Baghdad church hostage drama ends in bloodbath

At least 37 people have been killed after Iraqi security forces stormed a Catholic church in central Baghdad to free dozens of hostages being held by gunmen there, security sources say. Twenty-five hostages were among the dead, along with seven members of the Iraqi security forces and at least five of the attackers, they told the BBC. About 100 people had been inside Our Lady of Salvation for an evening Mass. The gunmen had reportedly demanded the release of jailed al-Qaeda militants.

The local TV station, al-Baghdadiya, said it had received a phone call from someone claiming to be one of the attackers, who said they were from the Islamic State of Iraq, a Sunni militant umbrella group to which al-Qaeda in Iraq belongs. Reports said the attackers were not Iraqis, but foreign Arabs. The raid came two days after a suicide attack on a cafe in Diyala province left 21 people dead. Security forces later surrounded the church and sealed off the area, with helicopters hovering overhead. Then they stormed the building.

Witnesses nearby said they then heard two explosions from inside the church and more shooting. One eyewitness, who was inside the church, was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the gunmen "came into the prayer hall and immediately killed the priest". The witness, who declined to give his name, said the people in the church had huddled into the main prayer hall when the gunbattles began with the security forces. The gunmen reportedly threw grenades and blew their suicide vests. There were no negotiations with the gunmen before the security forces stormed the church.

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Chechen warlord may be behind parliament attack

A suicide attack on Chechnya's parliament may have been staged by a shadowy warlord who wants to establish himself as a leader of the Russian region's factionalized Islamist insurgency, officials and analysts said Wednesday. Some observers said they believe there could be an escalation of violence as 40-year-old Khusein Gakayev moves to assert his supremacy over the divided rebels. In the attack, "the goal here is to demonstrate Gakayev's authority," said Yulia Latynina, a Moscow-based columnist and Caucasus expert.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday's attack by three suicide attackers, who got inside the tightly guarded parliament complex in the capital, Grozny, as legislators gathered for a session. The attackers opened fire and blew themselves up, killing two police officers and a parliamentary aide and wounded 17 other people. Chechnya's Interior Ministry branch told the ITAR-Tass news agency that it believed the attack was planned by Gakayev to boost his credentials among other rebels and their supporters abroad. It did not offer evidence.

Islamic insurgents have taken root across Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region and are trying to turn it into an independent emirate that adheres to Shariah, or Islamic law. Since 2007, the movement has been led by the guerrilla leader Doku Umarov, who spread confusion through the rebel ranks in August by first announcing and then annulling his resignation in two videos released three days apart. Analysts say that apparent indecision exacerbated a schism in the rebel leadership between those striving for a new Shariah state in the Caucasus and those focusing on Chechnya's independence. Gakayev, who has never been known to promote pan-Caucasian Islamism, was a little-known lieutenant to more senior rebels who has recently emerged as a leading figure in the insurgency.

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Attack on Chechen parliament in Grozny leaves six dead

Six people were killed and 10 others injured when at least three militants stormed parliament in the restive Russian republic of Chechnya. Shouting Islamist slogans, they launched a bomb and gun attack as deputies arrived for work, and two guards and an official were killed. All of the attackers were killed, according to Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's Kremlin-backed leader. Deputies inside the building managed to escape by moving to an upper floor.

The attack was condemned by the EU foreign policy chief, Baroness Ashton, who was quoted by AFP news agency as saying: "No circumstances can justify the use of terrorist violence and suicide attacks." The EU was, she added, ready to "strengthen co-operation with the Russian Federation in the fight against international terrorism". Correspondents say the incident in the capital Grozny is a reminder that the region is far from stable.

Last year Moscow declared victory against Chechen separatists and there has been a relative lull in the violence under Mr Kadyrov. But the whole North Caucasus is seeing an insurgency led by Islamist rebels, correspondents say. At least one attacker appears to have set off a suicide bomb just outside the building before the others rushed inside, exchanging fire with security guards.

