Mumbai Attacks > Quick Take Video Analysis

[A quick 2:40 video on Mumbai attacks (click here to view video) by Analyst Reva Bhalla of STRATFOR. She explains how the July 13th bombings differ from the 2008 Mumbai attacks and how they could complicate U.S. negotiating efforts in South Asia.]

PAKISTAN > Defense Minister Says Pakistan May Withdraw Troops From Restive Border Areas

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

By Sara Sorcher

National Journal

photo courtesy of defence.pk

WASHINGTON -- Pakistan may withdraw thousands of troops stationed within its lawless border areas -- traditional safe havens to extremists -- just days after the U.S. said it would suspend some military aid to Islamabad, the Washington Post reported. The move, sure to inflame tensions with the U.S., comes just before Islamabad’s top spy chief is due to arrive in Washington for unscheduled talks (see GSN, July 12).

Pakistani Defense Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar said on a private Pakistani television station Tuesday that Islamabad “cannot afford to keep our military out in the mountains for such a long period of time,” according to the Post. Mukhtar’s comments appeared to differ from a statement made Tuesday by top Pakistani military officials pledging for operations to continue even with lessened U.S. funding.

The chief of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Shuja Pasha, is headed for Washington on Wednesday to “coordinate intelligence matters,” the military said in a one-line statement, according toReuters.

Since the U.S. killed Osama bin Laden in a garrison town not far from Islamabad in May, many members of Congress from both parties have been calling for the United States to cut back or eliminate its extensive financial aid to Pakistan amid growing questions about Pakistan’s willingness to root out militants. On Sunday, the Obama administration confirmed it would withhold $800 million in aid to Pakistan, one-third of its total $2 billion in annual security assistance to the country. It's the latest sign of a rift between Washington and Islamabad since the raid; Pakistani officials angrily condemned the bin Laden mission as a violation of their sovereignty and kicked hundreds of U.S. and British military trainers out of the country in response.

The Pakistani government has long rebuffed American requests to expand its military push into North Waziristan, a lawless border area in the country's mountainous northwest, leaving militants a sanctuary to plan attacks within both Afghanistan and Pakistan. Intelligence officials there told the Post that CIA drone strikes killed more than 50 suspected militants in North and South Waziristan in four strikes starting Monday night.

NUCLEAR PAKISTAN > Scientist claims NKorea paid $3.5 million to Pakistani military officials for nuclear tech

image courtesy of trt-world.com

By Associated Press, Published: July 6 | Updated: Thursday, July 7, 7:01 AM

WASHINGTON — The founder of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program claims that in the late 1990s North Korean officials paid kickbacks to senior Pakistani military figures in exchange for critical weapons technology.

Abdul Qadeer Khan has given a United States-based expert documents that appear to show North Korea’s government paid more than $3.5 million to two Pakistani military officials as part of the deal, the expert told The Associated Press Wednesday.

To back up his claim, Khan released what he said was a copy of a North Korean official’s 1998 letter to him, written in English, that purports to describe the secret deal.

Khan gave the documents to Simon Henderson of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, an authority on Pakistan’s weapons program. He did so because he has been accused by his government of running a covert nuclear smuggling operation without official knowledge or consent

“He gave it to me because he regarded it as showing that the story, the perception that he had been a rogue operator was false,” Henderson said.  Read more

Pakistan > Militant Strike Refreshes Doubts on Pakistani Nuke Security

Militant Strike Refreshes Doubts on Pakistani Nuke Security

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The siege by militants on a Pakistani military base on Monday is expected to again increase concerns about the South Asian state's capacity to protect its nuclear arsenal, the Los Angeles Times reported (see GSN, May 23).

(May. 24) - Military personnel arrive on Monday at Pakistan's Mehran Naval Station following an attack on the installation by Taliban gunmen. The strike could heighten worries over Pakistan's capacity to secure its nuclear weapons (Rizwan Tabassum/Getty Images).

Four to six militants were initially believed involved in the physical operation that killed no fewer than 10 and hurt another 15 at the Mehran Naval Station in Karachi. The number of attackers as of Tuesday was being assessed at up to 12.

The attackers used two ladders and wire cutters to overcome the security perimeter of the installation, where they proceeded to destroy two high-tech spy aircraft provided by the United States. It took Pakistani authorities the better part of the day to overpower the attackers who were armed with grenades, rocket launchers and guns.

The Pakistani Taliban has taken credit for the siege, which it said was retaliation for the U.S. killing earlier this month of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (see related GSN story, today).  Full article

photo courtesy of travelwizard.com

Senators: Pakistan Must Act More to Keep Getting Aid

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

By Chris Strohm

National Journal

WASHINGTON -- Senate Armed Services Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on Tuesday said he believed a consensus was emerging between Democrats and Republicans that aid for Pakistan depends on the Pakistani government proving it is fighting militant groups operating along the border with Afghanistan (seeGSN, May 17).

At the same time, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) told National Journal Daily she is conducting a review into how Pakistan has used U.S. aid received over the last five years, and whether any of that aid was used in violation of its intended purpose. Feinstein serves on the Senate Appropriations Committee and said she is doing the review on her own.

“I’ve asked my staff to look at the conditions for the appropriation and then how this money was actually used,” she said. “I think we’re entitled to actually know if it was used for the purposes that it was given.”

