Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Twenty-Seven

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Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Twenty-Seven (Index)

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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!

Expert: Al-Qaida Has Presence In South Florida
Full Story

MIRAMAR, Fla. -- Despite the massive federal, state and local law enforcement effort to stop terrorists from entering the United States, there is no strong evidence of how well it is working.

Many experts are concerned that there are plenty of terrorists or sympathizers already in the country who have been here for years. Some are even citizens.

The Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers were the first wave and now the increasing number of arrests seems to signal a second wave of terrorism in South Florida.

Related:
Court is told of 2 U.S. citizens' alleged Al Qaeda plot
Map: Islamic Terrorist Network in America (2003)

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

TM Terrorism Handbook	Link to Thread Twenty-Six "Code Red Implications: Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word." From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~	Arabic Links and Resources
TM 'Be on the Lookout'		ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips
Threat Matrix Book List		Godzilla's Summaries
Tracking the Chatter with TM		TM Code of Conduct

Threat Matrix HTML designed by: Ian Livingston

[nw_arizona_granny]

(I consider this a reminder that we are still and fully at war)......

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8424473/

Washington Monument
subtly fortified

Granite walls designed to provide
protection from attack

By By Petula Dvorak


For years, Jersey barriers, dump trucks
and mud dominated. There were
proposals for bollards, walls and even
a moat. This holiday weekend, though,
the nation's capital will get its first look
at a monument permanently fortified
against a terrorist attack on the Mall.

The defenses will not be obvious.
Fourth of July revelers who stop to rest
on curving, low-slung granite walls that
encircle the Washington Monument will
be sitting on a $15 million security
project.

"If people look at it and say, 'Gee, it
looks like it's always been here,' or if
they say, 'Where is it? What did they
do? I don't see anything,' then we did it
right," said project manager Allan
Spulecki, who was on the monument
grounds yesterday, dodging front
loaders, backhoes and tractors to
inspect some last-minute touches on
the work site.

The primary feature of the project is a
series of interlocking rings of ash rose
granite wall, standing just 30 inches
above the ground. They reach deep
enough into the ground and overlap at
just the right points to stop an
explosive-laden Humvee.

The walls are augmented by
retractable posts that can be lowered
for maintenance vehicles at four
entrances. Atop the mound of earth
that is the pedestal for the monument,
solid benches of Georgia white marble
surround the plaza. To lend some
aesthetic beauty, lighting has been
installed to better highlight the
geometry and stones of the monument,
Spulecki said.

The subtlety of the design is its
triumph, said Thomas Luebke,
secretary of the U.S. Commission of
Fine Arts, one of the groups that had to
approve the design.

"Part of the issue in these security
measures is a philosophical debate.
This is supposed to be a free and open
society. Do we want these precious
monuments to look embattled?"
Luebke asked. "The Washington
Monument doesn't, and it's a tribute to
the design of the project."

Gone is the haphazard ring of concrete
Jersey barriers and the temporary
screening trailer that embodied
security precautions at the monument
for nearly a decade, a hasty setup
erected after the Oklahoma City
bombing in 1995. That was a stopgap
measure in a decades-long argument
over development of the monument's
grounds.

"It was an unfinished site before,"
Spulecki said. "The monument was just
a hill, a mound of earth with a
monument on top of it."

For years, federal officials agreed with
Spulecki's assessment. But exactly
what to do with the unmanicured
mound was the subject of great
debate.

The idea of an underground visitors
center was introduced in 1966 and
rehashed for years as lawmakers
debated whether it was necessary, was
dangerous or would compromise the
stability of the 555-foot monument.
Congressional budget constraints and
security concerns buried the plan two
years ago.

A new round of discussions centered on
security as federal agencies were
peppered with reports that the Mall's
monuments were vulnerable to attack
and that something had to be done.

Form wrestled with function in the
debate as all kinds of safe but
unattractive barriers and barricades
were proposed. In 2001, the National
Capital Planning Commission narrowly
rejected a plan that would place a halo
of 370 bollards around the monument.

Haha walls
After that ruling, and acting on
recommendations of the commission's
staff, Laurie Olin, with the Olin
Partnership in Philadelphia, thought of
a plan that essentially equated a
Humvee or other explosive-laden
device with a cow.

