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HavenWorks.com/law/enforcement/archive/2003 |
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/ 2003 Law Enforcement News |
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- "Ridge:
U.S. tightens security for New Year's." ... "With
New Year's on the way, security efforts across the United States have been
"ramped up in an unprecedented way" through the end of the week, Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Tuesday." ... "The U.S. government will
keep the terror threat alert level at orange -- the second-highest on the
five-tiered, color-coded scale -- for the rest of the week as officials
remain concerned about airline security, Ridge said."
-CNN
- 
-
- "US
expands air marshal plan abroad: Foreign flights
must comply if request issued." ... "The Department of Homeland Security
announced yesterday that it will require all foreign air carriers to place
an armed guard on any flight over United States airspace if counterterrorism
officials ask them to do so." ... "The move, described as an "emergency"
rules change that is effective immediately, reflects growing concern that
the Al Qaeda terrorist network may try to exploit foreign carriers as a
gap in US air security by hijacking their planes and flying them into populated
areas or high-risk industrial sites." -By Charlie
Savage -Boston/Globe
- "Prison terms
for female offenders now common in U.S.." ... "Nowhere
has there been more attention focused on that trend than in Oklahoma, where
the incarceration rate for women is more than double the national average.
The Legislature set up a task force this year to learn why. Nationally,
from 1993 through 2002, while overall crime was falling, the number of
women arrested rose 14.1 percent, according to the FBI's Uniform Crime
Report. In the same period, the number of men arrested fell 5.9 percent."
... "Some individual crimes show even more striking disparities. While
the number of men arrested on charges of aggravated assault fell 12.3 percent
in the decade, the number of women arrested on the same charge rose 24.9
percent. Drug arrests rose 34.5 percent a year for men in this period,
50 percent for women. And the number of women arrested on embezzlement
charges increased 80.5 percent, actually surpassing the number of men arrested
on the same charges, the only crime for which that is true." -By
Fox Butterfield -NYTimes
via -IHT.com
-
- "Explosion
in Baghdad Kills at Least 10: Truck Loaded With Explosives
Rams Into a Small Bus in Baghdad, Killing at Least 10 People." ... "A truck
loaded with explosives rammed into a small bus near a police station Wednesday,
killing at least 10 Iraqis, an Iraqi deputy minister said. He blamed the
attack on Saddam Hussein loyalists angry over the former dictator's capture."
... "The explosion occurred before dawn in al-Bayaa, a poor district in
southwest Baghdad, police said. Two cars nearby were destroyed. U.S. soldiers
and Iraqi police secured the area after the explosion."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- 
- "Coalition
fears confirmed as blasts kill eight." ... "Iraqi
insurgents confirmed US and British government fears that the arrest of
Saddam could galvanise them by mounting two attacks yesterday on police
stations, killing eight and injuring 22." ... "The fatal explosion occurred
at Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber sped through a fence
protecting a police station in a four-wheel drive packed with explosives.
It hit another car and detonated after guards opened fire. Six policemen
were killed, as well as the driver; about 20 people were wounded." -By
Ewen MacAskill and Richard Norton-Taylor -Guardian.co.uk
- "Car
bomb at police station in Iraq kills at least 17, police say."
... "A suspected suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside an Iraqi
police station Sunday near Baghdad, killing at least 17 people and wounding
33 others, hours before the announcement of Saddam Hussein's capture, the
U.S. military said." ... "The car bombing in Khaldiyah, 50 miles west of
Baghdad, killed police officers, city workers and civilian bystanders,
U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jeff Swisher said." -By Sameer
N. Yacoub -AP
via -SFGate.com
- 
- "Exceptions
to Miranda rule: Are they constitutional? The Supreme
Court hears three cases this week that could clarify the scope of defendant
rights." ... ""You have the right to remain silent. If you give up this
right, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of
law; you have a right to counsel ..."" ... "Although such warnings have
become widely known, they have remained a source of controversy within
the law-enforcement community ever since the US Supreme Court endorsed
the practice in the 1966 landmark case Miranda v. Arizona. This week, the
US Supreme Court takes up three cases all dealing with police attempts
to bypass the Miranda warnings at crucial stages of an investigation."
-By Warren Richey -CSMonitor
- 
-
- "Turkey arrests
bombing suspects." ... "Turkish investigators arrested
a number of suspects Friday in the deadly suicide bombings on the British
consulate and a London-based bank the day before that have been blamed
on al-Qaida. Foreign governments warned that Turkey could be the target
of still more terrorist attacks." ... "Foreign minister Abdullah Gul confirmed
some arrests had been made in connection with Thursday’s attacks but declined
to give details." ... "The daily newspaper Hurriyet reported that police
had detained and were interrogating seven people."
-AP & -Reuters
via -MSNBC
-
- 
- "Protesters,
Miami police clash during free-trade demonstrations."
