Georgetown Security Law Brief

Debate over whether the US will spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons

11/30/11: The Washington Post reports that in recent weeks a fierce fight has broken out in the nuclear world over an estimate issued by Ploughshares Fund—a foundation focused on nuclear policy—that the US will spend $700 billion over the next ten years on “nuclear weapons and related programs.” That estimate has stuck and become part of the public discourse, appearing in the recent advertisement and a letter by Rep. Edward Markey (D-Mass.). The administration of President Obama—who won a Nobel Peace Prize in part for calling for a world without nuclear weapons—has flatly rejected the $700 billion figure.

Iranian influence seeping into Iraq

11/30/11: The Washington Times reports that Iran's presence is already visible in Iraq, from the droves of pilgrims at Shiite holy sites to the brands of yogurt and jams on grocery shelves. But now Iraqis are bracing for a potential escalation of Persian influence as the US military leaves at the end of the year. It’s a natural step, most agree, for the only two Shiite Muslim-led governments in the Sunni-dominated Mideast to expand their relationship. Still, it’s a fine line for Iraq to walk, with even many in Iraq's Shiite majority wary of infringement of their country’s sovereignty and afraid of being overrun by the Iranian theocracy.

Police say AT&T hackers have terrorism ties

11/30/11: Information Week reports that the FBI aided in arrests in the Philippines of four men who allegedly hacked into AT&T customers' PBXs to generate revenue for Saudi-based militant group. Four people were arrested in the Philippines last week on charges that they hacked into the trunk lines of multiple US telecommunication companies, including AT&T. According to the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, the hackers' activities led to losses of almost $2 million for AT&T alone. 

ICC issues warrant for ousted Ivory Coast leader

11/29/11: Reuters reports that the International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for ousted Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo, his France-based lawyer said on Tuesday. A Gbagbo adviser said he expected him to be transferred to The Hague "in the coming hours." The court is investigating killings, rapes and other abuses committed in Ivory Coast during a post-election dispute between President Alassane Ouattara and Gbagbo, when the incumbent refused to cede power despite losing an election to Ouattara.

Turkey considers Iraq as alternative trade route

11/29/11: The Boston Globe reports that Turkey said Tuesday it will consider using Iraq as an alternative transit route for trade with the Middle East, cutting out Syria entirely as Damascus faces broad economic sanctions over its deadly crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising. Syria has been a main transit route for Middle East trade, which Damascus hopes will help cushion the effects of tough new sanctions from the Arab League and Turkey. On Monday, Syria warned that Damascus could use its strategic location to inflict economic damage of its own.

North Korea shows leader and son watching live-fire drills

11/29/11: The Miami Herald reports that North Korean television has aired footage of leader Kim Jong Il and his son watching massive live-fire drills. The footage aired on state television Tuesday showed Kim and his heir-apparent Kim Jong Un watching tanks, aircraft, warships and rocket launchers firing at targets on mountains. Dozens of troops were seen parachuting from a plane. The two Kims were seen speaking to each other as they watched the drills from an enclosed viewing stand with senior military officers. The drill involving army, navy and air force power came tensions between North and South Korea remain high.

Air Force says reporters not welcome at drone base anymore

11/29/11: WIRED reports that when the Air Force activated its first unmanned aircraft wing in 2007, the military invited journalists out to Creech Air Force Base in Nevada to come take a look at the robotic future taking off. Today, that kind of openness would be unthinkable. The Air Force began to limit press access to Creech in 2009. In the last six months, they’ve closed it off almost entirely, turning down every American media request to visit the drone pilots. The only visit approved during that period was from a British outlet, involving Creech’s UK drone squadron, Air Force officials tell Danger Room.

