Political wrangling will inevitably take place, but hopefully some effective measures will be adopted to at least deter future would-be terrorists from using their vehicles to mow down civilians. In the interim, what can we do in the hospitality sector to reduce the threat that our colleagues travelling on business or our assigned personnel in higher-risk locations face? The random nature of a vehicle-borne attack and the unpredictability of it are at the heart of the issue, but some measures in fact can be taken to lessen our risk.
First and foremost, keep informed of the security environment in the country or region you are visiting. Do this through a regular review of related material in newspapers and magazines. In addition, the US State Department, UK Foreign Office and other government websites routinely publish country security status updates that are specifically designed to aid the public in travel planning and safety. If a respected government agency recommends that the public defer all but essential travel, then it might be wise to heed that recommendation. That may be an extreme measure, but remember that governments acquire and assess intelligence from a wide variety of sources and boil it down into useful analysis. We must take such analysis seriously, even if we may never be privy to the source(s) of the intelligence.
Secondly, if you are in a foreign country, it’s wise to place a call to your country’s embassy or consulate for the latest information on the security situation. In rapidly developing circumstances, embassies may be in possession of updated intelligence furnished by the host government. This vital information may not have been previously disseminated and can serve as the basis for more informed decision-making in an evolving situation.
Naturally, the most iconic locations draw the most attention from those intent on perpetrating a mass casualty attack. The Champs Elysees, London Bridge, Times Square, Las Ramblas and other landmarks-such as the World Trade Center-all come to mind. But avoiding these areas does not mean a visitor or resident will remain safe. Terrorists planning an attack often have a plan B: If the primary target becomes too difficult to strike, they will find another, “softer” target to hit. So, we’re talking about reducing-but not eliminating-risk. Keep your wits about you, plan alternate routes and ensure to identify possible safe havens, both in areas you may visit and in and around your hotel or workplace.
The fact remains that not much can be done to stop an individual hell-bent on wreaking havoc through the use of a vehicle. Let’s summarize for a moment the most salient vehicle-borne attacks in Europe and the US:
July 14, 2016 – 31-year-old French citizen Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel used a rented truck to barrel down a pedestrian street in Nice, France on Bastille Day and killed 87 people. This attack proved to be the most deadly, not only because of the size and weight of the truck, but also due to the fact that the front end had been modified and fitted with a heavy metal plate, designed specifically to maximize its destructive impact.
November 28, 2016 – A student at Ohio State University inspired by ISIS propaganda drove his car into several pedestrians at the school before crashing it and jumping out to continue assaulting victims with a knife. At least 13 people were injured in the attack. The attacker was shot dead by police.
December 19, 2016 – A hijacked truck is driven through a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring 56 others. The perpetrator was later killed in a shootout with police.
March 22, 2017 – A British man barrels into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and Bridge Street in London, killing four and injuring more than 50 others. The attacker then crashed the car into a fence at the Palace of Westminster and fatally stabbed a police officer before being shot to death.
June, 2017– Eleven people were injured when Darren Osborne, a self-radicalized anti-Muslim extremist, drove a rented van into a crowd of worshippers leaving London’s Finsbury Park Mosque as Muslims finished Ramadan evening prayers.
Also in June, 2017– Three radicalized British residents of North African descent drove into pedestrians on London Bridge before launching a knife attack in Borough Market, killing 8 and wounding another 48.
August, 2017– A neo-Nazi white supremacist, identified as James Alex Fields, Jr. is alleged to have driven his vehicle into a crowd of demonstrators who were protesting a white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. One woman was killed and several people were injured.
Preventing this type of attack is a difficult task for law enforcement inasmuch as it is a low-tech, easy and efficient way to cause mass casualties. Significantly, the on-line AQAP magazine Inspire urged its followers to use vehicles as weapons and to turn commonly-used items, such as household cleaning agents, or chemicals, into improvised explosive devices. The low-tech nature of the operation is crucial to its success. The fewer people involved in an operation and the reduced need to carry out long and complex logistics in preparation for the attack lessen the risk of its detection. In the case of this Spanish ISIS cell which perpetrated Thursday’s attack, there were at least eight people involved who conspired to commit an even more spectacular attack using large improvised explosive devices. Their preferred method involved readily available portable gas tanks, widely used in Spain for cooking and home heating. Nothing noteworthy or suspicious in their acquisition and no special permit is required.
Of course, the use of a vehicle as a weapon and the targeting of a tourist area present a quandary that is not easily addressed. Law enforcement can deploy additional stanchions and other physical barriers leading up to pedestrian walkways or popular attractions. Authorities can also strategically-and on the spur of the moment-deploy spike strips to slow down a vehicle and render it immobile in a matter of seconds. However, the crucial intelligence indicating when and where such an attack will occur would still be lacking. Even with a sophisticated human intelligence component in its investigative arsenal, the ubiquitous nature of vehicles and the spontaneity with which they can be used as weapons would leave law enforcement ill-equipped to detect almost all of them in the planning stages. No easy solution for this one.
