English fo MP student book

UNIT 11 – Countering Terrorism

the struggle against barbarism”. But his audiences, most of whom supported Aussaresses, were indignant.

The next witness, the 71- year-old general Maurice Schmitt, was of a different calibre. A product of Saint-Cyr, the distinguished military academy, and a former prisoner at Dien Bien Phu (Vietnam), he was also army chief of staff from 1987-1991- the highest-ranking officer of his time. He got straight to the point: “Before they became terrorists, the members of the FLN (the Algerian National Liberation Front) were torturers,” he said. While it could not be denied that torture was practised in Algeria during the war, he argues that “it was the legitimate defence of a people whose lives were at risk”. And he added “If the choice is between getting my hands dirty or accepting the death of innocents, I choose to dirty my hands rather than risk losing my soul”.

When he was not giving evidence, Aussaresses sat impassively. During the three-day trial he said little except to admit responsibility for everything, even for crimes he had not committed, such as personally torturing prisoners. Fabien Goget, the deputy public prosecutor observed that the plaintiffs saw the case as a trial of the Algerian war, while the defence saw it as a freedom of expression issue. “I see it as a trial of a book: when history enters a courtroom, out goes the law.”

The prosecution called for the general and the two publishers of his book to be fined FF100.000 (about $13500) each. A verdict is expected in January 2002.

# Exercise 4

Answer TRUE or FALSE

1.The courtroom was filled with enemies of the General.

2.The prosecution was for the acts of torture.

3.The General did not deny the charges.

4.He was filled with pity when he ordered prisoners to be tortured.

5.Genaral Schmitt was supportive of Gen. Aussaresses’ actions.

6.Alleg had been tortured as a terrorist.

7.The trial and conviction of Alleg was a public scandal.

8.The deputy prosecutor thought the issue at stake was the whole conduct of the Algerian war.

9.Alleg made a statement saying torture is a barbaric act.

10.Many of the audience felt that the torture practised by the French was justified.

¾ Activity 4 What Do You Think?

“I choose to dirty my hands rather than risk losing my soul.” “Someone had to do the dirty work.”

“When a book enters the courtroom, out goes the law.”

Use these three ideas to write a composition of about 200 words, expressing your own ideas.

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# Exercise 5

Using the Conditional idea of a “hypothetical” or “unreal” event in the past complete these sentences in which a French officer might justify the use of torture in the Algerian war.

If we hadn’t extracted information by means of torture …

a)lives of many French soldiers / at risk

b)innocent civilians / kill

c)terrorists/ become more reckless and fanatical

d)not obtain/ intelligence information

e)the war / prolong

f)the terrorists/ increase their demands

g)the French people/ interpret / as sign of weakness

h)the French army / lose confidence in / its leaders

The issues of “war crimes”, “ethnic cleansing”, “responsibility for the acts of others” etc. were discussed in the Adolf Eichmann trial in Israel in 1961. He had been seized by the Israeli authorities in South America and put on trial in Israel. Charged with ordering the execution of millions of Jews, Eichmann claimed in his own defence that he was only following orders. What do you think?

The trial of Slobodan Milosevic in The Hague is taking place without the defendant entering any plea to the charges (i.e. he will not ANSWER the charges) because he denies the authority of the Court to put him on trial. Does this change anything about the court’s jurisdiction?

¾ Activity 6 The Media and Terrorism

You see these headlines

1.TERROR TRIO READY TO BOMB LONDON UNDERGROUND

2.CYANIDE ATTACK ON LONDON UNDERGROUND: THREE CHARGED

3.LONDON UNDERGROUND UNDER ATTACK FROM ARAB TERRORISTS?

4.UNDERGROUND VULNERABLE TO POISON GAS ATTACK

5.NO END TO ARAB THREAT TO LONDON TRAVELLERS

6.ILLEGALS IN TERROR PLOT

How justified are the headlines when you read the facts as reported on November 18 2002.

Three On Terror Charges

Three men are due in court later today charged with terrorism offences. It follows claims that a plot was thwarted by an MI5 undercover operation.Reports have said the trio planned to release highly poisonous cyanide gas in London's Underground rail system.

Rabah Chekat-Bais, 21, Rabah Kadris, in his 30s, and Karim Kadouri, 33, all of no fixed abode in Britain, were arrested last week. But the men are only charged with possessing "articles for the preparation, instigation and commission of terrorism acts" under the

Terrorism Act 2000 and possessing false documents.

