Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Thirty-One (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!

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.

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

TM Terrorism Handbook

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Russian police round up Muslim men

After Thursday's attack by dozens of Islamic militants on police and security facilities in the southern Russian city of Nalchik, police rounded up more than three dozen people - most of them Muslim men.

Holland fears killings over ban on burqa

HOLLAND’S Muslims have responded with outrage to government proposals to ban the burqa, and there are fears that Rita Verdonk, the minister behind the move, will be added to a list of “enemies of Islam” targeted for assassination.

Imam demands apology for Mohammed cartoon

The newspaper urged cartoonists to send in drawings of the prophet, after an author complained that nobody dared to illustrate his book on Mohammed. The author claimed that illustrators feared that extremist Muslims would find it sacrilegious to break the Islamic ban on depicting Mohammed.

The ties that bind American leftists and Islamic radical fanatics

Right after the beginning of the war in Iraq, a group of professors at Columbia University held a “teach-in” where they denounced the American-led military action. Professor of anthropology Nicholas De Genova called for “a million Mogadishus,” a reference to the 1993 humiliation of American soldiers in Somalia. He said that U.S. patriotism is a form of imperial warfare and white supremacy and that the “only true heroes are those who find ways that help defeat the U.S. military.”

Blogger disputing Wall Street Journal position on Joel Hinrich

But the question whether Hinrichs was part of a terrorist cell is entirely different from the question whether he intended mass murder. There are two intractable facts that suggest that there was more going on here than an "individual suicide." The Journal acknowledges both facts, but fails to deal with them. The first fact is that additional explosives were found in Hinrichs' apartment:

In fact, authorities did find, in Mr. Hinrichs's bedroom, additional explosive material. They detonated them at the police firing range the next day, jolting the city again. Given that Hinrichs had enough explosives left in his apartment to "jolt the city," isn't it reasonable to wonder whether more was going on here than an "individual suicide"?

Australians warned of mine explosives theft

The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has been notified of the theft of 76 kilograms of explosives from a mine site west of Mackay, in north Queensland.

10,000 man terrorist organization found in N. Delta Niger

SECURITY agencies in the country may have been placed on red alert following an alarm raised by the Federal Government that it had uncovered a 10,000-man terrorist organisation in the Niger Delta region whose motive is to disrupt Nigeria’s oil production by kidnapping and killing oil workers.

Ticonderoga Pencils closing Mo plant - moving to Mexico and Georgia - 200 to be unemployed

Officials with the plant's owner, Fabbrica Italiana Lapis ed Affini, made the announcement Thursday saying the production of lead pencils in central Missouri will be moved to plants in Macon, Ga., and Mexico City. Production will end Dec. 13, taking jobs from 160 full-time workers and about 40 part-time employees.

UW Ground Zero for world's worst flu

You probably don't need to hear that a British scientific journal just listed Madison as ground zero for a plague that, when last unleashed on the world, killed 40 million people.

October 15, 2005 Anti-Terrorism News

Insurgents Launch Several Attacks in Iraq
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10140000aaa06d9d.ap&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News
A roadside bomb exploded near a polling station in western Baghdad on
Saturday morning as it opened for voting in Iraq's constitutional
referendum

Mosque bomb kills Afghan cleric
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4342246.stm
Pro-government cleric, Mullah Maulvi Ahmed Khan, was about to lead
afternoon prayers when the remote controlled device was detonated, police
say.

US - Iran in 18-year weapons plan (my title)
http://www.thesundaymail.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5936,16925693%255E1702,00.html
US Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton accused Iran overnight
of engaging in an 18-year programme to develop nuclear weapons and said
the country might be planning to supply them to terrorists.

