In fact, short of mass casualties, the attack allegedly attempted by Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had exactly the kind of reaction that al-Qaida is after. And, it appears, that lesson is resonating with the terror network’s leadership.

For the first time, the group that carried out the Sept. 11 attacks and has prided itself on its ideological purism seems to be eyeing a more pragmatic and arguably more dangerous shift in tactics. The emerging message appears to be: Big successes are great, but sometimes simply trying can be just as good.

U.S. officials and counterterrorism experts say the airline attack and last November’s shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, prove that simple, well-played smaller attacks against the United States can be just as devastating to the democratic giant as complex and riskier ones.”

(Source: The Associated Press: Success of lone gunmen may shift al-Qaida strategy.)

(Source: Internet aids terrorist recruiting, radicalization, Pentagon says / The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com.)

In places such as Reynosa, where gunbattles were a regular occurrence last week, official confirmation of violence came days later.

But on Twitter, reports of brazen gunbattles throughout the city surfaced almost minute-by-minute.

Tweeters created .Reynosafollow for those following or reportedly caught up in the violence to exchange details. A hashtag is used to narrow down tweets on a particular topic in the microblogging site.”

(Source: Residents use social media to fight organized crime in Mexico – CNN.com.)

Anthony Joseph Tracy, 35, was arrested earlier this month, after admitting to U.S. authorities that he helped about 272 citizens of war-torn Somalia come to the United States illegally, according to documents filed in federal court.

Tracy allegedly set up a business in Kenya, Noor Services Limited, that procured fraudulent Cuban travel visas for Somalis, who would then travel from Kenya to Cuba and, ultimately, to the United States, according to court documents.

He allegedly traveled to Kenya in April 2009 to establish the business, and in the months afterward obtained fraudulent visas for as many as ten Somalis each week, court documents say. He allegedly charged between $100 and $1,000 for the fake documents.”

(VA Man Accused Of Illegally Aiding Somalis « Liveshots)

The government is just starting to confront this reality and does not have a good handle on how to prevent someone from becoming a violent extremist, she said.

In the last year, Napolitano said, she’s witnessed a movement from international extremism to domestic extremism – cases in which Americans radicalized and decided to plot attacks against the country. “

(Homeland chief: Domestic extremism is top concern – washingtonpost.com)

Officials planned to release new evidence Friday proving that Dr. Bruce Ivins, 62, mailed poison-laced letters to a handful of politicians and newspaper outlets — a finding the bureau advanced during its preliminary investigation more than a year ago.

Five people died and 17 were sickened by the attacks. Government investigators were still several major legal steps away from indicting Ivins when he killed himself in 2008. “

(Source: FBI Ends Nine-Year Investigation Of Anthrax Attacks : NPR.)

Interpol has posted the photographs and names it suspects were used fraudulently by the individuals. “

(Source: BBC News – Interpol puts Dubai killing suspects on wanted list.)

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and her Mexican counterpart Genaro Garcia Luna have agreed to a replicate an experiment already in progress, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

For several months now, U.S. Border Patrol agents and Mexican federal police have been sharing intelligence and coordinating patrols at the Arizona-Mexico border.”

(Source: U.S. & Mexico join forces against crime – UPI.com.)

The footage, taken from cameras at the Dubai airport and several luxury hotels, follows the activities of 10 men and one woman as they arrived in Dubai on various European passports and moved among hotels and a shopping center, changing into disguises at one point, during the hours before Mahmoud al-Mabhouh was killed.

Al-Mabhouh, 48, was a founder of Hamas’ military wing. He was believed to be behind the abduction of two Israeli soldiers in 1989 and said to be a liaison for smuggling weapons from Iran to Gaza. He had survived several assassination attempts.

He was found dead in room 230 at the Al-Bustan Rotana hotel on January 20. The door on al-Mabhouh’s room was deadbolted and chained from the inside, and there was no blood evidence. An initial report indicated that he died from sudden high blood pressure in the brain. Subsequent reports have suggested he was electrocuted or strangled.”

(Alleged Assassins Caught on Dubai Surveillance Tape | Threat Level | Wired.com)

(Source: Biden Fears Terror Hit by Individual – The Early Show – CBS News.)

And that doesn’t just include policies that center around federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement issues. Police departments have a lot to contribute to the international fight against terrorism and should be able to participate in big picture strategy discussions that shape U.S. diplomacy and international relations, he said at a Heritage Foundation talk.

‘I’m not convinced that the federal government knows what to do with its police,’ he said.

Police agencies can do a better job of combating extremism than armed forces, he said. Militaries are ‘blunt instruments.’ They can eliminate a terrorist, but their weapons often kill bystanders, he added. That just begets more hatred toward the United States. Law enforcement officers, on the other hand, are skilled at investigations and know how to arrest a subject ‘without wiping out five other people,’ he said.”

(Source: Give Police a Seat at the Homeland Security Policy Table, Says Sheriff)

The capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar could cripple the Taliban’s operations in the short term, although the Taliban is denying the arrest.

