Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Twenty

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The Threat Matrix

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!

Ramadan terror concerns?
Full Story

ATLANTA (CNN) -- As more than one billion Muslims prepare to celebrate Ramadan, terror experts are mixed about whether the holy month is a tool for recruiting terrorists.

Some terrorism experts and Islamic scholars say Ramadan gives extremists an opportunity to enlist new recruits.

"It's a time which can be exploited by radical clerics to motivate individuals into taking action on the basis they are somehow serving their religion," says terror expert M.J. Gohel.

And analysts see another temptation for terrorists: exploiting the Battle of Badr, a symbolic date in Muslim history, which falls near the U.S. presidential election.

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

Link to Thread Nineteen

Terror-Alert.com

"Code Red Implications:
Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word."
From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~

Cindy's Links of Interest

Threat Matrix "TM'er" Tips

ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips

TM Code of Conduct

Godzilla's Summaries

TM's 'Be on the Lookout'

nwctwx's Highlighted Links

Isn't he just the limit?! And you know that as soon as anything happens, he'll be jumping up and down saying "I told you so, I told you so!" Never mind the fact that he's been whistling the same tune for months now.

I have a question for everyone. We've been hearing from another source (John Ashcroft, not EOM) for months now that al-qaeda are determined to strike before the elections. With that in mind, and the elections two weeks off, why do you think the alert level hasn't been raised?

561 posted on 10/16/2004 10:23:10 AM PDT by British chick

To: British chick

Technically, it has been at "high orange" in DC and NYC. Also heard that Northern Jersey fell into that category.

I don't know why they have not raised the level. I suspect it has to do with money. However, when something evil comes our way, people will be enraged if the levels were left at "elevated."

562 posted on 10/16/2004 10:41:20 AM PDT by jerseygirl

Whip it on, Westy!!!
I had just made a similar post on a different board when I came back to TM and read your comments.
One observation on the Crusade recap. When Islam got started, they proceeded and expanded by wiping out the Christians in the Holy Land. They fought among themselves(their usual entertainment)for several hundred years and then began the slow push North. Spain expelled them and they abandoned the siege of Vienna(they lost a battle and went back home. They were defeated, not destroyed). Now they are back and have a hopefully brief domination of Andalusia(Spain), The goal is still world domination and Islamic hegemony.
Do you have any links to the article/site?
Thanks again!

563 posted on 10/16/2004 11:06:30 AM PDT by TWhiteBear (Don't get mad, get right. (just getting even is not sufficient anymore))

Try Here for Article

.....Westy.....

564 posted on 10/16/2004 11:47:54 AM PDT by westmex (To he!! with it all)

Who do you think will win? You? Or them? Think you can take your ball and go home and they will leave you alone? Read a little history. Start with last week, last month, last year, and every other year back for half a century. Then go back a thousand years. Nobody hides from this fight.

Kerry and the lefty appeasers don't comprehend the nature of the enemy. You clearly do understand the nature of the enemy. The call for a truce in Falluja (a few posts back) is just another classic "hudna". Our guys are winning and the enemy wants a "time out" to rest, re-arm and try to establish a more advantageous position. That is the time to finish the job with a foe who prosecutes a war in the traditional Arabic style.

565 posted on 10/16/2004 12:21:33 PM PDT by Myrddin

To: Myrddin; All

A long read, but interesting. What do you think about this?

Talking Up the Russia Threat
by J. R. Nyquist

In the real world, as opposed to the mythical world of the sixty-second sound bite, the leading threat to U.S. security is not al Qaeda (an organization with nonexistent oil reserves, spurious WMDs and shadowy cave-dwelling leadership).

The main threat to the United States is a large country with thousands of nuclear weapons. As Alexei Bayer pointed out in his Oct. 8 commentary ("Russia off the Radar Screen") for the Wall Street Journal: "[F]oreign policy elites in Washington have been mislead by their own claims and have come to believe that the U.S. is now the world's only military superpower, holding an overwhelming advantage over any potential rival. This is patent nonsense."

One might ask how this "patent nonsense" attained currency? As with all widely accepted nonsense, it was enthroned by that cleverest of clever in-groups - "the smart set."