Police raids 'have reduced terror threat in Netherlands'
http://www.expatica.com/source/site_content_subchannel.asp?subchannel_id=1&page=Expatica_Netherlands

(Turkey) Anti-Jewish terrorists sentenced
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1129113920421&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Fake terror threats abound after Sept. 11
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9698645/

U.S., Syria border clashes reported
http://www.washingtontimes.com/upi/20051014-114805-1584r.htm

Commentary: Mark Cuban's Film for Terror
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=19845

America offers 'Gaddafi deal' to bring Syria in from the cold
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1826986,00.html

Explosion Near Trinidad Club Wounds Ten
http://interestalert.com/story/siteia.shtml?Story=st/sn/10140000aaa0507b.ap&Sys=siteia&Fid=WORLDNEW&Type=News&Filter=World%20News

(Iraq) Baghdad blackout blamed on insurgents
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/10/14/iraq.main/index.html
On the eve of the referendum on Iraq's new constitution, an attack by
insurgents was blamed for a major blackout in Baghdad tonight, Iraq's
electricity ministry said. Insurgents blew up a tower on the main power
line bringing electricity into Baghdad from the north, cutting
electricity to about 70 percent of the capital and at least two other cities,
the ministry said

(Iraq) Coalition Forces Foil Terrorist Attack on Polling Station
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051014_3054.html

Special Report: Islamic Terror in the Caucasus - Attack on Nalchik
http://www.lauramansfield.com/j/nalchik.asp

Suspicious Bag Closes Calif. Train Station
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,172295,00.html

UPDATED Details on the possible biological attack foiled in Paris
http://counterterror.typepad.com/the_counterterrorism_blog/2005/10/details_on_the_.html

(Canada) Bin Laden's B.C. helper
http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=b26e2d5e-b7a5-4725-a414-63d852b02d14

Al-Arian Trial Turns To Co-Defendant
http://news.tbo.com/news/MGBLNTT2PEE.html

But a small so-called "dirty bomb" can be made out of this Uranium(-238), if wrapped around a conventional explosive.

Ummmm.... I wonder. If it's really reasonably pure U-238, it won't be very radioactive - not at all useful for a "dirty bomb." If one went off near me, as long as I was outside the blast zone I'd probably get more radiation from the bricks in my house than from the U-238. For that matter we'd probably get more radiation from the C-14 in our bodies than we would from such a bomb.

If it's got significant radioactive impurities then all bets are off but it will be those impurities that are generating the radiation, not the U-238. For example, spent nuclear fuel rods, whose high radiation content is primarily due to the fission products in the rod, which have a very short half-life and give off a LOT of radiation.

Mentioning U-238 without saying whether any other radioisotopes might be present is a pure red herring. The question is whether the misunderstanding was in al Qaeda (thinking that their bomb would be dangerous if they just used some kind of Uranium) or with the reporter.

US President Bush seems to have confirmed this, not in specific words,

but by blocking the assets of UTN. UTN, a non-governmental
organization was founded by Pakistani nuclear scientists that provided
information to Osama bin Laden and the Taliban about chemical,
biological, and nuclear weapons.
Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood, who was formerly the director for nuclear
power at the Pakistani Atomic Energy <<<<

The above makes me think that he had the needed information,
from the scientists to make anything he wanted.

Who knows what was in the barrels that they talk about.

I wanted a rock house, until I learned about the natural
radiation in them, in this area.....there are very few of them here.

It is difficult to say what al Qaeda has, but my guess is the finest that money will buy, so I expect them to do anything they decide to do.

As to how it works, that I am not educated to do.

Never far from my mind is the fact that so many of them have been trained in our finest universities.

Thanks to Mama Dearest for pointing to this article:
---

http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f116102005.html
HEADLINES

"TERROR! *FG uncovers 10,000-man gang in N-Delta"
KINGSLEY OMONOBI

Posted to the Web: Sunday, October 16, 2005

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "SECURITY agencies in the country may have been placed on red alert following an alarm raised by the Federal Government that it had uncovered a 10,000-man terrorist organisation in the Niger Delta region whose motive is to disrupt Nigeria’s oil production by kidnapping and killing oil workers.

Government also expressed concern over the activities of an Algerian terrorist group, the Salafist Group For Preaching and Combat (GSPC), believed to be affiliates to the dreaded Al-Qaeda, which it said has recruited and trained many Nigerians on destructive and sabotage acts against the country’s interests.

Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ambassador Uche Okeke, who made the revelations in Abuja, disclosed that these groups were being sponsored by foreigners in connivance with wealthy individuals within the country who mean Nigeria no good."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1503283/posts

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CHP patrol car taken for joy ride
Contra Costa Times ^ | 10/15/5 | Sophia Kazmi

Posted on 10/15/2005 8:57:55 PM PDT by SmithL

The California Highway Patrol arrested a 23-year-old man after he
allegedly stole one of its patrol cars from a Livermore hotel and took it
on 90-minute joy ride this morning.

