President Obama To Deliver A Major Counterterrorism Speech At 2:00 PM EST

Drones, Guantanamo Part Of Broad Obama Counterterrorism Speech -- CBS

President Obama on Thursday will deliver a major speech on his counterterrorism policies, addressing everything from drone strikes and the status of the prison at Guantanamo Bay, to continuing efforts to fight al Qaeda and the legal framework for the continuing "war on terror."

In the substantive speech to be delivered at the National Defense University in Washington, D.C., Mr. Obama will announce plans to restart transfers of Guantanamo Bay prisoners to third countries. Before their transfer, the prisoners would have to be cleared for release, and the U.S. would have to be satisfied that an oversight and monitoring program is in place. The president will lift the prohibition on potential transfers to Yemen, but Congress may attempt to block this move.

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More News On President Obama Delivering A Major Counterterrorism Speech At 2:00 PM EST

Switching from scandals, Obama to address drones and Guantanamo -- Reuters
Obama speech to focus on drones, Guantanamo prison -- CNN
Obama's day: A counter-terrorism speech -- USA Today
White House official: Obama to defend drone use, Guantánamo closure -- Miami Herald
Obama speech to address counterterrorism measures -- Washington Post
Obama to address Guantánamo and drones in major defence speech -- The Guardian
Obama to detail terrorism policy including drone attacks and Guantánamo Bay prison -- Christian Science Monitor
Obama to reset US terror war in key speech -- AFP
Barack Obama to set out US drone policy -- BBC
Obama, in a Shift, to Limit Targets of Drone Strikes -- New York Times
Obama to speak on legality of drone program, key strategy in counter-terrorism efforts -- Washington Post/AP
Obama to Outline Legal Framework for Drone Strikes on Terrorists -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Debate Aside, Number of Drone Strikes Drops Sharply -- New York Times
Obama Restarts Bid to Close Guantanamo -- Wall Street Journal
Obama to announce new effort to close Guantanamo Bay -- Jillian Rayfield, Salon
At Guantanamo, a costly confinement -- CNN
Experts Weigh In on Challenges of Closing Guantanamo Prison -- Voice of America
What to Look for in Obama’s Counterterrorism Speech -- Amy Davidson, New Yorker
Obama’s drone speech will probably be maddening -- Alex Pareene, Salon

WNU Editor: We will be covering President Obama's speech live at 14:00 EST.

875,000 Names Are In The U.S. National Counterterrorism Center Terror Database

Number Of Names On U.S. Counter-Terrorism Database Jumps -- Reuters

(Reuters) - The number of names on a highly classified U.S. central database used to track suspected terrorists has jumped to 875,000 from 540,000 only five years ago, a U.S. official familiar with the matter said.

Among those was suspected Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, whose name was added in 2011. The increase in names is due in part to security agencies using the system more in the wake of the failed 2009 attack on a plane by "underpants bomber" Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab in Detroit.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials acknowledged in Congress that they had missed clues to that attack despite Abdulmutallab's name appearing in the main database, known as TIDE.

Maintained by the National Counterterrorism Center, the highly classified database is not a "watchlist" but instead is a repository of information on people whom U.S. authorities see as known, suspected or potential terrorists from around the world.

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My Comment: That's a lot of people.

Has The White House Decided That US Drone Strikes Are A Better Alternative To Guantánamo?

The MQ-1 Predator unmanned aircraft. (U.S. Air Force)

US Drone Strikes Being Used As Alternative To Guantánamo, Lawyer Says -- The Guardian

Lawyer who drafted White House drone policy says US would rather kill suspects than send them to Cuban detention centre

The lawyer who first drew up White House policy on lethal drone strikes has accused the Obama administration of overusing them because of its reluctance to capture prisoners that would otherwise have to be sent to Guantánamo Bay.

John Bellinger, who was responsible for drafting the legal framework for targeted drone killings while working for George W Bush after 9/11, said he believed their use had increased since because President Obama was unwilling to deal with the consequences of jailing suspected al-Qaida members.

