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From Los Angeles Times

U.S. boosting efforts against Al Qaeda in Pakistan

The terrorist organization is susceptible to a decisive blow in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, a senior Obama administration official says.

by Ken Dilanian, Washington Bureau

July 29, 2011

Reporting from Aspen, Colo.

The U.S. is "doubling down" on its strategy of covert targeted missile strikes in Pakistan in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death, believing that Al Qaeda is susceptible to a decisive blow, a senior Obama administration official said Friday.

"I think there are three to five senior leaders that if they're removed from the battlefield, would jeopardize Al Qaeda's capacity to regenerate," said retired Gen. Douglas Lute, who oversees Afghanistan and Pakistan strategy at the National Security Council. He declined to name them, other than Ayman al Zawahiri, who succeeded Bin Laden as Al Qaeda's leader.

"We've got to take advantage of the fact that when Bin Laden died, Al Qaeda was in uncharted waters," Lute said. "This is a period of turbulence.... You need to go for the knockout punch."

Lute's comments were an unusually explicit statement of the thinking behind the administration's increased reliance on drones and other forms of remote attack against Al Qaeda. He avoided specifically referring to drone strikes, which are not officially acknowledged by the government, and instead talked of covert programs in Pakistan. But his meaning was clear.

In a candid assessment, Lute also said the administration had not envisioned the extent to which senior Pakistani officials would be embarrassed less by the presence of Bin Laden in their country than by the U.S. raid to kill him without their knowledge.

"We underestimated somewhat the humiliation factor generated by the raid itself," he said.

Lute's remarks in a panel discussion at the Aspen Security Forum here came after he was asked to respond to comments Thursday night by retired Adm. Dennis Blair, who was forced to resign last year as director of national intelligence. Blair, who left after Obama sided with the CIA in a series of policy disputes between that agency and Blair's office, said drone strikes have become counterproductive because they are provoking public outrage in Pakistan and potentially creating new enemies.

Blair said the U.S. should offer Pakistan the chance to "put two hands on the trigger" as a partner in the program — and therefore only carry out strikes the Pakistanis approve. As it stands, he said, the attacks are undertaken without consultation with Pakistan's government, despite occasional cooperation in the past.

Blair also argued against the U.S. conducting unilateral drone strikes in Yemen and Somalia.

"We're treating the countries just as places where we go and attack," he said.

Blair's comments marked the first time a former Obama administration official had publicly criticized a key tenet of the president's national security strategy.

His views on drone attacks were repudiated by other former senior government officials attending the Aspen conference, including former California Congresswoman Jane Harman, a Democrat who chaired a homeland security intelligence subcommittee.

"Drone attacks … are a crucial tool in our counter-terrorism arsenal and I support them," she said.

The disagreement is part of a broader debate over the efficacy of relatively low-cost drone strikes versus the far more expensive, long-term use of troops on the ground to wage a sustained counter-terrorism campaign. The administration has moved to draw down U.S. troop strength in the region, believing that the costs are unsustainable.

Blair argued that the key to defeating Al Qaeda was for the Pakistani military to mount a sustained counterinsurgency to clear and hold the Afghanistan border areas where the group's leaders have taken refuge.

Lute, reflecting the administration's view, noted that Pakistan's military has a presence in those areas, but despite billions in U.S. aid, its army has shown neither the willingness nor the capacity to root out militants.

Asked about the current threat posed by Al Qaeda, Lute echoed comments made here Thursday by Michael Leiter, who recently departed as head of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Al Qaeda has been wounded, but not yet defeated, he said, adding, "We're not ready to declare victory."

