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Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Thirty-One

Posted on 10/01/2005 8:27:27 AM PDT by nwctwx

Image Created By : TheCabal
Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat
Thread Thirty-One (Index)
Click to Search
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!
Threat Matrix - Daily Terrorism Threat
Threat Matrix: U.S. Terrorism
Home grown Islamists may hit US: FBI chief
Full Story

WASHINGTON -- The United States could be attacked by "home grown" Islamist terror groups, the FBI's chief has warned.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told the London Financial Times newspaper in an interview published Thursday that the United States could face attacks from "home-grown terrorism" very similar to the July 7 bombings in London that killed 52 people and wounded another 700, Mueller said.

When asked if the United States could face such attacks from "home-grown groups", Mueller answered emphatically: "Absolutely, it could," the Financial Times said.

Related:
U.S. Officials Warn on Global Reach of al-Qaida
U.S. seeks more cooperation to fight terrorism
FDNY Chaplain Resigns After 9/11 Remarks
Nuclear option escalates jihad threat

"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."
Threat Matrix HTML designed by: Ian Livingston


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: gwot; islamists; jihad; normanbombers; nyc; subways; terror; threat; threatmatrix
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
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To: All

ON THE NET...

http://www.therothshow.com

===
===

http://www.wtop.com/index.php?nid=25&sid=593449
"????How to Steer Clear of Deer"
Updated: Friday, Oct. 14, 2005 - 9:48 AM

Kristi King, WTOP Radio

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Love is in the air now for deer, but you're not likely to get much warning when the blindness of love has them wondering into your car's path."


2,901 posted on 10/15/2005 2:01:56 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: Eurotwit; British chick; Brit_Guy; UK Guy; JohnathanRGalt; backhoe; StillProud2BeFree; TT-Jeff; ...

http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=108229098
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/shared/images/2005/10/14/n3.jpg

"Terror suspect freed
...after three days of interrogation"
Hayden Mills and Imran Ali

Friday, October 14th 2005


ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Terror suspect Umar Mohammed walked out of police custody yesterday afternoon after three days of further interrogation.

He left sometime after 5 p.m. shielded by family and made no comments.

The Daily Express understands that both foreign officials from the New Scotland Yard and local officials have ended their questioning of Mohammed for now.

It was reported that he was being questioned in relation to the deadly London bombings and the local explosions."


ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Attorneys Rishi Dass, Ravi Heffes-Doon and Nyree Alfonso appeared with Hosein for Mohammed, who has a Trinidadian father and works as a delivery driver in London."


2,902 posted on 10/15/2005 2:16:39 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: Cindy

Thank you for the link.


2,903 posted on 10/15/2005 2:19:38 AM PDT by Jet Jaguar
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To: Jet Jaguar

You're welcome Jet Jaguar.


2,904 posted on 10/15/2005 2:20:30 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

UPDATE...

http://wtop.com/index.php?nid=105&sid=541548
AP
"Explosion Near Trinidad Club Wounds Ten"
Updated: Saturday, Oct. 15, 2005 - 12:37 AM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (AP) - An explosion outside a popular nightclub in Trinidad's capital wounded at least 10 people on Friday, police said.

It was not clear what caused the explosion, but it followed a series of bombings that have all occurred around the same time of the month. No one has claimed responsibility for the bombings or linked them to any political movement."

ARTICLE SNIPPET #2: "Five suspects were detained and being questioned by police, he said.

The explosion happened at 7:05 p.m. on a sidewalk outside of a popular club in the St. James section of the city where the main streets are lined with bars and clubs.

Nine people were rushed to a nearby hospital, and one person with cuts and burns on both arms, was treated at the scene. One was in serious condition, police said."


