Bomb found in university lecture hall in Kano

The device planted in the lecture theatre at the Federal College of Education (FCE) in Kano was discovered by a campus security guard and dismantled before causing any damage.

In April, attackers suspected of belonging the radical Boko Haram Islamist group killed roughly 20 people at the nearby Bayero University, Kano.

They set off bombs at a Sunday morning campus church service, then opened fire as worshippers tried to flee.

“This morning, something suspected to be an improvised explosive device has been successfully detected and detonated by the anti-bomb squad of the Nigeria police in the college,” said FCE spokesman Auwalu Mudi Yakasai in a statement.

He added that the exams would continue uninterrupted.

It was not immediately clear who planted the device, but Boko Haram, responsible for scores of attacks across northern and central Nigeria in recent months, has hit Kano repeatedly in the past.

The name Boko Haram, a combination of Hausa and Arabic, means “Western education is forbidden.”

Kano, Nigeria’s second most populous city, was the site of the group’s deadliest attack yet on January 20 when at least 185 people were killed in coordinated gun and bomb attacks.

The group has claimed the deaths of more than 1,000 people since mid-2009, and three of its presumed top leaders have been designated as global terrorists by the United States.

Foreign Policy: The American Presidential Election

By George Friedman

The American presidency is designed to disappoint. Each candidate must promise things that are beyond his power to deliver. No candidate could expect to be elected by emphasizing how little power the office actually has and how voters should therefore expect little from him. So candidates promise great, transformative programs. What the winner actually can deliver depends upon what other institutions, nations and reality will allow him. Though the gap between promises and realities destroys immodest candidates, from the founding fathers' point of view, it protects the republic. They distrusted government in general and the office of the president in particular.

Congress, the Supreme Court and the Federal Reserve Board all circumscribe the president's power over domestic life. This and the authority of the states greatly limit the president's power, just as the country's founders intended. To achieve anything substantial, the president must create a coalition of political interests to shape decision-making in other branches of the government. Yet at the same time -- and this is the main paradox of American political culture -- the presidency is seen as a decisive institution and the person holding that office is seen as being of overriding importance.

Constraints in the Foreign Policy Arena

The president has somewhat more authority in foreign policy, but only marginally so. He is trapped by public opinion, congressional intrusion, and above all, by the realities of geopolitics. Thus, while during his 2000 presidential campaign George W. Bush argued vehemently against nation-building, once in office, he did just that (with precisely the consequences he had warned of on the campaign trail). And regardless of how he modeled his foreign policy during his first campaign, the 9/11 attacks defined his presidency. 

Similarly, Barack Obama campaigned on a promise to redefine America's relationship with both Europe and the Islamic world. Neither happened. It has been widely and properly noted how little Obama's foreign policy in action has differed from George W. Bush's. It was not that Obama didn't intend to have a different foreign policy, but simply that what the president wants and what actually happens are very different things.

The power often ascribed to the U.S. presidency is overblown. But even so, people -- including leaders -- all over the world still take that power very seriously. They want to believe that someone is in control of what is happening. The thought that no one can control something as vast and complex as a country or the world is a frightening thought. Conspiracy theories offer this comfort, too, since they assume that while evil may govern the world, at least the world is governed. There is, of course, an alternative viewpoint, namely that while no one actually is in charge, the world is still predictable as long as you understand the impersonal forces guiding it. This is an uncomfortable and unacceptable notion to those who would make a difference in the world. For such people, the presidential race -- like political disputes the world over -- is of great significance.

Ultimately, the president does not have the power to transform U.S. foreign policy. Instead, American interests, the structure of the world and the limits of power determine foreign policy.

In the broadest sense, current U.S. foreign policy has been in place for about a century. During that period, the United States has sought to balance and rebalance the international system to contain potential threats in the Eastern Hemisphere, which has been torn by wars. The Western Hemisphere in general, and North America in particular, has not. No president could afford to risk allowing conflict to come to North America.

At one level, presidents do count: The strategy they pursue keeping the Western Hemisphere conflict-free matters. During World War I, the United States intervened after the Germans began to threaten Atlantic sea-lanes and just weeks after the fall of the czar. At this point in the war, the European system seemed about to become unbalanced, with the Germans coming to dominate it. In World War II, the United States followed a similar strategy, allowing the system in both Europe and Asia to become unbalanced before intervening. This was called isolationism, but that is a simplistic description of the strategy of relying on the balance of power to correct itself and only intervening as a last resort.

During the Cold War, the United States adopted the reverse strategy of actively maintaining the balance of power in the Eastern Hemisphere via a process of continual intervention. It should be remembered that American deaths in the Cold War were just under 100,000 (including Vietnam, Korea and lesser conflicts) versus about 116,000 U.S. deaths in World War I, showing that far from being cold, the Cold War was a violent struggle. 

The decision to maintain active balancing was a response to a perceived policy failure in World War II. The argument was that prior intervention would have prevented the collapse of the European balance, perhaps blocked Japanese adventurism, and ultimately resulted in fewer deaths than the 400,000 the United States suffered in that conflict. A consensus emerged from World War II that an "internationalist" stance of active balancing was superior to allowing nature to take its course in the hope that the system would balance itself. The Cold War was fought on this strategy.

