Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread 5

CNN ^ | March 12, 2004

[thecabal]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- This week's deadly train bombings in Spain will not lead to a rise in the U.S. color-coded terror threat alert system, a Department of Homeland Security spokesman said Friday.

"Based on the current intelligence, we have no specific indicators that terrorist groups are considering such an attack in the U.S. in the near term," said department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse.

[thecabal]

Agency initiates steps for selective draft

Congress shows little support for effort to draw skilled Americans

By ERIC ROSENBERG
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER WASHINGTON BUREAU

WASHINGTON -- The government is taking the first steps toward a targeted military draft of Americans with special skills in computers and foreign languages.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is adamant that he will not ask Congress to authorize a draft, and officials at the Selective Service System, the independent federal agency that would organize any conscription, stress that the possibility of a so-called "special skills draft" is remote.

Nonetheless, the agency has begun the process of creating the procedures and policies to conduct such a targeted draft in case military officials ask Congress to authorize it and the lawmakers agree to such a request.

"Talking to the manpower folks at the Department of Defense and others, what came up was that nobody foresees a need for a large conventional draft such as we had in Vietnam," said Richard Flahavan, a spokesman for the Selective Service System. "But they thought that if we have any kind of a draft, it will probably be a special skills draft."

Flahavan said Selective Service planning for a possible draft of linguists and computer experts began last fall after Pentagon personnel officials said the military needed more people with skills in those areas.

A targeted registration and draft "is strictly in the planning stage," he said, adding that "the whole thing is driven by what appears to be the more pressing and relevant need today" -- the deficit in language and computer experts.

The spokesman said it could take about two years to "to have all the kinks worked out."

The agency already has a special system to register and draft health care personnel ages 20 to 44 in more than 60 specialties if necessary in a crisis. According to Flahavan, the agency will expand this system to be able to rapidly register and draft computer specialists and linguists, should the need ever arise. But he stressed that the agency has received no request from the Pentagon to do so.

Congress, which would have to authorize a draft, has shown no interest in taking such a step.

Kathleen Long, a spokeswoman for Sen. Carl Levin, the senior Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said a draft has little support among lawmakers.

A spokesman for Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, agreed. "There are massive operations under way to retrain soldiers" for more pressing duties and to recruit specialties in demand such as language experts, said Harald Stavenas, Hunter's spokesman.

The military draft ended in 1973 as the U.S. commitment in Vietnam waned, beginning the era of the all-volunteer force. Mandatory registration for the draft was suspended in 1975 but resumed in 1980 by President Carter after the Soviets invaded Afghanistan. About 13.5 million men, ages 18 to 25, are currently registered with the Selective Service.

The military has had particular difficulty attracting and retaining language experts, especially people knowledgeable about Arabic and various Afghan dialects. To address this need, the Army has a new pilot program under way to recruit Arabic speakers into the service's Ready Reserves. The service has signed up about 150 people into the training program.

A Pentagon official familiar with personnel issues stressed that the armed forces are against any form of conscription but acknowledged that the groundwork is already under way at the Selective Service System.

On Capitol Hill, Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., has introduced a bill that would reinstate the draft. The legislation has minimal support with only 13 House lawmakers signing on as co-sponsors. A corresponding bill in the Senate introduced by Sen. Fritz Hollings, the outgoing South Carolina Democrat, has no co-sponsors.

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Very interesting...if this happens probably half of our Threat Matrix posters would be gone! They might even want my flabby butt...

[TexKat]

Spain Arrests 3 Moroccans, 2 Indians in Bomb Probe

If these are the guilty ones, the murderous dummies were tracked down by the cell phone that they left in the stolen van according to Fox News.

[appalachian_dweller]

Thanks for the info. Looks as radical Islam want to organize or a broader war. We must have really decimated AQ for them to try and reorg like this. Would be nice for them to all meet in once place. Save us some ordinance. Thanks again freeperfromnj. Stay safe!

[Selene]

4515 SB

Looks like a postal address - like a zip code for

IJZENDIJKE, Netherlands

[jerseygirl]

Just started checking today's posts. We made it to thread 5!

[appalachian_dweller]

>> We made it to thread 5! <<

Ain't it grand? I'm glad this thread is still alive and kicking. I depend on it and the freepers who post here to get the latest threats, the scary stuff most people don't want to talk or think about.

[appalachian_dweller]

Clarification:

It's NOT grand we're under such threats, but the camaraderie here sure is.

[Quix]

tHANKS.

You've clearly followed them more closely than I have.

I agree with you about going after all of them.

[TexKat]

Correction

Sorry , the mass murdering dummies left the cell phone in a backpack on one of the Madrid trains.