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Saudis say al Qaeda targeting France

Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux said on Sunday that French had been warned by Saudi Ara that al Qaeda was targeting Europe and especially France. "Several hours or days ago, there was a new message from the Saudis that said al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was without doubt active or planning to be active in Europe, especially France," he told French radio RTL. "This is not about overestimating the threat or underestimating it," he said. "I am indicating, based on all these elements, that the threat is real." Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), an arm of al Qaeda thought to include Yemenis and Saudis, has stepped up attacks on Yemeni and Western targets since it claimed a failed U.S. airliner bombing in December.

Impoverished Yemen, which is struggling to end a civil war in the north and a separatist rebellion in the south, is trying with U.S. help to crush AQAP, which has been based in Yemen since 2006, when Saudi Arabia mounted a counter-terrorism drive against its Saudi arm. Hortefeux's remarks indicated that the new warning was not connected with the heightened alert in France in late September based on a tip-off that a female suicide bomber was planning to attack its transport system. A police source told Reuters at that time that the information about the threatened attack had come from Algeria.

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Saudi Arabia gives Israel clear skies to attack Iranian nuclear sites

From the Times Online website comes the news that Saudi Arabia has given Israel the 'green light' to use its airspace to attack Iran's nuclear sites if they so choose. Apparently they hate the Shi'a regime there as much as the Israeli's do. This should prove to be an interesting if unconventional alliance to remove or hobble a common problem. Well they do say that "an enemy of my enemy is my friend!" But it could also stir up trouble in the Middle Eastern diaspora in western countries if any attack takes place. Something to watch out for.

"Saudi Arabia has conducted tests to stand down its air defences to enable Israeli jets to make a bombing raid on Iran’s nuclear facilities. In the week that the UN Security Council imposed a new round of sanctions on Tehran, defence sources in the Gulf say that Riyadh has agreed to allow Israel to use a narrow corridor of its airspace in the north of the country to shorten the distance for a bombing run on Iran. To ensure the Israeli bombers pass unmolested, Riyadh has carried out tests to make certain its own jets are not scrambled and missile defence systems not activated. Once the Israelis are through, the kingdom’s air defences will return to full alert.

“The Saudis have given their permission for the Israelis to pass over and they will look the other way,” said a US defence source in the area. “They have already done tests to make sure their own jets aren’t scrambled and no one gets shot down. This has all been done with the agreement of the [US] State Department." Sources in Saudi Arabia say it is common knowledge within defence circles in the kingdom that an arrangement is in place if Israel decides to launch the raid. Despite the tension between the two governments, they share a mutual loathing of the regime in Tehran and a common fear of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “We all know this. We will let them [the Israelis] through and see nothing."

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Dirty bomb attack 'pretty likely' despite nuclear deal

A landmark summit of world leaders in Washington has agreed to secure vulnerable nuclear materials around the globe within four years. The pledge came in a final communique issued after summit host US president Barack Obama warned that nuclear material the "size of an apple" would be enough to kill thousands of people if it fell into the hands of terrorists. Tilman Ruff, Associate Professor at Melbourne University and chair of the International Campaign to Demolish Nuclear Weapons, says the possibility of terrorists getting hold of radioactive material and attaching it to a conventional explosive is highly likely. "Detonating it in a major city is the simplest and most likely form of nuclear terrorism. I think ... it's pretty likely that somewhere we'll see such an episode."

"These materials are still unfortunately widely available in thousands of locations. [But] the possibility of terrorists building a nuclear weapon will no doubt be diminished by the kind of work that this summit has accelerated." Professor Ruff says the damage such an attack could cause would be severe. "It wouldn't be a nuclear explosion, so it might kill immediately hundreds or thousands of people in a crowded city, rather than tens or hundreds of thousands even a relatively small nuclear weapon would," he said. "But it would contaminate potentially several square kilometres, for example, of a major city centre.

