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From Military.com

LOS ANGELES - Here’s a mind-bending idea: The U.S. military is paying scientists to study ways to read people’s thoughts. The hope is that the research could someday lead to a gadget capable of translating the thoughts of Soldiers who suffered brain injuries in combat or even stroke patients in hospitals.

But the research also raises concerns that such mind-reading technology could be used to interrogate the enemy.

Armed with a $4 million grant from the Army, scientists are studying brain signals to try to decipher what a person is thinking and to whom the person wants to direct the message.

The project is a collaboration among researchers at the University of California, Irvine; Carnegie Mellon University; and the University of Maryland.

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From DHS

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released today the National Emergency Communications Plan (NECP) to address gaps and determine solutions so that emergency response personnel at all levels of government and across all disciplines can communicate as needed, on demand, and as authorized. The NECP is the nation’s first strategic plan to improve emergency response communications, and complements overarching homeland security and emergency communications legislation, strategies and initiatives.

Full Press Release

By Marisa Taylor | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Attorney General Michael Mukasey confirmed plans Wednesday to loosen post-Watergate restrictions on the FBI’s national security and criminal investigations, saying the changes were necessary to improve the bureau’s ability to detect terrorists.

Mukasey said he expected criticism of the new rules because “they expressly authorize the FBI to engage in intelligence collection inside the United States.” However, he said the criticism would be misplaced because the bureau has long had authority to do so.

Mukasey said the new rules “remove unnecessary barriers” to cooperation between law enforcement agencies and “eliminate the artificial distinctions” in the way agents conduct surveillance in criminal and national security investigations.

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From CNN.COM

ROME, Italy (AP) — Police broke up a suspected terror cell Saturday and arrested five North Africans, including the alleged leader who Italian officials said recruited Islamic extremists for attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Authorities also suspect the cell sent tens of thousands of euros (dollars) to groups in Bosnia that offer training and logistical support to Iraqi and Afghan terror organizations, said Claudio Galzerano, head of the Italian police force’s international terrorism division.

Police arrested the five suspects — four Tunisians and one Moroccan — in Bologna and the nearby towns of Faenza and Imola, Galzerano said. They were accused of international terrorism, but have yet to be formally charged, he said. A sixth suspect was still being sought.

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From Military.com

Calling it “an extraordinary opportunity,” the Coast Guard said it will be sending select candidates to become Navy elite special forces SEALs.

The Navy said it hopes to grow the size of its SEAL forces from 2,500 to 2,800 but won’t compromise the rigorous mental and physical training standards to do so. The Coast Guard is a ready and willing pool upon which to draw.

Some who served with the Coast Guard’s own elite unit, the select 325 group of helicopter rescue swimmers, wonder where the candidates will come from, hoping it won’t force the service to compete with itself for high-end units.

“It will be the thing to watch,” said Mario Marini, 50, of Olympia. Now retired after 21 years in the Coast Guard, Marini was one of the nation’s first rescue swimmers, completing the famed school in 1985, its first year of existence.

“Navy SEALs are 180 degrees out from the Coast Guard, a different breed,” Marini said.

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8:15 AM CDT  Under Secretary for Science and Technology Jay Cohen will deliver remarks at the Border Security: A Binational Strategy for Border Protection and Effective Commerce conference (El Paso, TX).

8:30 AM EDT  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen will participate in a press availability to discuss citizenship application delays, the upcoming naturalization test revision, and reported service center delays (John F. Kennedy Federal Building, Boston, MA).

12:00 PM CDT  U.S. Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner Ralph Basham will deliver remarks at the Border Security: A Binational Strategy for Border Protection and Effective Commerce conference (El Paso, TX).

1:30 PM EDT  Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator R. David Paulison and Deputy Administrator for National Preparedness Dennis Schrader will participate in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Meeting (NRC Headquarters, Rockville, MD).

4:20 PM PDT  Secretary Chertoff will participate in a media availability about security enhancements at Los Angeles International Airport with Representative Jane Harman and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (Los Angeles International Airport, Bradley Terminal, Los Angeles, CA)

8:30 AM EDT  U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service Acting Director Jonathan Scharfen will participate in a press availability on general USCIS national issues, including updated processing times, FBI name checks, transformation, and E-Verify (New York District Office, New York, NY).

From Rand Corporation

Current U.S. strategy against the terrorist group al Qaida has not been successful in significantly undermining the group’s capabilities, according to a new RAND Corporation study issued today.

Al Qaida has been involved in more terrorist attacks since Sept. 11, 2001, than it was during its prior history and the group’s attacks since then have spanned an increasingly broader range of targets in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa, according to researchers.

In looking at how other terrorist groups have ended, the RAND study found that most terrorist groups end either because they join the political process, or because local police and intelligence efforts arrest or kill key members. Police and intelligence agencies, rather than the military, should be the tip of the spear against al Qaida in most of the world, and the United States should abandon the use of the phrase “war on terrorism,” researchers concluded.

“The United States cannot conduct an effective long-term counterterrorism campaign against al Qaida or other terrorist groups without understanding how terrorist groups end,” said Seth Jones, the study’s lead author and a political scientist at RAND, a nonprofit research organization. “In most cases, military force isn’t the best instrument.”

The comprehensive study analyzes 648 terrorist groups that existed between 1968 and 2006, drawing from a terrorism database maintained by RAND and the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism. The most common way that terrorist groups end — 43 percent — was via a transition to the political process. However, the possibility of a political solution is more likely if the group has narrow goals, rather than a broad, sweeping agenda like al Qaida possesses.

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No Public Events Announced

10:00 AM CDT  U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar will participate in the Change of Command ceremony at the Border Patrol Academy (Artesia, NM).

12:00 PM EDT  Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Dan Sutherland and Deputy Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis Jim Chaparro will deliver remarks at the National Security
Internship graduation with Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director John Raucci (George Washington University Marvin Center, Washington, DC).