Trying To Track Potential Terror Suspects Over There, And Ending A Visitor Registry Here
[guest post by Dana]
While German Chancellor Angela Merkel continues to publicly defend her lenient immigration policies in spite of Monday’s terror attack in Berlin, a former head of MI6’s counter-extremism unit is pulling back the curtain and exposing the difficulties of keeping tabs on the whereabouts of potential terror suspects in Germany:
…Richard Barrett said Thursday that German authorities are finding it virtually impossible to keep track of the 7,000 potential terror suspects roaming around the country.
Intelligence failings have been at the forefront of the public’s mind, following Monday’s devastating truck terror attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, leaving 12 dead and 48 injured.
Not only did German authorities arrest the wrong suspect, but they determined that the actual suspect, Anis Amris, a known supporter of the Islamic State and recruiter for the terror group, had been arrested three times in 2016 alone and should have already been deported. Amris is a 24-year-old Tunisian asylum seeker.
…
Barrett said it’s hardly surprising that German law enforcement are having a difficult time because they have to continually keep track of 550 “really extreme potential terrorists on the books.”
In total, the number of “live” potential terror suspects roaming around Germany amounts to 7,000. These suspects are believed to have some level of communication with extremist groups and are deemed worth of further investigation.
Merkel doesn’t agree that there is a problem with her anti-terrorism efforts:
[S]he defended her anti-terrorism record and championed the “seamless” cooperation Germany has with other intelligence services.
“We have made considerable efforts in recent years to better meet the danger of terrorism,”
Of course, the simple question is: If the front door hadn’t been left wide open for nearly anyone to enter, would Germany be facing such an enormous and unmanageable problem now?
With that, it was announced today that a visitor’s registry here in the U.S. that was instituted after 9/11 to keep track of immigrant men from mostly Muslim countries, has been scrapped by President Obama:
The original National Security Entry-Exit Registration System, or NSEERs, launched about a year after 9/11, requiring men and boys from a variety of mostly Middle Eastern countries to register with the federal government upon their arrival in the U.S. Registration, which also applied to immigrants from North Korea, included fingerprints and photographs and a requirement to notify the government of any address changes.
But after the Obama administration suspended the program in 2011, the Department of Homeland Security put out a notice Thursday officially removing what it called “outdated regulations” pertaining to the “obsolete” system.
Here is what the notice said:
“DHS ceased use of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) program in 2011 after finding that the program was redundant, captured data manually that was already captured through automated systems, and no longer provided an increase in security in light of DHS’s evolving assessment of the threat posed to the United States by international terrorism. The regulatory structure pertaining to NSEERS no longer provides a discernable public benefit as the program has been rendered obsolete. Accordingly, DHS is removing the special registration program regulations.”
The decision by the president comes when terror attacks are increasing around the globe and the official transition to a Trump presidency is just around the corner.
One year ago, then-candidate Trump called for “…a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country’s representatives can figure out what is going on”.
The president-elect revised the statement in June of this year:
“When I am elected, I will suspend immigration from areas of the world when there is a proven history of terrorism against the United States, Europe or our allies, until we understand how to end these threats,”
After Monday’s attack in Germany, Trump said that the attack was “an attack on humanity and it’s got to be stopped.” When pressed about his campaign pledge to temporarily suspend Muslim immigration [from an unnamed list of countries], Trump responded:
“You know my plans. All along, I’ve been proven to be right, 100 percent correct,” Trump said when asked if the attack in Berlin had caused him to reevaluate the proposal. “What’s happening is disgraceful.”
From the incoming administration’s website:
Suspend, on a temporary basis, immigration from some of the most dangerous and volatile regions of the world that have a history of exporting terrorism.
–Dana
Hello.
Dana (d17a61) — 12/22/2016 @ 3:42 pmthe DHS does not make me feel safe
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/22/2016 @ 3:46 pmThank you Mr. Obama.
God forbid any terror acts, guess who gets blamed if registry would have been useful.
Since it was “suspended in 2011, it may not be relevant. But, thanks again. Just in case.
