Topic:
Counterterrorism
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Known/suspected terrorists in witness protection flew on commercial planes
The federal witness protection program has taken in individuals considered known or suspected terrorists, but program officials didn't share the new identities of those individuals with national security stakeholders, a new report from the Justice Department office of inspector general says.
'Going dark' remedy could boomerang to undermine national security
A federal attempt to ensure that Internet communications and services can be wiretapped could undermine national security by making the U.S. government's own communications less secure and by causing hardened communication tools to proliferate among a receptive audience that includes bad guys, says a May 17 paper from privacy advocates and cybersecurity researchers.
DoD: AUMF covers groups not in existence on 9/11
Even if an organization did not exist on Sept. 11, 2001, "if they become an associated force with al Qaeda, then they have joined with the organization that was responsible for those 9/11 attacks, and we believe they are fully covered by the AUMF," DoD Acting General Counsel Robert Taylor told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Mueller says FBI cuts threaten response to attacks like Boston
Training builds relationships between law enforcement agencies, and that's part of what made the response to the Boston Marathon bombings so effective--but it's also among the first things those agencies cut when budgets tighten, FBI Director Robert Mueller said May 16.
Boston police chief details federal impact on response to Marathon attack
Training and equipment that Boston police received from the federal government saved lives after the April 15 Marathon bombings, Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis told a House panel May 9. He singled out the Urban Areas Security Initiative, a grant program run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Representatives call for CFATS review
In a May 2 letter (.pdf), Reps. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) say that in light of the April 17 explosion at a fertilizer plant in West, Texas, a presidentially appointed commission should review the CFATS program. The explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant killed at least 14, many of them firefighters responding to a fire at the plant.
Americans favor expanding surveillance but worry about losing civil liberties, poll finds
More than four-fifths of American adults favor the expansion of camera surveillance in public places, according to a poll from CNN, Time and ORC International. A similar amount favor the use of facial-recognition technology to scan for suspected terrorists at certain locations.
Expectations of terrorism rose after Boston, but few are very worried
In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, three-fourths of American adults said they expected occasional terrorism in the United States, though only 23 percent said they were very worried that another attack would occur soon, a Pew Research Center survey found.
FBI Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force leads not always timely or relevant
The FBI's Foreign Terrorist Tracking Task Force--which since 2006 hasn't focused exclusively on foreign terrorists--doesn't always provide field offices "with timely and relevant information," say Justice Department auditors.
Boston attack shows promise of citizen photographs for investigations
Law enforcement needs to figure out how to handle an influx of photographs submitted by terror attack bystanders, Richard Daddario, the New York City Police Department's deputy commissioner for counterterrorism, said at a House hearing April 25.
