Sleepless in Midland

Unintended consequences of the Verizon telephonic metadata FISA court order

Way back in another time, there was a leak and a newspaper article telling the world that Osama bin Laden's satellite phone was being tracked. That phone immediately ceased operation, and bin Laden was no where to be found.

So now we learn that a FISA court has ordered Verizon's phone records be turned over to the government. That was classified information, but it was such an outrageous intrusion on Americans' rights that someone thought the public should know about it. If the court order had not been such an overreach -- all calls wholly within the United States, including local telephone calls -- then we probably never would have heard about it.

Non-terrorist Verizon customers will probably wait out their contracts. But you can be sure that any terrorist using Verizon will dump the phone in favor of a burner phone.

Thwarting online radicalization

The United States should do more to stem the radicalization that seems to be happening via the internet. That's according to the Bipartisan Policy Center which published an article titled In Wake of Bombings, Strategy to Counter Online Radicalization in the Spotlight. They wisely counsel against restricting freedom of speech or removing content. But instead they say the extremists online communications should be exploited for intelligence purposes, all within the letter of the law, of course.

Here's an excerpt:

Government should accelerate the establishment of informal partnerships to assist large Internet companies in understanding national security threats as well as trends and patterns in terrorist communications so companies become more conscious of emerging threats, key individuals and organizations, and find it easier to align their takedown efforts with national security priorities.

One is tempted to ask, isn't this being done already?

If there's a lesson we've learned from the Presidential election of 2012 it's that when the brightest psychologists, technology experts and data analysts in the country are in the tank for a candidate, and they apply those skills to all the data available about each individual internet user, they can manipulate the minds of the masses to get a person elected President.

The challenge for us is to get those wizards as motivated about protecting Americans as they were about winning the election.

Should we take the threats from Kim Jong un seriously? And what about EMPs?

It could all be bluster. Threats from North Korea seem to be forthcoming with some regularity, and from no apparent provocation. Maybe the new guy is simply following in papa's little foot steps. Or maybe he wants to make his own mark on the world, that mark being a big hole where a big city used to be.

The Nor-Kons may or may not have the capability to send a nuclear missile across the ocean. But they really don't need to. They could simply sneak a few short range missiles onto some freighters, and send them across the Pacific for close range launches.

And they don't really need good guidance systems, either. All they would need to do is arm a bunch of missiles with nuclear warheads, hide them on ships, get as close to the U.S. as possible, send them up into the sky over the U.S., and explode them. A nuclear bursts sends out electromagnetic pulses that will burn out practically every thing that generates, distributes, runs on or uses electricity within the line of sight of the explosion.

It's the EMP bomb. And a large portion of the country would have no electricity and no hope of reacquiring electrical power for a long time. Just think about that. No television, no texting, no cell phones, no lights, no prescription renewals, no water, no food, and no blogging!

How real is the threat? Peter Vincent Pry at Washingtontimes.com says North Korea EMP attack could destroy U.S. — now. And Jordan Harms at Blog.Heritage.org says Chaos from the Sky: Why the EMP Threat Is Real.

Hopefully, we won't ever face this, but I'm going to keep my spare water jug full, just in case.

Cyber crime and the electrical grid

Earlier this year some details were revealed about the National Security Agency's program to protect the power grid from cyber attacks. But it's probably safe to assume that given the speed at which technology advances, whatever they came up with is not fool proof.

And retired Lt. General James Clapper's recent testimony about the dangers of cyber criminals, which includes terrorists who have indicated interest in developing cyber capabilities, wasn't very reassuring. Cyber criminals are selling tools on the black market, and those tools are falling into the hands of state and non-state actors.

The reason we are talking about this today is because of Irving Lachow's C-Span appearance this morning. Dr. Lachow is Director of the Program on Technology and U.S. National Security at Center for New American Security. Watch it here. It's very informative.

In particular, around about the 19:30 point he addresses the electrical grid. According to him, only nation states currently have the capability of shutting off our electricity and keeping it off for long enough to do us major harm. But their interest in doing that is very low at this time. However there are people -- terrorists groups or nations like North Korea or Iran -- who really do want to hurt us. Fortunately, they don't yet have the capability. Dr. Lachow:

What we're seeing right now is a mismatch between the people who have the capability but right now don't have the intention,which is good, and people who have the intention but not yet have the capability. Which is good. So the worry is when those two lines cross, and the most likely scenario is the people who have the intention to do this will at some point acquire the capability. That is where there is concern. And General Clapper even mentioned the likelihood of that is low for the next couple of years. But looking out for the next five or ten years I think that is a serious concern.

