http://www.historycommons.org The Center for Grassroots Oversight aims to provide the public with a means to collaborate on investigations at the grassroots level. en-us http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a042909DroneTenPossiblyLeader#a042909DroneTenPossiblyLeader http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a042909DroneTenPossiblyLeader#a042909DroneTenPossiblyLeader An attack by CIA drones in Pakistan kills between six and ten people. One of those who dies is believed to be an al-Qaeda leader. KJF 2010-02-06T17:46:37-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a062309FuneralHitCIA#a062309FuneralHitCIA http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a062309FuneralHitCIA#a062309FuneralHitCIA CIA-controlled drones attack a funeral in Makeen, a town in South Warizistan, Pakistan, that is home to Pakistan Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud. Deaths number in the dozens, possibly as many as 86, and an account in the Pakistani News says they include 10 children and four tribal elders. The funeral is for two locals killed by CIA drones earlier in the day , and is attacked because of intelligence Mahsud would be present. One eyewitness, who loses his right leg during the bombing, tells Agence France-Presse that the mourners suspected what was coming, saying, "After the prayers ended, people were asking each other to leave the area, as drones were hovering." Before the mourners could clear out, the eyewitness says, two drones start firing into the crowd. "It created havoc," he says. "There was smoke and dust everywhere. Injured people were crying and asking for help." Then a third missile hits. Sections of Pakistani society express their unhappiness with the attack. For example, an editorial in The News denounces the strike as sinking to the level of the terrorists, and the Urdu newspaper Jang declares that US President Barack Obama is "shutting his ears to the screams of thousands of women whom your drones have turned into dust." KJF 2010-02-06T17:42:09-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a021409PakDroneThirty#a021409PakDroneThirty http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a021409PakDroneThirty#a021409PakDroneThirty More than 30 people are killed in a CIA drone attack in Pakistan. According to reporter Jane Mayer, 25 of them are "apparently members of al-Qaeda and the Taliban, though none [are] identified as major leaders." KJF 2010-02-06T17:34:57-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032499stuartbrief#a032499stuartbrief http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032499stuartbrief#a032499stuartbrief Lieutenant Colonel Mark Stuart, an intelligence officer at NORAD's Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS), drafts a briefing that he then gives at various venues, on the threat of terrorists using aircraft to crash into buildings. According to a memo of his 2003 interview with the 9/11 Commission, Stuart briefs "over time in 1999, 2000, and 2001 the logical progression that linked hijackings to the use of explosives in vehicles [a probable reference to the 1998 African embassy bombings] and then, logically, to the use of aircraft." Stuart gives his briefing at annual intelligence conferences at both the Continental United States NORAD Region (CONR) and NORAD itself. At CONR, the receiving official is Colonel Tom Glenn; at NORAD it is Navy Captain Michael Kuhn. According to the 9/11 Commission memo, the hijacking scenarios that Stuart conceives are "primarily personal views; there was no substantive intelligence. He based his analysis on the boldness of past terrorist actions." Stuart also discusses his analyses with his counterparts at NORAD's Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS)--a Major Clegg--and its Western Air Defense Sector (WADS)--a Lieutenant Colonel Schauer. In all cases, he briefs that a hijacking would originate overseas, inbound to the US. He never imagines it could originate inside the US. Stuart believes that security vulnerabilities overseas make it far more likely that hijackings will come from outside the US. He never imagines multiple hijackings in any scenario, although he envisions terrorists taking over planes and piloting them at the last possible moment as they crash. Stuart will be at NEADS on 9/11, and will participate in its response to that day's attacks. newmex 2010-02-06T01:02:58-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a081498noradchief#a081498noradchief http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a081498noradchief#a081498noradchief General Richard B. Myers takes over as commander in chief of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), commander in chief of the US Space Command, and commander of the Air Force Space Command. He replaces General Howell M. Estes III. Myers will serve in these positions until February 22, 2000, when he will be replaced by General Ralph E. Eberhart. On 9/11, Myers will serve as the acting chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. newmex 2010-02-05T08:32:54-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a042208ZawahiriAnswersQuestions#a042208ZawahiriAnswersQuestions http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a042208ZawahiriAnswersQuestions#a042208ZawahiriAnswersQuestions Al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri issues a second set of responses to questions solicited by al-Qaeda in December 2007 (see and ). The response comes in a