The Cold War Consensus Breaks

Between 1948 and the Vietnam War, the consensus held. During the Vietnam era, however, a viewpoint emerged in the Democratic Party that the strategy of active balancing actually destabilized the Eastern Hemisphere, causing unnecessary conflict and thereby alienating other countries. This viewpoint maintained that active balancing increased the likelihood of conflict, caused anti-American coalitions to form, and most important, overstated the risk of an unbalanced system and the consequences of imbalance. Vietnam was held up as an example of excessive balancing.

The counterargument was that while active balancing might generate some conflicts, World War I and World War II showed the consequences of allowing the balance of power to take its course. This viewpoint maintained that failing to engage in active and even violent balancing with the Soviet Union would increase the possibility of conflict on the worst terms possible for the United States. Thus, even in the case of Vietnam, active balancing prevented worse outcomes. The argument between those who want the international system to balance itself and the argument of those who want the United States to actively manage the balance has raged ever since George McGovern ran against Richard Nixon in 1972.

If we carefully examine Obama's statements during the 2008 campaign and his efforts once in office, we see that he has tried to move U.S. foreign policy away from active balancing in favor of allowing regional balances of power to maintain themselves. He did not move suddenly into this policy, as many of his supporters expected he would. Instead, he eased into it, simultaneously increasing U.S. efforts in Afghanistan while disengaging in other areas to the extent that the U.S. political system and global processes would allow.

Obama's efforts to transition away from active balancing of the system have been seen in Europe, where he has made little attempt to stabilize the economic situation, and in the Far East, where apart from limited military repositioning there have been few changes. Syria also highlights his movement toward the strategy of relying on regional balances. The survival of Syrian President Bashar al Assad's regime would unbalance the region, creating a significant Iranian sphere of influence. Obama's strategy has been not to intervene beyond providing limited covert support to the opposition, but rather to allow the regional balance to deal with the problem. Obama has expected the Saudis and Turks to block the Iranians by undermining al Assad, not because the United States asks them to do so but because it is in their interest to do so.

Obama's perspective draws on that of the critics of the Cold War strategy of active balancing, who maintained that without a major Eurasian power threatening hemispheric hegemony, U.S. intervention is more likely to generate anti-American coalitions and precisely the kind of threat the United States feared when it decided to actively balance. In other words, Obama does not believe that the lessons learned from World War I and World War II apply to the current global system, and that as in Syria, the global power should leave managing the regional balance to local powers.

Romney and Active Balancing

Romney takes the view that active balancing is necessary. In the case of Syria, Romney would argue that by letting the system address the problem, Obama has permitted Iran to probe and retreat without consequences and failed to offer a genuine solution to the core issue. That core issue is that the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq left a vacuum that Iran -- or chaos -- has filled, and that in due course the situation will become so threatening or unstable that the United States will have to intervene. To remedy this, Romney called during his visit to Israel for a decisive solution to the Iran problem, not just for Iran's containment.

Romney also disagrees with Obama's view that there is no significant Eurasian hegemon to worry about. Romney has cited the re-emergence of Russia as a potential threat to American interests that requires U.S. action on a substantial scale. He would also argue that should the United States determine that China represented a threat, the current degree of force being used to balance it would be insufficient. For Romney, the lessons of World Wars I and II and the Cold War mesh. Allowing the balance of power to take its own course only delays American intervention and raises the ultimate price. To him, the Cold War ended as it did because of active balancing by the United States, including war when necessary. Without active balancing, Romney would argue, the Cold War's outcome might have been different and the price for the United States certainly would have been higher. 

I also get the sense that Romney is less sensitive to global opinion than Obama. Romney would note that Obama has failed to sway global opinion in any decisive way despite great expectations around the world for an Obama presidency. In Romney's view, this is because satisfying the wishes of the world would be impossible, since they are contradictory. For example, prior to World War II, world opinion outside the Axis powers resented the United States for not intervening. But during the Cold War and the jihadist wars, world opinion resented the United States for intervening. For Romney, global resentment cannot be a guide for U.S. foreign policy. Where Obama would argue that anti-American sentiment fuels terrorism and anti-American coalitions, Romney would argue that ideology and interest, not sentiment, cause any given country to object to the leading world power. Attempting to appease sentiment would thus divert U.S. policy from a realistic course.

Campaign Rhetoric vs. Reality

I have tried to flesh out the kinds of argument each would make if they were not caught in a political campaign, where their goal is not setting out a coherent foreign policy but simply embarrassing the other and winning votes. While nothing suggests this is an ineffective course for a presidential candidate, it forces us to look for actions and hints to determine their actual positions. Based on such actions and hints, I would argue that their disagreement on foreign policy boils down to relying on regional balances versus active balancing.

But I would not necessarily say that this is the choice the country faces. As I have argued from the outset, the American presidency is institutionally weak despite its enormous prestige. It is limited constitutionally, politically and ultimately by the actions of others. Had Japan not attacked the United States, it is unclear that Franklin Roosevelt would have had the freedom to do what he did. Had al Qaeda not attacked on 9/11, I suspect that George W. Bush's presidency would have been dramatically different.

The world shapes U.S. foreign policy. The more active the world, the fewer choices presidents have and the smaller those choices are. Obama has sought to create a space where the United States can disengage from active balancing. Doing so falls within his constitutional powers, and thus far has been politically possible, too. But whether the international system would allow him to continue along this path should he be re-elected is open to question. Jimmy Carter had a similar vision, but the Iranian Revolution and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan wrecked it. George W. Bush saw his opposition to nation-building wrecked by 9/11, and had his presidency crushed under the weight of the main thing he wanted to avoid.

