraying the efficacy of torture. That may seem like a small thing but it is not. Because when we go to war, our politicians will be guided by our popular will. And if we believe that torture “got” bin Laden, then we will be more prone to accept the view that a good “end” can justify brutal “means.”
But torture did not lead us to bin Laden. For other analyses of the way the factual record diverges from Boal/Bigelow version, I recommend pieces by Jane Mayer and Peter Bergen, who are far more experienced journalists than I. In addition, one can also refer to the press release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s study of the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program, which concludes that, following the examination of more than six million pages of records from the Intelligence Community, the CIA did not obtain its first clues about the identity of bin Laden’s courier from “CIA detainees subjected to coercive interrogation techniques.”
Comment: It seems that in approaching Amerithrax, the most important SIGINT to examine was historical before targets would have hardened. Sleuthing through old files. In approaching WTC 1993 the FBI didn’t even translate the files that had been seized.
DXer said
Biopreparedness and Public Health
NATO Science for Peace and Security Series A: Chemistry and Biology 2013, pp 209-220
Case Study – United States of America
Lisa D. Rotz, Marcelle Layton
Abstract
The United States (US) considers the intentional use of a biological agent a serious national security threat. Over the last decade, federal, state, and local governments in the US have made concerted efforts to enhance preparedness within the public health, medical, and emergency response systems to address this threat. These activities span a wide range of areas from the enactment of new legal authorities and legislative changes to significant financial investments to enhance multiple detection and response system capabilities and the adoption of a national command and control structure for response. Many of these investments, although prompted by the concern for bioterrorism, have served to strengthen public health, medical, and emergency response systems overall and have proven invaluable in responses to other large-scale emergencies, such as the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Handbook of Operations Research for Homeland Security
International Series in Operations Research & Management Science Volume 183, 2013, pp 141-166
Mitigating the Risk of an Anthrax Attack with Medical Countermeasures
• Jeffrey W. Herrmann
This chapter presents a simulation model that can be used to prepare for a bioterrorism attack that releases anthrax spores and exposes thousands of persons to this deadly disease. The model predicts the expected number of deaths using information about the size of the population, the number exposed, the progress of the disease, the resources available for distributing medication and treating the ill, and the size of local medication stockpiles. The chapter also presents a risk management approach for allocating a limited medication stockpile to multiple cities to minimize the expected number of deaths. The results show that the optimal allocation can be quite different from allocations that are proportional to population size.
Within this Chapter
• Introduction
• MCM Modeling Approach
• MCM Model Results
• Discussion of MCM Model Results
• Multiple City Resource Allocation Problem
• Resource Allocation Results
• Discussion of Resource Allocation Results
• Conclusions
• References
• References
DXer said
Should children be used to develop an anthrax vaccine?
By John Dorschner
The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues will hold an open meeting in Miami beginning Monday on the tough issue of whether children should be used in attempts to develop an anthrax vaccine.
The public is welcome to the meeting, to be held at University of Miami Hospital’s Seminar Center at 1400 NW 12th Ave., starting at 9 a.m. Monday and continuing to noon Tuesday.
The discussion concerns the scenario of terrorists creating weapons in which deadly bacteria could kill thousands of people. There’s discussion of developing a vaccine to counter such attacks, but could it proved to be effective for children if it were not tested on them? And what parents would permit such testing?
The panel is chaired by Amy Gutmann, president of the University of Pennsylvania. President Barack Obama created the commission in 2009 to advise him on bioethical issues.
A live webcast will be available at bioethics.gov.
http://www.amerithrax.wordpress.com
DXer said
Yazid Marwan Hadeed (Yazid Sufaat) writes:
“Exercise justice between your ears and your mouth. The only reason why you were blessed with one mouth and two ears is so you could listen more than you speak” – Abu Darda ra
Like · · Share · 20 hours ago via BlackBerry ·
DXer said
http://www.uticaod.com/features/x2105856930/Oneida-County-tests-ability-to-cope-with-anthrax-attack
MARCY —
County tests ability to cope with anthrax attack.
Oneida County Health Department officials conducted an exercise Monday at SUNYIT to test their response capabilities in the event of an anthrax attack.
“The scenario we chose was anthrax and the purpose was to test our capacity to treat a large number of patients in a short amount of time,” said Ken Fanelli, health department public information officer.
Volunteers and health department employees assumed the roles of victims who, after undergoing a decontamination process, received medication (in the form of M&M’s), were provided information as to what they were exposed to and were administered mental health support, if needed.
