Doctors, Medical Personnel Fight Over UCH Top Job

By Tunde Sanni

This Day, April 30, 2013

A crisis of confidence is brewing between medical doctors and other medical personnel at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan on the filling of the vacant position of the Deputy Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee (DCMAC) of the hospital.

The Nigeria Union of Allied Health Care Professionals (NUAHCP) had last week at a press conference insisted that the post  of DCMAC of the hospital should not be monopolised by medical doctors but thrown opened to other medical personnel within the system, calling for caution so that the filling of the position would not rupture the cordial relationship between all professional bodies in the hospital.

The NUAHCP, comprising Pharmacists, Radiographers, Laboratory Technologists and, Physiotherapists, faulted the appointment of Laboratory Physician as DCMAC, insisting that one of their members should have been appointed.

But, taking a holistic view of the situation at a press briefing yesterday, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) averred that “if the idea of appointing a deputy for any officer is to have somebody that can step into the officer’s shoes when not available.

It noted that the only suitable person for the post of DCMAC was a medical doctor.
“Anything short of that is like appointing a carpenter to be the deputy of a pilot in an aeroplane,” the NMA said.

The NMA through its chairman, Prof. Adefolarin Malomo, pointed out that the prevailing problem was caused by the change in the designation from Medical Laboratory Technologist to Medical Laboratory Scientist without retraining or changes in capability.

He, however, said: “We restrained ourselves from pointing out the embarrassing anomaly,” adding, “world over, science is the systematic investigation into the status and dynamics of things in nature.
“It is about clarifying, extending or enriching insight and human wisdom. Science starts with the intellectual activities of initial observation based on certain assumptions and paradigms.

Such observations are then projected usually inductively,” he stated.
Malomo further noted that with a fiat, Nigeria changed the designation of those “who undertake the important and respectable activity of technologists to scientists,” stressing that “names can have some psychological effects as it is turning out now.

“World over, scientists become independent practitioners only after a minimum of PhD and internship through post doctoral fellowship.

“We all know the curriculum and levels of the Medical Laboratory Scientists required for employment as such in Nigeria,” the NMA boss said.
They were charged with a three-count charge of conspiracy, acts of terrorism and possessing explosive substances

The police prosecutor, Inspector Barth Nwaokoye told the court that the accused committed the offence at 2.15 p.m on April 13 at Emco Guest House, along Yetkem Road., Lagos.

According to Nwaokoye, the acts of the accused who were armed with explosives with an attempt to harm one Alhaji Adewale Nurudeen, were likely to promote terrorism and endanger life.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened Sections 242, 401 and 409, Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.

According to Section 401, of the Criminal Laws of Lagos State 2011,
they are liable to life imprisonment if found guilty.

The Chief Magistrate, Mrs. A. Demi-Ajayi granted the defendants bail in the sum of N1 million with two sureties in like sum.

She consequently adjourned the case.

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APGA's Maxi Okwu's Letter To INEC

Maxi Okwu. Image: Facebook

29th April 2013

The Chairman,

Independent National Electoral Commission,

Zambezi crescent Maitama,

Abuja.

Sir,

RE: APPLICATION FOR CERTIFIED TRUE COPIES OF LIST OF APGA STATE CHAIRMEN AS AT 8TH FEBRUARY 2013


By two letters dated 28th March 2013, we applied formally for certified true copies (CTC) of certain party documents which we itemized. We are now in receipt of the CTC of the following documents:

i. Our letter dated 5th March 2013, titled “Notice of National Emergency Meeting pursuant to Article 22(2c) of the Constitution of our party”.

ii. Our Notice of Convention dated 11th March 2013, titled “Notice of National Convention Pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act (as amended)”.

iii. Our letter dated 28th March 2013, titled “Re: Notice of National Convention Pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended)”.

