Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Twenty-Nine (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!

Was Bomber's "New York" Shirt A Message?
Full Story

It's hardly a unique fashion statement for a mass transit rider: a Yankees-style cap, and a "New York" sweat shirt.

But the New York Police Department is teaming with British authorities to determine whether those items were worn by suspects in the London terror cases to send a "purposeful message" to the city, according to an NYPD officials.

David Cohen, the NYPD's deputy commissioner of intelligence, raised the concern earlier this week at a security briefing for business leaders at police headquarters in Lower Manhattan.

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

TM Terrorism Handbook

Link to Thread Twenty-Eight

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

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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

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

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2005/08/007604print.html

August 09, 2005

Al-Arian Letter To Kuwaiti Offered As Proof Of Guilt

Today's Al-Arian Florida jihad update comes to you from the Tampa Tribune (thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist):

TAMPA - For the first time since Sami Al-Arian's trial started two months ago, prosecutors presented direct evidence Monday that Al-Arian tried to raise money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad after it was illegal to do so.
Jurors were read a Feb. 10, 1995, letter Al-Arian wrote to Kuwaiti legislator Isma'il al- Shatti. The letter was seized from Al-Arian's house during a search in November 1995.

It was written 18 days after a double suicide bombing in Beit Lid, Israel, that killed 22 people, including 20 Israeli soldiers. The letter was dated 16 days after President Clinton designated the Islamic Jihad a foreign terrorist organization, making it illegal to provide it material support.

``The latest operation, carried out by the two mujahideen who were martyred for the sake of God, is the best guide and witness to what the believing few can do in the face of Arab and Islamic collapse at the heels of the Zionist enemy and in keeping the flame of faith, steadfastness and defiance glowing,'' the letter states, according to a government translation consented to by the defense.

After the letter was read, Al- Arian's attorney, William Moffitt, moved for a mistrial, arguing there was no proof the letter was sent or received. Moffitt said the government interviewed al-Shatti, who did not remember seeing the letter.

Oh, he doesn't remember seeing it. Well, that makes it ok.

Posted at August 9, 2005 09:06 AM

Date: Tue 9 Aug 2005 From: Mary Marshall Source: Reuters Foundation AlertNet, Tue 9 Aug 2005 [edited] _____________________________________________________________ Viet Nam: Another Avian Influenza Death --------------------------------------- Avian influenza has killed another man in Viet Nam, taking the number of deaths in Asia caused by the virus to 62. [As of Fri 5 Aug 2005, the WHO listed the number of laboratory-confirmed deaths attributable to avian influenza in East Asia since 26 Dec 2003 as 57, with 40 occurring in Viet Nam. - Mod.CP] _____________________________________________________________ The 35-year-old man died in the Mekong Delta province on 31 Jul 2005, a day after he was taken to hospital with a high fever, state newspapers stated on Tue 9 Aug 2005. The Thanh Nien newspaper stated that the Pasteur Institute in Ho Chi Minh City had confirmed that the man had slaughtered and eaten 2 chickens infected with the H5N1 avian influenza virus. The man's death took the avian influenza death toll in Viet Nam to 43, with 22 of the victims dying since the virus, which first swept through much of Asia in late 2003, returned in December 2004. [As of Fri 5 Aug 2005, the WHO figures for laboratory-confirmed deaths caused by H5N1 virus infection as 40 overall, and 20 since December 2004. - Mod.CP] _____________________________________________________________ The H5N1 avian influenza virus has also killed at least 12 people in Thailand, 4 in Cambodia, and 3 [only one of the latter confirmed by WHO - Mod.CP] in Indonesia. [H5N1 avian influenza has been reported] as far north as Siberia, although there have been no reports of human infections from there. Health experts say the H5N1 virus is now endemic in parts of Asia, including Vietnam and Thailand, despite the deaths or slaughter of tens of millions of domestic fowl. They fear the longer the virus survives, the more likely it is to mutate into a form which can pass easily between humans. If that happens, millions of people without immunity could die. -- Mary Marshall _____________________________________________________________ [The reason for the discrepancies noted above between the WHO figures and the local counts may be due more to delays in communicating results, rather than disputes over the accuracy of tests. There is still no unequivocal evidence of human-to-human transmission of H5N1 virus infection in Viet Nam; nonetheless the continuing occurrence of cases of human infection increases the likelihood of appearance of a virus variant capable of person-to-person transmission. - Mod.CP]

News of this arrest was posted earlier but this article has a bit more info.

___________________________

Pakistani arrested in France with fake British IDs
9 August 2005

PARIS - A Pakistani man arrested with several false British identity papers in his possession is in French custody after being arrested at a Paris airport, airport and law enforcement officials said on Tuesday.

Mohammed Billal Youssaf, 23, a resident of Brescia in Italy, had arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport from the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore and was headed to London when he was arrested Sunday, one official said.

He had five fake British passports and five fake British driving licences on him, the official said. The documents had already been filled out and contained photographs of different individuals.

Youssaf was being held by the police crimes unit and checks were being conducted to confirm his identity given in the Pakistani passport he was using.

