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.

[JustPiper]

QUOTATION OF THE DAY

"I will lead a quiet change. I will govern for all in unity. And power will not change me, I promise you that."
JOSÉ ZAPATERO, Spain's new prime minister.

[knak]

there already is a thread of that post Cal.

[JustPiper]

G.I. Toll Rises in Iraq With New Bomb Tactics
By THOM SHANKER and ERIC SCHMITT

Published: March 15, 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq, March 14 — Insurgent bombmakers, whose roadside explosives claimed the lives of six more American soldiers this weekend, have adopted new and grimly devious tactics, military officers said Sunday.

The tactics include setting multiple charges along convoy routes, disguising bombs inside animal carcasses and planting hollow artillery shells to draw troops into an ambush, they said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/15/international/middleeast/15IRAQ.html?th

[JustPiper]

Welcome, there are a handful of us homeschooling Moms on this thread and many at FR ;)

[JustPiper]

Remember, 911 happened just before the Mayoral voting and it was postponed

[Calpernia]

There was? Oh. Ok, I just double posted.

[TexKat]

British radical Muslims explain how the caliphate will be restored

Evidently by violence. Above is the illustration accompanying this announcement at the British radical Muslim site Al-Muhajiroun (thanks to "Allah"):

Islaamic conference How the Khilaafah will be restored & Man-made law destroyed ...80 years on from the destruction of the Islamic state - 3rd of March 1924... Wednesday 3rd of March 2004, From 7pm to 9pm, Central London. For venue, please phone on the day of conference: 07939 737 727. For media enquiries call: 07956 600 569

[knak]

oh well, the more the merrier

[all4one]

...shivers also...didn't even notice the post number when I was posting...

[livius]

I agree that it's no excuse, but the left was clearly ready and waiting for something like this, and they hit the streets before the blood was even washed off the platforms.

I think this should be an object lesson to us. We all know that we have a large and powerful fifth column here in our country, just waiting for something to happen that it can use. If we do have a terrorist attack, or any kind of disturbance (I'm thinking of domestic disturbances, such as in Spain, although on a bigger scale), the left will be out there encouraging panic and the vote for Kerry.

I think we've got to be prepared for this scenario here, because, quite frankly, I don't have a lot of confidence that Americans would choose a lot differently. I think those of us who do not want to give in to terror have to be ready to come forward and offer some leadership and an example of courage, whatever happens. Nobody in Spain came forward to do that, unfortunately.

[livius]

"And power will not change me, I promise you that."

Pity. If anybody ever needed a change, it's Zap. Plus, as someone pointed out, he looks like Mr. Bean.

[swarthyguy]

Let's see if they try and do the same in India with elections coming up.

[Mrs. Xtrmst]

(chuckle) I'm am currently homeschooling my kids. Didn't mean to be cryptic. I was turning in for the night & thinking of marking my place, then when I saw the HS reference decided to show my support.

[TexKat]

France: Bin Laden Nearly Caught in Afghanistan

Mon Mar 15,11:20 AM ET

PARIS (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden has escaped capture in Afghanistan several times and may be linked in some way to the Madrid train attacks that killed 200 people, France's chief of defense staff said Monday.

Gen. Henri Bentegeat said about 200 French troops were operating with U.S. forces in southeastern Afghanistan against the Taliban and bin Laden's al Qaeda. The Saudi-born militant is thought to be there or just across the border in Pakistan.

"Our men were not very far. On several occasions, I even think he slipped out of a net that was quite well closed," he told Europe 1 radio. He did not specify a time frame.

Bentegeat, who spoke as if he were sure bin Laden was in Afghanistan, said the country's difficult terrain explained why it was so hard to catch the world's most wanted man.

"In Afghanistan, the terrain is extremely favorable to escapes, there are underground networks everywhere," he said.

The general said it was essential that bin Laden be caught.

