American Congress for Truth

Monday, July 19, 2010, 10:47am EDT
Report: Miami is epicenter for counter-terrorism
South Florida Business Journal

South Florida has more than 40 government agency sites and nearly 30 business sites involved in top-secret work, according to a Washington Post study that was two years in the making.

The newspaper's "Top Secret America" found 1,271 government organizations and 19,31 private companies are working on programs related to counter-terrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations.

The newspaper said such work "has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs" and whether work is duplicated, a potential waste of taxpayer money.

The U.S. intelligence budget was estimated at $75 billion last year.

The introduction to the project quotes several government officials who are frustrated about the overwhelming quantity of information and an inability to sort through it all to combat terrorism and other threats.

The epicenter of the work in South Florida is Miami, which has 12 government agencies and 21 companies working on top-secret projects. Fort Lauderdale is second, with three government agencies and two companies.

Statewide, Tampa reigns supreme, with 19 government work locations and 125 company work locations. Tampa is home to the U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, and Special Operations Command, while Miami is home to the Southern Command, which oversees Central and South America.

A clickable map with the study shows the general location of sites, but does not provide street addresses.

South Florida companies involved in the work include Boca Raton-based ADT Security Services, Miami-based Terremark Worldwide and Palm Beach Gardens-based Wackenhut Services.

The article has caused some consternation in intelligence circles over fears that the database could be used by terrorists.

Reporter William Arkin discussed the article on "Good Morning America", which posted the interview online, saying the project would do no harm to national security.

In first, Saudis detail Al Qaida use of Iran as launching pad for attacks

ABU DHABI — For the first time, Saudi Arabia has detailed allegations that Iran was serving as a base for Al Qaida.

Saudi authorities have released information that accused Iran of hosting the Al Qaida leadership for nearly a decade. Officials said Iran has been used to plan and finance Al Qaida attacks on the Saudi kingdom and other Gulf Cooperation Council states.

"We had long hoped that Iran would stop harboring these terrorists, but we have been disappointed again and again," an official said.

In the first such disclosure, Saudi authorities said Iran was used as a launching pad for some of the worst attacks on the kingdom. This included the Al Qaida assault on Western compounds in Riyad in 2003, in which 27 people, nine of them Americans, were killed and 160 injured.

"The order to carry out these attacks came from within Iran," the Saudi-owned A-Sharq Al Awsat daily said on June 22.

A-Sharq Al Awsat, based in London and owned by a senior member of the Saudi royal family, reported that Al Qaida operations chief Seif Al Adel ordered and directed the 2003 attack, which targeted a U.S. training mission of the Saudi military. The newspaper said Al Adel planned and directed the strike from Iran.

"Seif Al Adel gave the order to attack to Al Qaida fighter Turki Al Dandani, and this occurred during an encrypted telephone call between the two men that was intercepted by the relevant [Saudi] authorities," the newspaper said.