They do not face charges relating to any specific planned attack. Police say no noxious substances were found on any of the men and the Government has also sought to play down

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UNIT 11 – Countering Terrorism

claims that the Tube was the intended target. Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott said: "In this case it doesn't appear to be any evidence whatsoever there was going to be a gas attack or indeed use of bombs regarding the three people who have been arrested."

Chekat-Bais, Kadris and Kadouri were among six people arrested in north London on November 9. The arrests only came to light on Saturday night (November 16), six days after those charged had made their first appearances in court.

Two of the other three were subsequently released on police bail and no further action was being taken against the final man. But media reports on Monday suggested police were hunting three more members of an alleged terrorist cell.

# Exercise 6 New Law Allows Evesdropping on Internet Users

Listen to the recording and complete the table below.

Vocabulary/ expressions

1.sweeping = broad (measures, powers etc) = wide, far-reaching

2.to raise doubts/ misgivings/ concerns/ about an issue

3.to track (down) = to hunt/ pursue somebody or something

4.a freer hand

5.an array = a wide selection or collection

6.reminiscent of = similar to (reminding people of ..)

7.to turn over = to hand over officially

8.to craft (the legislation) = to make/ to create

Cf. to draft legislation = to make the first version of a new law

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What could/might/will these powers lead to? Make sentences from the box.

Example

Giving wider powers to the authorities should result in a reduction in terrorist threats.

¾ Activity 8

Use the nouns in the right-hand box to make verbs and then transform the sentences into a passive version.

Example

10. (leaks) >

11. (encrypting) >

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¾ Activity 9

TERRORISM DID NOT START ON SEPTEMBER 11

Article by Stella Rimington, former head of M.I.5.

Extract from ‘The Guardian Weekly’, September 12-18, 2002

There is one big difference in the al-Qaida threat from much previous terrorism, which makes it particularly unpredictable and dangerous. The preparedness, even enthusiasm of the terrorists to commit suicide, when most terrorists in the past have planned for their own escape, means that certain forms of attack, the most potentially horrific – for example, chemical, biological and nuclear – can no longer be regarded as unlikely.

But that does not mean that a totally different approach to countering them is needed. It is a case of doing what has been done before but doing more of it and doing it more effectively. At the heart of countering terrorism is intelligence and the events of September 11 have focused attention on intelligence work as never before.

September 11 was immediately declared an “intelligence failure”. The allegation was that had intelligence agencies been doing their job properly, they would have produced sufficiently precise advance intelligence of the plot to enable it to be thwarted. To blame them for not doing so is to totally misunderstand the nature of intelligence. Although precise intelligence on when and where any terrorist act will take place is the ideal, it is, of all intelligence, the most difficult to obtain.

The complete plan for any operation might well be known to very few people indeed, perhaps not revealed more widely until just before an attack begins, or perhaps never. An intelligence agency would need to recruit one of those people to learn it. Though it is sometimes possible to learn enough from well-placed human or technical sources for the full picture to be guessed at, there may well be inadequate information for effective preventive action to be taken to forestall an attack.

The most valuable sources against terrorism are human beings, long-term penetration agents, who will stay in place for a long period and work their way into positions where they can provide key intelligence. But they are the most difficult sources to acquire and, once recruited, are very difficult to keep in place.

It is not normally possible to penetrate a terrorist organisation from the outside, to feed in someone with no previous links at all. Terrorist groups usually recruit from a very small pond, from among people who have known each other for years. Perhaps it might be an easier task to infiltrate al-Qaida, which appears to be recruiting young men from all over the world for training. It might be possible to insert a source at the recruitment stage, but it would be a slow process as he built up his cover in the mosque or wherever recruiting was going on, hoping to be selected, as well as very dangerous.

In the world of espionage, many of the best spies are volunteers, people who offer their services to the other side. Experience has shown that, surprisingly, members of terrorist organisations do volunteer to act as sources of information for the security authorities. Though it

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seems less likely that members of al-Qaida will do so, given that they appear to be motivated by such intense ideological or religious fervour, I have no doubt that some will. (543 words)

Read the text and answer the questions by marking the ONE correct alternative a), b), c) or d) with X

Example

The author suggests that after September 11, future intelligence activity

c)means countering self-destructive terrorism with similar approaches

d)requires a fundamental re-appraisal of counter terrorism

1.In her view, September 11 underlined the fact that the tragic event … a) … highlighted fundamental weaknesses in reliable intelligence gathering b) … was indicative of an intelligence disaster

c) … attached blame to anti-terrorism agencies who ignored intelligence received d)… proved America’s multi-agency approach to intelligence does not work