Lawmaker challenges TSA on claims of ethnic profiling

11/29/11: The Washington Post reports that at a Hono­lulu airport, federal officers who allegedly profiled Mexicans are known as “Mexicutioners.” At Newark Liberty International Airport, the profiling officers are called “Mexican hunters.” In both cases, co-workers gave the nicknames to colleagues who targeted passengers as an easy way for TSA employees to drive up their productivity numbers. These allegations of ethnic profiling resulted in staff retraining in Newark and have led a member of Congress to again question the effectiveness, validity and legitimacy of a program designed to detect suspected terrorists. 

Taliban paid by British forces to stop fighting

11/28/11: The Telegraph reports that members of the Taliban who give up their fight are being paid £100 a month by British forces, and will be allowed to keep their guns in a new initiative to end the insurgency. The “reintegration” programme, which has the full support of NATO, is intended to keep them from attacking troops from the International Stabilisation and Assistance Force (ISAF). Those who have attacked and killed British forces are also effectively given an amnesty, which means they will never be put on trial. 

Idea of civilians using drone aircraft may soon fly with FAA

11/27/11: The Los Angeles Times reports that drone aircraft, best known for their role in hunting and destroying terrorist hide-outs in Afghanistan, may soon be coming to the skies near you. Police agencies want drones for air support to spot runaway criminals. Utility companies believe they can help monitor oil, gas and water pipelines. Farmers think drones could aid in spraying their crops with pesticides. The FAA has issued 266 active testing permits for civilian drones but hasn't permitted them in national airspace on a wide scale due to concern over privacy violations and the possibility of midair collisions.

Post-9/11 security focus has created a rivalry between FBI and NYPD

11/27/11: The Washington Post reports that in the past decade, the NYPD has built up a smothering anti-terrorism apparatus, with more than 1,000 officers working counterterrorism, radiation detectors installed in the city and detectives assigned to 11 locations overseas. The powerful police presence, unprecedented in a US city, has led to periodic rivalries with the FBI. Those tensions have flared twice recently, including when an FBI-led task force questioned the evidence against two men charged in May by state prosecutors with telling an NYPD undercover detective about their desire to attack synagogues.

Iraq executes 12 militants over wedding massacre

11/24/11: The Seattle Times reports that Iraqi officials say 12 convicted al-Qaida members have been executed for their role in the 2006 massacre of 70 people at a wedding party in the central Iraqi town of Dujail. An Iraqi court had sentenced 15 people to death in June over the killings in the predominantly Shiite town, in the latest in a series of trials of alleged perpetrators of atrocities during the height of Iraq's Sunni insurgency.

Iran claims capture of 12 CIA spies

11/24/11: CBS News reports that an influential Iran parliamentarian has said that the country has arrested 12 agents of the American Central Intelligence Agency. Parviz Sorouri, who sits on the powerful committee of foreign policy and national security, that the alleged agents had been operating in coordination with Israel's Mossad and other regional agencies, and targeted the country's military and its nuclear program.

Serbs clash with NATO in north Kosovo

11/24/11: Reuters reports that NATO troops fired tear gas and gunfire was heard in north Kosovo late on Wednesday as hundreds of Serbs poured into the streets to defend barricades erected against the country's ethnic Albanian authorities.  Sirens called Serbs out to respond as NATO soldiers moved to dismantle one of more than a dozen roadblocks erected in July against an operation by the Kosovo government to post border police in the mainly Serb north, a Reuters witness said.

US diplomat accuses Uruguay major of assault

11/24/11: The Las Vegas Sun repots that an Uruguayan official says a US embassy official in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has accused an Uruguayan army major stationed in the country with assault. The South American country has sent more than a thousand troops to Congo as part of a UN peacekeeping mission. Uruguayan Colonel Mario Stevenazzi says the United Nations and the Uruguayan government are investigating the alleged assault, which he says doesn't appear to be sexual in nature.

No immediate trials in absentia before UN Special Tribunal for Lebanon

11/24/11: The Miami Herald reports that judges at a UN-backed tribunal set up to prosecute the assassins of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri say they will not immediately begin trial in absentia proceedings against four Hezbollah members charged in the 2005 slaying. The Special Tribunal for Lebanon announced Wednesday it will wait for Lebanese authorities to inform the court about efforts to arrest the suspects before making a decision on a trial in their absence. At a November 11 hearing, prosecutors urged judges to give Lebanon more time to track down and arrest the men.