... "Police in riot gear fired rubber bullets and tear gas and used batons,
plastic shields, concussion grenades and stun guns in clashes Thursday
with hundreds of demonstrators protesting talks aimed at creating a hemisphere-wide
free-trade zone." ... "The clashes took place before and after a march
by 8,000 to 10,000 union members." -By Ken Thomas
-AP via -SFGate.com
-
- "NYPD
to Have Access to Interpol Data." ... "The NYPD will
be the first police department in the United States to plug into a Interpol
database that allows access to fingerprints, passports and pictures." ...
"Ronald Noble, secretary general of Interpol, the world's largest international
police organization, said the heavily encrypted system, named I-24/7, will
put information about suspects anywhere in the world at police officers'
fingertips." -By Daryl Khan
-AP via -Newsday.com
- 
-
- "US
to review police body armor: Justice Dept.
to assess reliability of material that's used in vests." ... "One day after
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly of Massachusetts filed a lawsuit against
the manufacturer of a popular bulletproof vest, the United States Department
of Justice has launched an intensive review of the reliability of police
body armor, which officials say may lose strength over time and potentially
put police officers' lives at risk." ... "The review will focus on vests
made with the bullet-resistant material called Zylon, manufactured by the
Japanese-based company Toyobo." -By Jared Stearns
-Boston/Globe
- 
-
- "U.S.
Carries Out Terror Drill in Arizona: Terror
Drill Along United States-Mexico Border in Arizona Tests Law Enforcement
Readiness." ... "A mock suicide bomber and a quick succession of blasts
were part of a terrorism drill designed to test the responsiveness of health
and law enforcement officials along the U.S.-Mexico border." ... "The Arizona
Office of Homeland Security said about 1,000 people took part in the drill
Sunday morning, which started when a man walked into the Mariposa Port
of Entry compound, shouted the name of a mythical terrorist group and set
off an explosion. The man was actually a firefighter in a protective suit."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- ""Fortress
London" readies for Bush visit." ... "Armed police
have turned the capital into "Fortress London" amid heightened fears of
a guerrilla attack on the eve of U.S. President George W. Bush's visit."
... "The White House, wary of an al Qaeda strike, has insisted on tight
precautions. Traditional events such as a horse-drawn carriage ride with
the Queen will not be staged." -By Paul Majendie
-Reuters
- "Falluja
bomb attack kills five." ... "Four civilians and
a suspected suicide bomber were today reported killed in Iraq as aid agencies
and non-governmental organisations considered their future in the country."
... "The five died when a small car driven by one man - thought to be the
bomber - exploded 100 metres from the main police station in the town of
Falluja, 40 miles west of Baghdad, the Reuters news agency reported." ...
"The attack comes one day after a strike on the Iraqi headquarters of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and three Baghdad police
stations that killed 35 people and wounded 244 others within an hour, in
the city's bloodiest day since it fell to US forces in April." -By
Simon Jeffery -Guardian.co.uk
and agencies
- "Bombings
Plunge Iraqi Capital Into Chaos at Start of Ramadan."
... "A series of suicide bombings shook Baghdad early today, including
an attack on the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross
and blasts at four Iraqi police stations that punctuated two days of bloody
violence in this capital city." ... "Iraq's police chief and deputy interior
minister, Ahmad Ibrahim, said at a news conference that 34 people had been
killed and 224 had been wounded in the attacks. He said 26 of the dead
were civilians and 8 were police officers; 65 police officers and 159 civilians
were wounded." -By Dexter Filkins and Alex Berenson
-NYTimes via -Google-News
- 
- 
- "Six
months after Saddam, eight die as bombers prolong violence."
... "A suicide car bomber killed at least eight people at a Baghdad police
station yesterday as Iraq marked six months since the fall of Saddam Hussein's
regime with another day of bitterly familiar violence." ... "The latest
attack killed three Iraqi policemen and five civilians who had crowded
into the courtyard of the police station in the poor Shia Muslim district
now known as Sadr City. The driver of the car also died and at least 45
people were injured in the blast." ... "In a separate incident in western
Baghdad a few minutes earlier, a Spanish intelligence officer was assassinated
in front of his house." -By Rory McCarthy and Giles
Tremlett -Guardian.co.uk
-
- "U.S. to boost
number of air marshals: 5,000 more armed law
enforcement agents to be added." ... "Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge
will announce plans on Tuesday to make 5,000 more armed law enforcement
agents available to act as federal air marshals, officials said."-Reuters
via -MSNBC
-
- 
- "Bomb rocks
Baghdad police station: 1 dead in blast; also
U.S. soldier killed in copter crash." ... "A car bomb exploded near the
headquarters of U.S.-trained police in Baghdad on Tuesday, killing one
policeman and wounding many bystanders. Separately, a U.S. soldier was
killed in a helicopter crash, a day after a roadside bomb killed two American
soldiers." ... "The explosion damaged the office of the U.S.-appointed
Baghdad police chief, Hassan al-Obeidi, who was not in the complex at the
time of the attack, Iraqi police said." -AP
& -Reuters via -MSNBC
- 
-
- "Indonesia hotel
was known target: Australian FM warns of more
terror attacks in coming days." ... "Police on Wednesday said they seized
documents last month showing terrorists had planned to target the area
around Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel, where a powerful car bomb killed 10 people
and injured nearly 150 on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Australia’s foreign minister
said his government had acquired intelligence indicating there could be
further attacks in Indonesia in the coming days." ... "Jemaah Islamiyah,
blamed for last year’s deadly nightclub bombing in Bali, allegedly claimed
responsibility for the hotel bombing in remarks published by Singapore’s
Straits Times newspaper." -Ned Colt, Jim Miklaszewski,
and Tammy Kupperman with the -AP
and -Reuters via -MS-NBC
Civil
Liberties News
- "Agency
Documents Abuse Under Patriot Act: Justice
Department Report Finds 34 `credible' Civil Rights Complaints Under Patriot
Act." ... "Justice Department investigators found that 34 claims were credible
of more than 1,000 civil rights and civil liberties complaints stemming
from anti-terrorism efforts, including allegations of intimidation and
false arrest." ... "According to a report Monday, Glenn A. Fine, the Justice
Department's inspector general, looked into allegations made between Dec.
