Threat Assessment:  Al-Qaeda Operates in the United States, Ashcroft Says

Al-Qaeda cells are hiding in the United States and trying to smuggle more members into the country, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft said yesterday.

“Today the United States is at war with a terrorist network operating within our borders,” he told a congressional panel on homeland security.  “Al-Qaeda maintains a hidden but active presence in the United States waiting to strike again” (see GSN, July 11).

There are indications that terrorists are trying to enter the United States by posing as tourists, businessmen and students mixed in with more than 700,000 visitors each year from countries where al-Qaeda has been active, Ashcroft said.  He added that al-Qaeda’s sophistication and ability to smuggle operatives in and out of the United States unnoticed shows the difficulty the future homeland security department will have catching terrorists.

Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies are working to find al-Qaeda members who enter the United States and those who support them.  There are up to 500 people across the country who are under investigation, with up to 200 of them under surveillance, an FBI official said.

Justice Department officials said yesterday that most of the 1,200 people who had been detained during post-Sept. 11 attempts to apprehend potential terrorists have been deported on immigration violations.  Most of those detained were never terrorism suspects but were found guilty of immigration violations during the investigation, an FBI official said, adding that a few dozen detainees were suspected of terrorist links, and some are still being held (Meyer/Lichtblau, Los Angeles Times, July 12).

There probably are also U.S. citizens who are providing support to al-Qaeda members in the United States, law enforcement officials said (Christopher Newton, Associated Press/Washington Post, July 12).  A widely-circulated report — published yesterday in the Washington Times — estimated that there are up to 5,000 people in the United States with connections to al-Qaeda.  National law enforcement officials disputed that report but said there are concerns that large cities harbor terrorist cells that use local Muslim communities as cover.

Yesterday’s report listed several cities where law enforcement is monitoring suspects, but a Justice Department official said investigations are ongoing in cities across the country.

“There is no focal point.  Sure, they’re looking at Seattle, sure they’re looking at San Francisco, sure they’re looking at Detroit,” the official said.  “Pick a city, any major city,” including Los Angeles, New York and Washington.  “They’re following every lead,” the official said (Meyer/Lichtblau, Los Angeles Times).

As law enforcement officials search broadly for terrorists, some FBI and Treasury agents are looking for U.S. residents who might be acting as advisers to al-Qaeda, according to the Associated Press.  The investigators are checking backgrounds of U.S. citizens to look for supporters and are “looking for people who have an affinity toward or sympathy for those carrying out terrorist attacks and provide any kind of support,” a law enforcement official said (Newton, Associated Press/Washington Post).

One way to identify terrorist support is by tracking suspicious financial transactions such as fake Social Security numbers, which three suspected Sept. 11 hijackers used to open bank accounts, officials said (Meyer/Lichtblau, Los Angeles Times).

U.S. Unit Searches for Al-Qaeda Abroad

As law enforcement searches for al-Qaeda members in the United States, the country’s most elite special operations unit in the war on terrorism is searching for senior Taliban and al-Qaeda leaders abroad — primarily in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the Washington Times reported today.

The unit, called Task Force 11, includes troops in south-central Afghanistan who are trying to find and attack al-Qaeda groups.  The unit’s members have also provided advice to Pakistani authorities conducting raids against al-Qaeda operatives in western Pakistan (Rowan Scarborough, Washington Times, July 12).

Pakistan Arrests Operatives

Meanwhile, Pakistani authorities have arrested a man suspected of being al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s financial adviser and two other suspected al-Qaeda militants, a police intelligence officer said today.

“Three al-Qaeda men have been arrested here, including Sheikh Ahmed Saleem, who was acting as a financial adviser of bin Laden in Pakistan,” the officer said, adding that the men were arrested in Karachi.  Saleem is a Sudanese national who apparently left Afghanistan for Pakistan after last year’s U.S.-led campaign against the Taliban and al-Qaeda (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo.com, July 12).

U.K. Has 4,000 Former Trainees

Amid concerns about al-Qaeda members hiding in Pakistan and the United States, the London Independent reported today that no less than 4,000 Britons have received training at al-Qaeda camps over the last 10 years, citing security sources.  Most of the trainees have returned to the United Kingdom, the paper said.  Authorities have traced many of those returning from Afghanistan, but others have disappeared, the Independent reported.

Most of the former trainees are not considered a threat, security sources said.  Attacks against the United Kingdom, however, are inevitable due to the country’s support of the United States in the war on terrorism, Western intelligence officials said (see GSN, June 20).

