Marking the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the White House yesterday released a report outlining U.S. progress in its war on terrorism. The report’s release, however, coincided with the broadcast of videotape showing a man believed to be terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden (see GSN, Sept. 10).
Since the attacks against New York and Washington, the United States and its allies have “dismantled the repressive Taliban, denied al-Qaeda a safe haven in Afghanistan and defeated Saddam Hussein’s regime,” according to the Progress Report on the War on Terrorism.
In addition, about two-thirds of al-Qaeda’s senior operatives have either been killed or captured, and within the United States the Justice Department has charged 260 people in terrorism investigations, including 140 who have either pleaded guilty or have been convicted, the report says. It also says the United States has disrupted several domestic terrorism cells and has blocked terrorists’ access to about $200 million in funding (Sammon/Seper, Washington Times, Sept. 11).
Yesterday, U.S. President George W. Bush called on Congress to provide new judicial powers to help in the war on terrorism, according to the New York Times (see related GSN story, today).
Some Congressional Democrats have criticized Bush’s request, which was made in a speech yesterday at the FBI Academy. White House officials, however, have said that the growing focus on the USA PATRIOT Act — a set of counterterrorism judicial measures passed soon after the Sept. 11 attacks — may help in the White House’s attempt to obtain even stronger counterterrorism laws.
“If you have a lively debate, that’s when you have the best chance to persuade the public and the Congress,” said Viet Dinh, a former senior aide to Attorney General John Ashcroft who helped to draft the PATRIOT act (Eric Lichtblau, New York Times, Sept. 11).
Bush has recently faced increasing criticism for citing the Sept. 11 attacks while promoting aspects of domestic policy unrelated to terrorism, according to the Washington Post.
Aides to Bush have said that his persistent references to the attacks reflect his personal feelings about them. Bush “talks frequently about 9/11, but more importantly about our nation’s response to 9/11, which required a significant policy change in order to prevent future 9/11’s,” White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett said.
Some analysts have said, however, that Bush sometimes appears to rely on the mention of the attacks when facing tough questioning, according to the Post. Some Democrats have criticized Bush for his constant references to Sept. 11, saying he uses them as justification for most of his policies and as a reason to re-elect him.
“A lot of Americans have been apprehensive, and through this constant talk, the Bush administration has been shameless in using 9/11 for partisan political gain,” Democratic National Committee Chairman Terence McAuliffe said (Mike Allen, Washington Post, Sept. 11).
Al-Qaeda
Even as the White House praises the progress made in the war on terrorism, there have been recent signs that al-Qaeda remains active, according to reports.
A videotape shown yesterday on the al-Jazeera television network showed a man believed to be bin Laden, as well as his deputy Ayman Zawahiri, according to the Washington Post.
The videotape, which al-Jazeera said was probably filmed in late April or early May, shows the two men walking in an unidentified mountainous area. In an audio track that U.S. officials said was recorded separately, a voice identified as bin Laden’s praised the Sept. 11 attacks for doing “great damage to the enemy,” the Post reported.
A voice identified as Zawahiri’s calls on “our brother mujaheddin in Iraq” to continue attacks on U.S. troops there, according to the Post.
“Rely on God, and pounce on the Americans just as lions pounce their prey, and bury them in Iraq’s graveyard,” the voice attributed to Zawahiri said.
U.S. intelligence officials said they believe the two men on the videotape were in fact bin Laden and Zawahiri, adding that it is still unknown when the tape was made (Eggen/Pincus, Washington Post, Sept. 11).
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last night that the videotape was part of an “information operations campaign” conducted by al-Qaeda to spread fear.
“The general feeling in the government is that what they’re doing is trying to pretend that they’re functioning well,” Rumsfeld said (Risen/Johnston, New York Times, Sept. 11).
U.S. intelligence analysts have begun to examine the videotape to determine where bin Laden may be hiding, according to the Associated Press.
Afghan officials said today that the videotape helps confirm their belief that bin Laden is currently hiding within Pakistan. They claimed that al-Qaeda and Taliban troops have launched attacks against Afghanistan from bases within Pakistan.
“Our intelligence sources have told us that al-Zawahri is in Pakistan’s tribal areas ... Americans know where he is but Pakistan should help as well,” Afghan Deputy Defense Minister Bismillah Khan said.
Pakistani Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, however, said there was no proof that bin Laden was operating from Pakistan.
“We do not know where he is. If somebody knows, he should let us know,” Ahmed said (Sam Ghattas, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Sept. 11).
Meanwhile, U.S. officials have said that al-Qaeda still maintains a hidden and extensive presence within the United States that includes recruitment and fundraising activities, according to the Los Angeles Times.