]]>One thing is almost universally true in these case
The active shooter, that person who storms into a classroom, cinema, restaurant or house of worship, is most likely suffering from acute mental illness. The mental illness often leads to delusional feelings and a profound sense of victimization. As investigators delve into the shooter’s past to determine just what triggered such violent behavior, the phrases “you did this to me” or “you made me do this” either written or spoken, were articulated by the perpetrator in the days or weeks preceding the killing spree.
We’re not addressing here motivational factors that might have contributed to the violent behavior, such as political, ideological or religious opinions or racial animus, though those are often present as well. In those instances, mental illness may be a secondary factor or not a factor at all. What we are addressing is the emotional component when mental illness severe that beset the shooter and that lead the shooter to often uncontrollable outbursts of violent behavior that culminate in a mass shooting.
Of course, each case is different and no hard and fast rule applies to each mass shooting in the US. But when taken as a whole, we can discern some characteristics of those who perpetrate a mass shooting from a mental health perspective.
In general terms, the perpetrator has suffered from mental illness in the past, whether diagnosed properly or not. What’s more, studies of perpetrators-such as Adam Lanza, the author of the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting-have shown that the mental illness, even if diagnosed, was not treated with correct medical protocols. By this, we mean either accepted clinical practices for treating the illness were not adhered to or the patient himself did not follow the prescribed treatment. In the case of Lanza, both are true. He suffered from untreated Asperger’s syndrome, which is suspected of worsening his mental illness. At the same time, he did not follow the prescribed treatment for his mental illness, once diagnosed.
In the case of Cho Seung Hui, the shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre who killed 31 people, we also see a case of severe mental illness not properly diagnosed. Although he had been counseled in the past about violent outbursts and harassment of other students, his feelings of victimization, made worse by bullying, were manifest during the shooting spree when he railed against everyone associated with him or the university in any way. During the subsequent investigation, police uncovered at least two videos he made of himself. One of the two he apparently recorded for post-incident airing. In that one, he makes it clear that others made him commit the horrific acts that day at the university. “I did not want to do this. You made me do it”, he states.
A couple of other characteristics we often see in the perpetrators of mass shootings are self-isolation, a “loner”, social awkwardness and the inability to develop meaningful relationships with friends or family. Indeed, in many cases a close friend or family member would be one of the first to detect changes in personality that hint at something being awry and thus attempt to force intervention. But all too often, the rage and victimization remain inside, as the eventual shooter is living in a surreal environment, convinced that there is no way out, no escape, from his brutal world unless he lashes out against the very threats that he believes are victimizing him.
There are many other factors that influence a shooter of this type and we do not discount ideology. But it is the leap that the eventual shooter must make that is addressed here. The decision to perpetrate the crime or not is a conscious one and thus the ability of the shooter to make that leap is influenced greatly by his mental state.
In an upcoming letter, we’ll take a look at some of the differences discernible in cases wherein the shooter is acting out of a deeply held ideological conviction as opposed to one who is reacting to years of internalized strife that manifests itself in violence.
(Security Strategies Today offers a one or two day in depth course on preparing your company or workforce in the event of an active shooter incident. The course address both the mindset of the shooter and tactical issues for those caught up in the event. Contact us for a quote.)
Click here for the original article.
]]>In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, as we know, we experienced a radical change in the way we live our daily lives in the US and many parts of the world. When airports finally reopened for commercial flights, the security delays were quite long, random checks were instituted and quickly became a routine aspect of security protocols. Armed, uniformed US military patrolled the interior and K-9 units at times were visible. We became accustomed to the requirement to produce a government-issued ID at check-in and at times at boarding. Airport workers were required to obtain new employment IDs and background checks of new hires are now required. Intrusion-proof cabin doors on aircraft were installed or existing doors were retrofitted. Flight crews were trained on how to physically restrain passengers and armed pilots and air marshals were scheduled on many routes. Other protocols, both in flight and at airports, have been instituted, many of which are and should remain hidden from the public at large.
An attack like those on 9/11 has not been repeated and as expected, the threat has evolved. This evolution is a direct result of the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq and the hardening of the air transportation sector. More than any other factor, we consider both armed conflicts to be the principle cause of this evolving threat.