“Our goal was to test our ability to treat 200 patients in an hour,” Fanelli said.
Comment:
Why is distributing Cipro to 200 patients in an hour sufficient in the event of an aerosol anthrax release?
Why make the people get out of their car — parking it in the SUNY IT parking lot — and then coming to go through a line in that large room?
Why not instead hand out Cipro to cars passing through along the access road? In the event of an aerosol release shouldn’t the County first responders aim to distribute to 2000 an hour? And shouldn’t they take into account that people will not want to expose themselves unnecessarily to waiting? County personnel doing these drills seem to approach an anthrax drill as if the situation will be like a flu clinic. I think they are underestimating the panic that would be associated with report of an aerosol release. Indeed, won’t the government instruct that people should stay indoors?
As a practical matter, anyone in Oneida County facing an anthrax aerosol release is going to want to grab their Cipro and then continue in their car out of the county. As for “mental health support “contemplated, it seems that they would be less likely to freak out if they could keep on driving.
A better test might be handing out M&Ms at the Jamesville balloon festival, the State Fair or the Jazz festival — or weekend shopping at Destiny USA before shopping. It seems that is the order of magnitude of traffic that might need to be processed.
http://www.uticaod.com/features/x2105856930/Oneida-County-tests-ability-to-cope-with-anthrax-attack?photo=0
DXer said
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/12/syria-chem-prep/
“There hasn’t been a chemical attack in the Middle East since Saddam Hussein gassed Iraqi Kurds at Halabja in 1988. Assad’s motivations remain unclear to U.S. officials, but according to Warrick, someone in the Syrian chain of command provided instructions to prep sarin for potential battlefield use about two weeks ago. Assad’s intentions are unknowable, but using sarin will most foreclose on the life-saving option of finding a foreign country willing to accept Assad for exile. Then again, an anonymous Mideastern intelligence official told Warrick, “If you’re a general and you think you’re not going to survive this, you might not care.”
Comment:
Wasn’t the means of delivery in the chemical attack in Iraq the combat-configured helicopters sold by one or two US companies?
Weren’t those helicopters illegally equipped with illegally-supplied TOW missiles? As evidenced by the ensuing indictment in Miami? (Eric Nadler attended the trial)
Wasn’t the public claim made by the Administration and Iraqi foreign minister Tariq Aziz that they the helicopters were being sold to the Agriculture Ministry?
Weren’t they in fact equipped with quick-release mechanism for pesticide?
Wasn’t that cover story about the sale to the Ministry of Agriculture just a transparent crock?
Didn’t Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia arrange with arms trafficker Sarkis Soghanalian for the funding and purchase — with details worked out over a dinner at Beni Hani’s for which there is a transcript and audiotape?
When are we going to learn from history?
In the case of the gassing of the Kurds, rather than blow hot air about Saddam attacking his own people, we should follow the money — to include illegal bribes in violation of the FCPA.
The sales were at the height of the Iraq-Iran war and the Saudis were afraid that Iraq was going to be overrun by Iranian infantry.
So turning to today’s lesson:
Who armed Syria? Who profited? How many Americans can find Syria on a map?
How many innocents are going to die because reporters didn’t follow the money?
DXer said
Here are many documents with people who might have insight into Awlaki’s detention in 2010-2011 and his subsequent killing by a drone.
GAO: Was he questioned about Amerithrax? If so, what did he say?
DXer said
Errata – Awlaki, I believe, was detained in 2006 and 2007, as evidenced by these privacy forms releasing information about his detention under FOIA to the specified individual dated November 14, 2006, and the other July 2, 2007.
DXer said
AKI recently posted confirming her belief in her father’s innocence. She was being harsh toward factually baseless points being made in support of an Ivins Theory.
