Leaked Police Memo Reveals Anti-Radicalization Program

In the UK:
In an e-mail to community groups, an officer in the West Midlands counter-terrorism unit wrote: “I do hope that you will tell me about persons, of whatever age, you think may have been radicals or be vulnerable to radicals … Evidence suggests that radicalization can take place from the age of 4.”

The police unit confirmed that counter-terrorist officers specially trained in identifying children and young people vulnerable to radicals had visited nursery schools.

The policy was condemned last night. Chris Grayling, the Shadow Home Secretary, said that it ran the risk of “alienating even more people”. Chris Huhne, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said that it was an “absurd waste of police time”.

Sir Norman Bettison, who speaks for the Association of Chief Police Officers on Prevent, the Government’s anti-terror strategy, said that the officer’s e-mail was a “clumsy” attempt to explain it.

Sir Norman, the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, said: “There is absolutely no example, nationally, of the police engaging with nursery-age kids specifically on this issue. That is the age for learning about ‘Stranger Danger’ and ‘The Tufty Club’.”

The Home Office has disclosed, meanwhile, that a seven-year-old has become the youngest child to feature in a scheme to tackle grooming by extremists. David Hanson, the Police Minister, disclosed in a parliamentary answer that the child was one of 228 people referred to the Channel Project, part of Prevent focused on individuals.

More than 90 per cent of those identified by the project have been aged between 15 and 24 and most, but not all, are Muslim.

Criticism of the anti-extremism strategy is growing. The program, funded from the £3.5 billion per year security budget, is said to stigmatise communities and encourage Muslims to spy on one another.

This week John Denham, the Communities Secretary, said that the programme had to be more transparent to dispel “the fear that by joining a Prevent activity, the organisers or the participants are opening themselves up to covert surveillance, intelligence-gathering and the collection of files on the Muslim communities”.

The e-mail obtained by The Times was written by a sergeant in response to Muslim community concerns. He was trying to allay fears but seems to have inflamed them.

He wrote: “I am a police officer and therefore it will always be part of my role to gather intelligence and I will report back any information or intelligence which may suggest someone is a terrorist, or is planning to be one or to support others. However, my role is to raise the level of awareness of the threat of terrorism and radicalisation and support and work with partners to try to prevent it.”

Arun Kundnani, of the Institute of Race Relations, contacted the officer and said he was told that officers had visited nursery schools. Mr Kundnani added: “He did seem to think it was standard. He said it wasn’t just him or his unit that was doing it. He said the indicators were they [children] might draw pictures of bombs and say things like ‘all Christians are bad’ or that they believe in an Islamic state. It seems that nursery teachers in the West Midlands area are being asked to look out for radicalisation. He also said that targeting young children was important because they would be left aware of what was inappropriate to say at school. He felt that it was necessary to cover nurseries as well as primary and secondary schools. He said it was a precaution and that he wasn’t expecting to come back with a list.”

There have been acute worries about radicals in the Birmingham area since a terrorist was caught on a surveillance tape indoctrinating his five-year-old son.

Parviz Khan, who was jailed for plotting to kidnap and behead a British soldier, was heard threatening the boy with a beating if he did not answer questions correctly. “Who do you love?” Kahn asked. “I love Sheikh Osama bin Laden,” the boy answered.

The West Midlands counter-terrorism unit confirmed that its officer had visited a nursery school attached to a primary school and had spoken to staff. The unit said that it had 21 uniformed counter-terrorism officer who engaged openly and directly with communities, schools and other public bodies.

A spokesman said: “We have been trying to bring counter-terrorism work out of the shadows. It can cause consternation at first when a policeman introduces himself as a counter-terrorism officer. But we are actually trying to get over the accusation that Prevent is about spying by being more open and we are reaping the benefits now with better engagement.”

Sir Norman emphasized that Prevent was about working with communities to protect vulnerable young people. “It is no different to addressing the harm of drugs or sexual exploitation,” he said. “Prevent is a way of addressing those most vulnerable in an attempt to protect them.

“It is easy to give Prevent initiatives a kicking because it is viewed as intrusive but, the next time there is a terrorist outrage involving young people who have been radicalised, there will be a wringing of hands and people will say, ‘What more could we have done?’ ”

Quilliam, an anti-extremism think-tank, told a Commons select committee inquiry: “The notion that Prevent is about surveillance and monitoring of Muslim communities is deeply ingrained in some communities and will be difficult to shift.”

Financial Crisis: Is Civil Unrest Approaching

An internal memo from a top Citibank analyst reveals what the banks really think about the global financial situation, and the outlook is grim.

