Terrorism Global Terrorism Issues Who:

Terrorism

Global Terrorism Issues

Who: Mike McConnell, the Bush Administration's top intelligence official

What: Political Pressures on McConnell from the White House and Congress

Where: Washington, D.C.

When: August 2007

How: McConnell has been given the role of not only being the top person in charge of intelligence for the executive branch of government (the Bush Administration), but he has been given responsibility for negotiating with Congress for policies Bush wants in place.

Brief Analysis: McConnell, a retired admiral who took over the job of national intelligence in February, 2007, met with Democratic leaders from the House and Senate (in a conference call) to try to reach a compromise over the updated "eavesdropping" legislation ("Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act"), according to an article in the New York Times (Mazzetti, 2007). The word "surveillance" was used in this article although the updated law that eventually passed had to do with legal wiretapping (eavesdropping on citizens' phone calls) in an attempt to locate terrorists who may be plotting to attack the U.S. again. Bush has been wiretapping phone calls (without warrants) since soon after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but Congress has asked for some limits on how much "eavesdropping" the president can legally do without regard to existing law (which actually does require a president to get authorization from a court prior to wiretapping). One of the key points of this article is that the Democrats' proposal for a more limited authorization for Bush to wiretap was rejected, and the Democrats complained that McConnell should not be the senior member of the intelligence community, and also be a political negotiator for Bush. The real purpose behind McConnell's job of course is to protect Americans from terrorists, but as the writer of this article points out, "there is lingering anger among some on Capital Hill who say Mr. McConnell acted more as an advocate than an expert..." And also that the real issue should be going after bin Laden and other terrorists, not tapping phones hoping to catch a terrorist making some kind of evil plan.

Who: Terrorists planning to kill "hundreds of people" in Germany.

What: Arrests are made in connection with planned terrorist attacks.

Where: Germany

When: September 5, 2007

How: Police say that there are ten more "terror plotters" still being sought in connection with the alleged plot.

Brief Analysis: Three men - terrorists - were arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill hundreds of people in German bars, airports, and restaurants where Americans are known to frequent. "They were motivated by hatred of America," according to Jorg Ziercke, president of the Federal Criminal Investigation Agency, quoted through an article in the Times (Boyes, 2007). The police believe that these terrorists were planning on using 750 kilos of hydrogen peroxide to blow up restaurants, bars, and facilities in the airport in Berlin. The real story behind the arrests (besides the fact that an estimate ten more terrorists who were part of this "cell" are being hunted) is that this was a "home-grown" operation in Germany. And moreover, there are apparently a growing number of Germans who are converting to the Muslim religion in Germany. The three men who were arrested on September 5 are known to have met in Pakistan, where, the article continues, "investigators believe that they received explosives training at a Taliban-linked camp." The group they reportedly belong to is "Islamic Jihad Union," an organization believed to be connected with al Qaeda. Investigators in Germany believe that radical young Muslim converts "tend to be more radical and fanatical than those who have been Muslims since they were in the cradle," according to Hans Joachim Giessman, an expert in terrorism at Hamburg institute for Peace Research. The bottom line for law enforcement officials in Europe and the U.S. is that good advance police work and intelligence gathering can prevent disastrous bombing and killings by terrorists determined to kill Westerners, in particular, Americans.