“Citing ‘significant progress,’ the Department of Homeland Security [DHS] Thursday [July 21, 2011] released a report looking at how far the U.S. has come in the past seven years to fulfilling specific 9/11 Commission recommendations. ‘Over the past decade, we have made great strides to secure our nation against a large attack or disaster, to […]
7/18/2011
“General John Allen today [July 18, 2011] took over command of Western forces in Afghanistan from General David Petraeus in a ceremony in Kabul. The new commander admitted that the international military campaign faced ‘tough days’ ahead, but said he wanted to ‘maintain the momentum of the campaign.’ Petraeus steps down after a mixed one-year […]
7/15/2011
In Pakistan, “As of July, 2011, 250 drone strikes have killed between 1,500 and 2,300 people; of those died, only an estimated 33 were known terrorist leaders.” [The 15th of the month used for date-sorting purposes only.] – Ahmed Rashid, Pakistan on the Brink, Page 55 […]
7/15/2011
Osama "Bin Laden may have been losing his grip on control of the terror group [al Qaeda]. According to other materials in the treasure trove of documents found at his Abottabad [Pakistan] lair during the May 2 [2011] raid, he was often ignored by his henchmen. 'What we found was that he was very isolated, […]
7/15/2011
Regarding the legality of assassinating Osama bin Laden: “Others dispute whether the intelligence [on bin Laden’s whereabouts] was good enough. ‘The problem was the CIA always knew where he was yesterday but not tomorrow,’ argues [former counterterrorism czar] Richard Clarke.” – Gordon Corera, “Dead or Alive? US Indecision over Killing Bin Laden,” BBC News, July […]
7/13/2011
“Osama bin Laden had no plans for terrorist attacks at the time of his death, according to new evidence. The last Al Qaeda attack he was involved in planning was the 7/7 bombings in London in 2005 where he was in close contact with other terrorists. Although bin Laden remained a figure head for extremists, […]
7/13/2011
“The Transportation Security Administration [TSA] has suffered more than 25,000 security breaches in U.S. airports in the past ten years, House subcommittee on National Security chairman Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) said today [July 13, 2011]. Chaffetz made the comments during the opening of a hearing on the TSA and Airport Security. Of the 25,000 breaches, […]
7/11/2011
“A judgment by MI5 [U.K.’s counterintelligence and security agency] and the police that a Mumbai-style attack in the UK is now less likely led to a reduction on Monday [July 11, 2011] of the terrorist threat from ‘severe’ to ‘substantial,’ Whitehall sources have told the Guardian. …The threat level was increased to severe in January […]
7/11/2011
“Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Monday [July 11, 2011] appeared to justify the U.S. invasion of Iraq as part of the war against al-Qaeda, an argument controversially made by the Bush administration but refuted by President Obama and many Democrats. Panetta made his remarks during his inaugural visit to Iraq as Pentagon chief. Speaking to […]
7/9/2011
“The Obama administration is suspending and, in some cases, canceling hundreds of millions of dollars of aid to the Pakistani military, in a move to chasten Pakistan for expelling American military trainers and to press its army to fight militants more effectively. …Altogether, about $800 million in military aid and equipment, or over one-third of […]