Lightweight shoulder fired missiles are floating around on the black market. It's just a matter of time before some maniac tries to use one on a commercial airliner. But Bush is opposing legislation to outfit commercial airliners with
jamming devices. Too expensive. After all, he flies on Air Force 1. It's already equipped.
From the NY Times
U.S. Holds Briton on Missile Charge
By DAVID JOHNSTON and PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 ? A British arms dealer was arrested today in Newark on charges that he tried to sell a Russian-made surface-to-air missile to an American undercover agent posing as an operative for Al Qaeda, law enforcement officials said.
A shoulder-fired SA-18 missile and launcher, which had been made inoperable as part of a sting operation, were seized today by American investigators, acting with extensive help from Russian and British authorities, officials said. The missile, when armed, is capable of bringing down a commercial airliner.
The case was, in effect, a complex double sting operation that unfolded over months. On one side the Russians, alerted by the American authorities, supplied the arms trader with the missile, which he tried to sell to American agents posing as terrorists. No real terrorists were ever connected to the plot.
The arrest followed a series of urgent warnings from Bush administration officials that terrorists might use portable missiles against commercial aircraft. American aviation experts have been dispatched to Iraq and cities in Europe and Asia in recent weeks to assess the vulnerability of commercial airports to missile attacks. Whether the experts visited Russia is not clear.
Russia's efforts in the case were said by officials to be a breakthrough in counterterrorism cooperation with the United States. President Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin were regularly briefed on the case, which involved an exchange of agents between the F.B.I. and the F.S.B., Russia's internal security service, the officials said.
They said Russian agents, acting under cover, supplied the arms dealer, a British citizen of Indian descent, with the missile. The arms trader had the Russians ship the weapon to the United States, believing it to be fully operational. He then tried to sell it to American law enforcement agents, also acting under cover, according to the authorities.
The arrest took place at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport after the dealer agreed to sell a highly sophisticated SA-18 missile to undercover agents. Russian undercover agents sent the missile to the United States aboard a ship that docked at an East Coast port. During the trip, the missile was under the control of Russian and American officials, who remained under cover.
The identity of the arms dealer and the charges against him were not disclosed by the authorities, who acted on the basis of sealed arrest and search warrants.
In New York, officials said two other unidentified men had been arrested in the investigation. Officials said they were part of an illegal money trading business apparently used in the scheme.
New York city law enforcement officers led by the F.B.I. searched twelfth-floor offices at 1 West 47 Street in the city's diamond district. The agents wheeled filing cabinets, computers and boxes loaded with documents out of the building, pushing through crowded streets. Shops were closing for the evening and workers gathered to watch. The office is part of 580 Fifth Avenue, but is accessed through 47th Street.
The arrests today came two days after a shootout in Saudi Arabia that resulted in the arrest of a 10-person Qaeda cell that according to intelligence officials had hoped to mount an attack on a British commercial aircraft, possibly using a lightweight missile.
Intelligence agencies say Al Qaeda already has dozens of missiles, many of them American-made Stingers left over from the war in Afghanistan in the 1980's when the United States supplied them to Afghan guerrillas seeking to oust Soviet troops from their country. Hundreds of other surface-to-air missiles are reported to be circulating on the black market.
The officials said the arrested man was not a well-known arms trader, but had told associates in the New York area in the last year that he could obtain arms, including shoulder-fired missiles, from military stocks in countries like Russia. Other officials said the Russian authorities had received the first tip in the case, a feeler from the arms dealer trying to buy a shoulder-fired missile.
The arms trafficker lived in England but traveled regularly to the Newark area, where he had several associates who were aware of his activities. The officials said that the arrested man had been motivated by profit and that he was not directly involved in terrorist operations.
The investigation was carried out by a somewhat new grouping of American law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Homeland Security Department. The bureau's agents operated in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.
The arrests seemed likely to fuel the debate between the Bush administration and members of Congress over whether the government is doing enough to deal with the terrorist threat posed by shoulder-fired missiles ? a danger that became apparent last November when terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda tried to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane in Mombasa, Kenya.
The two Russian-made missiles barely missed the Boeing 757. Later, American intelligence analysts said the launcher used in the failed attack in Mombasa had a serial number close to one on a launcher of the same type found last year after a failed Qaeda attack on an American warplane in Saudi Arabia.
The Bush administration has insisted that it is moving aggressively to respond to the threat, but it has refused to support legislation now in Congress that would require the government to spend billions of dollars to outfit thousands of passenger planes in the United States with the antimissile technology now used on military planes.
After the attack in Kenya, the Department of Homeland Security oversaw inspections at scores of major airports in the United States to determine whether they were vulnerable to attack by the small missiles.
As a result, administration officials said, security patrols around many of the airports have been increased, and electronic surveillance equipment has been installed to monitor activity along flight paths used on takeoffs and landings.
In recent weeks, the inspections have expanded overseas, with American inspectors dispatched to two airports in Iraq ? Baghdad and Basra ? and to 10 other major foreign cities, including Athens, Istanbul and Manila, where American air carriers have regularly scheduled flights.
After the arrest today, Democratic lawmakers said the case demonstrated the seriousness of the missile threat ? and the administration's failure to address the danger.
Representative Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, said the case "is just the latest indication of the gravity of this threat to the safety of air travelers." Mr. Israel is sponsoring a bill that would require that the antimissile equipment be placed in all 6,800 existing passenger planes in the United States.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, a fellow New York Democrat who is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, said today, "The White House ought to be providing Homeland Security with the money it needs to begin protecting civilian aircraft with jamming devices immediately, before it's too late."
jamming devices. Too expensive. After all, he flies on Air Force 1. It's already equipped.