FBI determines no hacking in Illinois water pump failure

11/24/11: The Sacramento Bee reports that Federal authorities say reports that hacking caused a water pump failure in Illinois' capital city aren't true. Department of Homeland Security spokesman Chris Ortman says initial reports over the weekend about the failure in Springfield were based on raw and unconfirmed data.

Intel analyst stripped of clearance settles with DIA, but still doesn’t know why he was fired

11/23/11: The Washington Post reports that the Defense Intelligence Agency has reached a settlement with a former analyst who was fired but never told why. John Dullahan, a 66-year-old Vietnam veteran and career Army officer, was stripped of his security clearance in 2009. Under a national security clause invoked by the Pentagon, he could not be provided with the information on the accusations that led to his termination, or attempt to contest the move under the normal appeals process.

US designates Lebanese al-Qaida spinoff member

11/23/11: The Investigative Project on Terrorism reports that the State Department has designated a leading member of Lebanon's al-Qaida spinoff organization for his involvement in terrorist attacks, but has not yet designated the organization. Ibrahim Suleiman Hamad Al-Hablain (also known as Abu Jabal) of Lebanon's Abdullah Azzam Brigade (AAB) was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on Tuesday.The designation of Al-Hablain "demonstrate[s] the United States' resolve in eliminating AAB's ability to execute violent attacks," the State Department said.

No armed FBI agents at 2012 Olympics

11/23/11: The Associated Press reports that the national security coordinator for the 2012 London Olympics sharply rejected reports that armed FBI agents would be taking part in securing the games, insisting Tuesday that Britain did not need outside help to keep the event safe. Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison dismissed a Guardian newspaper report suggesting that the United States would send dozens of armed FBI agents to protect US interests.

US, Russia and UK back Israel at Mideast meeting

11/22/11: The Houston Chronicle reports that, in a boost to Israel, Russia joined the US and Britain on Tuesday in backing the Jewish state's view that the Middle East cannot be turned into a nuclear arms-free zone without progress on regional peace. The three nations — who are charged with registering new members to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty — also blunted Arab efforts to get them involved creating such a zone, telling an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting that was the sole responsibility of countries in the region.

Turkey detains al-Qaida suspects

11/22/11: The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Turkish police on Tuesday detained 15 people on suspicion of links to the al-Qaida terror network, the state-run news agency said. The suspects were detained in simultaneous police raids in the central Anatolian city of Konya, the Anadolu Agency said. State-run TRT television said they were suspected al-Qaida members but gave no other details. Police would not comment.

US hands over all detainees to Iraqis except for Hezbollah agent

11/22/11: The Denver Post reports that the US handed over all of the remaining detainees in US custody in Iraq Tuesday, except for a Lebanese Hezbollah commander linked to the death of four American troops, Iraqi and American officials said. The prisoner transfer marks another step toward the American military's withdrawal from Iraq, as it plans for all US troops to be out of the country by the end of this year. It still leaves the contentious issue of what to do with a prisoner that many in the US worry will walk free if he's handed over to the Iraqi government.

British court backs Iraqis' bid for inquiry into abuse

11/22/11: The Huffington Post reports that Britain's Court of Appeal on Tuesday backed a bid by more than 100 Iraqi civilians to force a public inquiry into claims they were abused by British troops. Three appeals judges ordered the government to reconsider its decision not to hold public hearings into allegations of torture and degrading treatment by British soldiers and interrogators in southern Iraq. The 128 claimants assert they were subjected to beatings, sleep deprivation and other ill-treatment between March 2003 and December 2008 in British-controlled detention facilities.

