GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Lawmakers: Figure Out Al Qaeda Influence Before Arming Libya Rebels

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Fox News

04April2011 7:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  Officials cautioned Sunday that it's too early to determine whether the United States and its allies should arm the Libyan rebels, saying the coalition is still trying to assess the influence of supposed "flickers" of Al Qaeda in the opposition. 

Several lawmakers, however, made clear that it would be unacceptable for Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi to stay in power, with one top official warning his weapons stockpile makes him a potential "terrorist threat."  (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Al Qaeda tape encourages Muslims to replace fallen leaders with Sharia Law

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: ABC News

02March2011 8:12amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  A new audio message released by a former Guantanamo Bay detainee calls for the uprisings in the Middle East to continue until Islamic states are established.

The 10-minute audio message, newly released on the web but recorded after the Tunisian government fell in January, is the first major communiqué from al Qaeda recorded after the tumult in the Middle East began, and has been seen by some analysts as the terror group's attempt to stay relevant.

The message, purportedly from Saudi national Ibrahim Sulayman al Robaysh, an al Qaeda operative released from Guantanamo in 2006, warns Tunisians that the removal of long-time president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali was laudable, but likely to result in another "tyrant" taking his place if Tunisians don't create a state based on Islamic law, or sharia.

"I am happy, like the others, that this tyrant has fallen," al Robaysh said. "But I don't think that these events will be beneficial to the plight of Muslims. For it could be that they have replaced a horrible situation with a not so bad one. Or replaced one tyrant with another." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Libya's poison gas unaffected by turmoil, official says

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Post

28February2011 7:07pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: A senior administration official said Monday that the White House had no reason to believe the current turmoil in Libya has made its chemical weapons stockpiles more vulnerable to theft.

Experts believe that Libya destroyed about 3,300 bombshells designed to carry mustard and sarin gas chemicals years ago, as part of its deal to end decades of economic and diplomatic isolation with the West.

But some 10 metric tons of mustard sulfate and sarin gas precursor remain stockpiled in barrels at three locations in the Libyan desert south of Tripoli, where Moammar Gaddafi has holed up in a last-ditch fight to keep from being overthrown.

Many experts worry that the barrels are ripe for picking by terrorists linked to al-Qaeda. Rumors abound, says an intelligence source with deep experience in the region, that British SAS commandos are preparing to secure the materials. Over the weekend SAS and Special Boat Service commandos rescued about 150 civilians.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, the administration official suggested the Libyans have moved to bolster the security of the material since protests erupted earlier this month, but he refused to specify what those steps were or how the administration had communicated with the Libyans. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: British Airways worker guilty of plane bomb plot

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Times

28February2011 6:34pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: LONDON (AP) — A jury on Monday convicted a former British Airways computer specialist of plotting with U.S.-born extremist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki to blow up an airplane.

Rajib Karim, a 31-year-old Bangladeshi man, was convicted of four counts of engaging in preparation for terrorist attacks. He already had pleaded guilty to other, lesser terrorism offenses.

Prosecutors said he used his position at the airline to plot an attack with Mr. al-Awlaki, a notorious radical preacher associated with al Qaeda thought to be hiding in Yemen.

Prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw told the court that Karim “sought work in this country of the sort which would be useful to him or a terrorist organization in planning an attack — an attack of the sort which might result in the wholesale loss of life.”

Prosecutors said that in heavily encrypted exchanges, Mr. al-Awlaki quizzed Karim about details of security flaws and urged the aspiring terrorist to train as a flight attendant to assist plans to use suicide bombers or mail bombs to down U.S.-bound flights. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Bin Laden's Second Releases Video

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Sun

28February2011 7:00amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: In an online rant Ayman al-Zawahiri said the man behind 9/11 had ordered his al-Qaeda network to avoid "indiscriminate" attacks on Muslim civilians.

Both men – on the run since 9/11 – have a $25million price on their heads.

Terror expert Neil Doyle said: "They may be trying to endear themselves to Arab protesters." (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Al-Qaeda calls for new attacks on West

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: MySinchew

25February2011 3:30pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON – In a message released Thursday, Al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri encouraged extremists everywhere to dream up new ways to attack the West, as the September 11 bombers did nearly 10 years ago.

The 35-minute message — a video containing only a still picture of Zawahiri in which he can be heard delivering a speech — was the second in a series titled "A Message of Hope and Glad Tidings to the People of Egypt." It was produced by Al-Qaeda's media arm, as-Sahab.

"If we are not able to produce weapons equal to the weapons of the Crusader West, we can sabotage their complex economic and industrial systems and drain their powers, which fight without a cause, until they run away fleeing," Zawahiri said in the audio message, according to the US-based SITE monitoring service.

He complained that the Muslim world trails behind the West in technological know-how and military weaponry.

"Therefore, the mujahideen (holy warriors) must invent new ways, ways that never dawned on the minds of the West," Zawahiri continued. "An example of this brave and courageous thinking is the use of airplanes as a mighty weapon, as happened in the blessed invasions in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania."

