Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Thirty-Two

[nwctwx]

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Thirty-Two (Index)

Yahoo News : Yahoo Images : News Hotlinks

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!

What's become of bin Laden since he gave us all the slip?
Full Story

Some think he is dead, others that he is hiding because he is scared of being killed.

Whatever the reason for the strange disappearance of Osama bin Laden, not seen alive since his last mocking video statement a year ago, he is no longer the face of the global "jihad" against the West.

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi { TM 25,TM 27 }, the Jordanian responsible for some of the worst atrocities in Iraq, has become the hero of the hour on militant Islamist websites.

Related:
Can al-Qaeda Endure Beyond bin Laden?
Two Years Ago: Threat Matrix Begins

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

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

Threat Matrix HTML designed by: Ian Livingston

[MamaDearest]

Sour dough bread...sounds good.

Hubby and I found a small non-chain sub shop and bought two BLT subs on sourdough bread last week. We are still talking about how yummy they were. The two of you would have to go and remind me of that again so I'll be obsessed with going back SOON.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1540575/posts?page=17


Ex-US official admits taking secrets during
"relationship" with Taiwan spy
Yahoo ^ | 12/13/2005 | AFP

Posted on 12/14/2005 3:50:42 PM PST by pganini

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A former US State Department official pleaded
guilty to removing top secret government documents while conducting
a "personal relationship" with a Taiwanese spy, the Justice
Department said.

Donald Keyser, a former principal deputy assistant secretary of state
for East Asian and Pacific affairs, also pleaded guilty to making false
statements over his "undisclosed personal relationship" with a
Taiwanese intelligence agent named as Isabelle Cheng, the
department said.

The career US diplomat, 62, will be sentenced on February 24 over the
single count of removing thousands of documents over a 12-year
period, and two of making false statements to investigators.

A State Department spokesman said Keyser, who joined the
diplomatic corps in 1972, had left the government on September 30,
2004, but declined to comment further.

Continued at above link, plus the Freepers are pulling up the interesting comments, linked to the missing computers during the clinton administration.

[MamaDearest]

They move fast on the dangerous things.

Yep. Look how far we've come since 9/11! I'd like not to be sarcastic, but watched an emergency room show on the Discovery Channel this past week showing 7 burn victims that came in to a small hospital and THEY JUST COULD NOT HANDLE THAT MANY TRAUMA PATIENTS. To top it off, an angina patient came in and the physician in charge was overwhelmed. He couldn't get EMT people to assist (they were busy). Then when he wanted to airlift them out to facilities that handle burn victims, he practically had to beg to accomplish that. From a preparedness standpoint, if that hospital was an example, we're all in deep deep trouble.

[Cindy]

Yep, sounds good.

[nw_arizona_granny]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540771/posts


How safe is it to fly in Africa?
BBC News ^ | Wednesday, 14 December 2005

Posted on 12/14/2005 9:52:37 PM PST by MRMEAN



As investigators sift through the wreckage looking for the cause of
Nigeria's second air disaster in less than two months we're asking, are
Africa's skies safe?

So far this year, there have been 57 air accidents and 1,229 fatalities,
according to the Aviation Safety Network which monitors air crashes
worldwide. Out of those, 15 happened in Africa and 390 people died.

And in 2004, a quarter of all accidents occurred in Africa - a region
where air traffic is growing rapidly but which still accounts for only
4.5% of global traffic, according to the International Air Transport
Association.

So, why is Africa prone to air accidents? As air companies rush to take
off are they and governments ignoring safety? Should some pilots and
planes not even be in the sky?

Send us your comments and experiences using the form on the right,
or text us to +44 77 86 20 20 08.

[nw_arizona_granny]

You will find we are in trouble.

I think that part of the trouble in training the trauma groups, is due to the fact that so many think "It will never happen here".

In order to learn, one must "want to do so".