Let's hope our government and the various electricity suppliers use that time wisely.

Some key points from the purloined Al Qaida paper on drones

The al Qaida tip sheet on how to hide from drones has been made available online - PDF, via Yahoo, among other places. And while some observers have tried to find humor in the advice about hiding vehicles with mud and grass, There are other parts that deserve attention.

First off, they know America quite well. They nailed Obama's rationale with their explanation of why the drone policy has come to replace troops on the ground:

The Americans fully realize that they are in the 10th year of war and that they were economically exhausted and suffered human losses and they were confronted with public pressure backed by the Congress in a way that it made the honorable and responsible withdrawal from the war as a prime goal of the White House. But this does not mean that abandoning the war, rather, they pushed them to seek alternative military strategies that enable them to continue the war without being economically depleted or suffer human losses and avoid the American public opinion pressure. Here the war of the drone appeared as a perfect solution.

The document goes on to compare the purchase price of a drone with that of an F15 and the cost of a mission expense with that of an F4 Phantom. Why the F4, one might ask. Maybe it's a coincidence, but the nation of Iran owns many of those, having acquired them before the Islamic radicals took over in the 70s.

The paper continues:

So what are going to do? I believe that foiling this strategy depends on three things: The formation of a public opinion to stand against the attacks, deterring of spies and tactics of deception and blurring.

By "formation of a public opinion" they're talking about American public opinion. They may have the false impression that they were quite successful at that during the Bush administration. However, they don't seem to realize how much partisan politics played a role. The public pressure evaporated once a Democrat was elected president. And it doesn't seem likely that al Qaida could rekindle it, at least until a Republican once again takes the presidency.

We aren't going to dwell on each of the points made in the document, however these two are quite interesting.

1 – It is possible to know the intention and the mission of the drone by using the Russianmade “sky grabber” device to infiltrate the drone’s waves and the frequencies. The device is available in the market for $2,595 and the one who operates it should be a computerknow- how.

2 – Using devices that broadcast frequencies or pack of frequencies to disconnect the contacts and confuse the frequencies used to control the drone. The Mujahideen have had successful experiments using the Russian-made “Racal.”

"Racal" was a British radio manufacturer. And Skygrabber downloads transmissions from satellites. Have the Russians retrofitted these things for anti-drone use? Someone find Hillary's "reset" button!

More:

12 – Maintain complete silence of all wireless contacts.

Dang. They must have watched "Wired" reruns.

Then they finish it off with public opinion once again:

We start kidnapping Western citizens in any spot in the world, whether in the Islamic Maghreb, Egypt, Iraq or any other easy kidnapping places and the only demand is the halt of attacks on civilians in Yemen which is a just and humanitarian demand that will create world support and a public opinion pressure in America as they are being hurt again.

Reason enough for Western citizens to avoid those easy kidnapping places.

Zombie Apocalypse training now on Youtube

In was way back in October of last year when we talked about that Zombie Apocalypse training for law enforcement in San Diego. See For politically correct terrorism training call the enemy zombies.

Well, that training event took place, and a sampling is now on Youtube. Link.

Via Telegraph.co.uk where they sneer just a bit:

The US government spent thousands of dollars sending officials to a conference at a luxury spa where they watched a simulation of commandos fighting off a "zombie apocalypse".

Actually, the theory was that a zombie attack wouldn't be much different from your routine non-zombie riot. Then again, that was a lot of money spent. I wish they would see fit to put some of that spare cash into beefing up the electricity grid to protect it from an EMP bomb that really would create some zombies.

Election results inspire Zawahiri

The slightly over half of Americans who voted Tuesday were pleased with the outcome. But they weren't the only ones. Ayman al Zawahiri has to be very happy, too.

He just told an al Qaeda affiliate in Somalia to take heart, buck up and stay the fight. From LongWarJournal.org:

"They were defeated in Iraq and they are withdrawing from Afghanistan, and their ambassador in Benghazi was killed and the flags of their embassies were lowered in Cairo and Sana'a, and in their places were raised the flags of tawhid [monotheism] and jihad," Zawahiri says, according to a translation provided by the SITE Intelligence Group.

"After their consecutive defeats, they are working from behind agents and traitors," Zawahiri continues. "Their awe is lost and their might is gone and they don't dare to carry out a new campaign like their past ones in Iraq and Afghanistan."

Emphasis was added to that last sentence to drive home the point. This new era of lost awe and might started when Obama was elected in 2008. And on Tuesday a majority of Americans acknowledged with their votes that they are OK with it. Osama bin Laden was wrong. When people see a weak horse and a strong horse sometimes they pick the weak horse.