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Qaeda Group Threatens to Attack World Cup

The North African terror group al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has threatened to attack this summer's World Cup games in South Africa. "How amazing could the match United States vs. Britain be when broadcasted live on air at a stadium packed with spectators when the sound of an explosion rumbles through the stands, the whole stadium is turned upside down and the number of dead bodies are in their dozens and hundreds, Allah willing," reads a statement the group published in a recent issue of the Jihadi online magazine Mushtaqun Lel Jannah (Longing to Paradise). The statement also highlights recent actions by the terrorism group such as the December suicide bombing that killed seven CIA employees and a Jordanian agent at a base in Eastern Afghanistan last December and the Christmas Day bombing attempt that resulted in the arrest of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who has been cooperating with the FBI and providing information about his contacts in Yemen and the al Qaeda affiliate that operates there.

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23 dead as Pakistan hospital, bus bombed

A hospital in Pakistan's commercial capital Karachi treating victims of an earlier bus bombing that killed 12 people was itself rocked by an explosion that killed 11 more people, local officials said. Two suicide bombers on motorcycles struck the bus and hospital, targeting Shiite Muslims in Karachi for the second time in six weeks, killing 23 people and wounding 75 others. Women and children were among 12 people killed when a bomber rammed a motorcycle bomb into a bus of Shiites on one of Karachi's busiest roads, gutting the bus and sending glass flying, officials and witnesses said. A second bomber killed 11 people, damaging ambulances and the entrance to the casualty department at Jinnah Hospital where the bus bomb victims were being treated and anxious relatives were gathering.

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U.S. is unprepared for major bioterrorism attack

More than eight years after the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the United States is still unprepared to respond to the threat of large-scale bioterrorism, a congressionally appointed commission said Tuesday in a report that gave the government mixed grades overall for how it has protected Americans from weapons of mass destruction. The report, which measured the government's performance in 17 key areas, gave the White House and Congress "F" grades for not building a rapid-response capability for dealing with disease outbreaks from bioterrorism, or providing adequate oversight of security and intelligence agencies.

Within hours of the report's release, the Obama administration revealed plans to fill gaps in the nation's public health defenses with a series of initiatives to be announced in Wednesday's State of the Union address. The proposals, which administration officials said had been in the works well before the report's findings were known, will seek to speed up delivery of drugs in the event of a major attack, addressing one of the principal shortcomings identified by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

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Jordan makes arrests for failed attack on Israel diplomats

Jordanian authorities have made a number of arrests in connection with Thursday's failed roadside bombing attack on an Israeli diplomatic convoy. Although the attack caused no injuries, the kind of bomb and the intelligence required to make such an attack are raising concerns about security breaches among Jordanian and Israeli authorities. According to Arabic media reports, Jordanian security officials have arrested a cab driver believed to have planted the bomb along the road between Amman and the Jordanian-Israeli border, and several other arrests in connection with the bombing.

One Jordanian official called the attack "a message" to Jordanian authorities and a sign that Jordan's security establishment could be infiltrated. Haaretz's analysis shows the perpetrators had very good intelligence and they knew that many Israeli diplomats, who normally live in Amman without their families, usually depart for Israel for the weekend on Thursday afternoon, and they knew how to identify the two-car convoy. Their analysis also speculates that the parties most likely responsible for the attack are either Hizbullah or Sunni extremists.

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SWAT options for multiple shooter terrorist attacks

The threat of an international terrorist attack against our country is not to be taken lightly by law enforcement professionals. In fact, I see it being taken very seriously in the New York Metropolitan area; agencies are meeting, communicating and taking proactive steps to counter potential terrorist efforts.

As professional police officers we are all aware of the threat. The training is out there to provide information and resources on how to deal with terrorism, whether it is domestic or foreign. In this article I would like to address one area that I feel we in law enforcement need to take action on immediately. The immediate employment of police officers to a terrorist attack as first responders is inevitable; I believe that the one thing that is not being addressed is what is going to happen to those first responding officers.