“Anyone who believes terrorist plots can always be foiled is living in Cloud-cuckoo-land.  In terms of getting information others want to keep secret, 100 percent success is never achieved,” Stephen Lander, director general of the MI5 intelligence service, said last week (Kim Sengupta, London Independent, July 12).

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U.S. Response I:  New Security Department to Cost $3 Billion, CBO Says

A U.S. Congressional Budget Office study released yesterday estimated it would cost more than $3 billion to implement the Bush administration’s proposed homeland security department, CongressDaily reported today (see GSN, June 26).

The cost from fiscal 2003 to fiscal 2007 would include $150 million to set up and administer the department in fiscal 2003, with costs rising to $225 million annually after that, the study says.  Several other homeland defense programs will cost $450 million annually, according to the study.  The estimate does not include the costs of federal programs expected to be transferred to the new department, according to CongressDaily.  Such programs are expected to cost $20 billion in fiscal 2002 and rise to $31 billion in fiscal 2007, the study says.

U.S. President George W. Bush has said that any costs incurred in creating the proposed homeland security department would be balanced by savings created by moving all homeland security programs to the control of one department.  The high cost estimates for creating the new department, however, could make it difficult for Congress to approve the department before the August recess, CongressDaily reported (CongressDaily, July 11).

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U.S. Response II:  Officials Could Not Prevent Sept. 11 Attacks, Panel Says

A joint U.S. House-Senate intelligence committee said that after a six-month investigation, they found no single piece of information to indicate the Sept. 11 attacks could have been prevented, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, June 5).

“As far as I know, there is no smoking gun,” said Senator Evan Bayh (D-Ind.).

The panel probably will not attempt to hold any member of the Bush administration or any U.S. intelligence official responsible for failing to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks, according to the Post.  The committee now plans to begin to examine ways to correct flaws within the U.S. intelligence system, members said.

“We’ve spent the first couple weeks on where we’ve been,” Bayh said.  “Now we need to pivot and focus on where we need to go.  I hope we’re in the process of shifting from a place where people were looking to assign blame and instead focusing on systemic problems and improvements.”

Other committee members, however, have said the investigation is still ongoing and might still find incriminating information.

“It would be nice to find a smoking gun,” said Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.).  “But absent that, we’re looking for problems that need to be solved.”

Some members of the committee have questioned whether there will be time to finish the investigation before the end of the current Congress, when many members of Congress’ terms on the House and Senate intelligence committees come to an end, the Post reported.  The joint committee has already decided not to recommend changes to the U.S. intelligence system until after the proposed homeland security department has been created (Priest/Eilperin, Washington Post, July 11).

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Threat Assessment:  Al-Qaeda Might Attack for Sept. 11 Anniversary

British and other international intelligence agencies have detected signs that al-Qaeda might be planning a series of attacks to coincide with the one-year anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, the London Observer reported Sunday (see GSN, July 3).

Intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom, the Middle East and South Asia have detected an increase in communications among various al-Qaeda cells, the Observer reported.  Sources within Pakistan have said al-Qaeda operatives have a three-month deadline to work with local terrorist groups to plan attacks against Western targets in South Asia, according to the Observer.

The United Kingdom is believed to rank third on al-Qaeda’s list of targets, after the United States and Israel, said British intelligence sources.

“The threat remains high, and the background noise has been growing over recent weeks,” a British intelligence source said.  “It’s a question of when, rather than if, they will attempt another spectacular” (Burke/Bright, London Observer, July 7).

Al-Qaeda Speaks

Al-Qaeda spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith has said the terrorist group is preparing more attacks against the United States, the Algerian newspaper El Youm reported yesterday.

“Al-Qaeda will organize more attacks inside American territory and outside at the moment we choose, at the place we choose and with the objectives we want,” Abu Ghaith was quoted as saying.  He also criticized the U.S. military campaign in Afghanistan designed to break up al-Qaeda.

“The American campaign (against it) is but a Hollywood script with its victims, thousands of innocent villagers, killed without having been implicated in the battle” (Bassem Mroue, Associated Press/Yahoo.com, July 10).

In previous reports Abu Ghaith has said that as many as 4 million Americans, including 1 million children, will be killed through chemical and biological weapons attacks (see GSN, June 14).

A statement from Abu Leith al-Libi, also believed to be a spokesman for al-Qaeda, said the terrorist organization plans to expand its attacks to include assassinations and attacks on infrastructure, CNN.com reported yesterday.  In a statement broadcast on the Dubai-based Middle East Broadcasting Company, al-Libi also said that suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar and two other top al-Qaeda operatives are alive and well (CNN.com, July 9).

