Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Sixteen

Yahoo ^ | 8-02-04 | AP

[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."

Link to Thread Fifteen

Police Secure Businesses on Terror Alert
NEW YORK - Police searched trucks, blocked streets and posted machine-gun toting officers outside financial landmarks Monday, a day after the government's chilling warning that terrorists might target the buildings with bombs.

"God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers."
-- Jewish proverb

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




"What good are the color codes at all if we are suddenly hit with a bio or chem attack? There would be no warning and the danger would be instant."

"Code Red Implications
Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word."
by MamaDearest

Meet It!
Greet It!
Defeat It!

[Imperialist]

Thanks for the links, vey intresting;)

[HipShot]

Yankee Whiskey

[Godzilla]

This looks like awesome stuff. I just did a cursory examination, but we should all read these four game scenarios and something useful might come to light.

I did and the only one I really didn't consider to be very valid (or at least very low on the totom pole) is the bridge/tunnel scenario. What have the terrorist MOs been? Hitting soft targets where they can cause the most death/injury with the least risk. IF I had accumulated enough explosive to take down a bridge (resulting in low casualities) would I not get more 'bang for my buck' by going after a mall, business center, sporting area (more casualities)? I have yet to see a terror strike on infrastructure except for Iraq, but then the context of that situation is different. Even the rail attacks in Spain were not so much against the infrastructure but to kill people.

[Velveeta]

A least one local resident saw humor in the situation, printing up and selling T-shirts that read, “I survived the terrorist attack at the Carter County Courthouse.”

Gotta love it.

[texasbluebell]

Yes, fifth columnists are rampant, they're prominent in all the institutions that control/shape the mentality of most people today: education, media, publishing, entertainment.

If we survive these next few years, it will be a testament not only to those who understand the situation we face, but to our way of govt and our Constitution.

But it's an uphill battle.

Have you seen this book yet? Ben Stein's newest, called Can America Survive?

He was on with Linda Vester the other day, and was pretty wrought up over the fifth columnists, and their attempts at destroying us. The reviews at the amazon link are worth reading.

Go Ben Stein! I hope enough people pay attention out there.

[Velveeta]

"This is a Trap"

OK, so do I click the link...or not?

[texasbluebell]

That's what I thought too!

[Rutles4Ever]

Exhibit A

Credibility Cloud Hangs Over U.S. Terror Warnings

By Caroline Drees, Security Correspondent

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration insists its terror warnings should be taken in deadly earnest, but many Americans feel political motives, faulty intelligence and the "cry wolf" factor may be clouding their credibility.

"The security of the United States and potential terror threats are being perceived by some as a tool to garner political support," said Jonathan Schanzer, a terrorism analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

"The average American doesn't know what to do when they hear these threats, and that's where the frustration and cynicism come from."

Security officials have been scrambling to convince skeptics that the latest terror alert issued on Sunday against five specific financial targets is real, alarming and no election-year ploy -- even if some of the threat information is several years old.

The White House said on Wednesday it received "another new stream of intelligence reporting" on Friday that contributed to the decision to raise the terrorism alert level, brushing aside suggestions it relied solely on the dated information.

"I think when you connect all these streams of intelligence it paints an alarming picture," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

The questions surrounding the latest warning -- the most focused and detailed to date -- highlight persistent credibility issues and frustration among some citizens, local officials and security experts over the administration's handling of terror alerts.

"I would hope they are not playing politics with this announcement," New York City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, a Democrat, told reporters.

"The president and our federal government have a lot of work to do in order to ensure that we all have enough confidence in our intelligence gathering agencies and the way this intelligence is disseminated to the public so that we shouldn't be even having to ask that question," he said.

The Bush administration has vehemently denied any political motives behind the alerts, saying it was doing its duty to protect the country.

HANDLING INFORMATION

Analysts say the skepticism stems from a range of factors including concerns about the accuracy of U.S. intelligence following the failure to prevent the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and discredited claims of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

They say some Americans are also frustrated by a lack of government advice on what they should do to protect themselves in face of the terror threats.

"The great danger is that it blunts the public confidence if you just have a lot of 'cry wolfs' all the time, or worse, you tell people to be more vigilant, but don't really give them any additional steps to take," said Randall Yim, head of the Government Accountability Office's homeland security division.

Many local officials say they are annoyed because they get vital information late if at all.

Newark Mayor Sharpe James, quoted in the New York Times, said he only learned that some of the latest intelligence was old from the news. (An elected official who does not get it.)

Other local officials say they are angry because the threat warnings do not come with federal dollars to fund the heightened security posture.(Now it's about money.)

Embassy officials in Washington said they were never briefed on the latest security threat.(Should they? I mean, what nations can we actually trust outside the U.K and Australia?)

"It seems poorly communicated, or otherwise not very well substantiated," one European diplomat told Reuters.

(European diplomat. 'Nuff said.)