2,905 posted on 10/15/2005 2:38:09 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: JohnathanRGalt; backhoe; nwctwx; Godzilla; All

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1502908/posts


"UK: 'Terror group' ban agreed by MPs"
BBC News Online ^ | October 15 2005

Posted on 10/15/2005 3:08:39 AM PDT by knighthawk

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A ban on 15 international groups believed to be terrorist organisations has been approved by Parliament. The decision means the ban will come into force on Friday, bringing the total number of banned groups to 40.

The groups have links in Iraq, Uzbekistan, Libya, Pakistan, Somalia, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Morocco.

Concerns were raised by some MPs, who said evidence of the groups' activities should be revealed and argued decisions must be made on an individual basis.

'Allegiances'

The Home Office believes the selected groups are "concerned in terrorism".

Some 25 international organisations are already proscribed under the Terrorism Act 2000, and a further 14 already banned in Northern Ireland.

Labour MPs John McDonnell and Alan Simpson, expressed their reservations when the ban was debated in the House of Commons on Thursday.

Mr Simpson said the groups were being banned because their allegiances had shifted from "pro-western terrorism to anti-western terrorism".

Both MPs said the government should make its evidence available on why it had banned the groups rather than putting through a "composite list".

Being a member of a proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000 can be punished by a 10-year prison term.

Glorifying terrorism

Among the new list of groups to be banned are Islamic organisations Ansar Al Islam, Groupe Islamique Combattant Marocain, Al Ittihad Al Islamia and Ansar Al Sunna.

Speaking earlier this week in support of the ban, Home Secretary Charles Clarke said: "Recent events in London and elsewhere in the world have shown all too clearly that the threat posed by global terrorism has not gone away."


2,906 posted on 10/15/2005 3:27:19 AM PDT by Cindy
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To: Cindy

How serious are these photos in 2887?

I can't see the words on the last one, but it looks as though the towns are New York, London and ?

Thanks for all you do.


2,907 posted on 10/15/2005 3:51:59 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: MamaDearest
"take drugs mixed up in someone's sink with who knows what is mixed in.."

Part of it may be the invincibility of youth...or so they think. One more thing that I thought of regarding the Shapiro death due to Ecstasy...he is Jewish and the son of a high profile Jewish lawyer...and it happened during the week of a Jewish holiday. I just hope that it turns out to be an isolated incident in that area, and that there are not tainted drugs. Maybe this incident would scare enough of those who would take these drugs into reality. Me, I barely even take asparin...and thankfully for my crazy strict parents...the thought of drugs never crossed my mind when I was young.

2,908 posted on 10/15/2005 5:27:28 AM PDT by all4one (The Islamic Homicide Bombers are really helping to spread the message about the real nature of Islam)
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To: nw_arizona_granny; Cindy; ExSoldier; MamaDearest; jer33 3; Velveeta; Domestic Church; LucyT; ...
**Girl Has Drug-Resistant Case of Bird Flu (Vietnam - 10/14/05)**

Oct 14 1:44 PM US/Eastern - By MALCOLM RITTER AP Science Writer

The bird flu virus that infected a Vietnamese girl was resistant to the main drug that's being stockpiled in case of a pandemic, a sign that it's important to keep a second drug on hand as well, a researcher said Friday.

He said the finding was no reason to panic.

The drug in question, Tamiflu, still attacks "the vast majority of the viruses out there," said Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Tokyo and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The drug, produced by Swiss- based Roche Holding AG, is in short supply as nations around the world try to stock up on it in case of a global flu pandemic.

Kawaoka said the case of resistance in the 14-year-old girl is "only one case, and whether that condition was something unique we don't know."

He also said it's not surprising to see some resistance to Tamiflu, because that had also happened with human flu. The girl's Tamiflu-resistant virus was susceptible to another drug, Relenza, Kawaoka said...