“The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed through into an inflation shock,” wrote Tom Fitzpatrick, Citibank’s chief technical strategist.

He goes on to explain that the massive money creation efforts by the Federal Reserve and other central banks will end with one of two things: A resurgence of inflation, or a fall into “depression, civil disorder and possibly wars.”

The bank said the damage caused by the financial excesses of the last quarter century was forcing the world’s authorities to take steps that had never been tried before.

This gamble was likely to end in one of two extreme ways: with either a resurgence of inflation; or a downward spiral into depression, civil disorder, and possibly wars. Both outcomes will cause a rush for gold.

“They are throwing the kitchen sink at this,” said Tom Fitzpatrick, the bank’s chief technical strategist.

“The world is not going back to normal after the magnitude of what they have done. When the dust settles this will either work, and the money they have pushed into the system will feed though into an inflation shock.

“Or it will not work because too much damage has already been done, and we will see continued financial deterioration, causing further economic deterioration, with the risk of a feedback loop. We don’t think this is the more likely outcome, but as each week and month passes, there is a growing danger of vicious circle as confidence erodes,” he said.

“This will lead to political instability. We are already seeing countries on the periphery of Europe under severe stress. Some leaders are now at record levels of unpopularity. There is a risk of domestic unrest, starting with strikes because people are feeling disenfranchised.”

“What happens if there is a meltdown in a country like Pakistan, which is a nuclear power. People react when they have their backs to the wall. We’re already seeing doubts emerge about the sovereign debts of developed AAA-rated countries, which is not something you can ignore,” he said.

Gold traders are playing close attention to reports from Beijing that the China is thinking of boosting its gold reserves from 600 tonnes to nearer 4,000 tonnes to diversify away from paper currencies. “If true, this is a very material change,” he said.

Mr Fitzpatrick said Britain had made a mistake selling off half its gold at the bottom of the market between 1999 to 2002. “People have started to question the value of government debt,” he said.

Citigroup said the blast-off was likely to occur within two years, and possibly as soon as 2009. Gold was trading yesterday at $812 an ounce. It is well off its all-time peak of $1,030 in February but has held up much better than other commodities over the last few months – reverting to is historical role as a safe-haven store of value and a de facto currency.

Gold has tripled in value over the last seven years, vastly outperforming Wall Street and European bourses.

Internal Memo from Mike Hayden to CIA Employees

Internal Memo from Mike Hayden to CIA Employees concerning the transition of presidential administrations.

Message from the Director: Promoting an Effective Transition

Presidential elections are a centerpiece of our democracy. Now that the American people
have had their say, their federal government assumes an additional responsibility.
Beyond all the tasks in place on November 4th, the public expects us to do what we can to
ensure a smooth, effective transition to a new administration. Our Agency would have it
no other way.
For CIA, on duty since 1947, this is familiar ground. As intelligence officers, we know
that the insights we provide are national assets, a decisive advantage for any President.
We understand that our mission of protecting America and advancing its ideals and
interests abroad is constant. And we recognize that the challenges facing our country,
and the enemies who would do it harm, are not about to disappear for the next few
months.
That means that we in the Intelligence Community will have—until noon on January
20th—two sets of consumers. As we continue to serve the current administration, we are
also in touch with President-elect Obama and his national security team. Through
expanded access, greater than what he had in his briefings as a candidate or as a Senator,
he will see the full range of capabilities we deploy for the United States.
As you would expect, CIA will play a central part in the Intelligence Community’s
outreach to the President-elect. The Agency leadership will meet this morning to discuss
the transition. We have already prepared a great deal of information about CIA for the
Obama team. The goal today is to review what has been done and to ensure that every
part of the Agency is well-placed to contribute in the weeks ahead. DNI McConnell, who
will launch the first briefing of the incoming administration, has asked Michael Morell,
our Director for Intelligence, to be his representative throughout that process. The two
principal briefers for the President-elect are also CIA careerists. That is but one
reflection of the deep expertise that resides here.
With every transition comes speculation about personnel changes across government. At
this point, I would urge you to ignore it. I certainly have. Those privileged to lead this
organization understand that they serve at the pleasure of the President. I am proud to
represent you and your work to the President and the country at large. CIA has had, in
the past few years, many successes against some of the toughest targets imaginable. The
job of senior leadership at CIA is, more than anything, to create conditions that allow you
to excel. What counts most is your further success. It is what our nation needs and
deserves.
Your dedication, skill, creativity, and courage are true sources of inspiration. I have no
doubt that your hard work—defined by integrity—will earn the trust and confidence of
America’s new leaders, just as it has before.

Mike Hayden