Threat Matrix- Daily Terror Thread (4):

New York Post ^ | February 24, 2004 | By NILES LATHEM

[Revel]

February 24, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has dispatched the elite commando force that hunted down Saddam Hussein to Afghanistan for a new operation aimed at getting Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday. Military sources confirmed that members of the shadowy Task Force 121, the unit that conducted the high-tech search for Saddam and his henchmen, have recently begun operating in the remote mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where bin Laden and key al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are believed to be hiding. The Task Force is made up of highly trained Delta and SEAL commandos, as well as CIA paramilitary operators. It operates outside normal military channels.

[Cindy]

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/states/texas/northeast/8067217.htm

"Motorist shot after argument, police say"

By Dave Ferman

Star-Telegram Staff Writer


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Police are also investigating two other reports of vehicular damage involving a firearm Saturday morning. Jason Connover, 28, of Garland was traveling west on Interstate 635 near Texas 121 about 5:15 a.m. when shots damaged both of his vehicle's front windows. He was not injured.



About 6 a.m., Brendia Taylor, 53, of Keller was traveling south on Texas 121 near Texas 360 when she heard something hit her vehicle. She arrived at her job in Fort Worth and discovered a bullet hole in the rear driver's-side door of her Dodge Durango. She was not injured.

Police have not established whether the three incidents are connected, but they were continuing to interview witnesses in the Plummer shooting Saturday afternoon, Dearing said."

[Cindy]

See your e-mail.

[JustPiper]

Even 1-20 is after you declared him caught, so these folks still aren't up to you.

U.S. Hunt for Bin Laden Gathers Steam
2 hours, 18 minutes ago

By KATHERINE PFLEGER SHRADER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - The United States is rounding up and questioning the relatives of fugitive al-Qaida leaders to generate information on the possible whereabouts of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) and his top deputies. This tactic helped lead to Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s capture.

On Saturday, Pentagon (news - web sites) and Pakistani officials denied an Iranian state radio report that bin Laden had been captured "a long time ago" in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan (news - web sites).

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040229/ap_on_re_as/us_bin_laden&cid=516&ncid=716

[JustPiper]

What?! This just is not right! who should she call and how soon folks?

[JustPiper]

Report this store immediately to local inspectors BEFORE you call the store giving them a heads up!

[JustPiper]

New U.S. Effort Steps Up Hunt for bin Laden
By DAVID E. SANGER and ERIC SCHMITT

Published: February 29, 2004

WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 — President Bush has approved a plan to intensify the effort to capture or kill Osama bin Laden, senior administration and military officials say, as a combination of better intelligence, improving weather and a refocusing of resources away from Iraq has reinvigorated the hunt along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The plan will apply both new forces and new tactics to the task, said senior officials in Washington and Afghanistan who were interviewed in recent days. The group at the center of the effort is Task Force 121, the covert commando team of Special Operations forces and Central Intelligence Agency officers. The team was involved in Saddam Hussein's capture and is gradually shifting its forces to Afghanistan to step up the search for Mr. bin Laden and Mullah Muhammad Omar, the former Taliban leader.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/international/worldspecial2/29OSAM.html?hp

[JustPiper]

Ethanol tanker explodes off Virginia coast -

A tanker carrying industrial ethanol exploded and sank about 50 miles off the Virginia coast Saturday night, the Coast Guard said. At least two of the 27 crew members aboard were killed, and rescue crews were still searching for 19 others.

[JustPiper]

UNDIAGNOSED DEATHS, CERVIDS - USA (WYOMING)

---

Unexplained elk deaths in Wyo. leave wildlife officials puzzled

---

Elk are dying by the hundreds on the high, dry plains south of Rawlins, Wyo., puzzling veterinarians who suspect some kind of poison is to blame.

In the last 3 weeks, about 275 elk, mostly breeding-age cows in prime condition, have been found either dead or paralyzed in a 3-square-mile area just north of the Colorado border.

"They go to lie down, and then they can't get up," Wyoming Game and Fish Department spokesman Tom Reed said Thursday. "Their heads are up and they bark at you when you approach. But they can't move."

State biologists are euthanizing the stricken animals and have examined about a dozen carcasses in an attempt to find the cause of the deaths.

Whatever is killing the elk has yet to affect the horses, cows, calves, and antelope observed in the area. Scavengers like coyotes, ravens, or magpies that are feeding on the carcasses also appear to be immune.

