The Latest from National Terror Alert Response Center

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• NSA E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns In
  Congress
  
  
• Greek Anti-terrorist Policeman Shot Dead In
  Athens
  
  
• Al Qaeda Running Short On Cash
  
  
• Terrorists Tried to Attack Jimmy Carter in
  Gaza
  
  
• Bolivia Becoming a Hotbed of Islamic
  Extremism
  
  
• New York OEM Brings Preparedness To Facebook
  
  
  
• Pentagon: NKorea Missiles Could Threaten US
  
  
  
• Chertoff Warns On Hezbollah Threat
  
  
• Obama: N.Korea Nuclear Program Grave Threat
  
  
  
• Border – Gunmen Open Fire On Arizona Fish And
  Game Employees

NSA E-Mail Surveillance Renews Concerns In Congress Posted: 17 Jun 2009 12:55 AM PDT The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said. [...] Since April, when it was disclosed that the intercepts of some private communications of Americans went beyond legal limits in late 2008 and early 2009, several Congressional committees have been investigating. Those inquiries have led to concerns in Congress about the agency’s ability to collect and read domestic e-mail messages of Americans on a widespread basis, officials said. Supporting that conclusion is the account of a former N.S.A. analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans’ e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation. Read Full Article. This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Greek Anti-terrorist Policeman Shot Dead In Athens Posted: 16 Jun 2009 11:18 PM PDT Two gunmen shot dead a Greek anti-terrorist policeman in Athens on Wednesday and fled on a motorcycle, police said. “He was sitting in his car, on duty guarding a witness when he was attacked,” a police official said. The witness was involved in a case against an urban guerrilla group, he said. The two attackers, who were not identified, disappeared in the streets of the densely populated Patissia area of Athens. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Al Qaeda Running Short On Cash Posted: 16 Jun 2009 10:05 PM PDT A recession-driven income slide? Or a brand in terminal decline? Whatever the origin of its money worries, al-Qaida’s latest appeal for funds reveals a group struggling with a fall in donations for its attacks on the West. In an audio message posted in militant web forums on June 10, 2009, the group’s leader in Afghanistan Mustafa Abu al-Yazid said militants were short of food, weapons and other supplies needed to fight foreign forces there. The complaint, the latest appeal by Qaeda leaders in the past 18 months, echoes a June 3 request from Osama bin Laden for supporters’ “charity and support” for the militant network’s operations in Pakistan and Afghanistan. So little is known about current al-Qaida operations that analysts can only speculate about the reasons for the troubles in its fund-raising, which provided an estimated annual budget of $30 million at the time of the 2001 attacks on U.S. targets. But most agree it is a combination of tighter curbs on charities in the Arab world, a drop in lucrative al-Qaida kidnapping and extortion campaigns in Iraq and the wallet-thinning effect of recession on donors and sympathizers. Some speculate it also shows a drop in ideological support. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Terrorists Tried to Attack Jimmy Carter in Gaza Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:59 PM PDT A terrorist group composed of former Hamas members attempted to bomb former U.S President Jimmy Carter’s entourage in Gaza, according to the Ma’ariv newspaper. Hamas officials uncovered the explosive devices placed near the Erez checkpoint before Carter passed through the area. Carter is visiting in Gaza and has promised to try and receive a sign of life from kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. He also said he wants to encourage the opening of a peace process between Israel and Hamas. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Bolivia Becoming a Hotbed of Islamic Extremism Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:52 PM PDT A poor, agrarian, landlocked country in South America with a nearly 100 percent Christian population is hardly the place one would expect to become a hotbed of Islamic extremism in the Western Hemisphere. But a recent report by the Open Source Center (OSC) of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence says it’s so. There are only 1,000 Muslims in Bolivia, a country of 9.7 million people, but the connection between some of the community’s religious leaders and Iran — as well as with fundamentalist factions in the Palestinian territories — has U.S. officials and terror experts keeping a watchful eye on them. The report revealed a number of Muslim organizations in Bolivia whose leaders have publicly denounced U.S. foreign policy and have direct associations with extremists in the Middle East. “There’s a theory that they may believe — Latin America, particularly with its Leftist leanings in recent years, may be more receptive to the anti-American-type rhetoric that we’ve been accustomed to hearing from Iran,” said a U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

New York OEM Brings Preparedness To Facebook Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:46 PM PDT The city’s Office of Emergency Services is looking to expand its reach through a popular social networking site. OEM Commissioner Joseph Bruno announced the launch of the new OEM Facebook page. It is designed to make it easier for New Yorkers to get information on emergency preparedness. Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Christopher Kelly was on hand for the announcement and became one of the OEM’s first “fans” on the social networking website. Bruno encouraged all New Yorkers to sign on at facebook.com/NYCemergencymanagement. “From that you’ll get lots of information about what’s happening in New York and you’ll get good tips on how to be safe in New York for yourself, your family and your community,” said Bruno. Users can also get information on upcoming events and programs. OEM has also added email alerts, twitter and YouTube videos as part of its outreach effort. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Pentagon: NKorea Missiles Could Threaten US Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:41 PM PDT North Korea’s missiles could hit the United States in as few as three years if the reclusive rogue nation continues to ramp up its weapons system, Pentagon officials said Tuesday. [...] “We think it ultimately could — if taken to its conclusion — it could present a threat to the homeland,” Lynn told McCain during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing. “That’s assuming a lot of luck on their part in moving forward,” Cartwright said during questioning by Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Chertoff Warns On Hezbollah Threat Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:36 PM PDT Hezbollah could surpass Al-Qaeda as the most serious long-term threat to the United States, the former head of homeland security Michael Chertoff is to warn in a book published later this year. Chertoff — who for four years headed efforts to prevent a repeat of the attacks of September 11, 2001 — alleges Hezbollah is better equipped, better trained and better politically positioned than Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda. “Al-Qaeda and its network are our most serious immediate threat, they may not be our most serious long-term threat,” Chertoff writes in a book to be published in September, a draft of which was obtained by AFP. “Having operated for more than a quarter-century, (Hezbollah) has developed capabilities that Al-Qaeda can only dream of, including large quantities of missiles and highly sophisticated explosives.” Chertoff says the group, whose Arabic name means the “Party of God,” also has “uniformly well trained operatives, an exceptionally well-disciplined force of nearly 30,000 fighters, and extraordinary political influence.” Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Obama: N.Korea Nuclear Program Grave Threat Posted: 16 Jun 2009 09:30 PM PDT U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs posed a grave threat to the region and to the world and called for a sustained effort to enforce international sanctions. Obama was speaking at a news conference after meeting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak at the White House. North Korea said at the weekend it would start a uranium enrichment program and weaponize all its uranium in response to new U.N. sanctions. Source This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

Border – Gunmen Open Fire On Arizona Fish And Game Employees Posted: 16 Jun 2009 08:24 PM PDT The Arizona Game and Fish Department is reviewing procedures on work near the Mexico border after three government employees were fired on east of Arivaca Lake last week. Two Game and Fish employees and an employee with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, were fired at Thursday by a group of men while scouting for a land access project. “This is the first time in recent history that our employees have been fired at on the border,” said Leonard Ordway, supervisor for Game and Fish’s Southern Arizona region. The incident happened about eight miles east of Interstate 19 just south of Tumacacori, and about 15 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. None of the agency employees was injured. According to Game and Fish, the three were riding all-terrain vehicles through a small canyon area about four miles east of Arivaca Lake when they came across at least four Hispanic males dressed in camouflage. Read Full Article This story comes to us via Homeland Security - National Terror Alert. National Terror Alert is America's trusted source for homeland security news and information.

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