Presidents make history, but not on their own terms. They are constrained and harried on all sides by reality. In selecting a president, it is important to remember that candidates will say what they need to say to be elected, but even when they say what they mean, they will not necessarily be able to pursue their goals. The choice to do so simply isn't up to them. There are two fairly clear foreign policy outlooks in this election. The degree to which the winner matters, however, is unclear, though knowing the inclinations of presidential candidates regardless of their ability to pursue them has some value.

In the end, though, the U.S. presidency was designed to limit the president's ability to rule. He can at most guide, and frequently he cannot even do that. Putting the presidency in perspective allows us to keep our debates in perspective as well. credit stratfor 

Goodluck Jonathan Seeks IBB's Help in solving security challenges in Nigeria

President Goodluck Jonathan has turned to former Nigerian leaders for help in a fresh attempt to halt the raging violence in many parts of the country.
 

Former Military President  General Ibrahim Babangida  revealed this yesterday in an interview with Daily Trust in his Minna residence, Niger State.
 

Babangida spoke a day after he and former President Olusegun Obasanjo issued a joint statement decrying the deteriorating security situation in Nigeria and urged the government to utilise the “ample opportunities” available to dialogue with the insurgents.

He said that the government had called upon people like him who had once ruled this country to come together toward charting a course for lasting peace.

“The president has called on us who were once head of government to come together toward working out modalities for lasting peace in the country,” he said.

He said the invitation by the government informed his first meeting with former president Olusegun Obasanjo in Abuja last week.

He, however, declined to make further comment on the last meeting and the agenda for subsequent meetings, saying doing so was tantamount to pre-emptying the forum.

“I am confident that in no distance future the present security challenge will be an issue of the past, because the federal government has started taking proactive measures towards the restoration of peace in the country”.

Babangida appealed to Nigerians who have meaningful contribution to make for addressing the present security predicament to come forward and do so.

In their joint statement Sunday Babangida and Obasanjo said, “As the Holy Month of Ramadan commences, Nigerians, wherever they are and whatever religion they profess, are accorded a great opportunity to turn the tide against insecurity, violence and hatred.”

The statement released by Babangida pokesman’s  Kassim Afegbua, noted that there are “ample opportunities” for government to dialogue with insurgents, in the interest of the future of this generation and its children and grandchildren.

They state their readiness willingness to do “whatever is possible” to achieve the country’s dire need for peace and harmony pointing out that the spate of insecurity, if left unattended to, could defeat the labour of the founding fathers of the nation.

“Unfolding events in our dear motherland, Nigeria, over the last few years are threatening to unravel the nearly-a-century-old labour of our founding fathers and subsequent generations in building a strong, united, peaceful nation that can accommodate and cater to the needs and aspirations of our diverse communities.

“Internecine crises are raging across the land unabated with damaging consequences on the social, political and economic life of the nation. And in the process, untold hardships are being visited on all citizens in one form or another on a daily basis.

“The loss of innocent lives being experienced by the day across the nation is simply unbearable. Currently, the nation is gripped by a regime of fear and uncertainty that virtually all citizens have difficulties going about their normal day-to-day lives without great anxiety and trepidation. This cannot be allowed to continue!

“A deeply worrying trend that is emerging from this terrible situation is that a pervasive cynicism is beginning to set in, so much so that millions of true Nigerian patriots are starting to question the platform upon which the unity of this country rests. This is simply untenable.

“The people of this country must not allow whatever sense of frustration, fear and despair we are experiencing now to supersede our hopes for a collective destiny, which lies in our continued existence as a nation. For us, and we believe for millions of other Nigerians, the continued unity of this nation is not only priceless but non-negotiable.

“While we are very much aware of the efforts [that] various governments in the country are making to confront the escalating security challenges across the country, we believe that it is time that these efforts are scaled up to be more involving and inclusive.

“In this regard, whatever robust security measures are put in place to contain the situation, as is normal in such circumstances, must be complemented with an equally intensive process of community involvement.”

“We, therefore, urge all governments in the country, starting with all the 774 local councils, to comprehensively engage their communities at the various levels including: elders, youth organisation, trade union and associations, women bodies, the clergy and other community stakeholders,” the statement continued.

“We also call on the federal and state governments not only to encourage these grassroots engagements for peace and beneficial coexistence but to work out the framework to sustain the engagement. In all these efforts it is important to emphasise that our diversity is a course for celebration not a cause for lamentation.”

Obasanjo and Babangida warned perpetrators of the acts of violence that the country could not record any significant progress in the currently high climate of insecurity.

“Finally, we need to reiterate that no meaningful development can ever occur in an atmosphere of violence and hatred. History has shown that any society that is built on the structures of violence and intolerance cannot prosper,” they said.

 

SNG did not march for Jonathan – Bakare

Pastor Tunde Bakare, has said that neither him nor SNG marched for Jonathan. According to him, we marched for constitutionality; for the constitution to be followed regardless of who that action favours or doesn’t favour”, he stated.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, Bakare said he will not water down his position on state of the nation, as suggested by Lagos State Director of State Security Services, SSS, during their last encounter. He insisted that he was never arrested by the SSS.

He said he had nothing against President Jonathan, as his position on current events in the country was informed by bad governance, misappropriation and embezzlement of state funds.

He said: “Let me make it clear that SSS operatives did not arrest or interrogate me for eight hours. The State Director of SSS and his men treated me with respect and dignity.  “If I am being asked to tone down my message because of my perceived partisanship, those asking me to do so have only succeeded in precipitating a tone up.

