The NEFA Foundation - Series: Target America

NEFA Series - "Target: America"

NEFA's "Target: America" series examines the multitude of terrorist plots directed at the United States since 9/11, drawing primarily on court filings and other official sources. The "Target: America" memos, which Counterterrorism and Homeland Security Reports identified as "very good reads for CT professionals," provide detailed insight into terrorist targeting strategies and tactics. Bojinka II: The Transatlantic Liquid Bomb Plot Concurrent with the start of the trial of eight alleged conspirators, the NEFA Foundation has released the fifteenth installment in its "Target: America" series, examining the 2006 plot to detonate liquid explosives on board several commercial aircraft departing from England and bound for the United States and Canada. Cell members reportedly planned to bring the liquid explosives onto planes in factory-sealed sports drink bottles modified with false bottoms. When announcing the plot’s disruption, Paul Stephenson, deputy chief of the Metropolitan Police, commented, "this was a plan by terrorists to cause untold death and destruction and commit mass murder." And British Home Secretary John Reid stated, "had this plot been carried out, the loss of life to innocent civilians would have been on an unprecedented scale." Note: Due to the dynamic nature of these reports, updates will be provided when available.
• April 3, 2008	Bojinka II: The Transatlantic Liquid Bomb Plot The NEFA Foundation has released the fifteenth installment in its "Target: America" series, examining the 2006 plot to detonate liquid explosives on board several commercial aircraft departing from England and bound for the United States and Canada. This report is described in more detail above.

• March 18, 2008	The Herald Square Plot The NEFA Foundation has released the fourteenth installment in its "Target: America" series, examining the planned 2004 attack on the Herald Square subway station in New York City. Working closely with an NYPD informant, whom they believed would provide explosives, conspirators Shahawar Matin Siraj and James Elshafay plotted to bomb what U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf labeled "one of the most active public transportation hubs in America." Shortly after conducting surveillance on their target, the men discussed the most effective strategy for planting the bomb, with Elshafay even suggesting he "dress like a Jew" and have the device look "like a belly." By carrying out the attack, Siraj and Elshafay sought to "damage the economy" and hoped the impact of the subway bombing would be magnified by the collapse of the Manhattan Mall, which sits above the station.

• Jan. 28, 2008	The Fort Dix Plot The NEFA Foundation has released the thirteenth installment in its "Target: America" series, examining the foiled 2007 plot to attack the U.S. Army base at Fort Dix, New Jersey. Initiated by a "homegrown" cell that was, in the words of one plotter, eager to "hit a heavy concentration of soldiers...", the plan was disrupted in May 2007 as two conspirators attempted to purchase four fully-automatic M-16 machine guns and three semi-automatic AK-47 assault rifles. In addition to attempting to purchase heavy weaponry to supplement their existing arsenal, cell members procured a map of Fort Dix, conducted reconnaissance on the base, and engaged in tactical and firearms training. One conspirator also carried out surveillance on a number of other military targets, including the U.S. Army base at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey and Dover Air Force base in Dover, Delaware.

• Jan. 5, 2008	The L.A. Plot to Attack U.S. Military, Israeli Government, & Jewish Targets The NEFA Foundation is providing an updated version of this "Target: America" report in light of guilty pleas from three plot conspirators and the release of a number of documents, including the 104-page "JIS Protocol" authored by mastermind Kevin James. The material provides rare insight into the mindset of homegrown American jihadists and sheds light on prison radicalization, as James established his terror cell and plotted carnage while incarcerated for armed robbery. FBI Director Robert Mueller has noted that "prisons continue to be fertile ground for extremists who exploit both a prisoner's conversion to Islam while still in prison, as well as their socio-economic status and placement in the community upon their release."

• Dec. 22, 2007	The Illinois Shopping Mall Plot This NEFA Foundation "Target: America" report focuses on the "homegrown" threat, documenting Muslim convert Derrick Shareef's plans to launch a grenade attack on the CherryVale Shopping Center in Rockford, Illinois. In preparation for his assault, Shareef carried out surveillance on the mall, attempted to procure weapons, and recorded a martyrdom tape, in which he ominously warned: "My name is Talib Abu Salam Ibn Shareef. I am 22 years of age. I am from America, and this tape is to let you guys know, who disbelieve in Allah, to let the enemies of Islam know, and to let the Muslims alike know that the time for jihad is now."

• Dec. 6, 2007	The New York City Subway Poison Gas Plot The NEFA Foundation has released a "Target: America" report examining the plot by a Bahrain-based cell to launch a cyanide gas attack on the New York City subway system. According to former CIA Director George Tenet, when the cell asked Al-Qaida’s central leadership for permission to launch the attack, "word came back from [Al-Qaida number two] Ayman al-Zawahiri himself in early 2003 to cancel the operation and recall the operatives, who were already staged in New York - because ‘we have something better in mind.’" The NYPD reports that "surveillance of the subway stations” had already been "undertaken."