Steve_in_SoCal (58e1f9) — 12/22/2016 @ 4:02 pmWell thank goodness the cooperation is seamless! It hurts less when you’re killed that way.
Obviously Obama is doing this to set up trump. Its all politics to these leftists isn’t it?
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/22/2016 @ 4:09 pmIts up there with releasing a passel of detainees, like effendi jusrut as well as dismissing real experts like Phil honey.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 4:10 pmObama doing everything he can to cause as much damage as possible before he is forced out of office.
NJRob (a98207) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:26 pmI fully expect we will find that the information had been destroyed, the hard drives shredded, and that the backups have been lost. And, accidentally, so have all immigration files relating to the various amnesty programs.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:44 pmAndrew McCarthy has written an article to be read and passed along. He outlines the problem with the “no-go” zones, the parallel Islamic enclave societies and non-assimilation neighborhoods in Germany, Belgium, France and other European states where now second generation migrants are radicalized and newly arriving jihadists find sympathy and can hide and be protected in between terror attacks. A gruesome outlook that has implications in the United States as well.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/443268/germany-islamist-enclaves-europe-jihad-terrorism-problem-growing
elissa (a0c7f2) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:45 pmReally the only question I have is whether Obama makes his hajj in 2017 or if he waits.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:45 pmStuff like this is why we got Trump.
nk (dbc370) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:48 pmI was going to link that piece on the update blog post.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:49 pmIslamic enclave societies and non-assimilation neighborhoods in Germany, Belgium, France and other European states
This will not end well.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/22/2016 @ 5:50 pmBarack’s such a punk.
Cruz Supporter (102c9a) — 12/22/2016 @ 6:16 pmHe didn’t dare do this prior to the election because he knew that it would hurt Hillary, suggesting he knows it’s not a popular policy position.
And he waited until a few days before Christmas knowing that a good percentage of America is already focused on the holiday rather than on who did what in Washington DC.
Multiculturalism is the death knell of a society. We can and have been multi ethnic but we can have only one culture. If that culture is not American then we cease to be Americans. When it became “press one for English” we went from multi ethnic to multi cultural. A culture has one language, one history, one tradition and one religion. An open culture can accept some multi ethnic tendencies but they cannot transplant the founding culture. Ask the Sioux and Cheyenne if you don’t believe me.
Rev. Hoagie® (785e38) — 12/22/2016 @ 6:16 pmRead a Euro newspaper account of the impossibility of Germany’s task.
Germany shares borders with 9 other countries.
Germany is under constant efforts of intelligence penetration by Russia.
Germany has only 2500 employees of its federal police agency — that’s total employees, meaning clerks, receptionists, analysts, etc. It has only about 1500 actual agents who are tasked with keeping track of internal threats.
It takes about 20 agents to maintain 24 hour surveillance on a single individual.
They estimate there are 7,000 to 10,000 jihadists in Germany now — not including others who cross into Germany from a neighboring country with little effort.
Do the math.
shipwreckedcrew (56b591) — 12/22/2016 @ 6:51 pmToday was another great day.
This morning I read that Egypt was going to put forward a UN resolution condemning West Bank settlements as a violation of international law and America’s UN Ambassador, at Obama’s direction, was going to abstain. My stomach turned and my Irish came up. “I hate Obama,” I thought.
And then, later in the day, I read that Egypt, upon learning of Trump’s opposition, blinked and withdrew the resolution indefinitely. Amazing!
John Hinderacker, who was no Trump fan during the primaries, has this to say:
“It is an extraordinary thing: for many purposes, Donald Trump is our president, even though his inauguration is weeks away. Our nominal president, Barack Obama, is golfing in Hawaii, or was last I knew. It is Trump who acts, who decides, who has influence, who exercises power. Obama shrinks, day by day, while Trump takes over the stage. If he can accomplish this much as president-elect, what might he do as president?”
Finally, I saw this headline over at Drudge:
“WASH POST LEAD FRIDAY: Obama White House Feeling Upstaged...”