The 9/11 attacks left nearly 3,000 people dead when Al-Qaeda extremists slammed airliners into New York's World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Foreign Affairs report: How al Qaeda Works

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Foreign Affairs

24February2011 11:00pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Despite nearly a decade of war, al Qaeda is stronger today than when it carried out the 9/11 attacks. Before 2001, its history was checkered with mostly failed attempts to fulfill its most enduring goal: the unification of other militant Islamist groups under its strategic leadership. However, since fleeing Afghanistan to Pakistan's tribal areas in late 2001, al Qaeda has founded a regional branch in the Arabian Peninsula and acquired franchises in Iraq and the Maghreb. Today, it has more members, greater geographic reach, and a level of ideological sophistication and influence it lacked ten years ago.

Still, most accounts of the progress of the war against al Qaeda contend that the organization is on the decline, pointing to its degraded capacity to carry out terrorist operations and depleted senior leadership as evidence that the group is at its weakest since 9/11. But such accounts treat the central al Qaeda organization separately from its subsidiaries and overlook its success in expanding its power and influence through them. These groups should not be ignored. All have attacked Western interests in their regions of operation. Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has also long targeted the United States, but its efforts have moved beyond the execution stage only in the last two years, most recently with the foiled plot to bomb cargo planes in October 2010. And although al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) has not yet attacked outside its region, al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was reportedly involved in the June 2007 London and Glasgow bomb plots. (read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY BRIEFING: Foreign agencies test security of U.S. networks

 

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Army Times

16February2011 12:35pmEST

GCIS CYBER-SECURITY UPDATE: WASHINGTON — More than 100 foreign intelligence agencies have tried to breach U.S. defense computer networks, largely to steal military plans and weapons systems designs, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday.

Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said that while foreign governments and rogue states may try to launch more destructive attacks against military networks, most may stick to theft and spying because they are worried about a U.S. counterattack.

The greater threat, he said, are terror groups such as al-Qaida, who are more difficult to deter. Terrorists have vowed to unleash cyberattacks, and over time may be able to either develop their own malicious computer threats or buy them on the black market.

Lynn’s remarks, made at a cybersecurity conference in San Francisco and released in Washington, come as the U.S. government is struggling to ramp up its abilities to block cyberintrusions and to lay out policies for launching the high-tech attacks when needed. U.S. government sites are scanned and attacked millions of times a day, and there have been a number of serious breaches in recent years, including into the electric grid and Pentagon weapons contractors.(read full report)

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's partners or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Commander says rule of law needed to stop Taliban

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: US ARMY

12February2011 5:48pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON, Feb. 10, 2011 — To stop the Taliban and terrorists, Afghans must have confidence in their government's ability to deliver justice and resolve civil disputes, the commander of a "rule of law" force in Afghanistan said today.

Speaking with Pentagon reporters via video teleconference, Army Brig. Gen. Mark Martins said the Afghan government must deliver on establishing the rule of law in Afghan provinces, districts and sub-districts.

Afghan officials need to craft "sound governance that will enable an enduring transition of security responsibility to Afghan forces and deny this rugged country as a sanctuary for global threats," the general said.

Failure, he said, could duplicate conditions found in Afghanistan after the fall of the communist government in 1991.

"It's worth recalling that there were core grievances 20 years ago in the Afghanistan of the early 1990s that spawned and subsequently empowered the Taliban, leading to the opening of this land as a safe haven for al-Qaida," Martins said. "One of these grievances was the inability of the post-communist Afghan governments to establish a foundation at the sub-national level." (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Al Qaeda committed to acquiring nuclear arms: US

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Rediff News

12February2011 12:08pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE:  Pakistan-based Al Qaeda's senior leadership remained committed to acquiring weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons, a top Obama administration official said.

In his testimony before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Michael Leiter, director of National Counter-terrorism Centre said, "We assess that Al Qaeda's senior leadership in Pakistan remains committed to obtaining all types of weapons of mass destruction."

"But thanks to some outstanding and effective offensive action against Al Qaeda senior leadership in Pakistan, we also assess that their ability to do so is greatly diminished since 9/11," Leiter said in response to a question from Congressman Mike Rogers, chairman of the committee.

"So you would rate their intention as high to try to secure that?" Rogers asked.

"Yes," answered Leiter. "I think the intent remains high, in particular in Pakistan and in Yemen," Leiter said.

Expressing concern over the current situation in Pakistan, Congressman Ben Chandler said, "Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places on the planet." (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: U.S. checks Egyptian prisons for terrorist escapes

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Times

11February2011 9:49amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: The U.S. intelligence community is closely monitoring the state of Egypt‘s highest security prisons, trying to track dozens of senior members of al Qaeda, the Islamic Group and Egyptian Islamic Jihad to find out whether any have escaped and where they have gone.

“Yes, we are monitoring this,” Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told The Washington Times on Thursday when asked about reports of breakouts from Egyptian prisons since the Jan. 25 uprisings began in Cairo and Alexandria.