The NATO led war in Afghanistan partitioned the country into zones of tribal and government influence, strengthened and weakened internal alliances and eventually ended in the establishment of a much more stable, marginally secular, central government with control over its territory. Although NATO countries suffered significant losses in Afghanistan, its main objective of destroying Al Qaeda, including its safe havens and infrastructure, was largely accomplished. The government of Pakistan, long accused of turning a blind eye to the organization’s presence, was caught with its pants down when the US tracked Osama Bin Laden to a remote village and executed him. Since that time, the Islamabad government has increased its vigilance to the degree that it can, spurred into action occasionally by devastating attacks on its troops and police officers.
Although Al Qaeda remains a threat, it is deemed no longer capable of planning and executing a September 11 style attack. It has gone from a vertical hierarchy with integrated command and control to a decentralized, horizontal organization. The group does maintain its influence throughout the region, whether in isolated groups of Al Qaeda adherents or through new franchise formations, such as Al Shabaab, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb or Isis. These groups might have coordinated some operations with Al Qaeda central, but with the passage of time and destruction of the AQ core, their autonomy has increased. Intelligence suggests that they seek and receive little guidance from what was once the world’s most feared terrorist group. Still, these dynamic groups are inspired by the Al Qaeda ideology to a degree, although AQ never had the puritanical religious fervor of Isis.
Although core Al Qaeda is all but destroyed, and Afghanistan is on the road to full sovereignty, the war in Iraq was an unmitigated disaster and its repercussions will be felt for decades. We will not re-litigate the conflict here, but we will discuss how both the wars-Iraq and Afghanistan-have contributed to shaping the global terrorist threat.
Like swatting a beehive, the war in Iraq took an already agitated population and caused it to disperse to far-flung regions and lands. A great Iraqi diaspora was founded, one which surpassed in numbers and in sheer desperation the expat population that grew over the decades of Saddam Hussein’s rule. This time however, their homeland was invaded by foreign powers operating under false pretense. Although at the beginning of the conflict invading forces were greeted as liberators, this attitude quickly changed as the Iraqi population witnessed war crimes, torture, CIA-sponsored sexual assault and humiliation of prisoners and up to 200,000 of its own citizens killed. The fighting was fierce and the fallout significant in a war that lasted nearly seven years.
The complexity of today’s terrorist threat stands in juxtaposition to the easily understood and predictable consequences of the two wars. On one hand, Afghanistan is reasonably stable and its government enjoys widespread international support. As alluded to earlier in this article, the Al Qaeda safe havens are gone and remnants of the organization are largely isolated or otherwise marginalized. Although challenges remain, Kabul has assumed the informal role of regional peacekeeper, at least when it can wrest some time away from the non-stop attention it must pay to an impoverished population. Great strides however have been made in education, health care, women’s rights and the rights of minorities.
But Iraq, sadly, is a devastated war zone with an authoritarian-like government resentful of the United States and wary of its intentions. Any wonder? Its population bears the scars of war and its pockmarked cities and towns will take a decade or more to rebuild. Iraqis have little incentive to cooperate in Western terrorist eradication campaigns as they feel shortchanged, lied to and stripped of their identity after decades of Saddam Hussein, followed by a brutal war that wiped out entire families and villages. The government’s counterterrorism efforts are often conceived and implemented on a reactive basis and at times are counterproductive to Western efforts.
That is the backdrop. Yes, the threat has evolved significantly since 09/11 but remains critical. The players have also changed. With Al Qaeda on the run and the entire region destabilized, radicalized individuals-some of whom adhere to proxy groups and some who act independently-have emerged to fill the void. It is an asymmetric threat if there ever was one and therefore requires unconventional means to address it.
Like this article? Send your thoughts to info@securitystrategiestoday.com
Security Strategies Today provides on site threat and vulnerability assessments, as well as training in crisis management and business continuity.
]]>After the horrible terrorist attacks in Paris and a few weeks later, in San Bernardino, law enforcement officers and intelligence officials around the world are understandably concerned about possible future attacks. These public servants sacrifice immensely, doing their best every day to try and keep us safe. Similar to the weather forecaster, they arrive at educated and insightful conclusions about future crime and terrorism trends using various tools at their disposal. Their tools, including intelligence from a variety of sources, are sophisticated. They try to cover all the bases, but unlike baseball, this game has more than just three.
Intelligence gaps will always be a part of the equation when strategizing in counterterrorism circles and those that are charged with its analysis are handicapped without regular access to well-placed sources, those with the right “access”. Pressing intelligence needs today may include detailed information about Isis adherents, the strength of Isis forces, outside support to the group, including financing as well as vulnerabilities and motivations of members. Significantly, after the above-mentioned attacks, intelligence priorities certainly include reliable information on radicalized individuals posing as refugees heading to Europe. Similarly, heavy emphasis is undoubtedly being placed on visa scams and suspect sham marriages, especially between Westerners and those coming from unstable regions.
