Homeland Security News

Chairman Lieberman; Senator Collins. Distinguished Members.
Violent extremism is a major problem in a number of contemporary societies; violent Islamist extremism has become a serious global threat, and could remain so during the next few decades. In order to more effectively thwart this threat, it is necessary to explore and better understand its roots. For this reason, I am grateful to you for inviting me to present my views regarding the ideological roots of violent Islamist extremism.
Because ideology is a major focus in this hearing, let me begin by clarifying my own ideological biases. Like hundreds of millions of other Muslims, my hope and goal is that Islamic societies, including those of the Near and Middle East, will become far more politically, culturally, and economically open in the future. The open, democratic Islamic society will be more peaceful, more productive, more affluent, more just, and better for the global economy. To a significant degree, higher oil prices are the result of dictatorships, monopolies, corruption, a lack of open competition, and inefficiency.
But to achieve more open Islamic societies there are major obstacles to overcome, and violent Islamist extremism is one such major obstacle. In order to evaluate this particular obstacle, I find it instructive to review the letter of invitation I received, which states the purpose of the present Senate hearing to be “to explore the ideology that is the root source for the radicalization of potential followers of al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations around the world”. I believe it is useful to critically assess the assumption that an ideology is “the root source for the radicalization of potential followers of al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist organizations around the world”.
An ideology does not arise in a vacuum, nor does it influence behavior in a vacuum. An ideology can only impact behavior under given conditions, when other necessary factors are present.
In the Georgetown University libraries, there are many books that espouse potentially dangerous ideologies. Why is it that young women and men at Georgetown are not influenced by the many dangerous books available, including works on fascism, anarchism, and various kinds of religious fundamentalism? Why do they not turn to terrorism? Clearly because the availability of a violent extremist ideology serves as a necessary, but is not a sufficient, cause for terrorist action. [Read more →]

Here is an excerpt of Statement of K. Alan Kronstadt Specialist in South Asian Affairs Congressional Research Service before the U. S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information,Federal Services, and International Security titled “Addressing the U.S .-Pakistan Strategic Relationship”.

Concurrent with this sharp increase in domestic insecurity in Pakistan has been the apparent resurgence on that country’s territory of the very threat the United States has sought to neutralize in Afghanistan: Al Qaeda and affiliated groups who continue to plot anti-Western terrorist attacks. Despite years of effort and billions of dollars worth of resources, the estimated number of Al Qaeda suspects reported killed or captured in Pakistan - around 700 - has remained essentially unchanged since 2004. At an April 2008 House hearing on Al Qaeda, a panel of non-governmental experts agreed that the ongoing hunt for Al Qaeda’s top leaders was foundering. At the m e time, however, the head of the U.S. Central Intelligence- Agency, Michael Hayden, later portrayed A1 Qaeda as being on the defensive in South Asia, claiming that its leadership is losing the battle for hearts and minds in the Muslim world. Yet Hayden’s conclusion came only two months after his March 2008 assertion that the situation on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border “presents a clew and present danger to Afghanistan, to Pakistan, and to the West in general, and to the United States in particular.” He agreed with other top U.S. officials who believe that possible future terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland likely would likely originate in that region.

Full copy of Addressing the U.S .-Pakistan Strategic Relationship statement is available here.

Sky-high oil prices have ensured that the global economy has been propelled into an era of high energy prices and security of energy infrastructure has now become the foremost concern of governments everywhere. The “trickle down economics” theory states that if the energy-rich economies invest more into expanding energy infrastructure, it will in turn drive the infrastructure security markets.

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via Business Wire - Axcess International, Inc., a provider of wireless business activity monitoring solutions, has been awarded a contract to supply its Micro-Wireless Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) system for the U.S. military to enable automatic inventory accounting and perimeter security for ordnance assets. Micro-Wireless technology allows for ultra-small, low cost wireless identification transmitters to be assigned to each asset, enabling automatic tracking, local area location determining and automatic security monitoring.

The total system is now being implemented in the arms storage facility. Various forms of wireless tags are placed on the different types of armament. The items’ electronic identifications are enrolled in the software to provide an automatic, real time inventory of each armament and its location based on its transmitted signal. Any unauthorized movement of an armament outside the storage area, automatically triggers an alert. The handling of armaments can be linked to authorized service personnel electronically via an RFID personnel badge so the authorized movement does not trigger an alert. Sensor based tags can also be deployed to report on environmental conditions to which the ordnance is exposed, such as temperature, humidity and shock.

The system is based on the Dot, small, powerful, low cost battery-powered wireless system-on-a-chip (SOC) computer.

via Business Wire - Brijot Imaging Systems, Inc., a manufacturer of passive millimeter wave concealed object detection and people screening technology, has been awarded contract to supply the rugged people screening stations to U.S. Army for Deployment in Middle East. Top picture: Brijot ScanPort (exterior open door view) is an engineered solution that optimizes passive millimeter wave technology to achieve a rugged, portable solution for military and other environments.

ScanPort was conceived in response to the U.S. Army’s request for a system to manage people screening at standoff locations as a prerequisite for entrance to secured military bases. The military’s extreme outdoor locations posed a challenge in deploying screening technology in a way that achieved standoff, remote monitoring, and detected improvised explosive device (IED) suicide bombs on the body and in hand carried baggage without endangering security personnel. Brijot met the challenge by introducing a container concept that is quickly deployed, screens people and baggage, and provides a platform to emplace other advanced force protection technologies.

