Homeland Security News

In fiscal 2012 eight more homeland response force units will be established. The units are regional forces that will cross state lines when needed. They are part of a restructuring of the nation’s chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive consequence management enterprise. Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, Utah and California each will host a homeland response force unit. On June 3, officials announced Ohio and Washington would receive units that will be operational in fiscal 2011. When not deployed for consequence-management operations, unit personnel will focus on planning, training, and exercising at the regional level.

The units will be key elements of the new Defense Department chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive consequence management enterprise. The enterprise also will include a defense CBRNE Response Force, two consequence-management command and control elements, 57 weapons of mass destruction civil support teams and 17 CBRNE-enhanced response force packages.

One unit will be based in each of the 10 Federal Emergency Management Agency regions. The units are scheduled to have 270 Guardsmen, and each will have a medical team, a search and extraction team, a decontamination team and very robust command and control capabilities, officials said. The units are arranged in such a way that they will be able to drive to the site of an event within 12 hours.

The forces are part of a larger reorganization of the Defense Department’s domestic consequence management enterprise recommended in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced approximately $56 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funding for airport security projects at Charlotte Douglas International Airport (CLT), Orlando International Airport (MCO), and St. Louis International Airport (STL) – enhancing the Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) efforts to strengthen security at airports while creating jobs across the country.

These funds include $45.4 million for a new inline baggage screening system in the main terminal at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, and $3.1 million for the design of an upgraded inline baggage screening system in Terminals One and Two at St. Louis International Airport.

The inline screening systems use state-of-the art technology to screen checked baggage for explosives more quickly, while streamlining the ticketing process. They also provide on-screen resolution capabilities for security officers screening baggage—reducing the number of re-scans and physical bag searches.

Additionally, Orlando International Airport will receive $7.5 million to expand their closed circuit television (CCTV) system with several hundred cameras to provide enhanced surveillance capabilities throughout the airport.

ARRA, signed into law by President Obama on Feb. 17, 2009, committed more than $3 billion for homeland security projects through DHS and the General Services Administration. Of the $1 billion allocated to TSA for aviation security projects, $734 million is dedicated to screening checked baggage and $266 million is allocated for checkpoint explosives detection technologies.

Counter Terrorism Conference “Prepare, Prevent, Pursue, Protect” will be held 10th – 11th November 2010 at Hilton London Kensington, United Kingdom. Take the chance to hear a Keynote Address from Richard Bryan, Director of Commissioning, Olympic and Paralympics Security Directorate, Home Office, UK. His presentation will update you on the challenge of securing the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Hear how we will ensure a joined up multi-agency approach and the challenge of striking a balance between effective and visible security.

Keynote addresses also include:

• Assistant Chief Constable John Wright, Head of Prevent, Office of the National Co-ordinator Special Branch, Home Office, UK
• Asim Hafeez, Head of Intervention, Office of Security and Counter Terrorism, Home Office, UK
• Detective Chief Inspector Raffaele D’Orsi, S015 Counter Terrorism Command Ports, Metropolitan Police, UK

HOW TO BOOK
Visit http://www.smi-online.co.uk/counter-terrorism7.asp
Contact Teri Arri on: +44 (0) 20 7827 6162or email: tarri@smi-online.co.uk

We, the Leaders of the G-8, reiterate our absolute condemnation of terrorism in all of its forms and manifestations, and our commitment to work together to eradicate this threat. Recent events, such as the attempted bombing on December 25, 2009 of the airline en route to Detroit and the brutal attacks of March 29, 2010 on the Moscow subway, are reminders of the terrorist threat. We express our deepest sympathies for lives lost and disrupted by these senseless acts.

Terrorism threatens people everywhere and undermines peace, stability and security. All acts of terrorism are criminal, inhumane, and unjustifiable irrespective of motivation. We condemn suicide bombings, and we abhor in particular the practice of recruiting the young or disadvantaged to carry out such acts. We deplore the upsurge in hostage-takings perpetrated by terrorists, as such abductions are repugnant to our fundamental notions of freedom, and we commit to work together to prevent their proliferation and bring those responsible to justice. We express our concern about the links of some terrorists to illicit drug trafficking and organized crime – we are determined to disrupt these partnerships of convenience. As highlighted at the Washington Summit on Nuclear security, nuclear terrorism is one of the most challenging threats to international security.