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

I keep passing up these reports on oil and there have be many in the last few weeks. Simply because I believe there is plenty of oil if we would just refine it. With the growing demand for oil from all countries and Russia coming to Mexico a month or so ago for oil. I am starting to wonder...what if we had no oil say next month. You would certainly need to guard finance institutions. Never mind I will go get my tin foil:) Oh check out this website also http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html

Crude Oil Sets Records in London, New York on Capacity Concern

Aug. 4 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil futures rose to records in London and New York as concern mounted that OPEC and other producers have limited capacity to compensate for disruptions to supply.

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries produced the most oil in 25 years in July, a Bloomberg survey showed, and OPEC President Purnomo Yusgiantoro said yesterday further output gains won't be immediate. Growing demand in the U.S., China and India is straining producers.

``There's a limited amount of spare capacity and the market is a bit too paranoid about potential supply disruptions,'' said Craig Pennington, the head energy analyst at Schroders Plc in London. ``Unless we see some evidence of actual disruptions, it's unlikely we'll see $50'' for New York crude.

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aJelACCq1ctY&refer=home

[Oorang]

Thanks for the ping (I'm way behind obviously).

Oh goody, we get to do the countdown dance again :-). Seriously, many thanks for the post LG2. These jihadi guys/gals really like to try and psychologically yank our chain don't they.

[ExSoldier]

"I really didn't consider to be very valid (or at least very low on the totom pole) is the bridge/tunnel scenario."

I would agree with the understanding that when the number of simultaneous strikes are limited, then it becomes less likely that a bridge or tunnel is a target. But with many strategic targets on the line what would be the impact on our economy if a bridge spanning the Mississippi River could be dropped thus blocking the passage of river traffic in either direction? Think of an attack on the Golden Gate Bridge. Right here in Miami, dropping a bridge (even a small bridge) across the Miami River would put a choke hold on trade with many carribean countries. Don't think of bridges or tunnels with no significance other than traffic convience, think of targets with wide ranging impact if destroyed.

[Oorang]

Thanks for the info BC. Please keep us informed if you hear any updates on this most curious arrest.

[BagCamAddict]

Bookmarking with Iraqi bodybuilders celebrating the 57th birthday of Arnold Schwarzenegger:

[Godzilla]

Don't think of bridges or tunnels with no significance other than traffic convience, think of targets with wide ranging impact if destroyed.

I understand, and would agree especially within the context of a more conventional conflict. However, jihadists (except for Iraq) have consistently chosen greater casualities over infrastructure/strictly economic attacks. Greater terror potential when more people get killed.

[LayoutGuru2]

Did she/he say if it was 'pay per view'?

[texasbluebell]

The Bush administration insists its terror warnings should be taken in deadly earnest, but many Americans feel political motives, faulty intelligence and the "cry wolf" factor may be clouding their credibility.

Yes, many Americans feel that way because they're being misled by fifth columnists everywhere we turn.

Sometimes I'm simply rendered speechless by this.

[JellyJam]

Katherine Harris regrets terror-plot comments

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Rep. Katherine Harris said Wednesday she regrets making the claim that a plot existed to blow up the power grid in Carmel, Ind., a notion city officials disputed.

But the Florida lawmaker stands by her statement that based on classified information, the United States has thwarted more than 100 potential terrorist attacks.

Harris, who was at the center of the political storm over the disputed 2000 presidential election, made the comments about terrorism and the plot on Monday at a rally for President Bush in Venice, Fla., and a subsequent interview with the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

She told the audience that while in the Midwest recently, the mayor of Carmel told her how a man of Middle Eastern heritage had been arrested and hundreds of pounds of explosives were found in his home.

“He had plans to blow up the area’s entire power grid,” she said, according to the newspaper.

City officials in Carmel said they know of no such plot.

“We’re aware of the comments we read in the paper,” said Tim Green, assistant chief of police in Carmel, a town about 10 miles north of Indianapolis. “We’re not aware of any plans to blow up Carmel’s power grid.”

Nancy Heck, a spokeswoman for Carmel Mayor Jim Brainard, said, “The mayor never talked to Katherine Harris. They never had that conversation.”

Questioned Wednesday, Harris’ office issued a statement in which the congresswoman said, “I regret that I had no knowledge of the sensitive nature of this situation.”

But Harris stood by her comments to the newspaper that the United States has thwarted potential attacks in the last three years, which she said was based on classified information.

[BagCamAddict]

It seems unusual that it has been activated only a day before.

Unless you tie it into the recent internet posting urging all Muslims to leave D.C., L.A., and NYC immediately.

[DAVEY CROCKETT]

Sources: Al Qaeda may have made contact in U.S. recently

In addition, two senior Pakistani intelligence sources told CNN that there is evidence at least six individuals in the United States were contacted by Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, an alleged al Qaeda operative who was recently taken into custody in Pakistan. U.S. officials have not confirmed that information.

http://cnn.usnews.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Sources%3A+Al+Qaeda+may+have+made+contact+in%A0U.S.+recently+-+Aug+4%2C+2004&expire=-1&urlID=11224239&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FUS%2F08%2F04%2Fterror.threat%2Findex.html&partnerID=2004

[BagCamAddict]

LOL... good one. It's a FR thread, so it's fine to click on the link.