The White House is refusing to talk publicly about the commander’s capture, which is being touted as the most significant arrest since the war in Afghanistan began eight years ago.

Mullah Baradar was captured in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi.”

(Source: Taliban chief captured in secret op – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation))

Law enforcement agencies are joining forces with Waste Management to train trash-haulers on reporting suspicious activity and potential emergency situations. “

(Source: Garbage Truck Drivers Are Crimefighters Too | NBC San Diego)

Fears in the United States that Britain can no longer be trusted with secrets is prompting an urgent assessment of relations between the allies and – according to some sources – has already slowed the flow of sensitive information from the U.S.

Britain’s Court of Appeal on Wednesday authorized the release of a previously secret summary of CIA documents detailing the treatment of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Binyam Mohamed. Mohamed was arrested in Pakistan in 2002 and, according to the British court, subjected to ‘cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment by the United States authorities.’ “

(Source: Intelligence ties between UK and US in jeopardy – washingtonpost.com)

(Source: Iran arrests seven with alleged CIA ties « intelNews.org)

The budget plan released Monday by the Obama administration illustrates why this escalation is warranted. The numbers are mind-numbing: a $1.6 trillion deficit this year, $1.3 trillion next year, $8.5 trillion for the next 10 years combined—and that assumes Congress enacts President Barack Obama’s proposals to start bringing it down, and that the proposals work.

These numbers are often discussed as an economic and domestic problem. But it’s time to start thinking of the ramifications for America’s ability to continue playing its traditional global role. “

(Source: Capital Journal: Budget Deficit Threatens National Security – WSJ.com.)

The policy also is being reviewed by House Intelligence Committee staffers, a committee spokeswoman told Politico in an article published Tuesday.

‘I am concerned and intend to ask questions about it,’ Senate Intelligence Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said.

Under the policy, CIA employees’ requests to work for private companies
are considered on a case-by-case basis, agency spokesman George Little said Monday.”

(Source: Non-CIA employment by agents draws fire – UPI.com.)

The assessment, however, warns that the game — which will be played in Miami, Florida, and is expected to attract 800 million television viewers worldwide — could be ‘a desirable target for violent organizations or individuals seeking to take advantage of intense media coverage.’”

(Source: No identifiable, credible threats for Super Bowl, agencies say – CNN.com.)

The female bomber detonated her explosive vest in the middle of a procession of pilgrims in Boob al-Sham, in a predominantly Shiite area of the Iraqi capital, according to an Interior Ministry official.

The detonation took place in a tent set up to search females, according to the Baghdad Operations Command. Three volunteer female searchers were among those killed.”

(Source: Female suicide bomber kills dozens in Baghdad – CNN.com)

What could the next decade hold?

To find out, USA TODAY reporters sat down with some of the nation’s top officials who deal with terrorism and intelligence issues day-to-day, including the White House national security adviser, the Homeland Security secretary and the FBI’s top intelligence adviser. Others interviewed: the New York City police commissioner, the Senate Intelligence Committee chairwoman and the only person who has led both the top-secret National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. “

(What’s the next U.S. terror threat? – USATODAY.com)

News of the incidents came hours after Home Secretary Alan Johnson lifted the threat level amid fears that al-Qaeda is planning an attack.

The new level, which means an attack is reckoned ‘highly likely’, is second only to ‘critical’.

Security sources say an Egyptian was stopped last Saturday as he tried to board an American Airlines flight to Miami. A man from Saudi Arabia was banned from boarding a United Airlines flight to Chicago the next day and sent back to Saudi.”

(Terror alert: Two men on ‘no-fly’ list stopped at Heathrow – mirror.co.uk)

The tape, which aired on the Arabic-language news Web site Al-Jazeera on Sunday, says ‘the United States will not dream of enjoying safety until we live it in reality in Palestine.’”

(Report: New bin Laden tape emerges – CNN.com)

Renewed fears over the insurgents’ links with Yemen and al Qaeda, and an attack on the home of a Danish cartoonist by an axe-wielding Somali man with reported ties to al Shabaab, have focussed attention on the militant group.

A recording posted online said the threat was composed by militants angered by Kenya’s decision to deport a Jamaican Islamic cleric and the deaths of protesters in Nairobi who took to the streets a week ago to demonstrate against the move.”

(Source: Somali Rebels Deny Threatening to Attack Nairobi – NYTimes.com.)

The civil aviation ministry said it was tightening security on aircrafts as well on the basis of the intelligence.

Reports say that state-run Air India or other private carriers could be targeted by militant Islamic groups. “

(Source: BBC News – Indian airports on hijack alert.)

Dennis C. Blair said that a newly created team of elite interrogators should have been called in to question Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, and that top officials in Washington should have been consulted. The director of national intelligence also acknowledged that there had been a number of blunders in the handling of intelligence data that kept authorities from preventing the incident.”

(Source: Lapses hurt intelligence effort after failed jet attack – latimes.com)