Terrorism will not be defeated by force alone. It is critical to address the conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism, and, in particular, that governments promote the rule of law, the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, democratic values, good governance, tolerance and inclusiveness to offer a viable alternative to those who could be susceptible to terrorist recruitment and to radicalization leading to violence. We are committed to helping countries address their basic development needs and meet the legitimate aspirations of their people. All peoples everywhere deserve security in their communities, education for their children, opportunity for employment and a sense of dignity and self-worth.

We reaffirm that full respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law is critical to an effective counter-terrorism strategy, and we reject the false choice between our security and our democratic values. All of our actions against terrorism must be consistent with the UN Charter and applicable international law. We reiterate the central role of the UN in the fight against terrorism and stress the importance of full implementation of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. We strongly urge all states to join and implement the international conventions and protocols against terrorism. We welcome improvements to the UN al-Qa’ida and Taliban sanctions regime, most recently the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1904, and we underscore the importance of further progress in its implementation, and continuing work in support of fair and clear procedures.

Terrorism is a global threat that requires a global response. No single country or group of countries can hope to defeat terrorism. Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, extensive international cooperation has weakened the ability of terrorists to recruit, train, fund and execute attacks. We are committed to further enhancing international cooperation, by strengthening old partnerships and building new ones with governments, multilateral organizations and the private sector. We also recognize the crucial role of civil society in effective counter-terrorism efforts. We pledge to strengthen the cooperation between relevant UN bodies and the G-8 and, together with committed partners, we will work to broaden, deepen and make more robust the global multilateral counter-terrorism umbrella.

We recognize the role of the G-8 Roma/Lyon Group (comprised of our counter-terrorism and anti-crime experts) in the global fight against terrorism, as well as the work of the Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG), which seeks to build capacity and political will to assist countries in addressing the terrorist threat. We applaud Canada’s leadership in bringing strategic focus to the groups’ efforts through the preparation of a robust action plan on counter-terrorism and organized crime. We endorse this plan.

We underscore our determination to work cooperatively on key challenges, including transportation security, border security and identity integrity, preventing chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological terrorism, combating terrorism financing, countering violent extremism, radicalization leading to violence, and recruitment. Given the complex nature of the terrorist threat, an integrated and coordinated G-8 response is essential to meeting this challenge.

We acknowledge that terrorist groups and other criminal organizations tend to flourish where governments lack the capacity and resiliency to address security vulnerabilities, in some cases threatening the stability of states. We emphasize the essential role capacity-building can play to support countries in need of assistance to fulfill their international counter-terrorism commitments. Addressing the institutional weaknesses that allow terrorists to operate freely is a critical element of our efforts. Building upon the efforts of the CTAG, we emphasize the need to improve the coordination of the growing bilateral and multilateral counter-terrorism capacity-building initiatives, and to make these efforts more innovative, far-reaching and sustained. We recognize the profound effects of terrorism on these countries and regions, and we are mindful of their needs. We, the G-8 countries, stand together to support them, in particular, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Sahel, Somalia and Yemen. We will seek to build closer cooperation among relevant G-8 partner programs to make our effort to address terrorism and related security threats more coherent and effective.

Despite our operational successes against al-Qa’ida and other terrorist groups, radicalization leading to violence remains a source of serious concern. Special attention must be paid to curtailing the influence of violent extremists, undermining their false narrative, isolating them from the people they pretend to serve and disrupting their misuse of the internet. Our work will focus on identifying the drivers of violent extremism and then on preventing those most at risk of recruitment and radicalization from becoming terrorists.

By preying on the innocent and vulnerable, terrorists cause unspeakable harm to the very fabric of society. Their actions impact not only the victims, but their families, friends and fellow citizens. Survivors of terrorism and their families have risen against terrorism in the aftermath of horrific attacks. We reiterate our commitment to further develop initiatives that assist them. They are giving a voice to victims while bravely speaking out against violent and extremist ideologies. We stand with them and their families, and we are committed to ensuring that their voices are heard and that the victims are never forgotten.

Military procurement of UAS, including unmanned aircrafts, payloads, CGS makes the DoD the single largest consumer of UAV technology in the world. We can predict with a great deal of confidence that the U.S. Government will continue to invest in UAS as much as needed to keep its dominance, both technological and pure force factor, in the next decades. The U.S. military UAV market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 10% between 2010 and 2015. These are conclusions of recently released U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Market Forecast 2010-2015, a new research report of Market Research Media Ltd. The report finds that the U.S. military UAV market will generate $62 billion revenues over the period 2010-2015.