DXer said
DHS releases guidance on protecting first responder health during anthrax attack
October 21, 2012 | By David Perera
http://www.fiercehomelandsecurity.com/story/dhs-releases-guidance-protecting-first-responder-health-during-anthrax-atta/2012-10-21
The Homeland Security September 2012 ” Guidance for Protecting Responders’ Health During the First Week Following A Wide-Area Aerosol Anthrax Attack” contains the following assumptions of an attack:
Appendix 1. Scenario, Impact, and Response Assumptions
This guidance is intended to facilitate planning for one particular scenario, a wide-area aerosol anthrax attack. This scenario is based on a number of assumptions about the nature of the attack and the resulting environmental contamination. These parameters may vary in a real event, particularly as the event evolves and further characterization of the extent of the attack and other specific information is gained. Furthermore, the guidance may change based on changes in our understanding of the behavior of the contaminant, availability of monitoring and analytic technologies, and our understanding of the availability and efficacy of the protective measures recommended. The most important of the assumptions associated with this guidance are listed below:
Assumptions regarding attack scenario: (NOTE: assumptions are made for planning purposes and might not hold in a specific future incident)
The attack involves only a single threat agent, B. anthracis. This guidance applies to a scenario in which a quantity of B. anthracis spores in a liquid or dried preparation is disseminated as a small-particle aerosol generated by a spraying device. The release is outdoors, contaminating a wide area, using B. anthracis. Wide-area environmental contamination is possible; this contamination will be spotty and not accurately predicted by models. The strain of B. anthracis used in the attack has not been modified or engineered to express resistance to oral antimicrobial drugs. To date, naturally occurring strains of B. anthracis are susceptible to ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. The aerosol attack is covert; initial notification will occur after environmental sensors, disease manifestation, or credible forensic intelligence provide evidence of or detect the presence of B. anthracis spores.
Assumptions regarding ability to characterize environmental distribution: BioWatch or other detection systems may not recognize the attack. Environmental monitoring and forensic efforts will be unable to provide timely information regarding the release, source strength, and scope/area of risk. Modeling is unable to accurately predict the specific area of risk from primary aerosol exposure but will be of value to incident commanders attempting to characterize the scope of the attack. Uncertainty about the extent of contamination and associated risk for the first week (or more) exists owing to the complexity of the problem and current (and foreseeable) capacity for sampling and testing. Travel within the geographical area could increase the likelihood of additional aerosol exposure by inadvertent entry into areas of high contamination or susceptibility of spore re-aerosolization. People transiting into and out of the potentially affected area will complicate risk assessment and potentially increase the spread of contamination.
September 2012 17
Demand for oral antimicrobial drugs and vaccine will likely extend beyond the geographic boundaries of the affected area. Environmental hazard mapping will be undertaken immediately, but may not be able to fully assess the potential contaminated area. Changes in environmental conditions, such as wind and rain, may complicate risk assessment and the potential spread of contamination.
Assumptions regarding impact to the population suspected to be exposed:
By the time an attack has been recognized, regardless of detection mechanism, people may have been traveling in and out of affected areas for 36 hours or more. Everyone within the suspected area of contamination is considered to be at some level of risk of exposure (either primary or secondary) for the entire duration of their presence in the area, although the specific risk is not predictable. A large number of people in a broad geographical area will inhale B. anthracis spores but it will not be possible to determine specifically which people are exposed and will develop an infection; therefore, all people suspected of exposure will require a post-exposure regimen of 60 days of appropriate oral antimicrobial PEP, and should be considered for a three-dose regimen of anthrax vaccine.
Assumptions regarding response:
The emergency use of certain medical countermeasures will be authorized under EUAs following specific steps by the Secretaries of HHS, DHS, or Department of Defense (DOD) to make a specific emergency determination; by the HHS Secretary to make a declaration justifying the emergency use of the product; and by the FDA to issue each EUA. (An EUA for oral formulations of doxycycline products for PEP of inhalation anthrax was issued by FDA in July 2011, to facilitate anthrax preparedness and response efforts.) Modalities (e.g., public health PODs, retail PODS, employer PODs) will be activated following an attack to dispense oral antimicrobial drugs to the at-risk population as quickly as possible. The immediate dispensing of oral antimicrobial drugs to the at-risk population may also rely on a venue-specific Postal Plan that involves postal carrier volunteers with law enforcement escorts delivering oral antimicrobial drugs or other “push” options under local jurisdictional consideration. Many responders originate from inside the at-risk geographic area, and therefore will have been at risk of exposure from the primary aerosol. All transportation in and proximal to the aerosol release will be affected. Responders who originate from outside the affected geographic area will be moving from a status of essentially no likely exposure into an area that places them at increased risk for exposure to B. anthracis spores through secondary aerosolization. In addition to traditional “first responders,” a number of other responders will be critical during the first week following an anthrax attack, including essential employees across critical infrastructure sectors who must provide uninterrupted.
DXer said
It amuses me to read studies about algorithms relating to predicting a bioattack and related theses from GMU PhD students — when the efforts might better be spent obtaining relevant interviews… such as Ali Al-Timimi who shared a suite with the DARPA-funded Ames anthrax researchers at GMU, the ones who developed a patent to grow anthrax in silica in March 2001.