Zawahir must be doing the Islamic equivalent of toasting with champagne.

For politically correct terrorism training call the enemy zombies

How do you conduct terrorism training without calling the enemy a name that offends someone? A "terrorist" is someone else's freedom fighter, we were once told. They can't be Muslims because politically powerful groups take such offense when Muslims are singled out as potential terrorists. There can be no race, origin or gender distinction or you risk violating some federal law.

The politically correct solution is to call them "zombies." So for the five days of Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 the "Zombie Apocalypse" is supposed to be taking place at the Paradise Point resort in San Diego at a cost of $1,000 per participant where Marines, Navy special ops, soldiers, police, firefighters and others train to deal with terrorists or zombies or something.

For the rest of us there's always the CDC's Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.

Links:
Zombies used for counterterrorism training.
Marines, police prep for mock zombie invasion.

The Benghazi Alamo

This story brought tears to my eyes. It's the story told by a ScotOnCapeCod' Weblog about the bravery displayed by Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty. (Found at Instapundit.) Here's an excerpt:

A short distance from the American compound, two Americans were sleeping. They were in Libya as independent contractors working an assignment totally unrelated to our embassy. They also happened to be former Navy SEALs. When they heard the noise coming from the attack on our embassy, as you would expect from highly trained warriors, they ran to the fight. Apparently, they had no weapons, but seeing the Libyan guards dropping their guns in their haste in fleeing the scene, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty snatched up several of these discarded weapons and prepared to defend the American compound.

Not knowing exactly what was taking place, the two SEALs set up a defensive perimeter. Unfortunately Ambassador Stevens was already gravely injured, and Foreign Service officer, Sean Smith, was dead. However, due to their quick action and suppressive fire, twenty administrative personnel in the embassy were able to escape to safety. Eventually, these two courageous men were overwhelmed by the sheer numbers brought against them, an enemy force numbering between 100 to 200 attackers which came in two waves. But the stunning part of the story is that Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty killed 60 of the attacking force. Once the compound was overrun, the attackers were incensed to discover that just two men had inflicted so much death and destruction.

As it became apparent to these selfless heroes, they were definitely going to lose their lives unless some reinforcements showed up in a hurry. As we know now, that was not to be. I’m fairly certain they knew they were going to die in this gun fight, but not before they took a whole lot of bad guys with them!

That story really touched a nerve with me. But then, I wore a Davy Crockett coon skin cap as a kid until it fell apart. Change the names and this old joke becomes current again:

Santa Anna received a report from the Alamo that only one Texan remained standing. The general sent troops in to mop up, but they were all killed. The General kept sending more troops. And they met the same fate. Each succeeding force was pushed back. "WOW," said Santa Anna. "That is the toughest Texan I've ever seen!" Finally, Santa Anna sent the largest battalion that he could muster, and they were wiped out except one lone survivor who crawled back to say, "Presidente, Presidente, don't send in anymore troops. It's a TRICK. It's a TRICK. There are TWO OF THEM!!

(Hat tip:PH.)

Poor old Barack Obama must be still waiting for the horseback courier to arrive with the request for help.  If there's any justice in the world his lesson will arrive on November 6 in the form of a lost election.

You don't have to be a Texan to remember the Alamo.

 

Someone put Basseley Nakoula in the line of fire

Salman Rushdie must be wondering if Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (AKA Sam Bacile) will be getting the same treatment Rushdie did. Nakoula was one of the people involved in making the trailer for the video about Islam and Muhammad that has gotten so much attention lately, mainly for allegedly inflaming radical Muslims. I say "allegedly" because it's appearing more likely that the video was just a convenient excuse to kill and destroy.

Just the other day an article by Rushdie appeared at the Newyorker.com website about what it's like to be the target of an Ayatollah Khomeini fatwa. It's written with the third person point of view which makes one wonder if that fiction writer is writing fiction. But since he was the headline news at the time, the main outline of his story is fairly common knowledge. And the story he tells is quite compelling. Here's an excerpt:

1989

Two thousand protesters was a small crowd in Pakistan. Even the most modestly potent politico could put many more thousands on the streets just by clapping his hands. That only two thousand “fundamentalists” could be found to storm the U.S. Information Center in the heart of Islamabad on February 12th was, in a way, a good sign. Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was on a state visit to China at the time, and it was speculated that destabilizing her administration had been the demonstrators’ real aim. Religious extremists had long suspected her of secularism, and they wanted to put her on the spot. Not for the last time, “The Satanic Verses” was being used as a football in a political game that had little or nothing to do with it. Bricks and stones were thrown at security forces, and there were screams of “American dogs!” and “Hang Salman Rushdie!”—the usual stuff. None of this fully explained the police’s response, which was to open fire, using rifles, semiautomatic weapons, and pump-action shotguns. The confrontation lasted for three hours, and, despite all that weaponry, demonstrators reached the roof of the building and the American flag was burned, as were effigies of “the United States” and him. On another day, he might have asked himself what factory supplied the thousands of American flags that were burned around the world each year. But, on this day, everything else that happened was dwarfed by a single fact: five people were shot dead. Blood will have blood, he thought.