“The State Director himself had earlier visited me here at the Latter Rain Assembly in November 2011, making the same request that I tone down my message where politics is concerned, especially with regard to the person of President Jonathan.”

On the recent arraignment of some petroleum importers over subsidy funds, Bakare said: “Concerning all the window-dressing, the shenanigans and the charade going on in respect of the subsidy thieves, it is my opinion that the efforts of this government cannot deliver justice, neither are they meant to.

“If you think my present stand is against Jonathan’s person, then you goof. It is against bad governance, misappropriation of state funds, embezzlement of public funds and spending money like water without appropriation.

1,277 NYSC Corp Members Posted to Kano State redeployed to other States

A total of 1,277 of the 2,150 corps members posted to Kano State for the 2012 ‘Batch B service year have so far been redeployed to other states.

The state NYSC Coordinator, Alhaji Bashir Yakasai, disclosed this in an interview in Kano on Monday.

He said that of those, who sought redeployment, 1,108 were posted to other states on health grounds and for security reasons, while the remaining 169 were re-deployed on marital ground.

He, however, said that the state NYSC had also received more than 50 corps members re-deployed from other states to Kano.

On the issue of rejection, the coordinator said that the number so far rejected by employers was negligible considering the number of corps members, who relocated to other states.

“With the population of Kano, the remaining 873 corps members are grossly inadequate to cater for the state,” he said.

The coordinator, however, assured the corps members serving in the state of adequate security during their one year stay in the state.

Yakasai commended the state government for giving support to the scheme and called on individuals and corporate organisations to contribute towards the success of the scheme in the state. (NAN)

PDP: Tony Anenih and Dan Orbir to be sacked

 Mr. Fix It of Edo politics, Chief Tony Anenih appears to be on his final journey into political oblivion following calls by aggrieved members of the party from the three senatorial districts in the state for his removal and the State Chairman of the party, Chief Dan Orbir, from the “day-to-day running of the party in the state”.

Presently, an imminent crisis which may permanently change the configuration of the Edo State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in the offing.

This was fallout of leakage of a list of proposed members sent to Abuja by the leadership of the party for appointment into federal boards.

Already, “leaders of the party across the three Senatorial Districts are planning a major meeting in which they are likely to call for the voluntary disengagement of Chief Tony Anenih and Dan Orbih from the day-to-day running of the party,” a source revealed yesterday.

The imminent “make or mar” meeting is coming on the heels of a major crisis of confidence currently rocking the party as a result of its dismal performance in the 14 July governorship election in the state.

Impeccable sources disclosed that the names allegedly submitted to the Presidency for consideration for appointment into the various boards by the state leadership of the party included Sarah Adetugbobo, Uyi Ogbemudia, Matthew Uroghide, Dr. Abies Osemwenkhae, Bayo Ogbomo, Levis Aigbogun and General Godwin Abbe from the South-South Senatorial District of the state.

Others are Chief Tony Anenih, Tony Aziegbemi, Giwa Egbomehe, Ben Erhilebodiaye, Dr. Francis Olifuh and John Yakubu from Edo Central Senatorial District.

Other proposed members of federal boards from Edo North sent to the Presidency by the State leadership of the party are Chief Dan Orbih, Pascal Ugbome, Zakawanu Garuba, Johnson Abolagba and Tunde Akogun.

It was reliably gathered that the leakage of the names was causing serious disaffection among members of the PDP in the state, with members of the party fine-tuning their strategies for the “battle ahead”.

The party members are said to be angered by the fact that most of the proposed names were stooges of a national leader of the party who allegedly contributed to the losses the PDP suffered in recent elections in the state.

At the meeting being planned for Wednesday this week at an undisclosed venue in Benin, the party leaders are expected to call on the national body of the party to intervene in the crisis rocking the party in the State and to carry out a major overhaul of the party in such a manner as to restore members’ confidence.

Subsidy scam: Three suspects to remain in custody

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Monday arraigned three more suspects indicted in the abuse of the Petroleum Support Fund in the guise of subsidy for imported fuel in Lagos.

Oluwaseun Ogunbambo, Habila Thrck and Fargo Petroleum and Gas Limited were all arraigned before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja on a six counts of conspiring to obtain the sum of N976, 653,110.28 (nine hundred and seventy six million, six hundred and fifty three thousand, one hundred and ten naira, twenty eight kobo only) from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely representing that the said sum was accrued subsidy for the importation of 13,627,084 litres of Petroleum Motor Spirit (PMS).

They were also accused of forgery and use of false document contrary to section 364 of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria.

However, one accused person, Olugbenga Adesanya, could not be arraigned along with others because he is "still at large."

The accused persons pleaded not guilty to the charge when it was read to them.

Babajide Koku, counsel to the accused persons informed the court that he had filed a bail application dated 25 of July, 2012 and served on the prosecution. However, he said he needed time to respond to the counter affidavit and requested for a short adjournment.

Prosecution counsel, Usani Francis, did not oppose the application.

Justice Onigbanjo, consequently adjourned proceedings to Wednesday August 1, 2012 for hearing of the bail application while ordering that the accused be remanded in EFCC custody.

One killed as Gunmen attack Sambo’s Residence in Zaria

 The family residence of the Vice- President, Mohammed Namadi Sambo in the Tudun Wada area of Zaria was on Monday attacked by unknown gunmen.

