FLASH--CT Chatter: US Military FUNERALS, Latest TARGET-U/FOUO/LES--ND

- NO DISSEMINATION [lifted]

 - HousePlantRULES - LES

FLASH - US/[redacted]; SI/22; V[redacted] US/1; ATTN: MC/2; NSW/1

[ed.note: Below JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW PROTECTION DIVISION has been CONFIRMED by Members.

US/1, having assisted in the arrangement THREE Military Funerals at Arlington National Cemetery (for immediate relatives) in the past FIVE years, US/1 can CONFIRM lack of serious security precautions. Vehicles, even one driven by US/1’s Mother (terrifying in itself, as can be verified by US/[redacted]), are ALLOWED on to the grounds.

The recent ARREST of the alleged PENTAGON SHOOTER (Yonathan MELAKU, USMC-R, 17 June 2011 : 0130 ET) occurred on Arlington National Cemetery grounds.*

FURTHER Member Comments: Though not in the (below) Joint Forces Headquarters National Capitol Region** Protection Services Bulletin, well-known corporate executives from the defense contracting world, particularly DRONE manufacturers, are also being TARGETTED for similar “lone-wolf,” sole-perpetrator or small unit attacks.(- redacted)

MDW is the Military District of Washington, under control of the US Army.]

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

SUBJECT: JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW FP ADVISORY MESSAGE 18-08-11

ORIGINATOR: JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW PMO PROTECTION DIVISION
DTG: [18 AUGUST 2011]

PRECEDENCE: IMMEDIATE
DAC: GENERAL
TO:    USAMDW ARMY SENIOR MISSION COMMAND INSTALLATION COMMANDERS

          JFHQ-NCR SERVICE COMPONENT COMMANDERS
--------------------------------------------------

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

1.0  (U//FOUO) SUMMARY: PERSONNEL ATTENDING MILITARY FUNERALS AND OTHER CEREMONIAL GATHERINGS ARE REMINDED TO REMAIN VIGILANT AND AWARE OF YOUR SURROUNDINGS AT ALL TIMES. 

2.0.  (U)  THE FOLLOWING IS A SUMMARY TRANSLATION OF A WEB FORUM, IT HAS BEEN EDITED FOR CLARITY-

“THIS IS THE BEST TIME TO TARGET THE U.S. IN A WAY THAT WILL HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT IN ACCELERATING ITS WITHDRAWAL FROM THE OCCUPIED COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY FROM AFGHANISTAN.  IT WILL INCREASE CALLS FOR WITHDRAWAL FROM THERE BECAUSE THE WAR TURNED OUT TO BE A LOSS.  THIS TARGETING WILL LEAD TO CHAOS AND PANIC IN THE ECONOMY OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY, ESPECIALLY AT THIS TIME, BECAUSE AMERICA IS SUFFERING FROM THE INDICATIONS OF MAJOR ECONOMIC COLLAPSE AND ITS IMPACT WILL EXTEND TO EUROPE AND ASIA.

A.  (U)  WE ALL KNOW THAT THE DEAD BODIES OF AMERICAN SOLDIERS ARRIVE ALMOST DAILY FROM AFGHANISTAN.  THE PREPARATION OF THE DEAD BODIES FOR OFFICIAL BURIAL IS DONE BY THE MILITARY, AND LARGE NUMBERS OF THE ARMY OFFICIALS ATTEND THE FUNERALS, MOSTLY FROM THE SAME STATE OF THE DEAD SOLDIER.  SOMETIMES THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE, THE GOVERNOR’S ASSISTANTS, A NUMBER OF PROMINENT FIGURES IN THE POLITICAL COMMUNITY AND THE U.S. MILITARY TO HONOR THE DEAD SOLDIER ARE ALSO PRESENT.

