Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Dick Morris: Beware October Surprise!

If this weren't halloweenish, I'd think it was already April 1st. LOL

Another Hollowwood Liberal makes a hiliarious video for Bush, a must see if you have not!!!

http://www.clubforgrowth.net/

Man faces chemical weapons charges
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/26/weapons.arrest.ap/index.html

Lawyer testifies in her terrorism trial
http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/10/26/terror.trial.ap/index.html

DMZ breach raises spy fears
http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/asiapcf/10/25/Korea.spying/index.html

Thanks fullwave.

nothing original, a bird?!

excellent find Gipper!

Exsoldier:

I think this is correct, but dont hold me to it. I've been reading this stuff for 2 years now, so it all runs together..LOL

There is a solar and lunar eclipse in this Ramadan year, just like last years. The BIG difference is the red moon that shows up after the lunar eclipse, and the fact both are visible in the Middle East.

I dont remember if the one last year was visible in the ME or not. I think one was in the southern hemisphere and it didnt count for the clerics. They have to declare it religiously significant or something like that.

New plague-like disease caused by glowing bug
Not to worry my grandpa said if you close your gate it will keep fireflies in/out ;)
About a dozen cases of infection by the new bug, Photorhabdus asymbiotica, have been seen in around a dozen people in the US and Australia. The bug causes pustulant sores to appear on parts of the victim’s bodies.

This is frightening!

Fall in Chicago is always creepy, and under Da Daley's , elections are always scarey

Also posted one from Newsmax today

As is Rita -g-

would you also post this at Noe? Thanks!

As Leno said last night how hard is it to find someone over 6'5" on a dialysis machine, he's toast I agree

Terrorism Summary 10/26/04

Continued mixed signals as far as a pre-election attack goes. DHS has not raised threat levels nationwide, nor is there any indication that they are planning to do so prior to Nov 2. Things are quiet, too quiet. We have to be ready for anything. Let me know if you want on or off the Ping list.

Current National Homeland Defense threat level is YELLOW
10/26/04 Local Threat Level ORANGE for NYC, N. New Jersey, D.C No Change since 8/1/04

1. Attack threat windows
10/26/04 Primary Window: We are now 7 days away from election day and if AQ is intending to attack before Nov 2, their window of opportunity is rapidly closing. As close as we presently are to the election, it is generally conceived as being unlikely that a 911-style attack would cause the public to shift to Kerry. Many have opined that the worse case scenario would be for multiple, small bombings to occur across the country on election day, spreading fear and disrupting the election in that manner.

10/26/04 Oct 27/28 th is a so-called “blood moon” – a lunar eclipse. There is speculation about Islamic interest in lunar events, particularly during Ramadan and that AQ may try to launch an attack on this day to usher in their ‘messiah’ OBL. Over the past year, these lunar events have been monitored here on TM closely, with limited correlation. In 2003 (outside of Ramadan) a similar ‘blood moon’ eclipse occurred at the same time as the Riyadh bombings. If the timing and if rumors about OBL being on the move are correct, this could be an opportune moment.

Additional information from Freeper Fullwave is that jihadi internet chatter suggests that an attack (s) are expected/anticipated.

10/23/04 I continue to monitor The American Computer Scientists Assoc (ACSA) and here is their most recent warning:

"Signs seem to indicate that the US Domestic Sleeper Cells of Osamma Bin Laden / Al Qaeda are in 'attack plan restart' and have been accompanied by simultaneous intelligence that Bin Laden has relocated his hiding place," says ACSA decryption expert, Milt Abramson. Savvy intelligence gatherers have advised ACSA that Bin Laden, fearing a latent threat from Chinese populations in the vicinity of his hiding place, has moved to a new underground facility. Simultaneously, he has quietly fielded new orders to "restart attack plans on the USA" effective yesterday, October 22, 2004. That would place the Terrorist Operatives inside of the United States in a position of being able to strike as early as October 25, though it seems more likely that they would attack on the eve of or day of the Elections, as previously suggested by Vice President Dick Cheney. Abramson indicated certain kinds of money laundering and raise up activities had become visible, suggesting that Al Qaeda operatives were in need of some "quick traveling money". Such untraceable funds are raised through a combination of white-collar crimes and narcotics trafficking by the Al Qaeda networks inside the USA.
http://acsa.net/