In the eighteenth century, farmers in
Europe used low, squat stone barriers
called haha walls to pen livestock,
Spulecki said. The rock walls
meandered up and down the glens of
England and the knolls of France in
thick lines, sturdy and unobtrusive.
Those walls are wide and high enough
to keep farm animals in, but they are
not noticeable at eye level, he said.

Olin's firm submitted a simple design of
concentric rings echoing the haha walls
in December 2001, competing with
projects that included more bollards
and even a moat.

The firm won the contract and closed
down the monument Sept. 7 last year
to begin the project, said National Park
Service spokesman Bill Line. The
monument was reopened in April, and
the rest of the grounds will be open by
Monday, he said.

"With this design, people can walk up,
they can bicycle up to the monument,"
Line said. "But nobody's going to be
able to drive up to it."

The design is not without its critics.
Judy Scott Feldman, chairman of the
National Coalition to Save Our Mall,
said the precautions are good but
should have been arrayed at street
level and not allowed to intrude on the
monument grounds.

Preparations for July 4th
Sheet by sheet, the plywood fence that
surrounded the grounds of the obelisk
came down this week, and truckloads
of sod from Northern Virginia were laid
to knit with thousands of pounds of new
soil in a last-minute scramble to unveil
the revamped monument grounds in
time for July 4.

Tonight, lighting designers will flip the
switch on a carefully designed system
that will flood the monument in a
softer, more precise glow, rather than
the greenish halo that harshly
illuminated the structure before,
Spulecki said.

The project was finished on time and
on budget at $15 million, Line said.

The new wall will be the most subtle of
the security measures on the Mall this
weekend.

The more visible reminders, beginning
at 10 a.m. Monday, will be 20
checkpoints on the Mall and at the
Capitol to screen visitors during the
Fourth of July celebrations, officials
said.

Police said they will hand-search bags
and use hand-held magnetometers to
screen those they think are suspicious.
They encouraged people not to bring
large items that might slow lines of
people trying to enter the area.

U.S. Park Police Chief Dwight E.
Pettiford said he expected a large
crowd because forecasters were
predicting a day of mild and sunny
weather. He said authorities have
received "no intelligence that we
should be aware of anything that is
threatening in nature."

Nevertheless, the chief said, he
canceled days off for his force and will
have officers patrolling the area by
horseback, motorcycle and helicopter.

"We are expecting one of the
better-attended events since 2001,"
Pettiford said.

Staff writer Del Quentin Wilber
contributed to this report.


© 2005 The Washington Post Company

[nw_arizona_granny]

I cannot open this site with my computer, so will send it as unread by me.



Leader of Algerian Salafi Movement Urged Al Zarqawi to Kidnap ...
Asharq Alawsat - London,UK
... the concerns of their intelligence services to Asharq Al Awsat saying that the Algerian
Salafist Group for Call and Combat wish to integrate with global Jihad. ...


http://aawsat.com/english/news.asp?id=673&section=1

[Oorang]

You're welcome Cindy. Good 4th to all!

Did you get those links on one of the Qal3ah sites?

No, one of the links came from an email that was sent to me. The others were links within links (you know how that goes) and from some graphics/photo hosting sites.

[Cindy]