The patrol car was parked with its engine running in front of the
Residence Inn on Airway Boulevard as the two patrol officers were
assisting with a DUI arrest about 12:30 a.m., said CHP spokesman
Wayne Ziese.

While one officer was dealing with a tow truck for the car driven by the
DUI suspect and the other officer was helping the passenger check
into the hotel, Shaheen Pouya jumped into the patrol car and took off,
Ziese said.

The man apparently kept in touch with officers by talking on the radio
and triggered the patrol car's lights and sirens as he headed toward
San Jose, Ziese said.

About 2 a.m., CHP cars spotted their purloined patrol car on
northbound Interstate 880 near Bascom Avenue in San Jose. The
driver exited Bascom and surrendered at a nearby intersection, where
he was arrested on suspicion of auto theft.

While being interviewed at the Dublin CHP office, Pouya went into
convulsions and was taken to a local hospital for treatment. From
there, officers took him to Santa Rita Jail for booking.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1503272/posts

Plea deal will see Aziz walk free in exchange for his
testimony on Saddam atrocities
Telegraph ^ | October 16, 2005

Posted on 10/15/2005 8:33:06 PM PDT by West Coast Conservative

Tariq Aziz, once Saddam Hussein's most trusted lieutenant, has
agreed to testify against the ousted dictator during his forthcoming
trial for war crimes, according to his lawyer and American officials.

In return for his co-operation, Aziz, 69, Iraq's foreign minister during
the Gulf war and deputy prime minister throughout Saddam's 24-year
rule, will have the most serious charges against him dropped and be
allowed to spend his dotage in exile.

The outline plea agreement, under which he will plead guilty to minor
charges, was reached after more than two years of delicate
negotiations during which Aziz also revealed important intelligence
information. It could mean him walking free almost as soon as the
trials of Saddam and his cohorts are over.

The man regarded as the Ba'athist regime's chief mouthpiece to the
outside world will not, however, be called to give evidence against his
former master this week. The deposed Iraqi leader is due in court in
Baghdad on Wednesday accused of murdering 143 Shias in the town
of Dujail, north of the capital, after a failed assassination attempt in
1982.

Continued at link.

Hi there...

I did some research tonight for news stories along the lines of threats at schools. Here are some of the most recent news stories I found. I think I'll start keeping a daily list at my blog since I've got a news alert set for this topic, but I can post them here too if you'd like. I'll probably post some of the more interesting events in separate news posts here at FR as well...

Threat cancels homecoming
10/15/05
MADISON (ME) -- Madison Area High School canceled its homecoming festivities Friday, because of a bomb scare and weather concerns, officials said.

ENMU (Eastern New Mexico University) campus evacuated after receiving bomb threat
10/15/05
The Eastern New Mexico University campus was evacuated Friday morning after the Portales Police Department dispatcher received a bomb threat, according to school officials. After a three-hour search with nothing suspicious found, the campus was re-opened around 1 p.m.

High School Bomb Threat
Kelly Gillespie
10/13/2005 6:46:40 PM From threats in Sullivan to Vermillion county--more arrests are made in a rash of bomb threats.
The prank, not taken lightly, sends two South Vermillion High School students to the Vermillion County jail, a 14 year old girl and 16 year old boy.

Student arrested for terrorist threat
10/15/05 Boaz Police Chief Terry Davis reported the arrest of a 14-year-old female Boaz High School student Thursday afternoon for making a terrorist threat.
According to Davis, the student’s paper stated that during Killer Day every citizen would be allowed to kill two people. The purpose would be to relieve all the stress other humans put on her. The student also wrote she would enjoy killing President George Bush, but asked that she not be arrested.

Tribune-Star policy: Threats not credible won't be covered
Terre Haute, IN - 10/14/05
With this in mind, we will cease publication of stories related to school bomb threats or vague threatening messages scrawled on paper or bathroom walls. Only if police and school officials consider a threat credible will it be covered by the Tribune-Star.
We will report when an arrest is made related to threats, a violation for which young offenders are sure to lose the title ”student“ and find themselves before a judge

KC Police get threat against school
10/13
Kansas City police this morning alerted area schools about a vague threat they had received.