In one recent PhD thesis, the student explains:
“With the rapid expansion of scientific technology brought on through increasing globalization, the prospect of incorporating the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) weapons into their tactics is becoming increasingly feasible and likely. As these radical groups become more energized, they may resort to using CBRN. In order to avert a disaster from a terrorist-CBRN (T-CBRN) event, it is important to study the likelihood of these groups employing CBRN. Analysts continue to search for sound methodologies in assessing the risk of such groups pursuing CBRN. Psychological and mathematical modeling attempts have been made in discerning terrorist’s propensities for CBRN Asal (2010), Sullivan and Perry (2004), Post (2002), Tucker (2000) etc., but there still remains considerable gaps in these areas.
Because of the deficiencies in analytical methodologies and controversial techniques used for modeling T-CBRN, we proposed the questions: can a more accurate predictive model of T-CBRN use be developed? And, when compared against past event data, would such a model reliably predict the amount of ” Relative Risk ” of a terrorist that would elect to use CBRN?
This study entailed the development of an algorithm linked with statistical software (ProStat Version 5.5, Poly Software International) for predicting the Relative Risk of a terrorist seeking CBRN. This was achieved through four phases. Phase I involved searching open literature and proposing independent-variables associated with T-CBRN. Phase II entailed the construction of a ” Random-Nations Matrix ” representing the T-CBRN universe. This matrix was then used for correlating variables suspected of being associated with T-CBRN. Phase III involved the construction of a multivariate model from the variables which met our correlation criteria with T-CBRN. The final phase, Phase IV, entailed the construction of an algorithm derived from the model design, for predicting the amount of Relative Risk of a terrorist seeking, acquiring and or using CBRN, and the Relative Risk of T-CBRN occurring in a specific country. Probability was measured by the strength of the relationship indicated by the p-value.
The study drew primarily from the following databases: the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (2007), the U.S. Department of State (2010), Globalsecurity.org (2010), the Global Terrorism Database (2010), the Central Intelligence Agency World Fact Book (2009-2010), the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies/Monterey WMD Terrorism Database (2010), the Center for Defense Information (2009), the Freedom House Center for Systemic Peace (2009) and the McDonald’s Corporation’s list of worldwide McDonald’s restaurants (2010).
A Random Nations Matrix was developed for determining the two independent-variables that correlated with our dependent-variable “Terrorist-CBRN “. This matrix was constructed from the random selection of 74 countries and/or locations from the CIA World Fact Book (2009-2010). Thirty-nine of the same variables were measured for each of the seventy-four selected countries or locations compiled in the matrix. The 39 variables selected for each country or location, were correlated with each other and the T-CBRN variable for determining correlative significance. A multivariate-model was developed with 67.3 percent predictive power for T-CBRN using the independent-variables: ” Political Violence Per Capita ” and ” Number of Terrorist-CBRN Technical Experts “. Average lag-times between terrorist’s interest and use of CBRN were also calculated for the various classifications of terrorist-groups.”
DXer said
Ft. Hood Whitewash
Last Updated: 11:34 PM, July 21, 2012
Posted: July 22, 2012
After a more-than-two-year review, a report released last week accuses the FBI of having dropped the ball when it investigated the Fort Hood jihadist before the 2009 massacre.
So — how many people will be fired?
Exactly . . . none.
That’s right: The agency might have been able to prevent the killing of 13 people by a home-grown Islamic fundamentalist, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan — but failed to do so.
And yet, not a single FBI official will lose his or her job.
Comment:
I disagree with the NY Post though i can understand the reaction. People should be fired for wrongdoing, not missteps.
Wrongdoing, for example, includes continued withholding of documents that would shed light on missteps in analysis.
An approach focused on firing people for mistakes just creates an incentive for withholding of documents and information. FBI Director Mueller would point out it is bad for morale (which is important for an organization’s performance of its mission).
Everyone should be given an incentive to come forward with documents and information — even at this late date. When they do, we should compliment them for their candor and courageousness and drop the criticism relating to the missteps (or conflict of interest).
Those still withholding documents and information are naive in thinking that the information won’t eventually come out. If they are not the ones to come forward with it, they will just be on the wrong side of the wrongdoing vs. misstep line.
ANTHRAX AND AL QAEDA: THE INFILTRATION OF US BIODEFENSE, July 21, 2012 draft
http://www.blurb.com/books/3381343
DXer said
Release Fort Hood intelligence report
Editorial Board
http://www.statesman.com/opinion/release-fort-hood-intelligence-report-2417359.html
DXer said
FBI Tracking 100 Suspected Extremists In Military
by Dina Temple-Raston
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/25/155710570/fbi-checking-100-suspected-extremists-in-military
The FBI and Department of Defense call these cases “insider threats.” They include not just active and reserve military personnel but also individuals who have access to military facilities such as contractors and close family members with dependent ID cards.
