Rudy Atallah

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	To oppose or discuss a nomination, please go to CZ:Proposed for deletion and follow the instructions. For the monthly nomination lists, see Category:Articles for deletion. Rudy Atallah was the Africa Counterterrorism director at the U.S. Department of Defense, having retired, as a lieutenant colonel, United States Air Force, from a post as Africa Counter-Terrorism Director and Tunisia, Morocco Country Director in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (OSD). He is founder and CEO of White Mountain Research, a firm that provides research and analysis to government and corporate clients that desire to anticipate and prevent security threats. Born in Lebanon and an immigrant to the U.S., he is an advisory board member of the U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon. He told an interviewer that "voting as a citizen of the United States is an "honor and privilege" as well as a right that U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rudy Atallah says he never has taken for granted since leaving his native Lebanon to attend the University of Connecticut in the mid-1980s, later becoming a U.S. citizen and military pilot. From his travels, his photography is on many Internet sites, such as an 7000-year old rock carving of giraffes in Dabous, Niger Current events Speaking in his consulting role, he told an interviewer, in August 2009, that al-Qaeda may be establishing a sanctuary in Yemen. "The Yemeni government, unfortunately, does not have a lot of control over the country...They have control over Sana'a and just right around the capital. And that's about it. And the rest of the country is pretty much lawless." He also spoke on the piracy situation off Somalia in September 2009, after the U.S. raid on Al-Shabaab. Poverty and illiteracy drive piracy, he said, especially for men in the 16-25 age group. The pirates have transferred some of the traditions of camel rustling; they name a captured vessel after their favorite camel. Radical Islam was not described as part of the problem, but, he said, the pirate money bringing in alcohol and other un-Islamic ways are causing social tensions in the town of Eyl, a pirate stronghold. Military career As a military officer, he served as a Command Pilot, Wing Safety Officer, Defense Attache and OSD Africa Counterterrorism Director. He is a Senior Pilot and aviation crash investigator. During the Gulf War, and in humanitarian relief to Somalia, he flew C-141 Starlifter transports. Education Air Command and Staff College BS Electrical Engineering/Biomedical Engineering, The University of Connecticut Air Force Safety School / Federal Aviation Agency Flight Safety FAA Mishap Investigator MS International Relations, Troy University References