[Selene]

4515 SB

Looks like a postal address - like a zip code for

IJZENDIJKE, Netherlands

Location is on coast 57km west of Antwerp

http://www.maporama.com/share/iti.asp?SESSIONID=%7B3347504F-98F6-4770-B154-760E9814A111%7D&NODRIVEMECITY=true&ITI_START_COUNTRYCODE=NL&ITI_START_ADDRESS=hondegatweg&ITI_START_ZIPCODE=4515&ITI_START_STATE=&ITI_START_CITYNAME=IJZENDIJKE&ITI_END_COUNTRYCODE=BE&ITI_END_ADDRESS=&ITI_END_ZIPCODE=&ITI_END_STATE=&ITI_END_CITYNAME=antwerpen&ITI_MODE=vehicule&ITI_MODE_OPTION_vehicule=Time&SEARCH_ITI2.x=13&SEARCH_ITI2.y=13

[all4one]

And yet it is being reported that there are those in Spain that blame the U.S. Since they have backed us and helped the U.S. in Iraq, therefore it is still our fault...but considering the liberal media, it could be three people in Spain that have expressed this opinion and they report it as fact.

The Religion of Peace....once again.

[Selene]

Two nuclear reactors close by
Maps of Nuclear Power Reactors: NETHERLANDS

http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/netherlands.php

[jerseygirl]

RE: letter indicating AQ is 90% ready to strike the US.

I am hoping that the MEMRI analysis of this letter is correct. It was their opinion that the letter was written in a style NOT consistent with other AQ writings.

However, MEMRI also indicated that the letter was not written in OBL's scholarly manner. Could it be that someone else had to write the letter, since we allegedly snatched OBL at the end of January?

Someone on this thread pointed out that the last "Voice of Jihad" was not written in its usual manner, either- in fact, was quite sloppy.

[Cindy]

SB = south bound?

[appalachian_dweller]

It would be great to get OBL, but getting him would in no way diminish the threat against the US. These people are like drug dealers, get one and three more take the removed one's place.

Not to be gloomy, but to face sad facts: the Palestinians are raising their children to hate the US and Israel and that it is a good thing to kill as many of us as they can. Arafat and his cronies have established a breeding ground for terrorists.

Until we face that un-PC fact that this is a religious war and to win it we’re going to have to get nasty, the situation we’re in will continue for the foreseeable future. Eventually, these maggots will get off a successful attack on the US mainland. Time is on their side, not ours.

In any war, civilians are the first ones to die. That is a proven fact that history has taught but we have refused to learn or have forgotten. A nuclear detonation on US soil should bring about a response unimaginable. Would it? That depends on who’s on the WH. If this war goes on too long, there will be a detonation.

[JustPiper]

Bump for Thread 5!

Important:

1. As you well know, the 10 railway explosions in Spain have been claimed by Al Qaeda, and seem to fit their modus operandi. Western intelligence seems to concur, although Spanish officials are still looking at the ETA separatist group. An astute FReeper found an article from Oct. 2001 which points to a link between the 2 groups, and it is likely that the blasts on 3/11 (911 days after 9/11) were a cooperative effort between ETA & AQ.

2. Al Qaeda, in their message claiming responsibility, said the blasts were retaliation for Spain's alliance with and support of the US in the War on Terror. Threats of further violence against Tokyo, Moscow, Paris, London, & ultimately culminating with attacks on the US led to a volatile day for world markets.

3. Tom Ridge, Homeland Security chief, feels AQ is behind the blasts and that the US is the ultimate target.

4. Mysterious deaths of unidentified divers in the Hudson River, Florida and Hawaii have everyone questioning the insecurity of our harbors and coastlines.

5. Still no answers on the elk deaths in Yellowstone. Nearly 300 elk have been found dead or paralyzed, and have been euthanized. No word on whether they have been struck down by something found in their natural habitat, or whether outside intervention has come into play.

6. An "earthquake" measuring 5.3 was reported in SE Wyoming in early Feb. but the USGC has asked European agencies which monitor seismic activity to disregard it, as it was "actually" a mine shaft collapse. No mention in the media has led some to suspect it may have been some type of underground detonation - either testing of some sort, or possibly a venting of the Yellowstone caldera?

7. Several agencies across the US, including the Red Cross, as well as TV programming, are offering suggestions for what to stock in case of emergency/survivalist planning. The timing seems rather interesting, to say the least...

Please feel free to add to/correct this brief summation...

4,884 posted on 03/12/2004 9:51:30 PM CST by liberallyconservative

[rickylc]

Nice work Selene, I saw the zipcode earlier doing the google searches but didn't follow it.

You're sharp!!

[JustPiper]

I wanna tell you gals that I'm still reading your posts and they are too funny! Decoder ring, secret handshake, I implore you all STOP giving away all the goodies! Or you will be canned from the In Crowd

[TexKat]

Fox News Alert: coming up on Fox new video from OBL and/or Alqueda.

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for the heads up - tuning in now