Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Fifteen

CNN ^ | 07/25/04 | N/A

[JustPiper]

Credit: The Cabal

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the Judge and get informed.


"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

Group linked to al Qaeda warns of 'columns of car bombs'

Australia and Italy have received warnings through a statement purportedly from militants linked to al Qaeda that demanded those countries withdraw troops from Iraq.

We are the "Stotters" who make ourselves aware of the enemy who wishes to do us harm.



Meet It!
Greet It!
Defeat It!

LINK TO THREAD FOURTEEN

[Cindy]

Thanks.
They should know.
I appreciate the feedback.

[Mossad1967]

Sources: More Targets Cited by Al Qaeda
http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,127830,00.html
Monday, August 02, 2004


WASHINGTON — Several more banks and financial institutions were detailed as possible targets on captured terrorists' computers than what's being reported, FOX News has learned.

According to a senior defense official, the Prudential Building in Newark, N.J., Citigroup and the New York Stock Exchange in New York and the World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington were just a few of many buildings named on an Al Qaeda (search) laptop "recently" retrieved.

The American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ — the bulk of whose operations are in Times Square, far uptown from the Financial District — were also named, FOX News has learned.

Very specific details about United Nations (search) headquarters in midtown Manhattan were also found on this computer.

"This is not one, two or three buildings, as was reported yesterday," a senior official said.

Key financial institutions in the three cities were under heavy security Monday, one day after federal officials issued a warning that the buildings could be targets of an Al Qaeda terror attack.

"Hundreds of documents and digital photographs were found on an Al Qaeda computer," one senior official said. "There was incredible detail about these buildings. This isn't the sort of stuff you and I would have on our own laptops."

Also, according to a law enforcement bulletin issued by the FBI (search) and Department of Homeland Security (search) on Sunday, there is concern that subways and other modes of public transportation near financial institutions could be targets for terrorists.

The bulletin, obtained by FOX News, also discusses the potential use of airplanes as weapons and about a possible terror plot to conduct computer attacks.

"The elevation of the threat level in New York and New Jersey and Washington is a serious reminder, a solemn reminder, of the threat we continue to face," President Bush said at the White House Monday. "All the institutions of our government must be fully prepared for a struggle against terror that will last into the future."

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told FOX News' "FOX & Friends" on Monday that intelligence officials had gotten unusually detailed information from multiple sources.

Ridge said it did not appear it would be a strike with a radiological or "dirty" bomb.

"Analysis suggests in this instance they prefer a car or truck bomb that they've employed elsewhere," Ridge said.

Treasury Secretary John Snow, quick to try to reassure investors and Americans generally, said the nation's financial system operated normally in the first weekday hours of the code-orange alert.

"People around the world rightly have confidence in the U.S. financial markets," Snow said. "While we must always remain vigilant against terror, we will not be intimidated and prevented from enjoying our lives and exercising our freedoms."

Officials have warned that Usama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, may launch a large-scale assault in hopes of disrupting the Nov. 2 elections and demonstrating that it remains capable of offensive actions despite international efforts to combat terrorism.

A cache of recently obtained information — including photos, drawings and written documents — indicates that Al Qaeda operatives had meticulously cased the five specified buildings.

In general, there seems to be a decent amount of awe inside the Pentagon about the treasure trove of information found in what this official described as a brilliant move of "spot tactical intelligence." Officials are also surprised that there was no information about the Pentagon found on this computer.

As for Defense Department reaction to the elevated alert level, officials said they cannot provide details as to how the military is positioning itself to respond to an internal attack, but they acknowledge that several planning procedures are in operation at present.

"We are reviewing the forces we have in place to respond to an event," one official told FOX News. "We'll adjust accordingly."

Terror Suspect’s Computer a Goldmine

FOX News confirmed that Pakistani intelligence agents discovered plans for new attacks on the United States and Britain on a computer seized during the arrest of a high-ranking Al Qaeda operative.

Pakistani officials said details were on the computer of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian arrested July 25 after a gun battle in the eastern city of Gujrat.

But authorities also arrested another top Al Qaeda suspect, a 25-year-old computer engineer, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, who apparently is cooperating with investigators.

Khan was arrested July 13. Pakistani officials say he used and helped operate a secret Al Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages, the New York Times reported Monday. FOX News confirmed with U.S. officials that Khan is the second man where information came from.

In fact, Khan is key to the latest security alerts, not so much Ghailani.

U.S. intelligence officials were expressing frustration that news outlets continue to point the finger at Ghailani, with one telling FOX News: "The assumptions are ridiculous. Just because Ghailani's name was the latest to cross everyone's radar screens ... it doesn't automatically mean he's responsible for all this. Even Ridge said 'no' yesterday when asked about the Ghailani connection."

A Pakistani intelligence official told The New York Times that Khan said couriers carried handwritten messages or computer disks from senior Al Qaeda leaders in isolated border areas to hard-line religious schools in Pakistan; others carried them to Khan himself to post them on Web sites or relay them electronically.

An official said Al Qaeda's gathering of the building information took place both before and after Sept. 11, 2001.

An anonymous senior intelligence official said the intelligence indicated Al Qaeda had evaluated security in and around the five buildings, the best places for reconnaissance, how to make contact with employees who work in the buildings, traffic patterns and locations of hospitals and police departments.

The official said the Al Qaeda evaluations were so precise they included midweek pedestrian traffic counts of 14 people per minute on each side of the street for a total of 28 people. The official said he had not seen such extraordinary detail in his 24 years in intelligence work.

"Obviously, this is a war that's going to be won on intelligence," Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich., told FOX News on Monday. "We need our intelligence people to put these pieces together to make sure we can disrupt these activities to make sure there's not another attack."