[Cindy]

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05120058.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com


Wednesday, December 14, 2005

IRAN: OLD GUARDS RETURN

By Elizabeth Kendal
World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC)
Special to ASSIST News Service

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (ANS) -- Iran's Revolutionary Guards and Ministry of Intelligence and Security(MOIS), two groups whose names are synonymous with Iranian repression and terror, are making a comeback under President Ahmadinejad.

As noted in the WEA RLC News & Analysis report entitled "The Islamic Revolution is now complete" (29 August 2005), "Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has flooded the Majlis (parliament) with former Revolutionary Guards while Ayatollah Khamenei has made key changes in security structures and strategies to entrench the Revolutionary Guards' hegemony over all law enforcement agencies."

Now Iran's MPs are purging their domains of Khatami-era officials and replacing them with heavy-handed hardliners, including many former senior secret police from the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) who were complicit in the serial murders of dissidents and intellectuals that took place in the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. President Khatami's sensitivity to international relations led to these murderers being removed from positions of public authority, but now under President Ahmadinejad they are making a comeback. For this regime, a proved track record in brutality, assassination and inflexible hard-line Islamic ideology makes an ideal prerequisite for a government job. In fact, having hands that are stained with the blood of Christian martyrs appears to be a perfect prerequisite for a senior position in the Ministry of Interior.

PERSECUTION ESCALATES DRAMATICALLY

On 22 November, Pastor Ghorban Dordi Tourani (53) was kidnapped from his home and stabbed to death, allegedly by an unnamed group of fanatical Muslims. His body was later dumped back at his home. Pastor Tourani was a convert from Islam and was pastoring an independent fellowship of convert Christians in Gonbad-e-Kavus, northeastern Iran. He is survived by his widow and four children aged between 3 and 23yrs.

Compass Direct ( http://www.compassdirect.org ) reports, "Within hours of the November 22 murder, local secret police arrived at the martyred pastor's home, searching for Bibles and other banned Christian books in the Farsi language. By the end of the following day, the secret police had also raided the houses of all other known Christian believers in the city.

"According to one informed Iranian source, during the past eight days representatives of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) have arrested and severely tortured 10 other Christians in several cities, including Tehran. All the detainees have since been released.

"In addition, MOIS officials have visited known Christian leaders since Tourani's murder and have instructed them to warn acquaintances in the unofficial, Protestant house fellowships that 'the government knows what you are doing, and we will come for you soon'." (CD, 28 Nov 2005)

OLD GUARD MOIS RETURNS: TO THE INTERIOR MINISTRY...

Hojjatoleslam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi, a Shiite cleric who was the Deputy Minister of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) for some 13 years during the late 80s and throughout the 90s has been appointed as Iran's Interior Minister. Iran Focus reports, "Critics charge that Pour-Mohammadi is replacing Interior Ministry officials with former colleagues from the secret police, thus creating another security apparatus." (Link 1)

Two of Pour-Mohammadi's appointments to senior positions in the Interior Ministry are: Mahmoud Saeedi, the former director of MOIS in Isfahan province, who has been appointed as Director General of the Interior Ministry; and Shahab Goodarzi, the former deputy director of MOIS in Isfahan, who has been appointed as Director of Security in the Interior Ministry.

It is of great concern that Iran's Interior Ministry, a ministry that has control of the security forces and is responsible for preserving political stability, is to be run by men who were senior MOIS officials during Iran's dark and bloody days of the serial murders of dissidents and intellectuals. Iranian Christians may feel an especially cold chill, as Saeedi comes into the Interior Ministry with the blood of Christian martyrs on his hands.

Iran Focus reports, "A former senior official in Iran's dreaded secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), who personally oversaw the gruesome murders of two Christian bishops and a priest in Iran in the 1990s, has been appointed as the new Director General of the country's Interior Ministry.