Link to Full Article

2,909 posted on 10/15/2005 5:53:40 AM PDT by all4one (The Islamic Homicide Bombers are really helping to spread the message about the real nature of Islam)
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To: nw_arizona_granny; Cindy; ExSoldier; MamaDearest; jer33 3; Velveeta; Domestic Church; LucyT; ...
**Update w/New Information** - Stolen Jet Details Tell a 'Bizarre Tale' (10/15/05)

By KEN SUGIURA The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 10/15/05 Daniel Wolcott's frequent flyer miles are piling up. The Buford man, who was arrested earlier this week for allegedly stealing a $7 million charter jet and taking friends on a joy ride, apparently did more flying that night than had been thought.

Daniel Wolcott remains in the Gwinnett jail on $175,000 bond on a charge of receiving stolen property.

Law enforcement officials believe Wolcott slipped out of St. Augustine, Fla., around 3 a.m. and flew to Gwinnett's Briscoe Field — alone. Once in Gwinnett, Wolcott reportedly called friends, who met him at the airport. Wolcott and his five passengers then flew to Winder — about 15 miles from Briscoe — where he executed a touch-and-go landing before heading back to Briscoe Field, officials say.

He remains in the Gwinnett County jail and also faces a grand theft charge in Florida. He also may face federal interstate theft charges. Said FBI Special Agent Stephen Emmett, "I imagine the FAA would be looking hard at his pilot's license."

Various details emerged Friday of the alleged crime. St. Augustine airport assistant manager Bryan Cooper said that an airfield Web cam atop a 14-foot column was disabled between 12 a.m. and 5 a.m. Sunday. "It was a wireless camera with a magnetic base on it, and it was on a steel column," Cooper said. "Someone shimmied up the column, an approximately 14-foot column, and took the camera.""My homeboy chartered this jet," said Baker, who added that it was his first flight. "He chartered us a jet and we flew."

Police believe otherwise. "It technically was a chartered plane," said Gwinnett police spokesman Darren Moloney. "Just not by Wolcott." James Coffey said that Wolcott made the decision to cut the trip to Winder short and land the plane back at Briscoe when only 500 pounds of fuel — about 80 gallons — remained. Moloney said the amount of gasoline remaining when it was found Monday was "dangerously low." Wolcott apparently did not give any indication that there was anything unusual taking place. "None of the boys seemed to think he was acting strangely," James Coffey said. Monday and Tuesday, when news of the alleged theft began to spread, the five — all from Lawrenceville — went to the police. Meanwhile, Wolcott went back to work. St. Johns Sheriff's Office spokesman Kevin Kelshaw said that Wolcott originally flew down to St. Augustine as a co-pilot on a business flight the previous Thursday. Michael Slingluff, president of Aero Sport , which provides aviation services at the St. Augustine airport, said that Wolcott and the pilot flew for a company called Medical Holdings. The day after the alleged theft, Wolcott took a commercial flight to Jacksonville, took a cab to nearby St. Augustine, checked out of his hotel and flew back on the Medical Holdings plane, Kelshaw said.

He turned himself in to Gwinnett police Wednesday morning, a day after a warrant for his arrest was issued. He was charged with receiving stolen property, a felony, and five counts of reckless conduct. As of Friday, he was still in jail on $175,000 bond. That Wolcott's five friends, who were not charged because they did not know it was a stolen plane, apparently walked onto the Briscoe Field tarmac without being stopped, loitered around the aircraft, boarded a plane, took off and landed with no one knowing represents a security breach that airport manager Matt Smith acknowledged.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you it's a fortress because it's not," Smith said. "That's something we're trying to address." Security weaknesses have been identified. "We need to go and identify a source of funding, which is really what it comes down to," he said. The question remains: What possessed Wolcott to allegedly attempt such a risky venture? From the Gwinnett jail, Wolcott declined an interview request. "That's the $64,000 question," said St. Johns County Sheriff David Shoar. "Why do that? Why take a plane and leave, and then only to come back to same area to fly another plane out? It's kind of a bizarre tale."

Link to Full Article

School Reports Suspicious Activity; Parents Weren't Notified (NC - 10/14/05)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Parents are upset that they are just now learning about suspicious activity that happened two weeks ago outside Eastover Elementary School. Police said young kids were being photographed and others were being approached.

