Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread SEVENTEEN

World Net Daily ^ | 8-10-04 | Paul Sperry

[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 Sixteen

With the nation on high alert for al-Qaida terrorists, the Department of Homeland Security is putting its border officers through "etiquette" classes to soften their image and make them less threatening to arriving foreign immigrants, WorldNetDaily has learned.

"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!

[CharlotteVRWC]

Or maybe they are nudists.

[Cindy]

~~~ NEWS (Updated Daily - Click Here.)

"ARE THEY FOR US OR AGAINST US?" (Updated Daily - Click Here.)

LINKS OF INTEREST (UPDATED DAILY.) (CLICK HERE)

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001: "ATTACK ON AMERICA!" (Updated) (Click Here.) ~~~

[Labyrinthos]

My first thought is drugs. There is also a very rare disease that makes people supersensative to sunlight. There's a house in my area that has all of the windows blacked out because one of the children who lives there has this disease and exposure to sunlight is extremely painful and could kill the kid.

[TBall]

They are now saying it is going to take four days to learn if the substance in the US embassy in Sri Lanka is anthrax or not. I guess they have ruled out powder sugar.

[freeperfromnj]

Now, a helicopter with someone in control dumping something over a major metro area..

Which narrows the time frame down to a summer attack on a hot, calm day.

[freeperfromnj]

It looks like they have a few female jihadis lined up for the next hit.

[freeperfromnj]

Distraction by fire?

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for that update. Will be watching this story.

[Right_Handed_Writer]

The Rosemont/Des Plaines River thing was for a "suspicious substance" in the river. I caught the end of it on the scanner. It was an algae bloom, quite natural! You should have heard the Rosemont fire officials voice when he was given the test results. A real "You've got to be kidding..." tone in his voice.

[freeperfromnj]

Those who follow the jihad sites may find this of interest. Sorry I can't remember everybody.

Friends Say N.J. Webmaster No Terrorist

POSTED: 8:13 am EDT August 11, 2004

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- To federal authorities, Mazen Mokhtar is a technologically savvy Internet whiz who operated a Web site soliciting funds and recruiting fighters for the Taliban and other Muslim warrior groups.

They searched his North Brunswick home, hauling away several bags of items, but have not charged him with a crime.

Mokhtar is listed in Internet directories as the registrant and administrative and technical contact for the Web site www.minna.com, which authorities said is an exact duplicate of one run by Babar Ahmad, who was arrested last week in London and charged with aiding terrorists.

But Mokhtar's friends and acquaintances paint a far different picture of a devout, peaceful Muslim who taught classes on Islam and sometimes led Friday prayer services.

"It doesn't seem like he was involved with anything like that," said Asim Uzmani, a board member of the New Brunswick Islamic Center, where Mokhtar volunteered to lead prayers at the small storefront mosque about twice a month.

Uzmani said he spoke to Mokhtar a few days ago.

"He said he used to run a hosting service four or five years ago that used to resell Web hosting services to people. He said he didn't know those guys (mentioned in court papers) and he is not involved in anything like that."

Telephone calls and knocks at the door of Mokhtar's home went unanswered Tuesday.

A neighbor, William Copprue, said plainclothes law enforcement officers searched Mokhtar's apartment several months ago, hauling away several large black bags of items in a search that lasted about half the day.

He said Mokhtar "used to wear a turban, but after 9/11, he doesn't wear it anymore."

The FBI's Newark field office referred inquiries on Mokhtar to the New Haven, Conn., office, which declined comment Tuesday.

An arrest warrant issued July 28 by a federal judge in Connecticut accuses Ahmad of running several Internet sites used to support and raise money for the Taliban regime in Afghanistan and Mujahadeen Islamic militants in other countries.

The affidavit links Ahmad to a New Jersey resident who operated mirror Web sites, including www.minna.com. The Internet Solutions Web site directory lists Mokhtar as that site's registrant and administrator.

Mirror sites are identical to the originals, and are used, the affidavit states, to access information when the original sites have been shut.

The affidavit said Ahmad operated a Web site, www.azzam.com, through a Connecticut-based Internet service provider, OLM. Neither Web site could be accessed Tuesday without a password.

