April 29, 2013—Know Your Enemy and Know Yourself!

We got a rude wake-up call on April 15^th and while last minute taxpayers were rushing to file, most Americans were glued to their TVs, watching replays of terror at the Boston Marathon and subsequent events that literally shut down Boston and environs for most of the week. By week’s end, the two whose acts killed three and injured over 170 more in the explosion, and killed a MIT policeman and injured others in a shootout were stopped—one killed and one eventually captured and briefly interrogated.

On Connecting the Dots:

We now know some of the answers to the questions posed in last Monday’s Weekly Update:

“Were the two brothers “lone wolves?”—as Bret Baier of Fox News asked in a bit of a disconnect, though we know what he meant. Who else was involved, at least in a supporting role? Are there related Jihadist “sleeper” cells? How did these two learn to build “pressure cooker” bombs and “IED” grenades? For what purpose were the other bombs—beyond those at the Marathon finish line? No one noticed anything unusual? What was done after a “foreign government” a couple of years ago warned the FBI that the older brother, who was killed on Friday, was a follower of “radical Islam?” And what about the younger brother, now in custody? Etc.”

With each passing day it seems ever clearer that these two were not acting alone, in spite of various press accounts that make them out to be what some have called “self-radicalized Islamists.” Among other things, we have learned:

At least Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the 26 year old brother, had been on FBI and CIA watch lists, but there were no corrective actions after Russian intelligence authorities warned that he had become radicalized during a trip back to Chechnya last year.
Others in the Tsarnaev family have for some time been involved in questionable behavior—e.g., the mother, liberally quoted by the press in claiming the innocence of her sons, was listed in the FBI Terrorist Data Base along with her elder son.
To add insult to injury, the American taxpayer has supported this family on welfare after admitting them to the U.S. and while not following their questionable activities.
There also are reported connections with a Saudi national, about whom the Secretary of Homeland Security at first denied any knowledge and then at least partially recanted.
Before Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 19 year old brother—who ironically became an American citizen last September 11, could be fully interrogated to understand how the Boston Marathon plot was hatched and other valuable intelligence, he was read his Miranda rights, was lawyered up and went silent.
He did indicate that the brothers, among other things, had additional “pressure cooker bombs” and planned to attack Times Square—so the Boston terrorist act was not a “one-off.”
The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee says that evidence suggests the Boston bombing suspects had help in the attack and that he is concerned about a “wider conspiracy.”
It seems clear that there likely are other Jihadi terrorist cells closeted in the United States, perhaps connected in a global network.

The failure of our dysfunctional “powers that be” in connecting the dots to prevent the Boston terrorism is uncomfortable to say the least. And mischaracterizations of this event as being the first Jihadi event since 9/11 reflect either appalling ignorance or gross dishonesty—and point to a more troubling reality.

A Biased Approach?

For example, in reporting the Boston bombing, CNN’s homeland security analyst asserted: “We have not had (even) a small-scale terrorist attack on American soil since 9/11.” But as indicated below and in a less abridged form by Investors Business Daily, there have been numerous Jihadi terrorist acts and attempts since 2009; and all claims to the contrary, al Qaeda is alive and well—and not only overseas.

Furthermore, in spite of the tendency of this administration and its lackeys in the press to claim otherwise, these events can be traced to what some have labeled as “radical Islam.” By using the adjective “radical,” they no doubt intend to continue the myth that Islam is a “religion of peace,” as claimed by President George W. Bush in the wake of 9/11. It has been incredibly suggested that the Tsarvanev brothers were “self-radicalized” from engaging the web, possibly intending to separate their paths from the Islamic mosques they attended in Cambridge, Mass. that have known “radical Islamic” ties with other radical Islamic groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, which created Hamas and al Qaida.

Some Hard Lessons:

All Muslims are not radicalized—in fact most are not. But the fact is that Islam as strictly taught by the Koran seeks peace only in the sense that those of other religious views “submit” to the doctrines of Islam. Otherwise, you pay tribute or die. Just ask the Christians who are persecuted by the thousands by the strict followers of Islam’s authoritative Sharia Law around the world. And it is long past time for this truth to be acknowledged by our political leaders. We can be in sympathy for those under the thumb of the Jihadi advocates, but that does not mean we must be “tolerant” of such Islamic teaching.

And our leaders should openly acknowledge that this threat does not stop with terrorism such as the terrible event in Boston. They should export the lessons from that experience to the broader context to ask what is being missed about other Jihadists in the United States and elsewhere, even national leaders such as in Iran, who view America as the “Great Satan” to be destroyed along with the “Little Satan” Israel—and an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack, which threatens the very existence of the United States and all that Western Civilization holds dear, could be a means to that end.

One of the critically important truths is that to deal with any problem, it is important to clearly state the problem. Or in matters of conflicting views, it is important to understand the opponent’s objectives and approach to reaching his objectives. As the noted Chinese strategist Sun Tsu observed:

Following this sage advice is perhaps most important for our national security team responsible for providing for the common defense as its members are sworn to do.