Senator Byron L. Dorgan said:

Unmanned vehicles are going to be the future not only of the Air Force, but also an increasing amount of aviation activity in the decades ahead.

The report provides detailed year-by-year (2010-2015) forecasts for the following U.S. U.S. Military Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) market segments:

- R&D, tests and evaluation
- Unmanned Air Vehicles
- Payloads
- Ground Control Systems
- Service, support and maintenance
- Training
- Data management
- Revenues by UAV Groups (by vehicle airspeed, weight, and operating altitude)

Market Research media analysts have found that there is a widening gap between growing UAV fleet and UAV infrastructure development, especially in such sectors as training; service, support and maintenance; and data management. This gap creates a number of market opportunities for UAV vendors, both large defense contractors and small technology companies.

The UAV market has witnessed a meteoric growth over the past decade. UAS development went through a quantum leap, from lab concept to battle-tested proven technology. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have proven their worth in operations around the world. Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are considered today a key component of U.S. defense transformation and an integral part of U.S. military doctrine.

In recognition of the State of Israel as a strong and steadfast ally to the United States, U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) introduced a resolution to express the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right to self-defense and to condemn the recent destabilizing actions by terrorist operatives and extremists aboard the Mavi Marmara.

Mavi Marmara Photo, Courtesy of IsraelPictures.org

Senator Cornyn said:

“Every country has a right to defend itself, and Israel is no different. The flotilla was a disgraceful and premeditated attempt to provoke a violent confrontation with Israel, hidden under the cloak of a humanitarian relief effort. This type of despicable conduct must be condemned and I hope my colleagues will join me in cosponsoring this important resolution to help remind the world that the United States stands with Israel.”

On May 28th, 2010, the “Free Gaza” flotilla, sponsored by a Turkish organization and the Humanitarian Relief Foundation, which included the Mavi Marmara and five other ships, departed from a Turkish port and sailed towards Israel’s defensive naval blockade of Gaza. On May 31st, 2010, after repeated Israeli calls to turn around or be peacefully escorted to a port outside of Gaza, the Israeli Navy intercepted the Mavi Marmara 75 miles west of Haifa, Israel, to maintain the integrity of blockade and prevent the potential smuggling of arms and other materials to Hamas and other terrorist organizations. Upon boarding, the Mavi Marmara passengers brutally and violently attacked members of the Israeli Navy with knives, clubs, pipes, and other weapons. Israelis used lethal force in self-defense and killed nine attackers.

Senator Cornyn’s resolution places these events in their historical and strategic context. Since 2001, Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist organizations have fired more than 10,000 rockets and mortars from Gaza into Israel, which killed at least 18 Israelis and wounded dozens more. Currently, approximately 860,000 Israeli civilians—more than 12 percent of Israel’s total population resides within range of the rockets fired from Gaza. In 2007, Israel put in place a legitimate and justified blockade of Gaza out of concern for the safety of its citizens, which has been effective in reducing the firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel.

Senator Cornyn’s resolution expresses the sense of the Senate that Israel has an undeniable right to defend itself against any threat to its security. Senator Cornyn’s resolution also makes clear that recent criticism of Israel at the United Nations undermines Israel’s inherent right to self-defense, compromises its sovereignty, and helps legitimize Hamas.

Fact Sheet:
Treasury Announces New Sanctions on Iran, Including First Set of Actions in Response to President Obama’s Call for Vigorous Enforcement of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1929

The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced today a set of designations targeting Iran’s nuclear and missile programs – the first set of measures from the United States implementing UNSCR 1929 and building upon the actions mandated by the Security Council. Today’s actions also highlight for the international community Iran’s use of its financial sector, shipping industry and Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to carry out and mask its proliferation activities, and respond to the Council’s call for all states to take action to prevent their own financial systems from being abused by Iran. [Read more →]

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the adoption of the final standards for the Voluntary Private Sector Preparedness Accreditation and Certification Program (PS-Prep)—a major milestone in DHS’ implementation of a program recommended by the 9/11 Commission to improve private sector preparedness for disasters and emergencies.

PS-Prep is a partnership between DHS and the private sector that enables private entities to receive emergency preparedness certification from a DHS accreditation system created in coordination with the private sector.

The standards—developed by the National Fire Protection Association, the British Standards Institution and ASIS International—were published for public comment in the Federal Register in Oct. 2009. The adoption of the final standards was published in a Federal Register notice today following a series of regional public meetings and the incorporation of public comments.