Here was a mortally ill old man, lying in a darkened room. Here was his son, telling him about Muslims shot dead in India and Pakistan. It was that book that caused this, the son told the old man, the book that is against Islam. A few hours later, a document was brought to the offices of Iranian radio and presented as Khomeini’s edict. A fatwa, or edict, is usually a formal document, signed and witnessed and given under seal at the end of a legal proceeding, but this was just a piece of paper bearing a typewritten text. Nobody ever saw the formal document, if one existed. The piece of paper was handed to the station newsreader and he began to read.

See The Disappeared - How the fatwa changed a writer’s life.

Given all that Rushdie has had to endure because of that, one has to wonder why someone decided to out Nakoula. It doesn't take an Ayatollah level fatwa to get radical Islamists worked up. But Nakoula certainly has reason to want to stay hidden. Or if gets time for parole violation, the California prison system will get the opportunity to keep him safe.

Too bad the Islamist extremists have been so successful in getting Americans to toe the line.

Added: Hello, what's this? Some extremist organ called 15 of Khordad Foundation has increased the bounty on Salman Rushdie. If 15 of Khordad Foundation isn't yet on President Obama's drone target list, it should be.

Run Hide Fight -- a modern public safety message

It's almost reminiscent of the public safety films many of us saw as children in school. But this one has a very contemporary twist -- what to do if a gunman enters a business and opens fire. It's a taxpayer funded video made by the city of Houston and DHS which was released about a week after the shooting at the Aurora movie theater.

Video is available at ReadyHoustonTx.gov and Youtube.com.

Titled "RUN. HIDE. FIGHT. Surviving an Active Shooter Event - English" it provides some tips for people in an office where a gunman is blasting away. For those who didn't escape their last resort is confronting the shooter with a team of co-workers armed with chairs, a fire extinguisher, and whatever is available.

The office workers are unarmed, of course. That's because they followed the law. At about the 0:59 mark you can get a glimpse of the 30.06 sign at the building entrance which prohibits everyone except lawbreakers from entering with a gun.

John Yoo on Obama's killings

John Yoo came under blistering attack for his legal opinions to the Bush Administration about the pursuit of terrorists because those opinions didn't conform to the Democrat party line as it was at the time. So his observations about President Obama's pursuit of terrorists are particularly noteworthy.

In today's Wall Street Journal, Obama, Drones and Thomas Aquinas:

President Obama notched another victory in the war on terror Monday, when a CIA drone strike killed al Qaeda's second-in-command in Pakistan. ...

Al-Libi's death, however, may represent tactical success in the drone war at the expense of broader strategy.

He goes on to chide Obama over his take-no-prisoners approach -- dead men tell no tales. Further, the flowing faucet of security leaks is frightening away friends who might have otherwise shared intelligence.

Mr. Yoo certainly got the last laugh. And he's once again demonstrated that the attacks on the Bush Administration were about as sincere as campaign bumper stickers and just as partisan.

Remembering those anti-Bush Democrats

Have you ever had to read an acquaintance's email that had some wrong headed opinion that just stuck with you for years?

Happened to me. It was way back in the summer of 2007 when an opinionated former classmate let loose with an email rant about George W. Bush. You've heard it all before, but to summarize, GWB had torn up the Constitution and was trampling over the rights of the people detained at Gitmo. Bush was the worst president the country had had since Richard Nixon. They condoned torture, prisoners were held without habeas corpus, and the U.S. was occupying a country that had not invaded us. The Bush administration had outed a CIA operative -- remember Valarie Plame? Bush and Cheney had shamed the U.S. in the eyes of the world and should be impeached.

That was then, and it was really only partisan politics although at the time it wasn't so easy to prove it. Anyway, Matt K. Lewis' column brought all that back in When hat tips are due. Yes, Obama owes George W. Bush a hat tip for setting up the infrastructure Obama used to conduct his own war on terror. The notable difference is that Obama adopted a take-no-prisoners approach. What an easy way to keep them out of Gitmo.

We would do well to remember that the evil devices of the other side are really just convenient tools for your own side.