16, 2002, and June 15 under oversight provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
Many complaints were from Muslims or people of Arab descent who claimed
they were beaten or verbally abused while being detained."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
-
- 2004
Presidential Election
- "Sept.
11 probers complain of delays: White House
slow in providing access to key documents, federal commission says." ...
"Leaders of a federal commission investigating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks
complained Tuesday that the Bush administration had been too slow to provide
access to key documents and was intimidating witnesses by insisting that
CIA and FBI "minders" attend sensitive interviews." ... "The chairman of
the commission, former New Jersey Gov. Thomas Kean, said the delays were
threatening the panel's ability to meet its congressionally imposed deadline
and produce a final report before the 2004 presidential election." ...
"Kean and commission Vice Chairman Lee Hamilton were particularly critical
of the administration's insistence that interviews with intelligence or
law enforcement officials be supervised." -By Greg
Miller-LAtimes
via -SFGate.com
-
- "Bomb
Kills 7 New Iraqi Policemen: Bremer Says Attackers
Show Panic and 'Disdain'." ... "A bomb exploded on a sidewalk here today
[20030705]
as the first class of U.S.-trained Iraqi police recruits was marching from
its graduation ceremony to a police station, killing seven of the new policemen
and injuring at least 40 other people, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials.
It was the most lethal attack yet against Iraqis participating in U.S.-sponsored
nation-building efforts." ... "U.S. and British soldiers have been the
targets of increasing numbers of shootings, ambushes and other assaults
in recent days. Iraqi police stations, where American troops are training
new local police forces, have also been attacked, along with Iraqi businesses
that sell products or services to U.S. forces or private contractors."
-By
Souad Mekhennet and Molly Moore -WashingtonPost
- "Research:
Teens victimized in police Explorers program:
At least a dozen teenagers assigned to work with police departments as
part of the Boy Scouts' Law Enforcement Explorers program have allegedly
been sexually abused by officers during the past year. In the past five
years, such molestations number at least 25, according to criminologists'
research being released Wednesday." ... "Law Enforcement Explorers is a
co-ed program affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America. The broader scouts
Exploring program also places 14- to 20-year-olds with firefighters, medical
providers, lawyers and others to learn about those careers. In 2002, about
43,000 Explorers were assigned to police and sheriff's departments around
the United States." -AP
via -CNN
-
- "Six
UK soldiers killed in Iraq ambush." ... "Six members
of Britain's Royal Military Police were killed in southern Iraq on Tuesday
and eight soldiers wounded, raising fears that UK and US coalition forces
are meeting growing resistance from Iraqi rebels." ... "The bodies of the
Royal Military Police members were found in the southern Iraqi town of
Al Majar al Kabir, about 125 miles north of Basra." ... "The exact circumstances
of their deaths were still unclear on Tuesday night but, according to British
officials, they may have been connected with an incident at a local police
station." -By Charles Clover, James Blitz, James Politi
-FT.com
-
- July
4th News
- "Texas
Terror Worries: Report: Terrorists Possibly
Targeting Lone Star State." ... "Federal homeland security officials have
informed Texas law enforcement agencies of intelligence reportedly gathered
from suspected al Qaeda operatives discussing potential terrorism in the
state next month." ... "Homeland security officials are reviewing the information
eavesdropped
earlier this month from two suspected al Qaeda operatives discussing potential
terrorism in Texas timed for the July Fourth weekend, unnamed officials
in Washington told the Houston Chronicle on Monday."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- "French
Arrest 150 From Iranian Opposition Group." ... "French
authorities today (20030617)
arrested more than 150 members of a long-established armed Iranian opposition
group, accused them of organizing terrorist acts, and seized $1.3 million
in $100 bills." ... "The move against the Mujahedeen Khalq, or People's
Mujahedeen, as the group is known, effectively shut down its operations
in France, while the timing of the action seemed to send conciliatory signals
to Iran." ... "The People's Mujahedeen, based in Baghdad, has long been
the best-organized political and military operation fighting to overthrow
the Islamic Republic of Iran. In 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright designated the group as a foreign terrorist organization. The
