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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: counterterrorism

counterterrorism stories: 62 news summaries

1 - 20 of 62 Stories | 1 2 3 4 Next >>

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 Pentagon Holds 
 Secret Afghan 
 War Games 

Mullen leads exercise to assess effects of troop surge

Oct 26, 09 6:06 AM CDT
(Newser) - The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, led a secret war game earlier this month to assess the Obama administration's options in Afghanistan, including a 44,000-troop surge. A team of military leaders used Gen. Stanley McChrystal's analysis to examine how Taliban insurgents and the Afghan... More »

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Afghanistan • Barack Obama • war games • troop surge • Robert Gates • Joint Chiefs of Staff • Adm. Mike Mullen • counterterrorism • troop levels • Afghanistan war • Stanley McChrystal

NYPD Yanks
Top Cop From
Terror Unit

Official replaced after unit's imam informant
tipped off suspect

Sep 24, 09 6:29 AM CDT
(Newser) - A top official from one of the NYPD's two counterterror units has been replaced after his unit disrupted a federal terror probe by inadvertently alerting the prime suspect to the investigation. Paul Ciorra of the Intelligence Division—which sometimes competes with the city's Counterterrorism Bureau and clashes with federal partners—... More »

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NYPD • New York City • terror plots • counterterrorism • terror suspects • Najibullah Zazi

Afghan war rethink


 Biden Plan 
 Would Target 
 al-Qaeda, 
 not Taliban 

No consensus has emerged in White House war room

Sep 23, 09 7:27 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration’s national security heavyweights have yet to reach any kind of consensus on a strategy for Afghanistan, the New York Times reports. Obama is considering both increasing troop levels to carry out his original counterinsurgency strategy, and an alternative plan from Joe Biden that would pull... More »

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Afghanistan • Barack Obama • Hillary Clinton • Joe Biden • counterterrorism • Afghanistan war • Obama administration • counterinsurgency • Afghanistan election

 NYC Homes Raided 
 in Terrorism Probe 

No bombs found; Senator describes action as 'preventative'

Sep 14, 09 4:30 PM CDT
(Newser) - Federal agents and New York police raided homes in Queens today as part of an investigation of a possible terrorist attack, the AP reports. Officials said the searches revealed no bombs or other weapons they would describe as “ready for use,” but said the action was based surveillance... More »

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terrorism • NYPD • Charles Schumer • New York • Queens • counterterrorism • surveillance

ANALYSIS

Surge May Be Only Way to Keep US Safe From al-Qaeda

Remote-controlled strikes won't be enough to stop terrorists, say experts

Sep 8, 09 5:22 AM CDT
(Newser) - The idea that al-Qaeda could be prevented from regaining a haven in Afghanistan without having American troops in the country is gaining support as the war drags on, but it's unlikely to work, many counterterrorism experts tell the New York Times. Terrorism can't be destroyed by airstrikes or Special Forces... More »

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Afghanistan • Pakistan • troop surge • counterterrorism • Predator • al-Qaeda • Afghanistan war

 Fiber-Optic Mics 
 Eavesdrop on Thieves 

OptaSense can identify footsteps, vehicles
from miles away

Aug 21, 09 6:09 PM CDT
(Newser) - Major oil companies are relying on a new fiber-optic technology to keep an underground ear on intruders, the Independent reports. Devised by a British defense firm, the OptaSense system consists of microphones placed along sensitive fiber-optic cables already laid underground. The cables sense vibrations, the mics pick it up, and... More »

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oil • terrorism • counterterrorism • surveillance • Fiber optics • oil production • fiber optic cables

(Newser) - The Obama administration is working on plans to create a team of interrogation experts drawn from different agencies, insiders tell the Wall Street Journal. The unit would take the job of debriefing "high-value" terror suspects away from the CIA, the sources say, and would be tasked with creating new,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CIA • counterterrorism • interrogation • waterboarding • terror suspects • Army Field Manual • intelligence agencies • Obama administration

 Bin Laden Short on 
 Hiding Spots: Officials 

Pakistan offensive, troops in Afghanistan, drone attacks cut space

Jun 5, 09 9:58 AM CDT
(Newser) - Osama bin Laden has fewer and fewer places to hide these days, officials tell NPR. And “the administration smells blood,” says a former counterterror official who cites three reasons for the shrinking space: Pakistan’s Swat Valley offensive against the Taliban, "along with US activities from the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Afghanistan • Taliban • Pakistan • US military • counterterrorism • Osama bin Laden • al-Qaeda • Pakistan military • Obama administration

 FBI to Expand 
 Role Battling 
 Terrorism 

Marks effort toward investigation, criminal prosecution of accused terrorists

May 28, 09 9:21 AM CDT
(Newser) - The FBI will take a bigger role in the fight against terrorism, the Los Angeles Times reports, moving into investigation and criminal prosecution of accused terrorists. The shift marks a change from the secretive CIA operations favored by the Bush administration, and ties in with President Obama’s assertion that... More »

MORE ABOUT:
national security • CIA • FBI • Robert Mueller • counterterrorism • investigations • criminal prosecution

 Boy Scouts Train to Fight Terror, Patrol Borders
 

Program trains kids in terror threats, border protection

May 14, 09 7:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - Think of it as Extreme Boy Scouting: the co-ed Explorers program has trained kids across the country in law enforcement techniques for decades. But lately “our emphasis is on terrorism, illegal entry, drugs, and human smuggling,” says a Border Patrol agent of the program. That means charging around... More »