Godzilla comment: There are rumors that OBL is on the move towards the Sino-Pakistan border region. It has also been rumored that the ‘Go’ command was issued a while ago and for some reason wasn’t executed as planned. This theory could explain the delay in a pre-election season attack. It is doubtful that an attack at this stage of the election contest would swing votes to Kerry, but then the American voter is difficult to psychoanalyze for response to another 911 scale attack. However, an attack would restore some credibility to AQ and OBL now lacking after the execution of the Afghan elections.

10/23/04 Secondary window: This window could potentially be extended to Inauguration Day in January 2005. I would consider this period a high risk for potential assassination attempts on the new administration, especially if Bush wins reelection.

2. Attack Indicators
10/23/04 Mixed signals are coming in regarding a suspected plot to strike around election day. However, the following things are apparent:

1. Arrests have made in possible election day plot
2. Some of the leads were culled from interviews with thousands of individuals that agents have conducted in the Muslim community.
3. Though the CIA (news - web sites) has discredited a person who told its agents of such a plot involving al-Qaida.
4. FBI continues to have misgivings about possible al-Qaida intentions to launch an attack with the goal of affecting the elections.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041023/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/terror_threat&cid=542&ncid=716

10/25/04 Earlier, there was been speculation that Russia's Central Bank’s lack of support for the US Dollar may be a precoursor to physical terror attacks upon the continental U.S. The Russian Central Bank is once again supporting the US Dollar.

3. Current Terrorist Operations

Iraq
10/25/04 Iraqi officials suspect that about 50 U.S.-trained Iraqi soldiers slain by insurgents - many of them execution-style - may have been set up by rebel infiltrators in their ranks.
Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group claimed responsibility for the weekend attack, the deadliest ambush of the 18-month insurgency. The claim was posted Sunday on an Islamist Web site but its authenticity could not be confirmed.
http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBS3Y7GQ0E.html

10/25/04 French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Monday he was still hopeful two French reporters held hostage in Iraq would be freed, adding that "lines of dialogue" had been opened with those detaining them.

10/26/04 A U.S. airstrike in Fallujah on Tuesday killed an aide to Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Recent strikes and raids targeting the Abu Musab al-Zarqawi network have severely degraded its ability to conduct attacks," the U.S. statement said. It did not identify the slain al-Zarqawi aide.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&e=2&u=/ap/20041026/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

Spain
10/26/04 Despite dozens of arrests, Spanish police have yet to establish who ultimately ordered the Madrid rail bombings and seven months later are still uncovering new militant threats. More sleeper cells are presumed to exist. Nearly all the suspects identified are North Africans who easily blend in with a half a million others living and working in Spain.
"They are going to try again, but it is becoming more and more difficult because Spanish intelligence has plenty of information about them," said Rafael Calduch, president of the think-tank International Strategic Analysis.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6614271&src=rss/worldNews&section=news

Afghanistan
10/26/04 Minor attacks against civilian targets over recent days.

Bosnia
10/25/04 Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden is actively directing terrorist cells in the former Yugoslav republic of Bosnia, according Yossef Bodansky, director of the Task Force on Terrorism and Unconventional Warfare of the US Congress.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&ncid=732&e=9&u=/afp/20041025/wl_afp/bosnia_binladen_us_iraq

Syria
10/23/04 The United States and United Nations have called on Syria to remove it's troops from neighboring Lebanon. Washington has also accused Damascus of not doing enough to stop anti-coalition fighters from entering another Arab neighbor, Iraq, and supporting anti-Israeli militants, like Lebanon's Hezbollah.
Recent Syrian efforts to tighten its 620 kilometer (380 mile) long border with Iraq last week received praise from U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/492485.html