Does it get any better than that?
ThOR (c9324e) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:04 pmshipwreckedcrew, are you saying Germany is doomed as a Northern European, white, Christian nation and for all intents and purposes has surrendered to the moslem hoards? I assume Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark and Luxembourg are likewise finished?
There is a term for the elimination of an entire race either by design or by assimilation. I believe it’s called genocide. However, since the moslems are technically white and their victims are also what is the term for that? I guess it’s “cultural genocide”, well how about that? Press one for English.
Rev. Hoagie® (785e38) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:07 pmThey have a herculean task and one should consider a ‘sum of Al
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:14 pmL fears’ tale by Terry Hayes, a producer of dystopia fare like mad Mac of ‘ the pilgrim’ considered what happens when a man of great faith and tescientific skill seeks his revenge upon the west, Germany plays pivotal role.
That other novel ‘the devils banker’ also set in Europe although mostly the more respectable corners, shows faith and financial acumen could prove a lethal combination.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:31 pmWhich reminds our faith has to be as great as there’s in order for us to prevail, this was one of gen. Boykins contentions that forced Larkin a man who believes in nothing, to drive him out of the top ranks if the servuce
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:50 pmYou sure how quickly reality dispatches a fake news story,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:53 pmSo there was another attempted Christmas attack in Germany, guess epwhes where, remember where aq practiced their craft.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 8:47 pmThis is confusing. There’s already a Muslim registry? How can there be? Trump was going to start one.
Richard Aubrey (472a6f) — 12/22/2016 @ 8:56 pmBack in the doubleunplus years 2001-2011, so we have attempts in aystralua and Germany.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 9:02 pmThank God they caught them beforehand :
I fear it’s going to become an increasingly more dangerous time for Europe, especially this holiday season.
Dana (d17a61) — 12/22/2016 @ 9:08 pmOne thing that I missed in my post, Dana, the school Mari burned down was the same reception center that took him in, the follow up beast piece points it out.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 9:12 pmSo it seems this lone wolf was in contact with at least one Hugh ranking jayvee figure, Christian emde, who was featured in todenhifers intervurw two years ago, this is a serious calamity
narciso (d1f714) — 12/22/2016 @ 9:54 pmRev Hoagie # 14 : Amen !
But apparently the Hard Left prefers a divided-and-hyphenated America, so our own Shaykh Barack Hussein Obama is subtly encouraging jihadi-Americans to get on with celebrating the Religion of Pieces during this most-Christian of seasons…
Doo-Dah, Doo-Dah (a3c465) — 12/22/2016 @ 10:20 pmObama shrinks, day by day, while Trump takes over the stage.
Well, Trump makes the comments and everyone knows that he’ll be The Man in a few short weeks, so they pay attention and try not to be on his wrong side. Egypt gets a lot of money from the US and their regime has just a wee bit of illegitimacy to it, and wants US backing (Obama still wants the Islamic Brotherhood back in power).
If he can accomplish this much as president-elect, what might he do as president?”
The $64,000 question all right. Trump is a singularity. Sure, things will change, but which way will Mad-eye Moody’s eye swivel?
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/23/2016 @ 12:12 amAs for the President being Trump, no, the President is Obama. Until noon on Jan 20th. That being said, he’s also a lame duck and the voters rejected his party’s successor, so to change longstanding US policy on his way out, wrt our (remaining) ally Israel, is unsupportable.
I look at it as a cry for help. SEE! I’M STILL HERE! I’M IMPORTANT!
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/23/2016 @ 12:20 amFinally, I saw this headline over at Drudge:
“WASH POST LEAD FRIDAY: Obama White House Feeling Upstaged…”
Does it get any better than that?