Leiter had said that Al Qaeda's leaders in Pakistan were "on the ropes," but the organization remained capable of attacks and "Pakistan remains a huge problem" because it allows safe haven for Al Qaeda and affiliated groups in its tribal areas along the Afghan border.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/sc-dc-0730-us-al-qaeda-20110730,0,1795830,print.story

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Ft. Hood suspect cries name of defendant in 2009 rampage

Naser Jason Abdo shouts in court, where he is charged in an alleged plot to target Ft. Hood soldiers. Killeen, Texas, home to the military base and previous tragedies, is rattled and relieved by his arrest.

by Ashley Powers and Richard A. Serrano

July 29, 2011

Reporting from Killeen, Texas and Washington

The suspect accused of planning an attack on Ft. Hood soldiers had holed up in a motel room in Killeen this week, authorities said, with a 40-caliber handgun, a cache of bomb-making ingredients and a plan to make this military city ache all over again.

Instead, Pfc. Naser Jason Abdo appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Waco. There, the army private shouted his inspiration for what authorities say was a plot to set off two bombs at a popular restaurant outside the sprawling Ft. Hood military base.

"Nidal Hasan — Ft. Hood 2009!" he said, a defiant reference to the army major and psychiatrist and fellow Muslim who is charged with killing 13 people at the base nearly two years ago.

Killeen, an unassuming 128,000-person city north of Austin, was deeply wounded by the rampage. The military is its lifeblood. During lunch, McDonald's and Whataburger are packed with men and women in fatigues. Military surplus stores are nearly as plentiful as hotels wrapped with "We Support Our Troops" banners.

On Friday, it was a city rattled by what-ifs and whys, but also a city relieved.

"Thank God nothing bad happened," said Suraiya Rabbani, a school counselor who's lived here for two decades. "Thank God no lives were lost."

A Muslim on her way to Friday prayers, Rabbani had added reasons for relief. She recalled how the adults at her mosque had to soothe children who were taunted after the 2009 attack. She found herself explaining, repeatedly, that Islam was a religion of peace.

When she learned that Abdo claimed to share her faith, her stomach sank.

"He had to come here to Killeen to do this?" she said.

Like Hasan, Abdo was opposed to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan because he said they violated his Muslim beliefs. While stationed at Ft. Campbell, Ky., Abdo had even been approved as a conscientious objector for discharge from the army. But that discharge, granted earlier this year, was put on hold soon afterward when the 21-year-old was charged with possession of child pornography. He'd been absent without leave since early July.

This week, authorities said, he checked into an Americas Best Value Inn and Suites just outside Ft. Hood.

At the hotel, where an American flag billows in the parking lot, Abdo rattled employees by pacing in the lobby while waiting for a taxi, one worker said in an interview. Abdo wore tan hospital-type scrubs and sunglasses. No one had been inside Abdo's room, the employee said, because he'd hung a do-not-disturb sign on the door.

When authorities arrested Abdo Wednesday at the motel, court papers said, they found smokeless gunpowder, shotgun shells and pellets, two clocks, two spools of auto wire, an electric drill and two pressure cookers. There was epoxy and glue, tape, gloves, a battery and Christmas lights, with some of the items in his backpack.

Abdo, court papers said, had saved an article titled, "Make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."

In interviews with authorities, court papers said, Abdo "admitted that he planned to assemble two bombs in the hotel room using gun powder and shrapnel packed into pressure cookers" to explode at an undisclosed restaurant popular with soldiers.

Abdo was charged Friday with possession of an unregistered destructive device. If convicted, he could face up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.

Around battle-scarred Killeen, there were sighs of resignation. Carroll Smith, a police spokeswoman and lifelong resident, recalled how, in 1991, a gunman killed 23 people at a Luby's Cafeteria here before taking his own life.

"We learn from the last," Smith said. "We're always going to keep our guard up. Ft. Hood is the largest military base in the free world. People tend to target a place like that."

At military surplus store Surplus City, amid rows of fatigues, clerk Ralf Payne grimaced at details of the latest plot.

Just as New Yorkers remember where they were on 9/11, Payne recalled freezing behind the store counter in 2009 when he heard that a gunman had sprayed bullets at Ft. Hood. Later, he met one customer who'd been shot and another who had slipped away from the carnage.