A shoe cobbler was killed, while two policemen guarding the building were also wounded in the attack.

The house which is not inhabited at the moment was razed down during the pos-t election violence that engulfed the state last year and renovation work was said to have recently began on it.

The three gunmen, who reportedly drove to the residence on a motor bike shot at the two policemen on duty in the house and killed the cobbler who was  polishing the shoes of one of the policemen.

While one of the policemen was reportedly shot on the leg, the other sustained gunshot wound on the hand.

The duo have been admitted at the Ahamdu Bello University Teaching Hospital for treatment.

Wingrass gathered that the gunmen came to the VPs residence at about 11:00am and opened fire on the unsuspecting mobile policemen and in the process, one of the policemen was shot on the leg and the other on the hand. 

 “The three gunmen who were on a motor bike stormed the house located at Tudun-Wada area of the city and open fired at the policemen guarding the house.  The shoe cobbler was actually shinning the shoes belonging to of one of the policemen attached to the house when they shot at the policemen.

“They actually got two of them, one on the leg and the other one on the hand. The bullet also hit a shoe cobbler and he died on the spot. I don’t think he was their target,” an eye witness told The Nation.

The Acting Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Abubakar Balteh, confirmed the report.

He said the cobbler died on the spot from a stray bullet following the exchange of fire between the policemen and their attackers.

Hyundai recalls 220,000 vehicles for airbags

Wingrassnews learnt Hyundai is recalling almost 200,000 Santa Fe SUVs and more than 20,000 Sonata sedans for separate airbag issues, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's website.

In the Santa Fe, an occupant sensor in the front seat, which is supposed to detect when a small child is sitting there, may not accurately detect the presence of a small adult.

Since airbags an injure small children in a crash, the sensors work with computers to shut off the front airbag if it detects a small child in the front seat. But the airbags should still release for small adults, so Hyundai dealers will recalibrate the sensor software to better differentiate between children and small adults.

The Santa Fe recall applies to model years 2007 through 2009.

Gallery - America's best-loved cars

Meanwhile, the South Korea-based automaker is is also recalling 22,2512 model year 2012 and 2013 Sonatas for an unrelated airbag issue.

Because of a manufacturing error, side airbags on these cars may inflate unnecessarily. To fix the problem, Hyundai dealers will replace side airbags.

INEC: Suspension of APGA Chairman Unconstitutional.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared as unconstitutional the purported suspension of the National Chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh and the National Secretary, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi.

The duo were suspended by members of the National Working Committee of the party led by Alhaji Sadeeq Massala.

In a letter signed by the secretary to the commission, Alhaji Abdullahi Kaigama, the Commission also declared that the Massala group does not have the authorization to hold a NEC meeting as was held on July 16th, 2012.

The Commission further declared that it cannot stop the National Chairman of APGA from convening a proper meeting of the National Executive Committee of the party.

The letter, addressed to Chief Umeh and dated July 26th was a response to several letters from the party inviting the commission to observe the events that have taken place in the party in recent times.

The party has recently been embroiled in a leadership tussle after some members of the party declared a vote of no confidence on Chief Umeh.

Terrorist Persistent Threat to Soft Targets

In the early hours of July 20, a gunman entered a packed movie theater in Aurora, Colo., and opened fire on the audience that had gathered to watch the premiere of the new Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. The gunman killed 12 people and injured 58 others. Though police are looking for potential accomplices, the attack appears to have been conducted by James Holmes, a lone gunman who, according to some police reports, may have had a delusional fixation on the Joker, a violent villain from an earlier Batman movie.

On July 18, just two days before the Colorado attack, a man reportedly disguised in a wig and posing as an American tourist in the Black Sea resort town of Burgas, Bulgaria, detonated an improvised explosive device hidden in his backpack as a group of Israeli tourists boarded a bus bound for their hotel. The blast killed five Israelis and the Bulgarian bus driver and wounded dozens more. It is unclear if the incident was an intentional suicide attack; the device could have detonated prematurely as the man placed it on the bus. In any case, the tourists clearly were the intended targets.

The Burgas attacker has not yet been identified. Based on his profile, there is some speculation that he could have been a grassroots jihadist. However, it is also possible that he was acting on behalf of Iran and that this attack was merely the latest installment in the ongoing covert war between Iran and Israel. 

While these two attacks occurred on different continents and were committed by people with different motivations and objectives, they nonetheless have one thing in common: They were directed against what are referred to in security parlance as "soft" targets, or targets that do not have much security. Soft targets are much easier to attack than hard targets, which deter attacks by maintaining a comparatively strong security presence. 

Evolution of Targets and Tactics

In the 1960s, the beginning of the modern terrorism era, there were few hard targets. In the 1970s, the American radical leftist Weather Underground Organization was able to conduct successful bombing attacks against the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon and the State Department buildings -- the very heart of the U.S. government. At the same time commercial airliners were easy targets for political dissidents, terrorists and criminal hijackers.

Nongovernmental organizations were also seen as soft targets. The Black September Organization conducted an operation targeting Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic Games, and Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Carlos the Jackal, and his compatriots seized the OPEC headquarters in Vienna in December 1975.

Embassies did not fare much better. During the 1970s, militant groups seized control of embassies in several cities, including Stockholm, The Hague, Khartoum and Kuala Lumpur. The 1970s concluded with the seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the storming and destruction of the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad. The 1980s saw major attacks against U.S. diplomatic posts in Beirut (twice) and Kuwait.

