The U.S. and Global Security Review - Blog by Michael Novakhov

Q: Was Omar recruited while on Humra and in UAE in 2011-12?  What are the statistics of possible recruitments and/or defections during Hajj and/or Humrah? - Mateen's twin trips to Saudi Arabia raise suspicions By  Hollie McKay   Published June 15, 2016     FoxNews.com 1 Share Orlando gunman Omar Mateen’s two trips to Saudi Arabia, one of which was a pricey package that included four-star accommodations and fancy meals, were highly unusual and may have been cover for terror training, according to experts. The FBI is piecing together Mateen’s radical Islam roots, and the trips to Saudi Arabia could be a sign of his growing religious devotion. His stated reason for both the 2011 and 2012 trips was umrah, a Muslim pilgrimage to the Kingdom that is not as significant as the hajj, a trip all Muslims must make to Mecca at least once in their lives. Either or both of the trips could also have included a side trip. ...

Omar Mateen and 2016 Orlando nightclub shooting ("6/12/2016") : Quotes and Questions for Investigations _____________________________________ Were Omar Mateen and Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha close friends (despite Matin's assertions to the contrary in the FBI interviews and their assessment of their ties as "casual")? Is Omar the same person whom abu-Salha described as "a friend" in his last video? Did abu-Salha stay in Omar's house when he was in Florida?  Was there a " suicide pact " between them?  - Moner Mohammad Abu-Salha, American Suicide Bomber, Says He Was Being Watched By FBI In US 8.28.2014 International Business Times 1 Share The American Islamist who carried out a suicide bombing in Syria in May said that he fled the United States because he believed he was under surveillance by the FBI, according to a video released Wednesday. In an earlier video released by the militant group al-...

9/11 and Russia: The Dots, The Darkness, and The Infinity of Mirrors " The Kremlin and the Defense Ministry have never abandoned Soviet (perhaps historically Russian) paranoid mirror-imaging about their enemies."  Summary and Introduction  In a (big) nutshell (from a nut and in a shell):  The American people want to know " the full, unvarnished and ugly truth ” about the 9/11.  The investigative (in journalism) hypothesis and criminal   investigation (in law enforcement) hypothesis of the Russian connection to 9/11 is  the untouchable third rail  of the American politics and the mainstream mass media, a self-imposed taboo subject. This flies in the face of logic, common sense and healthy skeptical analysis.   9/11 inquiry , based on the  FBI investigations , leaves some issues and questions  open or unaddressed,  well beyond the issue of  28 pages .  The 9/11 operation was certainly very carefully,...