Pocket litter is material, including notes scribbled on scraps of paper, that accumulates in an individual's pockets. It can include identity cards, transportation tickets, personal photographs, computer files and similar material.[1]
Counter-terrorism analysts report that the analysis of pocket litter can be an important tool for confirming or refuting suspects' accounts of themselves.[2][3][4][5]
The term was used as early as 1973, by Watergate conspirator E. Howard Hunt.[6]
The Combating Terrorism Center celebrated the first anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden by releasing documents seized from Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad home.[7]
The Associated Press reported that SEAL Team 6 had been specially trained to search for documents and pocket litter "that might produce leads to other terrorists."
In Operation Mincemeat of World War II, false pocket litter (a photograph of a supposed girlfriend, forged receipts, and so forth) was planted on a corpse to deceive the Germans into believing that it was actually that of one "Major William Martin" of the Royal Marines (a person who did not actually exist), and thus that the false secret documents carried by "Martin" were genuine.
^Risen, James. "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration", 2006
^
Adam Liptak (2007-08-26). "Spying Program May Be Tested by Terror Case". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-01-24. After a bloody raid by American military forces on an enemy camp in Rawah, Iraq, on June 11, 2003, a Defense Department report took inventory. Eighty suspected terrorists killed. An enormous weapons cache recovered. And, in what the report called "pocket litter," a notebook with the name and phone number of the imam of a mosque halfway around the world, here in the state capital.
^
Erik Lacitis (2005-11-14). "Career found in translation". Seattle Times. Retrieved 2009-01-24. But with the sheer volume of documents coming through the pipeline — from pamphlets to newspaper editorials to "pocket litter" — the need for translators is never-ending... 'Pocket litter' is any piece of paper with writing that has been taken from someone brought in for questioning.
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Steven Berbeco (2003-04-14). "Right job, wrong place". Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
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David Benjamin (2004-09-12). "Cheney's No Terrorism Expert". Los Angeles Times. p. M2. Retrieved 2009-01-24. From the time Al Qaeda emerged in the 1990s, the central approach for attacking it has been to identify terrorists through signals and human intelligence as well as information from other intelligence services around the world. Security forces of the country in which the terrorists were located would then move in and capture or, if necessary, kill them. Information from these busts, whether "pocket litter" or computer files, would be used to find more operatives and dismantle cells.
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Everette Howard Hunt, Greg Aunapu, William F. (FRW) Buckley (1974). "American Spy". ISBN 9780471789826. Retrieved 2009-01-24.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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"Bin Laden troubled by crumbling Muslim trust: Al-Qaeda leader's final letters from Pakistan compound are released by U.S." CBC News. 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2012-05-03. The report said the Special Forces troops in the bin Laden raid were trained to search the home afterward for thumb drives, printed documents and what it described as "pocket litter" that might produce leads to other terrorists. "The end of the raid in Abbottabad was the beginning of a massive analytical effort," it said.
Pocketlitter is material, including notes scribbled on scraps of paper, that accumulates in an individual's pockets. It can include identity cards, transportation...
be carried on his person – known in espionage circles as wallet or pocketlitter. These included a photograph of an invented fiancée named Pam; the image...
The Falaise pocket or battle of the Falaise pocket (German: Kessel von Falaise; 12–21 August 1944) was the decisive engagement of the Battle of Normandy...
local conditions, pocket gophers may have a specific annual breeding season, or may breed repeatedly through the year. Each litter typically consists...
In the 2022 film The Gray Man, the CIA agents used it when getting pocketlitter from Sierra Four. "IWTSD | Irregular Warfare Support Directorate". "Archived...
receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital 'pocketlitter'." In response to claims that the data center would be used to illegally...
to ensure Zubaydah would survive during transit out of Pakistan. His pocketlitter supposedly contained two bank cards, which showed that he had access...
three litters in a year if the female breeds soon after giving birth. Rats as pets Exotic pet Ferrets as pets Rabbits as pets The term "pocket pet" is...
troops had been trained to search for documents, computer files and "pocketlitter" "that might produce leads to other terrorists". In popular culture...
Club divided the American Bully into four categories, including the XL, Pocket, Standard, and Classic, whereas other registries, including the UKC, have...
pain syndrome'. The average size of a Beagle litter is six puppies. When mother Beagles give birth to litters of puppies, the little pups weigh just a few...
The dense pocket forest forms a capture mechanism for wind-blown embers, dried ground litter is an ignition source, and the multi-layered pocket forest forms...
year, but first-litter individuals may first reach breeding condition before winter when plant productivity is high. Great Basin pocket mice occupy open...
but a place of heavy litter and filth. Pip moves into Barnard's Inn with Herbert Pocket, the son of his tutor, Matthew Pocket, who is Miss Havisham's...
receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital "pocketlitter." It is, in some measure, the realization of the "total information...
Grandpa in My Pocket is a 2009-2014 British children's comedy-drama television series created by Mellie Buse and Jan Page and commissioned by Michael Carrington...
around 18 days, with each litter averaging 3 or 4 young. Females will usually have one litter per year between March and June. Pocket gophers form an angled...
pocket mouse. The Pacific pocket mouse does not reproduce offspring in large quantities or at a high speed. Most females typically produce one litter...
the litter size is typically between three and six. As with most pocket mice, the tail is longer than the body (~10 cm). Historically, rock pocket mice...
in 1951, is commonly known as the silver slipper orchid or hard-leaved pocket orchid. It blooms during late winter to early summer with one flower per...
hold workshops and to publish. The magazine And ceased in 2010; but PocketLitter was started in 2011. A break-off "Writers Forum (second series)" workshop...
The camas pocket gopher (Thomomys bulbivorus), also known as the camas rat or Willamette Valley gopher, is a rodent, the largest member in the genus Thomomys...
The Heiligenbeil Pocket or Heiligenbeil Cauldron (German: Kessel von Heiligenbeil) was the site of a major encirclement battle on the Eastern Front during...
The pouched frog (Assa darlingtoni), or hip pocket frog, is a small, terrestrial frog found in rainforests in mountain areas of south-eastern Queensland...
The desert pocket mouse (Chaetodipus penicillatus) is a North American species of heteromyid rodent found in the southwestern United States and Mexico...
of year. Litters of from one to five young have been recorded and there are believed to be up to two litters in the year. The Texas pocket gopher has...
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