1. passport fraud is a global threat according to chief of Interpol. the man makes sense! airport scanners are misguided.

DAVOS - THE biggest travel threat facing the world now is passport fraud, according to the chief of Interpol - the millions of stolen documents that could be used by terrorists or criminals to travel worldwide.

Airport body scanners, embraced by many in the aftermath of the attempted Christmas Day airplane bombing, are a misguided solution to travel threats, Interpol Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble told The Associated Press in an interview Thursday night.

‘The greatest threat in the world is that last year there were 500 million, half a billion, international air arrivals worldwide where travel documents were not compared against Interpol databases,’ he said on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, where 2,500 business and political leaders are gathered in this Alpine resort.

‘Right now in our database we have over 11 million stolen or lost passports,’ he said. ‘These passports are being used, fraudulently altered and are being given to terrorists, war criminals, drug traffickers, human traffickers.’ The solution, he said, is better intelligence, and better intelligence sharing, among countries. [as long as they are not corrupt!!! - ed.]

‘You don’t know the motivation behind the person carrying the passport,’ he said. If you’re a terrorist, he said, ‘Are you going to carry explosives that are going to be detected? No.’

Many US airports use the body-scanning machines and airports in other countries are adopting them after Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly tried to detonate explosives hidden in his underwear Dec 25 on the Detroit-bound flight. But Noble cited a case two weeks ago in a Caribbean country where five people were caught after they were found to be carrying stolen passports - one stolen back in 2001. — AP

source: straits times

2. US state dept say they let patsy underpants keep his visa, at the request of counterterrorism officials (CIA? DHS?), “to avoid tipping off larger investigation.” i see. so how does that work?  is it that the people on the plane were never in danger because our agencies were running an operation? and therefore all the bloviating after-the-fact is simply a giant mind-fuck? or they were in danger but our agencies did a cost-benefit analysis and decided that all those people’s potential lives were worth the risk?

Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington –The State Department didn’t revoke the visa of foiled terrorism suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab because federal counterterrorism officials had begged off revocation, a top State Department official revealed Wednesday.

Patrick F. Kennedy, an undersecretary for management at the State Department, said Abdulmutallab’s visa wasn’t taken away because intelligence officials asked his agency not to deny a visa to the suspected terrorist over concerns that a denial would’ve foiled a larger investigation into al-Qaida threats against the United States.

“Revocation action would’ve disclosed what they were doing,” Kennedy said in testimony before the House Committee on Homeland Security. Allowing Adbulmutallab to keep the visa increased chances federal investigators would be able to get closer to apprehending the terror network he is accused of working with, “rather than simply knocking out one solider in that effort.”

3. jpost: ‘assassins came to Dubai with Landau’ - possibly using forged documents. so you see, INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES might use forged documents. let us say, they probably do. that would be an expected part of INTELLIGENCE WORK. and INTELLIGENCE OPERATIVES might knowingly allow people with FORGED DOCUMENTS to travel to accomplish their INTELLIGENCE WORK, which may or may not involve KILLING PEOPLE.

Israeli agents who accompanied National Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau to two weeks ago may have assassinated Hamas operative Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, senior Hamas leader Mahmoud Zahar said Saturday. Speaking to Al Jazeera, Zahar added that the agents possibly entered the with forged documents.

On Friday, Hamas claimed that Israeli agents assassinated one of the Islamist group’s veteran operatives in a killing allegedly carried out last week in , and vowed to retaliate. The group blamed for Mabhouh’s slaying, but offered no evidence of foul play or Israeli involvement in the man’s death. The government had no immediate comment.

http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=167299

4. and then the INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE will say things like this:

Mumbai An alert has been sounded in the city following fresh intelligence inputs that two terror suspects might have sneaked into the metropolis to carry out strikes, police said on Thursday. The inputs, which even specified the names of the suspects, say that the duo from a neighbouring country might masquerade as taxi drivers to conduct recce and execute their plans, sources said. They, however, declined to divulge the names of the suspects and their nationality lest it should hamper investigation.

The police have intensified patrolling and checking of taxis across the metropolis. Traffic police are also conducting random checks of licences. Intelligence inputs about possible terror strikes have become a frequent occurrence since 26/11 attacks and all precautions in this regard have been taken, they said. Special Branch officials are searching various lodges and hotels to check if any foreign national was staying without proper documentation. All police stations and Mumbai police’s various units are working on the inputs to prevent any terror attacks, the sources said.

source: express india

5. more vague and POINTLESS requests from INTELLIGENCE people, simply designed to make the public paranoid when obviously, the problem is the INTELLIGENCE PEOPLE THEMSELVES.

Washington The US continues to receive information about terrorist groups planning attacks against India; the State Department has said and advised its nationals to be alert during their travel to the country in the coming months. “The Department of State alerts US citizens to ongoing security concerns in India. The US government continues to receive information that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in India,” the US State Department said in its latest terror alert.