Thanks Oorang.
It is a special weekend and it is going great.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Odd, counts in groups of 1,000 sick babies, same as China, is this on the way to America? granny Date: 2 Jul 2005 From: Pablo Nart Source: The Daily Democrat [edited] Cambodia Flu Outbreak Kills 2 Infants ----------------------------------------- A flu outbreak has hospitalized more than 1000 children in the Cambodian capital, and taken the lives of 2 babies, forcing some young patients to share beds and catching doctors by surprise. The victims were boys, aged 9 months and 14 months, Dr. Kdan Yuvatha, chief of the technical department at the state National Pediatric Hospital, said on Thursday [30 Jun 2005]. Both died over the past 2 weeks from severe lung infections. "When they arrived to our hospital, their conditions were beyond salvation already," the doctor said. Deputy Health Minister Heng Tay Kry described the number of influenza cases as "unprecedented," with more than 1000 children recently being admitted to Phnom Penh hospitals. Government and World Health Organization officials have said the outbreak involves a form of human flu, not the avian influenza that has killed dozens of people in neighboring countries. Cambodia is sandwiched between 2 countries, Viet Nam and Thailand, that suffered heavily from last year's [2004] bird flu. 38 people in Viet Nam, 12 in Thailand and 4 in Cambodia were killed by avian influenza, which they contracted from sick birds. Samples from sick children this week [1st week July 2005] have tested positive for Influenza B virus, which is a "relatively mild disease compared to avian influenza," said Megge Miller, an epidemiologist with the World Health Organization in Cambodia. Saying the number of children admitted to hospitals with flu was more than would normally be expected, Miller said an investigation is under way to determine exactly how many children have been hospitalized and how many have died. Officials at WHO headquarters in Geneva declined comment, saying they did not have enough information on the situation. Influenza types A or B viruses cause epidemics almost every year around the world, according to a Web site for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Influenza B is the less common of the 2 types, but the symptoms are the same for both: fever, headache, body aches, fatigue, coughing and sneezing. The outbreak has strained a grossly inadequate health care system that serves a population in which about 40 percent survive below the poverty line. Flu vaccines are rarely given. The large number of cases has forced at least one hospital to put 3 or 4 children to a bed. Kdan Yuvatha said the outbreak took doctors by surprise at the National Pediatric Hospital, where preparations were underway for a possible outbreak of dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease that commonly strikes during the 1st months of the rainy season. He said the National Pediatric Hospital has received more than 500 patients with acute respiratory infections in June 2005 alone, compared to 200 in May 2005. "The number keeps increasing this week [1st week July 2005], but the situation is still under control," he said. "Though the fatality rate is still low, we have to be constantly attentive to the problem." He said extra beds were being set up in the main ward's lobby and corridor to accommodate the influx of sick children. Influenza B is currently also circulating in New Zealand, where 3 young people have died of its Hong Kong strain this year [2005]. [Byline: By Ker Munthit] -- Pablo Nart [The above newswire does not mention an increase in numbers of cases reported in this outbreak, but does mention 2 deaths now associated with this outbreak, and the identification of influenza B virus in a few of the cases. As mentioned in the 1st posting on this outbreak, influenza B virus has been circulating in the Pacific, with prior reports of outbreaks in New Caledonia and New Zealand and possibly the outbreak in Guangzhou, China listed below. More information on this outbreak from authoritative sources would be appreciated. - Mod.MPP]

[nw_arizona_granny]

Happy weekend to both of you.

I was glad to see a third party post, as I was beginning to think that Cindy and I were the last TM'ers and we keep sending posts to the thread, so we will know the other still has a working computer..........

LOL

[Cindy]

http://wtop.com/index.php?nid=105&sid=538749

"Militants Groups in Iraq Name Spokesman"
Updated: Sunday, Jul. 3, 2005 - 3:54 PM

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two militant groups said Sunday they have named a new spokesman to silence those who claim to speak for the insurgency.

In a joint statement posted on an Islamic Web site, the Islamic Army in Iraq and the Army of Mujahedeen said they had chosen Ibrahim Youssef al-Shammari as their spokesman.

The little-known al-Shammari appeared on the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera on Sunday "to silence all those who talk in the name of the mujahedeen," the groups said in a statement posted on an Islamic Web site."

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435866/posts

"AFP: Al-Qaeda's Saudi branch reeling as leaders eliminated: cleric"
AFP on Yahoo ^ | 7/3/05 | AFP - Riyadh

Posted on 07/03/2005 12:44:52 PM PDT by NormsRevenge

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "RIYADH (AFP) - The killing of Al-Qaeda's new frontman in Saudi Arabia means that the network's local branch is now "brain dead" after successive killings of hardcore leaders, a prominent Muslim cleric said.

But while the group's militants still on the run do not compare to the likes of their notorious slain chief Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, they remain "dangerous as individuals, rather than as an organization," Sheikh Mohsen al-Awaji told AFP.

The Saudi interior ministry announced Sunday that Moroccan-born Yunis Mohammed Ibrahim al-Hayari, recently named as "the head of sedition" by his comrades, was killed in a shootout with security forces after they stormed a suspected militants' hideout in an eastern neighborhood of Riyadh.

The dawn offensive came barely five days after authorities released a new list of 36 wanted militants, topped by Hayari, who they said were linked to a wave of violence unleashed by suspected Al-Qaeda extremists in May 2003.

Twenty-one on the list were thought to be abroad. One of those has since turned himself in to Saudi authorities. The list was the third of its kind published in the past two years."