We train our police officers in rapid deployment tactics which will serve them well against a violent act by a lone gunman, or even the likes of Harris and Klebold (Columbine shooters). But let’s face it, police officers employing rapid deployment tactics against a hardened target defended by a determined enemy with automatic weapons, interlocking fields of fire and hand grenades will not fare well. There is a high likelihood that the assault will be turned away, and at a bloody cost.

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Google reports China-based attack, says pullout possible

Google said Tuesday the company and at least 20 others were victims of a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" originating in China in mid-December, evidently to gain access to the e-mail accounts of Chinese human rights activists. "Based on our investigation to date we believe their attack did not achieve that objective," according to a statement by David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer for Google, operator of the most popular Internet search engine.

Drummond said that as a result of the attacks, Google has decided it is no longer willing to consider censorship of its Google site in China and may have to shut down its site and its offices in that nation. "These attacks and the surveillance they have uncovered -- combined with the attempts over the past year to further limit free speech on the Web -- have led us to conclude that we should review the feasibility of our business operations in China."

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Police expect Mumbai-style terror attack on City of London

Scotland Yard has warned businesses in London to expect a Mumbai-style attack on the capital. In a briefing in the City of London 12 days ago, a senior detective from SO15, the Metropolitan police counter-terrorism command, said: “Mumbai is coming to London.” The detective said companies should anticipate a shooting and hostage-taking raid “involving a small number of gunmen with handguns and improvised explosive devices”.

The warning — the bluntest issued by police — has underlined an assessment that a terrorist cell may be preparing an attack on London early next year.It was issued by the Met through its network of “security forums”, which provide business leaders, local government and the emergency services with counter-terrorism advice. During a “commando-style” raid by 10 gunmen on hotels and cafes in Mumbai in November 2008, 174 people were killed and more than 300 injured over three days.

Officials now report an increase in “intelligence chatter” — communications captured by electronic eavesdropping agencies. One senior security adviser said the police warnings had intensified and become much more specific in the past fortnight. “Before, there has been speculation. Now we are getting what appears to be a definite plot to carry out a firearms attack on London.”

• "The Lessons of Mumbai", Rand Corporation, 3/18/09.
  
• "Mumbai Attacks: What the NYPD learned from the attacks", SajaForum, 1/16/09.
• "Strategic Motivations for the Mumbai Attacks", Stratfor, 12/1/08.
  
• "Analysis: Mumbai attack differs from past terror strikes", Long War Journal, 11/28/08.
  

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Terror group planning attacks on Israelis in India

Israel's Counter Terrorism Bureau issued a severe travel warning on Thursday over fears that terrorist groups may try to attack Israelis across India. The warning comes just as the Chabad houses across India plan numerous events for the celebration of Rosh Hashana, the Jewish new year. Last year, a large scale terror attack in Mumbai targeted a Chabad house, among other targets.

According to the Counter Terrorist Bureau, the same organization that orchestrated last year's Mumbai attacks was planning to carry out several attacks across India, including areas frequented by Western and particularly Israeli tourists.

The travel warning is based on a concrete and very serious threat to Israelis. The Counter Terrorism Bureau has recommended to Israelis currently in India to avoid crowded areas, especially tourist areas, which have no apparent armed security.

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Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack

The federal government is doing “nothing” to protect against an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack that could wipe out American civilization, Dr. Peter Vincent Pry, a leading expert on the subject, tells Newsmax.

For only $200 million to $400 million, the government could protect a key element of the power grid to keep electrical power from being wiped out for years, according to Dr. Pry, a former staff member of the congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse Attack.

A single nuclear bomb exploded over the Midwest would generate an electromagnetic pulse that would destroy the chips that are at the heart of every electronic device. While military and intelligence networks may be shielded against EMP, most of the rest of the country’s technological infrastructure is not.