European Union declared it a terrorist organization in May 2002." (1, 2)
-By
Elaine Sciolino -NYTimes via
-Google-News
- "Iran
protests appear to die down on 7th night." ... "Demonstrations
against Iran's clerical rulers appeared to be dying down on their seventh
night on Tuesday with uniformed police reining in Islamic militants who
attacked protesters with clubs and chains on previous nights." ... "While
the Islamic militants report ultimately to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei,
the police are responsible both to the government of President Mohammad
Khatami and Khamenei." -By Jon Hemming-Reuters
via -MSNBC
- "Al Qaeda in
America: The Enemy Within: How the terrorist
organization is recruiting and planning strikes here in the U.S." ... "Khalid
Shaikh Mohammed looked more like a loser in a T shirt than a modern-day
Mephistopheles. But “KSM,” as he is always referred to in FBI documents,
held the key to unlock the biggest mystery of the war on terror: is Al
Qaeda operating inside America?" ... "The answer according to KSM's confessions
and the intense U.S. investigation that followed, is yes." ... "KSM revealed
an overhaul of Al Qaeda’s approach to penetrating America. The 9-11 hijackers
were all foreign nationals—mostly Saudis, led by an Egyptian—who infiltrated
the United States by obtaining student or tourist visas. To foil the heightened
security after 9-11, Al Qaeda began to rely on operatives who would be
harder to detect. They recruited U.S. citizens or people with legitimate
Western passports who could move freely in the United States. They used
women and family members as “support personnel.” And they made an effort
to find African-American Muslims who would be sympathetic to Islamic extremism.
Using “mosques, prisons and universities throughout the United States,”
according to the documents, KSM reached deep into the heartland, lining
up agents in Baltimore, Columbus, Ohio, and Peoria, Ill. The Feds have
uncovered at least one KSM-run cell that could have done grave damage to
the United States." -By Daniel Klaidman, Mark Hosenball,
Michael Isikoff, and Evan Thomas, with Kevin Peraino, Steve Tuttle, Holly
Bailey, Suzanne Smalley and Sarah Downey 20030623
Ed. -Newsweek
via -MSNBC
- "Police
arrest hard-line militants following violent raids on Tehran student dormitory."
... "Police on Saturday arrested dozens of pro-clergy militants who smashed
their way into university dormitories and beat up sleeping students in
a wave of violence aimed at putting down protests against Iran's Islamic
government." ... "The arrests appeared to be an attempt by Iran's ruling
hard-line clerics to rein in their militant supporters, reflecting fears
that the violence might only stoke the past week's anti-government protests,
which were the largest in months." -By Ali Akbar Dareini
-AP via -SFGate.com
- "Tehran's violent
protests spread." ... "A third night of student protests
outside Tehran University's dormitories exploded early on Friday into the
surrounding middle-class neighborhoods, with large gangs of students fighting
running street battles against vigilantes armed with sticks and chains."
... "At one major intersection, demonstrators hurled bricks at trucks of
riot policemen who were rushing to lift barricades and douse fires that
protesters had ignited in the streets. The protesters chanted "Death to
Khamenei" a slogan that can bring a jail term in this country, where Ayatollah
Sayed Ali Khamenei, Iran's supreme religious leader, goes unquestioned."
-By Neil MacFarquhar-NYTimes
via -IHT.com
- "Detroit
Agrees on Monitor for the Police." ... "The Justice
Department and Detroit have agreed to call in a monitor to oversee changes
at the Police Department after years of complaints of misconduct, officials
said today." ... "Lawyers for the federal government and the city plan
to go before a federal judge on Thursday to seek approval of an accord
that will effectively end a 30-month civil rights investigation and establish
a framework for changes. The department will have to overhaul policies
on the use of force, initiate new training, analyze trends in officers'
misconduct and upgrade holding cells, among other measures, federal law
enforcement officials said." -By Eric Lichtblau
-NYTimes via
-AltaVista-News
- "Inside
Out: Terror War Considers Threats From Abroad,
But What About From Within?" ... "Since Sept. 11, 2001, the specter of
international terror has haunted many Americans, but the capture of suspected
serial bomber Eric Robert Rudolph serves as a grim reminder of the dangers
that could be lurking at home." ... "Rudolph, the 36-year-old outdoorsman
arrested this weekend in the mountains of North Carolina, is accused of
carrying out a string of bombings including the blast at the 1996 Atlanta
Olympics." -By Andrew Chang
-ABCNEWS.com
- "Gangs,
Drugs Boost Chicago's Murder Rate, on Track to Be Nation's Worst."