B.  (U)  USUALLY, THE PROTECTION OF THIS FUNERAL IS COMPLETELY NONEXISTENT, SO SOMEONE CAN EASILY TARGET THESE PERSONS AT THE FUNERAL.  IT IS IMPORTANT THAT THE MARTYR MUST WEAR A MILITARY UNIFORM TO AVOID ATTENTION OR DETECTION, AND TO ENSURE HE CAN APPROACH THE TARGET WITHOUT ANY DIFFICULTIES OR PROBLEM.

C.  (U)  THE IMPACT OF THIS OPERATION ESPECIALLY ON THE MILITARY AND AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL BE VERY STRONG, SIMILAR TO THE CASE OF THE FORT HOOD, TEXAS SHOOTING.  AND NOW WE DO NOT TARGET THE AMERICAN PEOPLE OR THE SENSITIVE AREAS, BUT IT WILL BE IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY.

D.  (U)  IF THE DEAD SOLDIER HAD A HIGH RANK, THE FUNERAL WILL BE ATTENDED BY THE MINISTRY OF DEFENSE, CHIEFS OF STAFF, ASSISTANT SENIOR SOLDIERS, AND INTELLIGENCE PERSONNEL.  THESE OPERATIONS NEED SPECIAL AND CAREFUL PLANNING BECAUSE OF THE PROTECTION OF THE THESE PERSONNEL.

E.  (U)  AS YOU KILL OUR WOMEN, OUR CHILDREN AND OUR ELDERS, WE WILL KILL YOUR WOMEN, YOUR CHILDREN AND YOUR ELDERS.

F.  (U)  WE WILL TARGET YOUR FUNERALS, YOUR CEREMONIES, AND YOUR CROWDS.”

3.0  (U//FOUO) JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW FORCE PROTECTION CONDITION: CURRENT BASELINE FPCON FOR JFHQ-NCR AOR REMAINS UNCHANGED.  NO CHANGES IN FPCON ARE BEING CONSIDERED AT THIS TIME.  

3.1 (U//FOUO) JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW IS NOT AWARE OF ANY INFORMATION INDICATING THAT AN ATTACK SUCH AS IS SUGGESTED IN THIS WEB FORUM POSTING IS IMMINENT OR PLANNED.   THIS POSTING APPEARS TO BE ASPIRATIONAL VICE PLANNING.

3.2 (U//FOUO) THE NATURE OF CEREMONIAL EVENTS TO INCLUDE FUNERALS MANY TIMES BRINGS TOGETHER LARGE GROUPS OF HIGH RANKING MILITARY, STATE, LOCAL AND FEDERAL OFFICIALS AND THEREFORE REQUIRES INCREASED SITUATIONAL AWARENESS.  LOOK FOR THINGS PECULIAR AND OUT OF THE ORDINARY AND IF SOMETHING OR SOMEONE DOES NOT SEEM RIGHT TO YOU, REPORT IT IMMEDIATELY.  

3.3  (U//FOUO) SUGGESTED ACTIONS TO COUNTER POSSIBLE POTENTIAL THREATS ARE:

3.3.1  (U//FOUO) INCREASE VIGILANCE AT FUNERALS, INTERMENTS, AND OTHER CEREMONIES.  BRIEF PERSONNEL, ESPECIALLY CEREMONIAL PERSONNEL, TO BE OBSERVANT AND AWARE OF THEIR SURROUNDINGS AND TO REPORT ANY SUSPICIOUS OR UNUSUAL ACTIVITY TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES IMMEDIATELY

3.3.2  (U//FOUO) EXAMPLES OF UNUSUAL ITEMS TO REPORT INCLUDE: 

3.3.2.A.  UNAUTHORIZED OR UNUSUAL UNIFORM APPEARANCE; E.G. NOT WEARING THE DESIGNATED UNIFORM OF THE DAY TO THE EVENT.

3.3.2.B.  MISMATCHED UNIFORMS OR UNIFORM PARTS

3.3.2.C.  MISPLACED PATCHES, INACURATE DISPLAY OF MEDALS OR AWARDS ON UNIFORM, ETC.

