Welcome Jenni Hesterman – The Counter Terror Forum

Please welcome one of my personal favorite writers/bloggers to National Terror Alert, Ret. Col. Jenni Hesterman. Jenni Hesterman is a retired Air Force colonel. She is a contributing editor for The Counter Terrorist magazine, a full professor of counter terrorism studies at American Military University and a senior Analyst for the MASY Group, a global intelligence and risk management firm.

She is also the author of the blog: www.counterterrorforum.com

The Counter Terror Forum highlights items of interest regarding threats to national security, terrorism, transnational crime, organized crime, and gangs. The site also serves to support the law enforcement and intelligence community with open source reporting and analysis. It is a scholarly blog, free of opinion or political views.

We are honored that Col. Hesterman will be sharing her expertise, insight and analysis with NTA readers. The Counter Terror Forum is one of my regular stops each day, and I hope you’ll make it one of yours.

Counter Terror Forum

HAMAS – Assassination, Now Betrayal by “Green Prince” – Jenni Hesterman

I’ve certainly been keeping up with the recent headlines concerning Hamas, but have refrained comment until now….

First of all, let’s talk about the assassination on 20 January of Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh at a hotel in Dubai. Something doesn’t add up about this operation. I’ve seen the press refer to it as “carefully orchestrated” but I don’t quite see it that way. Here are some questions I have been contemplating:

1. Why would Mossad send 14 agents to suffocate 1 man?
2. Why Dubai? Which has the most sophisticated facial recognition system in the world and is considered “neutral” territory for these types of operatives and operations?
3. Agents know full well a hotel is loaded with cameras -why are they hanging out in the lobby having discussions, in the same elevator and following just feet behind him to locate his room?
4. Why carry out such a highly visible operation, inevitably burning all of their identities, rendering them useless to Mossad?
5. When you have so many “tools of the trade” at hand, why kill a man in a way that would be so readily obvious like smothering?
6. Why kill him in his hotel room when there are so many more discreet places that would provide alternate explanations for his death?

and finally…

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