U.S. authorities are investigating “at least several dozen” people suspected of being involved in al-Qaeda operations within the United States, a senior U.S. counterterrorism official said. In addition, authorities are conducting investigations in as many as 40 states, the official said.
U.S. officials have learned that al-Qaeda has begun using new fundraising methods, such as the sale of counterfeit movies and CDs and drug trafficking, as authorities crack down on known methods, according to the official.
“Money is coming in and out of the United States,” the official said.
While U.S. officials have previously been concerned about the presence of al-Qaeda cells inside the United States, there has been increasing concern because of intelligence reports that al-Qaeda operatives are trying to enter the country through Canada, Mexico and U.S. ports and airports, the Times reported.
“I wouldn’t term it as worse” the official said, comparing the current threat posed by al-Qaeda to conditions prior to Sept. 11, 2001. “But our knowledge base is better, so we see a deeper threat. We certainly have a deeper appreciation for the sophistication and the capabilities that we are dealing with and the fact that we have to constantly adapt to them,” the official said (Josh Meyer, Los Angeles Times, Sept. 11).
There are also signs that al-Qaeda has launched an online recruitment effort, according to the Washington Times. The terrorist group has published three electronic books on a new Web site, two of which detail tactics within Saudi Arabia and Iraq and one entitled The 39 Steps to Jihad (Neil Doyle, Washington Times, Sept. 11).
The U.S. State Department yesterday warned of potential al-Qaeda attacks against U.S. interests abroad, according to the Associated Press. The warning said attacks might be conducted to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary.
“We are seeing increasing indications that al-Qaeda is preparing to strike U.S. interests abroad,” the department said (Associated Press/USA Today, Sept. 11).
Meanwhile, the FBI has determined that it will probably be unable to infiltrate al-Qaeda and will have to rely more on recruiting al-Qaeda operatives to serve as informants, according to USA Today.
Al-Qaeda’s radical Islamic culture and its strict recruitment process have made it almost impossible for U.S. agents to get inside. Religious and cultural differences have made al-Qaeda harder for the FBI to infiltrate than the U.S. mafia, which took the bureau decades to do, FBI officials said.
“The risks are too great,” a former senior FBI official said (Johnson/Locy, USA Today, Sept. 11).
United States Losing Sept. 11 Sympathy
The New York Times reported today that interviews with people throughout the world indicate that the United States has lost most of the international sympathy it received in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“A lot of people had sympathy for Americans around the time of 9/11, but that’s changed,” said Cathy Hearn, 31, a flight attendant from South Africa. “They act like the big guy riding roughshod over everyone else,” Hearn said.
Some foreign policy experts have said the U.S. push for war in Iraq helped to shift world opinion away from Washington.
“I think the turnaround was last summer, when American policy moved ever more decisively toward war against Iraq,” said Josef Joffe, co-editor of the German weekly Die Zeit. “That’s what triggered the counteralliance of France and Germany and the enormous wave of hatred against the United States,” he said.
Other experts, however, have said that the Iraq war merely demonstrated the existing divide between the United States and the rest of the world.
“There were deep structural forces before 9/11 that were pushing us apart,” said John Mearsheimer, a political science professor at the University of Chicago. “In the absence of the Soviet threat or of an equivalent threat, there was no way that ties between us and Europe wouldn’t be loosened,” he said.
Some people have expressed not so much dissatisfaction with the United States, but instead with the Bush administration, which they portray as arrogant, according to the Times.
“The point I would make is that with the best will in the world, President Bush is a very poor salesman for the United States, and I say that as someone who has no animus against him or the United States,” said Philip Gawaith, a financial communications consultant in London. “Whether it’s al-Qaeda or Afghanistan, people have just felt that he’s a silly man, and therefore they are not obliged to think any harder about his position,” Gawaith said (Richard Bernstein, New York Times, Sept. 11).
By Mike Nartker
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON — On the eve of the second anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. President George W. Bush yesterday praised the progress the United States has since made toward improving homeland security and he called for more judicial powers to use in the war on terrorism (see GSN, Aug. 21).
During a speech at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., Bush praised the bureau and the Homeland Security Department, the creation of which was prompted by the attacks, for the progress they have made in improving U.S security against terrorism.
“We’ve undertaken a global campaign against terrorist networks. We’re going after the terrorists, wherever they hide and wherever they plan. We will keep them on the run; we’ll bring them to justice. We have made clear the doctrine which says, if you harbor a terrorist, if you feed a terrorist, if you hide a terrorist you’re just as guilty as the terrorist. We’re holding regimes accountable for harboring and supporting terror,” Bush said.
He also praised a number of specific measures that have been taken since the attacks to improve homeland security, such as increases in transportation security, port and maritime security and border security (see GSN, Sept. 9).