Yet, the administration has argued there is a big difference between terrorists and the tenets of Islam—even purged all references to any other point-of-view from the training materials for law enforcement and military officials—including at our premier service academies, no doubt to appease the American Muslim lobby. For a detailed press report on the essence of this important problem, see Rowan Scarborough’s April 26 Washington Times article, “Obama’s scrub of Muslim terms under question.” This truly is folly!

Future New Direction?

It is long past time that misplaced priorities in our policies and practices in contering the Global Jihadist threat should be subjected to critical review, including by the appropriate committees of congress.

The remainder of this email report reviews key “dots” discussed in the past several weeks regarding the existential Jihadist electromagnetic pulse (EMP) threat to all we hold dear—again repeating our concern that the “powers that be” do not yet understand a number of clear signs. They are missing connections similar to those that should have warned the powers that be of last week’s pending terrorism in Boston. And they should also be considered in the above recommended reviews.

Recap of Past Key Points:

Our recent email updates and Flash Messages have identified several related areas of concern—possibilities, even probabilities, of an existential threat to all we hold dear as part of a “Global Jihad.” Iran most assuredly has committed to such a Jihad and has been working with North Korea to gain the means for posing a direct nuclear threat on Israel and the United States. Again, here are key points:

Iranian leaders have repeatedly declared their intentions to destroy the Little and Great Satans;
Iranians and North Koreans have long worked together on nuclear weapons and ballistic missile technology, fed by a cacophony of proliferation of key technology and engineering know how from Russia, China and others;
Iran and North Korea have both launched satellites into low earth orbit—toward their “south”, and capable of carrying light payloads over all the nations on earth;
Thus, they both could, once they obtain a light-weight nuclear weapon, detonate it over any nation they choose—including the United States, when it arrives from the south wereas our defenses are postured against an attack from the north.
If an appropriately designed device is detonated at about 300 miles altitude over Omaha, the resulting electromagnetic pulse (EMP) could lead to the death of a couple hundred million Americans over the following year;
These EMP effects are well known to North Korea, Iran and most everyone else—and have been emphasized in 2006 and 2008 reports from the Congressionally mandated non-partisan EMP Commission composed of knowledgeable scientists and engineers;
Their only remaining challenge is getting such a weapon, and North Korea has claimed to have a “miniaturized” nuclear weapon;
The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) recently judged with moderate confidence that this is so—but the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) testified DIA did not represent the consensus of the 15-members of the Intelligence Community, noting that since they have not yet tested such a capability, “neither we nor the North Koreans know they have such capability;”
But 70 years ago the U.S. employed the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima without testing it and the second (of a different design) on Nagasaki immediately after a single test—the DNI’s argument seems a bit weak;
Prudence demands that we prepare to counter such a threat ASAP;
Buying additional ground based interceptors (GBIs) for Alaska and considering an East Coast GBI site will improve our defense against ballistic missiles that attack us from over the North Pole, but little to defend against an attack over the South Pole—it’s like locking the front door and leaving the back door open.
To close the back door, we need to improve our existing missile defenses as quickly as possible. Aegis improvements could be accomplished quickly—to provide ascent phase intercept opportunities early after North Korea (or Iran) launches a rocket headed south toward the South Pole to attack the U.S. from the south, and to provide advance tracking information to our GBIs in California so they can intercept the orbiting satellite before it overflies the U.S.
The Aegis system’s Standard Missile velocity should be increased so that it can intercept missiles and satellites at higher altitudes and defend larger areas.
We should revive programs to develop space-based defenses, ultimately the most cost efffective way to deal with the global Jihadist threat—as well as the threats from other nation states. The full complement of technical and political/policy issues confronting this revival are discussed in the reports of the Independent Working Group (IWG). If the United States is to be serious about dealing with the Global Jihadist threats confronting us today, including the “back door” EMP threat, serious consideration should again be paid to this concept.

Protect the Electric Power Grid.

Whatever is done to improve our defenses against missile attack, no defense is perfect; and steps should be taken to assure that an EMP attack does not create the conditions that would put the United States back into the 19^th century without the benefits of that agrarian society. The smartest thing that can be done quickly is to harden the electric power grid—especially the large transformers that could be destroyed by an EMP attack—or a massive solar emission that reaches the intensity experienced in the 1859 Carrington Event.

We will watching closely and report back on the steps that Dr. Ernest Moniz takes when he is sworn in as Secretary of Energy—we were pleased that he stated in his confirmation hearing that he intended to look into the EMP effects from both natural and manmade causes and take appropriate action assure the “robustness and resilience” of the electric power grid. Hopefully, we will see early initiatives from him.

And we continue to applaud Maine Representative Andrea Boland for her legislative efforts to protect against major solar storm geomagnetic effects all new transmission lines of the to-be-installed $1.4 billion Maine Power Reliability Program. And we look forward to seeing the related study that the full legislature has agreed to accomplish, thanks to her efforts.

And what can you do?

Join us at High Frontier in seeking to alert the public to the existential threats posed by both manmade and natural EMP events—and what can be done about these threats.

We can use your help in spreading the word to grass roots and local authorities to press the powers that be to provide for the common defense as they are sworn to do. Will you do your part?

Begin by passing this message to your friends and suggest they visit our webpage, www.highfrontier.org for more information. Also, please encourage your sphere of influence to sign up for our weekly e-newsletter!

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