Azerbaijan
10/25/04 Al-Qaeda terror organization has threatened Azerbaijan to avenge for handing over two Egyptian terrorists to their country in 2002, local opposition "Yeni Musavat" daily said quoting the London-based Arab "Al-Guds al-Arabiyya" newspaper.
http://www.bakutoday.net/view.php?d=10811

Indonesia
10/26/04 Indonesia’s new president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has said the Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah may be declared a banned organization as part of the country’s bid to crack down on terrorism.
“If there are explanations and proof that JI (Jemaah Islamiyah) as an organization does exist in Indonesia, and if it is legally proven that its members are involved in terrorist activities, then it will be declared a banned organization,” he told the magazine. “We will use the legal process in order for this to become a legal and law enforcement issue, not a political one,” he added in his first interview since being sworn in on October 20.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2004/October/theworld_October711.xml&section=theworld

Canada
10/25/04 Canada Customs officers are stepping up security at border points ahead of next week's American presidential election. Canada's airports and border crossings will have their security tightened to try to prevent a terrorist attack before, on, or after the November 2nd election. Starting this week, officers will be searching all cars and trucks crossing the U-S border.
http://www.cfra.com/headlines/index.asp?cat=2&nid=21018

Israel
10/23/04 Six Tunisian doctors arrived in Ramallah Saturday night amid growing concern for the health of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. The 75-year-old Arafat has been reported unwell for more than a week, supposedly with a severe flu. But the dramatic request to Israel to grant permission for a medical examination by the Tunisian specialists has heightened speculation about the severity of his illness. Speculation is that he is suffering from gallstones and may be taken to Tunisia – simple way for the Israelis to expel him.

Egypt
10/25/04 The Egyptian government identified the mastermind of the attacks as Ayad Said Saleh, a Palestinian who had lived in the Sinai and who died in the Oct. 7 explosion at the hotel along with a fellow plotter, Egyptian Suleiman Ahmed Saleh Flayfil. The pair, identified through DNA testing, were trying to leave the scene but their timed explosives detonated prematurely, the statement said.
Two other suspects were said to be at large: Mohamed Ahmed Saleh Flayfil, brother of Suleiman Flayfil, and Hammad Gaman Gomah. Mohamed Flayfil was accused of carrying out the attack on one of the campgrounds and Gomah was accused of carrying out the third bombing.
Police had arrested five suspects who had lesser roles, including obtaining explosives and the cars used in the attacks, the ministry said. The statement did not say when the five were arrested or provide other details of their capture. A senior Egyptian security officer told The Associated Press that Saleh had links with a Palestinian Islamic group in Gaza, but would not say which group. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity.
The Interior Ministry did not mention a broader conspiracy in the bombing. The al-Qaida terror network initially was suspected because it is known for the kind of secretive, sophisticated planning believed necessary to pull off an attack like the Sinai bombings.
An offshoot of Egyptian Islamic Jihad is led by al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian doctor.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&e=2&u=/ap/20041025/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_terror_arrests

Netherlands
10/26/04 The leader of the Dutch-Belgian Arab European League (AEL) has come out in support of killing Dutch troops serving in Iraq. "I consider every death of an American, British or Dutch soldier as a victory," Dyab Abou Jahjah said in an interview with Flemish newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws on Monday.
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_article.asp?subchannel_id=1&story_id=13222&name=AEL%3A+every+Dutch+soldier%27s+death+is+a+victory+

N. Korea
10/23/04 North Korea threatened on Saturday to double the size of its nuclear deterrent if the United States did not drop what Pyongyang sees as a confrontational policy aimed at unseating the communist leadership there. Conventional wisdom indicates that no further talks will occur until the US election is settled.

