Dr. Peter Leitner, President Counter Terrorism Research Center and Professor National Center for Bio Defense of the George Mason University while delivering the key note address at the Veteran's Memorial Auditorium in Los Angeles, California organized by the Sri Lanka Patriots stated that amount of explosives and mortars transported by the LTTE is the largest quantity of Armaments ever transported by a non-state armed group.
Most armaments, Prof said have been obtained by using forged or adopted end-user certificates. Prof. Leitner added "fortunately the LTTE is group is now listed by the US and EU as a terrorist organization. The LTTE effectively wages 'Psyops' against the West. It is also engaged in the semantic game of using 'National Liberation Movement for Terrorists' and 'homeland' for fiefdom.
The recent interest shown by the LTTE in peace negotiation appears to have been as a consequent to the prevention of the flow of billions of Dollars to their coffers.
'Terrorism is Terrorism be it where ever it happens to be. If it is unacceptable to the US, then it is unacceptable to where ever it is wielded or used," prof. added
Continuing his delivery the professor said that the West needs to over come its tendency to create a romanticized moral equivalency between legitimate nation states and the terrorist who attack them. He categorically stated that what happens in Sri Lanka does not stay there. It travels to other countries.
Prof. Leitner added that LTTE has become the world's most innovative terrorist organization. He said the suicide bombers known as Black- Tigers boat-bombs, home-made mini submarines, female combatants where 30% of the Sea Tigers are women, assassination of political officials including two heads of states and claims that persist that some LTTE members have been trained in flying ultra-light aircrafts are very good examples to this.
Other terrorists groups that later target other nations have copied these techniques. It is his view therefore that Sri Lanka has become the World's greatest learning lab for counter terrorism.
DR. PETER M. LEITNER , President Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center
Dr. Peter Leitner is the President of the Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center where he has helped to train over 7,000 law enforcement, first responders, military, FBI, and CIA personnel in the following areas: Intelligence Analysis & Source Development, Islamic Terrorism, Muslim Brotherhood, Clandestine Cell Operations, Dark Sun Exercise/Simulation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arab and Islamic culture. He is also the President of the Washington Center for Peace & Justice a non-profit organization providing assistance to victims of terrorism and their families. Dr. Leitner holds the Power of Attorney for the family and estate of John O'Neill the former head of counterterrorism for the FBI who was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center. He is managing three major 9-11 cases in the Federal court in NY on behalf of the O'Neill's. He also assists children and parents victimized by child abductions to Saudi Arabia by former spouses. The Center assists victims obtain legal counsel and helps advance their cause in the United Nations and other national and international fora.
Dr. Leitner is the Program Chairman of the National Intelligence Conference. Known as INTELCON by the intelligence community, the Conference features over 125 speakers and 60-plus seminars and sessions during three days this May just outside of Washington in Bethesda, Maryland. The National Intelligence Conference program is sponsored and directed by the Friends of Intelligence Practitioners, a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation. Program content is unclassified, though not-for-attribution, and is aimed at intel professionals, members of Congress, and attendees from both the public and private sectors. More information on INTELCON may be found at www.Intelconference.us.
In addition, Dr. Leitner is a Professor with the National Center for Biodefense at George Mason University where he is responsible for creating and teaching the following graduate classes: Nonproliferation in Biodefense, History of Biological Agents and Treaties, Intelligence Analysis, Examining Terrorist Groups, Counter-Terrorism and Civil Rights, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment, Analyst's Notebook, Improvised WMD Situational Awareness, Technology of Delivery Systems, Contexts & Trends, and Qualitative Research Methods.
He is also a Senior Fellow and Professor with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies responsible for Terrorism, Intelligence, and Cyber War issues (www.c4ads.org). He is currently co-editing a multi-volume book series with the preliminary title: Unheeded Warnings: the Lost Reports of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He is also the author of two nonfiction books: Decontrolling Strategic Technology, 1990-1992: Creating the Military Threats of the 21st Century (1995) and Reforming the Law of the Sea Treaty: Opportunities Missed, Precedents Set, and U.S. Sovereignty Threatened (1996); the Co-Editor of the Handbook of Public Quality Management (2001) as well as numerous journal articles. Leitner is completing his first novel, tentatively titled NANSHA: War in the South China Sea.
Dr. Leitner has over 29 years of Federal service in a variety of national security positions including 18 years in the Department of Defense. He has testified numerous times before Congress and he holds a Doctorate from the University of Southern California and four Master's degrees as well. He resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and four children.