2.Stella Rimington states that

a)insider-provided intelligence can often be reliable enough to learn a complete plot

b)insider sources can provide accurate enough predictions of terrorist actions

c)insiders in ideologically-driven terrorist groups rarely get in a position of trust

d)recruitment of insider informants within terrorist groups is of limited value

a)without sufficiently considering the need for cover for them

b)without carefully verifying their status and loyalty

c)without generally concerning themselves with nationalities

d)without taking their time about selection

5. Ms. Rimington believes that Al-Qaida’ s religious and ideological fervour means …

a)… no volunteer insider informants for counter-intelligence agencies will emerge

b)… some deserters to counter-intelligence agencies will nevertheless occur

c)… desertions will encourage groups of other would-be deserters

d)… volunteer informants will have to be replaced by infiltration agents

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UNIT 11 – Countering Terrorism

Listen to the recording and fill in the blanks below

Case details: IGOR ERLIKH and CARLOS REMIGIO CARDOEN

IGOR ERLIKH:

is a white male born in Kherson in (1) ……………..on February 27,1952. He is one meter, seventy-five centimeters (2) …………ninety-two kilograms, and has brown hair and blue eyes.

Case details:

Between 1989 and 1993 (3) ………………..of the U.S. based King Motor Oil Company. Acting with at least twenty –five others in an organized crime group, Erlikh used (4) ……………………

the U.S. government and the state of New Jersey of one-hundred forty million dollars (5) ………..

Erlikh used threats and violence to collect money from others involved in the conspiracy. He also

(6)………………………………….through Switzerland and other countries. He is charged with

(7)..……………, wire fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, and other crimes.

CARLOS REMIGIO CARDOEN

is a (8) ………………… from Chile, born on May 1,1942. He is 180 centimeters in height, weighs 77 kilograms, and has brown-grey hair and brown eyes. He wears (9) ………….. He speaks English and Spanish.

Case details:

Cluster bombs are (10) ……………………………. ‘bomblets’. The bomblets are packed with high explosives and shrapnel. Dropped from aircraft, (11) ………………………………. with deadly metal fragments, some of which are powerful enough to pierce armored plate. Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein (12)……………………………………... is now an international fugitive. Carlos sold over 150 million dollars worth of cluster bombs to the Saddam Hussein regime during the 1980’s. The bombs were manufactured in Chile with zirconium. (13) ………………………..arrest warrant issued on May 27 1993, Cardoen is charged with (14) ………………………. zirconium and U.S.-made parts and moulds for bomb fuses through his U.S. based company. The U.S. is seeking Cardoen‘s extradition to the United States.

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Tapescript: Optional Reading Text

New Law Allows Evesdropping on Internet Users

Sweeping Powers granted to law enforcement in anti-terrorism war raises misgivings for civil rights.

President Bush has given broad investigative and surveillance powers to law enforcement, signing legislation that is aimed at helping the authorities to track and disrupt the operations of suspected terrorists in the United States.

“Today we take an essential step in defeating terrorism while protecting the constitutional rights of all Americans,” Bush said at a White House ceremony last week. “this government will enforce this law with all the urgency of a nation at war.”

The new law gives the government a freer hand to make searches, detain or deport suspects, eavesdrop on Internet communication, monitor financial transactions and obtain electronic records of individuals. It also reduces the need for sub-poenas, court orders and other legal checks, to enable law enforcement to move more quickly. Congress overwhelmingly approved the legislation.

vThe government is moving aggressively on a number of technology fronts to collect and evaluate information about people and their movements more efficiently as it seeks to defeat terrorism. The Defense Department, for instance, announced that it is seeking proposals from companies on an array of new surveillance products, such as portable polygraph machines and systems that can see through walls at night.

With Attorney-General John D. Ashcroft promising an anti-terrorist campaign reminiscent of the war on organized crime in the days of Al Capone, the FBI will demand personal data held by banks, Internet service providers and credit bureaus. In many cases, these businesses will not be able to tell clients that they have turned over medical, financial or other personal records.

With new powers to monitor computer use, sometimes without a warrant, Internet users will have to decide whether they want to rely more on encrypting their e-mail or disguising their identities online.