According to police, the incidents happened during the first week of school. The kids were on the playground at Eastover Elementary when a man came from behind the bushes and called a little boy toward him, police said. Police said a teacher stopped the child and the man drove off in an ice cream truck.

The teacher said she immediately told her principal.....

Police arrested Tomer Messinger, a 22-year-old Israeli citizen. Authorities have started deportation proceedings, but Messinger is out on bond until his next hearing.

Link to Full Article

Police Searching For Suspicious Man Loitering At Colleges (VT - 10/14/05)

Police are investigating complaints of a suspicious man loitering at several Vermont colleges. One complaint was of a man in the women's showers at the University of Vermont.

The culprit was described as a white man with short brown hair and scruffy facial hair, wearing black sweats and a white T-shirt.

A similar description was given for a man who reportedly was acting suspiciously toward a woman at the Middlebury College library. Anyone with information about these or other similar incidents is asked to call the Vermont State Police barracks in Middlesex at (802) 229-9191.

Link to Article

W.Va. Officials Searching for Missing Plane (W. VA - 10/14/05)

October 14, 2005, 9:26 PM LOGAN, W.Va. (AP) -- Emergency crews searched a mountainous area near Logan County's airport Friday after air traffic controllers lost contact with a single-engine plane preparing to land...

Link to Full Article

2,910 posted on 10/15/2005 6:29:47 AM PDT by all4one (The Islamic Homicide Bombers are really helping to spread the message about the real nature of Islam)
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To: all4one

You sure hit the trail with a bang, this morning.

Thank you for your reports, they are going to give me nightmares.

Someone needs to have a thread for the reports on schools only......there are too many of them. With my computer, I cannot go to the big news sites, so I can't collect them.

We have known that the schools were in danger for several years. An Israel passport, does not mean that he is not a
Hamas / Palestian man, the Hamas has us on the planning board and it is ok to correct me if I have the wrong name..

That stolen Jet is getting real interesting, and amazing.

What a shame we won't get all the truth out of it, it is time now to admit that he delivered something, before using the 5 guys for a cover up.

If the flu won't work on one medicine, is that because it has mutated one of the times that they are saying it will?

I do hope the plane landed in a field and didn't crash, how sad to be so close to landing and then to loose it.

Try to have a good day.


2,911 posted on 10/15/2005 6:53:19 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: Calpernia; StillProud2BeFree; Velveeta; Alabama MOM

You will want to read 2910, it has an update on the stolen Jet, it is getting wild.......

Note the 2 schools, that have had incidents also in the post that All4one has found this morning.


2,912 posted on 10/15/2005 6:56:15 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: MamaDearest

That's another reason never to drink out of water fountains. I made that rule for myself years ago. Who knows what people wash in there. Ick.

Nothing worse than a depressed old moouse. LOL [typo but it's a cute new word]

Aw gee, I love my pillow I've had it since 1998. It's feathers though so it's dry cleanable. :) [never knew I could make bread out of pillow fungus. Ick part deaux.


The mooselimb cleric who thinks we should fast for their 'real' God/allah is about as whacky as they get. He doesn't know how grouchy us Americans get when we're hungry and idiots like him start spouting off.

And, finally American companies send the jobs to Mexicalli while the illegal Mexicans take jobs in New Orleans. That is just SO WRONG!! There goes another city to Mecha. Hmmmmm Mecha - Mecca what's the difference. We're being taken over one way or the other and the guys in charge have their eyes closed to the problem. Wake up!!!



2,913 posted on 10/15/2005 6:56:27 AM PDT by WestCoastGal (Jr Miracles Can Happen!! [Maybe not stuff happens])
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To: all4one

Could Wolcott be a pedophile trying to impress some young men?