Bangladesh war crimes trial begins in Dhaka

11/21/11: The BBC reports that a leader of a Bangladesh Islamist party has gone on trial accused of crimes against humanity during the country's independence struggle against Pakistan. Delawar Hossain Sayedee is the first of seven suspects set to face a tribunal on charges relating to the 1971 war. Charges listed against him include genocide, rape and religious persecution - all of which he denies.

Vote set on controversial South African secrets bill

11/21/11: The Missoulian reports that South Africa's parliament prepared Monday for a vote the following day on a state secrets bill that critics within and outside the governing party said would smother freedom of expression and make it harder to fight corruption. The African National Congress, which holds a majority of parliament's seats, sponsored the bill, making it likely it would become law. The ANC said South Africa needs to update apartheid-era legislation defining state secrets and imposing penalties for their disclosure.

Moroccan protesters demand boycott of poll

11/21/11: The Financial Times reports that thousands of Moroccans are protesting in cities across the country calling for a boycott of a parliamentary election later this week which they say will not be truly democratic. The November 25 vote is a test of reforms made by Morocco's ruler, King Mohammed, to try to defuse pressure for change in the Arab world's longest-serving dynasty in the wake of uprisings this year across the Middle East. A reporter in the city of Tangier, across the Strait of Gibraltar from Spain, said about 10,000 protesters had gathered in a square in the working class Beni Mkada district.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II pays rare visit to West Bank

11/21/11: The Boston Globe reports that Jordan's King Abdullah II paid a rare visit to the West Bank on Monday to show support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the two moderate leaders try to engage with previously shunned Islamists now on the rise in the region. Abbas is holding power-sharing talks later this week with Khaled Mashaal, the top leader of the rival Islamic militant group Hamas. The two will try to end a bitter split caused by Hamas' violent takeover of Gaza in 2007 that left Abbas' government in control only of the West Bank.

US to slap new sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry

11/21/11: CNN reports that the Obama administration plans to impose fresh sanctions against Iran on Monday. US sanctions already prohibit American companies from doing business with Iran. The goal of the new measures is to bar foreign companies from doing business with Iran's petrochemical industry by threatening to ban them from US markets, sources said.

Sri Lankan president receives report on war abuses

11/20/11: The Miami Herald reports that a Sri Lankan commission that investigated alleged abuses during the country's civil war delivered its final report to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday, amid rising international pressure for an independent probe on war crimes allegations. The government appointed the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission last year under intense international pressure to probe possible war crimes in the final stages of the war with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Opinion: Reneging on justice at Guantánamo

11/20/11: The New York Times features an editorial on jurisprudence concerning Guantanamo detainees. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled that Guantánamo Bay prisoners who are not American citizens have the right of habeas corpus, allowing them to challenge the legality of their detention in federal court and seek release. The power of the ruling, however, has been eviscerated by the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The appellate court’s wrongheaded rulings and analyses, which have been followed by federal district judges, have reduced to zero the number of habeas petitions granted in the past year and a half.

Inside Guantanamo, detainees live in limbo

11/20/11: NPR features an audio reporting piece by Dina Temple-Raston who has reported on Guantanamo for years. She reports that the prison is beginning to feel different, in the sense that it is beginning to feel permanent. Temple-Raston notes that while “in regular prisons [she’s] had some sort of contact with the inmates, […] in Guantanamo, the prisoners are behind glass. It's like a terrorist museum.”

The post-9/11 tradeoff between security and civil liberties

11/20/11: The Chicago Daily Herald reports that in the early months after the 9/11 terror attacks, America’s visceral reaction was to gird for a relentless, whatever-it-takes quest to punish those responsible and prevent any recurrences. To a striking extent, those goals have been achieved. Yet over the years, Americans have also learned about trade-offs, about decisions and practices that placed national security on a higher plane than civil liberties and, in the view of some, above the rule of law. It’s by no means the first time in US history that security concerns spawned tactics that, when brought to light, troubled Americans.