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FBI • counterterrorism • Border Patrol • training • police department • Boy Scouts of America • Explorers

US Terror Reports Boost Jihadis' Radical Cred

Extremists elders complain youth give them less respect than  Western analysts do

Apr 30, 09 5:43 AM CDT
(Newser) - Prominent anti-Western cleric Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi says he isn't going soft in his old age—and he's got the Western intelligence reports to prove it. The Jordanian jihad theorist, under fire from more radical and violent younger extremists, proudly points to a report from West Point's counterterror center labeling him... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Terror • jihad • Islamic extremists • counterterrorism • Islamic extremism

UK's Anti-Terror Chief Quits Over Photo Faux Pas

Learns the hard way not to carry top-secret memos in plain sight

Apr 9, 09 6:02 AM CDT
(Newser) - The crack British counter-terrorism official who was inadvertently photographed carrying a paper with details of raids that snared 12 men linked to al-Qaeda yesterday has stepped down, the Wall Street Journal reports. Bob Quick, who was bringing the document to a meeting at Downing Street, had previously apologized for the... More »

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counterterrorism • Britain • terror suspects • al-Qaeda • police raids

 US Ditches 'War on Terror' 

Bush-era phrase has been abandoned, says Clinton

Mar 31, 09 1:45 AM CDT
(Newser) - The Obama administration has dropped the phrase "war on terror" in reference to the conflict with al-Qaeda and other Islamic extremists, Reuters reports. "It's not being used," said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who noted that there have been no official directives about the label. Many international... More »

MORE ABOUT:
War on Terror • Hillary Clinton • counterterrorism • al-Qaeda • Obama administration

TALK SHOW ROUNDUP

 Cheney: Obama 
 Making US Less Safe 

Former VP slams prez for quashing 'essential' Bush policies

Mar 15, 09 9:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - President Obama "is making some choices that will in fact raise the risk to the American people of an attack," former VP Dick Cheney charged today. Appearing relaxed and slimmer on CNN’s State of the Union, Cheney upbraided Obama for revising the Bush administration’s counterterrorism... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Barack Obama • Dick Cheney • Lewis Scooter Libby • counterterrorism • bonuses • Barney Frank • Lawrence Summers

Terrorists Recruiting Somali-Americans in Heartland US

Counterterrorism agencies fear emergence of homegrown terror cells

Mar 11, 09 4:57 AM CDT
(Newser) - US counter-terrorism agencies are warning of a mounting terror threat as Somali extremists linked to al-Qaeda recruit Americans, the Washington Post reports. Agencies are probing the disappearance of a number of young Somali-Americans now believed to be in Somalia, and cite the case of Shirwa Ahmed, who lived in Minneapolis... More »

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Somalia • terrorism • Islamic extremists • counterterrorism • terrorist • al-Qaeda

(Newser) - British transit cops in Philadelphia to trade counter-terrorism tactics with their US counterparts were treated to an American specialty, the Daily Mail reports—Dunkin’ Donuts. The UK contingent is touring railroad terminals on the East Coast so that “our two organizations” can “work and learn from each... More »

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coffee • police • Philadelphia • counterterrorism • Dunkin' Donuts • Amtrak • Britain • doughnut • British Transport Police

 Senate to Probe Bush-Era CIA 

Inquiry to focus on controversial interrogation and detention program

Feb 27, 09 4:22 AM CST
(Newser) - The Senate Intelligence Committee plans a sweeping investigation into the CIA's actions under President Bush, the Los Angeles Times reports. Officials say the probe is a fact-finding mission rather than an investigation into whether laws were broken, but the inquiry is certain to put the spotlight back on the agency's... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Bush administration • War on Terror • CIA • secret prisons • Senate Intelligence Committee • counterterrorism • interrogation • waterboarding • harsh interrogation • Leon Panetta

 11 Freed From 
 Gitmo Disappear 
 Into Terror Network 

Saudi Arabia admits former detainees may be with al-Qaeda

Feb 4, 09 4:49 AM CST
(Newser) - Eleven Saudi nationals who were released from detention at Guantanamo Bay have likely rejoined terrorist groups, the Saudi government said yesterday. The prisoners participated in a rehabilitation program after returning to Saudi Arabia, but all of them have fled the country—probably to Yemen or Iran. The situation underscores President... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Saudi Arabia • Guantanamo Bay • counterterrorism • Yemen • Guantanamo prisoners • al-Qaeda

 Bauer's Torture Ethics 
 Get Slapped on 24 

For 24 hero, torture
no longer cut and dry

Jan 10, 09 6:30 PM CST
(Newser) - After years of shooting, shocking, drugging, and maiming terror suspects, Jack Bauer will finally be tortured—by his own conscience, Peter Finn reveals in the Washington Post. 24 opens its seventh season with its post-9/11 action hero testifying before Congress about his interrogation tactics. Bauer remains defiant, but he’ll... More »

MORE ABOUT:
torture • terrorism • Jack Bauer • counterterrorism

opinion

 US Needs 
 Wake-Up Call 
 on Pakistan 

Patchwork approach has failed—time for a more holistic view

Dec 8, 08 1:28 PM CST
(Newser) - Pacifying Pakistan could prove more difficult than democratizing Iraq, a hard reality that may be eased somewhat by a US special envoy, George Packer writes in the New Yorker. Packer, who backs the appointment of Richard Holbrooke, cautions that anything other than a holistic approach could spell trouble. “Years... More »

MORE ABOUT:
terrorism • Pakistan • India • counterterrorism • foreign policy • WMD • Richard Holbrooke

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