June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

On 5 June 2008 Zimbabwean authorities briefly detained a convoy carrying U.S. and British diplomatic personnel. The incident began after a contingent of diplomats from the U.S. and U.K. embassies in Harare paid visits to activists of the opposition party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) as well as several victims of political violence in a town north of the capital. Local police officers approached the diplomats and ordered them to a nearby police station. The situation escalated when the diplomats refused the order and departed in their three vehicles, which were then pursued by police officers. After splitting into different directions, one vehicle made it safely to the U.S. Embassy; Zimbabwean authorities pursued the other two for several miles and attempted to run them off the road. The vehicles eventually stopped in Bindura (located approximately 49 mi/80 km from Harare) at a police checkpoint, where their tires were slashed. The diplomats were detained for approximately five hours.

In a separate development on 5 June, the government announced the indefinite suspension of all field work by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and aid groups within the country. This development follows the recent suspension of CARE International’s operations in Zimbabwe after the government accused the organization of campaigning for the opposition. The government stated that several groups have “breached the terms and conditions of their registration,” although it did not give specific reasons for the suspension. This development will have adverse affects in Zimbabwe, as a large percentage of the population is dependent on aid groups and NGOs for food aid.

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June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

Critical Thinking Skills Workshop (June 17-19; Reston, VA) Students learn how to use critical thinking skills in their work by framing their line of argument, developing hypotheses, visualizing data, and writing their final product with clarity and persuasiveness. [View course website]

Hospital Security Preparedness Course (June 30–July 3; September 8-11; November 3-6; December 1-4; Washington, DC) The ER One Institute at Washington Hospital Center is holding a course for hospital protective services and law enforcement. The goal is to achieve competency in handling all hazards to hospital security, from routine situations to mass-casualty incidents and terrorist attacks against the facility. Students will experience comprehensive hands-on training, live drills, and classroom instruction from faculty with extensive security and counterterrorism experience. [View course website]

Strategic Counterterrorism Issues and Practices (July 8-10; Reston, VA) Students explore the current thinking on strategic counterterrorism issues and research and practice, applying analytical tools to topics such as radicalization. [View course website]

Basic Analytic Tools and Techniques Workshop (July 14-16; Reston, VA) This course explains what analysis is, why frameworks are important, and how to overcome mindsets and avoid surprise by using indicators, key assumptions checks, devil’s advocacy, and ACH. [View course website]

Advanced Briefing Workshop (July 22-25; Reston, VA) Students will review what makes for an effective presentation, prepare several briefings, practice delivering them, and review their presentations on videotape. [View course website]

National Transit Institute—Terrorist Activity Recognition and Reaction (July 25; Williamsburg, VA) This class for transit employees who have direct contact with the public teaches participants to identify and report suspected pre-attack terrorist activity; distinguish normal, suspicious, and dangerous activity; define roles in recognizing and reacting to suspicious activity; and describe immediate actions to take when confronted with dangerous activity. [View course website]

Combating Bioterrorism/Pandemics: Implementing Policies for Biosecurity (17.60s) (July 28-30; Cambridge, MA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology experts and affiliates will explore the obstacles to implementing policies and strategies to overcome the obstacles. [View course website]

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June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 (Miami Herald) “The Shining Path [Sendero Luminoso in Spanish] rebels who terrorized Peru decades ago are back … And unlike before, the rebels have almost unlimited financial support,” reports the Miami Herald. “Earning cash by protecting coca fields and cocaine-smuggling routes, they are able to buy powerful weapons and pay salaries to men and women who take up arms against the government” of “Peru, which saw nearly 70,000 people killed from 1980 to the mid-90’s in the Shining Path’s brutal effort to impose a Maoist communist regime.… The country has enjoyed more than a decade of political stability since the rebel threat was virtually eliminated by” Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian president from 1990 to 2000.

http://www.miamiherald.com/news/americas/story/552250.html

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June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

(Washington Post) “A military jury” on Wednesday “acquitted a Marine intelligence officer”—First Lieutenant Andrew Grayson—“of charges that he tried to help cover up the killings of 24 Iraqis,” reports the Washington Post. Grayson “was the first of three Marines to be tried in the biggest U.S. criminal case involving Iraqi deaths linked to the war.” He “was not at the scene of the killings of men, women and children on Nov. 19, 2005, in Haditha. He was accused of telling a sergeant to delete photographs of the dead from a digital camera and laptop computer.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/04/AR2008060402359.html?hpid=moreheadlines

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June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 (Washington Post) “Less than a year after his agency warned of new threats from a resurgent al-Qaeda, CIA Director Michael V. Hayden now portrays the terrorist movement as essentially defeated in Iraq and Saudi Arabia and on the defensive throughout much of the rest of the world, including in its presumed haven along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,” reports the Washington Post. But he cautioned “that al-Qaeda remains a serious threat.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/29/AR2008052904116.html?hpid=topnews

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June 6, 2008 by Tim McDowell.

 (Fox News) “Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff warned [on May 29 in Jerusalem] that the radical Islamic group Hezbollah ‘makes Al Qaeda look like a minor league team,’ and poses the greatest threat to national security.…” reports Fox News. “‘They have been more disciplined, and they’ve been in some senses more restrained in the kinds of attacks they carry out … in recent years, but that’s not something we can take for granted,’ he warned.”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,359594,00.html

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