Hundreds of Afghans protest long-term pact with US

11/20/11: The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that more than 1,000 university students blocked a main highway in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday as they protested against any agreement that would allow US troops to stay in Afghanistan after a planned transfer of authority in 2014. An assembly of more than 2,000 tribal elders and dignitaries known as a loya jirga endorsed the idea of such agreement in a conference that ended Saturday, though they also backed a series of conditions proposed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai including the end of night raids by international troops and complete Afghan control over detainees.

Afghanistan has big plans for biometric data

11/20/11: The New York Times reports that Afghanistan has many dubious distinctions on the international-rankings front: 10th-poorest, third-most corrupt, worst place to be a child, longest at war. To that may soon be added: most heavily fingerprinted. Since September, Afghanistan has been the only country in the world to fingerprint and photograph all travelers who pass through Kabul International Airport, arriving and departing. A handful of other countries fingerprint arriving foreigners, but no country has ever sought to gather biometric data on everyone who comes and goes, whatever their nationality.

Commentary: DoD’s combat exclusion policies limit commanders and strain our current forces

11/20/11: The Small Wars Journal features an article on the DOD’s female Combat Exclusion Policy, based on a 1988 DoD restriction on women’s service that created the “Risk Rule” for assignment of women in the military.  The rule excluded women from non-combat units or missions if the risks of exposure to direct combat, hostile fire, or capture were equal to or greater than the risk in the combat units they supported. Of course, the logic of combat exclusion policies, as currently written, turns on the conceptualization of the battlefield as a linear environment.

Prospects improve for September 11 suits against nations

11/19/11: The New York Times reports that a series of surprise developments in the courts and Congress has given thousands of September 11 victims perhaps their best chance in the 10 years since the attacks to press lawsuits against Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other nations that they believe were financially complicit. Those lawsuits have been largely stymied by legal and diplomatic hurdles, including a 1976 law that gave foreign nations blanket immunity from lawsuits in American courts in many circumstances.

China appears open to constructive resolution of dispute over South China Sea

11/19/11: CBS News reports that China signaled a gradual evolution toward resolving quarrels with its Asian neighbors over disputed waters of the South China Sea. A senior US administration official described the development as an encouraging step forward in easing tensions over the busiest trade route in the world. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao offered a measured response after 16 of the 18 leaders attending a major Asian summit raised the issue of maritime security, primarily on the South China Sea.

Document trove exposes surveillance methods

11/19/11: The Wall Street Journal reports that documents it has obtained open a rare window into a new global market for the off-the-shelf surveillance technology that has arisen in the decade since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The techniques described in the trove of 200-plus marketing documents, spanning 36 companies, include hacking tools that enable governments to break into people's computers and cellphones, and "massive intercept" gear that can gather all Internet communications in a country.

Saudi Arabia expands its power as US influence diminishes

11/19/11: The Washington Post features an opinion piece by David Ignatius concerning the balance of power in the Middle East.  According to Ignatius, over this year of Arab Spring revolt, Saudi Arabia has increasingly replaced the United States as the key status-quo power in the Middle East — a role that seems likely to expand even more in coming years as the Saudis boost their military and economic spending. Saudis describe the kingdom’s growing role as a reaction, in part, to the diminished clout of the United States.

Islamist Hamadi Jebali named new Tunisian prime minister

11/19/11: The BBC reports that a senior official from the Islamist Ennahda party, Hamadi Jebali, is to become Tunisia's next prime minister, as part of a coalition deal between the three biggest parties. The Congress for the Republic will hold the post of president, while Ettakatol will choose the speaker of the constitutional assembly, sources added. Ennahda won the largest share of the vote in assembly elections last month.

Obama gets little pushback on Asia trip

11/19/11: The Albany Democrat Herald reports that an assertive President Barack Obama got much of what he wanted during his Asia-Pacific trip because the results didn't depend on negotiating with the world. He mostly just announced them. Obama expanded the US military presence in southeast Asia, sent tough signals to China in its backyard, ordered his top diplomat on a breakthrough mission to Myanmar and presided over the jobs-creating sale of Boeing planes to an Indonesian airline company.