[Cindy]

Note: The following text snippet is an exact quote (minus the graphics) from infovlad.net:
===

http://www.infovlad.net

07.03.05
Jihadi Files Update - July 2005
Posted in General at 11:50 pm by Vladimir
July 3

http://www.infovlad.co.nr/terror/0703200501.rmvb


http://www.infovlad.net/terror_videos/0703200502.rm

http://www.infovlad.co.nr/terror/0703200503.doc
- “Antitank.doc”
http://www.infovlad.net/terror_videos/0703200504.wmv
- By Ansar Al-Sunnah. The original filename as “D-Samiraa.WMV”

July 2

http://www.infovlad.net/terror_videos/0702200501.divx
- al-qaeda luanch sa-7 at jet (Thanks doubletap!)
http://www.infovlad.co.nr/terror/0702200502.3gp
http://www.infovlad.co.nr/terror/0702200503.swf
- Al-Rashoud’s memorial flash.



http://www.infovlad.net/terror_videos/battarbook_tanfeedh.pdf

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://ribaat.org/services/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=30690
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1/iraqfree2_050617..ram
http://www.freeuploader.com/download.php/f6e1413a441bc51bdab1d1f08056fbbe.html
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=19E38C27


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/video1
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9366.htm
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article9221.htm

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435978/posts

"US delight as Iraqi rebels turn their guns on al-Qa'eda"
The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 7/4/05 | Oliver Poole

Posted on 07/03/2005 6:11:16 PM PDT by saquin

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "American troops on the Syrian border are enjoying a battle they have long waited to see - a clash between foreign al-Qa'eda fighters and Iraqi insurgents.

Tribal leaders in Husaybah are attacking followers of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist who established the town as an entry point for al-Qa'eda jihadists being smuggled into the country.

The reason, the US military believes, is frustration at the heavy-handed approach of the foreigners, who have kidnapped and assassinated local leaders and imposed a strict Islamic code.

Fighting, which could be clearly heard at night over the weekend, first broke out in May when as many as 50 mortar rounds were fired across the city. But, to the surprise of the American garrison, this time it was not the target.

If a shell landed near the US base, "they'd adjust their fire and not shoot at us", Lt Col Tim Mundy said. "They shot at each other.""

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I ended up tuning out completely right after the American Idiot performance (it took a long while for my jaw to rejoin my face though!)

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is an exact quote:
===

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2005/20050703_1938.html


Officials Announce Capture of Doctor Who Aided al Qaeda

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 3, 2005 – An Iraqi doctor who helped plan and carry out terrorist attacks and cared for al Qaeda members wounded in fighting has been captured, military officials in Baghdad announced today.
Safa Ali Chiad Mashul, also known as Dr. Mushin or Abu Sayf, was arrested June 21 during a raid in the Baghdad area, officials said.

He worked for the recently captured Abu Aqil and helped plan, coordinate and conduct terrorist attacks and operations, including kidnappings in Baghdad, the military said. The doctor, who speaks fluent English, also treated kidnapped hostages and acted as an interrogator.

The military said Mashul also is responsible for receiving and disbursing ransom funds collected from the kidnappings.

In other news, an Iraqi citizen's tip helped Task Force Baghdad soldiers find and disarm a roadside bomb in eastern Baghdad on July 2. The civilian told soldiers that a five-gallon gas can was lying in the median of a major highway. There, soldiers found a 122-millimeter mortar round wired to a radio. The bomb was safely destroyed.

Task Force Baghdad soldiers detained five terror suspects during operations over the weekend. Two of the detainees are believed to be part of an attack on coalition forces in the southwestern Baghdad neighborhood of Jihad. The military said one of the detainees was seen running from a vehicle into a nearby house. The soldiers cordoned off the house and detained the suspect. Inside the vehicle, soldiers found a sniper rifle, pistols, a video camera and cell phones.

The military is investigating a fire that destroyed a CH-47 Chinook helicopter near Camp Ramadi July 2. All crew and passengers exited the aircraft safely, officials said. One crewman suffered minor injuries and was treated. The aircraft was assigned to Multinational Force Iraq and was used for resupply operations.

Baghdad Water Supply Authority crews have made temporary repairs to a damaged Karkh Water Treatment Plant north of Baghdad, and residents there should expect to have limited supplies of water flowing again today, officials said. The water flow to area residents was shut down after an explosion and fire at the facility July 1 damaged the plant's electrical distribution building and destroyed the electrical control mechanisms.