"He symbolizes September 11 and is certainly not completely innocent in what happened in Madrid," he said, making a link between the 2001 attacks in New York and Washington and the Spanish train bombings last Thursday.

But he added that arresting bin Laden "would not change things directly. (Al Qaeda) is a hydra with many heads. If we catch one head, there will be others."

Bentegeat said the minute preparations needed for the Madrid bombings were "the clearest indication" that al Qaeda was probably behind them.

He said the threat of Islamic radicalism was spreading beyond the Middle East. "It's a phenomenon we're seeing step by step in Africa," he said, especially in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Then there are countries that are adrift, that we are trying to help to not sink, such as Ivory Coast or the Central African Republic," he added.

Asked about security in France, Bentegeat said French fighter jets could scramble in less than two minutes to confront any intrusion into the country's air space.

"Not a day goes by with at least one patrol that takes off to go check an airplane that has strayed off its path or doesn't respond by radio," he said.

[TexKat]

3 U.S. Civilians Killed in Iraq Shooting

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Three American civilians were killed and two wounded in a drive-by shooting Friday in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Tom Gilroy, a military spokesman in Baghdad, said the victims worked for a non-governmental organization. The wounded were being treated at the U.S. Army combat support hospital in Mosul.

U.S. Lt. Col. Joseph Piek, a spokesman for American forces in Mosul, said in an e-mail message that the victims were traveling in one car on the eastern side of the city when they were attacked.

Witnesses said they saw victims lying on the street and inside the car, including a man in the front passenger's side with his seat belt fastened.

[all4one]

"He said the threat of Islamic radicalism was spreading beyond the Middle East. "It's a phenomenon we're seeing step by step in Africa," he said, especially in sub-Saharan Africa."

Below is an article on Islamic Missionaries in Africa that has info. on how Islamic radicalism is spreading into African countries.

---

'Missionaries' Recruit Fighters (Islamic Radicals)

By Chris Tomlinson-The Associated Press

PEMBA, Tanzania -- Twisting an old and respected tradition of spreading the faith, Muslim extremists from the Middle East and Central Asia are traveling as missionaries in East Africa to recruit young men for holy war in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In places such as Pemba, part of the Zanzibar archipelago 50 miles off the Tanzanian coast, part-time preachers go from mosque to mosque spouting sermons of hate -- sometimes scripted by radical groups in Saudi Arabia, moderate Muslim leaders said.

The same groups also pay for the fundamentalists' travel, other Muslims and a Western diplomat said.

East Africa's poverty and a feeling of
disenfranchisement among Muslims have created fertile ground for the extremists from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Pakistan. After speaking at religious services, the "tabligh," or missionaries, begin recruiting young men, sometimes offering a chance to join Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida, said Ali Abdallah Amani, the Pemba representative of Zanzibar's top Muslim leader.

"They do it in a very, very, very secret way, but they do it," Amani said. "Sometimes they are Arabs, sometimes they are people working for them. There are some [charitable] agencies that sometimes use a native of the village [to recruit] because the others would be caught by the police."

He said most older imams oppose the extremists and try to warn their congregations, who gather in mostly small, simple mosques built with donations from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"We caution each other as to who is going to distort Islam," he said. "Awareness is the key."

But because the tabligh's mission is purportedly religious, Muslims -- who make up 90 percent of the island's 1 million residents -- feel compelled to listen and provide them with food and shelter. Islam came to the tropical archipelago more than 1,000 years ago, and most women still wear head scarves and many men dress in robes and knit caps.

The extremists appeal to a frustrated minority who believe Islam is at war.

"There is an army of Muslims and they are fighting an army of non-Muslims who are trying to destroy Islam," said Zahor Issa Omar, a Pemba resident who answered the call to become one of the hundreds of tabligh who visit mosques in East Africa every day. Like most tabligh, he spends 40 days of every year preaching and wears traditional Pakistani clothing with a simple turban.