The case was currently being handled by the anti-terrorist section of the Paris prosecutor’s office, but if no terrorist-linked activity is uncovered, the matter will by Thursday be treated as a criminal case and referred to a different prosecutor’s office covering the airport.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2005/August/theworld_August272.xml&section=theworld&col=

Hizbullah Braces to Confront Major Israeli Offensive Against Lebanon

Hizbullah has taken 'vast military and security measures' along Lebanon's border with Israel, reinforcing Party of God's frontlines and rear positions in anticipation of a large-scale Israeli offensive to cover up the withdrawal from the Gaza strip, An Nahar reported on Tuesday.

The Hizbullah border movements were noticed over the past two days, An Nahar said. That followed the return of Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah from a 5-day visit to Tehran armed with a 'carte blanche' support from Iran's new regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Nasrallah had warned before making the Tehran trip that Israel was likely to mount a large-scale military attack against Lebanon to shift attention off the Gaza disengagement operation.

Israel, in turn, has put its air force on maximum alert, claiming Hizbullah might stage hit-and-run attacks against northern Jewish settlements once the Gaza pullout begins at mid-August.

Hizbullah made it plain on Monday that it won't allow the Lebanese army to advance onto frontline positions on the border with Israel, defying a thinly veiled U.N. threat to withdraw the international peacekeeping force from South Lebanon unless the Lebanese army takes over the borderline from Hizbullah by Jan. 31, 2006.

Beirut, Updated 09 Aug 05, 10:22

http://www.naharnet.com/domino/tn/NewsDesk.nsf/getstory?openform&D0230AFB7F2934A1C22570580026B9AC

Aug 9, 2005

Wanted: Aspiring martyrs
By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE - Recruitment of potential suicide bombers, which has generally been shrouded in silence and secrecy, appears to be going more public. An Iranian publication recently carried an advertisement calling for applications from aspiring "martyrdom seekers".

The advertisement calls for men and women to enlist with the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" and promises those who are picked that they will be given "specific and specialized training". The aim it seems is "to achieve all-round readiness against the enemies of Islam and the sacred Islamic republic and to protect the foundations of Islam". To this end, "a martyrdom-seeking division" would be set up for each province in the country.

All that aspiring candidates to the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" need to submit are two photographs of themselves, a copy of their identity cards, and a filled-in application form. The advertisement even provides an address – PO Box 16535-664, Tehran – where aspiring candidates to the "Lovers of Martyrdom Garrison" should forward their application forms.

The publication in which the advertisement appeared is one that is produced by an institute run by one of Iran's most conservative and radical clerics, Ayatollah Mazbah Yazdi, believed to be a spiritual advisor of Iran's new president, Mahmud Ahmedinejad, who, like its proponents, has described suicide operations or "martyrdom operations" in glowing terms. In a speech delivered some days after his election and broadcast on Iranian television, Ahmedinejad said: "Is there art that is more beautiful, more divine and more eternal than the art of martyrdom? A nation with martyrdom knows no captivity. Those who wish to undermine this principle undermine the foundations of our independence and national security. They undermine the foundation of our eternity."

This is not the first time that recruitment of volunteers for suicide operations has been done publicly and application forms for registration of aspiring bombers distributed openly in Iran. A year ago, tens of thousands of registration forms were distributed at local Islamic universities to aspiring martyrdom seekers. This distribution of registration forms was preceded by speeches in mosques where calls were made to young men and women to register.

The application form for "Preliminary Registration for Martyrdom Operations" requires the applicant to provide name, age, address and contact details. It also requires the applicant to affirm his "preparedness for carrying out martyrdom operations" and gives a choice of three targets: "occupiers of the Islamic holy sites" (referring to the US occupation of Najaf, Karbala and other places in Iraq), "occupiers of Jerusalem" (referring to Israel), and Salman Rushdie, the author of Satanic Verses against whom Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a fatwa or legal judgment for death in 1989.

The public enlistment of "martyrdom seekers" in Iran has drawn considerable media attention. But such public enlistment of suicide bombers is not exclusive to Iran. Militant organizations in other parts of the world extol martyrdom and publicly solicit suicide bombers.

Catching Tigers

This is the case with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the world-leader in suicide bombing. The martyrs' cult is very strong in the LTTE. The honoring of Tiger martyrs - martyrs are described in LTTE propaganda as gods to be worshipped - is an extremely effective recruiting tool. While fighters are recruited all year round, enlistment shoots up during Martyrs' Week ( November 21-27) when the LTTE publicly honors its dead fighters, especially those killed in suicide operations. Through songs and speeches, Tamil boys and girls are called on to sacrifice their lives for the cause of the Tamil homeland and many, moved by the propaganda, enlist.

But those who are recruited from the general public are taken on as fighters. Some might aspire to be suicide bombers, which would qualify them for the top rungs of the LTTE's martyr hierarchy, but suicide bombers are not directly recruited from the public.