... "As of Friday, Chicago had counted 179 murders this year, 16 more than
the same time last year." ... "For years, (mayor Richard) Daley and Police
Superintendent Terry Hillard have talked about rearranging beats to put
more officers in the areas with the most crime. However, aldermen who represent
lower-crime areas have resisted any plan that takes police from their areas."
-AP via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- "Cisco
enables Internet wiretaps." ... "Addressing a major
concern of law enforcement, Cisco Systems has developed a way for police
to listen in on Internet-based phone calls without detection." ... "The
world's largest maker of networking equipment is testing surveillance products
in its labs and making the service available to customers on request, spokesman
Jim Brady said." -AP
via -USATODAY
-
-
-
- "From
Iraq's secret files, a trail of mass murder." ...
"Over the past few days, the US Army has taken custody of hundreds of thousands
of Iraqi secret-police files. The dossiers - an impeccable detailing of
two decades of mass murder reminiscent of the meticulous recordkeeping
of Hitler's Germany or Stalinist Russia - could contain crucial evidence
in any trial that former President Saddam Hussein or his top officials
might face." ... "Already the files have yielded fragments of Iraq's secret
past. The group of former prisoners who gathered the documents have so
far gleaned the names of more than 5,500 prisoners who were executed, according
to the files. The Committee of Free Prisoners has posted them on the walls
of its makeshift headquarters by the Tigris River. Every day, thousands
of ordinary men and women crowd around the rosters, seeking names of missing
relatives." -By Peter Ford
-CSMonitor
-
- "Al
Qaeda Fractured: Sources: U.S. Intelligence
Finds Bin Laden’s Network Splintered, Ineffective." ... "Analysts who track
al Qaeda for the intelligence community believe that evidence is mounting
that the terrorist organization may lack the command and control, the resources
and coordination to conduct an operation of the same magnitude as 9/11."
... "The assessment is not unanimous within the intelligence and law enforcement
communities, though. Some U.S. national security officials have told ABCNEWS
that they believe that, despite the arrests of top operatives such as Shaikh
Mohammad, al Qaeda remains a potent force and a threat to American citizens."
-ABCNEWS.com
-
- "U.S.
Marines start leaving Baghdad, Army takes over."
... "U.S. Marines who seized much of Baghdad earlier this month started
pulling out of the Iraqi capital on Saturday, handing over control to U.S.
Army units as the military's mission moves from combat to policing." -By
Matthew Green -Reuters
via -Boston/Globe
-
-
- IRAQ
PLAYING CARDS: Iraq card deck, Gulf War Two. Pentagon's
"Personality Identification Playing Cards," Iraq Playing Card Deck of Saddam's
Iraqi Regime.
  |
-
-
- "U.S.
Forces Capture Baath Party Official: U.S. forces
took custody of another of their "most wanted" from the former Iraqi regime
Thursday, a Baath leader whom Central Command officials hope will help
them further dismantle what remains of Saddam's regime." ... ""Last night
coalition special operations forces captured another key member of the
regime. Samir Abul Aziz al-Najim, one of the top 55 leaders of the regime,
was handed over to coalition forces by Iraqi Kurds near Mosul in northern
Iraq," Central Command Spokesman General Vincent Brooks said Friday."
-PBS.org (A-Z)
/NewsHour
-
- "Interpol team
headed to Iraq: Experts see ‘deliberate planned
action’ behind art plunder, and police work could help crack case, they
say." ... " Interpol, the international police organization, announced
Friday it is sending a special team to Iraq to help track down pillaged
art treasures, joining a legion of groups worldwide offering assistance
in the recovery efforts. Some experts say that part of what seemed like
random looting was, in fact, a carefully planned theft, and the stolen
artifacts may already be on the black market." -By
Jim Maceda and Betsy Steuart with -AP
and -Reuters via -MSNBC
-
-
- "Wary
Baghdad police back on the beat." ... "In this war-battered
city, where looters are now plundering bank vaults and private homes after
sacking virtually every government building, the people's security rests
on the sagging shoulders of Colonel Jassem al-Tamimi." ... "The Iraqi police
official returned to his job yesterday, leading his men on joint patrols
with US Marines in an operation that American officials hope will instill
confidence and nudge this city back to a sense of routine." ... "But if
Tamimi and his officers are a barometer of this city's hesitant steps toward
normalcy, Baghdad residents have a lot to worry about." -By
Thanassis Cambanis -Boston/Globe
-
- "FBI
joins hunt for looted Iraqi treasures." ... "The
FBI announced Thursday that it had sent agents to Iraq to assist in recovering
antiquities stolen from museums by looters." ... "The FBI announcement
followed assertions by experts at an international meeting that some of
the looters who ravaged Iraqi antiquities had keys to museum vaults and
were able to take pieces from safes. Cultural experts, curators and law
enforcement officials are scrambling to track down the missing antiquities
and prevent further looting of the valuables." -Contributions
by Donna Leinwand and -AP
via -USATODAY
-
-
- "Terror alert
level cut to ‘yellow’: Progress in war with
Iraq eases fears of possible attacks." ... "The Homeland Security Department
on Wednesday lowered its terrorism threat assessment from “orange” to “yellow,”
reflecting an easing of concerns raised by the U.S. war against Iraq."