Omar, 34, said he has made two trips to an Islamic school in Raiwind, Pakistan, which Pakistani police say has trained millions of tabligh. He declined to discuss al-Qaida or whether he has been to Afghanistan or received military training.

He said he now helps spread the fundamentalists' ideology in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, urging Muslims to become more devout and to join the struggle against non-Muslims. He also insisted he paid for his new home and extensive travel by doing odd jobs, even though transportation can cost the equivalent of an average Tanzanian's annual salary.

Zanzibaris say, however, that Wahabi charities pay the tabligh a higher salary than the European Union pays Zanzibar's school teachers, who receive several hundred dollars a month. Wahabis follow a fundamentalist brand of Sunni Islam practiced mostly in Saudi Arabia. The Raiwind madrassa is based on Wahabi beliefs.

Saudi institutions not only finance extremist tabligh, but also provide suggested texts for their sermons, the Western diplomat said. Sermons faxed from the religious groups were found in the home of a terrorist suspect in Kenya and focused on Islamic fundamentalism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Several imams, known for their radical views, refused to be interviewed by a non-Muslim journalist and Islamic charities in Zanzibar also declined to answer questions.

Most Zanzibaris, who follow a mystical form of Sufi Islam, which emphasizes peace and harmony, reject the tabligh's fiery rhetoric. Their islands have been a trade center for 3,000 years and have long hosted Christian and Hindu minorities without any communal violence.

"They tell us to support Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida," Seyyid Mohammed Seyyid, a man in his twenties from Pemba's main town, said scornfully. "They talk about how the Americans are killing Iraqis and the Israelis are killing the Palestinians. They only talk a little about religion."
Amani and other imams said that while the extremists' influence still is limited, it appears to be growing among younger imams, especially since the U.S. invasion of Iraq in March.

The tabligh's recruitment drive already has yielded some significant results. At least 25 percent of the foreign fighters captured in Iraq have come from East Africa, U.S. Marine Brig. Gen. Mastin Robeson said in November.
Two Zanzibari tabligh allegedly were involved in the 1998 car bombing of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania that killed 234 people. Aboud Rogo Mohammed, a Kenyan who runs a madrassa for girls, has been charged in the November 2002 car bombing of a hotel on Kenya's coast that killed 15 and an attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner minutes before.
The U.S. military has posted 1,800 military personnel in Djibouti to monitor terrorist and extremist activities in the region. A key part of their mission is to reach out to Muslim communities and monitor and counterbalance the extremists' message.

The United States asked Saudi Arabia after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to cut off funding for religious extremists and their charities. But many have just closed their offices and continue to operate underground, and private donations to the tabligh are untraceable.

Juma Mtumwr, deputy police commissioner for Zanzibar, said there are no immediate terrorist threats on Zanzibar, but police are watching extremists...........

http://www.sltrib.com/2004/Feb/02222004/nation_w/141222.asp

[Calpernia]

Excellent point. We do have plenty of leaders and leadership groups; but, unfortunately, the left is more well funded than us.

[judicial meanz]

Quick analysis of that article:

looks like Georgia made an ultimatum to Adzharia that has expired. If Georgia tries to follow through, expect Moscow to pour troops into Georgia. IIRC Georgia and Russia do not get along.

Interesting.

[Teri0811]

"New Spanish PM Blasts Bush, Blair; Accuses them of lying; Suggests force not answer to terrorism"

Attention All Terrorists: Please report to the Spanish PM's place for tea and cookies at once!

[jerseygirl]

Hi folks! I just started checking through today's posts. Usually I try not to post anything until I've completed reading. However, I read something late last night from another forum, which concerned me greatly. The forum is NOT always reliable- tends toward conspiracy theories, new world order, etc. (Sightings)
However, one poster wrote that in the call made to the Spanish claiming AQ responsibility for the terror attack there, the same caller stated that there would be a plague attack in the US prior to the next election.

Is there any confirmation that the caller actually said this? Hoping its not true.