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Update: Drone policy author: Obama administration would rather use drones than capture militants -- al.com

My Comment: It is true that drone strikes under President Obama have increased exponentially .... and prisoner transfers to Guantanamo have stopped. So yes .... an argument can now be made that US drone strikes are being used as an alternative to Guantánamo.

How The U.S. Searches For Terrorists

How The Government Searches For The Boston Marathon Bomber -- National Journal

When FBI special agent Richard DesLauriers promised that “We will go to the ends of the Earth” to find the terrorists responsible for the bombing of the Boston Marathon and bring them to justice, he was not making an idle threat. The post-9/11 record strongly suggests that the U.S. authorities will indeed get their man.

Inevitably, the tragic terrorist attack in Boston, coupled with reports that poison-laced letters have been sent to Congress and the White House, have recalled disturbing memories of 9/11. However, Wednesday’s news that authorities believe they already have video of the likely bomber, along with detailed forensic analysis of the type of bombs used, are reminders that law enforcement and intelligence officials have counterterrorism capabilities at their disposal today that would have been unthinkable before Sept. 11, 2001.

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My Comment: The U.S. does have a very good history in capturing such suspects. I hope they will continue with this trend.

Is Al Qaeda Shattered?

With Al Qaeda Shattered, U.S. Counter-Terrorism's Future Unclear -- L.A. Times

Opinions differ over how much threat Al Qaeda's factions pose and how U.S. policy and spending should change.

WASHINGTON — Skilled in tracking foreign terrorists, Jarret Brachman once was a sought-after expert on Al Qaeda, advising several federal agencies and speaking regularly around the country.

Now the former research director of the Combating Terrorism Center, a think tank at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, has turned his focus away from Islamic militants. He spends most of his time consulting with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies about threats from domestic extremists and antigovernment militias.

"I have totally re-branded my career," Brachman said. "I still do the Al Qaeda stuff, but there's no interest, no demand.... We've broken Al Qaeda's back, strategically."

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My Comment: Talk about poor timing to raise this question with the dust still settling at the Boston Marathon bombing .... but it has to be asked. U.S. intelligence budgets consume tens of billions of dollars each year .... and while Al Qaeda is still a threat .... a debate on U.S. policy and spending has to be a priority.

Why The Pentagon Will Not Criticize Algeria's Botched Hostage Rescue Mission

Algeria Hostage Crisis: Frustration For US Military, And Maybe Regrets -- Anna Mulrine, Christian Science Monitor

A disastrous hostage rescue effort by Algeria's military this week underscores the Pentagon's difficulties in working with its counterparts in parts of Africa. But the US can't criticize too loudly: It needs Algeria as an ally to fight terrorism in the region.

The disastrous hostage rescue effort by the Algerian military this week – in which innocents appear, among other things, to have been accidentally strafed by government helicopter fire – is a stark reminder of the limits of US crisis intervention and of the challenges the Pentagon faces in working with its counterparts in parts of Africa.

The Pentagon is reported to have volunteered use of its hostage rescue teams for the mission. But the Algerian military apparently shrugged off this offer and forged ahead with its operation before informing any governments whose citizens were captive, including the United States and Britain.

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My Comment: Al Qaeda and their affiliated groups are not going to go away ..... the U.S. military is going to have more than their fair share of going after them in the future .... correction .... near future.

Why The French Rescue Mission Failed In Somalia

Expired Guarantees -- Richard Fernandez, Belmont Club

News sources report that Islamist fighters knew a French rescue team was coming for an intelligence agent being held prisoner in a southern Somali town. “Sources in lawless Somalia suggested the reason Saturday’s raid had failed was that the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group holding the hostage had received advance warning.” Reports suggested that the team had been detected on arrival by civilians and further implied that civilians may have been killed by the attacking team as they approached the target area.