Senate Foreign Relations Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) briefed Democratic senators Tuesday on his trip over the weekend to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Following the briefing, Levin said Pakistan needs to demonstrate it is fighting against the Haqqani network and the Quetta Shura, two militant groups based in the tribal regions along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border that have been attacking U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan.  Full article
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Pakistan’s Nuclear Surge

Photos obtained by NEWSWEEK reveal a more aggressive buildup than previously known. So why does Washington still stay mum?

Exclusive satellite imagery taken in April 2011 exposes a new nuclear facility (circled) in Khushab, Pakistan—which now has the fastest-growing nuclear program in the world. The facility was undetectable in satellite images take as recently as December 2009. Pictured directly above the circled area are two white boxes which are also nuclear reactors.

Even in the best of times, Pakistan’s nuclear-weapons program warrants alarm. But these are perilous days. At a moment of unprecedented misgiving between Washington and Islamabad, new evidence suggests that Pakistan’s nuclear program is barreling ahead at a furious clip.  Full article

OBL ID > How Osama bin Laden was identified

The complete article is below
Osama bin LadenCross Match's SEEK II may have identified bin Laden

SEEK II from Florida-based Cross Match is a 4-pound computer that captures photographs, complete fingerprints, and iris scans; its memory holds the images and biometrics of up to 60,000 people; unconfirmed reports suggest that the Navy SEALs who killed bin Laden used a SEEK II to identify him; there are about 5,000 SEEK II devices in the field, being used by the U.S. military, border patrol, and law enforcement agencies, and also by other militaries

The SEEK II combines three technologies in one unit // Source: crossmatch.com

It appears that the Navy SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden used a device from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based Cross Match to identify the al Qaeda’s founder, allowing President Obama to declare in his speech to the nation last week that bin laden was dead.

The Palm Beach Post reports that Cross Match representatives would not confirm whether their product was used in the identification of bin Laden, partly because they are not sure. Still, the Post says that company representatives “offer tantalizing hints, such as that the Department of Defense is one of their biggest clients and that their mobile device is the only one approved by the FBI to take rolled fingerprints, which provide more data and better matches than flat prints.”

The paper quotes Michael Oehler, vice president of mobile biometrics, to say that it appears that a Cross Match product was used to identify bin Laden “really is a good feeling, I must say. We have a very strong sense of patriotism in the company.”

The device likely used to identify bin Laden is the SEEK II — a 4-pound computer that captures photographs, complete fingerprints, and iris scans. Its memory holds the images and biometrics of “60,000 of your favorite bad guys,” Oehler said. With 3G technology or a satellite connection, the SEEK also can link to databases all over the world. This means that SEEK can identify a match within seconds – and helpful feature when the identification has to be doe under fire.

Oehler would not specify to the Post which data points the SEEK registers, but he said the technology generally measures things such as space between the eyes or the nostrils. It looks for features that do not degrade (measuring skin, which sags with age or can be transformed by plastic surgery, would not be useful).

Ohler noted that although an iris scan is 100 times more accurate than fingerprints, it is unlikely the military used the iris scan feature on bin Laden because that would require a previous iris scan to make a match. Moreover, even if bin Laden’s iris had been in the system, the SEALs would have had to move quickly to compare it with the real thing because an iris is “valid” for only five to ten minutes after death.

The company notes that there are fewer than 5,000 SEEKs currently in the field. The device is used by the U.S. military and other armies, and also by border patrol and other law enforcement agencies.   to see full article by HSNW

First Bin Laden Revenge Strike Hits Pakistan; 80 Dead

The first terrorist revenge attack for the death of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was claimed on Friday after two individuals detonated suicide bomb vests at a paramilitary training facility in Pakistan. The strike resulted in 80 deaths, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, May 12).

(May. 13) - Security officials examine wrecked vehicles outside a training center for Pakistan's Frontier Constabulary, where two people detonated suicide bomb vests on Friday. The Pakistani Taliban said the attack was carried out in retaliation to the U.S. raid last week that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden (A. Majeed/Getty Images).

The attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban was intended to "avenge the Abbottabad incident," spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said, referring to the May 1 U.S. commando raid that resulted in bin Laden's death at a compound in the town of Abbottabad.

The two suicide attackers detonated their explosives at the primary entrance to a military training center for the Frontier Constabulary, which has been financially supported by the United States and has sent troops to fight al-Qaeda and other extremists near the Pakistan/Afghanistan border. Police officer Liaqat Ali Khan said 66 of those killed were recruits.

Ehsan said the Friday attack in Shabqadar would be followed by strikes targeting U.S. citizens residing in Pakistan.

An explosion at a parking lot in northwest Pakistan also caused the destruction of about 24 vehicles, including 15 tanker trucks transporting fuel for NATO into Afghanistan (Riaz Khan, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 13).

Even as bin Laden for years evaded a massive manhunt, he pondered ways to mount another terrorist assault in the United States as a follow-up to the September 11 attacks. His thoughts, recorded in a diary, show he focused on maximizing U.S. casualties by attacking large population centers such as Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The journal, other documents, data storage devices and computers were captured by U.S. Navy SEALs during their raid on the Abbottabad compound. U.S. intelligence analysts are now racing to analyze the large information cache.  Read more

Pakistan > Relations with US on Delicate Footing Following Bin Laden Raid

Great indepth article by Elaine M. Grossman, Global Security Newswire describing 'the dancing' that is currently going on post OBL raid.  8 mins read Read more

Aamir Qureshi/Getty Images

Pakistan > Duplicitous and Impotent

Excellent article by Ben Frankel , Homeland Security Newswire on Pakistan's role since 9/11, and the billions we have wasted throwing it their way... Read more

image courtesy of:  altiusdirectory.com