FOX News’ Bret Baier, Catherine Herridge, Ian McCaleb, Liza Porteus, Anna Stolley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Cindy]

I just tried both my servers and cannot connect/load to the CHP LA site url I have.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Most excellent summary and designed so well and pleasing to the eyes. Your post is a pleasure to read and have as a resource. Thank you, nwctwx! :)

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Good to see you back, JP. Happy Birthday to you as well!

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Thank you, Godzilla for all your succinct and interesting summaries. Please keep them coming as long as you can!

[KylaStarr]

Thank you for trying to connect.

That was the first time I've tried to go to their website for over a week and a half and was just wondering if it were just my connection.

That was a good site for traffic and fire info.

[Honestly]

An Oil-for-Food Connection?

By Claudia Rosett
The Weekly Standard
August 9, 2004

If, as the 9/11 Commission concludes, our "failure of imagination" left America open to the attacks of September 11, then surely some imagination is called for in tackling one of the riddles that stumped the commission: Where exactly did Osama bin Laden get the funding to set up shop in Afghanistan, reach around the globe, and strike the United States?

So let's do some imagining. Unfashionable though it may be, let's even imagine a money trail that connects Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda.

By 1996, remember, bin Laden had been run out of Sudan, and seems to have been out of money. He needed a fresh bundle to rent Afghanistan from the Taliban, train recruits, expand al Qaeda's global network, and launch what eventually became the 9/11 attacks. Meanwhile, over in Iraq about that same time, Saddam Hussein, after a lean stretch under United Nations sanctions, had just cut his Oil-for-Food deal with the U.N., and soon began exploiting that program to embezzle billions meant for relief.

Both Saddam and bin Laden were, in their way, seasoned businessmen. Both had a taste for war. Both hated America. By the late 1990s, Saddam, despite continuing sanctions, was solidly back in business, socking away his purloined billions in secret accounts, but he had no way to attack the United States directly. Bin Laden needed millions to fund al Qaeda, which could then launch a direct strike on the United States. Whatever the differences between Saddam and bin Laden, their circumstances by the late 1990s had all the makings of a deal. Pocket change for Saddam, financial security for bin Laden, and satisfaction for both--death to Americans. (snipped)

http://www.defenddemocracy.org/in_the_media/in_the_media_show.htm?doc_id=234185&attrib_id=7378

[Donna Lee Nardo]

"Reston has one another major feature, one that may be best left undefined here."

Really?...

*Eyebrows raised***Mind charging full steam ahead*

Curiosity piqued.

[Velveeta]

Ridge said it did not appear it would be a strike with a radiological or "dirty" bomb.

The good news. :-)

[CharlotteVRWC]

"how to make contact with employees who work in the buildings"

Hope they are checking out any possible islamo-fascist sympathizers that work in the buildings,,,,even if it is not PC !

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Yes, but don't get all relaxed just yet. Ridge didn't say for certain it wouldn't be a nuke.

(Just Kidding!!!)

[WestCoastGal]

LA News.......NBC 4

High rises in downtown LA and in Century City are doing random truck searches. Security is very high, they are taking no chances.

LA City Fireboat #2, most powerful in the world is currently doing maneuver practice for a dirty bomb attack in the harbor. Operation is called Golden Guardian which includes practicing for port protection of LA Harbor as well as a simulation of hijacking at Oakland and SFX airports are also planned.

[CharlotteVRWC]

Several weeks ago, we had a simulated smallpox outbreak drill in Charlotte, NC, involving all the appropriate emergency personnel... Never did hear the results
(we must not have made it!).

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Cindy I am shocked! But agree and you are much nicer than I am.LOL

[cmsgop]

This does not surprise me,The West Coast should be on Alert.

[oceanview]

still, a major piece of information missing - where are they storing all of these explosives they would use as part of these truck/car bombs? and where are we looking for it?

also, thread 16 is underway.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

N.America Muslim Conference Calls For 'Just World Order'


The convention offers a unique opportunity to acquire as much knowledge Islam as possible from the best Muslim scholars in the continent

By Muneeb Nasir, IOL Correspondent

TORONTO, August 2 (Islamonline.net) – A conference on Islam’s Vision for Humanity concluded Sunday, August 1, in this southeastern Canadian city with a call for creating a just world order.

“Morality and Justice: Islam’s Vision for Humanity” was the theme of the fifth annual two-day conference of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC) that brought together a cohort of renowned Muslim leaders and Canadian Members of Parliament.

“The convention offers a unique opportunity to acquire as much knowledge of our deen (religion) as possible from the best Muslim scholars in the continent,” ICNA President Talat Sultan told the conference attendees in his welcoming message
http://www.islam-online.net/English/News/2004-08/02/article02.shtml

[penguino]

Karachi put on suicide bombers alert

Fri 30 July, 2004 08:53

KARACHI (Reuters) - Security forces in Pakistan's volatile port city of Karachi have been put on high alert because of fears of suicide attacks by Islamic militants on mosques during Friday prayers.

A statement issued by the provincial Sindh government on Thursday warned that the militants were expected to use "explosive filled brief cases, water coolers or lunch boxes and for this purpose they may utilise the services of women as well".

excerpted

In a similar story in The Daily Times of Pakistan, July 31, 2004, people were frisked before entering mosques for fear of suicide bomber attacks inside their mosques "using explosive-filled briefcases, thermoses, flasks, or lunchboxes and that both men and women could carry out the attacks."

[Donna Lee Nardo]

LOL! When I read Cindy's post, I thought someone must have stolen her screen name. I wonder what she is like when she is really, really, really mad. ;)