China / N. Korea
10/23/04 It is being reported and speculated that the Ryongchon explosion was an attempted assassination of Kim. This is not new. What is new is that it is rumored that it was done with Chinese blessing and cooperation

S. Korea
10/25/04 S. Korean armed forces are on alert after a hole was found cut through a fence along the DMZ.

United States
10/26/04 The FBI is conducting an investigation into the activities of Demetrius "van" Crocker of McKenzie, Tennessee. Crocker is charged with attempting to buy and use chemical weapons, weapons of mass destruction and destructive devices against a government building.
Crocker is accused of telling agents he wanted to use the weapons on a government building, possibly a federal or state courthouse, and in Washington D.C., while both congress and the senate were in session.
http://www.wmcstations.com/global/story.asp?s=2477760&ClientType=Printable

4. Attack method.
10/26/04 No real change in the preferred method of choice of AQ which are bombs - the bigger the better. With the exception of 9/11, car/truck bombs have been widely used. There are special concerns regarding the use by terrorists of the following vehicles:

1. Uhaul type cargo trucks.
2. Gasoline / Propane supply trucks.
3. Emergency vehicles (ambulances, police cars, fire trucks)

10/26/04 Health experts have been discussing in the MSM their evaluation that a biological attack would be more severe than any other WMD attack.

5. Personnel
10/26/04 Nothing new to report.

6. Significant meetings canceled:
10/26/04 No new cancellations.

7. Security has been heightened in specific cities
10/26/04 No significant change since 8/11/04. NYC, N. NJ and D.C. are still at threat level ORANGE and DHS continues to review the threat towards these potential targets daily. Specifically identified targets include the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in D.C.; Prudential Financial in Northern New Jersey; and Citigroup buildings and the New York Stock Exchange in New York. I don't look for any change in the status of these locations until after the inauguration at the earliest.

GENERAL: Ongoing work to upgrade security at sea ports and airports.

8. Military operations.
10/26/04 5 carrier groups deployed (CV-67 Kennedy, CV-63 Kitty Hawk, CVN-74 Stennis, CVN-75 Truman, CVN-72 Lincoln ). The addition of the Truman was unexpected. The CVN-70 Vinson is on Surge standby. The other carriers are in post deployment and / or maintenance.

10/26/04 F-117s are still deployed in S. Korea. This is reportedly a part of an on-going deployment of unspecified duration.

9. Dept of Homeland Scty. / State Department
10/26/04 Nothing new to report.

10. Suspicious Domestic Incidents Not Currently Linked to Specific Terrorism Attempts
10/26/04 Nothing new to report. Quiet, too quiet.

My computer at work won't let me view it. Darn! (I'll have to try it when I get home.)

Anyway, here's something interesting ...

Study: Government terror warnings boost presidential approval ratings

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — When the government issues a terror warning, the president’s approval rating increases an average of nearly three points, a Cornell University sociologist says.

“The social theories predict it, and anecdotally we know it to be true. Now we have statistical science to confirm it,” said Robb Willer, assistant director of Cornell’s Sociology and Small Groups Laboratory.

On average, a terror warning prompted a 2.75 point increase in President George Bush’s approval rating the following week, said Willer, who published his study in Current Research in Social Psychology, a peer-reviewed online journal.

Robert Greene, a professor of history and communication at Cazenovia College, said he did not doubt the correlation, but considered the small increase barely noteworthy.

“And I would think any benefit would be very temporary. Americans like crises to be solved,” said Greene.

As Leno said last night how hard is it to find someone over 6'5" on a dialysis machine, he's toast I agree.

And don't forget the 2 ton ego (or maybe that's in Kilos).

I'm not sure if anyone has pointed this out ... today is the second anniversary of the deadly Moscow theater raid.

(I received this on one of my yahoogroup emails....pretty credible)

[Officer Safety Alerts] Aryan Brotherhood
Threat to Law Enforcement Officers

Aryan Brotherhood Threat to Law Enforcement Officers

According to the Los Angeles Division of the ATF, there is a credible
threat to Law Enforcement officers in California and possibly the
Western states. The threat states that the Aryan Brotherhood has
ordered hits on five law enforcement officers and/or related
personnel for every one Aryan Brotherhood member convicted in Los
Angeles. The hits are to be carried out by Aryan Brotherhood or more
likely, Aryan Brotherhood affiliates such as Nazi Low Riders.

The available threat information indicates that the hits could
involve tactics designed to catch law enforcement personnel off
guard. The hits are not limited to police officers or federal agents
and could include correctional officers and prosecutors.