Also, this very interesting case. Note federal investigators dismissed this man's claims that he was tied to Al Qaeda...

Kenyan faces charges for Arch Bomb threat
Told police he was with al-Qaida
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER
News-Democrat (St. Louis, MO) 10/15/05
A Kenyan immigrant who claimed to be a member of the terrorist group Al Qaida faces federal charges after federal agents say he threatened to bomb the Gateway Arch.
Federal agents later dismissed in court any association between the man and the terrorist group. And the man, Micah A. Akumu, told agents after his arrest that he had made up the story.

Note: The following post is an exact quote:
---

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1503330/posts

Iran has links with terrorist groups: Rice
Manorama News ^ | Oct. 16, 2005 | Manorama News

Posted on 10/16/2005 12:33:23 AM PDT by FairOpinion

Washington: The United States was concerned over Iran possessing nuclear weapons as it had "links with terrorist groups," Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said. "Whenever you have nuclear weapons in the hands of a state that is irresponsible when it comes to terrorism, that is certainly a concern," Rice told CNN.

"The Iranians have plenty of terrorist friends. They've supplied terrorist groups within the Palestinian territories. They are, to our classification, a state sponsor of terror," she said.

"So as the President has said many times, our worst nightmare is nuclear weapons or nuclear materials in the hands of terrorists. The Iranians support terrorism. So it's a natural concern that if the Iranians, if there's proliferation in Iran, that some link with terrorism is entirely possible."

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/pauljacob/2005/10/16/171482.html

"Dying to be politically correct"
Oct 16, 2005
by Paul Jacob

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Each year, malaria ravages the lives of 500 million people worldwide, causing more than a million deaths, most of them children, mostly in Africa. But not in the United States. We suffer only a handful of malaria deaths each year. That wasn't always the case, though.

In the early years of the last century, there were counties in the U.S. with higher rates of malaria mortality than Freetown, Sierra Leone in Africa. Then, in the late 1940s, a chemical agent called dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane — or DDT for short — was used inside millions of American homes to eradicate malarial mosquitoes, the no-good critters that carry the disease. Malaria is no longer a significant problem in our country.

Now, each year, the U.S. government spends $200 million to help prevent malaria in the rest of the world, primarily in Africa and Asia. That's mighty nice of us. But none of the money goes for the inside residential spraying of DDT that allowed Americans to get a handle on the spread of the disease.

This summer President Bush announced a new five-year $1.2 billion effort to prevent malaria abroad. But, again, no money for DDT."

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

http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051053.txt

NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894
October 15, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-53

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ASSISTANT TO SENIOR AL QAEDA LEADER IN IRAQ APPREHENDED

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Acting on reliable intelligence and information provided by concerned citizens, Multi-National Forces captured two senior al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists during raids in Baghdad Sept. 24.

Captured were Walid Muhammad Farhan Juwar al Zubaydi (aka Firas), (aka Abu Ziyad), (aka “The Barber”); and Ibrahim Muhammad Subhi Khayri al Rihawi (aka Abu Khalil).

“The Barber’s” duties included altering senior al Qaeda in Iraq member’s appearances by dying hair color, altering hairstyles and changing facial hair in their efforts to evade capture.

Abu Khalil, a close associate of Abu Azzam, served as an executive assistant for the terrorist emir. He also acted as a banker for Azzam and stored the terrorist organizations funds so they would not be confiscated should Abu Azzam be killed or captured.

Abu Azzam, second only to Zarqawi in al Qaeda in Iraq, was killed in a Coalition raid in September.

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

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051015_3059.html

Coalition Detains 24 Terrorists, Kill 12 Others, in Ramadi Raids

By Petty Officer 3rd Class John R. Guardiano, USN
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 15, 2005 – Acting on intelligence sources and tips from concerned citizens, coalition forces detained 24 terrorists and killed at least 12 others in a series of raids near Ramadi on Oct. 14, officials said.
The terrorists are suspected of being affiliated with senior al Qaeda leaders in Ramadi and the Euphrates River Valley.