The document claims Ahmad ran a group of fund-raising and recruitment Web sites under the name Azzam Publications. Regarding the operator of the www.minna.com site, the affidavit stated, "a search of this person's residence in New Jersey resulted in contact numbers for Azzam Publications in hardcopy and electronic form."

"Therefore," the affidavit continued, "it is evident that Ahmad worked in concert with this individual to maintain the continued operation of the Azzam sites, through the use of mirror sites, when the administrators of Azzam sites shut the Azzam.com site down after 9/11."

The affidavit said the Azzam sites published, among other information, Osama Bin Laden's "Declaration of War Against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places," calling for the violent ouster of U.S. military forces from the Middle East. The sites also provided instructions on raising and delivering money to the Taliban, including advice to use hawala system of transferring money without records.

Those who know Mokhtar said the allegations don't fit.

Abdul Basit, a prayer leader at the New Brunswick Islamic Center, said Mokhtar "is well-regarded."

"He never spoke anything bad in front of us," Basit said. "In the community, he is a good person. We never heard anything bad" from him or about him, Basit added.

Sharif Muhammad, a custodian at the center, has known Mokhtar for three years, and called his sermons moderate and peaceful.

"I never witnessed any radical or irrational behavior from him," Muhammad said. "I can honestly say I've never heard anything radical come from his lips involving terrorism -- never."

Mokhtar also spoke occasionally at conferences hosted by the New York chapter of the Muslim American Society in Brooklyn.

"I tell you something about our society: Whoever promotes violence, we don't invite him," said Khalid Lamada, who runs the society's outreach programs. "We deal with the community at large, so we can't afford that."

http://www.wnbc.com/news/3642141/detail.html

[tmp02]

Osama Calling for Qaeda Attacks - Pakistan Sources

SLAMABAD (Reuters) - Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) has called for attacks on targets in the United States and Britain, Pakistani intelligence sources said on Wednesday, but it was not clear if his appeal was accompanied by more detailed orders.



The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the subject, played down a report on Wednesday in the Washington Times that a tape from bin Laden may surface soon that would act as a signal for planned attacks to be launched.

The newspaper, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said al Qaeda would target an American or foreign leader either within the United States or abroad.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=578&e=3&u=/nm/20040811/ts_nm/security_pakistan_osama_dc

[CharlotteVRWC]

Anyone remember what the time frame was pre-911 from the time of OBL's release of a warning tape, until 9-11? (a week or a month?). Seems like the assassination (?name) pre-911 was the weekend prior to 9-11.

[freeperfromnj]

COMMUTER PANIC

By Clemente Lisi

August 11, 2004 -- Dozens of alarmed PATH passengers went into a panic on a train yesterday after a track fire sent thick smoke into the air — forcing riders to kick out windows in order to escape what they thought was a terrorist attack.

The chaos began when a small pile of garbage caught fire at around 2 p.m. in the station at 14th Street and Sixth Avenue, just as a train packed with riders approached the platform.

The trash continued to smolder as the New Jersey-bound train pulled into the underground station, a witnesses told The Post.

The motorman spotted the flames and hit the brake.

The seven-car train — with three cars still in the tunnel behind it — idled as the conductor got out of his cabin and tried to douse the flames with a fire extinguisher.

Anxious riders had no idea what was happening outside. Then the lights on the train went out and there were no announcements to guide them.

The stench of fire grew stronger and thick black clouds filled the station.

"People saw smoke and they thought the worst," said Edward O'Connell, 28, who was standing on the platform and who took these dramatic photos.

As smoke started to fill the train, riders grew increasingly terrified. When the doors remained closed for four minutes after the train had stopped, the passengers took matters into their own hands.

"People looked really scared," O'Connell said. "You could see the fear in their faces."

Desperate riders knocked out three windows in a car by the middle of the train. Scores of commuters poured out onto the platform, dashing for the exits.

"They were climbing out," O'Connell said. "I never saw anything like it."

As agitated passengers fled from the station, firefighters arrived and extinguished the fire.

The Port Authority, which operates the PATH system between New Jersey and Manhattan, said the train crew was correct not to open the doors and did nothing wrong.