I was surprised and struck by the numbers, they were larger than I expected.
– Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who co-chaired a hearing on internal threats to the military
Officials would not provide details about the cases and the FBI would not confirm the numbers, but they did say that cases seen as serious could include, among others things, suspects who seem to be planning an attack or were in touch with “dangerous individuals” who were goading them to attack.
DXer said
Infiltration played a key role in Amerithrax.
Among the supporters of these militant islamists were people like US scientist Ali Al-Timimi and Pakistan scientist Rauf Ahmad who blended into society and were available to act when another part of the network requested it. Two letters — one typed and an earlier handwritten one — written by a scientist named Rauf Ahmad detailed his efforts to obtain a pathogenic strain of anthrax. He attended conferences on anthrax and dangerous pathogens such as one in September 2000 at the University of Plymouth co-sponsored by DERA, the UK Defense Evaluation and Research Agency. In October 2009, historian Christopher Andrew published an official history of MI5 in which he reported that MI5 had found money and equipment in Rauf Ahmad’s luggage as he left the September 2000 conference.
A handwritten letter from 1999 is written on letterhead of the oldest microbiology society in Great Britain. The 1999 documents seized in Afghanistan by US forces by Rauf describe the author’s visit to the special confidential room at the BL-3 facility where 1000s of pathogenic cultures were kept; his consultation with other scientists on some of technical problems associated with weaponizing anthrax; the bioreactor and laminar flows to be used in Al Qaeda’s anthrax lab; a conference he attended on dangerous pathogens cosponsored by UK’s Porton Down and Society for Applied Microbiology, and the need for vaccination and containment. Rauf had arranged to take a lengthy post-doc leave from his employer and was grousing to Zawahiri that what the employer would be paying during that 12-month period was inadequate.
One typed memo reporting on a lab visit, which included tour of a BioLevel 3 facility, where there were 1000s of pathogenic samples. The memo mentioned the pending paperwork relating to export of the pathogens. The documents were provided to me by the Defense Intelligence Agency (”DIA”) under the Freedom of Information Act.
Taliban supporter Al-Timimi was a graduate student in the same building where famed Russian bioweapon Ken Alibek and former USAMRIID head Charles Bailey worked at George Mason University. The three worked at the secure facility at Discovery Hall at the Prince William 2 campus. Dr. Alibek and Dr. Bailey headed a biodefense program funded by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (”DARPA”). In the US, to infiltrate the military all one needed to do was to go to graduate school. Al-Timimi had a top security clearance and had worked for SRA International doing mathematical support work for the Navy. In 2000 and 2001, Timimi was a graduate student in computational sciences. His field was bioinformatics.
Al-Timimi tended to travel to give speeches on interpretation of the koran during semester breaks. Al-Timimi’s speeches are widely distributed on the internet and tend to focus on religious rather than political issues. A district court judge would say that Al-Timimi’s later speeches tended to favor violent jihad. After 9/11, they reportedly were removed from the website of the Center he had founded. The night of 9/11, he got in a heated debate with some colleagues. He said while islamically impermissible, the targeting of civilians was not impermissible where they were used as a shield. Others thought that it was reckless to say that so soon after the 9/11 attack when emotions were so inflamed.
Years earlier, the blind sheik’s son, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman was scheduled to come from Afghanistan to speak at the IANA 1993 conference alongside Ali Al-Timimi and former EIJ member Gamal Sultan. Al-Timimi was scheduled to speak alongside the blind sheik’s son again in 1996, the year Bin Laden issued his Declaration of War against the United States. In July and August 2001, Ali was scheduled to speak in Toronto and London alongside “911 imam” Anwar Awlaki and unindicted WTC 1993 “unindicted co-conspirator” Bilal Philips. His wife Ziyana, when I spoke to her by telephone, was very gracious. Absent consent of Ali’s counsel, however, she could not answer the substantive question why Ali had a high security clearance for SRA in 1999 for work for the Navy. He received a letter of commendation from the White House for his work.
Malaysian Yazid Sufaat, who told his wife he was working for a Taliban medical brigade when he went to Afghanistan, got the job of anthrax lab director instead of Rauf. Yazid Sufaat tells me that what he did was for the love of Islam. He says that the plan “is on the way.” He explains that he was part of the Malaysian biological weapons program before that country signed the nonproliferation treaty. He did not tell interrogators because he felt he had been betrayed by his country.