"And now that's two incidents, ain't it?" he said, shaking his head. "It's going to go on and on. We have to be vigilant."

Then he praised the folks at Guns Galore.

At that store, a short drive away, manager Cathy Cheadle recalled how Abdo had walked into the squat, white building where, in 2009, Hasan purchased a handgun that officials say he used in the deadly attack.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Abdo wore a Texas Longhorns T-shirt and sunglasses he never took off.

He grabbed four canisters of smokeless gunpowder from the shelves. They were a mix of brands, which Cheadle found strange. "Then he asked what smokeless gunpowder was," she said. "Well, if you're buying it, you should know what it is."

She answered his question. He fetched two more canisters. He added a handgun magazine and three boxes of ammunition, whose power Cheadle described as "pretty devastating." His bill was slightly less than $250. He tossed that amount of cash on the counter and didn't wait for his change or receipt.

"Have a nice day," Cheadle said.

"Hope your afternoon is better than mine," she recalled him replying.

Cheadle said she and part-time clerk Greg Ebert watched, via security video, as Abdo climbed into a taxi. Ebert, a retired policeman, later told authorities about the odd young man. They arrested Abdo the next day.

"I don't think we could have taken another bad thing out of here," Cheadle said with a sigh.

Instead, on Friday, she awoke to messages from residents grateful that their neighbors helped thwart another tragedy.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-suspect-fort-hood-20110730,0,2841136,print.story

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$10,000 reward offered in theft of rifles from Army base

Twenty-six AK-47 rifles and a Dragunov rifle were stolen from a supply warehouse at the Army post at Ft. Irwin, in the Mojave Desert near Barstow.

Officials from several different agencies have investigated the theft, and said Friday that an undisclosed number of arrests have been made and one of the rifles recovered. Investigators are now asking the public's help in identifying other people who might have been involved and in finding the other 26 weapons.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call (800) 283-4867 or Ft. Irwin at (760) 380-5812 . The reward is for information leading to an arrest, officials said.

For the record, 5:02 p.m. July 29: An earlier version of this post incorrectly identified the weapons as AK-74 rifles, based on a news release from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/07/authorities-offer-reward-in-gun-theft-from-army-base.html

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From Google News

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Hamilton, Ontario - Canada

Muslims reaching out to public during warm, lengthy Ramadan

by Danielle Wong

July 30, 2011

Muslims in the city are preparing for the longest and warmest Ramadan they have seen in about a decade.

But this won't stop them from sharing their holy month with the city at large, community leaders say.

Muslims begin fasting from sunrise to sundown 11 days earlier each year, in accordance with the lunar calendar, said Hussein Hamdani, spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Greater Hamilton.

“This year it's all of August …. As we get deeper into the summer, the sunset gets later.”

Another element that's different: the recent tragedies in Norway, the local lawyer noted. An anti-Muslim extremist killed 77 people in a bombing and shooting rampage.

“They're independent factors, but nevertheless they change some aspects of the Muslim community's response to Ramadan this year,” Hamdani said.

They are aware of the need to do more outreach in the wider community because hatred toward Muslims has been consistently on the rise since the Sept. 11 attacks, he said.

“We want to make sure that we're reaching out to all our non-Muslim neighbours, making our places of worship, our community centres open and available to them,” Hamdani said, adding that Hamiltonians can break fast with them at the downtown and Mountain mosques every night during the month.

The Cordoba House on Forsythe Avenue is also holding a food drive throughout August for local needs.

Muslims from the city and surrounding areas will gather to celebrate Eid, the end of Ramadan, at the Hamilton Convention Centre. Members of the public are also welcome.

As for the heat issue, children who have not reached puberty and the elderly are exempt from fasting in order to protect their health, Hamdani said, but mosques will be open to them and the broader community as cooling centres during the month.

Kamran Bhatti, spokesperson for the Muslim Association of Hamilton (MAH), has also noticed a greater interest about their faith in the wake of the Norway massacre.