3.3.3  (U//FOUO) ENSURE ALL PERSONNEL ARE FULLY AWARE OF THE ARMY IWATCH, OR SIMILAR OTHER SERVICE PROGRAMS, AND HOW TO USE THEM TO REPORT SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITIES.

3.3.4  (U//FOUO)  RECOMMEND THAT MDW SENIOR COMMAND INSTALLATIONS AND MAJOR SUBORDINATE COMMANDS ENGAGE THEIR CIVILIAN LAW ENFORCEMENT COUNTERPARTS TO INCORPORATE THREATS OF THIS NATURE INTO THEIR COMMUNITY AWARENESS PROGRAMS.

4.0  (U//FOUO) MDW MAJOR SUBORDINATE COMMANDS AND SENIOR COMMAND INSTALLATIONS WILL ENSURE THAT ALL PERSONNEL ARE MADE AWARE OF THIS POTENTIAL THREAT AND THE APPROPRIATE PERSONAL SECURITY MEASURES AND SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY REPORTING PROCEDURES.  RECOMMEND THAT JFHQ-NCR SERVICE COMPONENT COMMANDS FOLLOW SUIT.

5.0  (U//FOUO) THE JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW OPERATIONS INTELLIGENCE GROUP    (J32, PMO OPS AND PROTECTION DIVISIONS) WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS SITUATION AND ISSUE UPDATES AS REQUIRED.

6.0  (U//FOUO) THE POC FOR THIS FORCE PROTECTION MESSAGE IS JFHQ-NCR/USAMDW PMO PROTECTION DIVISION AT[redacted]; DSN: [redacted] OR E-MAIL: [redacted].

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

[emphasis added]

NO DISSEMINATION - HousePlantRULES – LES [lifted]

** - LIMITED DISSEMINATION below:

SEE: Attached JFHQ-NCR Report

* - OPEN SOURCE below:

http://blacknetintel.blogspot.com/

http://www.hstoday.us/

FBI - MELAKU Criminal Complaint AFFIDAVIT  

At SCRIBD.com: http://www.scribd.com/doc/58554235/Melaku-Complaint-Affidavit                 

BlackNET Intelligence Channel: BlackNET - FLASH - FBI MELAKU ...

Jun 23, 2011

Further exclusive DISCLOSURES ++++. us/1 HAD already DUBBED Yonathan Melaku as the POSSIBLE “PENTAGON SHOOTER”—by that nomenclature—21 JUNE 2011 : 1355 ET. Prior to FBI Profiles described UNSUB as ...

http://blacknetintel.blogspot.com/

BlackNET Intelligence Channel: BKNT--MEMBERS ON TRAIL OF ...

Jun 29, 2011

Ethiopian BKNT SOURCES and Members advise Melaku is Tigra Christian name. Members Scott Malone and Janine Schoonover are pursuing Ethiopian-end of investigation with Ethiopian ex-pat community, Falls Church, ...

http://blacknetintel.blogspot.com/

BlackNET Intelligence Channel: NPR: Marine Reservist Eyed In ...

Jun 22, 2011

Yonathan Melaku, 22, a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, has been in custody since police found him wandering the cemetery after it had closed. He was carrying a backpack he said was full of explosives. The FBI ...

http://blacknetintel.blogspot.com/

BlackNET Intelligence Channel: The CIA's Secret Sites in Somalia ...

Jul 18, 2011

Federal officials said on background that there is no evidence “at the moment to either suggest or indicate” that Melaku is associated with any terrorist group. However, the current, mostly Christian Ethiopian government has been working closely in Somalia with the CIA and Navy SEALS to combat Islamic extremists – which has included the employment of Lockheed drones - for the better part of the last decade, according to past and present US intelligence officers and members of the US special operations community.

http://blacknetintel.blogspot.com/

[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

FLASH - nEW aq nO.2 IS 'droned' in Pakistan; The END Is NIGH?