ThOR (c9324e) — 12/22/2016 @ 7:04 pm
=======================================
Ha! His work here are dun.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 12/23/2016 @ 4:10 amAfter 76 years, Italy finally makes a useful contribution to the Axis alliance.
nk (dbc370) — 12/23/2016 @ 4:29 amAnd one way the EU is useful. Criminals cannot make their getaway by “crossing the state line”.
nk (dbc370) — 12/23/2016 @ 4:39 amAnd a Drudge headline more representative of Drudge: TURF WAR: Half-Naked Hookers Brawl on Vegas Strip!
nk (dbc370) — 12/23/2016 @ 4:44 amNK, does the dreamed-of Northern League extend that far west from Lombardy?
urbanleftbehind (7a93c5) — 12/23/2016 @ 5:51 amThis was silvio’s hometurf after after all,
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 6:25 amRemember Milan was where that Egyptian imAm was rendered so Los fit’s went after the CIA team, but of course.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 6:44 amBow when did imam nasr set up his network, during the bosnian war
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 6:53 amThe late Abu nassim, a Tunisian released from bagram was the cell leader there
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:09 amCorrection, he’s not dead. But he was a Tunisian combatant commsnder
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:17 amBerlin savage is dead. Several Christmas plots have been foiled worldwide.
Is anyone still an open borders advocate
Locke (2a2d7c) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:24 amLook on the bright side.
The libs could have elected someone worse than Obama back in 08.
President Lex Luther. [jpg]
On the bad side, I’m stumped for other candidates that would tip that teeter totter.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:51 amSpeaking of no-go zones, the Berlin killer was seen in a photo at a Berlin mosque about 3 miles from the site of the massacre.
I bet the police never even considered going there. And I doubt they are considering going there and arresting everyone in charge!
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:52 amI say that instead of jury trials for U.S. policemen accused of killings here (thinking of the recent post about the So. Carolina officer), why not assign them to Europe to take on these no-go zones. They would be off the streets and not in a pleasant situation which would placate the BLM. The host country can promise them a castle or a bier haus for their trouble. The famous George Zimmerman (never a sworn officer, but hear me out) would be a natural in that, after a couple of days unshaven and unshowered, he would look the part to be the ultimate covert agent.
urbanleftbehind (5eecdb) — 12/23/2016 @ 8:14 amNo go zone sounds like a joke on muslims. To me anyhow.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/23/2016 @ 8:34 am@Locke. You want to treat people differently according to who they are, and not what they do?
How is that efficient? And what does this have to do with what actually happened?
Note, Anis Amar was identified as a serious jihadist in Germany. The number had grown almost to 550. He was ordered deported, although not specifically for being a jihadist, (and that’s a problem) but he couldn’t be sent anywhere because deportation requires the consent of the receiving country, which they didn’t have. He was under active investigation. Except they lost track of him.
In the United States he would have either been kept under very tight surveillance, and perhaps s sting operation tried, or he would have arrested, held without bail, and prosecuted for assisting terrorism by being a member of a terrorist organization, and then sentenced to a very long jail term.
The United States – and Australia for that matter – doesn’t keep terrorists reharded as dangerous under sporadic surveillance.
He would not have been sent out of the country, either, like he was sent out of Italy or told to leave it, unless they were sure that he would not commit acts of terrorism wherever he went, and also that he would not be tortured or imprisoned without good cause.
He faced immediate jail in Tunisia, despite efforts by his family to get his conviction in absentia quashed, so faced very poor prospects of a decent life. And this was a very bad thing, because t gae him little to lose. His Tunisian passport was on its way, and with that the German authroties could pick him up and send him to Tunisia. (can’t deport someone without a passport!)
This played out in slow motion, which was positively the woorst thing to do. He probably knew the passprt was on its way, and he had plenty of time to think. He decided on suicide by enemy action, with an option to live. Not with a fake crime either, since then he wouldn’t be a martyr but one fully approved of by his imam.
Sammy Finkelman (bc65ac) — 12/23/2016 @ 8:56 am43. Patricia (5fc097) — 12/23/2016 @ 7:52 am
They did go there, later,, and obtained video. That’s how they know he was there.
