Brigade 313 and Taliban team up for Karachi assault
Yesterday the Taliban and Brigade 313, al Qaeda’s branch in Pakistan, jointly carried out a devastating attack on a police headquarters in Karachi. Several members of the assault team escaped after the battle.
The assault took place at the Crime Investigation Department headquarters in a highly secured area of Karachi in Sindh province. Two vehicles, and not one as initially reported, were used in the assault, according to witness statements and closed circuit television footage analyzed by Pakistani investigators.
The first team of attackers dismounted from a jeep and attacked the guards at the front gate, killing them and clearing the path for the second truck, which was packed with an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 pounds of explosives, to enter the compound.
“A Shezore or a larger Mazda truck laden with explosives was used in the blast and terrorists used a Prado jeep, whose occupants first killed guards posted at the CID gate, clearing the way for the truck to enter the building,” a senior Pakistani police officer told Dawn.
Another Pakistani security official claimed that the suicide assault team had enough time to raid the headquarters’ armory, and escaped with a number of weapons, Daily Times reported.
Several of the attackers boarded the jeep and fled the attack after the truck was detonated by a suicide bomber. Seventeen people, including two CID officers and five paramilitary soldiers guarding the building, were killed during the assault.
The attack appears to have been designed to free two Taliban commanders, one from Karachi and another associated with Bajaur Taliban chieftain Faqir Mohammed, and six Lashkar-e-Jhangvi operatives detained over the past week who were being held at the police compound. It is unclear if the captive Taliban and LeJ members were freed or killed during the attack.
The attack also resulted in the loss of evidence and information on terrorists and criminals being held and investigated by the CID in Karachi. “The CID’s data on crime, notorious criminals and informers was completely destroyed, so the CID officials have no information about the suspects who were being investigated,” Daily Timesreported.
Brigade 313 involved in Karachi CID assault
While the Taliban claimed it carried out yesterday’s attack in Karachi, al Qaeda’s branch in Pakistan was also likely involved in the operation. The Taliban immediately claimed the attack, just hours after the deadly blast.
“We will continue such attacks as long as military operations continue against us,” Azam Tariq, the top spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban, told reporters.
But US intelligence officials familiar with al Qaeda’s operations in Pakistan believe that Ilyas Kashmiri’s Brigade 313 was involved in the assault. Al Qaeda, the Pakistani Taliban, and a host of Pakistani terror groups often carry out joint operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India.
“You can see Kashmiri’s hand in this attack; it has his signature,” one official told The Long War Journal. “The attack was well scouted and planned, and executed almost flawlessly. They carried this attack out in a secure area, so it is likely they received some form of inside help from within Pakistan’s security forces. Kashmiri has those links.”
Kashmiri, a long-time jihadi trained and supported by Pakistan’s military and intelligence services to wage jihad in Kashmiri, took command of al Qaeda’s military wing after his predecessor, Abdullah Said al Libi, was killed in a US Predator strike in December 2009.
Kashmiri has organized multiple attacks in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. “Kashmiri has supported attacks against Pakistani government personnel and facilities, including the 2009 attack against the offices of the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistani police in Lahore, Pakistan that killed 23 people and left hundreds injured,” the US Treasury Department stated in a press release that announced his addition to the list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists.
A US intelligence official also told The Long War Journal that Kashmiri planned and organized the October 2009 assault on the Pakistani Army’s General Headquarters complex in Rawalpindi. The terrorist assault team shut down the complex for 18 hours; 11 soldiers were killed, including a brigadier general and a lieutenant colonel, along with nine members of the assault team; and 39 hostages were freed.
Kashmiri has also planned and executed high-profile assassinations of top Pakistani military leaders. “He directed the October 2008 assassination of the former commander of the Pakistani Special Services Group, General Amir Faisal Alvi, in retaliation for his role in the fight against militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan,” according to Treasury. “He also led an al Qaeda-linked cell in planning for the assassination of a Pakistani Army general – a plan that was eventually abandoned due to al Qaeda’s strategic considerations.”
For more information on Ilyas Kashmiri and Brigade 313, see LWJ reports, Al Qaeda Brigade 313 website goes online, US adds Ilyas Kashmiri to list of designated terrorists, and Al Qaeda’s paramilitary ‘Shadow Army.’
Team Obama Looks To Create Internet Privacy Watchdog
Good idea? Bad idea?
The Obama administration is preparing a stepped-up approach to policing Internet privacy that calls for new laws and the creation of a new position to oversee the effort, according to people familiar with the situation.
The strategy is expected to be unveiled in a report being issued by the U.S. Commerce Department in coming weeks, these people said. The report isn’t yet final and could change, these people said.
The initiatives would mark a turning point in Internet policy. Recent administrations typically steered away from Internet regulations out of concern for stifling innovation. But the increasingly central role of personal information in the Internet economy helped spark government action, according to people familiar with the situation.