- flash- OPEN SOURCE

US/1; ATTN:

August 27, 2011

C.I.A. Drone Is Said to Kill Al Qaeda’s No. 2

By MARK MAZZETTI

WASHINGTON — A drone operated by the Central Intelligence Agency killed Al Qaeda’s second-ranking figure in the mountains of Pakistan on Monday, American and Pakistani officials said Saturday, further damaging a terrorism network that appears significantly weakened since the death of Osama bin Laden in May.

An American official said that the drone strike killed Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, a Libyan who in the last year had taken over as Al Qaeda’s top operational planner. Mr. Rahman was in frequent contact with Bin Laden in the months before the terrorist leader was killed on May 2 by a Navy Seals team, intelligence officials have said.

American officials described Mr. Rahman’s death as particularly significant as compared with other high-ranking Qaeda operatives who have been killed, because he was one of a new generation of leaders that the network hoped would assume greater control after Bin Laden’s death.

Thousands of electronic files recovered at Bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, revealed that Bin Laden communicated frequently with Mr. Rahman. They also showed that Bin Laden relied on Mr. Rahman to get messages to other Qaeda leaders and to ensure that Bin Laden’s recorded communications were broadcast widely.

After Bin Laden was killed, Mr. Rahman became Al Qaeda’s No. 2 leader under Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Bin Laden.

There were few details on Saturday about the strike that killed Mr. Rahman. In the months since Bin Laden’s death, the C.I.A. has maintained a barrage of drone missile strikes on mountainous redoubts in Pakistan, a bombing campaign that continues to strain America’s already turbulent relationship with Pakistan.

The C.I.A almost never consults Pakistani officials in advance of a drone strike, and a Pakistani government official said Saturday that the United States had told Pakistan’s government that Mr. Rahman had been the target of the strike only after the spy agency confirmed that he had been killed.

The drone strikes have been the Obama administration’s preferred means of hunting and killing operatives from Al Qaeda and its affiliate groups. Over the past year the United States has expanded the drone war to Yemen and Somalia.

Some top American officials have said publicly that they believe Al Qaeda is in its death throes, though many intelligence analysts are less certain, saying that the network built by Bin Laden has repeatedly shown an ability to regenerate.

Yet even as Qaeda affiliates in places like Yemen and North Africa continue to plot attacks against the West, most intelligence analysts believe that the remnants of Al Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan have been weakened considerably. Mr. Rahman’s death is another significant blow to the group.

“Atiyah was at the top of Al Qaeda’s trusted core,” the American official said. “His combination of background, experience and abilities are unique in Al Qaeda — without question, they will not be easily replaced.”

The files captured in Abbottabad revealed, among other things, that Bin Laden and Mr. Rahman discussed brokering a deal with Pakistan: Al Qaeda would refrain from mounting attacks in the country in exchange for protection for Qaeda leaders hiding in Pakistan.

American officials said that they found no evidence that either of the men ever raised the idea directly with Pakistani officials, or that Pakistan’s government had any knowledge that Bin Laden was hiding in Abbottabad.

Mr. Rahman also served as Bin Laden’s liaison to Qaeda affiliates. Last year, American officials said, Mr. Rahman notified Bin Laden of a request by the leader of Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen to install Anwar al-Awlaki, the radical American-born cleric, as the leader of the group in Yemen.

That group, known as Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, apparently thought Mr. Awlaki’s status as an Internet celebrity, for his popular video sermons, and his knowledge of the United States might help the group’s fund-raising efforts. But according to the electronic files in Abbottabad, Bin Laden told Mr. Rahman that the group’s leadership should remain unchanged.

After Bin Laden’s death, some intelligence officials saw a cadre of Libyan operatives as poised to assume greater control inside Al Qaeda, which at times has been fractured by cultural rivalries.

Libyan operatives like Mr. Rahman, they said, had long bristled at the leadership of an older generation, many of them Egyptian like Mr. Zawahri and Sheikh Saeed al-Masri.