Now this is just what we need -- anti-virus software made in Iran

Graham Cluley at Sophos tells us that Iran has people working on an anti-virus program, quite possibly in reaction to the Stuxnet virus that struck their own computers a couple of years ago.

Cluley asks some pertinent questions, such as how they intend to test it. And this:

But the real question that springs to my mind is this - would you buy an anti-virus program officially written by your own country? How about a foreign country?

No. But the Iranian citizens probably won't have a choice. And the citizens are under such strict rules about what they can do on the internet anyway that they will probably be in the market for an anti-anti-virus.

But you know who would be in the market for it? Osama bin Laden. Damn the odds. The one person who would want it is gone.

Speaking of bin Laden's computer, it would be interesting to know whether there were any viruses in it. If so, hopefully they didn't infect the American computers that are now sharing the files. On the other hand, maybe that's why his files weren't encrypted. Pretty devious, but probably not likely given how a home invasion caught him totally off guard.

Tips for stalkers, robbers, assassins and terrorists -- explore Geotagging

Sorry about that teaser title. This isn't a tip for bad guys, this is for the good guys: DON'T use geotagging on your smartphone. Cheryl Rodewig explains it in Geotagging poses security risks at Army.mil, and it's a warning that the GPS feature in the typical camera phone records the user's location, and some social media services publish that information. Excerpt:

Someone with the right software and the wrong motivation could download the photo and extract the coordinates from the metadata.

Warren cited a real-world example from 2007. When a new fleet of helicopters arrived with an aviation unit at a base in Iraq, some Soldiers took pictures on the flightline, he said. From the photos that were uploaded to the Internet, the enemy was able to determine the exact location of the helicopters inside the compound and conduct a mortar attack, destroying four of the AH-64 Apaches.

Geotagging leads to body bagging. It's the 21st century version of "Loose lips sink ships."

Needless to say, there are plenty of reasons to be wary on the domestic side as well. There's no good reason to broadcast to strangers the fact that no one is home.

Via nakedsecurity.

Video demonstrates how to sneak something through TSA's full body scanners

The theory is that the image the scanner takes is of the front and back of the terrorist. The terrorist simply puts his box cutters in a secret pocket on the side of his shirt. And when the photo is taken the box cutters appear black, but since the background also appears black, the box cutters are invisible.

Video here.

It would seem that if the TSA isn't doing it already, they'll take four images: front, back and both sides. Or maybe not. More here.

Released Gitmo detainee sues for damages -- Judge says No

Abdul Rahim Abdul Razak Al Janko must have thought he would have an easy time with his case when he got the same judge who signed his release to hear his case for damages for his time served.

Mr. Janko was captured in Afghanistan as a suspected suicide martyr and was kept for seven years at Gitmo. He filed a habeas corpus petition in 2005, and U.S. District Judge for the District of Columbia Judge Richard Leon granted his release in 2009. Seems that Janko may not have been the al Qaeda terrorist they thought he was. Suicidal maybe, just not a suicidal bomber.

Janko sued for damages alleging that during that time he was "subjected to inhumane treatment that included striking his forehead; threatening to remove his fingernails; sleep deprivation; exposure to very cold temperatures; humiliation; and 'rough treatment.' " Furthermore, he alleged that he had attempted suicide 17 time during that time.

He probably thought he hit the lotto when the same judge who released him heard his case. But the Judge tossed him out of court. See Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Brought by Former Gitmo Detainee. Quote:

“War, by its very nature, victimizes many of those caught in its wake,” Leon wrote. “Innocent civilians are invariably killed, and sometimes even mistakenly imprisoned. Our legal system was never designed to provide a remedy in our Courts for these inevitable tragedies, especially in a conflict like this where terrorists cunningly morph into their surroundings.”

Sorry pal. What happened to you was a tragedy.  Blame the Patriot Act, but others have faired far worse.

The sad story of Trey Scott Atwater

There are no winners here, unless it's those who hate military personnel.

Today is the third consecutive day that the Midland Reporter-Telegram has plastered Mr. Atwater's mug shot on the front page.

According to the article, he told FBI agents that as a special forces demolitions expert he was required to carry at least two blocks of C-4 with him while on operations in Afghanistan. Although he has been back in the U.S. for nine months, he forgot one was still in his bag when he attempted to board a domestic airline in Midland, Texas, after the Christmas holiday to return to North Carolina. Additionally there was a smoke grenade in there which was confiscated on Christmas eve at the airport where he boarded a flight to Midland.

Apparently he has a problem keeping track of stuff. Isn't there a reality TV show about that?

The MRT has the complaint in PDF linked here which provides much more detail.