• Sept. 17, 2007	KSM's Transatlantic Shoe Bomb Plot This "Target: America" report focuses on 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's (KSM) plan to utilize two British Al Qaeda operatives -- Richard Reid and Sajid Badat -- to blow up U.S.-bound commercial airliners with shoe bombs. On December 22, 2001, Reid attempted to bring down American Airlines Flight 63 by igniting the explosive device in his shoe; his attempt failed and he was restrained by passengers until the plane landed. And, at the last moment, Badat withdrew from the plot, telling police he wanted to "introduce some calm in his life." Reid and Badat had been assisted by KSM's nephew 'Ammar al-Balucchi, who also played an important supporting role in 9/11.

• Aug. 14, 2007	KSM's West Coast Airline Plot This "Target: America" report documents 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's (KSM) plot to utilize Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) operatives to hijack a plane, gain access to the cockpit by detonating shoe bombs, and crash it into the Library Tower, the tallest building on the West Coast. KSM selected JI recruits to target California, which he reportedly considered America's "richest state," because he felt they "would not arouse as much suspicion." KSM has told interrogators that, following 9/11, the second wave attack was on the "back burner," due to problematic operatives and his failure to account for the "U.S. responding to the attacks as fiercely as they did." KSM and three JI operatives allegedly involved in the plot are currently being held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

• July 31, 2007	The Columbus Mall Plot The plot to attack a Columbus, Ohio area shopping mall is featured in this "Target: America" report. In July 2007, Nuradin Abdi, a Somali national living in Columbus, admitted his involvement in a cell that included Iyman Faris, currently serving 20 years in prison for assessing targets on behalf of 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and Christopher Paul, indicted in April 2007 for plotting against European resorts and U.S. government facilities. Abdi told FBI agents that his group was "willing to conduct acts of violence in the United States."

• July 23, 2007	KSM's Brooklyn Bridge Plot This "Target: America" report focuses on the plot, directed by 9/11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, to collapse the Brooklyn Bridge. Columbus, Ohio truck driver Iyman Faris, who is currently serving a 20 year prison sentence, researched "gas cutters" on the Internet and traveled to NYC to assess the bridge's vulnerabilities before concluding that the plan would likely fail. Faris had been recommended to KSM by Al Qaeda operative Majid Khan, a Baltimore resident now being held at Guantanamo Bay.

• July 16, 2007	Hamas' Operations in North America The NEFA Foundation examines a Hamas plot to attack members of the U.S. and Canadian Jewish communities, as well as to assassinate an Israeli official visiting the U.S. According to the Israeli government, Ahmed Wahabe, a "senior Hamas terrorist," tasked Jamal Akal, a Canadian citizen, to raise funds for the attack in Canadian mosques and purchase a M-16 from a Detroit gang. Further, Wahabe advised Akal that "New York is an easy place to find Jews."

• July 9, 2007	Irhaby007's American Connections This "Target: America" report shines a spotlight on the Atlanta, Georgia cell in Younis Tsouli's global, Internet-based, jihadist network. That Atlanta cell transmitted surveillance video of Washington D.C. landmarks to Tsouli in the U.K, and, according to FBI Director Robert Mueller, "had long-term goals of creating a large network of extremists in preparation for conducting attacks, possibly inside the United States." In July 2007, Tsouli and his two British co-conspirators pled guilty to inciting murder for terrorist purposes and received prison sentences ranging from 6 1/2 to 10 years. NEFA Senior Investigator Evan Kohlmann testified as an expert witness in that trial.

• June 25, 2007	The PATH Tunnel Plot This "Target: America" report details the plot to bomb the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) tunnel connecting New York and New Jersey. Describing the plot, which allegedly was directed by "a self-initiating foreign cell that had access to al-Qaeda's connections," FBI New York Director Mark Mershon asserted that the planned attack involved "martyrdom" and "explosives."

• June 18, 2007	The East Coast Buildings Plot This NEFA Foundation report details the chillingly detailed surveillance British Al-Qaida operative Dhiren Barot and his co-conspirators conducted on the Citigroup Center, the New York Stock Exchange, the Prudential Plaza, the International Monetary Fund Building, and the World Bank. By striking at the heart of the U.S. economy, Barot hoped to further Usama Bin Laden's goal of "bleeding America to the point of bankruptcy" and, in the words of a senior Justice Department official, "kill as many Americans as possible."

• June 4, 2007	The Miami Plot to Bomb Federal Buildings and the Sears Tower The NEFA Foundation examines the Miami-based plan, allegedly organized by Narseal Batiste, to "wage a 'full ground war' against the United States in order to 'kill all the devils...'" they could "in a mission that would 'be just as good or greater than 9/11.'" In addition to plotting to use explosives to destroy the Sears Tower, the conspirators also allegedly "agreed to assist in a fictitious al Qaeda plot" "to use explosives to destroy the offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Miami, Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Washington D.C." In the initial trial, one individual was acquitted on all charges, while a jury failed to reach a verdict on the fate of the other alleged conspirators. In April 2008, a second trial ended in a mistrial.