Secretary Napolitano said:

“Private organizations across the country—from businesses to universities to non-profit organizations—have a vital role to play in bolstering our disaster preparedness and response capabilities. These new standards will provide our private sector partners with the tools they need to enhance the readiness and resiliency of our nation.”

DHS will continue to accept comments on PS-Prep, the three adopted standards, and/or proposals to adopt any other similar standard that satisfies the target criteria of the December 2008 Federal Register notice which announced the program.

U.S. Senator Susan Collins said:

“It’s clear that Americans, especially those who live along the affected areas of the Gulf Coast, are frustrated with the response of both BP and the Obama Administration. I believe that the Administration should immediately convene a task force of national and international government and private sector engineering, environmental, and oil industry experts to explore every possible means to halt the gushing oil flow and to protect the fragile marshes, barrier islands, and coastlines.”

“Every day the Administration delays is another lost opportunity to find solutions. BP appears to lack the equipment and know-how to deal with this disaster and did not plan for this worst-case scenario. I am extremely concerned that the advent of the hurricane season will further imperil the Gulf Coast states.”

Oil spill cleanup by the numbers to date (Photo Credits – courtesy of PhotoStudio.org):

• SBA has approved 36 economic injury assistance loans to date, totaling $1,257,000, for small businesses in Louisiana impacted by the BP oil spill. Additionally, the agency has granted deferments on 272 existing SBA disaster loans in the Gulf Coast region, totaling $1,123,300 per month in payments.
• 17 staging areas are in place and ready to protect sensitive shorelines, including: Dauphin Island, Ala., Orange Beach, Ala., Theodore, Ala., Panama City, Fla., Pensacola, Fla., Port St. Joe, Fla., St. Marks, Fla., Amelia, La., Cocodrie, La., Grand Isle, La., Shell Beach, La., Slidell, La., St. Mary, La.; Venice, La., Biloxi, Miss., Pascagoula, Miss., and Pass Christian, Miss.
• More than 20,000 personnel are currently responding to protect the shoreline and wildlife and cleanup vital coastlines.
• More than 1,900 vessels are responding on site, including skimmers, tugs, barges, and recovery vessels to assist in containment and cleanup efforts—in addition to dozens of aircraft, remotely operated vehicles, and multiple mobile offshore drilling units.
• The administration has authorized 17,500 National Guard troops from Gulf Coast states to participate in the response to the BP oil spill.
• Approximately 2 million feet of containment boom and 2.3 million feet of sorbent boom have been deployed to contain the spill—and approximately 745,000 feet of containment boom and 2.1 million feet of sorbent boom are available.
• Approximately 15 million gallons of an oil-water mix have been recovered.
• Approximately 1.02 million gallons of total dispersant have been deployed—765,000 on the surface and 255,000 subsea. More than 450,000 gallons are available.
• 125 controlled burns have been conducted, efficiently removing a total of more than 3.2 million gallons of oil from the open water in an effort to protect shoreline and wildlife.

Over 9 million passengers departed from U.S. ports on cruise ships in 2008. Cruise ships are attractive terrorist targets and GAO (United States Government Accountability Office) has made an assessment of risks associated with cruise ships and measures to prevent terror attacks.

Here are the report’s conclusions:

Given the number of passengers that travel on cruise ships each year and the attractiveness of these vessels as terrorist targets, it is important that the risk to cruise ships is assessed and actions are taken to help ensure the security of these ships and their facilities. Federal agencies and maritime security stakeholders, including cruise lines, have implemented various measures to better secure cruise ships and their facilities. As examples, the Coast Guard provides escorts for cruise ships to prevent waterside attacks and CBP screens passengers using manifest data to prevent terrorists from boarding cruise ships. Although these measures have been implemented and there has been no recent credible terrorist threat against cruise ships, this does not preclude the possibility of such an incident occurring in the future, particularly given the existence of terrorist groups that have the capability to attack a cruise ship. Moreover, the President’s 2010 memorandum directing DHS to aggressively pursue enhanced screening efforts further underscores the potential importance of this type of security action. By conducting a study to determine whether requiring cruise lines to provide automated Passenger Name Record data on a systematic basis is cost effective and addresses privacy implications, CBP would be in a better position to determine whether additional actions should be taken to augment security through enhanced screening of cruise ship passengers.

Click here to view full version of the report.

Click here to view coming maritime security events.