2,914 posted on 10/15/2005 7:03:01 AM PDT by AmericaUnite
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To: All; Alabama MOM; Shadow5644

A 2004 report, a good reminder of how much has been completed to the point that they could talk about it.....
granny.......

http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:rACJi4cdrkUJ:judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm%3Fid%3D1172%26wit_id%3D3391+jihadist+cells+in+several+cities+around+the+US&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&client=googlet


Testimony
United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Oversight Hearing: Aiding Terrorists – An Examination of the Material Support Statute
May 5, 2004

The Honorable Chris Wray
Assistant Attorney General ,




STATEMENT OF
CHRISTOPHER A. WRAY
ASSISTANT ATTORNEY GENERAL
CRIMINAL DIVISION

BEFORE THE

COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY
UNITED STATES SENATE

PRESENTED ON

MAY 5, 2004



Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, thank you for asking us here today. I am pleased to be able to discuss with
you the Justice Department=s efforts in the investigation and prosecution of terrorists, and in the protection of the
American people from future terrorist attacks. I am also pleased to discuss how the material support statutes have been
crucial to those efforts.


We have made significant progress and scored key victories in the war on terror. Since September 11, we have charged
310 defendants with criminal offenses as a result of terrorism investigations. 179 have already been convicted. We have
broken up terrorist cells in Buffalo, Charlotte, Portland, and northern Virginia. Through interagency and international
cooperation, nearly two-thirds of Al Qaeda=s leadership worldwide has been captured or killed. We are dismantling the
terrorist financial network: $136 million in assets have been frozen in 660 accounts around the world.

The recent tragedy in Madrid, however, has been yet another grim reminder that our enemies continue to plot such
catastrophic attacks and will not willingly stop trying to strike us at home. The United States and its allies have been
subject to deadly terrorist attacks tied to Al Qaeda throughout the world. Several weeks after the Madrid train bombings,
British authorities arrested nine terrorist suspects and seized half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertilizer, a chemical used to
make bombs, in a storage garage near London=s Heathrow Airport. Two weeks ago, a car bomb in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia killed five people and wounded 147 others; at the time, Saudi officials reported that they had defused five other
bombs in and around Riyadh that week. And just a few weeks ago, Usama bin Laden called on Al Qaeda and its
supporters to continue their terrorist holy war, or jihad, against the United States, and tried to drive a wedge between
coalition partners with threats of violence.

The Attorney General has made it clear that the Justice Department=s top priority is to prevent terrorist attacks before
they occur. All of us in the Department have placed a premium on finding creative ways to disrupt terrorist planning and
operations before disaster strikes. Pursuing and prosecuting terrorists after an attack is part of our mission, but it is not the
focus of our efforts.


Old models of law enforcement and deterrence are ineffective against adversaries who not only accept, but glorify, killing
themselves in the course of attacking innocent people. We cannot and will not limit our role to a reactive one, simply
picking up the pieces after terrorist attacks. In other words, we are playing strong offense, not just defense, through
aggressive investigation, comprehensive intelligence gathering, and real-time analysis of data.

Our offensive strategy targets both the perpetrators of violence and those who give them material support. The chronology
of a terrorist plot is a continuum from idea, to planning, to preparation, to execution and attack. The material support
statutes help us strike earlier on that continuum -- we would much rather catch terrorists with their hands on a check than
on a bomb. By dismantling the entire terrorist network, from the front-line killers, to those training to kill, to the fundraisers
and facilitators, we maximize our chances of neutralizing terrorist activity. The more difficult it is for a terrorist to reach our
shores, or communicate with co-conspirators, or buy a bomb, or learn how to build one, the less likely it is that a bomb
will explode in one of our cities and kill innocent Americans.

The material support statutes -- 18 U.S.C. '' 2339A and 2339B -- and related offenses like the International Emergency
Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), 50 U.S.C.