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U.S. Response:  European Commission Objects to U.S. Inspectors at Seaports

The European Commission has objected to U.S. plans to improve maritime security by stationing U.S. Customs Service inspectors at European seaports, the Financial Times reported today (see GSN, June 28).

The commission has told U.S. officials that the U.S. plan might violate World Trade Organization rules and could lead to higher costs for European importers by disrupting trade.  While the United States has signed agreements to station inspectors at seaports in France, Belgium and the Netherlands, it would be technically illegal for individual states to put the plans into effect since customs and trade issues are part of common European Union policy, the commission has said.  Commission officials plan to set up talks with the United States over altering the plan, according to the Times.

U.S. Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner rejected the commission’s claims, adding that the U.S. plan would not violate any WTO rules since the United States wants all seaports to agree to similar security measures.

“This is purely a security measure,” Bonner said.  “It has nothing to do with trade rules or competitive advantage” (De Jonquieres/Alden, Financial Times, July 10).

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U.S. Response:  Intelligence Agencies Gain More Power

U.S. intelligence agencies have been taking on more authority and expanding their capabilities since Sept. 11, largely due to increased support from the Bush administration and Congress, USA Today reported today (see GSN, May 15).

The Bush administration is using classified intelligence findings — basically presidential authorization to conduct secret operations — and other less-public tactics to provide more power to the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency and other intelligence organizations, according to USA Today.

For the first time, the CIA has authority over a weapon — launch control of Hellfire missiles on unmanned aerial vehicles patrolling Afghanistan.  Additionally, although assassinating foreign leaders is still officially prohibited, national security officials said U.S. President George W. Bush has asked the CIA to draw up plans that might include killing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in battle (see GSN, June 17).

The president still must formally authorize all covert CIA operations, and Congress must be informed, but now members of Congress are pressuring the CIA to do more instead of continuing to scrutinize why the agency does so much, according to USA Today (see GSN, June 5).

Congress also passed the USA Patriot Act in the weeks after Sept. 11, which includes provisions allowing law enforcement officials to spy on U.S. citizens as part of counterterrorism efforts (see GSN, June 28).

The CIA has taken on more responsibilities but follows the rules imposed on it, CIA spokesman Bill Harlow said.

“We’ve been given added authorities to allow us to go after the terrorist target around the world, to go into what was a sanctuary in Afghanistan and help root them out,” he said.  “We’ve been at war with terrorism since long before Sept. 11, but now we’ve got increased authorities, increased funding, increased capabilities to do a better job” (John Diamond, USA Today, July 9).

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U.S. Response:  Scientists Question Plans for Homeland Security Research

During a recent series of U.S. congressional hearings, several researchers criticized plans for science and technology programs under the proposed homeland security department, Science magazine reported Friday (see GSN, June 26).

According to Science, many scientists are against moving bioterrorism research and response programs to the proposed department — particularly programs that are currently run by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I’m skeptical that such an odd coupling will work,” said Tara O’Toole, head of the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civilian Biodefense Strategies.  “It’s a very tall order to ask a single agency to develop a national security strategy and ... create a sophisticated R&D [research and development] capability.”

Lewis Branscomb of Harvard University criticized a proposal made by Senate Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.) to create a multiagency committee to regulate funding for scientific programs conducted by the proposed homeland security department.

“I have never seen an interagency committee in the federal government capable of administering anything,” Branscomb said.

Lieberman has said he is examining altering his proposal in order to create SARPA — a Security Advanced Research Projects Agency that would be based on the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.  House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) supports a proposal to join the proposed department’s research programs under a single manager, according to Science (Science, July 5).

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British Response:  London to Create Nuclear Police Force

The United Kingdom plans to create an independent police force to protect the country’s nuclear facilities, the London Times reported Friday (see GSN, June 6).

The proposed Civil Nuclear Constabulary, which would be responsible for security at seven nuclear sites, would also protect nuclear materials shipped throughout the United Kingdom, according to the Times.  The main body of the force would be made up of the British Atomic Energy Authority Constabulary, which was created in 1954 to guard nuclear materials at specific sites, the Times reported.  The entire proposed force would consist of about 600 members, many of whom would be armed.

British officials are also considering creating a civilian “home guard” to support the proposed police force, according to the Times.  The civilians would search people and vehicles outside important nuclear facilities.

“The purpose would be to free police manpower for more demanding tasks,” says a British report that contains details of the nuclear police force proposal.

Meanwhile, officials at the British Association of Chief Police Officers have not been consulted about the authority of the proposed police force, they said.

“We will have to study the proposals very closely,” an association spokesman said.  “But the tendency is for greater collaboration and coordination rather than to set up separate new forces” (Jameson/Bone, London Times, July 5).

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