... "The nation had been on orange, or “high risk,” since March 17, three
days before the war with Iraq began, because of fears that the war would
bring terror attacks against U.S. targets at home or abroad."
-MSNBC
-
- "White
House: 'Regime is gone': Former Iraqi leaders
to be 'pursued, killed or captured'." ... "The White House on Friday declared
that Saddam Hussein's "regime is gone," as coalition war planners issued
a most-wanted list of former Iraqi leaders they say must "be brought to
justice." ... "President Bush promised Iraqis, in a videotaped message
broadcast Thursday, that coalition forces would maintain law and order
once Saddam's regime was gone." ... "Coalition commanders are rushing special
military units into place to provide security and to crack down on the
looting and chaos that grip parts of Iraq, White House officials said.
Those military units are to arrive as early as Friday or within the next
few days, the officials said." -Contributions by Rula
Amin, David Ensor, Chris Plante, Tom Mintier, Diana Muriel, Walter Rodgers,
Jane Arraf, Brent Sadler, John King, Barbara Starr and Ben Wedeman -CNN
/World
-
- "Real
battle in Iraq may have only just begun: Postwar
era will be dicey, experts warn." ... "Although the capital of Iraq came
under U.S. control Wednesday, the challenge ahead for the U.S. military
is twofold: push north and defeat the remaining Iraqi troops while transforming
itself from a fighting force to a police agency in cities such as Baghdad
and Basra." ... "The immediate tasks for U.S. and British forces, in addition
to finishing off the Iraqi units in such cities as Tikrit and Kirkuk, is
to quickly restore law and order in Baghdad, Basra and other Iraqi cities,
in a nation in which 70 percent of the people are urban dwellers. But most
U.S. military units have little specific training in the realm of policing."
-By Edward Epstein -SFGate.com
-
- "British
troops work to restore law and order on looted streets of Basra."
... "Brazen looters plundered government buildings, universities and even
hospitals in Basra on Tuesday despite the presence of British troops in
Iraq's second-largest city, roaming the streets to grab whatever they could
ceiling fans, mattresses, car seats, furniture, slabs of wood." ... "British
troops had claimed Basra the day before, but found law and order hard to
impose. Troops rolling through the city in tanks and on foot did little
to quell the looting, other than to issue warnings over loudspeakers."
-By Tini Tran -AP
via -Boston/Globe
-
- "British
Troops Raid Basra, Arrest 14 Iraqis: Arrests
of Baath Party Leaders Aimed at Ending Climate of Fear in Basra." ... "Seeking
to break the government's grip in southern Iraq, British troops raided
villages surrounding Basra early today and apprehended 14 people considered
to be key Baath Party and militia leaders who had been intimidating residents
and forcing them to remain loyal to President Saddam Hussein." ... "Since
British troops arrived in this area two weeks ago, lingering fear of government
and Baath Party retribution has been a significant factor in the resistance
mounted by army regulars and militia members. Not only has it encouraged
the city of 1.3 million to stick with the Baath authorities, it has helped
block the popular welcome U.S. and British forces had expected in outlying
areas and stymied efforts to restore basic services and allow residents
to resume something of a normal life." -By Keith B.
Richburg -WashingtonPost
-
-
-
- "Analysis:
Arab world faces turmoil: Three days into the
US-led military campaign against Iraq, Arab governments must be praying
for the fall of Saddam Hussein's leadership as quickly as possible." ...
"The "Arab street", derided in recent years as politically inert and powerless,
appears to be showing signs of life." ... "Cairo, Sanaa in Yemen, Bahrain,
Jordan, Lebanon and the Mauritanian capital Nouakchott have all witnessed
clashes of varying decrees of seriousness between riot police and citizens
enraged by what the US is doing in Iraq." -By Martin
Asser -BBC/News
Search
Iraq News - Search
Google:
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- "National
Threat Level Raised: Statement by Homeland
Security Secretary Tom Ridge." [Excerpt] ... "The Department of Homeland
Security in consultation with the Homeland Security Council, has made the
decision to raise the national threat level from an Elevated to High risk
of terrorist attack or Level Orange. The Intelligence Community believes
that terrorists will attempt multiple attacks against U.S.and Coalition
targets worldwide in the event of a U.S led military campaign against Saddam
Hussein. A large volume of reporting across a range of sources, some of
which are highly reliable, indicates that Al-Qaida probably would attempt
to launch terrorist attacks against U.S.interests claiming they were defending
Muslims or the Iraqi people rather than Saddam Husseins regime." ... "While
the March 1 arrest of senior Al Qaida operative, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad
(KSM) has put the Al-Qaida senior leadership on the defensive and will
be debilitating in the long term -- the Intelligence Community believes
that KSMs capture will not necessarily affect operations that are ready
or nearly ready for execution. There are many recent indications that Al-Qaidas
planning includes the use of chemical, biological, and/or radiological
materials." ... "Intelligence reporting also indicates that while Al-Qaida
and those sympathetic to their cause are a principal threat, Iraqi state
agents, Iraqi surrogate groups, other regional extremist organizations,
and ad hoc groups or disgruntled individuals not connected to existing
organizations or state agencies, may use this time period to conduct terrorist
attacks against the U.S., or our interests abroad."