We thank the Commission for obliging us with the CTC of the documents mentioned above. However by no stretch of the imagination can the extract suo motu by the Commission from minutes of an APGA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on 1st December 2010 be substituted for the requirements of section 222(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended). By the simple express of that provision every political party in Nigeria is required to file with your Commission ‘the names and addresses of its national officers.’ By virtue of Article 10(2)XXXV of our party constitution, State Chairmen are ex-officio members of the NEC of our party.

Secondly Hon. Chairman the document titled ‘THE NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING OF ALL PROGRESSIVE GRAND ALLIANCE (APGA) HELD ON 1st DECEMBER, 2010 AT NICON LUXURY HOTEL, ABUJA’ from which the list is prepared is a document which on its face exposes a serious breach of the constitution of our party which is filed with you pursuant to section 222(c) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).

The tenure of those who purported to meet on that day was to expire the very next day 2nd December 2010. Please see page 39 of the judgment of the Enugu High Court item G where the Court answered one of the questions in issue before the Court.

The motion therefore by Barr Bako styled Asst National Legal Adviser for the extension of the tenure of the National Working Committee is palpably illegal vide Article 18(2) of the APGA constitution. Again, assuming without conceding that the motion could stand, did it at the same time extend the tenure of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of which the NWC is merely one of the four named standing committees vide Article 15(1)2 of the party constitution? Assuming again without conceding that the names extracted by your Commission are authentic state chairmen their tenure expired on 2nd December 2010 and has since not been extended at any congress monitored by the Commission.

Hon. Chairman, may we in the alternative humbly apply for the CTC of the notice of congresses pursuant to section 85 of the Electoral Act by APGA where these purported State Chairmen prepared by your Commission emerged. Secondly, we further request for the CTC of the list of INEC officers who monitored the said congresses and their report there from.

The fact, Hon. Chairman, is that Victor Umeh the party’s’ erstwhile Chairman had a penchant of unilaterally appointing and sacking national officers including state Chairmen as it suited his fancy. The Chairmen who meet in emergency session on 9th March 2013 at Awka to rescue the party are the authentic state chairmen who have effectively been piloting the affairs of the states. In doing so they merely executed an aspect of the order of Court in the judgment of the Enugu State High Court of 8th February 2013 at page 39. The Court said ' (1) that the National Executive Committee of APGA was bound to meet and fix a date for the election of Chairman of the party upon the effluxion of the four-year tenure of the defendant in 2010.
The result of this patriotic effort was the bottoms up congresses and convention of 8th April 2013 which your commission effectively monitored. This is the first of its kind in the 11 year history of APGA.

Finally please accept assurances of our highest consideration.

Barr. Maxi Okwu
Ikenecheoha II

APGA: Warring Factions Battle INEC over Fake Officials

By Onyebuchi Ezigbo, This Day

April 30, 2013

Parties in the on-going leadership crisis bedevilling the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), have taken the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to task over a disputed list of authentic state party chairmen .

The leader of the  faction of the party loyal to Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, Mr. Maxi Okwu, has asked the commission not  to consider the protest by the embattled Chairman  of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, over the conduct of the national convention.

Umeh had written a protest letter to INEC complaining of fraud in the organization of the disputed April 8 party congresses and subsequently the national convention held in Awka, the Anambra State capital.
He accused Okwu of trying to mislead INEC by submitting documents inform of notices for the congress and the national convention which were signed by fake state party chairmen.
However, in responding to Umeh's accusation, Okwu in a letter dated April 29 and addressed to the Chairman of INEC urged the commission to discontenance the list of party state chairmen submitted to it by the Umeh leadership in December 2010, describing it as illegal.

Okwu drew the attention of the INEC boss to  two letters it had earleir written dated March 5 and 28, 2013, wbere the faction formally applied for the certified true copies (CTC) of certain party documents in the custody of the commission.

The documents include,  “Notice of National Emergency Meeting pursuant to Article 22(2c) of the Constitution of our party,  notice of Convention dated 11th March 2013, titled notice of National Convention pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act (as amended), and notice of National Convention Pursuant to Section 85 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

In the letter Okwu said  it is illegal for the  Commission to derive the authentic list of state chairmen from minutes of an APGA National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held on December 1, 2010.
He said the  section 222(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), provided that  every political party in Nigeria should file with the commission ‘the names and addresses of its national officers.’