Mr. Atwater is being charged with violating 49 USC §46505(b)(3) which says this:

(b) General Criminal Penalty.— An individual shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both, if the individual—
...
(3) has on or about the individual, or has placed, attempted to place, or attempted to have placed on that aircraft, an explosive or incendiary device.

There is nothing so far that suggests he intended to use any of this stuff except on official military operations. However, the statute conveniently omitted any requirement that the accused actually has any criminal intent. So he is basically being made a criminal for not being able to keep track of his weapons. But what do you do with someone like that? One would think that the military has rules against taking bombs off the base. And one would also think that since there is zero evidence that he intended to hurt any civilians that a military tribunal should have jurisdiction over any procedure violation. But instead, local officials are making a federal convict out of him.

One more thing. (Added 1/5/12) -- Contrast the treatment Mr. Atwater got at the North Carolina airport with the treatment he got at the airport in Midland, Texas.

The screeners at the airport in North Carolina probably have experienced a lot military personnel accidentally packing military weapons in their carry-on bags. And they seem to have a sensible procedure in place -- confiscate the items and send the soldier on his/her way.

Not here. Civilians treat military personnel as heroes out here. The welcome mat is out.  But apparently the airport screeners have such little experience with them that a careless soldier gets sent immediately to jail.  Not a very warm welcome after all.

Updated 2/20/12: Case dismissed. See Kudos to U.S. Attorneys in the Trey Scott Atwater Case.

No Awlaki bounce for Obama

Take a look at Intrade's market on Obama's reelection odds. As of the past couple of weeks it's below 50%. But zero in on that spike in the first week in May. That's when Osama bin Laden had a date with a bullet. And Obama was on top of the world for about two days.

But it was a one time thing. The other day Anwar al-Awlaki, the up and coming young terrorists leader, got his 72 virgins following a missile visit. But look at the chart. No bounce for Obama. These days he can kill terrorists all day long, and Americans hardly notice. I guess he knows how George Bush felt.

Michael Mukasey on Obama and terrorists trials

Former Federal Judge and U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey was interviewed by James Taranto recently, and Saturday's Wall Street Journal had Taranto's writeup titled Two Decades of Pursuing al Qaeda. It is an interesting article.

In the 90s Judge Mukasey believed that terrorists were basically criminals, and federal court was the appropriate venue for trying them. But ... here's a quote from the article:

He ultimately changed his view, in part because al Qaeda acquired valuable intelligence from the trial over which he presided. In a conspiracy case, Mr. Mukasey explains, "the government is required to name all the unindicted co-conspirators that it knows about, and it serves a list. It was later found that that list had found its way to Khartoum within 10 days after it was served." The Sudanese capital was then home to one of those unindicted co-conspirators, Osama bin Laden. "So bin Laden knew not only that they knew about him but also who else they knew about." ...

Even the far lower-profile 1995 trial was burdensome for members of the jury, who were kept anonymous to protect their safety: "The jurors had to be picked up every morning at a different pickup point and then dropped off in the evening by the marshals, who were careful to make sure nobody followed them. And in spite of that, we found that two of them had reporters sitting on their doorsteps the day the verdict was delivered. They were terrified."

One might conclude that Mr. Mukasey believes the Obama administration was seriously misguided when they considered trying KSM, one of the most famous terrorists in captivity, in a civilian court in New York City.

"Think about the lesson: If you follow the rules of war—which is to say, you wear a uniform, you follow a recognized chain of command, you carry your arms openly, and you don't target civilians—then you can be held until the termination of hostilities. If you violate all of those rules, we've got a better deal for you. We'll give you a trial, and a platform in open court, and the possibility of an acquittal. That's a perverse kind of logic."

Of course, most of us who have observed Barack Obama for the past three years have come to believe that a perverse kind of logic is the norm with him.

My favorite 9-11 cartoon -- reposted from 2003

My all time favorite 9-11 cartoon.

(In case it doesn't load properly, the cartoon shows a group of horrified mullahs reading a note saying "To the Taliban, give us Osama or we'll send your women to college.")

Those tea party terrorists

Oh those tea party fanatics! Aren't they a bunch of malcontents with all that talk about balanced budgets, reduced debt and small government?

Joe Biden nailed them when he called them "terrorists."

But maybe that's not such a bad thing as Dave Carter explains in They Can't Be Serious:

Richard Gere needs to plead for calm while a whole blood bank of bleeding hearts invites the nation to join in a dialogue to, "understand the rage." Perhaps Katie Couric could begin the collective introspection as liberals on both coasts try to understand, "why they don't like us." ...

Tolerance will be the watch word, as Tea Party members are welcomed on university campuses across the land. ...

