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.

[Domestic Church]

"So if a nuke- of whatever type- goes off here, aren't they partially complicit?"

And if several go off you know they will come running to *help* us.

[JustPiper]

Breaking News Alert
ATLANTA (AP) Exiled Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, in a telephone interview arranged by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, says he was forced to leave Haiti by the U.S. military.

[Domestic Church]

"Miami was the only one I questioned"

Demographics... it's long been the NYers playground.

[livius]

I just posted an article I found in the Spanish press that might give folks a little insight into how al Qaeda works (or worked, at least). The general plan seems to be drawn up well in advance, but the final details are only decided at the last minute.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1088770/posts?page=1

[Domestic Church]

A real meltdown could affect a 400 mile radius easily.

[FairOpinion]

Al Qaeda finalized 9/11 in Tarragona (Spain)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1088770/posts

Al Qaeda finalized 9/11 in Tarragona The mastermind of the attack says that the date was set in August

The Yemeni Ramizi bin al Shibh, the mastermind of 9/11 who was captured in 2002 in Pakistan and held by the US in Guantanamo, has admitted to interrogators that he met in July, 2001 somewhere on the coast of Tarragona with Mohammed Atta, 33 years old, the leader of the suicide squad that attacked the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, causing 3,016 deaths.

[livius]

Actually, let me just post the whole article here, too:

El Periodico, Barcelona 03/01/2004

Al Qaeda finalized 9/11 in Tarragona
The mastermind of the attack says that the date was set in August

The Yemeni Ramizi bin al Shibh, the mastermind of 9/11 who was captured in 2002 in Pakistan and held by the US in Guantanamo, has admitted to interrogators that he met in July, 2001 somewhere on the coast of Tarragona with Mohammed Atta, 33 years old, the leader of the suicide squad that attacked the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, causing 3,016 deaths.

According to the Guardia Civil, Bin Al Shibh told his captors that the meeting in Tarragona was the last one he had with Atta to decide the details of the attack. The two terrorists met between July 9 and 17, 2001. At the end of that month, Bin al Shibh called Atta to confirm the date and tell him to “let a week pass, in case there’s some problem, before communicating with the head of al Qaeda in Afghanistan.”

The Egyptian Atta arrived in Madrid on the 8th, from Miami, slept in the Hotel Diana Cazador at the Barajas Airport, and went to Tarragona in a rented car. The Yemeni arrived the same date at the airport of Reus (Tarragona), coming from Hamburg, the principal headquarters of the terrorist cell, and stayed at the Hotel Monica in Cambrils, accompanied by another person.

Four days before the strike, he retunred to Spain, picked up a false passport and returned to Kabul. According to the testimony of Bin al Shibh to the FBI, he was the last man from the Hamburg cell who fled Europe before the suicide attackers launched the hijacked planes against the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. In order to get out of Spain, Bin al Shibh relied on the support of various Al Qaeda members in Spain.

The judge Guillermo Ruiz Polanco will send a letter rogatory to the US in order to take the statement of Bin al Shibh, according to judiical sources. The Guardia Civil wants to interrogate the mastermind of 9/11 to clarify the numerous gaps that still exist in knowledge about the “summit” at Tarragona. Investigators still do not know the location on the Catalan coast where Atta and Bin al Shivh met to finalize 9/11, information that the Yemeni has not revealed. The reports of the Guardia Cvil claim that Tarragona was chosen because they could count on the support of Islamic radicals in the area, who provided them with a house or a country place to meet.

[JustPiper]

And it could still be the 'nuke' is caused by a 'nuke plant' not nuke the way we imagine

[JustPiper]

lovely

[Domestic Church]

"I do think the speedy Haiti move is a cover for handling Cuba. "

Wow...would we need to go to this extent? Wouldn't we have plenty of other sites in the area to use for supply and troop coordination if needed? It seems like a hornet's nest but that might be a perfect smokescreen.

Where on the island of Cuba is Gitmo located?

[JustPiper]

Repost link:

Suicide bombers coming to U.S.?
Israeli raid turns up terror plot against Americans, Europeans

Posted: March 1, 2004

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37357

[Domestic Church]

What is underpining the Monterey Institute? What big names have been associated? I don't know anything about them. Are they in the Cato Institute or Heritage Foundation ballpark?

[FairOpinion]

[FairOpinion]

[Domestic Church]

"One of the most recent ones today is that Bush and Tony Blair were told personally that Al-Qaeda had obtained nuclear weapons through contact with former KGB agents."

That is our worst nightmare...2 megaton grapefruits with which to play Bocci.

[Oorang]

Welcome Lewis2 and thanks for the input.

[Domestic Church]

Holy Moly... about 55 miles from Jean - Rabel in Haiti to Cuba!

[WestCoastGal]

"Mystery Disease" Kills Over 300 Children in Afghanistan

Over 300 children have died of a mysterious illness in Afghanistan's northern province of Badakhshan in less than one month.

Deputy Province Governor Shamsur Rehman is quoted as saying the ailment appears to be a respiratory disease, which begins with flu, but later chokes the breathing system of the children.

Rehman said casualties my be higher, but it is difficult to get exact figures in this cold, remote area at the foot of the Hindukush mountains. (Hindu Kush)

The cities of Wakhan, Darwaz, Yaftal, and Khwahn - all bordering China and Takikistan - have also been hit with the disease.

Relief organizations and government officials are providing aid to people in several affected areas, but there are many places which cannot be accessed without helicopters.

Deputy Governor Rehman has appealed to the World Health Organization (WHO) and other groups to send medical and relief supplies, to avoid "a worst-ever human catastrophe".

Source: Pakistan Tribune, February 24. 2004.

[WestCoastGal]

Accidental Ebola Exposure at Fort Detrick

A civilian researcher at Fort Detrick, Md, accidentally pricked herself with a needle, containing a weakened form of Ebola virus last week, while injecting mice, as part of the Army's continuing research effort.

The woman has shown no signs of illness, but will have to remain in isolation for up to one month, as the incubation period varies from 2 to 21 days.

There is presently no cure for this high-mortality disease.

Source: CNN, February 20, 2004.

[Oorang]

Interesting isn't it? I was also searching to find any follow up info and came up empty. Now, how many stories that make you go hmmmm..., in the last couple of months? And how many seemed to have fallen into a black hole of no more info?