He said by virtue of Article 10(2)XXXV of APGA constitution, state chairmen are ex-officio members of the NEC of our party.

Okwu also argued that the NEC meeting held at the NICON Luxury Hotel in December 2010  from which the list is prepared is a document was  a serious breach of the constitution of the party.
"The tenure of those who purported to meet on that day was to expire the very next day December 2, 2010. Please see page 39 of the judgment of the Enugu High Court item G where the Court answered one of the questions in issue before the Court.

"The motion therefore by Barr Bako styled Asst National Legal Adviser for the extension of the tenure of the National Working Committee is palpably illegal vide Article 18(2) of the APGA constitution."
"Again, assuming without conceding that the motion could stand, did it at the same time extend the tenure of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of which the NWC is merely one of the four named standing committees vide Article 15(1)2 of the party constitution?

"Assuming again without conceding that the names extracted by your Commission are authentic state chairmen their tenure expired on 2nd December 2010 and has since not been extended at any congress monitored by the Commission, "he said.

Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd. Supports Urgent Human Rights Initiative in Bakassi

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - April 29, 2013) Belize: Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd., a Belize International Business Company (IBC) resource development and services company focusing on emerging nations in West Africa, has entered into an agreement with the Government of Southern Cameroons to support its human rights initiative in the oil rich but troubled Bakassi Peninsula where Kilimanjaro Capital holds a 80% stake in the future oil and mineral interests.

The Bakassi Peninsula is claimed by both the Government of Southern Cameroons and The Republic of Cameroun. On April 4^th, 2013, the Government of Southern Cameroons declared a State of Emergency in Bakassi after Camerounian gendarmes launched a massive attack on unarmed civilians at the town of Efut Obot Ikot. There were several dozen casualties and over two thousand refugees crossed the border into Nigeria. The Camerounian gendarmes went on a rampage of summary execution, rape, arson, and looting against Southern Cameroonians.

Kilimanjaro Capital is assisting the Government of Southern Cameroons by funding a rapid reaction team to debrief victims who fled to Nigeria and document the atrocities. The Government of Southern Cameroons intends to file war crimes complaints with the International Criminal Court, United Nations and African Union and will seek restitution for the victims.

Kilimanjaro Capital now holds an 80% interest in the future oil and mineral rights in Southern Cameroons. These rights will fully vest when the Government Southern Cameroons is able to fully control its territory. A Canadian company, Forest Gate Energy controls the remaining 20% interest in Southern Cameroons.
Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd.
PO Box 198
35 New Road
Belize City, Belize

For more information on the Government of Southern Cameroons:
Website: www.southerncameroonsgovernment.com

Kilimanjaro Capital Ltd.
+1-403-775-9908
info@kilimanjarocapital.ca
www.kilimanjarocapital.ca

-----------DIGITAL JOURNAL

Massacre in Nigeria: Senator Says 228 Graves Found

By Jack Philips

Epoch Times, April 29, 2013

Massacre in Nigeria: Nigeria’s military denied reports that some soldiers were responsible or linked to a massacre in Baga, located in the country’s north, during clashes between the military and rebels.

In the incident, more than 200 civilians were likely killed and the village was set on fire, reported The New York Times. The number of civilians killed was denied by the Nigerian military and some officials have blamed the carnage on the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

Senator Maina Maaji Lawan told PM News Nigeria that 288 civilians were killed, around six times more than the official estimate given by the military.

“I personally visited three graveyards in Baga and counted 228 graves where victims had been buried,” said Lawan.

He said that 4,000 homes were also destroyed and added that without proper aid, there will likely be a humanitarian crisis.

Defense spokesman Chris Olukolade told PM that the military did not order the arrest of any soldiers in connection with the massacre.

“This is indeed false in its entirety,” he said, adding that “at no point” did the government or military “order the arrest of any of its soldiers in connection with the incident in Baga.”