Joe Barton (R-Tx) is quoted in the article as being for this, due to all the privacy concerns, and actual incidents, that keep popping their ugly heads up. And, yes, this would be something that the federal government should oversee, rather than the State governments (though, they can implement their own laws, too), as this is national and international “commerce.” Yet, should there be a concern about government becoming overly involved?
Obviously, I would be concerned with giving any liberal/progressive oversight power, as they so often have ulterior motives, much like with Elizabeth Warren and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They’ll say all the right things, and sound so agreeable, but, behind the scenes, they open up destructive cans of worms.
Yet, regardless of which party controls the presidency and/or Congress, there is a large chance of mission creep, with more and more restriction being added as time goes on. Like with so much regulation, one tiny thing happens, and now lawmakers want a big law to stop it from ever happening again.
Do people need better privacy protection? Yes. Should the federal government make the rules? That’s a tough one, because we all know that it wouldn’t stop there. If you want to protect your privacy on-line, your best defense is……you! The Electronic Frontier Foundation has 12 ways to protect yourself. These are mostly easy to understand methods, because, face it, not everyone is super duper computer/Internet savvy.
You can certainly find other lists and ideas, here are a few from me, more along the lines of software
- Make sure you have a good firewall, and keep it updated. I actually have 3. I use the built in Microsoft one, there is one in the modem (which I have zero control of, Time Warner administers for all customers), and with my Symantic program (which is actually military grade). I would highly suggest Zone Alarm, which is free, for those who aren’t sure if they are protected. It’s one of the best you can get
- Get an anti-virus program. A good one. That you pay for. That has auto-update and install capability. Better yet, get a suite, which would include anti-virus, spyware, online protection, and firewall. Like Norton Internet Security or McAfee Total Protection
- Install a spyware removal program, keep it up to date, and use it at least every other week. Ad Aware is a great one, as is Spyware Terminator, and Spyware Doctor. I prefer Spyware Terminator, as it is free and gives real time protection. None are perfect, though, so run a check now and then!
- Encrypt your files and folders which contain private/personal/sensitive data! I use two programs. The first is Kruptos 2 Professional, which would cost you $ 12.99. The great thing about Kruptos is that you encrypt the program, open the file with a password, and, here’s the kicker, when you close it it re-encrypts automatically! No playing around, no manual encrypts, creating fake “disks”, etc. The other is My Lockbox. You can only hide one folder, but, I put several files and folders underneath the top folder. Like all my tax returns and two files with all my codes. You can also use Iron Privacy Folder. This is a very basic measure, designed to simply hide folders, and won’t defeat serious, let’s call them….. a**holes who know what they are doing. Most won’t take the time. Yes, hackers and such do want in to those files and folders. Note: Iron Privacy is not for Windows 7, which is why I use My Lockbox.
- Secure your home (and business, if it is in your control) WiFi with a password.
A great place to check software and reviews, and download both free and paid, is CNET.
Collins not Team Mama Grizzly
In remarks to the Kennebec Journal, Sen. Susan Collins downplayed the possibility of Sarah Palin’s running for president, saying she preferred to be a commentator:
“I think she likes being a celebrity commentator for Fox and a speaker and being able to provide for her family,” Collins said. “I think that life appeals to her. It’s a lot easier to charge people up than to actually govern.”
(h/t Collins Watch)
Team Issa Plans Hundreds Of Oversight Hearings
Darrell Issa — the chairman-in-waiting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform — wants each of his seven subcommittees to hold one or two hearings a week, for a total of seven hearings per week during a 40-week period, he told Politico. That would mean nearly 300 hearings.
Issa also said he is looking at members like Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio to chair some of the seven subcommittees of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
Issa’s plan of 280 hearings in the next year would nearly triple the average annual number of hearings held by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) during the Bush administration.
“As Clint Eastwood says, a man needs to know his limitations,” Issa told Politico.
The California Republican, who has been making the media rounds since the GOP took the House, also hinted he may try to switch the name of the committee from the Oversight and Government Reform Committee to the Government Reform and Oversight Committee.
Issa first laid out his oversight plan in September and has said he’s interested in taking a look at ACORN as well as the bank bailout, the stimulus package and possibly health care reform. He has distanced himself from predictions that he’d investigate the job offer former President Bill Clinton made to Rep. Joe Sestak if he were to drop out of Pennsylvania’s Democratic Senate primary.
GOP showcases transition team
Washington (CNN) - The House Republican Transition team is busy crafting reforms to House rules for the next session of Congress and emphasizing that the GOP will get to work quickly on reducing spending and fixing an ailing economy.
But it is also making a deliberate effort to show that GOP House leaders are listening to the new members, specifically those with ties to the Tea Party.