From the NY Times
U.S. Holds Briton on Missile Charge
By DAVID JOHNSTON and PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 ? A British arms dealer was arrested today in Newark on charges that he tried to sell a Russian-made surface-to-air missile to an American undercover agent posing as an operative for Al Qaeda, law enforcement officials said.
A shoulder-fired SA-18 missile and launcher, which had been made inoperable as part of a sting operation, were seized today by American investigators, acting with extensive help from Russian and British authorities, officials said. The missile, when armed, is capable of bringing down a commercial airliner.
The case was, in effect, a complex double sting operation that unfolded over months. On one side the Russians, alerted by the American authorities, supplied the arms trader with the missile, which he tried to sell to American agents posing as terrorists. No real terrorists were ever connected to the plot.
The arrest followed a series of urgent warnings from Bush administration officials that terrorists might use portable missiles against commercial aircraft. American aviation experts have been dispatched to Iraq and cities in Europe and Asia in recent weeks to assess the vulnerability of commercial airports to missile attacks. Whether the experts visited Russia is not clear.
Russia's efforts in the case were said by officials to be a breakthrough in counterterrorism cooperation with the United States. President Bush and President Vladimir V. Putin were regularly briefed on the case, which involved an exchange of agents between the F.B.I. and the F.S.B., Russia's internal security service, the officials said.
They said Russian agents, acting under cover, supplied the arms dealer, a British citizen of Indian descent, with the missile. The arms trader had the Russians ship the weapon to the United States, believing it to be fully operational. He then tried to sell it to American law enforcement agents, also acting under cover, according to the authorities.
The arrest took place at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport after the dealer agreed to sell a highly sophisticated SA-18 missile to undercover agents. Russian undercover agents sent the missile to the United States aboard a ship that docked at an East Coast port. During the trip, the missile was under the control of Russian and American officials, who remained under cover.
The identity of the arms dealer and the charges against him were not disclosed by the authorities, who acted on the basis of sealed arrest and search warrants.
In New York, officials said two other unidentified men had been arrested in the investigation. Officials said they were part of an illegal money trading business apparently used in the scheme.
New York city law enforcement officers led by the F.B.I. searched twelfth-floor offices at 1 West 47 Street in the city's diamond district. The agents wheeled filing cabinets, computers and boxes loaded with documents out of the building, pushing through crowded streets. Shops were closing for the evening and workers gathered to watch. The office is part of 580 Fifth Avenue, but is accessed through 47th Street.
The arrests today came two days after a shootout in Saudi Arabia that resulted in the arrest of a 10-person Qaeda cell that according to intelligence officials had hoped to mount an attack on a British commercial aircraft, possibly using a lightweight missile.
Intelligence agencies say Al Qaeda already has dozens of missiles, many of them American-made Stingers left over from the war in Afghanistan in the 1980's when the United States supplied them to Afghan guerrillas seeking to oust Soviet troops from their country. Hundreds of other surface-to-air missiles are reported to be circulating on the black market.
The officials said the arrested man was not a well-known arms trader, but had told associates in the New York area in the last year that he could obtain arms, including shoulder-fired missiles, from military stocks in countries like Russia. Other officials said the Russian authorities had received the first tip in the case, a feeler from the arms dealer trying to buy a shoulder-fired missile.
The arms trafficker lived in England but traveled regularly to the Newark area, where he had several associates who were aware of his activities. The officials said that the arrested man had been motivated by profit and that he was not directly involved in terrorist operations.
The investigation was carried out by a somewhat new grouping of American law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is part of the Homeland Security Department. The bureau's agents operated in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service.
The arrests seemed likely to fuel the debate between the Bush administration and members of Congress over whether the government is doing enough to deal with the terrorist threat posed by shoulder-fired missiles ? a danger that became apparent last November when terrorists affiliated with Al Qaeda tried to shoot down an Israeli passenger plane in Mombasa, Kenya.
The two Russian-made missiles barely missed the Boeing 757. Later, American intelligence analysts said the launcher used in the failed attack in Mombasa had a serial number close to one on a launcher of the same type found last year after a failed Qaeda attack on an American warplane in Saudi Arabia.
The Bush administration has insisted that it is moving aggressively to respond to the threat, but it has refused to support legislation now in Congress that would require the government to spend billions of dollars to outfit thousands of passenger planes in the United States with the antimissile technology now used on military planes.
After the attack in Kenya, the Department of Homeland Security oversaw inspections at scores of major airports in the United States to determine whether they were vulnerable to attack by the small missiles.
As a result, administration officials said, security patrols around many of the airports have been increased, and electronic surveillance equipment has been installed to monitor activity along flight paths used on takeoffs and landings.
In recent weeks, the inspections have expanded overseas, with American inspectors dispatched to two airports in Iraq ? Baghdad and Basra ? and to 10 other major foreign cities, including Athens, Istanbul and Manila, where American air carriers have regularly scheduled flights.
After the arrest today, Democratic lawmakers said the case demonstrated the seriousness of the missile threat ? and the administration's failure to address the danger.
Representative Steve Israel, a New York Democrat, said the case "is just the latest indication of the gravity of this threat to the safety of air travelers." Mr. Israel is sponsoring a bill that would require that the antimissile equipment be placed in all 6,800 existing passenger planes in the United States.
Senator Charles E. Schumer, a fellow New York Democrat who is sponsoring the Senate version of the bill, said today, "The White House ought to be providing Homeland Security with the money it needs to begin protecting civilian aircraft with jamming devices immediately, before it's too late."
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