two-hour audio recording posted to an Islamic website and accompanied by the logo of As-Sahab, al-Qaeda's media arm. Al-Zawahiri's comments include: The theory that Israel carried out the September 11 attacks is false and was started by Iran and its proxy Hezbollah, through the Al-Manar television station. "The purpose of this lie is clear--[to suggest] that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no [one] else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he says. "Iran's aim here is also clear--to cover up its involvement with America in invading the homes of Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq." In recent audio recordings, al-Zawahiri has accused Iran of seeking to extend its power in the Middle East, particularly in Iraq and through Hezbollah in Lebanon. The insurgent umbrella group Islamic Nation of Iraq led by al-Qaeda is "the primary force opposing the crusaders and challenging Iranian ambitions" in Iraq. In response to a question about whether al-Qaeda plans to attack Western countries involved in Iraq, he replies: "My answer is: Yes! We think that any country that has joined aggression on Muslims must be deterred." This includes Japan, which pulled its non-combat troops out of Iraq in 2006, because "Japan provided help under the banner of the crusader coalition ... therefore it participated in the crusader campaign against the lands of Islam." Global warming reflects "how criminal, brutal, and greedy the Western crusader world is, with America at the top." However, global warming will "make the world more sympathetic to and understanding of the Muslims' jihad against the aggressor America." There are no women in al-Qaeda, although "the women of the mujaheddin are playing a heroic role in taking care of their houses and sons." The Taliban have taken over 95 percent of Afghanistan and are sweeping Pakistan as well. "The crusaders and their agents in Pakistan and Afghanistan are starting to fall," al-Zawahiri adds. It is against Islamic religious law for any Muslim to live permanently in a Western country because in doing so they would "have permanent stay there under the laws of the infidels." KJF 2010-02-03T14:51:29-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a111302BinLadenAccuracy#a111302BinLadenAccuracy http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a111302BinLadenAccuracy#a111302BinLadenAccuracy The release of an audio message by a man thought to be Osama bin Laden sparks several publications to run stories about the authentication of the voice on the tape. These articles make several points about voice analysis of apparent bin Laden recordings: Machine analysis: Some aspects of voice identification are done my machine. Voice authentication software measures the acoustic qualities of a person's voice, such as pitch, loudness, basic resonances, frequency, and amplitude. This produces spectrographic information and can also be used to look for specific features of a voice, such as a nasal quality. In addition, every person creates the same sounds using a slightly different set of basic pitches, so the set of frequencies in bin Laden's vowels, like those in "ea" from "fear," will be marginally different from anyone else's. By examining this frequency detail for every vowel and comparing them to previous examples, a machine analysis can tell if they are the same and were all said by him. However, "People hardly ever pronounce the same word the same way twice, even in the same utterance," says Robert Berkovitz, a speech analyst with Sensimetrics Corp. Human analysis: Some aspects of voice identification are done by humans, who are, according to Slate, "very good at doing the kind of thing most people do subconsciously--telling if someone comes from a particular region by recognizing basic vowel and consonant qualities." For example, a human analyst can tell whether the "Ye" sound in "Yemen" is of the right length and stress for bin Laden's dialect. Experts listen to previous recordings of bin Laden, and compare them syllable by syllable. Experts can also verify whether words on a tape generally match those uttered by someone of bin Laden's age and educational background. Quality of tape: According to Slate, the November tape is "allegedly very noisy and possibly went down a phone line at some point." However, the New Scientist reports, "Voice analysis experts say the quality of the recording appears good enough to determine if the recording is genuine." It also quotes Steve Cain of Forensic Tape Analysis, a company that received snippets of the tape from US media, who says, "It seems like it is at least clear enough and there's enough amplitude of that unknown speaker's voice that if you had a known sample of bin Laden it would be possible." Splicing: Analysis can determine whether a tape is spliced together. Potential red flags include hitches in timing and rhythm, removal of background noise, and different pitch to accommodate for differences in background noise. It makes no difference to voice analysis what language a recording is in. Uncertainty: The New Scientist quotes Tomi Kinnunnen, an expert in computer analysis of speech at the University of Joensuu, Finland, as saying: "There is always the possibility of error. ... But if you have a clean sample with little noise, you can quite reliably say [who it is]." However, according to Slate, human and machine analyses can be "formidable," but "neither type of analysis can say with 100 percent certainty that the