An EMP attack would wipe out personal computers and the internet. Cars would not start, gasoline pumps would not work, and airplanes could not take off. Heat and air conditioning would shut down, supermarkets would have to close, telephones would go dead, water would go out, and radio and television sets would not turn on.

• “EMP Attack Could Wipe Out U.S.”, Newsmax.com, 9/9/09.
• “Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack: A Preventable Homeland Security Catastrophe”, Heritage Foundation, 10/20/08.
• “The Electromagnetic Pulse Commission Warns of an Old Threat with a New Face”, Heritage Foundation, 08/03/04.
• “Electromagnetic Bomb: A Weapon of Electronic Mass Destruction”, AboveTopSecret.com, 6/16/04.

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Nuclear attack: Terrorists vs U.S.

Confidential discussions with leaders throughout the Homeland Security Network of agencies reveal that the prevention of an atomic attack is not thorough in the United States. In fact, they indicate that nontraditional infiltration and detonation avenues are barely known and those that are known are barely covered. The entire East Coast of the United States is at risk of a nuclear attack, ranging through New York, D.C., Atlanta, and Orlando. With the Secretary of Homeland Security declaring that America is safe from any such attack one is left with asking, “How national security professionals think that it could happen?”

A briefing before national security professionals has revealed a particularly spooky scenario. One that is sure to run chills up the spine of anyone who learns of it and how unprepared the United States remains. It is an attack scenario that could occur at any moment and without any warning whatsoever. Naturally, those who know of it within the government are highly reluctant to allow themselves to be named.

Let’s go into an imaginary world for a moment. Imagine that a nuclear warhead built in Tehran, Iran and developed jointly by Iran, North Korea, and Russia becomes a multi-megaton reality. With the United States and its allies out of Iraq, Iran has an established transport pipe-line to Syria, a close political and religious ally. Imagine that a Gulfstream or Hawker long-range executive jet is modified internally to carry the warhead on a one way trip to the United States.

The aircraft departs Tehran, with its cargo, and lands at a Syrian Air Base located near Damascus for re-fueling and final checks of its deadly cargo. From Damascus, Syria the aircraft flies to an airport inside Bosnia. There, sympathetic officials who have been well compensated pencil-whip a non-existent customs inspection and allow refueling. It is then off again.

The aircraft flies normally across Europe, over Greenland, and over Iceland as it moves towards the final destination. Again, it continues to fly without its cargo being detected as U.S. airspace begins to get nearer. According to anonymous sources, there are no aircraft in the skies with super sensitive detectors in U.S. airspace searching for radiological signatures. It is an assumption that has not been directly inferred but hasn’t been squashed or corrected by the DHS, either. People just assume that U.S. technology exists to detect this rather simply approach by enemy force. The reality is that such an approach would happen without hindrance or detection. That is what makes this scenario so worrisome to national security experts, military strategists, and the public in general

When the aircraft enters American Airspace it continues on to whatever city airport, most likely an international airport, it has listed on its flight plan. As it approaches the airport, the co-pilot walks to the back of the plane and performs the final arming processes following the controlled decompression of the cabin. Decompressing the cabin allows a barometric pressure sensitive detonator to have a more accurate reading of altitude. It will detonate the bomb at a given altitude which is detected by air pressure. Altitude is key in maximizing the effect of a nuclear explosion.

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Al-Qaeda warns of 'spectacular attacks' on UK

In an astounding revelation, Al-Qaeda extremists have claimed that home-grown terrorists are plotting to attack targets in Britain.

According to reports, in an internet magazine read by thousands of Islamic extremists Al-Qaeda has labeled Britain and Europe as a bigger enemy than the United States.

It further says that the strikes are being planned by terrorists living in Britain and others overseas, and warns of “spectacular attacks”, 'The Sun' reports.