' 1701 et seq., and seditious conspiracy, 18 U.S.C. ' 2384, have been a crucial part of our prevention strategy. Their
scope, which properly extends not only to violent terrorists but also to their supporters, gives our investigators and
prosecutors an invaluable tool with which to pursue, disrupt, incapacitate, and punish those who would do us harm.

The statutory definition of Amaterial support@ illustrates the breadth of resources that terrorists may need to carry out a
successful attack, and the many ways in which their supporters can contribute to the spread of violence. For example,
terrorists need not only weapons, but also the training to use them, the money to buy them, and the personnel to wield
them. Furthermore, while planning and preparing for their attacks, terrorists need safe places to stay, expert advice on
targets and methods of attack, communications equipment to keep in touch with each other, means of transportation, and
identity documents to cross borders.

In implementing our proactive strategy of prevention, we have put the material support statutes to good use. Only a
handful of material support prosecutions were initiated before September 11, but since then, the Department has charged
over 50 defendants with such offenses in 17 different judicial districts. The following examples of these cases illustrate the
breadth of terrorist activity that the material support statutes allow us to disrupt and punish.



The most obvious category of material support cases involves defendants who actually volunteer to commit violence on
behalf of terrorists and foreign terrorist organizations. In our view, prosecutors may use the material support statutes to
prosecute these individuals because the definition of Amaterial support@ includes Apersonnel,@ in the form of one=s
own personal services. Using the material support statutes, we have broken up violent jihad cells across the country:

Members of a terrorist cell in Lackawanna, New York traveled to Afghanistan and attended an Al Qaeda-affiliated
training camp there before the September 11 attacks. They pleaded guilty to material support charges, agreed to
cooperate, and are now serving prison terms ranging from eight to ten years.

Members of another terrorist cell in Portland, Oregon attempted to travel to Afghanistan after September 11 to fight on
behalf of the Taliban. After being charged with conspiring to provide material support to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, they
pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy and IEEPA violations and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from seven to 18
years.


In March, several members of another cell in northern Virginia were convicted of material support offenses after training in
the United States to fight jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Two defendants also traveled to Pakistan after September 11
to train further in a terrorist camp there. The defendants will be sentenced in June and face up to life in prison.

When persons like these actually learn how to wage violent jihad from groups such as Al Qaeda, and then return to the
United States, they pose a clear and serious threat to the safety of the American people. Tens of thousands have attended
training camps where they have been schooled in terrorist tradecraft, learning skills like bomb-making and covert
communications. It is very difficult to know exactly when these sleeper agents may go operational, and what manner of
violence they may visit upon innocent citizens. Nor should we wait to find out. The material support statutes enable
prosecutors to take such persons off the streets and into court, where they face stiff penalties that match the threat they
pose. Moreover, the sentences available under the statutes often produce cooperation with the government, and thereby
lead to valuable intelligence about terrorist networks. Without the material support statutes, prosecutors may still pursue
these terrorists through other avenues -- for example, by seeking to deport them for violating immigration laws -- but these
alternatives are not always available and often lack the same potential for incapacitation and intelligence-gathering.


The material support statutes also allow us to strike at earlier stages of terrorist operations by pursuing those who provide
a wide array of support to the front-line killers. For example, Iyman Faris, a naturalized citizen working as a truck driver in
Ohio, helped Al Qaeda by researching the capabilities of ultralight airplanes, extending the airline tickets of several Al
Qaeda members, and surveying a potential target and reporting his assessment by coded message. Upon pleading guilty to
material support charges, he was sentenced to twenty years in prison.

Last August, the FBI arrested Hemant Lakhani in New Jersey for allegedly attempting to sell a shoulder-fired
surface-to-air missile to an FBI cooperating witness for the purpose of downing a U.S. civilian airliner. Lakhani was
charged with offenses including attempting to provide material support to terrorists and faces up to 25 years in prison.

In March, in San Diego, California, two men pleaded guilty to providing material support to Al Qaeda. They had
negotiated with undercover agents to buy four Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which the defendants stated would be sold to
associates of the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Each faces up to fifteen years in prison for this offense.