Please forward this information on to law enforcement contacts as
necessary. Any intelligence that relates to this threat, should be
directed to XXXXX at the Los Angeles Field Division of the
ATF at XXXXXX

Source: ATF; Informed Source

Priority Level (1 = Lowest, 5 = Highest)

- Region Level 3
- State Level 5

"When the author speaks of "Countdown"-"days remaining" in paragraph 2 could he be speaking of the eclipse and red moon which supposedly brings forth the mahdi after some huge natural or man made catastrophe? On the same note, could the references to a revolution on the Arabian Peninsula be references to Saudi Arabia, where the Mahdi is supposed to lead an army on a march to Mecca and seize the shrine"

http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1245/MR1245.ch2.pdf

(snip)

In these contingencies, three developments could cause a significant
disruption in the flow of oil. First, the occupation or destruction of
Kuwait’s oil facilities could remove 3 million barrels per day (mb/d)
from the market. Second, the occupation and possible destruction of
some of Saudi Arabia’s key oil facilities in the eastern provinces could
reduce Saudi exports by as much as 8 mb/d if exports from Ras
Tanura are completely cut off. Third, Iranian closure of the Strait of
Hormuz could halt 85 percent of all Gulf oil exports. . . .

In all likelihood, the use of WMD would be concentrated in eastern
Saudi Arabia, where most of the Kingdom’s major oil production and
processing/exporting facilities are located. Disruption would be
caused by (1) destruction of facilities and materials, including
pipelines, refineries, storage tanks, export terminals (e.g., Ras Tanura), and lines of communication/transportation; (2) contami-nation
of materials and structures; and (3) the death or incapacitation
of critical oil-industry personnel, widespread panic among such
personnel, and the exodus of foreign workers from the country.
In this scenario, oil production would plummet dramatically and the
ensuing chaos and economic deprivation would put severe strain on
the Saudi government. The Saudis would no doubt make a concerted
effort to repair damaged facilities and to restore preattack
production levels as quickly as possible; however, the extent of the
destruction and the threat of further attacks by terrorist groups could
impede recovery. For example, if a nuclear blast destroyed the Ras
Tanura complex, a minimum of 6 mb/d of export capacity could be
removed from the market, and the entire Saudi oil production ca-pability
could be wiped out if large areas were contaminated by ra-dioactive
fallout. Even if the Saudis could restore a sense of calm, it
could well take years before production and exports were restored to
normal levels.

http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=6291&TagID=2

Pro-Qaeda Oil Workers a Sabotage Risk for Saudis
uploaded 15 Feb 2003
By JEFF GERTH

(snip)

IYADH, Saudi Arabia — The government of Saudi Arabia has increased security around its oil fields and processing centers after the discovery that employees of the state-owned oil company sympathetic to Al Qaeda were discussing sabotage plans late last summer, American and Saudi officials say.

American intelligence officials discovered the conversations and alerted the Saudi authorities, who quickly arrested and interrogated the suspects, the officials added. . . .Intelligence officials say the discovery of Qaeda sympathizers inside Saudi Aramco is part of a worrisome trend: Al Qaeda's leadership appears to be increasingly focused on economic targets, especially the oil industry.

A few weeks after the sabotage suspects were detained, a French supertanker carrying oil from Saudi Arabia was attacked off the coast of Yemen, in a plot that American and Arab officials say was orchestrated by Al Qaeda. About the same time, a Qaeda videotape surfaced showing Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, calling for attacks on economic targets. . . .During the Persian Gulf war 12 years ago, Iraq launched more than three dozen missiles into the oil-rich Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Some Saudis thought that was part of an unsuccessful effort to damage the Ras Tanura shipping and refining complex near the Persian Gulf, the gateway for most of the eight million barrels of oil that Saudi Arabia produces each day. . . .During the 1980's, according to a former American intelligence official, the United States government did a secret study of the vulnerability of Aramco's installation at Abqaiq, the world's largest oil and gas processing center. Investigators found that the chemical reactions from a well-placed explosion could cripple Abqaiq's gas-oil separation plant for months, the former official said.

Source: New York Times