The site is promoted by supporters of deported hate preacher Abdullah al-Faisal who was booted out of Britain after serving a jail sentence for being found guilty of three charges of soliciting the murder of Jews, Americans, and Hindus, and two charges of using threatening words to stir up racial hatred.

"Al-Qaeda warns of 'spectacular attacks' on UK", ExpressIndia.com, 8/17/09.

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Gang Attacks Teenager With Python in England

A teenager required hospital treatment after being attacked by a gang brandishing a snake. In what police suspect may have been a racist assault, the 14-year-old boy was held down by his attackers in Bristol before one of the group forced a python to sink its fangs into him, leaving him with two deep puncture wounds.

The boy is believed to be of Afro-Caribbean descent. Two other boys aged 16 and 17 were being interviewed by police yesterday about the incident. Paramedics identified the type of snake after showing internet pictures to the victim on a mobile phone.

A spokesman for Great Western Ambulance service said: “Ambulance staff consulted Google and Bristol Zoo experts after a teenager was attacked by a group of youths brandishing a snake.

“The 14-year-old was bitten on the hand after being pinned against a wall by his attackers in Bradley Stoke on Saturday afternoon. Michael Howells, an incident support officer, added: “In order to try and identify the type of snake, I googled ‘snakes’ on my mobile to show the patient. He was reasonably sure he could identify the type, so I sent the image to our control room.”

Oliver Tovey, the duty control manager, said that a snake expert at Bristol Zoo had told him that the description of the snake indicated it was a type of python, and so not venomous.

"Gang held down boy, 14, while they forced snake to bite him", Times Online, 8/10/09.

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Told You So: Disguised Taliban Strike in Afghanistan

In a follow-up to an earlier report, Taliban fighters, most of them disguised in women's burqas, have killed six people in attacks on government buildings and a military base in Afghanistan, Afghan officials have said.

The raids in Gardez, the provincial capital of Paktia province, and Jalalabad on Tuesday came amid a surge in violence ahead of Afghanistan's presidential and provincial elections.

Six suicide bombers wearing wigs and women's clothing and armed with rifles and suicide vests, tried to enter government buildings in Gardez, Afghan officials said.

"At 10:50 am [06:20 GMT] ... six suicide attackers armed with Kalashnikovs, grenade-launchers and suicide vests arrived near the intelligence office in a Corolla car," the Afghan National Directorate for Security (NDS) said in a statement.

The attackers "dressed as women ... walked towards the guards at the NDS gates, pretending to submit an application paper" before one set off his suicide belt, the statement said.

"Disguised Taliban hit Afghan bases", Al-Jazeera, 7/21/09.

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American Indicted for Ties with Al Qaeda

A 26-year-old American-born Long Island man who traveled to Pakistan and trained in a Qaeda camp there last year has been charged with taking part in a rocket attack against a United States base in Afghanistan, according to court papers unsealed on Wednesday. The man, Bryant Neal Vinas, who was arrested in Peshawar, Pakistan, last November, was also charged with assisting Al Qaeda by providing “expert advice and assistance” that was “derived from specialized knowledge of the New York transit system and the Long Island Rail Road, communications equipment and personnel,” according to the papers.

The court papers, a criminal information charging Mr. Vinas with conspiracy and carrying out the attempted missile attack, providing material support to Al Qaeda and receiving military support from the group, did not mention a specific New York City plot involving the Long Island Rail Road. The papers, filed by prosecutors in the office of the Brooklyn United States attorney, Benton J. Campbell, also say that he attempted the attack and received “military-type training” from and on behalf of Al Qaeda between March and August 2008.

• "LI terrorist: LIRR knowledge came from riding it", Newsday, 7/23/09.
• "Long Island Traitor Trained To Be Suicide Bomber", New York Post, 7/23/09.
• "Long Island Man Charged in Attack on U.S. Base in Afghanistan", New York Times, 7/22/09.

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