Abdo pleads not guilty to new charges in terror plot

11/18/11: The Killeen Daily Herald reports that private first class Naser Jason Abdo, facing federal allegations that he planned to kill Fort Hood soldiers, pleaded not guilty to new, elevated charges. At the end of the federal court hearing, Abdo, 21, was defiant again. As US Marshals led the AWOL soldier from the courtroom, he turned toward several reporters in attendance and threw a folded document, saying loudly: "press release." During the hearing, Abdo kept the document tightly folded in his left hand. When he threw the paper, it hit a wooden divider between the first and second row of chairs. The document was grabbed by a marshal sitting in the first row before it could be read.

Convicted terrorists appeal Colorado confinement

11/18/11: The Denver Post reports that an attorney for four convicted terrorists asked a federal appellate court Thursday to find that the US government violated the terrorists' due-process rights when it moved them to the federal Supermax prison in southern Colorado. The four men — airplane hijacker Omar Rezaq and 1993 World Trade Center bomb conspirators Ibrahim Elgabrowny, El-Sayyid Nosair​ and Mohammed Saleh — were moved to Supermax from less-restrictive prisons between 1997 and 2003. The prisoners say they did nothing while in custody to warrant the step up in confinement and that the government gave them no legitimate chance to show they could be moved back to lower-security prisons.

US probing use of surveillance technology in Syria

11/18/11: The Washington Post reports that the Commerce Department is investigating whether technology produced by a California company helped Syrian police monitor dissidents amid a bloody crackdown there. Commerce officials are attempting to determine whether Blue Coat Systems of Sunnyvale, California, had prior knowledge that its equipment and software was being used by the Syrian government, according to several US officials. They spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation.

Federal government investigating possible cyber attack

11/18/11: CNN reports that federal officials confirmed they are investigating Friday whether a cyber attack may have been responsible for the failure of a water pump at a public water district in Illinois last week. But they cautioned that no conclusions had been reached, and they disputed one cyber security expert's statements that other utilities are vulnerable to a similar attack. Joe Weiss, a noted cyber security expert, disclosed the possible cyber attack on his blog Thursday. Weiss said he had obtained a state government report, dated November 10 and titled "Public Water District Cyber Intrusion," which gave details of the alleged cyber attack culminating in the "burn out of a water pump."

FBI must pay penalty to California Muslims

11/18/11: The Sacramento Bee reports that the FBI must pay the legal fees of Muslim activist groups that sued the federal agency for access to its files, according to a US District Court ruling filed Thursday. Judge Cormac Carney made clear that the financial sanction was not based on the merits of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California's Freedom of Information Act case, but it was to punish a government that chose to lie to its own judicial system. "The Court must impose monetary sanctions to deter the Government from deceiving the Court again," Carney wrote.

For the first time in more than 50 years, a US Secretary of State is set to visit Burma

11/18/11: Time reports that this year, the leaders of Burma, once one of the most hermetic countries on earth, have unleashed a charm campaign on the world. The efforts, ranging from diplomatic globe-trotting to a raft of economic and political reforms designed to impress foreign governments, are now bearing fruit. On November 18, US President Barack Obama announced that Hillary Clinton would visit the impoverished nation on December 1. The visit will be the first by a US Secretary of State to Burma in more than five decades. Not even North Korea has been so diplomatically isolated.

Russian military chief warns of nuclear war risks

11/18/11: CBS News reports that, according to its top military officer, Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear. General Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned over NATO's expansion eastward and warned that the risks of Russia being pulled into local conflicts have "risen sharply." Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that "under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons."

EU & US initial new deal on air passengers' data

11/18/11: The Bellingham Herald reports that the EU says it has initialed a new agreement with the United States on the transfer of air passengers' data for flights from Europe to America. The EU said Thursday the accord addresses European privacy concerns because it sets clear limits to what the data can be used for by US authorities, and contains stronger data protection guarantees. If endorsed by the EU Council and the European Parliament, it will replace the existing agreement from 2007.