Iconic obelisk presents a monumental security issue

The Washington Monument is unlike any other in the capital, so austere and abstract that creating security arrangements for it has dogged the National Park Service for a decade. Fortunately, plans to build a large, underground visitors center, floated in 1993 and renewed in the security panic after Sept. 11, 2001, never came to fruition. So far, the only permanent security installed at the site - a vehicle barrier made from an artful arrangement of low granite walls, careful landscaping and attractive benches designed by landscape architect Laurie Olin - is one of the extraordinarily rare examples of aesthetically pleasing anti-terrorism designs in the United States.

But Olin's work hasn't solved the problem of how to screen individual visitors seeking access to the monument's interior. Currently, this is done in an unsightly, temporary security hut at the monument's base, a provisional structure that disfigures the striking geometry of the obelisk. Monday night, the Park Service will present the public with five ideas for replacing that temporary facility with something permanent. These proposals, designed to hold the magnetometers that have become ritualistic intrusions at so many federal sites, have made the rounds of the main design oversight bodies in the District for preliminary comment. Now it's the public's turn to weigh in on radical changes to one of the most iconic monuments in the world.

Unfortunately, the bureaucratic gears are already grinding, and what will be presented to the public Monday doesn't include important options, including what became known as the "tunnel" in previous discussions of the issue. Nor does it include the choice of more minimal visitor screening - simple wanding or visual bag inspection - that might not require costly and intrusive changes to the structure. The choice to accept risk isn't on the table, either. Finally, and although it might seem paradoxical given how important resisting security authoritarianism is to preserving the symbolism of freedom, it doesn't take seriously the idea that perhaps the monument's interior should be closed altogether - a small concession that might have collateral benefits.

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Cargo security analysis: bringing intelligence to bear

Intelligence must be at the root of any effective cargo security regime, but there is a need for certificated systems capable of screening whole cargo pallets and large items. That is the view of the International Air Transport Association, which on 2 November opened its security-focused AVSEC World conference in Frankfurt - just days after intelligence-led security checks on a UPS aircraft in the UK and a FedEx Express facility in Dubai uncovered PETN explosives in packages originating in Yemen. The message from providers of screening systems, meanwhile, is that the technologies required to ensure cargo security are available, and what is lacking is a global standard to govern their use. Yet IATA's view on the primacy of intelligence appears to be a point of consensus.

In his address to AVSEC World, IATA director general Giovanni Bisignani argued that cargo security required co-operation between governments and industry in investment, processes, technology and risk assessment. For example, the association sees potential for its e-freight programme - a paperless documentation system launched as a cargo analogue of its e-ticketing initiative - to generate data that could be used to manage security "intelligently and efficiently without compromising speed". Industry's role is not confined to airlines, stresses Bisignani. "The entire supply chain from the manufacturer to the airport has a responsibility to secure shipments," he says. He sees the UK and USA as "well advanced on supply-chain solutions", with the former nation operating a regulated agent system and the latter a certificated cargo-screening programme, in which responsibilities are split between shippers, forwarders and manufacturers. IATA aims to "help all governments develop a similar approach".

This article was written for Flightglobal.com by Niall O'Keeffe. Flightglobal.com is a specialized online news and information website related to the aviation and aerospace industries.

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Visa security is critical to preventing terrorist attacks

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's failed attempt to bomb Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on Christmas Day is another reminder that a visa is priceless to a terrorist. It is the golden key that allows easy passage to the United States. If the intelligence on Abdulmutallab had been properly analyzed, his visa would have been quickly revoked and he would have been denied access to Flight 253. We must go back to basics and strengthen the role of the Homeland Security Department in visa issuance, review and security.

Certainly, we must continue to improve methods and technologies for screening and detecting explosives carried by airline passengers, but our highest priority is to remember the lesson of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the attempted Christmas Day bombing: Our first line of defense against terrorism is intelligence and visa security. Yes, visa security. It's not an easy, 30-second sound bite and it takes a little more explaining, but it might be our best defense. Without a valid visa, America's enemies will not be able to lawfully enter the United States at all.

This does not mean we should in any way diminish America's role as a gateway to visitors from around the world. Common-sense security measures and an open and welcoming culture are not mutually exclusive. Revoking Abdulmutallab's visa would have done nothing to interfere with the travel plans of any other passenger boarding a flight to America. The DHS inspector general has found that the successful vetting of visas requires a hands-on presence at the embassy. On the ground, visa security agents can better connect local intelligence (such as that given by Abdulmutallab's father to the U.S. embassy in Nigeria). They also can re-interview applicants if necessary, applying trained law enforcement and security perspectives the State Department simply does not offer.

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A 19-year-old Saudi man allegedly posing as a pilot was detained at Manila's airport after he breached security and spent several hours wandering in the terminal's restricted area, officials said Tuesday. The man told investigators he wanted to meet his father, who was flying in from Saudi Arabia to visit him in Manila, said airport immigration supervisor Theodore Pascual.

"It's a breach of security," Alfonso Cusi, Manila airport general manager, told The Associated Press. "We consider him to be a security threat, so we are taking action from there." Wearing a pilot's uniform, Hany Abdulelah Bukhari went through security checks at the entrance of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport, then walked over into the arrivals area one floor below, Pascual said.

He was approaching an immigration lane reserved for arriving airline crew when a security officer became suspicious and demanded to see his pilot's ID. Bukhari presented a document that identified him as a dependent of a Saudi Airlines' employee, Pascual said. Bukhari is facing charges of misrepresentation and will be deported, Cusi said, adding investigators were working to find out more about him and his intentions.

