Talk about Baptism by Fire. Wow. I fully expected an al Qaeda attack of some sort during this President's first year. It happened with Clinton, then Bush and I was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Then came The Christmas Underwear Bomber. Since that didn't work, the Times Square bomber was recruited into a failed attempt.
It would seem as though Homeland Security doesn't get a break, even from those that would assassinate police at the Holocaust Museum.
FIGHTING home-grown terrorism by monitoring internet communications is a civil liberties trade-off the US government must make to beef up national security, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said.
As terrorists increasingly recruit US citizens, the government needs to balance civil rights and privacy with the need to keep people safe, she said. But finding that balance has become more complex as people have used the internet to reach out to extremists abroad for inspiration and training. Those contacts have spurred a recent rash of US-based terrorism incidents.
Ms Napolitano said it was wrong to believe liberty was sacrificed if security was embraced, and pointed to restrictions on full-body scanners at airports to protect privacy.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/privacy-tradeoff-20100619-ynwi.html
Yemen Arrests French National for Al-Qaida Links
VOA News
06 June 2010
Yemeni security officials say authorities have arrested a French national on suspicion of having links to al-Qaida.
Officials said Sunday authorities detained Jeremy Johnny Witter in late May in the capital, Sanaa.
Investigators say he was studying at the Sanaa Institute for Arabic Language - the same school attended by a Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, arrested for trying to blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day (December 25).
Yemeni authorities have arrested dozens of foreigners on suspicion of al-Qaida links since the failed Christmas Day bombing, including at least one American and one Briton.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Yemen-Arrests-French-National-for-Al-Qaida-Links-95724384.html
I realize what this is all about, but, the real solution is ending the hatred by Islam and removing the USA as a threat to their countries.
Airport whole-body scans called vital by Napolitano
Machines' use to continue, says Homeland chief
By ALAN BLINDER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
June 19, 2010, 1:58AM
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said Friday that controversial whole-body imaging technology is necessary to combat terrorists who continue to target airliners.
"The reality is simple: Al-Qaida and other terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation," Napolitano said in a speech to the American Constitution Society. She added that the groups have sought to use explosives that do not contain metal and, therefore, do not set off alarms at metal detectors.
"Weapons and explosives have become harder to detect," Napolitano said....