“The (MAH) website has been completely inundated with requests and questions about Islam — where it stands,” Bhatti said Friday.

The mosque on Stone Church Road East will be offering classes throughout the month about Islam and the general public is also welcome to attend Iftar, or the breaking of the fast, on Friday nights, he said.

MAH is encouraging its members to raise funds for the new mosque being built that's attached to its existing building. Its leadership hopes to have the community pray together in the new main hall, still under construction, sometime during Ramadan.

The Bosnian Islamic Association is also looking to build a mosque on Barton Street in Stoney Creek. It plans to demolish its existing one, also on Barton.

Uzma Qureshi, a director on the MAH board, said Ramadan is a time when Muslims are encouraged to donate 2.5 per cent of their income to charity.

“We remember what it means to be less fortunate because you're hungry all day long,” she said. “Your awareness about it is so much more heightened, you do more charity.”

http://www.thespec.com/print/article/571301

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New Mexico

Chief touts community policing plan

Project 365, a new component of the National Night Out campaign, will help identify a particular problem or area of concern within the city and work on resolving the dilemma within one year.

The first target? The concrete canal that runs under North Main Street, which over the years has often been often filled with unsightly graffiti and criminal activity, not water.

"We are going to change that," Williams said Friday at a news conference by a mural recently painted on the wall of the canal visible at 2100 N. Main St. by participants in the Juvenile Citation Program.

"It just doesn't take a department, it takes everyone involved," City Councilor Miguel Silva said at Friday's event.

"It's going to take community members and businessmen."

City Councilor Dolores Connor said she hoped the effort would help rid neighborhoods not just of graffiti, but of violence.

"Let's get to it," Connor said.

JCP, the Las Cruces Streets Department, Keep Las Cruces Beautiful and Codes Enforcement will help maintain the area throughout the year, while LCPD will provide "targeted enforcement" to further discourage delinquent behavior, Williams said.

"We will keep this area beautiful," Williams said, promising to catch and prosecute vandals.

Two more murals are in the works by JCP, which will also supervise youth service projects in the canal.

And Williams asked residential and business neighbors of the canal to help out the new program - not by picking up a paintbrush, but by picking up the phone and reporting all suspicious behavior or acts of vandalism.

"We cannot do it alone," he said, "and we need the public's help."

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462 .

If you go • What: National Night Out • When: 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday • Where: Las Cruces Downtown Mall • Highlights: Law enforcement and fire department, health and community groups, bike rodeo and repair, kids activities, games, arts and crafts, snacks • Cost: Free

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_18583717

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Colorado

Agencies partnering to host National Night Out in Craig

The 2011 National Night Out, a community policing program that promotes crime prevention activities, community safety programs and community partnerships for a safer America, is scheduled for 4 p.m. Tuesday in Craig.

Wendy's, 1280 W. Victory Way, is hosting the event, which includes local law enforcement, fire, medical and service agency personnel.

Attractions at the event include:

Also as part of the event, residents are encouraged to leave their porch lights on at home as a national symbol against crime.

National Night Out is free and open to the public.

For more information, call Sgt. John Forgay of the Craig Police Department at 826-2360.

http://www.craigdailypress.com/news/2011/jul/30/agencies-partnering-host-national-night-out-craig/

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Ohio

Fed Up Cleveland Community Installs Crime Cameras

by Melissa Reid

CLEVELAND— Watch out! Someone is watching you along Madison Avenue in Cleveland.

"About 80% of the street from West 85th to West 105th is covered by surveillance cameras. This is community policing at it's very best," said Mike McDonald, safety director of Ward 16.

Businesses and residents in the struggling district have turned vigilante.

Authorities are watching for crime with surveillance systems that people can view from their work computers, home computers, even their cell phones.

"This is a grass roots effort, real community team work. It's really all thanks to the work by local merchants, neighborhood entrepreneur Mike Lewis, and city council," added McDonald.