-WhiteHouse.gov/
Homeland
Security Actions
-
-
- "U.S. raises
terror alert to ‘orange’: Intelligence indicates
attacks by al-Qaida, allies, officials say." ... "Fears of possible attacks
in retaliation for U.S. military action in Iraq led the Homeland Security
Department to raise the nation’s terror threat assessment Monday night
to “orange,” the second highest of five levels, NBC News has learned. The
new threat level went into effect after President Bush addressed the nation."
... "Concerned about a potential attack from Iraqi sleeper cells, the FBI
was sending agents fanning out to interview as many as 10,000 Iraqis now
in the United States, urging them to report anything suspicious in the
Arab community. FBI evidence specialists were to begin a 24-hour-a-day
watch to analyze information U.S. troops found in Iraq." -By
Pete Williams and Robert Windrem -MSNBC
- "Fagan
put in charge: He'll be acting chief, mayor
says; D.A. drops case against top [San Francisco] cops." ... "San Francisco
-- One day after prosecutors dropped charges that he conspired to block
an investigation into his son's involvement in a street brawl, Assistant
Chief Alex Fagan Sr. is expected to take over the duties today of running
the San Francisco Police Department." ... "Mayor Willie Brown announced
Fagan's return to the department from unpaid suspension, after District
Attorney Terence Hallinan told a judge Tuesday that he lacked evidence
to support conspiracy indictments against Fagan and Chief Earl Sanders."
-SFGate.com
- 
- "SFPD Indictments."
-SFGate.com
-
- "'Peace
T-shirt' row sparks protest." ... "Stephen Downs
was briefly detained on Monday, after he refused to take off a T-shirt
saying 'Give a Peace a Chance'." ... "Local security guards at the Crossgates
Mall in Guilderland [New York] called police, and the 61-year-old lawyer
was taken away in handcuffs and charged with trespassing." ... "Mr Downs
said that when the police arrived they tried to convince him he was wrong
in his actions, before making the arrest."
-BBC/News
-
-
- "U.S.
disrupts arms smuggling plots: Post-Sept. 11
scrutiny stems flow of materiel to potential foes." ... "In a byproduct
of stepped-up enforcement after Sept. 11, the federal government has foiled
a series of recent attempts by foreigners to smuggle military materiel
from the United States to potentially hostile countries, officials say."
... "The cases involved parts for surface-to-air missiles, fighter jets
and spymaster equipment headed for locations that included China, Pakistan
and Iran, the officials said." -AP
via -MSNBC
- "Police
brass itching to go to trial: Indicted chief
and commanders pin their hopes on grand jury transcripts." ... "With the
San Francisco Police Department shaken by an unprecedented series of indictments,
attorneys for Police Chief Earl Sanders and his command staff say they
are eager to get to trial in hopes of salvaging the reputations of the
department and their clients." ... "The key to their defense will be the
transcripts of the grand jury proceedings that led to the indictments last
week of 10 police officers, including Sanders, Suhr and five other high-ranking
officers on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice." -By
Harriet Chiang and Jim Herron Zamora -SFGate.com
- "Calif.
to Review San Francisco Police Scandal." ... "The
state of California will review whether San Francisco's district attorney
overstepped limits in a process that led to an indictment of the chief
of police, an official said on Sunday."-Reuters
via -ABCNEWS.com
- 
- "Ridge's
Rise from Adviser to 'Mr. Secretary': As Some
Questioned His Power, He Quietly Shaped Future of Homeland Security." ...
"This week, as nearly 180,000 employees join the new Department of Homeland
Security that he has directed since Jan. 24, Ridge has become one of the
four or five most powerful figures in the Bush administration, a man in
charge of the president's most crucial domestic initiative." ... "Bush
has staked considerable credibility and some of his political fortune on
his old friend's success in protecting Americans from terrorist attacks.
The president has given Ridge enormous clout that is comparable to the
sway commanded by the heads of the Justice, Defense and State departments,
administration officials and government experts said." -By
John Mintz -WashingtonPost
- "Indicted
California Police Chief Keeps Job." ... "Despite
being indicted by a grand jury, Chief Prentice E. Sanders of the San Francisco
Police Department remains on the job this weekend, an indication that his
friend and political mentor, Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr., intends to fight
to clear the chief's name." ... "Chief Sanders, who was indicted on Friday
on a charge of conspiring to obstruct justice, was allowed to keep his
post at least until Monday by a unanimous vote of the city's Police Commission."