But all the well-placed human and technical source-derived intelligence is incomplete without the assistance of the public. The phrase and the meaning of “see something, say something”, have never been more important than they are today. What appears to be suspicious or unusual activity as observed by a reasonable citizen with good intentions may well be that key grain of intel that police or the FBI needed to solve a case or to prevent an act of terror. It may also be the initial lead law enforcement receives on a heretofore unknown attempt to violate the law or to threaten the homeland.
Hence, the assistance of the public in thwarting terrorist attacks is crucial. For that reason, we encourage all citizens to report what appears to them to be suspicious activity. It may turn out to be nothing, but as long as the citizen’s reporting of such activity is done in good faith, no harm, no foul.
Remember that your local police department and the FBI can take reports of suspicious activity and do just that on a daily basis. There is also the “terrorist liaison officer”, or “TLO” program, a highly successful collaboration between agencies through which state and local officers, often assigned to a local precinct and working on the street, report suspect information of a homeland security nature. The information then goes “up the chain” and is analyzed and vetted by a regional intelligence center or Joint Terrorism Task Force. If the activity is deemed to be a credible threat, investigators are assigned. If it gets “washed out” as nothing, at least it was reported and the data contained in the report is retained for future reference.
A good example of reporting done by a TLO could be as follows: A local police officer is interviewing bank employees after a robbery or attempted robbery. After finishing up, he exits the bank and proceeds to his vehicle. In checking his environs, the officer notices an individual in plain clothes who has jumped the fence separating the street from a public utility-controlled canal. The individual accesses a control box while looking around. He then slams the box shut, hops the fence and speeds away from the area in an unmarked vehicle.
The activity that the officer observed may not be illegal. Accessing a utility box within a controlled access area of a canal may be a legitimate activity of the operating authority. But based on the officer’s experience, the fact that the person he observed was not wearing the utility’s uniform, and was not driving the company van seemed strange. Furthermore, speeding away from the scene was also unusual. The officer promptly accesses a dedicated form and possibly dedicated, secure on-line database and files a “suspicious activity report”, or SAR. The process of vetting and corroboration then begins.
Although the average citizen does not have access to the law enforcement database for filing a SAR, different departments and jurisdictions have made it very easy for the public to report suspicious activity. Various “tip” lines are available through local police departments and all federal law enforcement agencies. Furthermore, a citizen can call his or her local authorities and ask to speak to a TLO. Better to report the information than to sit on it, thinking that it was probably nothing. Let the professionals decide and above all, do not conduct investigation on your own if you are not a sworn law enforcement officer. Not only could it be dangerous, it just might be illegal as well.
What are some of the suspicious activity indicators that might presage terrorist activity? Our website will publish a list of them in January. In the meantime, send us your comments on this article through the portal on the homepage of our website.
Like this article? Send us your thoughts to info@securitystrategiestoday.com and follow us on Twitter @securitystrateg Visit us at http://www.securitystrategiestoday.com
]]>The insider threat can be described as those hazards and risks-including physical, cyber, monetary and reputational, that are derived or stem from employees-even former employees-as well as contractors who have access to your products, patents, technology, strategic plans-including marketing plans and employee information.
Probably the most famous insider threat case is that of Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor with broad access to some of the nation’s most sensitive secrets. Snowden, who has been indicted by the US Department of Justice on espionage and other charges, has sought asylum in Russia and has been living there for the past three years. His alleged insider activity includes theft of government secrets by downloading hundreds of thousands of classified NSA and CIA documents and subsequently disseminating them to the public through a journalist, Glenn Greewald, formerly of The Guardian. In committing the alleged activity, Snowden hurt national security by compromising sources, techniques and intelligence collection priorities and goals which are the exclusive property of the US government.
But what are some other types of insider threat activity? Consider the following possibilities:
The above scenarios are hypothetical but similar situations involving insiders have occurred in the past. The insider threat is one of the most dangerous but still it remains shadowy and hard to detect. What are some indicators that might suggest a person is or risks becoming a threat to your operations? What preventive measures can you take to protect your business? How much intrusion into or monitoring of an employee’s behavior on the job is legal?
We’ll address some of these questions in upcoming issues. In the meantime, follow us on Twitter for more advice on the insider threat and for all things security related.
]]>The TGV or Train a Grande Vitesse, the ultra-high speed star of France’s national railroad system, SCNF, had pulled into berth 17 at the Marseille-Saint Charles station, simmering down after its nearly four hour trek from Paris. Out of an economy class car steps Mahibah, a 24-year old hair stylist who makes her living in a small salon in the gritty Paris neighborhood of Mantes-La-Jolie. Pulling her overnight carry-on size suitcase with one hand and holding a small box of rich almond-filledhalawiaat in the other, Mahibah is met by her aunt, Hadil, and Hadil’s daughter, 20-year old Hela.