The Homeland Security Department is also working with the U.S. Congress on legislation that would establish uniform security standards for chemical facilities, Bush said (see GSN, Aug. 1). The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is currently trying to develop a compromise between two chemical security bills — one introduced in May by committee Chairman James Inhofe (R-Okla.) and a bill reintroduced earlier this year by Senator Jon Corzine (D-N.J.), a committee spokesman told Global Security Newswire. “A major sticking point” between the two bills is a provision included in Corzine’s bill that would require chemical plant operators to adopt “inherently safer technologies,” which would replace potentially dangerous chemicals with safer alternatives, the spokesman said. He added that the committee wants to soon move forward on a final piece of legislation.
“Since September the 11th, this nation has been unrelenting in the work of protecting the homeland and we’ll stay that way,” Bush said yesterday. “That’s our duty. That’s our job. We accept the responsibility,” he said.
In addition, the White House is making a “special effort” to prepare for terrorist attacks that could involve the use of biological or chemical weapons, Bush said (see GSN, Sept. 5). He noted the progress made in improving detection capabilities and in developing a national stockpile of treatments and vaccines against biological warfare agents. Bush also called on the Senate to pass his House-approved Project Bioshield proposal, which seeks to spur the private development of new treatments and vaccines against biological weapons agents (see GSN, Sept. 5).
“For the sake of national security, the Senate needs to pass Project Bioshield,” Bush said.
New Judicial Powers
In his remarks yesterday, Bush also praised the controversial USA PATRIOT Act, which has been criticized by civil liberties activists and some members of Congress. Calling the act an “essential law,” Bush praised it for increasing penalties against terrorists and for improving information sharing among U.S. counterterrorism agencies. Bush’s praise of the act follows a cross-country speaking tour by U.S Attorney General John Ashcroft to bolster support for the act (see GSN, Aug. 20).
While the act has been helpful in the war on terrorism, more judicial powers are still needed, Bush said, adding that prosecutors face certain legal restrictions in terrorism-related cases that they do not in embezzlement or drug trafficking cases.
“For the sake of the American people, Congress should change the law and give law enforcement officials the same tools they have to fight terror that they have to fight other crime,” Bush said.
Bush called on Congress to expand the act by making it easier for law enforcement officials to obtain administrative subpoenas, which are used to obtain certain types of records. In addition, Congress should enact legislation to make those charged with terrorism-related crimes ineligible for bail and to make the death penalty applicable to some terrorist activities, such as the sabotage of a nuclear facility, he said.
“You need to have every tool at your disposal to be able to do your job on behalf of the American people,” Bush told the FBI audience. “The House and the Senate have a responsibility to act quickly on these matters [and] untie the hands of our law enforcement officials so they can fight and win the war against terror,” he said.
The American Civil Liberties Union, however, lashed out yesterday at the Bush administration for its proposed expansions of the act.
“It is unfortunate that President Bush would use this tragic date to continue to endorse the increasingly unpopular anticivil liberties policies of Attorney General Ashcroft and the Department of Justice,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a press statement. “Rather than rubber-stamping new powers for the attorney general, the president should respond to the voices of Americans from the right, left and center and disavow the attorney general’s power grabs over the last two years,” Romero said.
Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, warned yesterday that the Bush administration could face opposition within Congress for approval of new judicial powers.
“Since the attacks of September 11, Congress has been more than willing to consider giving the government more police powers in the war on terrorism, and Congress has done that,” Leahy said in a press statement. “But giving the government more power is dangerous when that power is mixed with the kind of unilateralism and arrogance that have characterized this administration’s Justice Department. Many in Congress this time will be wary of writing any more blank checks for this administration, without more accountability,” he said.
Representative John Conyers (D-Mich.), the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, also criticized Bush’s proposal, suggesting it may be intended as a distraction measure.
“It is puzzling for the president to ask Congress at the eleventh hour of this session to pass these proposals quickly. One has to wonder whether this is an attempt to distract from the administration’s failures in Iraq and the re-emergence of Osama bin Laden,” Conyers said in a statement.
While the PATRIOT Act has been criticized for possibly infringing on U.S. civil liberties, the Associated Press reported today that a new poll has found that most Americans do not believe that their legal rights have been violated by such measures.
The AP-commissioned poll found that almost 60 percent of those surveyed did not think Americans’ legal rights had been violated, according to AP. About 50 percent of poll respondents said they believed the Bush administration had been about right in using the new laws to counter terrorism, while about 20 percent said the administration had not gone far enough.
The poll also found, however, that about two-thirds of those surveyed were concerned about the possible loss of civil liberties arising from the post Sept. 11-legislation, AP reported.