The problem with Washington, and the problem with America in general, is that too many people want to belong to the "smart set." And here is where comedy and tragedy become as one. With sadness I must report that there is no "smart set," and there never was.

There is only a dominant herd that demands intellectual compliance as the price of admission. What is genuinely smart doesn't come in "sets," cannot be bottled, packaged or sold to mass audiences and political climbers. Thoughts and ideas that are bottled, packaged or sold to mass audiences are necessarily simple and shallow. The problem with the democratic process is that packaging political "truth" for the masses involves our leaders in dangerous mythologizing.

As Mr. Bayer pointed out in his October 8 commentary, "The Pentagon Budget may be larger than the sum total of what the rest of the world spends on defense, but Russia can still incinerate all of the U.S. in about 15 minutes - hardly a condition for world domination by Washington."

Bayer's statement craves the following amendment: If Russia has the firepower to "incinerate" America, it stands to reason that Russia's intercontinental rockets (with their pinpoint accuracy) could be directed at the U.S. military in such a way as to cripple America's nuclear deterrent (and neutralize U.S. conventional forces).

American experts, and the American public, have yet to understand that Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) is a myth, along with the supposedly unbreakable "triad" of nuclear retaliation (consisting of bombers, land based missiles and submarine-launched missiles). There is no military reason to destroy cities when destroying weapons will put the enemy's cities at your mercy.

The destruction of America's nuclear deterrent in a surprise attack is not fantasy. Russia has been training its forces for exactly such an opportunity.

In fact the entire international landscape of today, down to the anti-U.S. shift of France and Germany, the diversionary nature of the "war on terror" and the Russia-China strategic partnership fits snuggly into this scenario.

While our strategic attention is fixed on al Qaeda and Iraq, America's nuclear deterrent may be vulnerable to surgical strikes.

"Terrorist" hits against critical U.S. communications might conceivably negate U.S. early warning systems.

New methods for tracking ballistic missile submarines may already exist.

Russian intercontinental missiles, launched in the wake of diversionary terror attacks, might destroy America's missile silos and bomber bases.

Pundits and so-called "experts" are often guided by the mistaken notion that nuclear weapons exist solely for the purpose of obliterating population centers; but the shock wave of a 25-megaton bomb detonated in the ocean will destroy all submarines within an 18 to 20-kilometer radius.

Smaller nuclear weapons can take out bomber bases and missile silos. The truth that Mr. Bayer has put forward in the pages of the Wall Street Journal, therefore, has much wider significance.

It is not simply that Russia has the power of launching a suicidal strike that could destroy America. Russia possesses weapons that have a war-winning potential if used in proper combination with other forces (regular and irregular). In this context, President Vladimir Putin's resuscitation of the USSR is hardly a spontaneous shift. There is a growing body of evidence that this shift was long in the making; that it may have been conceived prior to the Soviet Union's collapse.

This week an overseas friend passed along his concerns about the persecution of an independent Russian journal. "They have no doubt that Communism is back," he explained. If this is true, imagine the danger that is now developing against the United States. Communism was dead but now it is alive. Will the Bush Administration come to its senses and confront this emerging challenge?

Wednesday's Wall Street Journal jolted readers with Janusz Bugajski's "A Look Into Putin's Soul." According to Bugajski, "Russia's relative weakness, so often cited by Putin apologists, is dangerously misleading…." But America stubbornly clings to a myth. And this myth is very comforting.

Adding to the mix, American ignorance of things Russian is readily evidenced by presidential candidate John Kerry's remark, during his first debate with George Bush, about visiting KGB headquarters in "Treblinka Square." Treblinka, of course, was the first Nazi death camp in which Jews were systematically gassed. There is no "Treblinka Square." As far as I saw, none of the media commentators noticed Kerry's error on the night of the debate. And nobody in the broadcasting media is likely to criticize the Democratic candidate on this account.

The signs are bad throughout the former Soviet Imperium, but the Western media is oblivious. In the supposedly democratic Czech Republic, where secret communist structures dominate the economy and the state, courageous voices are speaking out. In the ongoing trial and persecution of former political prisoner Vladimir Hucin, Czech activist Hana Catalanova offers the following warning to the West: "Political correctness does not apply or serve when fighting terrorism and extremism, as we, who honor freedom and democracy, have already come to know. The world has changed for all of us since September 2001, and it will never be the same again. The origin of evil, terrorism and extremism spreads to all parts of the world. It has a name. It is called communism! History and present times are a convincing proof of this."