French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said one French soldier had died and another had gone missing during the raid, adding that 17 guerrillas had been killed.

He said “all indications” pointed to the conclusion that the hostage, a French intelligence agent with the alias of Denis Allex, had been killed by his captors.

The Shebab denied Allex was dead, but said they would decide his fate within two days. They also claimed they had captured a wounded member of the French assault team.

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My Comment: Richard Fernandez analysis is probably right. I also suspect that the French launched the failed rescue mission because they thought the French hostage might be killed in retaliation for the Mali operation against al Qaeda.

Second French Soldier Dies After Failed French Somali Rescue Attempt (Updated)

Somali Rebels Say Second French Soldier Died After Failed Rescue Attempt -- Voice of America

Somali rebel group al-Shabab says a second French soldier has died after a failed attempt by France to rescue one of its citizens held hostage in Somalia.

An al-Shabab spokesman said Monday the soldier died from wounds suffered in the fighting to free military agent Denis Allex. The spokesman repeated the group's claim that Allex is still alive.

The rebel group posted photos of one of the killed French commandoes to its Twitter account.

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More News On France's Failed Rescue Mission In Somalia

Witnesses to a failed rescue by French commandos in Somalia describe mayhem, night of terror -- Washington Post
Confusion after French commando operation in Somalia -- Ares/Aviation Week
France's bid to free a hostage backfires -- AP
Somali militants post photo of French soldier killed in raid to free kidnapped intel officer -- Washington Post/AP
Second French commando dies of wounds: Somali rebels -- Reuters
2 French soldiers likely killed in failed hostage rescue, defense minister says -- CNN
Obama: US forces helped France in failed Somalia rescue attempt -- NBC/Reuters
Obama: U.S. military entered Somalia's airspace -- Politico
Obama says US forces assisted France in failed Somalia hostage rescue -- FOX News/AP
U.S. Provided 'Technical Assistance' In Botched French Raid, Obama Says -- NPR
France defends failed Somali raid as civilian toll mounts -- Livemint/AFP

President Obama Confirms That U.S. Forces Were Involved In Assisting The Botched French Somali Hostage Rescue Attampt

Obama Confirms US Involvement In Somalia Hostage Rescue Attempt -- The Guardian

President says American combat aircraft was used to support failed French operation to rescue secret agent.

President Barack Obama confirmed on Sunday that the United States helped France last week during an attempted rescue of a secret agent captured by insurgents in Somalia.

The French team was trying to free Denis Allex, who has been held since 2009 by al-Qaida-linked al Shabaab, but insurgents apparently killed their hostage during the raid, along with a commando. The French defence ministry said 17 Somali fighters died in the fight.

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More News On US Involvement In the Failed French Rescue Attempt In Somalia

U.S. Provided Backup for French Rescue Attempt in Somalia -- Wall Street Journal
U.S. supported failed French rescue -- UPI
U.S. supported France's failed hostage rescue in Somalia -- CNN
Obama says U.S. warplanes involved in Somali rescue mission -- Washington Post
U.S. Warplanes Enter Somalia Airspace -- New York Times
The U.S. Helped France Fail to Rescue a Hostage in Somalia -- The Atlantic
US Forces Involved With Failed Somalia Hostage Rescue -- ABC News
Obama acknowledges involvement in Somalia raid -- Washington Times

My Comment: Nothing specific ... just that US forces provided technical and logistical support. At least that is what President Obama is saying in his letter to Congress notifying them that US forces were involved. Hmmmmm .... for President Obama to sign such a letter tells me that US forces provided more that just technical and logistical support .... I guess we will have to wait later for more info to be released either by the French (which I doubt) or by the U.S..

Somali Witnesses To the Failed French Rescue Mission Describe A Night Of Mayhem And Confusion

France Defends Failed Somali Raid -- The Australian

SOMALI witnesses said at least eight civilians were killed in a disastrous French operation to rescue a secret agent, but France's defence minister defended the decision to launch the raid.