The three exchange pleasantries and hop into a waiting taxi for the short ride to her relatives’ small apartment, located in a multi-story, dilapidated apartment building along the city’s port, one of the busiest in Europe. There, she hugs her much-loved and respected cousin, Karim, the 22 year-old fledgling architecture student who makes ends meet by cleaning fish and hauling ice at a nearby fishmonger, or poissonnerie.
Karim is down on his luck. He can no longer afford the tuition to continue his studies at the local university and he could never make ends meet on his own. His Arabic-accented French will get him nowhere in the search for a better job in Marseille. Between generalized suspicion of Muslims among the native French population and the already sky-high unemployment rate, France has become inhospitable for him. So he has accepted an on-line offer to assist for a 90-day period in a Saudi government sponsored relief agency on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria’s second city. He will be leaving in a few days and will be accompanied by Yesmine, his girlfriend for more than a year now.
What Karim knows but does not tell his relatives is that the relief agency is ideologically linked to the Syrian opposition and its workers are expected to undergo a period of arms and combat-style training, “just in case” its headquarters or personnel are ambushed by the Syrian government’s armed forces. Yesmine is aware of it, as she was the one who alerted Karim to the opportunity and spoke about the group with a volunteer friend who returned recently. They spoke about the rewards and risks: Is it ISIS? No, the friend did not think so. What about an Al-Qaeda link? Not sure, but he did work with young men who spoke Arabic with a Gulf accent and others who spoke only Somali and a few basic phrases in English. What about the extent of relief work? Not too well organized and spotty, he admitted, but still rewarding.
Convinced that the good they could do for suffering Syrians outweighed the risk of being caught up in conflict, Karim and Yesmine head out. They use their French passports to facilitate their passage through security at the airport, en route to Tunis, where they can connect to one of the few remaining commercial flights to Damascus.
It is not long before they arrive at the organization’s camp, an abandoned middle school on the outskirts of the city, with blown out windows and intermittent electrical service. They are each provided with clean bed linens and a copy of an English-language Quran, complete with a printed version of sermons given by Anjem Choudary, the Islamist preacher arrested last month by UK authorities.
And so begins the journey of two young Western Muslims on what could end up being a one-way trip to radicalization. With little money, no real prospects for decent employment and living on the margins of society, Karim and Yesmine are taking a chance that they can do some good, maybe gain some valuable skills, and at the same time avoid being drawn into the circle and under the influence of radical Islamist ideologues who have taken control of so many schools, relief organizations and the like in the Middle East.
The story of Karim and Yesmine is fictional, but it is representative of the disturbing sequence of events that is happening with increasing frequency in Western nations. Young men and women, most of whom are practicing Muslims, are becoming enthralled in the notion of waging war against their government, their homeland, Christians and Jews in general and even against other Muslims.
US and other Western intelligence and law enforcement agencies are working collaboratively in an effort to identify youth who have been radicalized, either at home or abroad, to include their whereabouts, details of their training, their contacts, sources of funding and intentions.
Recently, French President Francois Hollande warned the French public of “young men who are indoctrinated, brainwashed, and who can come back home with the worst plans in mind.” A prominent Italian counterterrorism official noted as well that female jihadists, while not as common as their male counterparts, are growing in number. Quite often, the women are native born Europeans who have converted to Islam after falling in love with transplanted North African immigrants, some of whom, like Karim, have lived in the shadows or have come under the wing of a radicalized preacher.
The notion of women joining the ranks of radical Islamist organizations is not new, although the vast majority of radicalized young adults are believed to be men between the ages of 18-30. The case of the three Somali-American girls from the Denver area who were returned to the US by German authorities in recent days is evidence of the trend to recruit females to the ranks. The girls, aged 15, 16 and 17, had stolen $2,000 of their parents’ money along with their passports and were thought to be on their way to Turkey, before heading across the border to eventually meet with ISIS in Syria. The FBI is attempting to determine just how evolved their plan was, if they were in touch with ISIS recruiters and if they pose a current threat to the homeland.
It is estimated that men and women from more than 50 countries are training with ISIS or with like-minded groups in Syria. Those with Western passports pose the most immediate problem for Europe, the US and Canada, as visa-free travel for holders of these passports facilitates entry and exit. In the EU, the problem is compounded due to the borderless travel within the block of nations. Gain entry into Spain or Italy, for example, and a person gains entry into most all other EU nations, with the noticeable exception of the UK. Even with its national borders intact however, the UK is likely the European nation most at risk from home-grown (or transplanted) radicalized youth. The upsurge in cases is astonishing. The trend toward the lone-wolf actor, as opposed to extremists acting as part of a conspiracy, makes detection and intervention by authorities less likely.