The LTTE has a separate suicide squad called the Karum Puligal or Black Tigers. According to a source in the Research and Analysis Wing of India's external intelligence agency, Black Tigers are recruited from among the LTTE's fighters. These are boys and girls who have already shown extraordinary commitment to the LTTE. The LTTE is extremely selective in recruiting members for suicide operations. "Suicide operations especially against high-profile targets are planned and put into effect with utmost secrecy," the source said. "The identity of future suicide bombers cannot be revealed. This is essential for the success of an operation."

So the LTTE motivates and glorifies martyrdom, especially that which comes from suicide operations in public. It even recruits its ordinary fighters in public. But the recruitment of suicide bombers is a highly secretive process.

Similar is the case with Hamas and Islamic Jihad (IJ), which celebrate martyrdom in public to draw in more members. Funerals are occasions for these groups not only to deliver speeches on martyrdom but also to recruit. However, enlistment of suicide bombers or their registration is not done in public. What sets apart the recruiting style of Hamas and IJ from an organization like the LTTE is that in the former, functionaries approach individuals who are not always already members of these groups to carry out suicide operations.

In the case of Iran, it is unlikely that those who registered to become martyrs in response to the advertisement will actually be sent on suicide operations, especially against high-profile targets. The advertisement and application forms should be seen as a propaganda exercise to signal that ordinary Iranian men and women are willing to blow themselves up for a cause. The public registration of these aspiring suicide bombers signals that they are willing to take the risks that come with revealing their identity as potential suicide bombers.

While it is unlikely that those who responded to the advertisement and signed on as martyrdom seekers - tens of thousands are said to have signed up - will be dispatched on individual suicide missions, the possibility that some of them at least will figure in operations to defend cities should the United States attack Iran cannot be ruled out.

The value of the public recruitment of suicide bombers is not so much to enlist volunteers as it is a means to send a message to potential occupiers of what lies ahead.

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GH09Ak03.html

PAKISTAN: ARRESTED AL-QAEDA OPERATIVE HAD EUROPEAN MAPS IN LAPTOP

Lahore, 9 August (AKI) - The alleged al-Qaeda operative who was arrested in Pakistan on Sunday had in his laptop, maps of cities in Italy and Germany. According to Pakistani intelligence sources, Osama bin Yousaf, 33, confessed on Tuesday to his participation within the al-Qaeda terrorist network and maps of Italy, Germany, Pakistan and Britain were also found in his home. According to the Pakistani newspaper, The Daily Times, bin Yousaf is also said to have been in contact with al-Qaeda operatives in Pakistan and Europe.

“Bin Yousaf confessed to being part of the al-Qaeda network and to have provided logistic support to militants,” according to officials quoted in the Daily Times. The intelligence officials also said that his cell phone numbers were found in the telephone index of Abu Faraj al-Libbi’s - a senior al-Qaeda leader who was arrested in Pakistan in May - after which American and Pakistani intelligence agencies put him on their watch list.

Bin Yousaf was arrested after the authorities in Pakistan tracked phone calls made by him from several locations around Pakistan to Italy, Germany and Britain.

“He called someone in the UK on Thursday, called someone else in Italy on Friday and made two long phone calls to somebody in Germany on Saturday,” said the officials quoted in the daily. Through the calls the police managed to track his location and eventually arrested bin Yousaf in Faisalabad, a city 350 kilometres from the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

During his interrogation, bin Yousaf described how he had travelled to Afghanistan in 1992 where he received guerrilla training and was injured in fighting a year later after which he returned to Pakistan. He travelled back to Afghanistan in 1995 where he was introduced to al-Qaeda leaders. Intelligence officials in Pakistan have described bin Yousaf as being a close aide of al-Libbi and Amjad Hussain Farooqi, the, who was killed by pakistani security forces in September 2004.

In addition to the maps, officials also found, three credit cards, a computer, dozens of CDs, three grenades, two AK-47s and hundreds of bullets in bin Yousaf's possession. (Smg/Aki) 09-Aug-05 16:03

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level.php?cat=Terrorism&loid=8.0.195608710&par=

If we could only determine the cities (I am assuming many of the nukes are now fixed in their positions)

Figure three factors: Tactical. Strategic. Social.

Tactical considerations will include ease of placement/concealability and a surplus of user friendly logistical apparatus. Local access to security and intel reports, that is areas where the local first responders or community infrastructure will have infiltrators to feed info to the cell. These folks will be notified just in time to evac themselves and families in front of the attack.

Strategic considerations will be locations that provide maximum national economic and infrastructure damage. Things that will impact food, transportation, POWER GRIDS, money, healthcare, tourism, major industry, etc.

Social considerations will probably factor in a a secondary or tertiary objective. Things like JEWISH populations and numbers of infidels that also link with lifestyles considered abominations before Allah. Like gay populations, etc. Whenever the social can be combined with the strategic, you would have I think, a TARGET. I'd say that Miami is a primary target for both social and economic and military priority (SOUTHCOM HQ).

BTW, do you know the difference between TACTICAL and STRATEGIC? As explained to me by an old and wise COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR (CSM):

Strategy is everything that you do to get the girl to go out with you.

TACTICS is everything you do from the moment you first pick her up at home.

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