“The loss of human lives should not be taken with levity or unnecessary sensationalism as some interest groups appear bent on doing,” he continued.

Reuters reported that more than 100 soldiers were mobilized after intelligence pointed that Boko Haram militants moved to Baga, a town located on the shores of Lake Chad.

The militants resisted the soldiers’ advances, using machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades, and improvised explosives.

NIGERIA: Supreme Court Could Redraw The Reach Of America's Courts

By Michael Bobelian/Forbes

April 29, 2013

A few days after issuing the Kiobelruling restricting the scope of the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), the Supreme Court has agreed to hear another case dealing with the ambiguous law often used to bring civil actions for human rights violations committed abroad.

In many ATS cases, both the underlying facts and litigants have few connections to the United States.  That was the case in Kiobel, which involved Nigerian plaintiffs suing a Nigerian subsidiary of the oil giant Shell for alleged actions taking place in Nigeria.

In Kiobel, the Court held that there was a strong presumption against the extraterritorial application of American law to actions taking place outside of the nation’s borders.  This presumption, the opinion authored by Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. held, barred an American court from establishing jurisdiction over Shell.

DaimlerChrysler AG v. Bauman, which the Court will hear in its next term, asks the Court to resolve a different but related question: can an American court exercise jurisdiction “over a foreign corporation based solely on the fact that an indirect corporate subsidiary performs services on behalf of the defendant” in the United States?  The plaintiffs in the case have accused an Argentinean subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler (the auto companies were still together when the case was filed) of collaborating with Argentinean officials in kidnapping, torturing, and killing former employees of the subsidiary.  They sued DaimlerChrysler, a German company, in California by obtaining jurisdiction through the automaker’s American subsidiary.

On the surface, it looks like another ATS case.  Perhaps the Court, as Justice Anthony Kennedy suggested in his concurring opinion in Kiobel, will provide further guidance on the scope and reach of the statute.  The Court may do just that.  The case also provides the Court with an opening to change the law far beyond the ATS, which only saw about a dozen new cases a year, by redefining the contours of the reach of America’s courts.

The series of facts that led to a lawsuit in a federal court in California for actions committed thousands of miles away is typical of the complexities that arise in establishing jurisdiction, which tends to be among the trickiest areas of the law.  Generally, a court can establish jurisdiction over a person that has connections to the court’s locale.  It makes little sense, for instance, to try a case in Missouri of two New Yorkers who get into a car accident in New York: neither the parties nor the dispute in this example have any connections to the Show-Me state.

With corporations, however, the issue of jurisdiction gets more complicated.  Multinational corporations rely upon a host of subsidiaries, joint-ventures, and other business partnerships to run their global operations: Daimler listed 557 subsidiaries and other related entities across the world in 2011.  Should an act by one of these units allow a court to establish jurisdiction with any of its sister organizations or the parent in charge of the entire enterprise?

In earlier rounds of the case, the plaintiffs pointed out that Daimler conducted a significant amount of business in the United States – and California in particular.  Daimler’s American operations also included a regional office in Costa Mesa, California and a vehicle preparation center about 30 miles away.  After a lengthy but typical analysis, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that a district court in California could establish jurisdiction over Daimler, the parent corporation, through its American subsidiary’s extensive and continuous activities in the U.S.

It’s not clear what the Court will do in Bauman at this point.  The justices have left some hints along the way, however.  During Kiobel‘s first round of oral arguments last February, Justice Samuel Alito questioned the applicability of American law to the lawsuit:”What does a case like that have in the courts of the United States?”  Before the council responded to his question, the justice answered: “There’s no connection to the United States whatsoever.”

Justice Stephen Breyer also provided some potential insight on the issue in his separate opinion in Kiobel.  He argued for a different application of the ATS – one not based on the concept of extraterritorial application.  Yet, the looser standard he recommended would have led to the same result reached by the majority ruling.  A small corporate presence, Justice Breyer explained, referring to the connection of the Shell parent companies based in Europe to the United States, were insufficient to establish jurisdiction.