ScanPort consists of a standard 20-foot ISO shipping container that contains two GEN 2 whole body imaging systems, providing simultaneous front and back real-time screening and concealed object detection. ScanPort is equipped as a fully automated access control system with electronically locked entry and exit doors operated by programmable logic control (PLC), air conditioning, lighting, and an X-ray baggage scanner. The nerve center for ScanPort is a customized Security Operations Center that is monitored remotely at a safe distance from imminent threats.

Bottom picture: Brijot ScanPort (exterior view) is an engineered solution that optimizes passive millimeter wave technology to achieve a portable people screening solution for the detection of IEDs.

A U.S. Senate committee report says that U.S. administration has intentionally distorted facts to pursuade Americans to support an invasion of Iraq.

Here are the documents:

• Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials Were Substantiated by Intelligence Information
• Report on Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans Within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
• Prewar Intelligence Assessments About Postwar Iraq

The Boeing-led team is developing flight-worthy scale and full-size versions of the long-endurance aircraft capable of carrying a 1,000-pound payload while remaining in air for up to five years. The project codenamed Vulture has been awarded to Boeing by Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Versa Power Systems, Inc., a developer of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC), has been selected to work with Boeing’s Integrated Defense Systems to develop power generating unit for an ultra-long endurance unmanned aircraft. Solid oxide fuel cells are particularly “power dense,” generating considerably large amounts of electricity from a relatively low-weight package. They produce energy continuously as long as the basic building blocks of fuel and air are supplied. Fuel cells consist of few moving parts, increasing their reliability over many other choices that might be considered for generating energy in a long-endurance aircraft.

High Altitude Long Endurance Systems are intended to provide uninterrupted intelligence-gathering and assured communications over a fixed area for extended times.

More Information on High Altitude Long Endurance Systems:
Unmanned Aerial Systems Becoming More Like Satellites
Air Force Shuns Near Space Missions
Expendable Stratospheric Platforms

This report describes the FY2009 appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The Administration requested a net appropriation of $38.8 billion in budget authority for FY2009. The requested net appropriation for major components of the department included the following: $9,487 million for Customs and Border Protection (CBP); $4,748 million for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); $4,057 million for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA); $9,071 million for the U.S. Coast Guard; $1,414 million for the Secret Service; $1,286 for the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPP); $5,573 million for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); $151 million for US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS); $869 million for the Science and Technology Directorate (S&T); and $564 million for the Domestic Nuclear Detection
Office (DNDO).

Full text of the report is available here.

Congress has repeatedly shown interest in examining and expanding the barriers being deployed along the U.S. international land border. The 109th Congress passed a number of laws affecting these barriers, and oversight of these laws and of the construction process may be of interest to the 110th Congress.

Full text of the report is available here

The United States Border Patrol (USBP) deploys fencing, which aims to impede the illegal entry of individuals, and vehicle barriers, which aim to impede the illegal entry of vehicles (but not individuals) along the border. The USBP first began erecting barriers in 1990 to deter illegal entries and drug smuggling in its San Diego sector. The ensuing 14 mile-long San Diego “primary fence” formed part of the USBP’s “Prevention Through Deterrence” strategy, which called for reducing unauthorized migration by placing agents and resources directly on the border along population centers in order to deter would-be migrants from entering the country. In 1996, Congress passed the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act which, among other things, explicitly gave the Attorney General (now the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security) broad authority to construct barriers along the border and authorized the construction of a secondary layer of fencing to buttress the completed 14 mile primary fence. Construction of the secondary fence stalled due to environmental concerns raised by the California Coastal Commission. In 2005, Congress passed the REAL ID Act that authorized the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to waive all legal requirements in order to expedite the construction of border barriers. DHS has announced it will use this waiver authority to complete the San Diego fence. The Secure Fence Act of 2006 directed DHS to construct 850 miles of additional border fencing. This requirement was subsequently modified by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2008 (P.L. 110-161), which was enacted into law on December 26, 2007. The Act requires the Secretary of Homeland Security to construct fencing along not less than 700 miles of the southwest border.

While the San Diego fence, combined with an increase in agents and other resources in the USBP’s San Diego sector, has proven effective in reducing the number of apprehensions made in that sector, there is considerable evidence that the flow of illegal immigration has adapted to this enforcement posture and has shifted to the more remote areas of the Arizona desert. Nationally, the USBP made 1.2 million apprehensions in 1992 and again in 2004, suggesting that the increased enforcement in San Diego sector has had little impact on overall apprehensions. In addition to border fencing, the USBP deploys both permanent and temporary vehicle barriers to the border. Temporary vehicle barriers are typically chained together and can be moved to different locations at the USBP’s discretion. Permanent vehicle barriers are embedded in the ground and are meant to remain in one location.

A number of policy issues concerning border barriers generally and fencing specifically may be of interest to Congress, including, but not limited, to their effectiveness, costs versus benefits, location, design, environmental impact, potential diplomatic ramifications, and the costs of acquiring the land needed for construction.

Satlynx, a subsidiary of GE and provider of two-way satellite broadband communication services, announced extension of a range of its Maritime VSAT services across wide portfolio of platforms including SCPC, and shared and dedicated TDMA hubs. Based on different satellites operating at Ku, extended-Ku and C-band frequencies, footprints are extensive across the Europe, Middle East and Africa region and include an area of the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the Baltic Sea, the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Oman. Inland, coverage includes the waterways of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Global coverage is currently provided via SCPC technology on dedicated bandwidth. Extended range of two way communications enhances maritime security at high seas.