Just as the Weather Underground Organization attacks prompted security improvements at the U.S. government buildings they had targeted, the attacks against U.S. and other embassies prompted increased security at their diplomatic missions. However, this turned into a long process. The cost of providing security for diplomatic posts strained already meager foreign affairs budgets. For most countries, including the United States, security was not increased at all diplomatic missions. Rather, security was improved in accordance with a threat matrix that assessed the risk levels at various missions. Those deemed more at risk received funding before those deemed less at risk.

In some cases, this approach has worked well for the United States. For example, despite the persistent jihadist threat in Yemen, the new embassy compound in Sanaa, which was completed in the early 1990s and constructed to the strict security specifications laid out by the Inman Commission in 1985, has proved to be a very difficult target to attack. However, as embassies became more difficult to attack, militants turned to easier targets. Often this has involved targeting diplomats outside the secure embassy compound, as was the case in the 2002 assassination of U.S. diplomat Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan, and the April 2010 failed suicide bombing attack against the motorcade carrying the British ambassador to Yemen.

Transnational groups also changed regions to find softer embassy targets. This shift was evident in August 1998, when al Qaeda attacked U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Similarly, during the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi agents attempted to conduct terrorist attacks against U.S. diplomatic facilities in Manila, Jakarta, Bangkok and Beijing -- far from the Middle East. The February 2012 attack against an Israeli Embassy employee in New Delhi is an example of both changing the region and targeting an employee away from the security of the embassy.

There was a similar trend with airliners, which initially were very vulnerable to attack. After many high-profile hijackings, such as that of TWA Flight 847, airliner security, particularly in the West, was increased. But as security was increased in one place, hijackers began to shift operations to places where security was less robust, such as Bangkok or Karachi. And as security was improved globally and hijackings became more difficult in the 1980s, attackers shifted their tactics and began using improvised explosive devices against airliners.

In response to security measures implemented after bombing attacks in the 1980s, attackers underwent yet another paradigm shift. In December 1994, Philippine Airlines Flight 434 was attacked with an improvised explosive device that had been carried onto the aircraft in separate components, assembled in the plane's restroom and left on board when the attacker left at an intermediate stop on a multiple city flight. This attack was a dry run for a plan against multiple airlines called Operation Bojinka. The operational mastermind of Bojinka, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would later plan the 9/11 attacks on the United States.

When security measures were put in place to protect against Bojinka-style attacks in the 1990s, jihadists adapted again and conducted the 9/11 attacks using a different method of attack. When security measures were put in place to counter 9/11-style attacks, jihadists quickly responded by shifting to onboard suicide attacks with concealed improvised explosive devices inside shoes. When that tactic was discovered and shoes began to be screened, jihadists changed to camouflaged containers filled with liquid explosives. Security measures were adjusted to restrict the quantity of liquids that people could take aboard aircraft, and jihadists altered the paradigm once more and attempted underwear bombing using a device with no metal components. When security measures were taken to increase passenger screening in response to the underwear bombing, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula decided to attack cargo aircraft with improvised explosive devices hidden in printer cartridges. Currently, there is a concern that the next evolutionary step will be to hide non-metallic improvised explosive devices in body cavities or to surgically implant them in suicide bombers.

While some jihadists have remained fixated on hardened airline targets, other attackers -- especially grassroot and lone wolf attackers who do not possess the ability to attack hardened targets -- have sought other, softer airline targets to attack. After Israeli airline El Al beefed up security on its airliners in the 1980s, the Abu Nidal Organization compensated by attacking crowds of El Al customers at ticket counters outside of airport security in Rome and Vienna in 1985. Then in November 2002, jihadists attempted to attack an Israeli airliner in Mombasa, Kenya, with SA-7 surface-to-air missiles. More recently, a dual suicide bombing in the arrival lounge of Moscow's Domodedovo Airport in January 2011 killed 35 and injured more than 160, proving that areas outside an airport's security measures are vulnerable to attack. Further illustrating this vulnerability was an attack at an airport in Frankfurt, Germany, in March 2011. In that attack, a jihadist killed two U.S. airmen and wounded two others at the airport's bus departure area.

Other Targets

As embassies and other government installations have become more difficult to attack, we have noted a discernable trend toward the targeting of hotels, which are similarly symbolic of Western influence and are often described in jihadist literature as spy dens and brothels. In many cities of the developing world, major hotels are frequented by foreign tourists, journalists, visiting officials and military officers, and local government and business leaders. In addition, high-profile restaurants have been attacked in places such as Bali, Indonesia, Mumbai, India, and Marrakech, Morocco. There have also been attacks on theaters in Moscow and Mogadishu, on schools in Beslan, Russia, and Toulouse, France, and on marketplaces all over the world.  

As long as there are groups or individuals bent on conducting attacks -- whatever their motivation -- they will be able to find vulnerable soft targets to attack. It is impossible to protect every potential target. In fact, it is often said that when you try to protect everything, you end up protecting nothing. Not even the vast manpower of the Chinese government or the advanced security technology employed by the U.S. government can cover every potential target.

While attacks against soft targets are an unfortunate prospect in the contemporary world -- if not throughout all human history -- people are not helpless in defending against them. Terrorism is a continuing concern, but it is one that can be understood. Once understood, measures can be taken to thwart terrorist plots and mitigate the effects of attacks.