In Kiobel, the plaintiffs tried to establish jurisdiction over Shell in much the same way as Baumann: through the connection of two separate subsidiaries – one in the U.S., one abroad – to a company headquartered in Europe.  At first glance, that similarity points to an identical and straightforward result for the Court.  On the other hand, the justices could use the case as an opportunity to redefine the jurisdictional reach of American courts over large-scale corporations.

Chiney Ogwumike Checkin' In: Summer In Nigeria

By Janie McCauley, Associated Press/Stanford

ABUJA, Nigeria - Lions are not roaming through the streets. My ride is not the back of an elephant. I'm not living in a hut. I am in Africa, studying abroad in the country of my mother and father, a country with so much primitive beauty, potential, promise; I am in Nigeria!

It's rare for student-athletes to travel far from campus during the off-season, especially after an unsatisfying end to their season. But, there is something about Stanford University that lets their students chase their dreams beyond their wildest imagination. I worked so hard this past year to be a consistent player for my team, which can be extremely taxing. But, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Basketball has provided so many opportunities for me, but this is one chapter I really didn't foresee.

When you get to college, the first thing they usually say is, "You may think you have things all figured out, but that will most likely change." Coming in, I knew I was going to be a communications major, but I fell in love with history, politics, and world affairs. Two years later I became an international relations major. A requirement for graduation for IR majors at Stanford is studying abroad...and here I am!

I am currently spending my spring quarter in Abuja, Nigeria! The first few weeks I have been a fly on the wall in the Ministry of Petroleum. If Nigeria had a heart, I'm pretty sure it would be pumping oil. Oil is an essential part of the Nigerian economy, and to see how the government works tirelessly to use this resource to propel the country is beyond intriguing! Hopeful entrepreneurs, military personnel, foreign representatives, and esteemed officials decorate the hallways of the 11-story ministry building. And I'm so proud to say that the head Minister of Petroleum is a strong, determined, intelligent woman by the name of the honorable Diezani Allison-Madueke. I actually had the opportunity to meet her when she came to San Francisco during the fall last year and am so lucky to have this opportunity today. And to top it all off, the next few weeks I will also get to witness the creation of new Nigerian laws and legislature by working with the Nigerian Congress and National Assembly. 

Beyond that, my personal goal during my free time in Nigeria is promoting sports, specifically basketball. Basketball is truly on the rise in this country. As an active member of USA Basketball teams, an experience I dearly cherish, USA Basketball will always be my number one priority (seeing that my life and countless opportunities took birth in the US). But, I was also excited to see Team Nigeria qualify for the London Olympics as well.

Even though I am far from a 'Skylar Diggins'-level of followers on twitter, a strong number of my 8,000 take pride in seeing someone of Nigerian descent succeed in women's basketball. I feel it is my duty as a person blessed with so much to give back while I am here. I hope to attend some of the Nigerian Premier Basketball League games, meet some of the players, and hear their take on the role of basketball in their lives and Africa. And as you may have read before, my last week in Nigeria I am also working with a charity called Access 2 Success and will travel to the city of Benin to run a basketball camp, spread my knowledge of the game, and motivate and inspire youth.

This is a really exciting time for me and I am so glad to have so many different people following my journey through my Twitter handle @Chiney321. We must all, "be the change that you wish to see in the world!"

Ball is life throughout the world!

Kenya Chief Justice Denies Bribery in Presidential Petition

REUTERS

April 29, 2013

Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta displays his certificates of oath from Chief Justice Willy Mutunga during the swearing-in ceremony at Kasarani Stadium in Nairobi, Apr. 9, 2013.

NAIROBI — Kenya's chief justice on Monday denied accusations that he had received bribes to rule in favor of President Uhuru Kenyatta in a petition challenging the outcome of last month's election that was the biggest test yet of the newly reformed judiciary.

Kenya's Supreme Court, chaired by Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, upheld Kenyatta's victory, dismissing a petition by presidential contender Raila Odinga. Former Prime Minister Odinga accepted the verdict, helping douse tensions after tribal violence blighted the previous election five years before.