Mr. Masri was killed last year by a C.I.A. missile, as were several Qaeda operations chiefs before him. The job has proved to be particularly deadly, American officials said, because the operations chief has had to transmit the guidance of Bin Laden and Mr. Zawahri to Qaeda operatives elsewhere, providing a way for the Americans to track him through electronic intercepts.

Mr. Rahman assumed the role after Mr. Masri’s death. Now that Mr. Rahman has died, American officials said it was unclear who would take over the job.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/world/asia/28qaeda.html?_r=1&hp

As US hopes for defeat of al-Qaida, officials say group’s No. 2 leader killed in Pakistan

By Associated Press, Updated: Saturday, August 27, 2011 : 7:42 PM

WASHINGTON — U.S. and Pakistani officials said Saturday that al-Qaida’s second-in-command, Atiyah Abd al-Rahman, has been killed in Pakistan, delivering another big blow to a terrorist group that the U.S. believes to be on the verge of defeat.

Al-Rahman was killed Monday in the lawless Pakistani tribal region of Waziristan, according to a senior administration official who insisted on anonymity to discuss intelligence issues.

A Pakistani intelligence official said al-Rahman died in a U.S. missile strike in Machi Khel village in North Waziristan on Monday.

Since Navy SEALs stormed Osama bin Laden’s compound and killed him in May, the Obama administration has been unusually frank in its assessment that al-Qaida is on the ropes, its leadership in disarray. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said last month that al-Qaida’s defeat was within reach if the U.S. could mount a string of successful attacks.

“Now is the moment, following what happened with bin Laden, to put maximum pressure on them,” Panetta said, “because I do believe that if we continue this effort we can really cripple al-Qaida as a major threat.”

A Libyan national, al-Rahman never had the worldwide name recognition of bin Laden or bin Laden’s successor, Ayman al-Zawahiri. But al-Rahman was regarded as an instrumental figure in the terrorist organization, trusted by bin Laden to oversee al-Qaida’s daily operations.

When the SEALs raided bin Laden’s compound, they found evidence of al-Rahman’s deep involvement in running al-Qaida.

Senior al-Qaida figures have been killed before, only to be replaced. But the Obama administration’s tenor reflects a cautious optimism that victory in the decade-long fight against al-Qaida could be at hand.

“It does hold the prospect of a strategic defeat, if you will, a strategic dismantling, of al-Qaida,” incoming CIA Director David Petraeus said in July.

Since bin Laden’s death, counterterrorism officials have hoped to capitalize on al-Qaida’s unsettled leadership. The more uncertain the structure, the harder it is for al-Qaida to operate covertly and plan attacks.

Al-Zawahiri is running the group but is considered a divisive figure who lacks the founder’s charisma and ability to galvanize al-Qaida’s disparate franchises.

A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to summarize the government’s intelligence on al-Rahman, said al-Rahman’s death will make it harder for Zawahiri to oversee what is considered an increasingly weakened organization.

“Zawahiri needed Atiyah’s experience and connections to help manage al-Qaida,” the official said.

The U.S. official would not say how al-Rahman was killed. The Pakistani official did not say how the country’s main intelligence agency, the ISI, knew that al-Rahman was dead. This official did not give his name in keeping with agency rules.

Intelligence officials had said at the time that four people were killed in the attack.

A CIA drone strike was reported that day in Waziristan. Such strikes by unmanned aircraft are Washington’s weapon of choice for killing terrorists in the mountainous, hard-to-reach area along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Al-Rahman has been thought to be dead before. Last year, there were reports that al-Rahman was killed in a drone strike; neither U.S. officials nor al-Qaida ever confirmed them. The officials who confirmed the death Saturday said it represented the consensus opinion of the U.S. government.

Born in Libya, al-Rahman joined bin Laden as a teenager in Afghanistan to fight the Soviet Union.