]]>Eric was a bright young boy growing up in North London in the early nineties. He loved school, especially math, and he of course was mad about football. His bedroom was plastered with posters of his favorite Arsenal players, as well as with flags and other memorabilia with the official logo and colors of Premier League teams. He had even been accepted into Eton College, the top caliber Windsor prep academy for boys and a key feeder school for some the UK’s most prestigious universities. He was fluent in French and Spanish and was looking forward to enrolling in the Royal Navy. Technically skilled, Eric was fascinated with positive and negative buoyancy theory and the complex calculations required to dive or surface the advanced submarines that are crucial to Britain’s sea prowess.
But a strange sequence of events began to unfold in the summer of 2004. Eric’s father, Jonathan, left the family for another woman, withdrawing as well from his parental responsibilities. His mother, Nada, made preparations to return to her native Morocco. Out of money and with no means of support but for a meager subsidy from the Department of Work and Pensions, Nada bought a one-way ticket to Tangier for herself and Eric.
But Eric refused to go along. He was born and brought up in England. This was home. Having recently turned 18, he chose to stay with is uncle in London until he could save enough money to get a flat of his own. He began working at his uncle’s restaurant, cutting and trimming goat and mutton and ensuring its slaughter and preparation were in accordance with the rules of halal, the dietary guidelines followed by observant Muslims. He went to Friday prayers at the Finsbury Park Mosque in London and struck up friendships with other similarly situated young men. He began to take part in proselytizing activities and broke off the relationship he had begun months earlier with his 20 year-old girl friend, Emma, citing as a reason her refusal to convert to Islam.
We last caught up with Eric after he arrived at Gatwick from Marrakesh last May. He had been deported from the country by Moroccan authorities after his name appeared on a watch list provided by a European security service. It seems Eric had been detained for questioning by security personnel in Yemen, after he was seen leaving the Al-Da’wah Centermadrassa. The center is a known hotbed of Salafi extremism and was frequented by convicted terrorist Carlos Bledsoe, the Tennessee born radicalized Islamist who killed an army soldier and wounded another outside a Little Rock recruiting station in June of 2009. Wanting nothing to do with someone they suspected of having ties to extremists, the secular government in Rabat promptly escorted him to the airport and supplied him with a ticket back to the UK.
Eric, who now calls himself Fawzan, vows to return to Yemen, stating that his experience there taught him just how corrupt Western governments and societies are. He is devout in his practice of Islam but respects those who do not adhere to his faith. He has however little tolerance for the moderate Sunni regimes in the Middle East and voices a deep-seated hatred of the Saudi House of Saad, the ruling family in Riyadh. According to Fawzan, the regime is a stooge for the West, in particular of the United States. It makes a mockery of Islam by claiming to uphold its values, while at the same time its throngs of wealthy royal family members travel to London and Disneyworld, where they carouse, drink alcohol and engage in out of wedlock relationships. The quest for wealth and opulence, fed by seemingly endless oil revenue, must be eliminated from these societies, according to Fawzan, in order to avoid their ultimate destruction by non-believers.
Fawzan is not a violent person. Twisting his prayer beads, he speaks in soft tones but is steadfast in his convictions. He plans on sharing an apartment for a while in Chelsea with an Emirati student he met while working at his uncle’s restaurant. The friend, Assaf, plans to travel to Somalia next year to see firsthand the atrocities the regime in Mogadishu has committed against its own people. If he can save enough for the airfare, Fawzan can make the trip with him and a wealthy Kuwaiti who attends the Brixton Mosque in South London has offered to pick up his food and lodging expenses. He is excited about this possibility and looks forward to relaying his experiences to us in a future meeting.
The above account is fictional but it is based on a compilation of stories from individuals who have experienced a similar trajectory. It is a somewhat typical scenario of how Western youth, mainly males age 17-30, enter at first unknowingly into a radicalization process that often culminates in acts in support of terrorism, including attacks against the state. Of course, there are many avenues to radicalization and not all such individuals will commit crimes or train with terrorist groups. But it is worth noting that in general terms, the radicalization process takes place over time and is often not detected by authorities until it is too late.
Can Fawzan be saved? Can he be convinced that he is being led by radicals who have no interest in him as a person or in his future? The answer will vary from case to case. What is certain is that Western governments have a monumental challenge on their hands. No amount of intelligence collection and analysis or law enforcement activity can detect and disrupt each and every process once its takes hold and it certainly cannot begin to quantify the threat accurately. The wide variation offered by intelligence agencies in the estimated number of Western youth training with ISIS in the Middle East is evidence of this intelligence gap.An in-depth understanding of the radicalization process, including deciphering who is at risk and why, may be the best first steps in beginning to deal with the phenomenon. Only time will tell.
