Alan W. Dowd is a Senior Fellow with the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes on the full range of topics relating to national defense, foreign policy and international security. Dowd’s commentaries and essays have appeared in Policy Review, Parameters, Military Officer, The American Legion Magazine, The Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations, The Claremont Review of Books, World Politics Review, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The Jerusalem Post, The Financial Times Deutschland, The Washington Times, The Baltimore Sun, The Washington Examiner, The Detroit News, The Sacramento Bee, The Vancouver Sun, The National Post, The Landing Zone, Current, The World & I, The American Enterprise, Fraser Forum, American Outlook, The American and the online editions of Weekly Standard, National Review and American Interest. Beyond his work in opinion journalism, Dowd has served as an adjunct professor and university lecturer; congressional aide; and administrator, researcher and writer at leading think tanks, including the Hudson Institute, Sagamore Institute and Fraser Institute. An award-winning writer, Dowd has been interviewed by Fox News Channel, Cox News Service, The Washington Times, The National Post, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and numerous radio programs across North America. In addition, his work has been quoted by and/or reprinted in The Guardian, CBS News, BBC News and the Council on Foreign Relations. Dowd holds degrees from Butler University and Indiana University. Follow him at twitter.com/alanwdowd.

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Scott Tilley is a Senior Fellow at the American Security Council Foundation, where he writes the “Technical Power” column, focusing on the societal and national security implications of advanced technology in cybersecurity, space, and foreign relations.

He is an emeritus professor at the Florida Institute of Technology. Previously, he was with the University of California, Riverside, Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute, and IBM. His research and teaching were in the areas of computer science, software & systems engineering, educational technology, the design of communication, and business information systems.

He is president and founder of the Center for Technology & Society, president and co-founder of Big Data Florida, past president of INCOSE Space Coast, and a Space Coast Writers’ Guild Fellow.

He has authored over 150 academic papers and has published 28 books (technical and non-technical), most recently Systems Analysis & Design (Cengage, 2020), SPACE (Anthology Alliance, 2019), and Technical Justice (CTS Press, 2019). He wrote the “Technology Today” column for FLORIDA TODAY from 2010 to 2018.

He is a popular public speaker, having delivered numerous keynote presentations and “Tech Talks” for a general audience. Recent examples include the role of big data in the space program, a four-part series on machine learning, and a four-part series on fake news.

He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Victoria (1995).

Contact him at stilley@cts.today.

Kenyan Al-Shabaab member charged in US in 9/11-style hijack plot

Friday, December 18, 2020

Categories: ASCF News Terrorism Emerging Threats

Comments: 0

A Kenyan member of the Al-Shabaab militant group who received pilot training in the Philippines was to appear in a US court on Wednesday to face charges of conspiring to mount a 9/11-style attack in the United States.

Cholo Abdi Abdullah, 30, is charged with six counts of terrorism-related offenses, the Justice Department said in a statement.

Abdullah, who was arrested in the Philippines in July 2019, was brought to the United States on Tuesday and was to be presented before a magistrate in Manhattan on Wednesday, the department said.

Acting Manhattan US Attorney Audrey Strauss said Abdullah obtained pilot training in the Philippines as part of an Al-Shabaab plot "in preparation for seeking to hijack a commercial aircraft and crash it into a building in the United States."

"This chilling callback to the horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, is a stark reminder that terrorist groups like Al-Shabaab remain committed to killing US citizens and attacking the United States," Strauss said.

"Abdullah's plot was detected before he could achieve his deadly aspirations, and now he faces federal terrorism charges in a US court," she added.

According to the indictment, Abdullah attended flight school in the Philippines between 2017 and 2019 and eventually obtained his pilot's license.

While undergoing flight training, he allegedly conducted research into methods to hijack a commercial airliner and sought information on how to obtain a US visa.

Abdullah is charged with conspiring to murder US nationals, conspiring to commit aircraft piracy and other offenses. He could face a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The Somalia-based Al-Shabaab was designated a terrorist movement by the United States in 2008.

Somalia plunged into chaos after the 1991 overthrow of then-president Siad Barre, leading to years of clan warfare followed by the rise of Al-Shabaab which once controlled large parts of the country and Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab was driven out of the capital in 2011, but its militants continue to wage war against the government, carrying out regular attacks.

Photo: © CHANDAN KHANNA A Kenyan member of Al-Shabaab is facing terrorism charges in the US for allegedly conspiring to mount a 9/11-style attack

Link: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/kenyan-al-shabaab-member-charged-in-us-in-9-11-style-hijack-plot/ar-BB1bZ0SE

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