"Part of the train was not in the station and it would have been unsafe to open the doors at that time," said PA spokesman Steve Coleman. "Procedure was followed."

http://www.nypost.com/news/regionalnews/26670.htm

[freeperfromnj]

To: Fish Story TMers

3-state fish kill puzzles scientists

One million croaker dead, littering beaches in Va., Del., and Md.

BY LAWRENCE LATANE III
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Aug 11, 2004

A fish kill that has left Virginia, Maryland and Delaware beaches littered with Atlantic croaker continues to puzzle scientists who are trying to determine its cause.

"We don't know what is going on," said Wolfgang Vogelbein, a scientist at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science who is examining some of the dead fish for infection or disease. He said his lab is expected to finish its pathology work by the end of the week.

"These fish look healthy overall," Vogelbein said. "The only thing I've noticed is they're hemorrhaging extensively from the gills. That's unusual - I've never seen that before."

Estimates from the Maryland and Delaware portion of the Eastern Shore placed the number of dead fish at 1 million over the July 31 weekend, said Charles Poukish, an environmental program manager with the Maryland Department of the Environment. He said a raft of dead croaker 8 miles long by a quarter-mile wide were found offshore in the Atlantic Ocean.

No estimates were made on the uninhabited barrier islands that stretch down Virginia's Eastern Shore coast, but VIMS scientist Mark Luckenbach said the shores near Wachapreague Inlet "were absolutely littered" with the fish the same weekend.

Small numbers of croaker washed ashore at Virginia Beach on Saturday morning, according to Rob O'Reilly, a fisheries manager at the Virginia Marine Resources Commission.

Another kill was discovered Monday and yesterday at Metomkin and Wachapreague inlets on the Eastern Shore, where Luckenbach said he saw hundreds of dead fish on beaches and floating beyond the surf.

Luckenbach said all of the fish have been croaker 4 years old and older. The species is plentiful on the coast and inshore waters.

Water samples collected where dead fish have been found show no signs of toxic algae or low dissolved oxygen that could kill fish.

"It's just kind of puzzling," said Vogelbein.

It is possible that cold water from deep ocean currents came ashore and killed the fish, he said, "but I don't know if that accounts for this bleeding I see consistently from the gills."

But, Jack Travelstead, chief of fisheries management at VMRC, said, "The day before each of the three kills I'm familiar with there were some pretty sudden declines in water temperature."

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD%2FMGArticle%2FRTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031777226688&path=%21news&s=1045855934842

[texasbluebell]

Interesting, thanks for explaining the double-rainbow.

Yes, looks like the 2000 games dodged the bullet then.

Hope that holds for this year as well.

[freeperfromnj]

Vigilance Reminder FWIW: Today is 8/11

[Velveeta]

Plenty for you to google there, Granny.

Nice to see you!

[freeperfromnj]

Spain: Our Plane Led to May Terror Scare

Wednesday August 11, 2004 2:46 PM

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Fighter planes from three European countries intercepted and tailed a Spanish airliner in a terror scare in May after the civilian aircraft's pilots failed to answer messages from air traffic controllers, the Spanish airline said Wednesday.

The Air Europa Boeing 737 carrying 186 people was flying from Bergen, Norway to Spain's Mediterranean island of Mallorca on May 1, the same day the European Union expanded from 15 to 25 member states. The plane's failure to communicate with controllers had prompted fears of a Sept. 11-style suicide hijacking.

An official with Air Europa confirmed Wednesday a report in the newspaper El Pais that two military jets each from Germany, the Netherlands and France intercepted and flew alongside the plane during different stages of its flight south from Norway to Spain.

In the end, the French military pilots managed to contact the Spanish aircraft and confirm that nothing aboard was awry.

The pilot and co-pilot of the civilian aircraft heard messages from air traffic controllers asking that a plane identify itself but did not realize it was their plane being queried, said the company official, who asked not to be identified. She declined to go into detail.

The Air Europa pilot and co-pilot later told Dutch investigators they did not realize the plane was being escorted until they saw the fighter jets through the cockpit window, El Pais said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4410536,00.html

[Velveeta]

The Russians sure are in a hurry to help get that nuke plant finished, aren't they?

[null and void]

Thanks for the summary!