(Compiled for Multinational Force Iraq and Task Force Baghdad news releases.)


Related Site:
Multinational Force Iraq

[Donna Lee Nardo]

The Green Day performance took place in the Berlin venue as part of Live 8. The band is an American band but they are known to hate GWB and so many other things that we value here at FR. I was relieved to find out that at least it was an American band, although I still do not agree with them. But realizing the song was penned by Americans does soften my anger. Yesterday, I assumed that the group was not from America and I was livid!

Also, the song was more about brainwashing by the American mass media (with some clear pokes at GWB) but I didn't know that until I did some quick research on the band after hearing that song. Evidently, the album of the same name won grammy and other top awards right here in good ol' USA! Teen, young adult and sentimental artist angst and all; I guess it is cool to hate your country when you are among these groups.

Anyway, the Germans who loathe us probably loved the song and thought it so apropo yesterday!

[angcat]

Interesting indeed! :)
I changed the news whenever it had any LIVE8 information. I am so not into it, did that Madonna ho give the finger. She is such a lady.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Isn't it annoying that Mugabe and so many others who are not American and/or not Republican or Conservative always get a free pass no matter what they do?

I am still waiting for the lamestream media to print a few substantial articles about Oil for Food and Kofi & Son -- and to do so in the first 10 or so pages of their papers! We don't need to read the story here, but the sheeple do. But just like with Mugabe for the most part, the media wants to protect Kofi's public integrity because he is a liberal, etc.

[Oorang]

Hi Granny - hope your weekend is going well. FR and TM should pick up after the holiday. I think everyone is in bbq and camping mode. We just finished off some steaks and strawberry pie. I need to rest now which is always required after eating strawberry pie :-)

[Donna Lee Nardo]

LOL. That story is very amusing! Women are also guilty of judging books by their covers.

Reminds me of the time leading up to the 1992 presidential campaign. When my sister and others remarked how handsome they though clinton was...I knew we were in trouble. And that was way before his history came to light followed by all the consequent missteps and missdeeds!

[Donna Lee Nardo]

"The communist politicians are out of the closet, but the common America haters are still marching and burning flags."

So true, Ruth. Did you catch this maddening story below? OMG, what trash!

http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/display/150975/index.php

Announcement :: Protest, Resistance & Direct Action

This July 4th is Flag Burning Day! Current rating: -27
by anarchist heart
(No verified email address) 24 May 2005
This July 4th is Flag Burning Day!

Every summer good Americans don their best red white and blue, and gorge themselves on beer and hotdogs to celebrate our independence from England, but from its very beginnings this country has been built on illegitimacies. This July 4th is Flag Burning Day!

Every summer good Americans don their best red white and blue, and gorge themselves on beer and hotdogs to celebrate our independence from England, but from its very beginnings this country has been built on illegitimacies. The Indians helped the first few pilgrims to survive on thanksgiving and in return the colonialist settlers massacred the natives, stole their land and declared themselves sovereign. The “Fore Fathers” were the colonial American elite; they were among the richest men in the new country. The British King restricted them from taking some Indian land, so they revolted promising many of the soldiers large parcels of land in payment for fighting. Perhaps the slave holding founders had noble intentions when they constructed a system of governance that limited its own power, but even before its independence the state was just the strong-arm of big business. And since then the government has only grown more and more coercive in its aim of imposing American corporate interests everywhere it can around the world, so when the leaders talk about how “Independence Day” is all about freedom and democracy it reeks of hypocrisy. July 4th has only ever symbolized the independence of the New World royalty. So on this Fourth of July we call on you to express your feelings on their “Independence Day” by burning a flag in a nationally coordinated action. Together we will show the elite that we are everywhere and that we completely reject the false principals this holiday is based on.

Please spread this message far and wide. Stay tuned to the regular channels for more information. To endorse this call, help organize or just speak your mind, check out the listserv:

http://lists.riseup.net/www/info/flagburningday

[Donna Lee Nardo]

I am thankful I didn't see Madonna perform. Green Day was the first (and last!) performance I saw.

All celebrities need to do is utter one sentence whining about America and GWB and Republicans and Conservatives -- while we are at war -- and they are absolute history to me.