He once served as bin Laden’s personal emissary to Iran. Al-Rahman was allowed to move freely in and out of Iran as part of that arrangement and has been operating out of Waziristan for some time, officials have said.

___

Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Pres

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/us-official-says-al-qaidas-second-ranking-leader-has-been-killed-in-pakistan/2011/08/27/gIQAEUDqiJ_story.html?hpid=z1

[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

OPEN SOURCE  US/1; ATTN:

Tiny Canadian DRONES Deployed by Libyan Rebels

- OPEN SOURCE  US/1; ATTN: 

U.S. to re-investigate al-Awlaki's ties to 9/11 hijackers

- OPEN SOURCE  US/1; ATTN:

TSP/2; HST/2; OSINT/2; FRG/2; BKYN/2; US/30; KL/1255

Member CONTRIBUTIONS

In an exclusive statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, US Department of Justice spokesman, Dean Boyd, has revealed that the US House Committee on Homeland Security – led by Congressman Peter King – has initiated an investigation into US-born Al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki’s possible involvement in the planning and execution of the 9/11 attacks.

Justice Department spokesman Dean Boyd told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the office of the US Attorney General has in fact already, in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations [FBI], initiated a special investigation focusing on al-Awlaki’s possible involvement in the [9/11] attacks.”

He added that this investigation would “review all testimony and documents relating to 9/11, including e-mails and audio recordings made by al-Awlaki, as well as some of the lectures that he delivered at the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque in northern Virginia, in addition to reviewing the investigations conducted with him in the aftermath of the attacks.”

However Department of Justice spokesman Dean Boyd refused to comment on when the results of these investigations would be made public.

With the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks fast approaching, Fox News broke the story that the US House Committee on Homeland Security is initiating an investigation into radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, quoting a letter from committee chairman Peter King to US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Investigations confirm that Anwar al-Awlaki was in contact with three of the five hijackers on Flight 77, which crashed into the Pentagon, and the US House Committee on Homeland Security believes that this is more than a coincidence.

The US House Committee on Homeland Security is seeking to determine whether al-Awlaki was involved in the planning or execution of the 9/11 attacks – which are considered the worse terrorist attack on US soil – and the precise nature of his relationship with 3 of the 19 hijackers; namely Hani Hanjour, Nawaf Al-Hazmi, and Khalid al-Mihdhar.

In a three-page letter addressed to US Attorney General Eric Holder, which was sent in May, US Congressman King reveals that the congressional investigation will seek to determine two main issues, namely “to what extent Anwar al-Awlaki wittingly or unwittingly facilitated the plot of the 9/11 hijackers” and “to what extent al-Awlaki was an Al Qaeda operative, offering support to acts of terrorism, prior to 9/11.”

King writes that “there exists a well-documented factual basis for this congressional investigation” adding that “al-Awlaki’s status as an Al Qaeda operative is undeniable.”

The US Congressman relates a number of terrorist incidents that al-Awlaki has been involved in, including “on December 25, 2009, AQAP trained and directed Nigerian national Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to detonate a bomb on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit, Michigan. On February 9, 2011, the National Counterterrorism Center Director Michael E. Leiter testified before the Committee on Homeland Security: ‘Anwar al-Awlaki, a dual US – Yemeni citizen and leader within AQAP, played a significant role in the attempted airliner attack.’”

King added “with the years of hindsight into al-Awlaki’s growing status within Al Qaeda, including his involvement in the Christmas Day 2009 attacks, there exists the critical need to reexamine the facts surrounding al-Awlaki and the 9/11 attacks.”

Citing further evidence for reopening the investigation into al-Awlaki, King asserted that “the 9/11 Commission Report suspected that al-Awlaki tasked Jordanian national Eyad al-Rababah in May 2001 to assist two 9/11 hijackers in finding an apartment.” He added that “in 1999, a prior investigation by the San Diego FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) tied al-Awlaki to 9/11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden. A known Al Qaeda procurement agent named Ziyad Khaleel had been in contact with al-Awlaki, and Khaleel had previously purchased a satellite phone for Osama Bin Laden.”

