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December 30, 2008
Exclusive: Homeland Security’s Five-Year Threat Picture is ‘Inadequate and Misleading’
Dave Gaubatz
On Christmas Day, the American public was provided through the media outlets Homeland Security’s (HS) five-year threat picture. Is the threat picture adequate? Does the threat picture give the American people any hope of avoiding a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack? As a former U.S. government counterterrorism (CT) agent, I found the HS “threat picture” report inadequate and misleading. In fact, I found the report itself to be a national security threat for America – more importantly for the children of America from all races, religions, and cultures.
Why was the report released on Christmas Day? Likely in order to have as few people throughout America actually pay attention to it. HS knew that even the few who would pick up on the report would have no avenue to voice concerns because the mainstream media outlets would be out during the holidays and little attention would be given to critics of the report. To me, this was the first indicator that the report was intended to be inadequate and misleading. Politicians and media organizations all have a basic understanding that controversial issues that are meant to be “covered up” are released on Fridays or holidays.
I reviewed the Associated Press (AP) release pertaining to the report and found many inadequate and misleading points. One of the more disheartening statements was, “Chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear attacks are considered the most dangerous threats that could be carried out against the U.S., but those threats are also most unlikely because it is so difficult for al Qaida and similar groups to acquire the materials needed to carry out such plots.” This statement in itself is a national security threat. It provides law enforcement and the American public a false sense of security. The statement is at best, “nonsense.” Islamic Jihadists and their supporters not only have the resources needed to acquire the materials, but also many of the supporters of such groups work within chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear facilities both inside and outside of the U.S.
Although the majority of Muslims would not and do not condone the actions of Islamic Jihadists and Sharia Law (Islamic law), there are many who do. In the last several months, my CT researchers and I have been informed by several Islamic scholars and Imams about the violent ideology of “Abul Mawdudi” (former Jammaat-E-Islami founder/Islamic Jihadist organization). The manuals by Mawdudi on how to conduct terrorist activities against their enemies is explained in vivid detail. Many Islamic mosques have these manuals and distribute them to their worshippers. An example: “In the jihad in the way of Allah, active combat is not always the role on the battlefield, nor can everyone fight in the front line. Just for one single battle preparations have often to be made for decades on end and the plans deeply laid, and while only some thousands fight in the front line there are behind them millions engaged in various tasks which, though small themselves, contribute directly to the supreme effort.” Mawdudi further states, “A time will come when Communism will fear for its survival in Moscow, Capitalistic democracy will tremble for its safety in Washington and New York.”
It is of extreme importance for non-Muslims and Muslims alike who do not agree with the violent ideology of Islamic Jihadists to realize that the violent ideology of Osama bin Laden (al Qaeda) and Abul Mawdudi (JI), per the words of Mawdudi, is the following: “The objective of Islamic Jihad is to put an end to the dominance of the un-Islamic systems of government and replace them with Islamic rule, Islam intends to bring about this revolution not in one country or in a few countries but in the entire world.”
The HS report also contradicts itself. Initially, the report reads as explained above – essentially saying that Islamic Jihadists do not have the capability to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Later in the article by AP, HS states that “intelligence officials also predict that in the next five years, terrorists will try to conduct a destructive biological attack. Officials are concerned about the possibility of infection to thousands of U.S. citizens, overwhelming regional health care systems.” The two separate statements made by HS appear to be a safety net for them. If the U.S. is not attacked they can say “we told you.” On the other hand, if the U.S. is attacked, they can also say “we told you.”
HS continues by stating that “terrorists will continue to evade U.S. border security measures and place operatives inside the mainland to carry out the attacks.” The dangerous part of this statement is that HS has already bowed to the many demands of such Islamic organizations in the U.S. who oppose saying “Islamist terrorists.” The Islamist terrorists are the people who are planning attacks against the U.S., and at some point our politicians must discontinue sidestepping the use of the word Islamist. Doing so gives untrained law enforcement officers and civilians the false presumption there are many terrorist groups planning WMD attacks against the U.S. This is not fact. Islamist terrorists and their supporters are the threat to America at the current time in regard to WMD attacks within America.
What is most disheartening about the HS report is our government leaders are informing the public there will likely be a terrorist attack and be prepared. This, in my opinion, is the biggest threat to our national security. We as a nation are excellent responders to attacks such as the tragedy of September 11, 2001, but we must realize when we respond to an attack we have failed our children. Simply put, we lost – they won. To most parents responding within one, five, or 10 minutes is one, five, or 10 minutes too late if their children are the victims. Our law enforcement and the American public must learn to be proactive.
HS never indicates how they will protect our children from such attacks. My questions for all Americans to ponder are:
- Will our borders be controlled as they should be? If we need military troops stationed every 100 yards along our border, then we must do it.
- Will our politicians and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials begin arresting and prosecuting people who condone the violent ideology of Mawdudi and Osama bin Laden? There is an Islamic scholar in Brooklyn, N.Y. who has stated and continues to do so through his sale of his lectures statements such as: “The U.S. government is the most evil government on the planet of the earth, bring into the mosque all the strong gang members from the streets of America, teach them Islam, then give then Uzis and send them back to the streets. This scholar continues by saying the Muslims in America are the most strategically placed because the U.S. government can’t bomb them as we have done in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
- Will our FBI and State Department begin listening to American citizens about security tips instead of having scheduled meetings with leaders of many Islamic organizations in the U.S., many of its executives who are not even U.S. citizens? Some executives within organizations such as the Council for American and Islamic Relations (CAIR) are from Pakistan and other countries. Meetings are held routinely with them and their security advice is often followed, yet American citizens often make reports of potential terrorism and the intelligence goes on deaf ears. I know this because I was a federal agent and worked with the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) in several states and during the last four years have had “insiders” of CAIR report intelligence to me in regards to their contacts and meetings with the FBI and U.S. State Department officials.
While in Iraq, I had the opportunity to interview many Islamist Jihadists who attacked our troops and who had plans of future attacks against the U.S. We were informed that Islamist Jihadists know the heart of America is our children and they will go after our heart. As a country, do we not owe it to our children to do everything within our power to prevent Islamic Jihadists from destroying our country, way of life, and our children’s future? There will be issues of personal privacy being invaded, but speaking as a CT specialist and more importantly as a parent, I will gladly give away some aspects of privacy for our children. I do not want to see my child or any child suffer from a biological attack as HS says we will likely have within five years. Will CAIR and other Islamist organizations respond in the same way? Ask them.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Dave Gaubatz spent 20 years as an active duty USAF (Special Agent/OSI), 3.5 years as a civilian 1811 Federal Agent, trained by the U.S. State Department in Arabic, and was the first U.S. Federal Agent to enter Iraq in 2003. He is also a counterterrorism counterintelligence officer. Gaubatz currently owns “Wahhabi CT Publications” and conducts CT Research on behalf of high profile non-profit organizations. His website is here, and he can be reached at davegaubatz@gmail.com
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