The judges' unanimous decision was that Kenyatta had been "validly elected", and that Odinga failed to offer enough evidence of malpractices to overturn the outcome of the vote.

Many Kenyans hailed the court's role in helping the peaceful democratic transition in their country which has the biggest economy in east Africa.

But while Odinga and other opposition leaders have not accused the six-member Supreme Court of corruption, some Kenyans did make such charges online and even wished Mutunga dead.

"For me, the most hurtful allegation was that I had been bribed in the Presidential Petition." Mutunga said in a statement. "I have never been offered a bribe in my life."
Mutunga, a well-respected lawyer, was appointed in 2011 to reform a judiciary seen as in the pay of the political elite.

"I have no doubt in my mind that anybody who dares offer me a bribe, regardless of status, would be the first one I arrest under the constitution and the laws of this land."

Mutunga said the online attacks on him were "indecent, vulgar, and unacceptable".
The chief justice, who ran his statement on Twitter and Facebook, urged anyone with evidence of bribery to present it to the Judicial Service Commission.

Although Odinga, 68, accepted the ruling of the court, he said he did not fully agree with it, having alleged "rampant illegalities" in the vote.

The fifty-one year old Kenyatta, who faces charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC), comfortably beat Odinga in total votes won, but only just avoided a run-off by edging above the 50 percent mark.

He denies helping incite violence after the 2007 vote and says he will cooperate with the court to clear his name.

Mutunga has complained of harassment before, citing threats to himself and other judges by a criminal gang in a court case where rights groups sought to bar Kenyatta from running for the presidency citing his ICC charges. So far no one has been arrested over Mutunga's claims.

Corruption is a big issue in Kenya and holds back the economy by choking investment. Transparency International ranks Kenya 139th out of the 174 nations in its 2012 global corruption perception index, lagging behind some of its neighbors.

Institute to launch dictionary of Igbo proverbs

The Institute of African Studies, University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, is set to launch Nigeria’s first Dictionary of Igbo Proverbs as a way of immortalizing its first Director and renowned poet, Prof. Donatus Nwoga, DailyPost has gathered.

Director of the Institute, Prof. Sam Onuigbo, who made this known during the maiden memorial lecture in honour of Nwoga, said that history of the Institute would be incomplete without recognizing Nwoga’s numerous research activities in languages and his other contributions to the development of the institute.

He said: “Late Prof. Nwoga initiated a project to produce dictionary of Igbo proverbs as a way of boosting Igbo language. We have continued where he stopped and we will soon make that project a reality.

“We have instituted this memorial lecture to immortalize Nwoga in view of his enormous contributions to development of the institute.

“This memorial lecture will hold annually and will be delivered by those who contribute much to the development of language and culture”.

The Director commended various university managements for their support towards the institute since its inception, fifty years ago, and pledged that it would continue to do its best in promoting African tradition and culture.

In a remark, the Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Sam Onyechi, MD/CEO Training Certification Limited, a specialist oil and gas training company, said the contributions of Nwoga in promoting and preserving Igbo language was commendable and should be emulated.

Onyechi, who pledged N3 million to the institute said: “Nwoga’s academic excellence is evident in numerous books he published, as well as journals and book reviews. I commend the institute for instituting this memorial lecture in his honour”, he said.

Earlier, delivering the first memorial lecture, Mrs. Virgy Anohu, an Abuja-based Banker, described Nwoga as a literary giant who transverse the literary world like colossus.

“Nwoga deserved the honour because of his wide- ranging and great contributions to African literary scholarship, he was a great teacher an erudite professor who devoted his entire live to imparting knowledge to people”, she said.

Anohu promised to give N5.8m to the institute to enable it procure some facilities, books and to enable it engage about 80 research assistants to help collect data for the publication of the Igbo Dictionary of Proverbs.
Earlier in a remark, Prof Bartho Okolo, the Vice-Chancellor of UNN said the contributions of Nwoga to the institute would ever be remembered from generation to generation.