After Pakistan, Egypt holds the largest number of senior al Qaeda leaders, according to two U.S. intelligence officials who spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

The jailbreaks occurred in the first days after the unrest after police left their posts guarding some prisons. Several news reports suggested that the Interior Ministry deliberately allowed the jails to empty in order to justify a crackdown later on. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Clapper says al Qaeda is top threat to United States

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Washington Times

10February2011 2:15pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON (AP) — Amid criticism that intelligence services missed the signs of Arab revolt in Tunisia and Egypt, the nation’s top intelligence official will tell Congress that the threat from al Qaeda and its affiliates remains his No. 1 priority, U.S. officials said.

In testimony scheduled Thursday before the House Intelligence Committee, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper will stress that counterterrorism to keep Americans safe is the focus of the intelligence community, according to one of those officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss matters of intelligence.

Mr. Clapper is expected to defend how the intelligence community tracked the revolts that have swept through two major American allies in the Arab world, toppling the leader of Tunisia and threatening the regime in Egypt, the officials said. (read full report)

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Napolitano addresses House Committee on "Threat Landscape"

Testimony of Secretary Janet Napolitano Before the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security, "Understanding the Homeland Threat Landscape – Considerations for the 112th Congress"

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: DHS

09February2011 5:29pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: "Since 9/11, the United States has made important progress in securing our Nation from terrorism. Nevertheless, the terrorist threat facing our country has evolved significantly in the last ten years – and continues to evolve – so that, in some ways, the threat facing us is at its most heightened state since those attacks. This fact requires us to continually adapt our counterterrorism techniques to effectively detect, deter, and prevent terrorist acts.

Following 9/11, the federal government moved quickly to build an intelligence and security apparatus that has protected our country from the kind of large-scale attack, directed from abroad, that struck us nearly ten years ago. The resulting architecture yielded considerable success in both preventing this kind of attack and limiting, though not eliminating, the operational ability of the core al-Qaeda group that is currently based in the mountainous area between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Today, however, in addition to the direct threats we continue to face from al-Qaeda, we also face growing threats from other foreign-based terrorist groups that are inspired by al-Qaeda ideology but have few operational connections to the core al-Qaeda group. And, perhaps most crucially, we face a threat environment where violent extremism is not defined or contained by international borders. Today, we must address threats that are homegrown as well as those that originate abroad.

One of the most striking elements of today's threat picture is that plots to attack America increasingly involve American residents and citizens. We are now operating under the assumption, based on the latest intelligence and recent arrests, that individuals prepared to carry out terrorist attacks and acts of violence might be in the United States, and they could carry out acts of violence with little or no warning…" (read full DHS report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Australian terrorist threat to airports

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Herald Sun

09February2011 8:58amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: A GROUP of Australians who are believed to be at terrorist training camps in Yemen pose a threat to airport security, a security expert has warned.

ABC Television's Foreign Correspondent has reported that 22 Australians have gone missing in Yemen and are believed to be at al-Qaeda training camps.

Heading up the al-Qaeda regime in Yemen is an American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki who the ABC reported has been dubbed the Osama bin Laden of the internet.

Al-Awlaki has been allegedly involved in a number of terrorist attacks and in his internet sermons – delivered in perfect English – he preaches contempt for non-believers. (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: Algeria promises more freedoms to avert protests

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: Reuters

03February2011 2:49pmEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: Algeria promised to end a 19-year-old state of emergency and provide more political freedoms on Thursday, concessions designed to keep out a wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world.

The announcement by the energy exporting nation followed pressure from government opponents, some inspired by unrest in Egypt and Tunisia, who demanded the emergency powers be scrapped and are planning a protest in the capital on February 12.

The government had argued it needed the extra powers under the state of emergency to fight Islamist militants linked to al Qaeda but the insurgency has abated, sparking public debate about whether those powers are still justified.

The lifting of the state of emergency will happen "in the very near future," Algeria's official APS news agency quoted President Abdelaziz Bouteflika as telling a meeting of senior ministers.

"This is clearly a response to the events in Tunisia and Egypt and an attempt by the Algerian authorities to get ahead of the curve and head off popular protests," said Benjamin Stora, a leading French historian on Algeria.

"They would not have dreamed of lifting the state of emergency otherwise." (read full report)

 

 

 

"GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE" is an intelligence briefing presented by Griffith Colson Intelligence Service, and provided to the public for informative purposes only. All subject matter is credited to it's source of origin, and is not intended to represent original content authored by GCIS, it's advertisers or affiliates. All opinions presented are those of the author, and not necessarily those of GCIS or it's partners.

GCIS INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING: TERROR ALERT

US issues global terror alert including India and Pakistan

ISSUED BY: GCIS Communications Command Center

SOURCE: The Economic Times

02February2011 12:47amEST

GCIS INTELLIGENCE UPDATE: WASHINGTON: The US today issued a global travel alert, including on visiting India and Pakistan , for its citizens in view of the increasing threat from terrorist organisations like al-Qaeda and the Taliban .

In its latest travel alert titled "worldwide caution", the State Department expressed concern over continued threat of terrorist attacks, demonstrations and other violent actions against US citizens and interests overseas including India and Pakistan.

"In India, there is a continuing threat of terrorism as attacks have randomly targeted public places frequented by Westerners, including luxury and other hotels, trains, train stations, markets, cinemas, mosques, and restaurants in large urban areas," the travel alert said.  (read full report)