]]>With the summer Atlantic hurricane season upon us, now is a good time to review storm emergency preparation procedures and to assemble the necessary supplies to sustain you and your family should your area be hit by devastating winds, rains and flooding. For those who do not live in the likely path of a hurricane, many of the below measures are also useful in other emergency situations, such as in the immediate aftermath of a tornado, earthquake or tsunami.
First off, pay attention to local and national weather forecasts and follow the advice of local officials. Do not leave your safety to chance, as you risk death or serious personal injury if you fail to take the precautions issued by public safety personnel. This is especially true if you delay evacuation when told to do so. First responders also need to watch for their own personal safety and are instructed not to enter certain zones or to respond to hard hit areas until their own safety can be reasonably assured. This means that if you fail to evacuate, you may be without assistance once the storm bears down hard.
In the 72 hours before the arrival of a hurricane or tropical storm, assemble those items essential for survival and those necessary to provide nutrition and a source of light for you and your family if you remain in your home. You can also accumulate these items and store them year round, preferably on an upper floor or in a high cabinet or shelf. Specifically, ensure to have adequate, non-perishable food supplies, such as canned goods, sealed or vacuum packed items, such as dried fruits, granola or protein bars and fresh fruit that requires no refrigeration for extended periods, like apples or oranges. Paper plates and napkins, disposable plastic silverware as well as a manual can opener will be necessary. Personal hygiene supplies, including moist towelettes, should be stocked. A gallon of water (approximately four litres) per day, per person will be essential.
If you have domestic animals or livestock, prepare an adequate food supply for them as well.
Flashlights and batteries will be required, as electrical power will likely be cut. Ensure to have a basic tool kit in order to shut off the gas supply to your residence-this needs to be done before the storm hits and creates a gas leak. Make a checklist of all medications needed by you and your family members and refill prescriptions in the days preceding the storm, if possible. A well-stocked first aid kit should be purchased or you can assemble the items separately. Have a local map handy in case you are required to relocate using alternate routes. Solar powered lanterns and cell phone chargers will come in handy. It’s also a good idea to have a few pairs of heavy-duty work gloves in your emergency kit. Make sure your vehicle has a full tank of gas. Do not transport containers of gasoline in your trunk or passenger compartment of a vehicle as the volatile liquid can explode even in a minor crash. Fuel tanks are insulated to reduce the risk of explosion.
Remember to communicate your evacuation plans in advance to a family member or friend who resides outside of the area affected by the storm. This simple measure will allow someone who is not affected by the disaster to alert authorities of your possible location should they be unable to locate you. You should also designate an assembly meeting point for you and your family in case you become separated during the storm.
For those travelling or contemplating travel, remember that your safety is not worth the risk. If you can possibly defer travel, do so. Most airlines and other travel service providers will refund your money or rebook you at no cost if a severe weather event is predicted in the area where you will be travelling. They do not want the liability that could be incurred by transporting you to an area under severe threat and they do not want to risk the loss or damage to their aircraft or ship. Hotels have all-contingency emergency evacuation and shelter-in-place plans at the ready, as do cruise ships. Follow the instructions of the trained staff. Although your hotel may provide some degree of protection from the elements, it becomes quite uncomfortable after a few days without heat or AC, not to mention the diet of ready to eat meals and the lack of reliable toilets or showers.
In tornado zones specifically, be sure to identify a below ground shelter area in the vicinity of your home if your home does not have a basement or cellar. Your local Red Cross, state police or other first responders will have a list of safe locations identified and prepared for use. If you are uncertain of where to go, contact local authorities before the storm for guidance.
Evacuation in severe weather is a difficult, dangerous and often traumatic experience. This can be made a little easier if you take the time to prepare in advance of a potentially life-threatening situation. You will not likely have the presence of mind to remember all the essential items to sustain you and your family if you postpone getting ready until severe weather is imminent.
Listen to emergency personnel. Take measures in advance. Protect yourself and your family.
Helpful resources:
www.ready.gov
www.myflorida.com
www.txdps.state.tx.us
www.gohsep.la.gov
www.noaa.gov
While what happened to the flight and its 230 passengers and crew remains a mystery, what is clear is that additional security procedures would likely give us a better indication of the events leading up to the flight’s disappearance. Specifically, there have been calls for “streaming” data live from the flight deck to the airline’s ground base or for closed circuit cameras to be installed throughout the cabin. In addition, a US senator has even called forallpilots to be armed, a concept that would likely engender significant opposition within the United States, not to mention from foreign carriers operating to and from the US.