Most armaments, Prof said have been obtained by using forged or adopted end-user certificates. Prof. Leitner added "fortunately the LTTE is group is now listed by the US and EU as a terrorist organization. The LTTE effectively wages 'Psyops' against the West. It is also engaged in the semantic game of using 'National Liberation Movement for Terrorists' and 'homeland' for fiefdom.
The recent interest shown by the LTTE in peace negotiation appears to have been as a consequent to the prevention of the flow of billions of Dollars to their coffers.
'Terrorism is Terrorism be it where ever it happens to be. If it is unacceptable to the US, then it is unacceptable to where ever it is wielded or used," prof. added
Continuing his delivery the professor said that the West needs to over come its tendency to create a romanticized moral equivalency between legitimate nation states and the terrorist who attack them. He categorically stated that what happens in Sri Lanka does not stay there. It travels to other countries.
Prof. Leitner added that LTTE has become the world's most innovative terrorist organization. He said the suicide bombers known as Black- Tigers boat-bombs, home-made mini submarines, female combatants where 30% of the Sea Tigers are women, assassination of political officials including two heads of states and claims that persist that some LTTE members have been trained in flying ultra-light aircrafts are very good examples to this.
Other terrorists groups that later target other nations have copied these techniques. It is his view therefore that Sri Lanka has become the World's greatest learning lab for counter terrorism.
DR. PETER M. LEITNER , President Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center
Dr. Peter Leitner is the President of the Higgins Counterterrorism Research Center where he has helped to train over 7,000 law enforcement, first responders, military, FBI, and CIA personnel in the following areas: Intelligence Analysis & Source Development, Islamic Terrorism, Muslim Brotherhood, Clandestine Cell Operations, Dark Sun Exercise/Simulation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, and Arab and Islamic culture. He is also the President of the Washington Center for Peace & Justice a non-profit organization providing assistance to victims of terrorism and their families. Dr. Leitner holds the Power of Attorney for the family and estate of John O'Neill the former head of counterterrorism for the FBI who was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center. He is managing three major 9-11 cases in the Federal court in NY on behalf of the O'Neill's. He also assists children and parents victimized by child abductions to Saudi Arabia by former spouses. The Center assists victims obtain legal counsel and helps advance their cause in the United Nations and other national and international fora.
Dr. Leitner is the Program Chairman of the National Intelligence Conference. Known as INTELCON by the intelligence community, the Conference features over 125 speakers and 60-plus seminars and sessions during three days this May just outside of Washington in Bethesda, Maryland. The National Intelligence Conference program is sponsored and directed by the Friends of Intelligence Practitioners, a nonpartisan, nonprofit foundation. Program content is unclassified, though not-for-attribution, and is aimed at intel professionals, members of Congress, and attendees from both the public and private sectors. More information on INTELCON may be found at www.Intelconference.us.
In addition, Dr. Leitner is a Professor with the National Center for Biodefense at George Mason University where he is responsible for creating and teaching the following graduate classes: Nonproliferation in Biodefense, History of Biological Agents and Treaties, Intelligence Analysis, Examining Terrorist Groups, Counter-Terrorism and Civil Rights, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Infrastructure Vulnerability Assessment, Analyst's Notebook, Improvised WMD Situational Awareness, Technology of Delivery Systems, Contexts & Trends, and Qualitative Research Methods.
He is also a Senior Fellow and Professor with the Center for Advanced Defense Studies responsible for Terrorism, Intelligence, and Cyber War issues (www.c4ads.org). He is currently co-editing a multi-volume book series with the preliminary title: Unheeded Warnings: the Lost Reports of the House Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare. He is also the author of two nonfiction books: Decontrolling Strategic Technology, 1990-1992: Creating the Military Threats of the 21st Century (1995) and Reforming the Law of the Sea Treaty: Opportunities Missed, Precedents Set, and U.S. Sovereignty Threatened (1996); the Co-Editor of the Handbook of Public Quality Management (2001) as well as numerous journal articles. Leitner is completing his first novel, tentatively titled NANSHA: War in the South China Sea.
Dr. Leitner has over 29 years of Federal service in a variety of national security positions including 18 years in the Department of Defense. He has testified numerous times before Congress and he holds a Doctorate from the University of Southern California and four Master's degrees as well. He resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife and four children.