Of course, in addition to these specific types of assistance, supporters of terrorism can also provide money itself, which
every terrorist group needs to survive. In some cases, terrorist supporters in the U.S. engage in crimes within our borders
to support violence overseas. For example, we uncovered a group of Lebanese nationals in Charlotte, North Carolina,
who were using the proceeds of credit-card fraud and cigarette smuggling to fund Hizballah operatives in Beirut. The lead
defendant in this case was convicted of sixteen separate counts that included providing material support to Hizballah, and
was ultimately sentenced to the maximum penalty of 155 years in prison. Similarly, another group in Detroit sent the
proceeds of their own cigarette-smuggling ring to Hizballah. The lead defendant in this case pleaded guilty to providing
material support to Hizballah and was sentenced to almost five years in prison.

Terrorist financiers also conceal their funding of terrorist organizations by using charitable front organizations. For example,
Sami Al-Arian, a former university professor in Tampa, Florida, has been charged with material support and related
offenses for allegedly operating secretly as the North American leader for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, one of the world=s
most lethal terrorist organizations. Al-Arian allegedly helped operate and fund an organization that has killed over a
hundred people, including U.S. citizens.

Terrorists know that money is their lifeblood and have voiced frustration at the success of our efforts to clamp down on
terrorist financing. Take, for example, the complaints of Jeffrey Battle, a member of the terrorist cell broken up in Portland.
In a recorded conversation with an FBI informant, Battle explained why his enterprise was not as organized as he thought
it should have been (quote):

A[B]ecause we don=t have support. Everybody=s scared to give up any money to help us. . . . Because that law that
Bush wrote about . . . Everybody=s scared . . . He made a law that says for instance I left out of the country and I fought,
right, but I wasn=t able to afford a ticket but you bought my plane ticket, you gave me the money to do it . . . By me going
and me fighting, by this new law, they can come and take you and put you in jail.@

Battle was right. His ex-wife, who knowingly helped fund his travel toward Afghanistan, was prosecuted, pleaded guilty,
and is now in prison, like Battle himself.

We have also learned that our pursuit of terrorist financiers can lead to the apprehension not only of those who write
checks to terrorists, but also of the dangerous and violent terrorists themselves. In a case I mentioned earlier, members of
a terrorist cell in northern Virginia were convicted of providing, and conspiring to provide, material support to terrorist
groups. In her opinion, District Judge Leonie Brinkema quoted a report introduced into evidence against the Virginia cell
members. The report was written by a fundraiser for Benevolence International Foundation (BIF), an Islamic charity
headquartered in Chicago. The fundraiser had been invited to observe the Virginia cell=s military-style paintball training
exercises, and praised the fervor of the cell members and the rigor of their training sessions.


The report first came to the attention of investigators and federal prosecutors in Chicago who suspected BIF=s executive
director of diverting charitable contributions to terrorist organizations around the world. They sent the report to the Justice
Department=s Counterterrorism Section, which in turn forwarded it to federal prosecutors in Virginia. The result: In
Chicago, BIF=s executive director pleaded guilty to a racketeering conspiracy, admitting that BIF donors were misled into
believing that their donations would support peaceful causes when in fact funds were spent to support violence overseas.
He was sentenced last August to over eleven years in prison. In northern Virginia, nine of eleven defendants have been
convicted or have pleaded guilty to offenses arising out of the cell=s preparations for jihad. The relationship between these
two investigations illustrates the coordination and the proactive and preventive strategy that we must employ to win the
war on terror.


