"Suspicious Activity"

(AFP/Paul J. Richards)


In an effort to demonstrate the uselessness of TSA, two flights today have made headlines; one in Detroit again, the other in Phoenix. Hopefully anyone traveling over the next few weeks speaks English as a first language. Also, I would recommend sticking to animated movies.

Transportation Security Administration officials said passengers aboard U.S. Airways Flight 192 from Orlando, Fla., on Saturday night reported that two men, described as Middle Eastern, were acting strangely and talking loudly to each other in a foreign language.

A nearby passenger also observed one of men watching what appeared to be footage of a suicide bombing, but was actually a scene from the 2007 movie "The Kingdom." The man also got up from his seat while the seat belt warning sign was still lit, FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said.

Having to use the bathroom during turbulence is considered suspicious activity. Keep that in mind next time the drink cart comes your way.

And the cause of the Detroit false alarm?

The Amsterdam-to-Detroit flight is the same one targeted Friday in what prosecutors called a failed attempt to blow up a jetliner. Sandra Berchtold, a spokeswoman for the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Detroit, said Sunday's alert was caused by a passenger who "spent a lengthy time in the restroom."

The good news is that President Obama was notified immediately of the Detroit flight's passenger that "spent a lengthy time in the restroom."

The Basic Terrorist Profile for U.S. Attacks

Unidentified men walk in front of the house of Alhaji Umar Abdul Mutallab, the father of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the alleged Christmas Day terrorist. (AP Photo/ Muhammad Salisu Rabiu)


Every time a Western-educated, middle class fundamentalist participates in a terrorist attack, we are told that an accurate terrorist profile does not exist. This is obviously not the case. For attacks and attack attempts against the United States, there are a few things the suspects have had in common.

1. Western educated
2. Middle Class
3. Devoutly religious/political
   
4. International travel

This is obviously not a catch-all, but intelligent security practices would apply this template to suspects. Instead, I expect many of us not fitting this profile to be harassed by TSA for the next few years.

Here is a list of terrorism suspects over the past 4 months that fit the profile above:

The Christmas Day Bomber
Abdul Farouq Abdulmuttab

The Virginia YouTube Taliban Five
Ahmed Abdullah Minni
Umar Farooq
Aman Hassan Yemer
Waqar Hussain Khan
Ramy Zamzamand

Chicago Local & Denmark Paper Bombing Plotter
David Coleman Headley

New York Subway Bombing Plotter
Najibullah Zazi



NOTE: I purposely did not mention specific races, religions, or genders since these profiles are VERY easy for terrorists to work around.

Functional Homeland Security: Ad Hoc Militias

Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, rides away from the Statue of Liberty on a Coast Guard boat following a naturalization ceremony on Ellis Island in New York. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson


Ad hoc militias, the unintended last line of defense appears to be the most effective. Flight 93 on 9/11, the "shoe bomber's" beat-down from his 2002 attempt, and yesterday's incident demonstrated the capability of citizens protecting themselves when the government has failed in it's basic mission of protecting the nation. Airline passengers and civilians have disrupted more terrorist attack attempts on airplanes than the U.S. government. Whether this is in fact true or not is irrelevant to public perceptions.

Yesterday's Christmas attack attempt serves as the latest example. According to an ABC News report,

The suspect had been in a law enforcement-intelligence database but was not on the government's no-fly list, according to a law enforcement official.

So how was this watchlisted individual subdued? Air marshals perhaps?

Delta spokeswoman Susan Chana Elliott said that "as the plane was getting ready to land" in Detroit "a passenger caused a disturbance" by trying to ignite what was initially reported to be firecrackers.

The man was "subdued immediately," Elliott said. Northwest is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta.

"There was one guy, who sat on the other side, the right side of the wing because this was on the left side of the wing, and he jumped over the other people and he took care of it," said passenger Peter Smith.

Richard Reid, the man more commonly known as the "shoe bomber" was subdued by passangers on the flight he tried tried to attack.


So what is the record for DHS? Most of us are familiar with the hassle we all go through since August 2006, but one DHS incident stands out the most.

In 2005, Air Marshals shot and killed a mentally-ill man since he

"uttered threatening words that included a sentence to the effect that he had a bomb"... "He then appeared to be reaching into a carry-on bag, and the air marshals proceeded consistent with their training," Mr. Doyle said. "Shots were fired as the team attempted to subdue the individual."

Every time citizens of the U.S. succeed in preventing a terrorist attack against the U.S. it is also a demonstrable failure of the U.S. government.

Countering Counterterrorism

(AFP/File/Maria Belen Perez Gabilondo)


The Department of Homeland Security, better known for harassing airline passengers than capturing terrorists, has retained its title as America's punching bag. The Washington Post reported that DHS improperly spied on the Nation of Islam. I take issue with this article for one significant reason.

The intelligence gathering violated domestic spying rules because analysts took longer than 180 days to determine whether the U.S-based group or its American members posed a terrorist threat.

6 month deadline to determine if someone is a terrorist. Good to know. So then how did DHS gather intelligence on the group?

Charles E. Allen, who was DHS undersecretary for intelligence and analysis at the time, said that although violations were unintentional and inadvertent -- only publicly available information was collected -- the report should never have been issued.

Publicly available information was collected. In layman's terms, they googled people and wrote a paper. DHS went "grad student" on the Nation of Islam. This cutting edge domestic spying methodology is apparently infringing on the rights of Americans. Here is a link to the Wikipedia page on the Nation of Islam if you are interested in conducting this Hollywood-esque brand of domestic espionage yourself.

DHS is open to a vast amount of legitimate criticism, just not on this issue.

FBI vs. Terrorist Shootout in Detroit!

FBI kills one terrorist in gunfire exchange. Terrorist kill one police dog.

United States Attorney Terrence Berg, Eastern District of Michigan, Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge (SAC), Federal Bureau of Investigation, (FBI), Detroit, Michigan, and Police Chief Warren Evans, Detroit Police Department (DPD), Detroit, Michigan announced a federal complaint was unsealed today charging Luqman Ameen Abdullah, a.k.a.Christopher Thomas, and 10 others with conspiracy to commit several federal crimes, including theft from interstate shipments, mail fraud to obtain the proceeds of arson, illegal possession and sale of firearms, and tampering with motor vehicle identification numbers. The eleven defendants are members of a group that is alleged to have engaged in violent activity over a period of many years, and known to be armed.

In light of the information that the charged individuals were believed to be armed and dangerous, special safeguards were employed by law enforcement to secure the arrests without confrontation. During the arrests today, the suspects were ordered to surrender. At one location, four suspects surrendered and were arrested without incident. Luqman Ameen Abdullah did not surrender and fired his weapon. An exchange of gun fire followed and Abdullah was killed. An FBI canine was also killed during the exchange.

Read the full Justice Department press release here.

"Debriefing Prisoners": The NYPD Mindset?

The New York Daily News had an article today discussing how the NYPD is tracking cell phone users. One quote on the new practice really caught my attention.

"It doesn't replace the human element, like debriefing prisoners, but it's another tool to use that we didn't have in the past."

Is this another example of the militarization of law enforcement, taking advantage of federal counterterrorism funding, or just the evolution of police work?

You can read the full article here.

October 1st Morning Readbook

Several Afghan Strategies, None a Clear Choice

Flipside of the COIN: Israel’s Lebanese Incursion Between 1982 – 2000

Gates Doubts U.S.'s Afghan Strategy

Analysis: A look a US airstrikes in Pakistan through September 2009

Afghanistan's people have advice for U.S.

An Enemy Within: The Making of Najibullah Zazi