Prof Nwoga was born on July 30, 1933 at Ekwerazu Mbaise of Imo state and died on October 28, 1991.

--------Emmanuel Uzodinma/Daily Post Nigeria

Agencies Often Miss Warning Signs Of Attacks

By Peter Bergen, CNN National Security Analyst

 

Editor's note: Peter Bergen is CNN's national security analyst, the author of "Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for bin Laden -- From 9/11 to Abbottabad" and a director at the New America Foundation.

 

(CNN) -- In her classic 1962 study, "Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision," Roberta Wohlstetter shows how the Japanese surprise attack on the U.S. naval base on December 7, 1941, should have been less surprising than it appeared at the time because there were warning signs known to the U.S. government that such an attack was possible.

Those warning signals, however, were not easy to understand before the Pearl Harbor attack and, in any case, they were not well communicated inside the U.S. military.

 

As Wohlstetter explains, "It is much easier after the event to sort the relevant signals from the irrelevant signals. After the event, of course, a signal is always crystal clear; we can now see what disaster it was signaling since the disaster has now occurred. But before the event it is obscure and pregnant with conflicting meanings. It comes to the observer embedded in an atmosphere of 'noise', i.e. in all sorts of information that is useless and irrelevant for predicting the disaster."

 

While the bombings at the Boston Marathon certainly were not anywhere on the scale of the Pearl Harbor attack, they share some of the commonalities that often characterize the run-up to such surprising attacks: Missed warning signals and the bureaucratic "stove piping" of important information that if it was more widely shared and understood might have led to the attacks being averted.

 

As is now well known, the Russian security agency FSB told the FBI in 2010 that Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older alleged Boston bomber, was becoming radicalized. The FBI investigated him but found nothing "derogatory."

 

Yet, the FBI was unaware that a year after its investigation Tsarnaev returned from a trip to Dagestan and Chechnya in southern Russia--regions that are home to Islamist militants—after a six month trip, one that could have raised red flags, as by now he was on two federal watch lists.

 

(It's also not clear why the Russians would warn the FBI about Tsarnaev's radical interests and then, apparently, not have done more to keep tabs on him while he was on his lengthy trip to Russia.)

 

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection official on the FBI's Boston joint terrorism task force was made aware of Tsarnaev's return but because the FBI had closed its investigation into Tsarnaev, the information failed to arouse suspicion.

 

According to a report on CNN Tuesday, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed concern that "the homeland security shop had information about the travel to Russia, the FBI did not, and they're not talking to each other and they're going back to the pre-9/11 problems here."

 

Indeed, these kind of bureaucratic snafus were supposed to have been resolved after 9/11.

That's because while the CIA provided plenty of strategic warnings in the spring and summer of 2001 that al Qaeda was planning a spectacular attack, the CIA also spectacularly dropped the ball in the run-up to 9/11 when it failed to "watch list" two suspected men that CIA officials suspected were members of al Qaeda, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar.

 

The failure to add to the watch list two al Qaeda suspects with the Department of State meant that they entered the United States under their true names with ease.

 

On January 15, 2000, Hazmi and Mihdhar flew into Los Angeles, but it was only in August 2001 as a result of questions raised by a CIA officer on assignment at the FBI that the two were added to the watch list and their names communicated to the FBI.

 

A month later Hamzi and Mihdhar were two of the "muscle" hijackers on the American Airlines jet that plunged into the Pentagon, killing 189 people.

 

There have been many fixes since 9/11 to ameliorate the problem of bureaucratic stove piping: far more communication, for instance, between the CIA and the FBI; the formation of dozens of Joint Terrorism Task Forces across the country that help to facilitate the sharing of information among multiple law enforcement agencies, as well as the creation of the National Counterterrorism Center, which coordinates terrorism policy across the intelligence and law enforcement communities.

 

But even with all of these reforms the counterterrorism system continues to miss the kind of warning signs that take on great significance in the wake of an attack.