In addition to this, King claims that investigations reveal that “[9/11 hijackers] Al-Mindhar and Al-Hazmi attended the Rabat mosque [in San Diego] where al-Awlaki preached. In addition, al-Awlaki acted as a spiritual advisor to both.”

Additional information further strengthens the relationship between al-Awlaki and a number of the 9/11 hijackers, including the fact that “in January 2001, al-Awlaki relocated to Northern Virginia and began preaching at the Dar al Hijra mosque…four months later, on April 4, 2001, Nawaf Al-Hazmi and Hani Hanjour moved from Arizona to Northern Virginia.”

King concluded his letter to the US Attorney General by stressing that “given the greater collection of intelligence and integration of pertinent data since the attacks of 9/11, I believe that al-Awlaki may have played greater roles in the terrorist attacks of 9/11, as well as the other terrorist plots, than those of which we have been previously aware. Accordingly, I request the full assistance of the Department of Justice in carrying out this inquiry.”

US born Al Qaeda cleric Anwar al-Awlaki has been implicated in a number of terrorist plots against the US, most notably the 2009 “Christmas Day attacks” and the Fort Hood shootings. He has been described by US politicians as “terrorist number one” and “the world’s most dangerous man.” He is currently believed to be in hiding in Yemen, and reports indicate that he is considered so dangerous that the Obama administration may have authorized killing him.

Posted by Marisol on August 22, 2011 6:56 AM

http://www.jihadwatch.org/2011/08/us-to-re-investigate-al-awlakis-ties-to-911-hijackers.html

[Information contained in BKNT E-mail is considered Attorney-Client and Attorney Work Product privileged, copyrighted and confidential. Views that may be expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect those of any government, agency, or news organization.]

BlackVAULT--Judith Miller: Who are these Libyan rebels anyway?

OPEN SOURCE                 Member CONTRIBUTION

Flag of the Libyan Republic

(‘51-‘69 – Now used by National Transitional Council)

[ed.note: If you missed my article on this topic (Below) in the Wall Street Journal back in May, or my discussion this morning at the crack of dawn on Fox and Friends, tune in to Fox this afternoon. I'll be discussing some of what we know about the TNC with Shepard Smith, 3:30 pm EST.
allbest, Judy]

The Libyan Opposition Makes Its Case

by Judith Miller
The Wall Street Journal
May 19, 2011

Mahmoud Jibril, the interim prime minister of the Libyan opposition government, is a desperate man with a fondness for medical metaphors. "If you're bleeding to death, you need a tourniquet, not another diagnosis," he told the diplomats, lobbyists and pro-democracy activists invited to a reception at the Libyan ambassador's elegant house in Washington, D.C., last Thursday.

This was the first official visit by Mr. Jibril and other representatives of the Transitional National Council (TNC) who are struggling to manage Libya's transition from 42 years of Moammar Gadhafi's dictatorship to a democratic future. The delegation left Washington over the weekend with lots of goodwill but without the "tourniquet" Mr. Jibril was seeking—access to $3 billion of the $32 billion in Libyan assets that the U.S. froze in February.

After almost two days of nonstop meetings between the Libyans and members of Congress, officials at the State Department and the Pentagon, and National Security Adviser Tom Donilon, the White House issued a terse statement calling Mr. Jibril and the TNC he co-chairs "credible and legitimate." Privately, the White House also pledged to help speed legislation suggested by Sen. John Kerry (D., Mass.), and supported by Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz.), to give the rebels access to some $180 million of Libyan funds.

But legislation takes time. And Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar's reluctance to get more deeply involved in Libya—the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee did not attend Friday's meeting with the Libyans—does not bode well for quick action. Time is an all-too-precious commodity for the rebels, who say they are running out of money.