Construction of a Conservative Cultural Center will be welcomed right smack in the middle of Harvard, where Ann Coulter will launch the Council on American Tea Party Relations and serve as its president.

Tolerance indeed.

How to neutralize Pakistan's nuclear bomb facilities

Pakistan is very proud of its nuclear capability. And why not? It has certainly given them an edge in negotiating with the West. And the situation isn't made any better with China cheering them on.

As Americans celebrated the termination with extreme prejudice of former terror chief Osama bin Laden, Pakistani militants rallied to demonstrate against the U.S. So John Kerry's diplomatic skills were put to the test when he went to Pakistan the other day to try scold them for hiding bin Laden and to negotiate the release of the Navy chopper's tail fins.

Some details about the bin Laden raid have been made public, but something we don't yet know is whether Pakistan's radar was compromised prior to the raid. Richard Clark explained how the Israelis used a cyber attack to neutralize Syria's radar system prior to sending in F-15s to blow up a suspected nuclear facility a while back. So we know it's been done before.

But back to the point. Pakistan's nuclear facilities need to be neutralized.

The Stuxnet virus is supposed to have put a crimp in Iran's nuclear program. At this point we don't know how Stuxnet got into Iran's computers. But there's always the possibility that virus laden USB drives were placed in strategic spots to appear as if they were lost. And curiosity infected the cat.

Whether or not it happened that way, the technique probably wouldn't work again.

So here's how to get a virus into Pakistani computers: Internet porn.

Yes, pornography. Bin Laden collected porn on his hard drive, and with the crazy way the radical Islamists think women should be covered from head to toe, it certainly seems logical that the men would seek some sort of surreptitious sexual thrill.

So here's what the CIA needs to do: Create porn sites that might appeal to these guys. "Hot blond gets freaky under the hajib." "Lovely lady hot for Arabs." You get picture. Then those software wizards who built Stuxnet can sneak viruses into the porn videos, and before you can say "allah ackbar" those little worms go to work and eat out the insides of those nuclear warheads.

Hey, don't thank me, thank the people who have to create the virus.  And the porn.

Exclusive interview with Osama's Wife Number Three (satire alert)

Sleepless in Midland has obtained an exclusive interview with Osama bin Laden's wife number 3, Amal Ahmed Abdulfattah. Check it out.

Sleepless: You got married when you were 18 years old. What did you see in Osama bin Laden?

Wife 3: Well, he's tall, and that's hot. But there's just something sexy about an old guy with a long gray beard wearing a robe -- it's an Arab thing. Plus, some girls have a thing for bad boys, you know? Oh yeah, I should probably mention I didn't have a choice. It was either "I do" or "I die."

Sleepless: What was it like sharing a husband three times your age with two other wives?

Wife 3: Well, just between you and me, that old Arab had trouble pitching a tent. He had these little blue pills, but the world's most wanted man couldn't keep the jihad going under the robe, if you get my drift. So I had plenty of time for meditation. And MTV.

Sleepless: You took a bullet for him?

Wife 3: Part of the job -- walking first in line through a mine field, that sort of thing. It's in the wedding vow: "Do you promise to honor, obey, be a human shield?"

Sleepless: When Seal Team 6 burst through the door what did you think?

Wife 3: I thought they were selling magazines, but they were all "Where's bin Laden? Where's bin Laden?" I was like, "WTF! Don't you people knock?" Then all hell broke loose.

Sleepless: What will you do now?

Wife 3: I plan to hit the club scene and put the "bad" in Abbottabad, if you know what I mean. Then I hope to get a spot on "The View" or "Oprah" and plug my reality show idea: "The Real Housewives of Islamic Jihad."

Sleepless: Thank you.

Bargain basement

This has got to be the best bargain of the day, or maybe the market place established a fair price.

It's Morgan Spurlock's book, Where in the World is Osama bin Laden, currently priced at $0.21 for the hard copy or $0.01 for the paperback.

Kindle edition $12.99!

Forget the photo -- let's see the video

What's the big deal about the photo of a dead Osama bin Laden?

Forget the Osama photo. I'd like to see the video those people were watching.

Osama sleeps with the fishes

Osama bin Laden probably wasn't really the mastermind of the 9/11 attack although he may have encouraged the idea and helped raise the money for it. But he took credit for it and was held up by the Arab street as the leader of the anti-American movement.

So his execution is certainly symbolic. Book-ends. A start and a finish. Finality.

Yeah, it's really just a few chapters in a long book, but it finally got done, and Americans showed the tenacity to follow it through to the finish. Congratulations to all those involved, from the Seal Team who breached the door to the Gitmo interrogators who flushed out the intel.

