An Ignoble Experiment

2. NSA considering exposing pornography habits of influential extremists

Terrorist organizations value lone wolves for their ability to carry out the goals of the organization with lower costs, little or no need to plan, and a lower probability of detection, Amit Kumar of Georgetown University said during a recent event at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies.

Lone wolf attacks also appeal to organizations because they can motivate terrorist sympathizers to act.

"They show would-be terrorists, or would-be lone wolves, that here is one guy who has committed this act. All of you can go and do the same thing," said Kumar, a professor at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, during a Nov. 25 event at the think tank in Arlington, Va.

Terrorists who largely act alone or in small independent groups also afford terrorist organizations plausible deniability for any involvement they may have had. Though terrorist groups often claim responsibility for attacks, they sometimes try to go undetected.

Kumar pointed to the 2008 attack in Mumbai that killed more than 150 people. The militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which plotted the attack, denied its role and condemned the attack in its immediate aftermath.

Kumar also argued that whether attacks are carried out by lone wolves or well-organized groups tends to be ambiguous, especially as groups can motivate and instruct their adherents over the Internet without any direct interaction.

"We are kind of a little bit obsessed with the organization of al Qaeda, the organizational structure," when its ideology and the movement surrounding it can persist despite the state of the organization, he said.

For more:
- go to the event webpage (webcast available)

Read more about: counterterrorism, lone wolves
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By Zach Rausnitz

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3. Rahinah Ibrahim no-fly trial set to begin Dec. 2

The National Security Agency considered exposing the pornography viewing habits of Muslim "radicalizers," according to documents that the Huffington Post obtained from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

In a TS//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY document, the NSA says that some "vulnerabilities, if exposed, would likely call into question a radicalizer's devotion to the jihadist cause, leading to the degradation or loss of his authority."

Aside from viewing Internet pornography, the activities the NSA considered revealing included communications with young girls, the use of donations for personal expenses, "exorbitant" speaking fees, and contradictory statements.

The documents, dated Oct. 3, 2012, include six examples of influential individuals that the NSA considered radicalizers, all of whose names the website withheld.

One of them had privately disagreed with al Qaeda on issues such as targeting civilians. Another had a "glamorous lifestyle," a TS//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY/FISA document says. Several had apparently misused or misdirected funds.

Three of the six target an English-speaking audience, while the others target Arabic speakers. Those who focused on English speakers had relatively few contacts associated with terrorism, "suggesting that the target audience includes individuals who do not yet hold extremist views but who are susceptible to the extremist message," another TS//SI//REL TO USA, FVEY/FISA document says.

The Huffington Post quoted former NSA and Homeland Security Department official Stewart Baker defending the NSA and dismissing concerns that the agency might use its intelligence to damage the reputations of Americans.

"On that ground you could question almost any tactic we use in a war, and at some point you have to say we're counting on our officials to know the difference," Baker said.

For more:
- go to the Huffington Post article

Read more about: counterterrorism, al Qaeda
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By David Perera

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4. HSARPA and TSA unveil joint strategic plan

A lawsuit first filed in 2006 by a Malaysian woman against the federal government over her inclusion in the no-fly list is set to open Dec. 2.

Airport security officials detained Rahinah Ibrahim, then a doctoral student at Stanford University, in January 2005 when she attempted to board a flight to Hawaii with an ultimate destination of Kuala Lumpur. Ibrahim ultimately did fly to Malaysia, but the State Department prevented her from returning to the United States by revoking her student visa.

A federal judge ordered (.pdf) in November the case to go to public bench trial. The judge, William Alsup of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, earlier rejected (.pdf) a September motion for summary judgment (.pdf) by Justice Department attorneys on the grounds that litigating the merits of Ibrahim's inclusion on the no-fly list would require disclosure of classified information excluded from the case under the state secrets privilege.

Ibrahim, an observant Muslim who wears a hijab, seeks her removal from the watchlist. She is also suing under the First Amendment, asserting that the government burdened her exercise of religion. Before her inclusion on the no-fly list, an FBI agent questioned Ibrahim and her husband about their religious practices and associations, court documents state. The last known public figure for individuals included in the federal government's consolidated terrorist watchlist, included in a 2007 Justice Department audit, is more than 700,000.

The Secure Flight Program, which matches passenger data against the no-fly list, on average finds five to six real matches per day, Homeland Security Department officials told a delegation of European Commission observers.

The commission issued Nov. 27 a report (.pdf) assessing U.S. compliance with privacy protections under the 2012 E.U.-U.S. passenger name record agreement, finding that overall DHS has upheld them.

The report also says that Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Center selects around 1 percent of air passengers each day for closer examination, forwarding names onward for a decision on whether the passenger should be allowed to enter, sent to secondary inspection, or arrested.

For more:
- download Alsup's Nov. 15 final pretrial order (.pdf)
- download a redacted copy of Alsup's Nov. 1. order on the DOJ motion for summary judgment (.pdf)
- download the DOJ Oct. 10 motion for summary judgment (.pdf)
- download the Nov. 27 E.U. report on the passenger name record agreement (.pdf)

Read more about: Alsup, Malaysia
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By David Perera

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5. Coast Guard: TWICs don't prove resident alien status

The Homeland Security Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Transportation Security Administration say they're going to work more closely together in a joint strategic plan they posted online Nov. 18.

The primary purpose of the strategy, it states, is to align HSARPA research and development "to support the acquisition of assets by the TSA programs that will ultimately support the lifecycle replacements and recapitalization."

The strategy says the two organizations will swap staff on detail and that HSARPA will use TSA passenger aviation program-developed technology roadmaps outlining desired capabilities as a guide for their own roadmaps and transportation security program plans.

Both HSARPA, an element within the Homeland Security Department's Science and Technology Directorate, and the TSA have a legislative mandate to undertake research and development.

The strategy lists six broad goals for transportation security-related R&D. Namely:

Enhance detection performance of security screening systems;
Improve passenger experience in passenger aviation security through increased integration and automation of security screening processes;
Develop enhanced technologies and capabilities that enable risk based and intelligence driven screening processes;
Increase capability to respond to emerging threats through development of flexible security solutions;
Apply science and technology breakthroughs to advance security solutions to passenger aviation; and,
Apply science and technology improvements to enhance the security of the intermodal transportation.

DHS officials indicated earlier this year that they were developing the strategy, with then-HSARPA director Paul Benda telling a House Homeland Security subcommittee in May that "the challenge we have is making sure that the investments that we make at S&T address TSA's key priorities."

At the time, TSA had already designated HSARPA as its lead for developmental test and evaluation for explosives detection devices, Benda said.

As for future technological developments, Benda told the committee that DHS hopes to have a passenger imaging technology prototype ready within three years that will allow passengers at airport security checkpoints to walk through an imaging machine without stopping, with their pockets unemptied and their shoes on.

For more:
- download the HSARPA-TSA strategy (.pdf)

Read more about: TSA, airport security
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By Zach Rausnitz

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