Oregon Republican Greg Walden, who was tapped by GOP leader John Boehner to lead the effort, featured some of the new faces at a Tuesday morning photo op on Capitol Hill. Four incoming freshman are serving on the transition team - Rep-elect Cory Gardner, R-Colorado; Rep-elect Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois; Rep-elect Martha Roby, R-Alabama, and Rep-elect Tim Scott, R-South Carolina. Scott, one of the two African American incoming freshmen, was seated right next to Walden at Tuesday’s meeting and other freshmen were close by.
Walden emphasized, “Remember we all stood for election, we were all out in the same atmospherics and environment. But I’ll tell you what, we’ve got some dynamic young leaders that are coming into our conference and you bet we’re listening to them, ’cause they’re bringing the message that we heard from Americans.”
On Monday CNN learned that House GOP leaders are creating a new position at their leadership table for a member of the freshman class, which will be the largest in decades. A source close to South Dakota Rep-elect Kristi Noem says the incoming freshman has expressed interest in the spot. The Republican freshman class is expected to vote on its choice next week.
Roby told reporters Tuesday, “transparency and accountability is the number one focus right now from where we sit.”
Asked about the party’s effort to bring in more minorities, Scott said, “It’s important for us to realize that the best outreach for minorities is to look at the overall construct of America and realize that we all go together. The water is rising, all ships have a better view of the future.”
The transition team also met with former Republican Rep. Jim Nussle of Iowa who handled the last GOP transition to power in 1994. Walden said one important lesson was to pay attention to the details of the legislative process: “Sweat the small stuff. At the end of the day, the small stuff matters. It matters to how this institution operates. It matters to how the public perceives this institution.”
The often messy process of passing health care reform was one of the key issues fueling Tea Party anger at the Democratic-led Congress going into the midterm elections.
Despite predictions from political observers that it will be a contentious atmosphere on Capitol Hill next year, Walden struck a bipartisan note, saying he believed one aim of the transition panel was to “treat others like you want to be treated.”
He reported that he already met with two House Democrats, Massachusetts Rep Mike Capuano, who led the 2006 transition effort, and retiring Washington Rep Brian Baird.
Referring to House Democrats, Walden said, “They came here with brains. They shouldn’t be parked at the door just because they have a different party label.”
Walden deferred questions about the decision to add a leadership position for the new freshman class, but noted there would be over 80 new House Republicans who would have an impact. “We want them at the leadership table and
they will be represented effectively and forcefully by the new Member they choose.”
Tea party power: Boehner to include freshman on House Republican leadership team
Hmmm.
Smart move for him. Is it smart for the frosh? In a nod to the strength of their newest constituency, House Republican leaders will grant incoming freshmen more say in the party’s direction than most first-term lawmakers receive. House Republican Leader John Boehner and his No. 2, party Whip Eric Cantor, will notify newly elected [...]
GA GOP Governor-Elect Nathan Deal’s Transition Team Is Comprised Of State’s Top Special Interests And Lobbyists
Few states were impacted by last week’s Republican victories as much as Georgia. In addition to defeating Blue Dog Rep. Jim Marshall (D), Republicans seized control of every single state-wide office and expanded powerful majorities in the legislature, giving them a position of strength they have not had in modern political history.
Former Rep. Nathan Deal (R) won the governor’s race 53-43, handily defeating former Gov. Roy Barnes (D). During the campaign, Deal had to overcome numerous serious investigations and allegations of corrupt behavior, including his history of exerting political influence to win no-bid contracts for businesses he had a financial stake in. Many good government watchdogs worried that a Deal governorship would continue to use political means for the private profit of special interests tied to Deal.
This morning, the Deal campaign released a list of staffers who comprise his transition team. The list reads like a who’s who list of some of the state’s top special interests and lobbyists — people who have represented corporate giants ranging from Georgia Power to Goldman Sachs. Here are a few highlights:
- Rogers Wade: Wade is leading the transition team. He is currently the Chairman of the Board of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation (GPPF), a far-right local think tank which seats numerous corporate special interests on its board. Before joining GPPF, Wade was a “senior partner in the public affairs firm of Edington, Wade and Associates.” While there, he represented “over half of the Fortune 100 companies from throughout the United States and Europe.” He is also the former vice president of Watkins Associated Industries, a “national company with major holdings in transportation, development, seafood processing, insurance and communications.”
- Pete Robinson: Robinson is the Chairman of Troutman Sanders Strategies, a major Atlanta-based lobbying firm. The firm has in the past defended major polluters and employers fending off labor abuse lawsuits.
- Joe Tanner: Tanner is the president of Joe Tanner & Associates, another Atlanta-based firm heavily involved in lobbying. His firm has served such clients such as WellStar Health System and energy giant Georgia Power.