There is also the recent testimony of Frantisek Bednar of the World Association of Former Czechoslovak Political Prisoners. Bednar states: "There is no doubt about the ongoing existence of communist laws after the upheaval of 1989. Let us ask ourselves a question: How is it possible that something like [the Hucin trial] can still take place in the 21st century, 15 years after the dissolution of the communist secret police?"

Cutting directly to the heart of the matter, Bednar says that the West and its representatives "accept former communists as business partners. Furthermore, the term 'anti-communist' is now regarded as right-extremism." He also states that, "the anti-communists totally lost, and Western democracy has been defeated. Everything now boils down to naked profit seeking. That is why in Hucin's case the EU is silent and so is America!"

The Wall Street Journal is to be congratulated for publishing bold, honest columns about Russia. Despite these timely warnings, the West remains asleep. Something has to be done to wake a sleepwalking nation. A debate must begin on the question of Russia. Perhaps it has started.

I am not holding my breath.

© 2004 Jeffrey R. Nyquist

566 posted on 10/16/2004 12:55:01 PM PDT by jerseygirl

To: Old Sarge; piasa; backhoe; RaceBannon; Ernest_at_the_Beach; Velveeta; All

http://www.paysonroundup.com/section/frontpage_lead/storypr/16872

"Terror alert issued to school bus drivers"
By Max Foster, Roundup staff reporter
Friday, October 15, 2004

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "According to Lockhart, the letter is partly in response to an advisory federal authorities sent to attorneys general throughout the United States regarding the possibility of terrorist activity in the next six weeks -- "the magnitude of the 9/11 attack," he said.

"We need a few more eyes out there and a heightened awareness," Lockhart said. "We don't want to alarm anyone, but we're prodding to be more vigilant."

Other than the letter to the attorneys general, Lockhart said there has been no specific terrorist threat that spurred him to have the bulletin sent.

He did say, however, that FBI and Homeland Security officers have served search warrants around the country on suspected terrorists and found school bus route schedules and information on public school systems."

===
===
Note: I have been updating the following discussion thread. -Cindy

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1238008/posts

U.S. Alerts Schools About Terror Threat
Yahoo News ^ | 43 minutes ago | Ben Feller

Posted on 10/07/2004 10:14:24 AM PDT by crushelits

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON - The Education Department has advised school leaders nationwide to watch for people spying on their buildings or buses to help detect any possibility of terrorism like the deadly school siege in Russia.

The warning follows an analysis by the FBI (news - web sites) and the Homeland Security Department of the siege that killed nearly 340 people, many of them students, in the city of Beslan last month."

567 posted on 10/16/2004 12:58:13 PM PDT by Cindy

Stay safe, everyone. Prayers for our troops.

568 posted on 10/16/2004 1:12:29 PM PDT by jerseygirl

569 posted on 10/16/2004 1:21:10 PM PDT by Cindy

To: British chick

Thank you British Chick

570 posted on 10/16/2004 1:22:06 PM PDT by Cindy

http://www.wanadoo.co.uk/news/national/story.htm?linkfrom=Today&link=newsticker&article=ULL667216

Saturday 16 October, 2004

U.S. says Zarqawi arrest reports untrue

ABU MUSAB AL-ZARQAWI
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military says reports that Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi has been detained in Iraq are not credible.

"We have heard those reports and we do not believe they are true," Lieutenant Colonel Steve Boylan, a U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, told Reuters on Saturday. "We have been in contact with the marines based around Falluja and we have heard nothing about those reports through our channels," he said.

An Iraqi defence ministry spokesman also denied the report.

The official Kuwait News Agency earlier reported that Zarqawi was believed to be among 10 militants seized in raids in rebel-held Falluja, west of Baghdad.

Another senior U.S. officer also denied the report. "There was a senior cleric who we seized earlier today and there may have been some confusion," Lieutenant Colonel Eric Schnaible told Reuters.

Zarqawi, with a $25 million price on his head, is the United States' main enemy at large in Iraq and is blamed for some of the worst insurgent violence against the U.S.-backed interim Iraqi administration.

