Afghan, Cuba, Iraq & Nigeria Slam Obama's Call For Tighter Airport Security

Iraqis, Afghans Slam Airport Crackdown


Obama’s call for tighter security on travelers from 14 countries is unfair and won’t make Americans any safer, Iraqi and Afghan diplomats in Washington tell The Daily Beast’s Benjamin Sarlin.

President Obama’s strict new security guidelines for air travelers from high-risk countries is drawing criticism from officials in some of the targeted nations, including American allies Iraq and Afghanistan.

As part of an array of new measures enacted after the failed Christmas Day bombing of Detroit-bound Flight 253, airport-security officers are patting down passengers from 14 countries, most of them in the Middle East and Africa.

While the Transportation Security Administration has justified the move as a proactive means of keeping out potential terrorist threats, the Iraqi and Afghan ambassadors to the United States oppose the singling out of their citizens.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Beast on Tuesday, Iraqi Ambassador Samir Sumaida’ie slammed the new guidelines and warned that they “will not deliver Peace and Security” to travelers.

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“I don’t think its fair,” Sumaida’ie said. “Furthermore, I don’t believe that it’s effective to just look at all Iraqis, or all Egyptians, or all Saudis as terrorists—it’s counterproductive. First off, it alienates people, and second, the fact is that they are not all terrorists and they are not all even reasonably suspect.”

The new restrictions, the ambassador added, do not reflect the circumstances of the latest attack.

“The cause of all this has been this young man from Nigeria, but it seems that there was plenty of intelligence about him to indicate that he was a threat,” he said. “How about improving the handling of intelligence? That would have helped eliminate that particular threat and probably most similar threats.”

Sumaida’ie said the United States should expect formal complaints from Iraq and other nations targeted by the policy.

“We intend to raise the matter with the American administration, and I’m sure we will not be the only people who will feel this way,” he said.

Afghanistan’s ambassador to the United States, Said Jawad, echoed the Iraqi diplomat’s opposition to the measures.

In a statement, Jawad told The Daily Beast that terrorist threats “are a global concern, not just a precise problem originating within the borders of a handful of countries.” Al Qaeda, he said, “is an organization made of up individuals who do not carry legitimate passports, and in fact, actively recruit individuals from all over the world, especially in Europe and the United States.”

Added Jawad: “It’s unfair to single out all Afghans for extreme scrutiny, especially when there has never been an instance of international terrorism carried out by an Afghan; the exception being an Afghan refugee who was raised in Pakistan and lived in the United States”—an apparent reference to Najibullah Zazi, a suspected al Qaeda terrorist arrested in Colorado last year.

“Afghans completely understand the need for stronger security measures since everything and everyone is a target of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. But we must not let our fear force a missed opportunity to produce meaningful security measures which don’t ostracize innocent travelers, brings us all closer to fighting a common enemy and allows everyone to travel the globe in relative safety.”

Officials from Nigeria, the suspected bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab’s country of origin, are also up in arms over their inclusion on the list. Nigerian Foreign Minister Ojo Maduekwe told reporters on Tuesday that the security measures are “an unacceptable New Year’s gift.” Cuba, also on the list, criticized the move in a state-run newspaper as “anti-terrorist paranoia.”

In addition to Iraq, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Cuba, the countries on the list are Algeria, Iran, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.

Airline groups are on board with the new security measures and announced their support of the plan on Monday.


“We believe the new guidelines enhance security for the flying public, and they’re being implemented in the most convenient manner,” David Castelveter, a spokesman at the Air Transport Association, told The Wall Street Journal.

A call to a TSA spokesman for comment was not immediately returned.



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Sources: The Daily Beast, MSNBC, NY Times, Reuters, TIME, Wall Street Journal, Google Maps

PFC. Bowe Bergdah's Family Pleads Taliban For His Release

Idaho Family Pleads For Release Of U.S. Soldier


The family of a U.S. soldier captured in eastern Afghanistan more than five months ago pleaded for the release of their son Friday and urged him to "stay strong."

Lt. Col. Tim Marsano of the Idaho National Guard issued a statement from the family of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl, a U.S. airborne infantryman who was taken by the Afghan Taliban in Paktika province June 30.

In their statement, the family asked the captors "to let our only son come home."

And to their son, the family said: "We love you and we believe in you. Stay strong."

The Taliban released a video Friday showing Bergdahl, who is the only known American serviceman in captivity.

"This is a horrible act which exploits a young soldier, who was clearly compelled to read a prepared statement," said a statement from U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Gregory Smith, spokesman for the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan that confirmed the man in the video is Bergdahl. "To release this video on Christmas Day is an affront to the deeply concerned family and friends of Bowe Bergdahl, demonstrating contempt for religious traditions and the teachings of Islam."

Bergdahl is shown seated, facing the camera, wearing sunglasses and what appears to be a U.S. military helmet and uniform. On one side of the image, it says: "An American soldier imprisoned by the Mujahideen of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan."

The man identifies himself as Bergdahl, born in Sun Valley, Idaho, and gives his rank, birth date, blood type, his unit and mother's maiden name before beginning a lengthy verbal attack on the U.S. conduct of the war in Afghanistan and its relations with Muslims. He seems healthy and doesn't appear to have been abused.

The video, which has an English-language narration in parts, also shows images of prisoners in U.S. custody being abused. The speaker says he did not suffer such ill treatment.


Seeking Prisoner Exchange

A statement read by a Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, appears at the end of the video and renews demands for a "limited number of prisoners" to be exchanged for Bergdahl. The statement says that more American troops could be captured.

The Geneva Conventions, which regulate the conduct of war between regular armies, bar the use of detainees for propaganda purposes and prohibit signatories from putting captured military personnel on display. As an insurgent organization, the Taliban are not party to the treaty.

Statements from captives are typically viewed as being made under duress. The insurgents also released a video of Bergdahl a few weeks after he was captured. In the July 19 video, Bergdahl appeared downcast and frightened.

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Bergdahl, who was serving with a unit based in Fort Richardson, Alaska, was 23 when he vanished just five months after arriving in Afghanistan. He was serving at a base in Paktika province near the border with Pakistan in an area known to be a Taliban stronghold.

On Friday, NATO said a joint Afghan-international force killed several militants in Paktika while searching for a commander of the Jalaluddin Haqqani militant network that is linked to Al-Qaida.

U.S. military officials have searched for Bergdahl, but it is not publicly known whether he is even being held in Afghanistan or neighboring Pakistan.

The man on the video said U.S. officials keep leading America "into the same holes," citing Vietnam, Japan, Germany, Somalia, Lebanon and Iraq.

"This is just going to be the next Vietnam unless the American people stand up and stop all this nonsense," he said.



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Sources: MSNBC, Islamic Emirate, Youtube, Google Maps