DXer said
AP Exclusive: Al-Qaida trains Norwegian to attack
By KARL RITTER, Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hZCrdGVfxkc5BkN9MJRjLo3rrGcg?docId=d6679bb2854141d6b030c48eb298eb7e
So an angry, unidentified Norwegian is poised to attack. “You know how that will go.”
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/06/entertainment/la-et-lilyhammer-20120204
Mullah Krekar was convicted in March. He knows things He reportedly wanted to set up a base of operations in the US. That concern was at the root of the Albany stinger case judging from the sentencing memo.
DXer said
Mullah Krekar was the former head of Ansar Al-Islam.
What does Mullah Krekar know about Al Qaeda’s anthrax planning? Michael Scheuer says it is certain that experiments were done by Ansar al-Islam involving anthrax. The CIA’s Scheur, the key fellow on Zawahiri Task Force, unsuccessfully urged to President Bush that the US bomb Ansar Al-Islam and send more troops to Tora Bora — rather than invade Iraq.
We saw how effective the FBI was in questioning Yazid Sufaat, the Al Qaeda anthrax lab head. He was captured in December 2001 and the FBI first briefly questioned him in November 2002. He politely pled the Fifth in the interview, which took no more than 30 minutes.
Did the FBI ever question Mullah Krekar about anthrax planning?
A subtilis expert from Iraq (to include mutations due to nutrient starvation) was in telephone contact with the number associated with KSM’s nephew, Ramzi Youssef, who was the lead WTC 1993 plotter. The number was Abdul Yasin’s apartment. After WTC 1993, Abdul Yasin fled to Iraq. The subtilis expert from Iraq lived in the Princeton area in 2001, just miles from the mailbox from where the anthrax was mailed.
Ansar Al-Islam, although not widely known, was a group formed by four senior EIJ leaders sent by Dr. Ayman. It was formed in 2001 by an amalgamation of several salafist-jihadi groups in Northern Iraq.
The Bush Administration pointed to Ansar Al-Islam’s presence in Iraq in suggesting that Saddam had the anthrax and bad intentions — when it was actually the former assistant of the White House Chief of Staff in the Washington DC area, an operative in the US, who had likely access to virulent Ames due to sharing a suite with the DARPA-funded Ames researchers. Convicted seditionist and jihadi supporter Ali Al-TImimi, whose family was from Iraq, was the lead speaker for the US-based charity, IANA, based in Ann Arbor. If this had become known, Bush perhaps would never have won a second term. Bush national security officials like Jeffrey Taylor played out the storyline to Dr. Ivins’ bitter end. He argued that the Federal Eagle stamp was only sold in Dr. Ivins post office — dutifully reported by the AP — when in fact it was sold throughout Virginia. He argued that Dr. Ivins had the lyophilizer to use when it was known to not have been where Dr. Ivins was those nights.
Faced with the prospect of being seen as having driven an innocent, fragile and troubled man to his suicide, someone at the DOJ withheld all documents relating to Dr. Ivins’ work with rabbits to make it look like his time in the lab was unexplained. The woman Dr. Ivins wanted to kill was the female scientist who contrary to the documentary evidence spun his time as unexplained — when she in fact knew better. Her civil deposition on these issues has been shredded by an agency that calls itself The Department of Justice. That same scientist, Dr. Ivins says, destroyed anthrax before leaving to join Southern Research Institute in Frederick. SRI in Frederick is where the work with virulent Ames was done for the DARPA researchers whose suite Iraqi salafist Ali Al-TImimi shared.
The central witness underlying an Ivins Theory was Dr. Ivins first counselor, Judith McLean. Dr. Ivins first counselor in a 2009 book says that she was psychotic and that her principal delusion was that an alien controlled her actions through a microchip implanted in her butt. Her chief paranoid fear was that there murderous astral entities — including those attached to her patients such as Dr. Ivins — trying to kill her. She annotated the psychiatrists’ notes. See EBAP report. Her notes were given to the counselor in July 2008 and that then led to his commitment.
The government psychiatrists and an accomplished Pulitzer Prize winning author eagerly seize on that first counselor as their key witness — without ever acknowledging that she is not a reliable witness as to events in 2000. To err is part of the human condition. To not correct the mistake in a matter such as this is really, really wrong.
Their chief supporter is a pornographer who insists a First Grader wrote the letters.