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US subpoenas bloggers who wrote about security memo issued after attempted Christmas attack

As the government reviews how an alleged terrorist was able to bring a bomb onto a U.S.-bound plane and try to blow it up on Christmas Day, the Transportation Security Administration is trying to find out who leaked a security directive to bloggers. TSA special agents served subpoenas to travel bloggers Steve Frischling and Chris Elliott, demanding that they reveal who leaked the security directive to them. The government says the directive was not supposed to be disclosed to the public.

Frischling said he met with two TSA special agents Tuesday night at his Connecticut home for about three hours and again on Wednesday morning when he was forced to hand over his lap top computer. Frischling said the agents threatened to interfere with his contract to write a blog for KLM Royal Dutch Airlines if he didn't co-operate and provide the name of the person who leaked the memo. "It literally showed up in my box," Frischling told The Associated Press. "I do not know who it came from." He said he provided the agents a signed statement to that effect.

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Postcards from the Edge: Somalia

Somali Piracy: An Escalating Security Dilemma

Piracy off the coast of Somalia has grown exponentially in recent years. The growing trend, which is the result of a number of factors including the unstable political environment, the collapsed economy, and the presence of Islamic terror groups in Somalia. The research concludes that only a unified stance by the international community that addresses a two-part strategy can facilitate the eradication of Somali piracy. If the global actors involved do not enhance cooperation in the fight against piracy while simultaneously enacting measures to improve stability in Somalia, global commercial trade will continue to suffer from extortion, and Islamic radicalism in Somalia will continue to thrive and potentially overtake the country.

Birthed In Blood, Somali Terror Group Goes Global

In the summer of 2008, a battle raged about 300 miles south of Mogadishu. There, along the banks of the Jubba River, rival militias fought for control of a port city. After days of savage conflict, the victors danced in the bloodied streets. Four years earlier, the Islamist group Al-Shabaab, "the youth," had been just another obscure gang, thugs for hire in Somalia's civil war. Now, they were seasoned warriors, the conquerors of Kismayo.

Al-Shabaab hasn't looked back since. Today, the group aims to be a world-class terrorist outfit, recruiting fighters under the banner of religious holy war. They are more than just a local band of fanatics. They may be plotting the next 9/11. When you start to "connect the dots," (the phrase made famous by the 9/11 Commission), you find there are a lot of dots to connect Al-Shabaab is no home-grown terrorist boy's club. Various news sources report "foreign fighters" have joined their ranks, some in high-level leadership positions. That suggests that group has an international perspective and sees itself as part of the global Islamist campaign.

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Convergence: The Challenge of Aviation Security

On Sept. 13, As-Sahab media released an audio statement purportedly made by Osama bin Laden that was intended to address the American people on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In the message, the voice alleged to be that of bin Laden said the reason for the 9/11 attacks was U.S. support for Israel. He also said that if the American people wanted to free themselves from “fear and intellectual terrorism,” the United States must cut its support for Israel. If the United States continues to support Israel, the voice warned, al Qaeda would continue its war against the United States “on all possible fronts” — a not so subtle threat of additional terrorist attacks.

Elsewhere on Sept. 14, a judge at Woolwich Crown Court in the United Kingdom sentenced four men to lengthy prison sentences for their involvement in the disrupted 2006 plot to destroy multiple aircraft over the Atlantic using liquid explosives. The man authorities claimed was the leader of the cell, Abdulla Ahmed Ali, was sentenced to serve at least 40 years. The cell’s apparent logistics man, Assad Sarwar, was sentenced to at least 36 years. Cell member Tanvir Hussain was given a sentence of at least 32 years and cell member Umar Islam was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years in prison.

The convergence of these two events (along with the recent release of convicted Pan Am 103 bomber Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and the amateurish Sept. 9 hijacking incident in Mexico using a hoax improvised explosive device [IED]) has drawn our focus back to the topic of aviation security — in particular, IED attacks against aircraft. As we weave the strands of these independent events together, they remind us not only that attacks against aircraft are dramatic, generate a lot of publicity and can cause very high body counts (9/11), but also that such attacks can be conducted simply and quite inexpensively with an eye toward avoiding preventative security measures (the 2006 liquid-explosives plot.)

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Stratfor: Security at Places of Worship

SECURITY AT PLACES OF WORSHIP:

MORE THAN A MATTER OF FAITH

Global Security and Intelligence Report

June 17, 2009

By Scott Stewart and Fred Burton

In recent months, several high-profile incidents have raised awareness of the threat posed by individuals and small groups operating under the principles of leaderless resistance. These incidents have included lone wolf attacks against a doctor who performed abortions in Kansas, an armed forces recruitment center in Arkansas and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a grassroots jihadist cell was arrested for attempting to bomb Jewish targets in the Bronx and planning to shoot down a military aircraft at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.

In addition to pointing out the threat posed by grassroots cells and lone wolf operatives, another common factor in all of these incidents is the threat of violence to houses of worship. The cell arrested in New York left what they thought to be active improvised explosive devices outside the Riverdale Temple and the Riverdale Jewish Community Center. Dr. George Tiller was shot and killed in the lobby of the Reformation Lutheran Church in Wichita. Although Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad conducted his attack against a Little Rock recruiting center, he had conducted preoperational surveillance and research on targets that included Jewish organizations and a Baptist church in places as far away as Atlanta and Philadelphia. And while James von Brunn attacked the Holocaust Museum, he had a list of other potential targets in his vehicle that included the National Cathedral.

In light of this common thread, it might be instructive to take a more detailed look at the issue of providing security for places of worship.

To read the full report, please click here.

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