Perhaps the most important and fundamental point to understand about terrorism is that attacks do not appear out of nowhere. Individuals planning a terrorist attack follow a discernible cycle, and that cycle and the behaviors associated with it can be detected. The places where terrorism-related behavior can be most readily observed are referred to as vulnerabilities in the terrorist attack cycle.

As the attacks in Aurora and Burgas are investigated, authorities very likely will uncover behaviors in the perpetrators that could have prevented the attacks if they were properly investigated. Every attacker -- even a lone wolf assailant -- leaves evidence of a pending attack. This fact was brought up by the recent release of a report by the William H. Webster Commission into the investigation of 2009 Ft. Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. The report highlighted the mistakes made in the investigation of Hasan, who was brought to the FBI's attention prior to the attack.

But since it is impossible for any government to prevent all attacks, people have to assume responsibility for their own security. This means citizens need to report possible planning activity when it is spotted. Such reporting helped avert an attack in July 2011 against a restaurant outside of Ft. Hood, Texas.  

The threat against soft targets necessitates practicing common sense security measures. It also involves practicing an appropriate degree of situational awareness of the environment a person is in, as well as establishing appropriate contingency plans for families and businesses

Presidency Denies Buying Car for First Ladies Summit

A statement by Dr Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity said the African First Ladies Peace Mission, AFLPM, which is holding its summit in Abuja is a Non-Governmental Organisation and its activities are funded by stakeholders and members of the private sector who support and identify with its objectives

Dame Patience Jonathan (2nd-l), African First Ladies and Heads of Delegation, Admiring the Model of the Permanent Secretariat of African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) in Abuja on Thursday (26/7/12). NAN Photo

According to the statement, “in accordance with its modus operandi,the AFLPM set up several committees, including a finance committee to raise funds and sponsorship for the organisation of its Abuja summit.

“As part of its own contributions to the successful hosting of the summit by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, Coscharis Motors Ltd offered to provide some cars for the event at no cost to the organisers or the Federal Government of Nigeria.

Under an agreement signed by the committee and Coscharis Motors, all the cars will be returned to the company after the summit.

Steve Nwosu, Sun Newspaper Editor, Shot in the Head by Unknown Gunmen

Steve Nwosu

The editor of Daily Sun newspaper, Steve Nwosu, was shot today in the Maza Maza area of Lagos as he made his way to work,
Sources at the tabloid said Mr. Nwosu was shot in the head by unknown persons, but he escaped being killed.  The motives of his attackers are unknown.
Mr. Nwosu is recuperating in an undisclosed hospital in Lagos.

Patience Jonathan and Turai Yar'Adua to Settle out of Court: FG

THE Federal Government yesterday prayed an Abuja High Court for time for it to settle out of court a tussle between the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan and former First Lady, Hajiya Turai Yar’Adua over a prized plot of land situated at Cadastral Zone in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

However, documents before the court showed that the disputed plot of land was duly allocated to Hajiya Yar’Adua’s non-governmental organisation - Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation (WYEF) by the Minister for the FCT with the Right of Occupancy dully issued to it.

Following an application by the Registered Trustees of WYEF, the FCT Minister had granted an allocation of plot 1347 Cadastral Zone after the Foundation paid the sum of N184.529, 438 as statutory Right of Occupancy, which was duly issued by the Minister for Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Under the terms of grant, the plaintiff was given three years to develop the property based on approved building plans.

After payment of the various levies, the plaintiff paid additional sum of N76, 936,210.00 as building plan fees following which the grant and approval of the building plans were made and given in line with the master plan for Abuja.

Thereafter, the plaintiff appointed and mobilized a building company, Al-Cooks Nigeria Limited to site to develop the property at the sum of N13, 516,013,797.58.

On November 1, 2011, the Federal Capital Territory Administration sent an additional bill of N18, 529,438 being the balance of the various charges under the grant, which the plaintiff paid the next day.

Shortly after these transactions, the Minister for the FCT, without reasons, issued a notice of revocation of the said property, which it allocated to the plaintiff for the purpose of building public institution (Training/Vocational Centre). The said letter of revocation was backdated with effect from October 27, 2011.

Immediately after the revocation letter was issued, the FCT Minister, Bala Muhammed swiftly re-allocated the plot to another organization, African First Ladies Peace Centre, which the current First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, is believed to be a sponsor.

It was at this stage that Hajiya Yar’Adua’s organisation went to court to challenge the actions of the minister with respect to the revocation letter.

Before Justice Peter Affen, it sought and obtained a restraining order barring the Minister and the FCT administration, the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS) and the Attorney General of the Federation from carrying out further activities at the site.

But while the order of the court was still subsisting, the defendants in defiance of the said order mobilised workers to site to commence construction.

Faced with this act of arbitrariness, counsel to WYEF, Innocent Lagi went back to the court and initiated contempt proceedings against the respective defendants.

However, in an attempt to frustrate the hearing of the contempt proceedings, the office of the Attorney General of the Federation last Friday approached the court with a motion seeking to vacate the said order.

But Justice Affen ordered the AGF to put the necessary parties on notice and adjourned the matter for yesterday.

When the matter was called yesterday, counsel from the chambers of the AGF, Baba Sa’idu informed the court of Government’s willingness to settle the matter amicably out of court.

He added that already, his client has reached out to all the counsel to the parties before the court; a position collaborated by counsel the FCT Minister, the FCT Administration and AGIS, Felix Ibanga just as the plaintiff counsel, Lagi also confirmed the development.