Dancing in the American Street

Now that's something most of us were surprised to see on our TV sets this morning -- the spontaneous singing, the impromptu pledge of allegiance to the flag. Those infamous scenes of Arab street celebrations of the terrorists' success after 9/11 with their in-your-face attitude toward America cemented a resolve in many Americans who watched it. And no doubt many of the Americans celebrating this morning had those scenes fresh on their minds. We shall see what reaction the Arab Street has toward our celebrations given that bin Laden was a has-been in hiding.

A question and a nomination

Question: Can foreign helicopters fly over Pakistan undetected by any means other than eyes and ears?

Nomination for best line goes to the Osama's neighbor, Sohaib Athar. "There goes the neighborhood," he tweeted after learning what all the ruckus was about.

Catch 'em where you find 'em -- alleged terrorist arrested in Lubbock

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reports that a 20 year old kid was arrested in Lubbock for "federal charge of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction."

Aldawsari came to federal attention after a chemical supplier reported a suspicious attempted purchase of a concentrated phenol, a chemical with legitimate purposes that can be used to make explosives, in early February. Surveillance and searches on his apartment -- in a building behind Cong. Randy Neugebauer's district office and shared with a U.S. Army recruiting office -- revealed wiring, beakers, flasks, Hazmat suits and clocks, according to the statement.

And ...

Federal investigators also found several journal entries and email messages he sent to himself with instructions on how to build an improvised explosive device, according to the statement.

Additional emails with the subject “NICE TARGETS” he sent to himself described reservoirs and dams in Colorado and California, nuclear power plants, night clubs and the Dallas home of former President George W. Bush, according to the statement.

Emails also contained the names and home addresses of three former U.S. military members who had been stationed for a time at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, according to the statement.

Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari of Saudi Arabia was in the U.S. on a student visa and was a student at South Plains College, according to the report. South Plains College is a community college located in Levelland which is about 30 miles West of Lubbock and has campuses in Levelland, Lubbock and Plainview.

It's odd that a character like that would end up in West Texas, but it just proves that citizens in flyover country shouldn't get too complacent.  Kudos to the chemical supplier who turned him in.

So now can we do something about the pirate problem?

This is what Centcom says:

TAMPA, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2011) — At approximately 1 a.m. EST today, while negotiations were ongoing to secure the release of four American hostages, U.S. forces responded to gunfire aboard the pirated vessel (S/V) Quest. As they responded to the gunfire, reaching and boarding the Quest, the forces discovered all four hostages had been shot by their captors. Despite immediate steps to provide life-saving care, all four hostages ultimately died of their wounds.

Civilized society really should have a better way to deal with uncivil brutality like this. The captured pirates will probably be brought to the U.S., put on trial, and if convicted, serve out a sentence in the federal prison system.

Someone who would take hostages and kill them during negotiations has a death wish. What's needed is a justice system specifically for pirates captured at sea where they are immediately put on military trial on the ship that captured them. If found innocent they would be unloaded at the next stop. If found guilty and sentenced to death then the execution would take place on or near the ship. If sentenced to prison they would be shipped to the nearest secret rendition facility with a vacancy.

Why they hate us -- Sayyid Qutb, the 40 year old virgin

Sayyid Qutb seems to get the honor of being the founding father of the style of Islamic extremism and Western hatred to which Al Qaeda, bin Laden, the Muslim Brotherhood and others subscribe. And a brief and interesting article at DenverPost.com attempts to describe how his short time in Greely, Colorado, in 1949 convinced him that Americans were just awful. Excerpt:

Qutb's writings, according to Wright, contained criticism of "primitive" and "narcissistic" Americans and their overtly seductive women. He was most angered by America's post-World War II support of an Israeli state in the Middle East.

Via.

He liked movies, so perhaps 1949 big screen hits such as On the Town helped solidify his preference for the cultures of centuries gone by and a desire to destroy what he couldn't appreciate.

Here's the best part:

Once a week, hundreds of residents crowded the campus tennis courts for square dancing.

Qutb described a dance in a Greeley church basement in his book, "The America I Have Seen," as proof of the locals' animalistic sexuality.

That dance was in a Congregationalist church, [ Greeley historian Peggy Ford ] Waldo said. The minister likely lowered the lights so people would be less self-conscious, and the atmosphere would be more romantic, she said. Qutb saw it as a religious leader sanctioning lust. ...

"I think it was his loneliness and alienation that got to him," Waldo said.

Can't you just picture this guy at the square dance unable to figure out the do-si-do much less get a dance partner? He took a long look in the mirror and determined that it was everyone's fault but his.