After weeks of struggle on Capitol Hill, civil libertarians lost the argument that the government will gain too many police powers to examine the activities of innocent individuals and erode personal privacy. Russell D. Feingold, who cast the single vote in the Senate against the legislation a day after the House approved it by 356 to 66, said:

“There have been periods in our nation’s history when civil liberties have taken a back seat to what appeared at the time to be the legitimate exigencies of war. Our national consciousness still bears the stain and the scars of those events: The Alien and Sedition Acts, the suspension of Habeas Corpus during the Civil War, the internment of Japanese Americans, German Americans and Italian Americans during World War II, the blacklisting of supposed communist sympathizers during the McCarthy era, and the surveillance and harassment of antiwar and Civil Rights’ protesters, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Patrick J.Leahy, who helped craft the legislation, said the current crisis requires aggressive action. Leahy said he was satisfied with provisions limiting the duration of some of the new surveillance rules to four years, subject to congressional review.

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UNIT 12

COMPUTER CRIME, FRAUD AND FINANCIAL CRIME

Read the text and decide if you agree or disagree with the statements below.

Leeson Paid £61,000 for Speech

Adapted from the BBC web-site Business: Your Money (October 1999)

Disgraced former Barings trader Nick Leeson has been paid $100,000 (£61,000) to speak at a business conference in the Netherlands.

It was the first in a long line of lucrative celebrity-style appearances planned by the man who single-handedly brought down Barings Bank.

He will also be endorsing products in advertisements and appearing on television shows. Business people, brokers and bankers paid about £188 each to hear him speak at the event in the Netherlands. Leeson was released from a Singapore jail four months ago after serving three-and- a-half years of a six-and-a-half-year sentence for fraud. He was caught after going on the run when his gambling on derivatives markets landed Barings Bank with £800m of debt. Now, Leeson's assets are frozen and he has huge debts hanging round his neck.

He said: "I would like to go back into the financial world, but which company is going to be brave enough to employ me? Who will let me trade again?"

Leeson has written a book of his story, "Rogue Trader", which was made into a film, starring Ewan McGregor and Anna Friel. But his public relations adviser, Ian Monk, says Leeson did not gain a penny from either, because it went directly to Barings' creditors. Under an agreement with the creditors, he will be allowed to keep 35% of money earned from public and media appearances and advertising. The remaining 65% will go to creditors. Some of his portion of the money will go on medical bills. Leeson found out while in prison that he has colon cancer. After treatment, he is now in remission. Leeson also receives a monthly allowance of £3,000 a month from his frozen assets. "This man is inundated with offers. It's great," said Mr Monk. Asked where he wanted to be in 10 years' time, Leeson replied: "I hope I'm still alive. " I would like to live with somebody, have children and be left alone."

Leeson spoke about his view of world stock markets to 250 members of the Amsterdam stock exchange. It was a Dutch group, ING, which bought up Barings after its collapse and bailed it out.

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¾ Activity 1 Agree or Disagree?

1= Agree very strongly 2= Agree 3= Not sure 4 = Disagree 5= Disagree strongly

1.Nick Leeson is a dangerous criminal and should be more carefully monitored.

2.He has served his sentence according to the law and should be allowed to get on with his life.

3.Nick Leeson should not receive anything other than the bare minimum to live until he has paid as much of the debt as possible.

4.35% of his earnings is too much to be allowed to retain.

5.The fact that he can employ a PR adviser suggests that he has a good life style.

6.He should be obliged to pay for all medical treatment even if it is usually free.

7.No decent company would ever employ him to trade.

8.ING Bank should apply for a "restriction order" against him.

9.No decent person from the financial world could gain anything from such a crook.

10.Barings Bank was foolish in allowing one man the chance to “gamble” with their money.

# Exercise 1

Match these definitions with one of the words underlined in the text.

1.to rescue from a tricky situation =

2.amount of money received but not necessarily earned =

3.persons who are owed money officially, e.g. after bankruptcy of a company =

4.bonds and other negotiable financial instruments =

5.dealers in bonds and other financial instruments =

6.to purchase completely ("lock, stock and barrel"), especially after a financial collapse or company bankruptcy =

7.evading the police and other authorities =

8.to support or to promote =

9.as a great burden or load to carry =

10.financial resources (wealth) =

Discussion

What are credit cards? How do people obtain them legally?

How can they be illegally used?

What is the link between credit cards and the Internet?

How is this aspect of legitimate business likely to develop in Romania?

How might this bring a growth in a new type of crime?

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