Specter Introduces Bill Calling for Increased Terrorism Penalties
Meanwhile, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Penn.) yesterday introduced a bill, the Terrorist Penalties Enhancement Act of 2003, that includes some of the provisions Bush called for in his speech. Specter’s bill would allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty in any terrorist activity that results in death and would add the death penalty as an available punishment in several scenarios where it is currently not an option, such as the sabotage of a defense or nuclear facility.
In addition, Specter’s bill would go farther than Bush’s request by adding conspiracy and attempt to commit terrorism to the list of terrorism-related offenses that are subject to the death penalty. Under Specter’s bill, prosecutors could also seek the death penalty for those convicted of helping to raise money for terrorism, not just those involved in the activities themselves.
“I have pressed the Department of Justice to proceed with criminal prosecutions and to seek the death penalty for terrorists and for those that fund terrorists through front organizations,” Specter said in a press statement. “The contributors to terrorist organizations, knowing what those organizations do, are on notice. This legislation will clear up any ambiguity and will make such contributors to terrorist organizations liable for the death penalty as accessories before the fact,” he said.
By David McGlinchey
Global Security Newswire
WASHINGTON — A senior U.S. government auditor this week questioned the “scope and quality” of port security assessments being conducted for the Coast Guard by defense contractor Northrop Grumman (see GSN, Sept. 9).
The General Accounting Office has recommended that the Coast Guard temporarily suspend work on future assessments, which cost U.S. taxpayers at least $1 million for each port, according to Margaret Wrightson, the GAO’s director of homeland security and justice issues.
So far, 13 assessments have been completed, three are underway and preliminary work is being done at 13 other sites. The Coast Guard planned to complete a total of 55 port security assessments, and that work is on track to be finished by the end of 2004, according to Coast Guard spokeswoman Jolie Shifflet.
As of press time, Northrop Grumman had not responded to questions on the report.
Coast Guard and port security officials who were interviewed by the GAO said that the assessments contained “factual errors” and were sometimes released before they could be reviewed.
At one port, Coast Guard personnel and security officials said they were given a survey that referred to a different facility and were “asked questions they regarded as not pertaining to security,” according to the GAO report.
A leading Republican lawmaker said that he has “serious concerns,” about the findings.
“These concerns raised by the GAO testimony must be resolved to ensure the port assessment program meets the high standards that Congress set forward,” said Representative Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.
Wrightson said that the GAO has recommended that the Coast Guard and Northrop Grumman evaluate the lessons from earlier assessment before moving on to new ones, allow port officials a greater role in the assessments, limit inquiries to security issues and allow the interested parties to review the assessments before they are finalized.
“I’m fairly optimistic that we’re going to have action on those” proposals, Wrightson said.
The GAO is also concerned that local officials have already completed some of the security assessment work.
“The contractor doesn’t need to start from ground zero,” Wrightson said.
In a statement today, the Coast Guard said that it would take the GAO report along with lessons from earlier assessments “to revise the methodology before conducting PSAs [port security assessments] in other critical seaports.”
The Coast Guard said that it would also allow participants in future assessments to review the findings before the reports are completed.
U.S. officials are examining the possibility of bringing criminal charges against ABC News reporters who, for the second consecutive year, smuggled depleted uranium into the United States for a report on ineffective port security that is scheduled to air tonight (see GSN, Sept. 13, 2002).
“We believe ABC News may have broke[n] the law and we are pursuing the appropriate course of action,” said Homeland Security Department spokesman Dennis Murphy. “It is a question whether or not journalists should be breaking the law in the pursuit of a news story. It’s not right for a reporter to rob a bank to prove the bank has lax security,” he added.
ABC investigative correspondent Brian Ross and his producers shipped about 15 pounds of depleted uranium — which cannot be used to develop nuclear weapons — from Jakarta to Los Angeles in a falsely labeled package. They placed the uranium in a lead-lined, steel pipe for transport. If properly licensed, depleted uranium may be shipped legally.
The container was not opened in Jakarta or the United States, despite being targeted for screening by U.S. border officials. The depleted uranium emitted a radiation signature that would be similar to nondepleted uranium packaged with a thicker shielding.
“In our view, we do not believe we are in violation of the law because it was not our intent to defraud the U.S. government, to smuggle in contraband or to avoid duties,” said ABC News Vice President Jeffrey Schneider. “It was to test the system,” he added.
Republican Senator Charles Grassley (Iowa) wrote to Attorney General John Ashcroft to support the ABC News report.
“When the media are involved, I would urge that significant caution must be used by the federal government to ensure that legitimate reporting is not chilled,” Grassley wrote. “While embarrassed government bureaucrats may not think so, the country benefits from government mismanagement being exposed,” he added (Associated Press/USA Today, Sept. 11).
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