Terrorists and their sympathisers have demonstrated their willingness and capability to attack targets where US citizens or Westerners are known to congregate or visit. The recent advise replaces the travel Alert dated December 29 that expired on April 30, the State Department said. Noting that 26/11 Mumbai attacks provide a vivid reminder that hotels, markets and other public places are especially targeted by terrorist groups, the State Department asked its nationals to always practice good security, maintain a heightened situational awareness and a low profile. “US citizens are advised to monitor local news reports and consider the level of security present when visiting public places, including religious sites, or choosing hotels, restaurants, entertainment and recreation venues,” it said.

source: express india

6. meanwhile, some “young, hip US jews” have taken to wearing the new “israeli keffiyeh”. how special. to horn in on a symbol long associated with the Arab world, to suddenly decide that hey, why can’t we wear the keffiyeh too? now it means nothing, or everything, or anything. how convenient. now one might think about the al qaeda woman decoy idea: women who “look” western but are al qaeda terrorists, and note that now we will also have women who may “look” arab but are jewish, etc. so much confusion, so many opportunities for things to go wrong, especially with 11 million lost or stolen passports floating around and intelligences agencies who intentionally overlook people they assure us that they’re watching 247 365….

It might be considered by some as a symbol of Palestinian “resistance” or solidarity, but for a group of young, hip US Jews, wearing a keffiyeh – especially one with blue embroidered Stars of David – is just as much their right as anyone else’s.

“We did have some negative comments [about the keffiyeh] when we initially sent it out to our mailing list,” Erez Safar, founder and director of Shemspeed, a Jewish music label and promotion company that started selling the traditional Arab headdress about two weeks ago, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday….However, he is not oblivious to the fact that this new “Israeli keffiyeh,” which has been selling fairly well, has already engendered controversy among some who feel it might be inappropriate for Jews to use it as a pro-Israel symbol. [d'ya think?]

“We have had some Arab friends take offense to our new scarf-remix,” acknowledged Safar. “We have some Muslim rappers who have taken part in our Hip Hop Sulha series, which is a Jewish and Muslim reconciliation concert series featuring Hip Hop groups from around the world. We are having a concert in February and one of the performers has actually backed out because of these scarves.”

…“As a Jew, I am not offended by the pope who wears a ‘kippa,’ and in the same respect, I don’t feel there is any reason for anyone to take offense to a Jewish person wearing a version of the keffiyeh, which they also identify with,” he said in the statement. [too funny. the problem only comes if the pope *didn't* wear the 'kippa' when the rabbis tell him to...]

…“The way that symbols are politicized and used to divide people, rather than as common ground for discussion and dialogue, is exactly the kind of thought-provoking topic that we at Shemspeed want to explore with our music, as well as our programming. Our Israeli remix of the keffiyeh is just one more interpretation of a scarf worn by our brothers for thousands of years.” [oh sure, yes, we're all one big happy family right? ]

…Safar said that the scarves, which also have “Am Israel Chai” embroidered in Hebrew into the fabric, were created purely to express a deep love for and “the unity it creates among Jews.” [and who could possibly argue with that? ]

more at jpost

http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=167191

7. the frosting on the cake. PLEASE READ! aangirfan: Sledgehammer; 911. see for yourself how so-called al qaeda militants work closely with our very own INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES to plot murder, mayhem and chaos, using, among other tools, FRAUDULENT PASSPORTS.

excerpt:

Ercan Gun, at zaman.com (TODAY’S ZAMAN ), 15 Agust 2005, reported on the Syrian ‘Al Qaeda Militant’ Luai Sakra (Saqa) who was arrested for organizing the double bomb attacks in Istanbul on 15-23 November 2003.

Sakra ‘has confessed to Turkish police that he provided the attackers of 9 11 with passports’.

Sakra ‘claims that he knew Muhammad Ata’.

Sakra ‘claims he drinks alcohol and does not pray’.

Sarka reportedly said: “I was one of the people who knew the perpetrators of September 11, and knew the time and plan before the attacks. I also participated in the preparations for the attacks to WTI and Pentagon. I provided money and passports.”

Reportedly, some of the passports, which Sakra claimed to have provided himself, were found in the ruins of World Trade Centre I.

Ercan Gun wonders if Al-Qaeda is a Secret Service operation.

Sakra was interrogated for 4 days at the Istanbul Anti-Terror Department Headquarters. Reportedly this has provided some important information.

According to Ercan Gun, Turkish intelligence specialists now believe:

1. Al-Qaeda is the name of a secret service operation.

2. Al Qaeda is linked to a strategy of tension.

3. Sakra, the fifth most senior man in al-Qaeda, was offered employment by the CIA. The CIA gave him a large sum of money.

read the whole thing @ aangirfan