Sources in lawless Somalia suggested the reason Saturday's raid had failed was that the al-Qaeda-linked Shebab group holding the hostage had received advance warning.

The United States meanwhile, confirmed that it had played a limited support role in the French mission.

"Four civilians, including three from one family, are among the dead," resident Adan Derow said by telephone on Sunday. "They were all killed outside Bulomarer, where the French commandos landed before entering the city."

The victims were a couple, their son and another man, other residents said.

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More News On The French Raid And Failure To Rescue A French Hostage

Somali witnesses to failed rescue describe mayhem -- AP
Intelligence Agent Presumed Dead In Failed French Raid Of Somali Islamist -- Time
France believes hostage killed in Somalia rescue bid -- Reuters
Shabaab kills, captures French soldiers during failed rescue mission in Somalia -- Long War Journal
French Military Agent Apparently Killed in Raid -- Voice of America
Ahead of failed rescue in Somalia, hostage chained -- AP

My Comment: Even though this rescue attempt was done 2 days ago, the french government has still not given a full report on what happened. This tells me that there is information and intel that they wish to still keep secret .... or .... this raid was so botched up that they are still trying to put the pieces together. I guess the truth will only come out in the next few days.

How Al Qaeda Leader Anwar Al Awlaki Was Killed

Danish Spy Claims Key Role In Terrorist's Death -- CBS

The following script is from "Morten Storm" which aired on Dec. 30, 2012. Lara Logan is the correspondent. Howard Rosenberg, producer.

Just over a year ago in Yemen, a U.S. drone operated by the CIA unleashed a Hellfire missile killing one of the most wanted terrorists in the world, Anwar Al Awlaki. The American-born cleric had been waging Holy War against his own country. Because he was a U.S. citizen, it was one of the most controversial drone strikes in the campaign against al Qaeda.

To this day, the question of how the CIA zeroed in on Awlaki in that distant desert land remains a mystery. Some of that will be answered tonight and you'll learn how an unlikely Danish spy named Morten Storm managed to get inside Awlaki's world and become one of his most trusted friends. And how, Storm says, he helped lead that fatal missile to its target.

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My Comment: I am not sorry to see Anwar Al Awlaki dead .... but his death does open a debate on should the U.S. government order the assassination of an American citizen. As it is .... for the moment .... that debate is absent .... no one on the left (and everyone on the right) do not want to put President Obama on the spot for ordering this kill mission. But I predict .... and under a different administration .... that this debate will occur.

As for this 60 Minutes report .... it is a must see on how Al Qaeda in Yemen operates and how counter-terrorism officials try to get terror leaders like Anwar Al Awlaki.

On a side note .... Morten Storm did his job and he does deserve some of the reward money.

U.S. Covert War Expanding?

U.S. Expands Secretive Drone Base for African Shadow War -- Danger Room

The Pentagon’s secretive drone and commando base in the Horn of Africa is getting a lot bigger and a lot busier as the U.S. doubles down on its shadowy campaign of air strikes, robot surveillance and Special Operation Forces raids in the terror havens of Yemen and Somalia.

Camp Lemonnier, originally a French colonial outpost in Djibouti, a tiny, impoverished nation just north of Somalia, has been the epicenter of America’s Indian Ocean shadow war since just after 9/11. What was once little more than a run-down compound adjacent to Djibouti city’s single-runway international airport is now a sprawling complex of hangars and air-conditioned buildings housing eight Predator drones and eight F-15E fighter-bombers plus other warplanes, as well as around 300 Special Operations Forces and more than 2,000 other U.S. troops and civilians.

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My Comment: I guess they are expecting the region to 'heat-up'. Considering who their neighbors are .... Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, etc., I would have to say yes.