Before I finish, I should address one important issue. Some people have expressed concerns about potential First
Amendment implications of the material support statutes. But the material support statutes do not, and should not, prohibit
people from believing what they want, however misguided, advocating what they believe in, and acting independently and
nonviolently based on their beliefs. It is only when someone crosses the line between advocacy and action on behalf of
terrorists or a designated foreign terrorist group that they can and should be prosecuted. As Judge William Skretny told
Shafal Mosed, one of the Lackawanna Six, when sentencing him to eight years in prison, the material support offense Ais
not a thought crime,@ and that A[i]f you had supported Al Qaeda in your heart only, you would not be here today.@
Rather, Judge Skretny said, he was being punished because he Amade a decision to take action.@ In short, neither the
statutes nor our enforcement of them infringes First Amendment rights.

Mr. Chairman, I thank you again for inviting us here and giving us the opportunity to discuss how the material support
statutes are being used in the field to fight terrorism. I would also like to thank this Committee for its continued leadership
and support. Together, we will continue to make great strides in our battle to defeat those who would do this country
harm.

After you hear from my colleagues, Mr. Bryant and Mr. Bald, I will be happy to respond to any questions you may have.


2,915 posted on 10/15/2005 7:19:35 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2907 | View Replies]

To: All; Alabama MOM; LibertyRocks; all4one

http://stopviolence.com/school.htm

An interesting site, has many links to school violence, other pages are also interesting.


2,916 posted on 10/15/2005 8:19:16 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: All; LibertyRocks

http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=jihadist%20cells%20in%20several%20cities%20around%20the%20US

Ok. Bombing shows up here - plus more

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&client=googlet&q=Fbi+special+agent+in+charge%3B+Hernandez&btnG=Search

Dope and gangs, ICE.

http://www.google.com/search?client=googlet&q=special%20agent%20in%20charge%3B%20Hernandez


2,917 posted on 10/15/2005 8:29:46 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: All; Velveeta
On 9 am radio news, ABC I think.

Train accident in Texarkana, Arkansas, Toxic fumes are being released, evacuating the town.

Something about a train car hitting the tank car?
2,918 posted on 10/15/2005 9:10:23 AM PDT by nw_arizona_granny (Lavender Essential Oil, should be in first aid kit,uses: headaches, sinus,insect bites,sore muscles)
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To: nw_arizona_granny

Found this for you:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/101505dn.f7f9deab.html

Thousands told to flee tank explosion in Texarkana

10:08 AM CDT on Saturday, October 15, 2005



TEXARKANA, Ark. — Hundreds of homes were evacuated Saturday after a liquid propane gas tank was hit by a Union Pacific train car, exploding in a ball of fire and leaving a plume of smoke over the south end of the city, a police spokesman said.

Officers went door to door and urged thousands of people to move to the north side of town while firefighters put out the blaze.

The air quality was of most concern because a train car carrying vinyl acetate caught fire, police spokesman Chris Rankin said.

Rankin said fumes from the chemical are “most definitely poisonous.”

The evacuation was suspended about four hours after the 5 a.m. crash, when police were told the fire was under control. Police on the scene said several “structures” were destroyed by fire, Rankin said.

Area hospitals reported seven people were treated for respiratory problems or possible exposure to fumes.

Wadley Regional Medical Center was in the evacuation area, and several patients and nurses also complained of nose and eye irritation, spokeswoman Shelby Brown said.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis, heading to the scene from Omaha, Neb., said the freight train coming from Chicago hit the back of another train in the rail yard, causing two empty hopper cars to derail. He said one of the cars hit “a small LPG tank” similar to what farmers use for fuel. Union Pacific did not know what caused the accident, he said.

The train was headed for Laredo, Texas, when it hit the back of the other Union Pacific freight train, which was coming from Pine Bluff and headed for Harlingen, Texas, Davis said.

Rankin said the switching yard is behind the police station, about a quarter mile from the Texas border and also serves Kansas City Southern and Amtrak.


2,919 posted on 10/15/2005 9:13:24 AM PDT by KylaStarr
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To: nw_arizona_granny

Hmm.. my post to you isn't showing up..


2,920 posted on 10/15/2005 9:15:01 AM PDT by KylaStarr
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