Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center

The Latest from National Terror
Alert Response Center

Why You Should Worry About Pakistans Nukes

Posted: 19 May 2009 09:53 PM PDT

Few who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962 will forget the

fear and apprehension they felt. The world stood on the brink of a nuclear

holocaust as U.S. ships imposed a blockade to force Soviet missiles out of Cuba.
Everyone heaved a sigh of relief as the Soviets agreed to remove their missiles

in exchange for an American pledge not to invade Cuba, but all agreed a

cataclysmic nuclear war had been only narrowly averted.

Of the lessons that came from this episode, the one that stands out is that never

again should the United States be put in a position where its cities are so
close to nuclear destruction.

Many assumed that lesson had been learned as decades of arms control, détente,

and the end of the Cold War seemingly removed the specter of nuclear attack

from our collective consciousness.

Well, just when you thought it was safe not to worry about nuclear annihilation,

a new crisis has emerged that actually poses a greater threat of an American
city being obliterated by a nuclear weapon than anything that occurred during

the Cold War: As Pakistan becomes engulfed in chaos, there is a real chance that

its nuclear weapons will fall into the hands of extremists determined to kill as

many Americans as they can. Although the public has yet to pay much

attention to what is happening in Pakistan and there is nowhere near the level

of hysteria that gripped the United States nearly 50 years ago, the prospect of
a nuclear weapon from Pakistan exploding on American soil is much higher than

a Soviet attack from Cuba ever was. If anything can make one nostalgic for the

bad old days of the Cold War, what is happening in Pakistan today

is surely it.

It helps to first look back at the Cold War to see why the current nuclear threat

from Pakistan is so much worse. To be sure, during the Cold War the United
States and the Soviet Union each had some 10,000 nuclear warheads ready to

strike each other. Neither the United States nor the Soviet Union could prevent

the other from launching a devastating attack, nor could either country defend

itself once a strike had been launched. The conflict between communism
and capitalism, a series of regional confrontations, and the natural competition

between the two strongest states in a bipolar system all threatened to turn the

Cold War hot. And yet, a superpower nuclear war never happened. The reason

the Soviet Union and the United States never came to nuclear blows is crystal

clear: Deterrence worked. The leaders of the Soviet Union and the United States
recognized that launching a nuclear attack would be suicidal, and neither

leadership embraced death for their countries or themselves.

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Phone Threats Target Asian-American Business Owners

Posted: 19 May 2009 09:47 PM PDT

Asian-American business owners and professionals across the country have

been terrorized by threatening phone calls originating in China using Skype,
authorities say.

Some of the recipients have wired thousands of dollars to the extortionists

after receiving threats of violence against their businesses and families. The
perpetrator demands $20,000-$30,000 so that his brother can be released

from a jail in China, then threatens the victim if he or she will not pay.

“I will kill you,” “I will cut the limbs off your children in front of you,” and

“I’ll firebomb your business,” are three of the threats that detectives said

were used.

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National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and
information.

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National Archives Loses Sensitive Data

Posted: 19 May 2009 09:38 PM PDT

The National Archives lost a computer hard drive containing massive amounts

of sensitive data from the Clinton administration, including Social Security

numbers, addresses, and Secret Service and White House operating

procedures, congressional officials said Tuesday.

One of former Vice President Al Gore’s three daughters is among those whose

Social Security numbers were on the drive. Other information includes logs of

events, social gatherings and political records.

The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation of the matter, according to Rep.
Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., chairman of the House Oversight and Government

Reform Committee, and senior committee Republican Darrell Issa of California.

The lawmakers said they learned of the loss from the inspector general of

the National Archives and Records Administration. The drive is missing

from the Archives facility in College Park, Md., a Washington suburb.

The drive was lost between October 2008 and March 2009 and

contained 1 terabyte of data — enough material to fill millions of
books.

Towns said he would have the FBI and inspector general brief committee

members so they can “begin to understand the magnitude of the security

breach and all of the steps being taken to recover the lost information.

“The committee will do everything possible to prevent compromising the

integrity of the FBI’s criminal investigation while we fulfill our constitutional

duty to investigate the compromised security protocols,” he said.