America's Combat Hub For Counterterrorism In The Horn Of Africa And The Middle East

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

U.S. drone camp in the heart of Djibouti

Expansion is underway at the United States’ first counter- terrorism base, fenced within a one-runway airport shared by military and civilian aircraft in the heart of Djibouti. Scheduled to be complete in the next two years at a cost of nearly $1.4 billion, the Pentagon hopes the upgrades will strengthen the U.S. fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa.Department of the Navy; CIA World Factbook. Image source: GeoEye via Google Earth. Gene Thorp, Bill Webster and Craig Whitlock/The Washington Post. Published on October 25, 2012

Remote U.S. Base At Core Of Secret Operations -- Washington Post

DJIBOUTI CITY, Djibouti — Around the clock, about 16 times a day, drones take off or land at a U.S. military base here, the combat hub for the Obama administration’s counterterrorism wars in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East.

Some of the unmanned aircraft are bound for Somalia, the collapsed state whose border lies just 10 miles to the southeast. Most of the armed drones, however, veer north across the Gulf of Aden to Yemen, another unstable country where they are being used in an increasingly deadly war with an al-Qaeda franchise that has targeted the United States.

Camp Lemonnier, a sun-baked Third World outpost established by the French Foreign Legion, began as a temporary staging ground for U.S. Marines looking for a foothold in the region a decade ago. Over the past two years, the U.S. military has clandestinely transformed it into the busiest Predator drone base outside the Afghan war zone, a model for fighting a new generation of terrorist groups.

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My Comment: Camp Lemmonier is probably America's most important counter terrorism base outside of the United States.

Meet The Man Who Is Transforming U.S. Counterterrorism Policy

President Barack Obama is briefed on the situation in Libya by John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, in Chilmark, Mass., Aug. 26, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

A CIA Veteran Transforms U.S. Counterterrorism Policy -- Washington Post

In his windowless White House office, presidential counterterrorism adviser John O. Brennan is compiling the rules for a war the Obama administration believes will far outlast its own time in office, whether that is just a few more months or four more years.

The “playbook,” as Brennan calls it, will lay out the administration’s evolving procedures for the targeted killings that have come to define its fight against al-Qaeda and its affiliates. It will cover the selection and approval of targets from the “disposition matrix,” the designation of who should pull the trigger when a killing is warranted, and the legal authorities the administration thinks sanction its actions in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and beyond.

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My Comment: He has not only transformed America's counterterrorism policy under President Obama, but there is a very good chance that it will still continue under a Romney administration if Mitt Romney should win the election.

Is This A Valid Reason For Killing A 16-Year-Old American In A Drone Strike?

Team Obama's Justification For Killing A 16-Year-Old American In A Drone Strike Is Stunning

Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, a senior adviser to President Obama's reelection campaign, recently became the first person on Team Obama to address the killing of 16-year-old American citizen Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, Conor Friedersdorf of the The Atlantic reports.

Abdulrahman was the son of New Mexico-born cleric and al-Qaeda propagandist Anwar al-Alwaki. Both were killed in separate drone strikes last year.

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My Comment: Breitbart is right .... this is one issue that Democrats DO NOT want to talk about. What's my take .... Americans have already been targeted and killed, of course there should be a public debate on it.

A New U.S. Blueprint In Hunting Terrorists

Plan For Hunting Terrorists Signals U.S. Intends To Keep Adding Names To Kill Lists -- Washington Post

Editor’s note: This project, based on interviews with dozens of current and former national security officials, intelligence analysts and others, examines evolving U.S. counterterrorism policies and the practice of targeted killing. This is the first of three stories.

Over the past two years, the Obama administration has been secretly developing a new blueprint for pursuing terrorists, a next-generation targeting list called the “disposition matrix.”

The matrix contains the names of terrorism suspects arrayed against an accounting of the resources being marshaled to track them down, including sealed indictments and clandestine operations. U.S. officials said the database is designed to go beyond existing kill lists, mapping plans for the “disposition” of suspects beyond the reach of American drones.

Although the matrix is a work in progress, the effort to create it reflects a reality setting in among the nation’s counterterrorism ranks: The United States’ conventional wars are winding down, but the government expects to continue adding names to kill or capture lists for years.