speaker on the tape is bin Laden or anyone else." CBS finds that intelligence analysts are convinced the tape is from bin Laden, but "they will never be sure," because "Computer voice analysis lacks the accuracy of fingerprint or DNA identification and can be hamstrung by a skilled impersonator or low-quality recording." "You can say with some probability, but you can never be sure," says Kenneth Stevens, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology expert on speech analysis and synthesis. "Where there's a combination of strong motivation and relatively weak science, there's an opportunity for deception," adds Berkovitz. "You can't put the voice in a slot and have it come out saying, 'This is Joe Smith.'" One analyst, Matsumi Suzuki of Japan Acoustic Lab, Tokyo, says that, although the recording seems genuine, the speaker sounds ill. KJF 2010-02-03T14:50:40-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032308ZawahiriHitJewsAmericans#a032308ZawahiriHitJewsAmericans http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a032308ZawahiriHitJewsAmericans#a032308ZawahiriHitJewsAmericans Al-Qaeda second in command Ayman al-Zawahiri releases a new audio tape calling for attacks on Israeli and Western targets to avenge recent Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip. The tape is released by posting to the Internet and produced by al-Qaeda's media arm, As-Sahab. "O Muslims. Today is your day. Hit the interest of the Jews and the Americans and all those who participated in the aggression against Muslims," says al-Zawahiri. "Monitor the targets, collect the money, prepare the hardware, plan accurately, and then attack." Al-Zawahiri adds, "No one can say today that we should fight the Jews in Palestine only," and calls for Muslims to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip against Israel. Demonstrations only serve to let off steam, he says, so Palestinians should focus on armed struggle. "Let them know that they would bleed for every dollar they spend on killing Muslims," he says. "They cannot ... insult our prophet and support Israel, and expect to live in peace in their countries." Al-Zawahiri also accuses Arab leaders of colluding with the US and Israel in blockading Palestinians in Gaza. "The satanic alliance shows us its ugliness and how low it is, an alliance of the crusaders and the Jews and with them [Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak, and [Saudi Arabia's ruling] Saud family, and the son of al-Hussein [Jordan's King Abdullah]." KJF 2010-02-03T14:47:36-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a010507AlZawahiriSomalia#a010507AlZawahiriSomalia http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a010507AlZawahiriSomalia#a010507AlZawahiriSomalia Al-Qaeda deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahiri releases a new audio message, entitled "Set Out and Support Your Brothers in Somalia." The audio comes with a video still of al-Zawahiri from one of his previous videos, lasts for five and a half minutes, and was produced by al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab. "You have to use ambushes and mines, and raids and suicidal attacks until you rend and eat your prey as the lion does with his prey," says al-Zawahiri, who calls on Muslims everywhere--but specifically those in Yemen, the Arab Peninsula, Egypt, North Africa, and Sudan--to participate in a holy war against secular government and Ethiopian forces in Somalia. According to al-Zawahiri, Somalia needs men, experience, money, and advice to defeat the Ethiopian forces, which he calls the "slaves of America." Addressing Somali Muslims directly, al-Zawahiri reminds them of US intervention in Somalia between 1992 and 1994, saying that America has been defeated before , and due to terrorist strikes in Afghanistan and Iraq, the American Army is relatively weaker. Al-Zawahiri also directly calls upon the youth of the radical Egyptian Islamic group Al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya to participate in the jihad. He states that these members joined the group to obey Allah, and if they are prevented from that duty, "they must crush the sarcophagus where they were embalmed alive." KJF 2010-02-02T15:20:20-08:00 http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a121907AlZawahiri20Questions#a121907AlZawahiri20Questions http://www.historycommons.org/context.jsp?item=a121907AlZawahiri20Questions#a121907AlZawahiri20Questions Al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab asks for questions from "individuals, agencies, and all media" to be put to al-Qaeda's second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri. The request is issued in the form of an advertisement posted on militant websites used by As-Sahab. The questions are to be submitted in writing by sending them to the Internet forums where As-Sahab traditionally posts its messages, no later than January 16, 2008. The forums should then forward the questions "with no changes or substitutions, no matter whether they agree or disagree [with the question]." According to the Associated Press, this is the first such offer by al-Qaeda's main leadership since 9/11, although an arm of the organization in Saudi Arabia did so a few years ago. AP calls al-Qaeda "increasingly media-savvy," and reports the request as "a new twist in al-Qaeda's campaign to reach a broader audience." Al-Zawahiri will answer the questions in two installments in April (see and ). KJF 2010-02-02T15:18:57-08:00