"The merchants really took the lead on this one. They came to me and the Development Corporation for help. So, we worked out some discretionary funds to help lower the costs of the camera systems so businesses could have them," said Councilman Jay Westbrook, of Ward 16.

One of those merchants is Odyssey Jeweler & Loan. The owner, Jack Butchart, says he learned the hard way years ago.

"Back in 1992, I had a shop on Clifton Boulevard. There was a robbery and a shooting, and I was shot there. And I didn't want that to happen again," said Butchart. "Nobody can come in and out of the shop without me knowing. I can see them here, I can see them at home, if I go to Florida, I can see them on my phone. It's much better."

According to the Ward 16 Safety team, the cameras started going up in April. Now, there are close to 100 cameras blanketing Madison Avenue.

"The community has really drawn a line in the sand. We are not going to tolerate any behavior from people with bad intentions are going to bring to the neighborhood," added McDonald.

The Ward 16 safety team plans to expand the program to other commercial areas, like Lorain Avenue. They hope this becomes a trend to other wards in the city.

"This is the perfect example of what community means. We've teamed up to fight back," McDonald said.

http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-crime-cameras-madison-avenue-cleveland-neighborhood-txt,0,7748646.story

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From the Department of Justice

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Attorney General Eric Holder Speaks at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation

Pine Ridge, South Dakota

July 28, 2011

Good morning – and thank you all for being here. It is a pleasure to join with U.S. Attorney [Brendan] Johnson and President [John Yellow Bird] Steele in welcoming you to today's meeting. And I want to thank everyone who participated in today's opening ceremony for sharing their gifts and talents with us.

It is a privilege to be here in Pine Ridge, to stand with so many extraordinary leaders, and to visit some of your sacred places – grounds that have been marked by tragedy and loss, as well as healing and hope. Nearly half a century ago, following his tenure as Attorney General, Robert Kennedy traveled to Pine Ridge to learn about the conditions here, to shine a light on the struggles so many faced, and to signal the U.S. government's commitment to ensuring peace, security, opportunity, and – above all – justice on tribal lands.

Today, this commitment lives on – and it has been renewed, and strengthened, by President Obama and this Administration. On behalf of my colleagues at the Justice Department and across the federal government, I am eager to hear from you – to learn more about the challenges you face; to better understand your concerns; and to discuss the goals, responsibilities, and dreams that we share – as well as the future that we must build.

Of course, when it comes to improving conditions and empowering individuals in Indian Country, many of you are already serving on the front lines. And I know that several of the leaders in this room have been working to improve lives and conditions in tribal communities for decades.

Day after day, you are bringing tribal justice issues to light, demanding that these issues be at the forefront of national-level discussions, and reinforcing essential government-to-government partnerships. You have raised awareness about the unique public safety challenges facing tribal communities – and the startling and wholly unacceptable rates of violence against American Indian women and girls. And you have reminded tribal, local, state, and federal leaders that we must never overlook the critical needs of victims – and the most vulnerable members of our society.

Thanks to you – and to the many likeminded leaders and advocates who share your passion and dedication – we now know that, in places like Pine Ridge, far too many lives have been scarred by violence and crime, as well as addiction and a lack of learning and job opportunities.

This is unacceptable. But I refuse to believe that the progress we seek is unattainable.

Of course, we've come together at a critical moment. A year ago this week, President Obama signed the Tribal Law and Order Act into law. This landmark piece of legislation has enhanced our ability to prosecute crimes in Indian Country, strengthened law enforcement capabilities across relevant jurisdictions, and brought a wide – and expanding – array of local stakeholders to the discussion table. It also has established new channels for communication and cooperation between tribal authorities and federal agencies.

The Justice Department is now working closely with our federal partners, particularly at the Departments of the Interior and Health and Human Services, to implement the law. We are also finalizing a Memorandum of Agreement with these Departments to coordinate the federal response to alcohol and substance abuse issues facing American Indians and Alaska Natives. And with the input and assistance of tribal governments and experts, we have developed a long-term plan to address juvenile and adult detention, corrections, reentry, and alternatives to incarceration.