- Monty Veazey: Veazey is what the Center for Public Integrity calls a “hired gun” — a former legislator who was quickly snapped up to be a lobbyist soon after he left office. He has lobbied on behalf of the Georgia Industrial Loan Association and Kraft Foods, among other corporate clients.
- Rob Leebern: Despite the fact that Deal spent much of his campaign attacking Washington, D.C., he has hired a D.C.-based lobbyist to work on his transition team. Leebern, like Robinson, does lobbying work for Troutman Sanders Strategies.
- Dan Lee: Lee, like Veazey, is a “hired gun.” Shortly after leaving office, he lobbied for such clients as the Corrections Corporation of America, United Healthcare, Goldman Sachs, and New South Energy.
The Deal campaign maintains that none of the transition team members will engage in lobbying activities while they are working for the Governor-elect. Yet the fact remains that Deal has chosen some of the state’s most well-connected conduits for corporate influence in government to staff the team that will be moving him into the Governor’s mansion. If anything, it appears that Deal is signaling to the state’s special interests that pay-for-play is well and alive in the state’s capitol.
Democrat Dannel Malloy Still Confident; Transition Team Of Nancy Wyman, Tim Bannon Doing Their Work
Democratic candidate Dannel Malloy, whom many believe has won the governorship, released the following statement about the continuing standoff:
“I appreciate and respect Tom Foley’s perspective, but as Nancy and I have been since early Wednesday morning, we are 100 percent confident that we have been chosen by the voters to be Connecticut’s next governor and lieutenant gvernor. And chosen by a margin comfortably outside what is required for a recount.
“As is the case with more than a few other races in other states across the country, this race is taking a few extra days to play out. Nancy and I think it should be allowed to play out in an orderly fashion and we support the process established by law.
“We’re as anxious as everyone else is to get the final numbers. We’re also continuing our intensive efforts to create an administration that is up and running, and ready for the challenges awaiting us when we take office on January 5. To do otherwise would be irresponsible.”
DeMint Maxing Out For Miller Legal Team
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is set to give the maximum amount possible to Alaska Senate contender Joe Miller‘s legal defense fund, a sign that DeMint is keeping up his fight against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R).
Miller appears to be trailing Murkowski’s write-in campaign. Write-in ballots outnumber Miller’s vote total by about 13,400 in the current count. Those ballots will be reviewed starting next week, which could lead to lengthy legal challenges over what constitutes a vote for Murkowski.
DeMint has hit up his donor base for Miller’s legal team. As soon as the Miller’s legal fund is set up — which could be as soon as Friday — DeMint will contribute the maximum allowable to it, expected to be about $ 5,000.
“Joe Miller is the Republican nominee in Alaska and we’re going to do everything we can to help him,” said Matt Hoskins, a spokesman for DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund. “The legal cost of maintaining the integrity of this election could be very high so we’re going to raise as much support for Miller as we can.”
DeMint has been something of a kingmaker of the Republicans’ conservative wing. His Senate Conservatives Fund raised funds for 11 conservative Senate contenders this year, five of whom went on to win.
He has been particularly critical of Murkowski for waging her write-in campaign after losing the primary, going so far as to call her a “hypocrite.”
As national attention shifts from the election results to the few races where the outcome is still uncertain, Miller’s campaign looks like it could become a focus for the right. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) also urged his supporters to contribute to Miller on Thursday.
DeMint Maxing Out For Miller Legal Team
Republican Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is set to give the maximum amount possible to Alaska Senate contender Joe Miller‘s legal defense fund, a sign that DeMint is keeping up his fight against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R).
Miller appears to be trailing Murkowski’s write-in campaign. Write-in ballots outnumber Miller’s vote total by about 13,400 in the current count. Those ballots will be reviewed starting next week, which could lead to lengthy legal challenges over what constitutes a vote for Murkowski.
DeMint has hit up his donor base for Miller’s legal team. As soon as the Miller’s legal fund is set up — which could be as soon as Friday — DeMint will contribute the maximum allowable to it, expected to be about $ 5,000.
“Joe Miller is the Republican nominee in Alaska and we’re going to do everything we can to help him,” said Matt Hoskins, a spokesman for DeMint’s Senate Conservatives Fund. “The legal cost of maintaining the integrity of this election could be very high so we’re going to raise as much support for Miller as we can.”
DeMint has been something of a kingmaker of the Republicans’ conservative wing. His Senate Conservatives Fund raised funds for 11 conservative Senate contenders this year, five of whom went on to win.
He has been particularly critical of Murkowski for waging her write-in campaign after losing the primary, going so far as to call her a “hypocrite.”
As national attention shifts from the election results to the few races where the outcome is still uncertain, Miller’s campaign looks like it could become a focus for the right. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) also urged his supporters to contribute to Miller on Thursday.
