Stealth Jihad: The War Within Our Borders

By Erick Stackelbeck

The media regularly reports about the danger to America from Islamic terrorists. But what about potential threats from inside this country?

Radical Muslims are looking for ways to bring sharia law to the United States.

Watch Low Band

Are Muslims in America victims of Islamophobia? Warnings from the Council on American-Islamic Relations seem to suggest just that.

CAIR claims to be the nation's leading Muslim civil rights group. But the group's critics say it's focused more on making Islam a dominant force than with fighting bigotry.

In a 1998, CAIR founder Omar Ahmad told the San Ramon Valley Herald, "Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth."

Others point to a 1991 memo by the radical Muslim Brotherhood challenging American Islamic groups.

The memorandum, presented as evidence during a terrorism trial last year, reads that these Muslim groups "must understand that their work in America is a kind of grand jihad in eliminating and destroying the western civilization from within and 'sabotaging' its miserable house by their hands" until Islam reigns supreme."

For radical Muslims, that means pushing an aggressive, pro-Islam agenda that's been increasingly successful in recent years: Muslim cab drivers in Minneapolis refuse to carry passengers who have alcohol in their possession. Public schools schedule prayer breaks to accommodate Muslim students. Pork is banned in the workplace - the list goes on.

Islam expert Robert Spencer says Americans have caved in to such demands far too often. His new book, The Stealth Jihad, describes the non-violent war being waged by radical Muslims against American society.

Denver a terror risk?

by Peter Marcus

Report: 1.7M vulnerable if chemical plant attacked

More than 1.7 million people in the Denver area could be at risk if an area chemical facility were to be attacked by terrorists, states a report released this week by the Center for American Progress.

In addition to 100 other “most dangerous chemical facilities” around the nation, Denver’s KIK Denver, Inc., part of Ontario, Canada-based KIK International, Inc., is highlighted as a chemical plant that could bring the region a worst-case toxic gas cloud if it were to be targeted by terrorists. The plant produces bleach by using chlorine gas at its facility located at 4941 East 39th Ave., which requires bulk shipments, according to the report.

The report identifies alternatives for each chemical plant across the nation, each of which threatens at least 1 million people if they were to be attacked by terrorists. In the case of KIK Denver, the Center for American Progress recommends producing bleach on-site from salt and electricity without shipping or storing chlorine gas. The liberal policy group hired a chemical safety consultant for the report.

“Adopting safer chemicals is the only certain way to protect American communities from a toxic gas release,” said Paul Orum, chemical safety consultant. “Site security cannot assure protection against a concerted attack, insider sabotage, or catastrophic release. Replacing hazardous chemicals with safer alternatives removes the danger.”

Calls to KIK Denver by the Denver Daily News went unreturned yesterday. If the plant follows-up, the Denver Daily News will print its response.

Since 1994, KIK Denver has made great strides in the number of toxic chemicals released into the environment, according to the Toxics Release Inventory Program of the Environmental Protection Agency. In fact, from 1991-2002 chlorine releases have decreased by 34 percent. The facility is ranked by the EPA as one of the “cleanest/best facilities in the U.S.”

Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security warns that terrorists could use chemical plants as improvised weapons of mass destruction. There are concerns, however, that security standards developed within the last two years at chemical facilities only focus on “physical measures” like adding gates and guards. The measures do not completely protect against an internal attack, or catastrophic release, states the report.

“So far we have been unwilling to address this threat in a serious way,” states P.J. Crowley, director of national defense and homeland security at the Center for American Progress. “We must move beyond our current focus on site security.”

Converting to alternative chemicals and processes would increase the safety of as many as 80 million Americans living near chemical plants, states the report. Millions more living near railroads and highways used for transporting chemicals would also be safer.

“Millions of people remain unnecessarily vulnerable to toxic terrorism,” said Reece Rushing, director of regulatory and information policy at the Center for American Progress. “This report shows that substantial safety and security improvements are possible and affordable.”

Northrop sees defense spending steady in near term

By Andrea Shalal-Esa

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Northrop Grumman Corp Chief Executive Ron Sugar on Wednesday said U.S. defense spending would likely remain steady for the next few years, but significant changes might occur in fiscal 2011 and 2012, depending on the priorities of the Obama administration.

Given ongoing security threats and the way U.S. defense programs are structured, Sugar said he does not expect any "dramatic reductions" in major weapons programs.

"Nobody has a crystal ball. You may see some rearrangements of what's emphasized and what's not emphasized, but the way this system works, the next couple years are pretty well understood," Sugar said in webcast remarks to a New York conference sponsored by Aviation Week and Credit Suisse.

"There can be significant deviations in the '11, '12 period, depending on what the administration and the Congress decide to do," Sugar said.