"Elk are the tough guys of our big- game species, and here's something that's targeting them and taking them out," Reed said.

State wildlife veterinarians have already ruled out diseases such as chronic wasting disease, worms, or paralyzing bacteria sometimes carried by ticks.

Instead, they are focusing on natural or man-made toxins as the most likely cause of the die-off.

"There's a railroad, a coal-bed methane project, and oil and gas wells in the area," Reed said, adding that some local plants, particularly greasewood and Russian thistle, also contain compounds that can be toxic to wildlife. "We're looking at everything."

But pathologists are quickly narrowing their search. Tests have ruled out salt poisoning, insecticides, fertilizers, sulfates, and heavy metals including arsenic, selenium, and thallium.

Reed said game officers will attempt to transport several of the ill animals to the state wildlife research station in Sybille, Wyo., for further study. Meanwhile, the agency is asking that people avoid the area.

Mass die-offs of wildlife are not uncommon in severe Wyoming winters, but this one has been mild, biologists say.

In 1983, 700 antelope died in the same area after a strong snowstorm pushed them up against an illegal, 28-mile chain-link fence erected by a local rancher. The incident outraged wildlife lovers and led to a federal court
order banning such hazards.

This is the biggest non-winter-related wildlife die-off that anyone can remember, Reed said.

The area's rolling plain of sagebrush and greasewood provides critical winter range for elk and antelope, said Steve Torbit, a wildlife biologist with the National Wildlife Federation. The conservation group successfully
sued to have the rancher's fence removed.

"It's really strange that this is happening exactly where we had that battle," Torbit said.

[Byline: Theo Stein]

[MamaDearest]

Trader Joes - yummy stuff there. None where we live now. Gee thanks for making me depressed now.

[JustPiper]

Also have them here, I bought many things here -g-

http://www.nitro-pak.com

[JustPiper]

Here's my theory

They are denying it vehemently ONLY because they wanted to 'spring; it when they choose to


{{{U.S. military officials have said they are planning a spring offensive in Afghanistan in the hopes of capturing bin Laden, former Taliban leader Mullah Omar and their associates. }}}

[JustPiper]

I think Hitlery and Kerry were depicted very well on Mad TV tonight ;) Especially in the American Presedential Idol ;)

[JustPiper]

We've been waiting for you, glad you are back!

[MamaDearest]

9 Iraqi scientists murdered in past 4 months

You would think someone would have offered those scientists and their families a Witness Protection program out of that country.

[JustPiper]

He could be Arab or Mexican

[rickylc]

Ok, here's my theory:

Is it possible we would NEVER announce the capture of OBL? Even if he is in hand? Just get all the intel we could and then vaporize him? They (AQ) seem to know we have him, some in our Military seem to know we have him, but no official word.

The reason I suggest this would be AQ has it planned to detonate nukes and such WHEN OBL is captured.

The story of OBL's capture originated in Iran. Iran is in some serious deeeeeeeep doodoo right now.

The IEAE is even on their case! (/sarcasm)

With the announcement in Worlnet Daily that Iran could produce an atomic bomb within days, how long will Isreal allow Iran to maintain this capability?

And Isreal with those nice shiny new F-16's!

Iran may be very anxious for AQ to play their trump card.

Link that with the just finished terrorist conference that was held in Terhan. It certainly would have been a good time to orchestrate events.

So Terhan wants us to announce OBL's capture to initiate the AQ strikes against the US, but we don't play that game?

[JustPiper]

Glad your back

[JustPiper]

He could also still be dead ;)

[JustPiper]

SEARCH FOR OSAMA
Bush OKs intense
hunt for bin Laden
British elite forces joining U.S. commando team involved in Saddam's capture

Posted: February 29, 2004

President Bush has approved a plan to step up efforts to capture or kill al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden using new forces and tactics.

The new troops include Task Force 121, a unit of elite Navy SEALs and Delta Force soldiers led by top intelligence analysts involved in the capture of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Key personnel from the unit have now been transferred to Afghanistan.

The new hunt will be the biggest such operation in 18 months and will also include British elite forces, along with contingents of Afghan soldiers in a huge sweep of mountainous border areas where the terrorists are believed to be hiding, reports the London Observer.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37356

Step it up , yah like 8 weeks ago -g-

[rickylc]

I really hope that's the case and some buzzards are picking his bones at the top of one of those mountains!