In the first raid, coalition forces attacked a suspected terrorist safe house. They found a weapons cache with mortar rounds, small arms and ammunition.

Coalition forces then raided two additional suspected terrorist safe houses. There they found 10 mortar rounds buried in the road, all designed to protect the safe house entrance, officials said. Coalition forces bypassed these improvised explosive devices and moved to two nearby houses where numerous armed terrorists were seen entering.

As coalition forces closed in on the terrorists, they took fire. They called in close air support and returned fire. When they entered the safe houses they found six dead terrorists and a weapons cache with small arms and ammunition, officials said.

That weapons cache and the previously discovered weapons cache were destroyed. Moreover, while these raids were occurring, coalition forces simultaneously raided four other suspected terrorist safe houses.

Terrorists in the first of these suspected four safe houses engaged coalition forces before fleeing into a nearby tree line. They returned fire and killed one terrorist. They then used close air support to kill at least five more fleeing terrorists, officials said.

Coalition forces then raided the three other suspected terrorist safe houses, where they detained 22 suspects without incident. Coalition forces also stopped a suspicious looking vehicle with four males who had been seen roaming in the area. Two of these individuals were detained, officials said.

Coalition forces have used raids to capture and kill numerous terrorists, including two senior al Qaeda operatives -- Walid Muhammad Farhan Juwar al Zubaydi (aka Firas), (aka Abu Ziyad), (aka The Barberâ) and Ibrahim Muhammad Subhi Khayri al Rihawi (aka Abu Khalil) - in Baghdad on Sept. 24, officials said.

The Barberâ was responsible for altering the appearance of senior al Qaeda in order to help them avert capture. He did this by dying hair, altering hairstyles, and changing facial hair, officials said.

Abu Khalil was a close associate and executive assistant for the terrorist emir Abu Azzam. He also acted as Azzam's banker, storing al Qaeda funds so that they would not be confiscated in the event Abu Azzam ever was killed or captured, officials said.

Abu Azzam was al Qaeda's second-highest terrorist in Iraq. He was killed in a coalition raid in September.

In related news, coalition aircraft flew 62 close air support and armed reconnaissance sorties on Oct. 14 in Iraq. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities, officials said.

U.S. Navy F-18s provided close air support to coalition troops engaged with terrorists in the vicinity of Karabilah. F-18s dropped two bombs on buildings that the terrorists were using as firing positions.

U.S. Air Force F-16s launched air strikes against terrorist safe houses in the vicinity of Ar Ramadi. The F-16s dropped four bombs.

Air Force F-15s and F-16s and Navy F-18s provided close air support to Coalition troops near Al Hillah, Al Mansuriyah, Baquba, Basrah, Kirkuk, Madain, Mosul and Tall Afar, officials said.

##end##

Archived on TM:

Knowing your enemy
Washington Times ^ | October 16, 2005 | By Clifford D. May

Posted on 10/16/2005 12:40:32 AM MDT by Jim Robinson

For more than a generation, a war was fought against the United States. Most Americans, however, didn't know it. And even those who did may have been puzzled about whom we were fighting.

The war began in 1979, after Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in Iran and his followers, chanting "Death to America," seized our embassy in Tehran and took our diplomats prisoner. But we did not interpret that to mean we were at war with Iran.

In 1983, members of the same movement bombed our embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, killing hundreds. But we did not see ourselves at war with Hezbollah or its sponsors.

In the 1990s, adherents of the same ideology -- totalitarian, supremacist, antidemocratic -- attacked Americans repeatedly: office workers in New York City, diplomats at embassies in Africa, military personnel in the Middle East. And in 1996, a wealthy Saudi exile published what he called a "Declaration of War Against the Americans."

But even as we suffered these attacks, we did not acknowledge a war was being waged. In fact, most Americans believed they lived in a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. There was even a "peace dividend" to be spent.

The horrific attacks of September 11, 2001, were a wake-up call -- but the nation remained groggy. Since hijacking planes and crashing them into in the World Trade Center was an act of terrorism, we set about to fight a "war on terrorism" -- as though there were no movement driving terrorism and no ideology justifying violation of the age-old taboo against intentionally murdering women and children.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1503325/posts

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