The use of deadly force on board an aircraft would be acceptable in only the most urgent situations and both the FAA and US Marshals Service have protocols in place for armed pilots and air marshals. Arming all pilots, at least in the US, would remove the element of surprise that exists among the travelling public with regard to which pilots are carrying weapons and which flights have armed marshals on board. That covert presence and element of unpredictability enhance flight safety.
What is a feasible possibility and a relatively inexpensive one at that would be for airlines to install CCTVs both in the flight deck and at key locations throughout the cabin. On a recent flight from Phoenix to London on British Airways, we noticed that the 747-400 was equipped on the upper deck with a CCTV trained on the door to the cockpit. Emirates Airline also has interior CCTVs on most, if not all of its aircraft. While the cameras do not stream live images to a ground base, they do provide valuable intelligence to investigators should an in-flight event take place that requires follow-up. The event could be a simple disturbance by an unruly passenger that is quickly and safely handled or it could be a significant security threat or aircraft malfunction. Either way, with strategically placed cameras, some of the event sequence or even all of it would be memorialized.
In the case of cockpit cameras, the technique would provide yet another check on the performance of the pilots, whether it be routine or emergency in nature, as well as provide evidence of unauthorized personnel or passengers on the flight deck. The recordings can be used as a remedial training aid to the cabin crew and also provide valuable insight to investigators when deciphering the chain of events leading up to an accident or catastrophic loss. Of course, in flight cameras would need to be encased and hardened to withstand impact and extreme temperatures, just like the flight data and voice recorders.
Some privacy advocates have cried foul, but an aircraft flying through the skies at 500 miles per hour is no less of a conveyance than an automobile or motorcycle on a city street. It can be used as weapon of mass destruction, as the world saw on September 11, 2001. In fact, the improper operation of the craft or its deliberate ditching would result in greater loss of life and property damage than a derailed subway car or a multi vehicle freeway accident. We are required to submit to a somewhat intrusive search before boarding an aircraft as a condition of carriage. We may also be subject to search before entering certain buildings, government or private. A police officer is authorized and in fact is required to stop a vehicle if he witnesses a traffic infraction as a means of protecting the greater public.
So, while the installation of CCTVs or other recording devices in the passenger cabin and even in the cockpit may strike some as an unwarranted invasion of privacy, passengers would do well to remember that it is not government eavesdropping, but rather consensual monitoring conducted by the airline of its crew and its passengers. For that brief period of time when you are on an aircraft, you have entrusted your safety and indeed your life to trained professionals. It’s similar to entering the subway system-you are monitored at the token booth and on the platform. You may also be monitored while within an individual subway car. The well-being and safety of fellow passengers and crew require us all to accept a little less privacy. Those opposed to this concept may file suit, but in US courts at least, recent case law has been supportive of greater monitoring in the public arena.
We hope that the cause of the tragic loss of MH370 and its passengers and crew is determined with a reasonable degree of certainty. Until then, we must rely on the expert investigators and military personnel who have embarked on the dangerous mission of finding the aircraft. If however a criminal event took place that led to the demise of the flight, we can and should expect additional and more intrusive security measures, both on the ground and in flight, to be adopted.
]]>In addition to the physical surroundings, it is equally important for hospitality industry management and security professionals to ensure that they keep abreast of the latest intelligence in criminal and terrorism trends affecting their area of operations. These trends of course vary greatly depending on country and region. The overall criminal threat environment in general worsens as economic and political stability decline in a country. Similarly, the effectiveness of local law enforcement, including their training, readiness and wherewithal to address criminal trends in the domain is impacted by economic factors as well as the legal regime in place. What is viewed as a serious crime in some countries may go undetected or unaddressed-or addressed only on an ad hoc basis-in others.
Nevertheless, security personnel worldwide are facing increasing challenges in their ability to detect and deter sex trafficking and prostitution in hospitality venues. The problem is serious and not only affects the overall environment at a hotel or time-share community, but causes life-long physical and psychological trauma on the victims. Hospitality industry personnel are uniquely situated to provide credible “eyes and ears” to law enforcement in the effort to reduce sex tourism and prostitution and can become valuable partners in providing a safer environment for all.
Some tips for hotel operators and employees in detecting this type of criminal activity can include the following:
Of course, there may be logical and quite innocent explanations for many or all of the above factors on a given day in a particular hotel. Still, it is worth remembering that in general terms, those trafficking in humans for purposes of sex tourism or prostitution make frequent use of hotels as they afford a degree of isolation, anonymity and privacy.
If you suspect sex trafficking at your hotel, contact your local police department or the FBI. Most large departments have units or squads dedicated to detecting this type of criminal activity and are quite effective in establishing sophisticated operations to catch the offenders and to provide appropriate referral services to the victims. Your local department is a great resource for current intelligence and may be able to provide some training to your staff in the most recent trends in the phenomenon.
]]>