-By Dean E. Murphy -NYTimes
via -Google-News
- "Police
in Pakistan arrest a top suspect in Sept. 11 terrorist attacks."
... "Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks, was arrested Saturday in Pakistan, a senior official told The
Associated Press." ... "Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Mohammed
was one of three men arrested in a 3 a.m. raid in Rawalpindi, a city near
Islamabad." -By Kathy Gannon
-AP via -SFGate.com
-
- "FBI
Bulletin Warns of 'Lone Extremists'." ... "The FBI's
weekly bulletin to local law enforcement agencies, issued on Thursday,
said that there was a potential threat from extremists who acted on their
own and were not closely tied to any group and cited as an example Oklahoma
City bomber Timothy McVeigh." -Reuters
- "False
Alarm? Terror Alert Partly Based on Fabricated
Information." ... "A key piece of the information leading to recent terror
alerts was fabricated, according to two senior law enforcement officials
in Washington and New York." ... "The officials said that a claim made
by a captured al Qaeda member that Washington, New York or Florida would
be hit by a "dirty bomb" sometime this week had proven to be a product
of his imagination." ... "Despite the fabricated report, there are no plans
to change the threat level. Officials said other intelligence has been
validated and that the high level of precautions is fully warranted." -By
Brian Ross, Len Tepper and Jill Rackmill -ABCNEWS.com
-
- 
-
- "Ashcroft
proposes vast new surveillance powers: Proposed
legislation leaked to the Internet on Friday would criminalize some uses
of encryption, and dramatically increase federal law enforcement's domestic
spying powers." ... "A sweeping new anti-terrorism bill drafted by the
Justice Department would dramatically increase government electronic surveillance
and data collection abilities, and impose the first-ever federal criminal
penalties for using encryption in the U.S." ... "A draft of the Domestic
Security Enhancement Act of 2003 dated January 9th was obtained by the
non-partisan Center for Public Integrity and released Friday. The 120-page
proposal would further expand many of the surveillance powers Congress
granted federal law enforcement in the USA-PATRIOT Act in 2001, while increasing
the secrecy surrounding some government functions." -By
Kevin Poulsen -BusinessWeek/Daily
- "Hundreds
in U.S. Have Ties to Al Qaeda, F.B.I. Director Says."
... "F.B.I. Director Robert S. Mueller III said today that several hundred
Islamic extremists linked to Al Qaeda are in the United States, with some
organized in cells that could be ordered to carry out terrorist attacks
in this country." ... "In his most definitive statement to date about the
presence of extremists in the United States, Mr. Mueller told the Senate
Intelligence Committee that the effort to identify these cell members is
the country's most serious law enforcement challenge." -By
David Johnston -NYTimes
via -Google-News
-
-
-
- "Blair
authorised terror alert troops." ... "The prime minister
gave his personal authorisation for soldiers to be drafted in to boost
security at Heathrow airport and other sites in London, says Downing Street."
... "A total of 450 troops have joined 1,000 extra police officers in patrolling
the airport as part of a tightening of security at sites across the capital."
... "The heightened security is linked to intelligence concerns that al-Qaeda
may try to use surface-to-air missiles in the UK or US this week." ...
"It is compounded by US security chiefs warning of possible terrorist attacks
in the US and Middle East towards the end of the week, including the use
of poisons, chemicals and a device to spread radioactivity[.]"
-BBC/News
- Law
Enforcement News
- "U.S.
had data hinting of Oklahoma City bombing." ... "Two
federal law enforcement agencies had information before the 1995 Oklahoma
City bombing suggesting that white supremacists living nearby were considering
an attack on government buildings, but the intelligence was never passed
on to federal officials in the state, documents and interviews show." ...
"FBI headquarters officials in Washington were so concerned that white
separatists at the Elohim City compound in Muldrow, Okla., might lash out
on April 19, 1995 the day Timothy McVeigh did choose
that a month earlier they questioned a reformed white supremacist familiar
with an earlier plot to bomb the same Alfred P. Murrah federal building
McVeigh selected." -AP
via -USATODAY
- "Blast
hits Indonesia police headquarters." ... "There were
no immediate reports of injuries, but the blast damaged a building and
two cars inside the compound, according to local media reports." ... "The
cause of the explosion was not immediately clear, but one official told
the Associated Press that police suspected it may have been the result
of a bomb." -BBC/News
- "In
congressional test, border security fails: Port Angeles
and Blaine [Washington] were among locations targeted in the GAO sting."
... "Robert Cramer, managing director of the GAO's Office of Special Investigations,
said in prepared congressional testimony the investigators created fictitious
driver's licenses and birth certificates using off-the-shelf computer graphic
software available to the public, and got credit cards in the fictitious
names." -SeattlePI.NWsource