Ali Tarhouni, the interim government's finance minister, said that even if Mr. Kerry's relief package were approved, the money only would cover the cost of feeding and providing power to Libya's liberated areas for 10-12 days. "We really appreciate everything the U.S. is doing," Mr. Tarhouni told me. "But it doesn't solve my problem. I'm basically trying to run a war economy without resources. We're not asking for American taxpayer money," he said, "just access to our own frozen funds, or loans using them as collateral."
Mr. Tarhouni said he hoped that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates would provide some more interim relief. Support from both countries—which along with France, Italy and a few African states have recognized the TNC as Libya's legitimate government and sent fuel to the rebels—has been "outstanding," he said.

Although the delegation left Washington empty-handed, it made some progress, according to Libyan and American sources. The delegation's visit reminded America that while Washington dithers, Libyans continue to die. Mr. Jibril told me that, based on hospital estimates, more than 11,000 Libyans have already been killed in the 12 weeks of fighting. The United Nations says that more than 800,000 people have fled Libya and that 1.6 million inside the country need assistance.

The visit has also allayed some concern that the rebel leadership is infiltrated and unduly influenced by al Qaeda or its longtime affiliate, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) —a standard theme of Gadhafi's narrative about the TNC.

Messrs. Jibril and Tarhouni acknowledge there are LIFG members and some other militants' voices represented in the council. Since the TNC represents all anti-Gadhafi elements of the country, "they are included," Mr. Jibril says. But he insists they are not in leadership positions and will not determine foreign or domestic policy if and when Gadhafi is overthrown, if the TNC survives.

Mr. Jibril got his masters and a doctorate in strategic planning from the University of Pittsburgh in 1985. Though he served from 2007-09 as the chair of the Gadhafi's National Economic Development Board and led the Libyan National Planning Council, Libya experts never considered him part of the dictator's inner circle.

Mr. Tarhouni's democratic credentials are more impressive. He was a university student in Libya decades ago when his antiregime activities landed him on a Gadhafi hit list and forced him to flee. An economics professor at the University of Washington, he abruptly left his family and students to join the Libyan uprising, apologizing to his students for his departure. "I told them I had been waiting 40 years for this moment. In fact, I had almost lost hope that I would ever live to see it," he said.

Both men express gratitude toward the U.S.—as well as their growing frustration—in vivid, colloquial English. Mr. Jibril, for instance, explaining why the rebels have been unwilling to declare themselves Libya's government, articulated his dilemma this way: If the TNC took such action, Gadhafi would accuse them of being a separatist movement. "Damned if you do, damned if you don't," he told an audience at the Brookings Institution on Thursday.
 
It is this legalistic never-never land that has complicated the TNC's effort to secure more concrete support from Washington. But that alone does not fully explain Washington's hesitation. Some in Congress and within the White House continue to warn of "mission creep" in Libya. What began, belatedly, as an effort to protect the population of Benghazi in eastern Libya has become a grueling stalemate. With no obvious vital strategic interests at stake in the vast, oil-rich land of 6.5 million, and with two other wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, some American analysts warn ominously about the dangers of "imperial overreach."

The Obama administration has repeatedly called for Gadhafi to relinquish power, and it has been quietly searching for a country that will host him. The State Department has not permitted Gadhafi to replace his ambassadors in Washington and at the United Nations. Both have defected to the rebels. But the U.S. has not recognized the TNC as Libya's legitimate government either.

After their meetings in Washington, neither Mahmoud Jibril nor Ali Tarhouni seemed worried about tomorrow's War Powers Act deadline—which requires President Obama to end the use of force absent a Congressional decision to keep going. "The message we got is that this is not going to be a problem," Mr. Tarhouni said.

The administration "is not going to pull the plug on this engagement," says Dirk Vandewalle, a Libya expert and professor of government at Dartmouth. "We may not know who will lead Libya after Gadhafi falls," he added, "but the TNC has emerged as a coherent force that is reaching out to a wide range of Libyans and thinking seriously about the future."

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