 

Consider the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, a military psychiatrist who killed 13 people at Ft. Hood, Texas, in 2009. Before this attack, intelligence agencies had intercepted multiple e-mails between Hasan and Anwar al-Awlaki, a U.S.-born cleric then based in Yemen who was well known for his virulent anti-American preaching and ties to militants.

 

Counterterrorism investigators didn't pursue this worrisome connection believing that the e-mails were consistent with Hasan's work as a military psychiatrist.

 

Similarly, Carlos Bledsoe, a convert to Islam who shot up a Little Rock, Arkansas, recruiting office in 2009, fatally shooting a soldier, had recently travelled to Yemen and was under investigation by the FBI following his return to the United States.

 

Despite the fact that the FBI had had him under surveillance, Bledsoe was still able to acquire guns for his attack. When he was arrested, police found a rifle with a laser sight, a revolver, ammunition and material to make Molotov cocktails in his vehicle.

 

Plenty of warning signs also preceded Nigerian Umar Farouq Abdulmutallab's attempt to blow up Northwest flight 253 over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009 with an underwear bomb made with PETN, a plastic explosive that was not detected by airport security. Luckily the bomb failed to detonate, although it set Abdulmutallab's clothes on fire. Abdulmutallab had been recruited by Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula for the Detroit mission.

 

The Northwest Airlines plot had been presaged a few months earlier. On August 28, 2009, the Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Nayef survived a bombing attack launched by AQAP. The would-be assassin concealed the bomb in his underwear, which was made of PETN.

 

Three months before the Christmas Day attempted bombing John Brennan, Obama's top counterterrorism adviser, had been personally briefed by Prince Nayef about the assassination attempt, so information about the possible use of a hard-to-detect PETN bomb was known within the U.S. national security establishment.

 

The White House's review of the Christmas Day plot also found that there was sufficient information known to the U.S. government to determine that Abdulmutallab was likely working for al Qaeda and that the group was looking to expand its attacks beyond Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

 

Yet the intelligence community "did not increase analytic resources working" on the threat that the group might pose to the West.

 

Additionally, a few weeks before the botched attack on the Northwest flight, Abdulmutallab's father contacted the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria about concerns his son had "become radicalized" and might be planning something, but this information wasn't further investigated.

 

As the inevitable congressional inquiries get under way that will focus on who knew what and when about the Boston bombers, we will surely deepen our understanding that there were plenty of warning signs about the increasing radicalization of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, some of which were likely known to the U.S. government.

 

The problem is that, as Roberta Wohlstetter pointed out half a century ago in her study of Pearl Harbor, separating out the really important signals from all the "noise" in the system is only easy to do after the fact, particularly when the U.S. government has now assembled a database of an astonishing number of 700,000 individuals it suspects of ties to terrorism.

Lebanese Man Found Dead at His Nigeria Home after Robbery Operation

Caretaker Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour confirmed the death of a Lebanese citizen in Nigeria on Saturday, the state-run National News agency reported.

 

“Adel Jamil Bejjani was beaten to death by unidentified men during a robbery operation,” he told NNA.

 

Mansour noted: “Based on President Michel Suleiman's recommendation, we have contacted the Lebanese embassy in Nigeria's Abuja and we have been informed that Bejjani's body will be transferred to Lebanon on Monday.”

 

“The embassy will follow-up on the investigation with concerned Nigerian authorities.”

LBCI television had said earlier on Saturday that Bejjani was killed at his home in Nigeria during a heist operation.

 

The same source elaborated: “The 29 years old man worked in the domain of hotel management in the African country for less than a year.”

 

“He was planing on leaving Nigeria to reside permanently in Lebanon on May 5.”

Attacks on Lebanese citizens in Nigeria have been frequent in recent years.

 

On March 27, the NNA revealed that three Lebanese were kidnapped in Lagos, a rare case of expatriate kidnapping in Nigeria's commercial center.

 

Voice of Lebanon radio (93.3) said the kidnappers have asked for ransom while the NNA did not report how the kidnapping occurred.

 

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