But some Iraqis say Washington exaggerates the threat from Zarqawi to disguise the strength of Iraq's homegrown insurgency, and Falluja residents say they have no idea where he is, despite warnings from the interim administration that they face tough action unless they give him up.

The official Kuwait news agency KUNA had quoted Iraqi security sources as saying a man suspected of being Zarqawi was detained during U.S.-led military operations in Falluja on Friday.

The man resembled Zarqawi and DNA tests were being conducted, the sources said. There were no further details.

Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group claimed responsibility for suicide bombings on Thursday that killed up to four Americans in the heart of Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, seat of the government and home to the U.S. and British embassies.

© Reuters 2004. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

571 posted on 10/16/2004 2:39:11 PM PDT by British chick

You are absolutely on point!! This is the time for our 'hitting'. I hope that someone, anyone, in the State Department, DOD/JCS/Southern Command shares your views and has the huevos to act.

572 posted on 10/16/2004 2:56:25 PM PDT by TWhiteBear (Don't get mad, get right. (just getting even is not sufficient anymore))

To: British chick

Sounds right.
I haven't seen anything official saying he was
arrested.

573 posted on 10/16/2004 2:58:42 PM PDT by Cindy

Hello Folks, Its been a long time since I've been on this thread.

Has any one here seen Mega Fix?

I just finished watching it.....Wow! I was skeptical in the beginning but riveted by the end. If you saw it what did you think?

574 posted on 10/16/2004 3:39:22 PM PDT by mylife (The roar of the masses could be farts)

To: Old Sarge; JohnathanRGalt; LayoutGuru2; fullwave; All

575 posted on 10/16/2004 3:54:55 PM PDT by Cindy

Chemical Freight Trains Derail in Calif.
Saturday, October 16, 2004

WHITTIER, Calif. — A freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed early Saturday, damaging at least four homes and forcing the evacuation of about 30 others, officials said. No serious injuries were reported

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,135651,00.html

576 posted on 10/16/2004 4:51:34 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT (Character exalts Liberty and Freedom, Righteous exalts a Nation.)

To: British chick

Sounds like EOM has been perusing Islamicity.com. Their quote from the Quran at the top of the webpage is "Then watch thou for the Day that the sky will bring forth a kind of smoke (or mist) plainly visible, " Qur'an 44:10. Same quote as two days ago.

Posted and linked here

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1243381/posts?page=373#373

577 posted on 10/16/2004 4:55:23 PM PDT by Oorang (I want to breathe the fresh air of freedom, at the dawn of every day, it's the American way.)

To: DAVEY CROCKETT

Thanks DC and here's a repost from Thread 19:

To: appalachian_dweller

CSX Train Derailment Causes Headaches in Southeast Baltimore
Two freight trains collide shortly before noon Sunday in south Baltimore near the M&T Bank stadium.

http://wjz.com/localstories/local_story_284205358.html

Union Pacific Train Derails On South Side
No One Injured, No Hazardous Materials On Board

SAN ANTONIO -- A Union Pacific train derailed Monday on the South Side, marking the fourth time in six months a locomotive crashed in Bexar County.
http://www.ksat.com/news/3800368/detail.html

Another freight train derails in San Antonio
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2841813

Union Pacific Adding Workers For Train Safety after multiple train collisions in the San Antonio area over a five-month period.
http://www.woai.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=50948126-9811-4914-89E5-6CF722E0C210

Train derailment kills worker
http://www.sj-r.com/sections/news/stories/37203.asp

Train derailment spills 5,000 tons of wheat
Associated Press September 28, 2004
SHELBY (AP) - Forty-two cars of a 109-car grain train derailed Monday about six miles south of here, spilling tons of wheat along the tracks but injuring no one.

Train Derailment Near Victoria Injures 2
Coal Train Slams Into Parked Freight Train
http://www.ksat.com/news/3769402/detail.html

3,889 posted on 10/11/2004 1:07:23 PM PDT by 4thygipper

578 posted on 10/16/2004 5:03:00 PM PDT by Cindy

579 posted on 10/16/2004 5:05:27 PM PDT by Cindy

Or he was just reading The Threat Matrix.

580 posted on 10/16/2004 5:07:28 PM PDT by Cindy

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