Meanwhile, the case has been adjourned till September 24, 2012
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America’s destabilization plots against Nigeria: The Boko Haram angle

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In the aftermath of the unfortunate bombings and sporadic attacks that took place in Damaturu the Yobe State capital and environs on the last Eid-il- kabir Day, the Embassy of the United States in Nigeria hastily put out a public statement declaring that such like bombings should be expected in three well known hospitality establishments in Abuja the nation’s capital. To discerning observers not only did that score high marks for insensitivity as that was hardly what a nation still grieving and coming to terms with its losses expects to hear from a friendly nation, but that the US embassy was being economical with information on what it actually knew about the incident.

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We have already been regaled with reports provided by the Wikileaks which identified the US embassy in Nigeria as a forward operating base for wide and far reaching acts of subversion against Nigeria which include but are not limited to eavesdropping on Nigerian government communication, financial espionage on leading Nigerians, support and funding of subversive groups and insurgents, sponsoring of divisive propaganda among the disparate groups in Nigeria and the use of visa blackmail to induce and coerce high ranking Nigerians into acting in favour of US interests.

But beyond what we know from the Wikileaks report, what many Nigerians do not know is that the US embassy’s subversive activities in Nigeria fit into their government’s well camouflaged policy of containment against Nigeria, the ultimate goal of which is to eliminate Nigeria as a potential strategic rival to the US on the African continent. Today, as Nigerians are reeling from the negative effects of the insurgency that has befallen our dear country and are earnestly seeking answers to what all this portends for the future, the GreenWhite Coalition, a citizen’s watchdog can reveal the true nature of this silent, undeclared war of attrition waged against Nigeria by the Government of United States of America.

Boko Haram: A CIA covert operation

From the 1st October 2010 bombing that rocked Abuja till date Nigeria seems to be locked in a vice-like grip of a growing and intractable insurgency manifested in bombings of public places and sporadic attacks on public institutions resulting in the loss of scores of lives and destruction of properties. Predictably there has been a discernible growth in panic and tension in the country and not a few people are beginning to think that perhaps the country seems headed inevitably for a long drawn insurgency leading to a split. With the exception of the 1st October 2010 bombing incident, a shadowy group which goes by the name Boko Haram has laid claim to most of the subsequent bombings that have occurred in the country.

The seemingly intractable nature of the Boko Haram outrage has prompted a lot of questions from Nigerians. What really is this Boko Haram thing and what are their grievances if any? Why have they chosen to remain faceless in spite of the devastating effects of their activities on the psyche of the nation, and entreaties from Nigerian authorities to come forward for negotiations? Why are they able to perpetrate their attacks with relative ease and why has there not been a single clue at the scene of their acts to lead to them?

For sure, Nigerians are not unused to sectarian violence.  But the ones we have witnessed in this country have been predictable and the modus and fault lines have been well known to the authorities who have always done well to keep them within tolerable limits.

The Boko Haram of Mohammed Yusuf which predated this new one can be so categorized and was well known through its operations, leadership and locations.

But how did a rag-tag collection of largely half-literate unsophisticated persons operating mostly on motorcycles transform almost overnight into being a resistant army able to design, manufacture and deploy bombs into buildings and vehicles, and carry out attacks in several locations around the country? How have their reach grown from just a corner of Nigeria to virtually everywhere in the country? For them to be able to mount such a sophisticated operation, they must necessarily have a well-structured command and control system which in spite of their best efforts at concealment cannot remain undetected for long. So how have they seemingly defied the best efforts of combined security agencies in the country in detecting and foiling their activities?

The GreenWhite Coalition can reveal that the current Boko Haram campaign is a covert operation organized by the American Central Intelligence Agency, the CIA and is coordinated by the American Embassy in Nigeria. For some time now, the CIA has been running secret training and indoctrination camps along the porous and vulnerable borderlands of Niger, Chad and Cameroon. At these camps youths from poor, deprived and disoriented backgrounds are recruited and trained to serve as insurgents. The agents who supply these youths lure them with the promise of a better life and doing the work of Allah as well as indoctrinating them to believe they are working to install a just Islamic order different from the ungodly one that currently holds sway in Nigeria. The American CIA programme officers of this project prudently remain in the background, living the day to day running of the camps to supervisors of Middle Eastern origin, especially recruited for this purpose. After several months of indoctrination and training on weapon’s handling, survival tactics, surveillance and evasion techniques, the insurgents are now put on standby for the next phase of the operation.

The next phase of the operations involves the identification and selection of the targets which had already been mapped out by the American Embassy. If buildings are the targets for attack, the weapons and technical equipment to be used are kept in safe houses. The countdown to the attack involves ferrying of the insurgents and quarantine at safe houses for the H hour. After the attack, in the ensuing panic, the insurgents make their escape into safe houses to dispose of the weapons and disappear, later to dissolve into the local population. The technical angle of sending out e-mails and messages of responsibility claims for the attack in the name of Boko Haram is done through secure telecoms equipment by the American programmers of the operation which can hardly be traced.

If the selected target is to be bombed by an IED (improvised explosive device), the building is cased for days and the devise inserted when security is lax. The devise is then detonated by an in-built timing mechanism or by a hand held detonator some distance away from where the bomb is placed. If on the hand, the attack is to be carried out by a suicide bomber, the person to carry it out would have been severely drugged with CIA manufactured LSD to disorientation. In his state of mind he would have no clue as to what he is programmed to do having been turned into a veritable human robot.