He said Northrop is well positioned in areas that should do well in any readjustment of defense priorities, including unmanned aerial vehicles, a sector which he said is expected to grow substantially in coming years.

Another promising area is cybersecurity, Sugar said, citing mounting evidence that many countries are developing cyberwarfare capabilities, and that U.S. industry and government are facing numerous attempted attacks already.

Sugar said new business in the cybersecurity sector could amount to "billions and billions" of dollars of orders, but some of the work would be classified.

"It will be significant. It will be a piece that is growing faster than the other accounts," he said.

Shipbuilding should be steady, but the company is working hard to improve its profitability and margins in that area.

Information technology should remain stable in the defense and intelligence sectors, but state and local work will probably weaken, given the overall economic crisis, he said.

Asked about possible missile defense cuts, Sugar said only about $1 billion of his company's annual revenues come from there, and he does not expect the new administration to make wholesale cuts in this area, especially given the very real and growing threat of missile attacks by enemy states.

Overall, he predicted cuts could amount to around $500 million to $1 billion from the current annual spending level of $8 billion to $9 billion on missile defense, Sugar said.

Sugar said Northrop had an order backlog valued at around $70 billion at the end of the third quarter, about half of which was not yet funded with signed contracts. But he said the company has been cautious about adding any orders to the backlog unless they were fairly certain.

One exception is about $1.5 billion in backlog from a $35 billion contract for new aerial refueling tankers that Northrop won last February. The Pentagon in September said it would cancel the deal and redo the tanker competition, but Northrop said its contract with the Air Force has still not been formally terminated.

Spokesman Randy Belote said the two sides continue to engage in discussions about the issue.

At issue is how much of a termination fee the Air Force would have to pay Northrop for canceling the contract.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Pentagon bans computer flash drives

By Lolita C. Baldor

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has banned, at least temporarily, the use of external computer flash drives because of a virus threat officials detected on Defense Department networks.

While defense officials would not publicly confirm the ban, messages were sent to department employees informing them of the new restrictions. As part of the ban, the Pentagon was collecting any of the small flash drives that were purchased or provided by the department to workers, according to one message distributed to employees.

Workers are being told there is no guarantee they will ever get the devices back and it is not clear how long the ban will last.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would provide no details on the virus Friday, but he described it as a "global virus" that has been the subject of public alerts.

"This is not solely a department problem, this is not solely a government problem," Whitman said.

The Pentagon has acknowledged that its vast computer network is scanned or probed by outsiders millions of times each day. Last year a cyber attack forced the Defense Department to take up to 1,500 computers off line.

Officials said then that a penetration of the system was detected, but the attack had no adverse impact on department operations.

However, military leaders have consistently warned of potential threats from a variety of sources including other countries -- such as China -- along with other self-styled cyber-vigilantes and terrorists.

The issue has also been of concern at the Department of Homeland Security. A September audit by the DHS Inspector General recommended that the agency implement greater procedures to ensure that only authorized computer flash drives or other storage devices can be connected to the network there and that an inventory of those devices be set up.

DHS agreed with the recommendations and said some of that is already being done. DHS also said more software enhancements are in the works that will provide more protection.

China 'using cyberwarfare to challenge US power'

By Richard Spencer

China is using cyberwarfare to challenge American power and distorting economic policy to exert political influence over other countries, according to a hostile congressional report.

The report accuses China of using its foreign exchange reserves, built up through "heavy-handed government control" to buy influence.

In one recent example, a government sovereign wealth fund agreed to use the reserves to loan money to Costa Rica in return for its dropping diplomatic recognition of China's rival, Taiwan.

Meanwhile, it has built up its army of cyber-spies to such an extent that it can launch attacks "anywhere in the world at any time".

The number of attacks on US government, defence companies and businesses rose by a third in 2007, to 43,880 incidents affecting five million computers, according to the claims by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Some were so sophisticated that they might be impossible to counteract, or even detect. Meanwhile, its space programme, targeted at what one Chinese military strategist called "America's soft ribs", was steadily increasing the vulnerability of US assets.

"China is intent on expanding its sphere of control even at the expense of its Asian neighbours and the United States," it said.

Pentagon and other Washington studies have accused China of using computer hacking to steal information and threaten disruption to both civil and defence services before, and particularly since an alleged co-ordinated attack in 2002, code-named by the US "Titan Rain", downloaded huge quantities of information.

The Chinese government vociferously denies being involved in such attacks.

But the current report comes at a time of great American unease that China will benefit from the global financial crisis to cut into its economic, political and even military dominance.

A separate US study published yesterday said that by 2025 America would probably have to share world leadership with India and China.

The increased attention given in the report to China's economic policy is another sign of that unease.

China has been accused of keeping its exchange rate too low, boosting its exports artificially and using the dollars it is forced to buy as a result of the policy to lend back to the United States, exacerbating the recent credit bubble.

