The Irish Republican Army is no longer a security threat to the United Kingdom, according to the Independent Monitoring Commission.  From the AP (via the IHT): The Irish Republican Army is fading away in Northern Ireland and poses no security threat to the British territory, international experts concluded Wednesday in another landmark for peacemaking. The governments of Britain and Ireland [...]

In a leaked document, the UK Home Office warns that an economic downturn could lead to more people becoming terrorists.  From Reuters: A economic downturn in Britain could aggravate racial tensions and grievances that help to feed terrorist recruitment, according to a leaked government document. The draft letter from the Home Office warned that a recession could create [...]

Pirates off the coast of Somalia are using their ransom payment to fund an Islamist insurgency  on land. From Reuters: n explosion of piracy this month off the coast of Somalia is funding a growing insurgency onshore as the hijackers funnel hefty ransom payments to Islamist rebels, a maritime official said on Sunday. A record four ships were [...]

Al-Qaeda has been escaping the grasp of law enforcement due to its cheap planning of terrorist activities. From the Washington Post: Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, al-Qaeda has increasingly turned to local cells that run extremely low-cost operations and generate cash through criminal scams, bypassing the global financial dragnet set up by the United States and [...]

In a classified report obtained by The Guardian paper in London, MI5 has found that it is impossible to identity future British terrorists.  From the Guardian: MI5 has concluded that there is no easy way to identify those who become involved in terrorism in Britain, according to a classified internal research document on radicalisation seen by the [...]

Underwater boats used by drug cartels to transport illegal drugs are creating worry among US National Security Officials that the boats may fall into terrorists hands.  From the Boston Globe:  Skimming just below the surface, they are extremely difficult to detect from surveillance aircraft or patrol boats. Their sleek design, up to 80 feet in length, can [...]

In a first every Threat Assessment by the United Kingdom, Prime Minister’s Gordon Brown’s office has found that pandemic flu posses a bigger risk to the public than terrorism.  From the AP (via IHT): Pandemic flu, not terrorism, is the most serious risk to the U.K. public, says Britain’s first ever national threat assessment, published on Friday. The document, [...]

The man accused of mailing Anthrax in 2001 committed suicide last week as investigators discussed a plea bargain. From the Washington Post: Investigators were so certain about the connection that they had scheduled a meeting for last Tuesday with Ivins’s attorneys to discuss a plea bargain that would have sent the scientist to prison for life but [...]

Time Magazine is reporting that a source formerly involved in US National Security is claiming that the US interrogated terror suspects on Diego Garcia, a small island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. From Time Magazine: According to a former senior American official, it appears another locale can be added to the international roster of interrogation [...]

In a critical assessment of the Bush Administration’s strategy on terrorism, the Rand Corp. argues in a new study that attacking Al Qaeda militarily is ineffective and would be better of by concentrating on law enforcement agencies. From the Washington Post: The Bush administration’s terrorism-fighting strategy has not significantly undermined al-Qaeda’s capabilities, according to a major new [...]