It took the FBI nearly a year to question Yazid Sufaat — and the chatty Yazid politely declined to tell them that he had been part of Malaysia’s bioweapons program. Do you imagine that they fruitfully questioned Abdul Yasin who the police had let leave the country even though they knew that he had direct and extensive knowledge of the 1993 bombers? Or Ramzi Youssef? How fruitful and usefully targeted was the questioning of Ramzi Youssef at the Supermax? AUSA Lieber was forbidden from even visiting Al-Timimi in jail because a deal was cut. When she went anyway, she was reprimanded.
So don’t fault AUSA Lieber, GAO. Prosecutors are charged with being zealous and it was a difficult mystery. But find out who tried to prevent her from even visiting Ali in jail and why. Was he made a Top Echelon informant? Is that what explains why Amerithrax went so seriously off track and stayed there?
Do you imagine that they fruitfully questioned Jdey? Jdey was detained at the same time as Moussaoui. He was a trained pilot. Moussaoui had the cropduster manuals while Jdey had the biology textbooks.
If the FBI does not effectively mine the intelligence from the operatives detained, don’t be surprised when they don’t fare much better at getting information from operatives who are footloose and fancy free.
Of course, it’s perhaps not possible to get someone like Yazid Sufaat or Mullah Krekar to talk — no matter how garrulous they are by nature.
And so it is not the fault of the FBI when suspects and jihadists don’t voluntarily disclose information.
And FBI Director went to Malaysia precisely to try to gain access to Sufaat.
But let’s try to get better cooperation from allies being given millions and millions of dollars.
Let’s try to avoid invasions and occupations that just make religious cultists mad at us.
And at least let’s get the story right by the time the history books are written.
Because you can’t learn from history unless you know it.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+WQ+E-2003-0920+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN
Subject: Release by the Netherlands authorities of Mullah Krekar
Answer(s)
Is the Commission aware that the Netherlands authorities have released Mullah Krekar, leader of the international Islamic organisation Ansar al-Islam?
Is the Commission aware that Mullah Krekar, who was arrested at Amsterdam airport after being expelled from Iran is currently in Norway where he has refugee status?
Is the Commission aware that the terrorist organisation headed by Mullah Krekar is said to have produced and tested chemical and biological weapons, including ricin, a lethal toxin for which there is currently no vaccine?
What action will the Commission take to counteract Mullah Krekar’s activities and prevent him from ever entering the European Union, thereby ensuring that in future he is unable to move around within the EU as he did in the years leading up to his arrest?
What action will the Commission take to ensure that Norway keeps a watchful eye on the activities of Mullah Krekar’s and his organisation, which seems to be recruiting many of the Al-Qa’ida members who escaped from Afghanistan?
DXer said
New Book: Axelrod, Holder Close to Blows in West Wing
Saturday, 02 Jun 2012 07:33 PM
By Martin Gould
http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/Axelrod-Hodler-brawl-Jarrett/2012/06/02/id/441013
After bin Laden’s death, Klaidman says Obama became obsessed with killing Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen who was taken out in a drone attack in Yemen in September last year.
“I want Awlaki. Don’t let up on him,” Klaidman quotes the president as saying during a weekly counterterrorism meeting.
DXer said
Ill worker fights postal service over toxic mail reportedly from Yemen.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/12/2794988/ill-worker-fights-postal-service.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/12/2794988/ill-worker-fights-postal-service.html
DXer said
Excellent reporting by the Florida Center for investigative Reporting. I look forward to seeing the documents that they will succeed in obtaining under FOIA. They have obtained and uploaded a copy of the February 4 email Jeffrey sent.
Pro bono computer forensics on the email would also be useful — as well as any other emails sent by the other employee or by Jeffrey. Even a telephone bill evidencing the February 4 call to Rochester would flesh things out further.
Meanwhile, intel on the substances known to be used by Al Qaeda in Yemen might be checked against expert understanding of what could cause that effect upon mere breathing. Tubes? Wires?
After Package From Yemen, Questions About Worker Illness and Government Response
http://fcir.org/2012/05/13/after-package-from-yemen-questions-about-worker-illness-and-government-response/
DXer said
Thanks to the excellent reporting by the Florida Center For Investigative Reporting, we have the actual letter response by the Post Office.
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/354943-2012-03-09-chuzi-1.html
If the Post Office disputes the 2/4 incident occurred, then the attorney should explain what she found when the inbox of the recipient was examined. If the email was deleted due to the passage of time, it is a simple matter to recover the email. But the lawyers should get on the same page — literally.