"Rather than use this money for the benefit of its citizens – by funding pensions and erecting hospitals and schools, for example – China has been using the funds to seek political and economic influence over other nations," Larry Wortzel, the Commission chairman, said at the report's launch.

The regular publication of such reports over the last six years with cross-party backing – the committee consists of six Democrats and six Republicans – has not deterred President George W Bush from pursuing ever closer business and diplomatic relations with China, a policy set in place by his father, the first President Bush.

China is waiting anxiously to see whether an Obama presidency brings less hawkishness on international relations, or a more protectionist trade policy, which Beijing fears.

The commission called for legislation pressuring China to raise the value of its currency and to demand its main sovereign wealth fund, China Investment Corporation, disclose investments it is making in the United States.

"China appears far less likely than other nations to manage its sovereign wealth funds without regard to political influence that it can gain by offering such sizeable investments," the report said.

Is he or isn't he? The debate over Obama's eligibility

New feature focuses on birth certificate, the U.S. Constitution and doubts

TV newsgal-wannabe goes bonkers when fired

Terror financing runs wild in Saudi Arabia

(Compiler's note: A must read article)

Kingdom cracks down on violence at home, ignores help flowing to outside groups

Saudi Arabia is cracking down on extremist violence within its borders, but virtually ignoring terror recruitment and financing drives that are suspected of enabling violence around the rest of the world, according to a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

The revelation comes as Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdul Aziz complained that Saudi mosques were being used to recruit operatives for al-Qaida networks. But he has yet to curb either terrorist recruitment in Saudi Arabia or diminish Saudi assistance to terrorists outside the country.

Saudi officials acknowledge that devout Saudis who attend some of the nation's mosques are being targeted by Islamists for a range of operations. Nayef has fretted that Islamic clerics have failed to block the influence of al-Qaida in the mosques which he says serve as places of indoctrination and recruitment of what he describes as an extremist ideology.

"Intellectual security is by no means less important than public security," Nayef said.

In a recent seminar on intellectual security, Nayef was critical of the imams inside Saudi Arabia.

"Frankly speaking, I would like to say that the imams of mosques, with the exception of the two holy mosques, have not played their desired role," he said. "The more than 15,000 mosques in the country constitute the best forums for guidance, but the imams have failed miserably in discharging their duties."

He also urged Saudi universities to play more of a role in curbing Islamic extremism.

"Since universities are centers of research, it is their duty to study ways to root out ideas that distort religion and defame the nation," he added. "Universities should be capable of contributing to the service of the country and it is in line with the teaching of Islam, which urges its followers to benefit from fruits of learning."

Nayef went on to say that the Interior Ministry has made considerable strides in the war against al-Qaida in 2008 with the arrests of more than 700 suspected operatives and the foiling of a number of potentially mass-casualty strikes.

"We have proved to the world that the Saudi security forces are capable of confronting the challenges of the deviant ideology though the country was the main target of extremist plots," Nayef said.

But security experts point to a distinction between Saudi support to fight terrorism inside Saudi Arabia and outside the country.

Those security experts say while Nayef has been in the forefront in cracking down on terrorism within the kingdom, the Saudi leadership continues to work with charities whose funds are skimmed off for terrorist activities internationally.

This recently has been the case in Lebanon, where WND was told by sources that Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan, chief of the Saudi National Security Council, is helping to finance Sunnis whose militias are instigating fighting against the Shiite Alawite minority in northern Lebanon.

New Report Calls Nuclear Terrorism Risk Unacceptably High

from National Terror Alert Response Center

A new report says the world still faces a serious risk that terrorists could obtain a nuclear bomb and urges President-elect Barack Obama to make reducing that risk a top priority of U.S. security policy and diplomacy. VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has details from Washington.

The new report, called “Securing the Bomb 2008,” says major progress has been made to reduce the danger of nuclear terrorism.

The report warns, however, there are still major gaps in these efforts and says the risk of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon remains unacceptably high.

The author of the report, Harvard professor Matthew Bunn, says the potential for a disastrous attack is very real.

“That would incinerate the heart of a major city,” he said. “It could turn the center of Washington, D.C. or the center of Manhattan into a smoking, radioactive ruin that would be unusable for decades to come. That would have profound and catastrophic affects on our society, really reverberating around the world.”

The study is the seventh annual report from Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and was commissioned by the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a nonproliferation group based in Washington, D.C.

The report details a series of events around the world in recent years it says highlights the risk of poor security at nuclear installations.

These include an armed break-in at a South African site with hundreds of kilograms of highly enriched uranium, the arrest of a Russian colonel for soliciting bribes to overlook violations of nuclear security rules and the increasing terrorist threats amid the ongoing strife in Pakistan.