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My Comment: In short .... more drone strikes on a global level.

Are CIA And Special Forces 'Hit Squads' On The Hunt For The Attackers Of The U.S. Consulate In Libya?

Flames: The White House has admitted they knew the deadly assault, pictured, was an act of terrorism within 24 hours

Obama Orders CIA And Navy SEALS To Hunt Down Terrorists Who Attacked US Consulate In Libya -- Daily Mail

* Letter from lawmakers to Hillary Clinton indicates that consulate was bombed twice months before the September 11 attack
* White House pulls all U.S. personnel out of Benghazi
* Libyan president Mohamed Magarief said that attacks were 'pre-planned'
* U.S. ambassador Chris Stevens was killed along with fellow Americans Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods and Glen Doherty

President Barack Obama has ordered the CIA and the Pentagon to hunt down the terrorists who attacked the US consulate in Libya.

It's unclear what the president plans to do once the perpetrators of the September 11 assault in Benghazi are found, but he has mobilized the military's Joint Special Operations Command to help carry out the mission.

JSOC and the CIA teamed up to send Navy SEAL commandos into Pakistan in 2011 for a raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

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My Comment: More proof that the White House now knows that this was a terrorist attack by an Al Qaeda affiliated group and not a spontaneous demonstration and riot over some obscure YouTube video. But sending a hit squad to (I guess) Libya is President Obama's response to this attack ..... hmmmm .... how times have changed because if past Presidents did this ... they were usually called "cowboys".

Urgent Request Sent From Afghanistan For Palantir system

Military Leaders Urgently Push For New Counterterrorism Software -- Washington Times

A U.S. military command has sent an urgent request to the Pentagon to fund counterterrorism intelligence computer software for special operations troops globally, including the Palantir analytical system.

Palantir is at the center of two investigations in Washington. Rep. Duncan Hunter, California Republican, has accused the Army of making it difficult for conventional soldiers in Afghanistan to buy Palantir off the shelf because the Pentagon is protecting its own system.

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My Comment: Politics and returning favors to corporate supporters trumps working systems that the soldiers want every-time.

How The War Tn Terrorism Is Being Fought In East Africa

Countering al-Shabab: How The War Tn Terrorism Is Being Fought In East Africa -- Time

Two bombings of churches in Kenya pointed to the resurgence al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in East Africa. But a TIME investigation into how the region's countries (and the U.S.) are handling groups like Somalia's al-Shabab leads to accusations of illegal, murky tactics

The attack by suspected Islamist militants on two churches in eastern Kenya on Sunday, in which the assailants killed 17 people and wounded 60 more, is more bloody confirmation of the emergence of African terrorist groups. A group of seven masked men threw grenades into the Catholic Church and African Inland Church in Garissa, close to the Somali border, then opened fire with assault rifles. Though no group has claimed responsibility, it is the latest incident after a series of attacks carried out by Islamist militants across Kenya that have killed close to 60 people. The episodes began after Kenya invaded Somalia last September in pursuit of the Somali guerrilla group al-Shabab.

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My Comment: For more info on Africa's emerging threats, go here.

British Double Agent In Underwear Plot 'To Get Millions Of Dollars' Reward

British Double Agent In Underwear Plot 'To Get Millions Of Dollars' Reward For Daring Mission -- Daily Mail

* British intelligence services played a crucial role in recruiting the spy
* He is believed to be of Middle Eastern origin
* Family will be relocated by American security services because of risk to their safety

The British double agent who foiled the ‘underwear bomb plot’ could receive millions of dollars for carrying out his daring mission, a former top CIA official said last night.

The man is likely to receive the cash from the American authorities for risking his life infiltrating Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

His family will also be relocated to ensure their safety.

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My Comment: Even with a multi-million dollar pay-off, it's not the type of work that I would look for .... especially since your "ex-partners" will now be looking for you.