DXer said
1. While US government focuses on Anwar Al-Aulaqi, the media continues to overlook Aulaqi’s connection to fellow Falls Church imam, “anthrax weapons suspect” Ali Al-Timimi
Posted by Lew Weinstein on May 25, 2010
2. In Spring 2001, Nawaf Al-Hazmi Associated With Both Anwar Awlaki And Ali Al-Timimi, Who Shared A Suite With The Ames Researchers
Posted by Lew Weinstein on January 27, 2012
https://caseclosedbylewweinstein.wordpress.com/2012/01/27/in-spring-2001-nawaf-al-hazmi-associated-with-both-anwar-awlaki-and-ali-al-timimi-who-shared-a-suite-with-the-ames-researchers/
3. The head of the Amerithrax prosecution Daniel Seikaly pled the Fifth Amendment about leaking the hyped Hatfill stories that derailed the Amerithrax investigation for 7 years. His daughter later came to represent “anthrax weapons suspect” (to borrow defense counsel’s phrase) Ali Al-Timimi pro bono. GAO: Was an apparent conflict of interest avoided on the grounds that her representation began after her father left DOJ? Or was there a continuing appearance of a conflict of interest?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on September 3, 2011
4. In Amerithrax, the leaker of the hyped Hatfill stories was the father of the lawyer who later represented “anthrax weapons suspect” Al-Timimi pro bono
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 3, 2010
5. Who does former lead Amerithrax prosecutor Daniel Seikaly and his daughter, Ali Al-Timimi’s former defense counsel, think is responsible for the anthrax mailings of Fall 2001?
Posted on May 22, 2011
6. floor plan of suite at GMU’s Discovery Hall in 2001 with Ali Al-Timimi and leading anthrax scientists
Posted by Lew Weinstein on February 7, 2010
7. Catherine Herridge’s NEXT WAVE: Anwar Awlaki, Ali Al-Timimi and why FBI Agent Wade Ammerman wanted to allow Anwar Awlaki to meet with Ali Al-Timimi in October 2002
Posted by Lew Weinstein on June 21, 2011
8. How was the FBI able to exclude Abderraouf Yousef Jdey as the mailer if the FBI doesn’t know where he was and, according to former top CIA analyst Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, Jdey was released before the mailings? Did Jdey know Aafia? Did Jdey know Al-Timimi? Did Jdey know Slahi?
Posted by Lew Weinstein on April 27, 2011
DXer said
Emergency coordinators discuss anthrax medication drill
http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/story/18135129/emergency-experts-plan-anthrax-medication-drill
DXer said
• http://aapnews.aappublications.org/content/33/1/28
• NEWS AND FEATURES
AAP calls attention to unique needs of children in anthrax attack
• Steven E. Krug, M.D., FAAP and
• John S. Bradley, M.D., FAAP
In 2001, Bacillus anthracis spores were distributed intentionally through the U.S. postal system, causing 22 cases of anthrax, including five deaths. Among these cases was a 7-month-old child, who was suspected of being exposed during a visit to an office where an anthrax-tainted package was delivered. The child was hospitalized and fully recovered.
This incident reflects that children’s needs must be considered in the event of an act of bioterrorism.
***
Concern has been increasing at the federal level regarding adequate MCMs for children in the event of a chemical-biological terrorism attack. The Academy was given the opportunity to respond to questions posed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response regarding the use of anthrax antimicrobial postexposure prophylaxis in children. Given the extraordinary morbidity of inhalation anthrax, the overarching AAP recommendations are as follows:
• The SNS or other pre-deployed cache should always include an adequate supply of medication (e.g., doxycycline/ciprofloxacin) in liquid/suspension form. Guidelines for extemporaneous oral liquid formulation of crushed solid tablets or opened capsules could be developed and tested as alternatives to current pediatric formulations.
• Ciprofloxacin and doxycycline tablets should be manufactured in smaller tablet sizes to facilitate accurate milligram/kilogram dosing in small children.
• Pediatricians should receive adequate public health training about the approved protocols for administering countermeasures to children.
• An approved written protocol for MCM distribution should undergo prospective simulated testing to ensure that it achieves efficient and accurate administration to children during a disaster.
• Development of semi-solid or other liquid formulations of medication for the SNS should be explored (e.g., a gel or paste, powder, chewable or orally disintegrating tablets, or orally dissolving film strip).
• DPAC and Anthrax Work Group experts will continue working with federal agencies to ensure the needs of children are considered with regard to medical countermeasures.