plugged-in Weekly News Updates
January 14, 2016 — Jakarta, Indonesia
Coordinated Attacks at Shopping Center.
January 14, 2016, five attackers detonated bombs in a shopping center in Jakarta, Indonesia. The detonations were conducted in a manner similar to the Paris attacks, which targeted multiple “soft target” locations at the same time. A Canadian, an Indonesian, and all five attackers were killed in the attacks and at least another 19 were injured. The location of this attack was found to be near the Presidential palace and is also situated near the US Embassy. Backers of ISIS have since claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Indonesian President Joko “Kokowi” Widodo in a television news statement said, “This act is clearly aimed at disturbing public order and spreading terror among people.”
An American working as a security consultant was quoted as telling Foxnews.com that an attack was bound to happen “given the number of residents that have traveled to the Islamic State.” “Eight hundred Indonesians have gone to fight in Syria and Iraq,” he said. “Included in those numbers are families and children of fighters. Some of them are dead; some are bound to come back.”
Source: FoxNews, “ISIS Backers Claim Responsibility for Paris -Style Terror Attack in Jakarta,” January 14, 2016. http://www.foxnews.com/world/2016/01/14/massive-explosion-gunfire-heard-in-indonesian-capital-jakarta.html.
January 15, 2016 - San Francisco, CA
Bay Area Rapid Transit Takes Heat for Fake Cameras
San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit system, also known as BART, is experiencing negative response from City officials and the public safety community as their practice of relying primarily on decoy surveillance cameras inside trains has exposed security gaps on its rail lines.
The outcry comes on the heels of a killing last weekend on a train, even though the attacker opened fire just feet from what appeared to be cameras. State leaders, such as Sen. Steven Glazer, D-Walnut Creek, have come down hard on BART for their lack of oversight and priorities on what is considered a major security threat.
“Security is not a joke and it shouldn’t be left up to trying to fool the thieves or the robbers,” Glazer said.
Since 9/11, BART has received $200 million to beef up security; $4.2 million in 2013 was specifically given to upgrade its wireless systems and provide live streaming from the cameras on board. San Francisco is also a part of the Bay Area UASI, and as part of the Bay Area’s Strategy’s development, in March 2012, the Bay Area conducted a series of Emergency Public Information and Warning assessments, including the BART.
As the threat of violence from ISIS and non-nation-state actors becomes more relevant domestically, does this require us to reconsider security measures that may no longer be equal to the risk?
January 17, 2016 — United States of America.
What the 7 Iranian prisoners had in common.
After 14 months of secret negotiations the U.S. and Iran have reached a diplomatic agreement that has brought about a prisoner exchange between the two countries. The prisoner exchange coincides and is thought to have been influenced by the Iranian nuclear negotiations which were held in early 2015. As a result of these nuclear negotiations permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union (P5+1) agreed to lift nuclear-related economic sanctions against Iran in return for a reduction in Iran’s nuclear capabilities. This arrangement is thought to be a historic achievement for the U.S. as this would maximize the amount of time that it would take Iran to produce enough weapons-grade uranium or plutonium to develop a single nuclear weapon.
While the media has heavily publicized the release of the 4 American captors, Amir, Hekmati (former U.S. Marine), Saeed Abedini (Christian Pastor), Jason Rezaian (Washington Post correspondent), and Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari (little known at this time), what do we know about the 7 individuals Iran has negotiated for? Here is what they all had in common?
January 20, 2015 - Washington D.C.
Should Visa Overstays be a Primary Concern for DHS?
According to a recently released government report, almost 500,000 foreign travelers on U.S. visas remained in the country after the expiration of their visa. The government refers to these individuals as “visa overstays.” Visa overstays account for approximately 40% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States. But to put the number of visa overstays in context, they represent approximately 1% of the nearly 45 million foreigners who entered the country legally in 2015. Of concern, or at least interest, is the fact that individuals from what the U.S. government terms, “special interest countries” had high rates of overstays. “Special interest countries” are countries that are considered training grounds for terrorists. Afghani overstays accounted for approximately 11 percent, Iraqi overstays were about 7 percent, and Syrian overstays were at about 6.5 percent. These finding were released on the heels of a Senate hearing with DHS officials, where they are going to discuss the findings.
The question to ponder is, are these visa overstays a concern to the United States from a homeland security perspective, or are there greater threats that government officials should be concerned with?
@pluggedin1504 would love to hear your thoughts on this or any other issues related to homeland security. Please leave comments and share with your friends.
Submitted by members of Team plugged-in.
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