But at the time he was there, Anis Amar was not a suspect! They had a suspect in custody. True, all he did was be near where the driver of the vehicle disappeared into a park, possibly resemebe him – and cross a red light, which they took to be a sign of a fugitive, simce nobody crosses a street against the light in Germany. But this person was relatively new to Germany.
Sammy Finkelman (bc65ac) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:04 amhey you guys it’s christmas let’s go to the christmasmarket!
what are you crazy happy we all get runned over by a rampaging truck-driving horde of muslim terror refugees!
oh. I didn’t think of that. Sorry. Maybe we should just stay home and bake cookies.
That’s a great idea – break out the Pam cooking spray!
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:07 amAnd shaping in oberhausen is not advised.
Ot, the Jerusalem star.com is a Corrective to the silly hipster manger
narciso (d1f714) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:11 amThese terror suspects were all “doing” something. Like stating intentions to attack, like participating in online forums for jihad, like burning down schools or dealing drugs or attending mosques that preach hate to gays.
Yes, they should be deported for that. To wait until they kill a few dozen people is an insane suicidal plan. If their country won’t take them back, they should go to jail.
Patricia (5fc097) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:12 amBest headline so far, via Washington Post:
Dana (d17a61) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:18 amPresident Lex Luther sent out feelers to the galaxy to invite unstoppable criminal Krytonian aliens to murder us.
I guess it’s kind of the same idea as Obama, except for the invincible part.
papertiger (c8116c) — 12/23/2016 @ 11:17 amPresident Lex Luthor.
Say what you will about Lex, he wouldn’t have done an apology tour. And it’s pretty cool to have a vampire as an aide.
Kevin M (25bbee) — 12/23/2016 @ 11:29 pmApocalips a misunderstood fellow. I mentioned Herr stiffen on the other thread.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/24/2016 @ 6:35 amMiss tessmacher was a vampire?
narciso (d1f714) — 12/24/2016 @ 6:41 amoh by golly holly jolly
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/24/2016 @ 7:03 amOne thinks of the seemingly hyperefficent section from la fame nitika that surnow turned into ctu.
narciso (d1f714) — 12/24/2016 @ 7:21 amho ho ho who wouldn’t go (rhetorical question)
happyfeet (28a91b) — 12/24/2016 @ 7:30 amPatricia (5fc097) — 12/23/2016 @ 9:12 am
So they should kill tourists in Tunisia, say, rather than in Berlin? That’s not really very satisfactory. Now a drug dealer maybe you don’t care as long as he’s selling drugs somewhere else.
I wasn’t talking terrorists because when they say deport migrants they don’t mean terrorists. They are not disntinguishing.
If they are members of a terrorist grioup, they should be put in jail, period, in whatever country will hold them better. And if they are in jail, or in Guantanamo, they shouldn’t be released until there’s a much more limited danger.
There are 34,000 people in Germany, mostly turned down asylum seekers, whose countries aren’t taking them back that quickly. German law apparently allows for imprisonment in such cases for only a day or two.
Now part of the problem is not recognizing certain things are signs of terrorism. But this person was really known to be a member of a terrorist network, and would probably have been prosecuted and jailed in the United States just for that. And/or you do a bit of a sting operaton to sund him out. Like this case:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/fbi-arrests-brooklyn-man-joined-isis-hoped-attack-nyc-article-1.2882425
http://nypost.com/2016/11/21/man-arrested-for-plotting-terror-attack-on-times-square/
Actually, this person was very much an amateur, and he was really at an early stage.
Maybe they let things get out of hand there in Germany.
Of course this crashing a truck into a crowd idea makes things a bit more dangerous. They might have stopped this guy sooner, now:
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/feds-caught-najibullah-zazi-pieced-9-11-terror-plot-article-1.380680
(The United States let someone drive a car from Colorado to New York and only stopped him at the George Washington Bridge because they thought he might have explosives. They found nonw and let him go. He was suspicious, though)
Sammy Finkelman (55138d) — 12/24/2016 @ 10:00 pmWashington Post:
Sammy Finkelman (55138d) — 12/24/2016 @ 10:12 pm