United States – The United States named a senior envoy on the 28 Aug 15 to work for the safe return of hostages after criticism of its response to the kidnap and murder of Americans held in Syria. One year ago journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff were killed by the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, triggering critical debate over Washington's handling of the crises. President Barack Obama ordered a review of U.S. policy in hostage cases that led to new protocols for coordinating the national response and helping victims' families. Foley's parents welcomed the naming of former senior diplomat Jim O'Brien as “First Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs,” attached to the State Department in a coordinating role. Secretary of State John Kerry said: “Jim will be focused on one overriding goal: using diplomacy to secure the safe return of Americans held hostage overseas.” “To that end, he will be in close contact with the families of American hostages,” said Kerry, in a nod to criticism from Foley and Sotloff's families that they were kept at arms' length. After Foley's murder, his family complained the Obama administration had kept them in the dark about developments and had threatened to prosecute them if they sought to pay a ransom. Parents Diane and John Foley, who have worked on hostage issues and supported hostages' families since their son's killing, including in collaboration with the U.S. government, hope O'Brien will save other families from the same heartbreak they suffered. In a statement, they said they were “hopeful that under his leadership many of our American hostages will return home. “We sincerely welcome him and look forward to working with him.” The envoy will work with the newly created “hostage fusion cell,” which brings together diplomats, CIA spies and FBI agents to handle hostage cases. Kerry said O'Brien will “meet with foreign leaders in support of our hostage-recovery efforts, advise on options to enhance those efforts, participate in strategy meetings with other senior U.S. policymakers, and represent the United States internationally on hostage-related issues.” O'Brien previously served as a presidential envoy to the Balkans, but has most recently been working for a private strategy group founded by former secretary of state Madeleine Albright. In July, after a policy review, Obama announced the fusion cell and said families would not be threatened with legal action, but reiterated that it remains U.S. policy to make no concessions to kidnappers.
United States/Saudi Arabia/Iran – Investigations into the 1996 attack on Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. airmen moved closer to a conclusion after its alleged mastermind, Ahmed al-Mughassil, was caught and handed over to Saudi authorities in Beirut late last week Al-Arabia wrote on the 31 Aug 15. Pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat broke the news of the arrest, but stopped short of giving further details, reporting only that Mughassil was captured by Saudi intelligence and handed over to relevant Saudi authorities in Beirut. The bombing destroyed an eight-story building in Khobar Towers, a housing complex for American Air Force personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen people were killed in the blast and 400 were wounded. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and senior Obama administration official, now with the Brookings Institution, told Al Arabiya News that Mughassil had been living in hiding in Beirut under the shelter of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. “Mughassil has been protected by Iran and Hezbollah since 1996; he may have gotten careless about his security. The Saudis were quick to get him out of Beirut before Hezbollah could rescue him,” Riedel said. At the time of the bombing, Riedel was the deputy assistant secretary of defence and recounted the day he was dispatched to the bombsite in an op-ed for Al Monitor: “The scene was devastating. Mughassil had driven a truck containing the bomb up to a protective wall near the barracks. He then remotely detonated the bomb. It was the equivalent of 20,000 pounds of TNT, larger than the bomb used to blow up the Marine barracks in Beirut. In addition to the Americans killed and wounded, dozens of Saudis and South Asian guest workers were injured. Mughassil allegedly fled to Iran immediately after the attack.” Neither the U.S. nor Saudi Arabia have directly commented or confirmed Mughassil’s arrest. American newspapers were quick to welcome the news but raised doubts regarding the timing of it. At the time of publication, the FBI’s most wanted list still had Mughassil listed as “at large” with a bounty of $5 million dollars and according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat, American analysts said that Washington were “the last to be informed regarding Mughassil’s arrest.” The New York Times, in an editorial published on August 28, said that the news’ timing had something to do with the current debate over the P5+1 Iranian nuclear deal. Under the deal reached in Jul 15, sanctions imposed by the U.S., the EU and the U.N. will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on a nuclear program that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. “While the arrest is welcome and long overdue, the timing has raised suspicions, coming as it does in the middle of a fierce debate in Congress about the wisdom of the proposed nuclear deal with Iran and whether Tehran can be relied on to fulfil its terms,” the editorial read. However, former political analyst at the Saudi embassy in the U.S., Fahad Nazer, told Al Arabiya News that any talk linking Saudi Arabia with the arrest and attempting to influence the U.S. congress vote on the Iran nuclear deal would “not very convincing.” “The U.S. does not need reminders that Iran has supported militant groups and terrorist acts that have targeted Americans. Iran is still designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States government and the sanctions that are related to its support of terrorist groups are still in place,” Nazer told Al Arabiya News. “I am also certain that Saudi policymakers are well aware that opponents of the Iran deal are facing an uphill battle in Congress and that the likelihood of Congress scuttling the deal at this point is decreasing by the day,” he added. While the debate continues regarding the timing of the event, Riedel told Al Arabiya that the arrest and confirmation of Mughassil’s hiding in Beirut only reinforces the U.S. Republican congressional opposition to the nuclear deal, proving Tehran’s meddling in Middle East affairs and state-sponsoring of regional attacks. “By putting Khobar in the headlines after 19 years, the Saudi operation dramatically reminds Americans of the numerous terror operations against American targets carried out by Tehran since 1979. This will strengthen the opposition to the deal by reinforcing doubts about Iran's trustworthiness,” Riedel said.