The new law also has enabled the Justice Department to achieve a longstanding goal: the establishment of a permanent Office of Tribal Justice. Thanks to the leadership of its Director, Tracy Toulou, and the great work of his team, this Office is playing a critical role in bolstering the Department's efforts to improve public safety in Indian Country.

Over the last year – even as the Justice Department has worked to implement the Tribal Law and Order Act – we have also sought to make good on President Obama's call to consult with tribes on issues that affect them, and to coordinate our activities with our tribal partners. Today, the Department is working closely with tribal governments. We've also reestablished the Civil Rights Division's Indian Working Group, and taken meaningful steps to improve how the federal government addresses tribal justice issues.

To that end, the Department of Justice has added dozens of Assistant U.S. Attorneys and victim-witness specialists in judicial districts that encompass tribal communities, to better address the serious public safety challenges facing tribes. I'm especially pleased that three of these AUSAs have been added right here in Brendan's district – two of whom are enrolled members of tribes here in South Dakota. Last September, we appointed a highly skilled community prosecutor – Gregg Peterman, who will speak later this morning, and who I understand has become a regular presence here at Pine Ridge – to lead a new initiative aimed at strengthening ties between tribal community residents and federal law enforcement. And I'm especially proud that, across the country, it has become commonplace for U.S. Attorneys and AUSAs to join with tribal leaders in developing and implementing innovative public safety plans.

We can be – and we all should be – encouraged by this progress. But we have more to do. And, for me, no challenge is more urgent than protecting women and girls on tribal lands. That's why the Justice Department recently proposed legislation that would close significant legal gaps and give Indian Country law enforcement, investigators, and prosecutors the tools they need to crack down on violence against women.

This new legislation would build upon the work we've done within the Justice Department – and across the Obama Administration – to implement the Tribal Law and Order Act. With such a step – and with our continued efforts – I am confident that meaningful change is within our reach.

I know this fight will not be easy, and that the changes we hope to see won't happen overnight. Despite this, we must keep up our work – and our commitment to collaboration. To be truly effective, the Justice Department must have – and will continue to rely on – the engagement, insights, and expertise of tribal leaders and community members.

We need – and we will continue to welcome – your insights and ideas. So, let's keep up the conversation we're beginning today. And let us build on the progress that we have already made. We owe this to those who have come before us – and to those who, one day, will walk the paths that we now tread.

Once again, I want to thank you all for your participation today. I am grateful – and proud – to count you as partners.

http://www.justice.gov/iso/opa/ag/speeches/2011/ag-speech-110728.html

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From the FBI

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WMD Central

Part 2: Looking Back, Looking Ahead

Our interview continues with Dr. Vahid Majidi, head of our Weapons of Mass Destruction, or WMD, Directorate, which marked its fifth anniversary on July 26.

Q. What are the WMD Directorate's plans for the next five years?

Dr. Majidi: The basic knowledge and material that go into making weapons of mass destruction is becoming more readily available to anyone, anywhere in the world as the Information Age matures. That's why we'll continue to be all about partnerships—locally, nationally, and internationally. We'll also focus even more on threats on the horizon. For example, we'll look at emerging developments like synthetic biology from a preventative point of view. By collaborating with the synthetic biology community, we can articulate our safety and security concerns as they relate to weapons of mass destruction. We'll also be improving our threat analysis capabilities to better spot potential WMD opportunities, potential WMD vulnerabilities, and gaps in our intelligence collection.

Q. What can the average citizen do to assist law enforcement with the WMD threat?

Dr. Majidi: Keep in mind that to develop weapons of mass destruction, you only need two things: the material and the know-how. So please, if you see anything suspicious or in a place where it doesn't belong, report it to local law enforcement or your closest FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force. It could be just the tip we need to stop something serious.

Resources:
- Part 1 of the interview
- More on FBI WMD efforts

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/july/wmd_072911/wmd_072911

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