United States – Three members of a right-wing militia have been sentenced to twelve years in prison for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in attacks against federal government agencies. The defendants planned to attack critical infrastructure in Georgia while motivating militia groups in other states to rise up and join them in removing government officials who they believed had exceeded their Constitutional power. The militia members planned on starting a revolution against the federal government by conducting an attack aimed at the infrastructure supporting the TSA, DHS, and FEMA. Brian Cannon, 37, Terry Peace, 47, and Cory Williamson, 29, have been sentenced for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in attacks against federal government agencies. The defendants planned to attack critical infrastructure while motivating militia groups in other states to rise up and join them in removing government officials who they believed had exceeded their Constitutional power. (To read the full report: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20150831-members-of-rightwing-militia-go-to-jail-for-plotting-attacks-on-u-s-infrastructure)
United States/Saudi Arabia/Iran – Investigations into the 1996 attack on Khobar Towers that killed 19 U.S. airmen moved closer to a conclusion after its alleged mastermind, Ahmed al-Mughassil, was caught and handed over to Saudi authorities in Beirut late last week Al-Arabia wrote on the 31 Aug 15. Pan-Arab newspaper Asharq al-Awsat broke the news of the arrest, but stopped short of giving further details, reporting only that Mughassil was captured by Saudi intelligence and handed over to relevant Saudi authorities in Beirut. The bombing destroyed an eight-story building in Khobar Towers, a housing complex for American Air Force personnel stationed in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen people were killed in the blast and 400 were wounded. Former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst and senior Obama administration official, now with the Brookings Institution, told Al Arabiya News that Mughassil had been living in hiding in Beirut under the shelter of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. “Mughassil has been protected by Iran and Hezbollah since 1996; he may have gotten careless about his security. The Saudis were quick to get him out of Beirut before Hezbollah could rescue him,” Riedel said. At the time of the bombing, Riedel was the deputy assistant secretary of defence and recounted the day he was dispatched to the bombsite in an op-ed for Al Monitor: “The scene was devastating. Mughassil had driven a truck containing the bomb up to a protective wall near the barracks. He then remotely detonated the bomb. It was the equivalent of 20,000 pounds of TNT, larger than the bomb used to blow up the Marine barracks in Beirut. In addition to the Americans killed and wounded, dozens of Saudis and South Asian guest workers were injured. Mughassil allegedly fled to Iran immediately after the attack.” Neither the U.S. nor Saudi Arabia have directly commented or confirmed Mughassil’s arrest. American newspapers were quick to welcome the news but raised doubts regarding the timing of it. At the time of publication, the FBI’s most wanted list still had Mughassil listed as “at large” with a bounty of $5 million dollars and according to a report by Asharq al-Awsat, American analysts said that Washington were “the last to be informed regarding Mughassil’s arrest.” The New York Times, in an editorial published on August 28, said that the news’ timing had something to do with the current debate over the P5+1 Iranian nuclear deal. Under the deal reached in Jul 15, sanctions imposed by the U.S., the EU and the U.N. will be lifted in return for Iran agreeing long-term curbs on a nuclear program that the West has suspected was aimed at creating a nuclear bomb. “While the arrest is welcome and long overdue, the timing has raised suspicions, coming as it does in the middle of a fierce debate in Congress about the wisdom of the proposed nuclear deal with Iran and whether Tehran can be relied on to fulfil its terms,” the editorial read. However, former political analyst at the Saudi embassy in the U.S., Fahad Nazer, told Al Arabiya News that any talk linking Saudi Arabia with the arrest and attempting to influence the U.S. congress vote on the Iran nuclear deal would “not very convincing.” “The U.S. does not need reminders that Iran has supported militant groups and terrorist acts that have targeted Americans. Iran is still designated as a state sponsor of terrorism by the United States government and the sanctions that are related to its support of terrorist groups are still in place,” Nazer told Al Arabiya News. “I am also certain that Saudi policymakers are well aware that opponents of the Iran deal are facing an uphill battle in Congress and that the likelihood of Congress scuttling the deal at this point is decreasing by the day,” he added. While the debate continues regarding the timing of the event, Riedel told Al Arabiya that the arrest and confirmation of Mughassil’s hiding in Beirut only reinforces the U.S. Republican congressional opposition to the nuclear deal, proving Tehran’s meddling in Middle East affairs and state-sponsoring of regional attacks. “By putting Khobar in the headlines after 19 years, the Saudi operation dramatically reminds Americans of the numerous terror operations against American targets carried out by Tehran since 1979. This will strengthen the opposition to the deal by reinforcing doubts about Iran's trustworthiness,” Riedel said.
United States – Three members of a right-wing militia have been sentenced to twelve years in prison for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in attacks against federal government agencies. The defendants planned to attack critical infrastructure in Georgia while motivating militia groups in other states to rise up and join them in removing government officials who they believed had exceeded their Constitutional power. The militia members planned on starting a revolution against the federal government by conducting an attack aimed at the infrastructure supporting the TSA, DHS, and FEMA. Brian Cannon, 37, Terry Peace, 47, and Cory Williamson, 29, have been sentenced for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction in attacks against federal government agencies. The defendants planned to attack critical infrastructure while motivating militia groups in other states to rise up and join them in removing government officials who they believed had exceeded their Constitutional power. (To read the full report: http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20150831-members-of-rightwing-militia-go-to-jail-for-plotting-attacks-on-u-s-infrastructure)
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