"Mahmoud Saeedi, who formerly headed the MOIS department in Isfahan Province, was removed from his position in 1999 under mounting pressure on the Iranian government after it became clear that his agents had carried out the brutal murder of three Anglican Church figures in Iran."

Investigations by dissident investigative journalist Akbar Ganji (now imprisoned) revealed that MOIS was responsible for the serial killings of dissidents and intellectuals that took place through the 1990s, and that the murders of Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Bishop Tateos Michaelian, and Reverend Mehdi Dibaj were ordered by Deputy Intelligence Minister Saeed Emami and carried out by a team under the command of Mahmoud Saeedi.

According to Iran Focus, after Mahmoud Saeedi was removed from MOIS, he went to work with other former senior MOIS officials in the Special Security Office of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iran Focus reports that Saeedi's boss in Khamenei's Special Security Office "was Hojjatoleslam Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi".

It is of great concern that Iran's Interior Ministry, which is responsible for internal stability and security, is now being led by old guard MOIS officials who have already demonstrated their willingness to persecute and assassinate dissidents, intellectuals and Christian leaders.

... AND TO THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE AND ISLAMIC GUIDANCE

Former Revolutionary Guard, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, Iran's new Minister for Culture and Islamic Guidance, is also purging his subordinates. He is determined that books, journalism, visual arts, film, music and all cultural pursuits must conform to and re-enforce Iran's Islamic ideology and the strictest of Islamic values.

Most interestingly, the Iran Press Service reports, "Masha'allah Shamsolva'ezin, spokesman for the Tehran-based Association for Advocating Freedom of Press, said that state pressure on journalists has increased since [President] Ahmadi Nezhad took office. According to Shamsolvaezin, the culture ministry, in cooperation with intelligence and security forces, has in recent weeks called in many journalists for questioning without apparent reasons. The goal clearly is to intimidate them. Many of those pressing journalists are former employees of the Ministry of Intelligence [MOIS] who were fired under Khatami for their involvement in killing intellectuals and political activists." (Link 2)

The article at link 2, entitled, "Tehran renews war on culture" gives details of measures to control, police and further Islamise journalism, book publishing, musical performances, women's dress, and universities. This Islamic "war" against Persian culture will doubtless continue until Persians decide they want their Persian culture back.
MOTIVATIONS

President Ahmadinejad is committed to preparing Iran for what he firmly believes is the inevitable, even immanent return of the "hidden 12th Imam". I (EK) have to confess that I am not exactly sure what is required to hasten the Imam's return, but I think it might be a pure Islamic Iran surrounded by a world in chaos. If Ahmadinejad is pursuing this scenario, then that is disturbing on several fronts.
A few interesting articles on the religious motivations of President Ahmadinejad can be found at link 3. This is a subject that deserves closer attention, because Ahmadinejad's faith in and expectation of a messiah-style immanently returning 12th Imam reduces his devotion to the Guardian Council, expunges his interest in international opinion, but increases his zeal for an uncompromising, aggressive and authoritative Revolutionary Guard and MOIS to help usher in his apocalypse.

Elizabeth Kendal
rl-research@crossnet.org.au

Links
1) Iran appoints murderer of Christian bishops to key position.
22 Nov 2005
http://www.iranfocus.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=4532

2) Tehran renews war on culture
By Mahdi Khalaji, 26 November 2005
http://www.iran-press-service.com/ips/articles-2005/november-2005/culture_crackdown_261105.shtml

3) Iran president paves the way for Arabs' imam return
By Paul Hughes, Reuters,17 Nov 2005
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_10945.shtml

Second coming for imam is first concern for Iranian president
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr and Gareth Smyth. Financial Times
9 November 2005
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1519153/posts

Shi'ite supremacists emerge from Iran's shadows
Asia Times On-line. 9 Sept 2005
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/GI09Ak01.html

Religion Versus Reality
By Richard Ernsberger Jr. Newsweek International. 12 Dec 2005
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/10313618/site/newsweek/

President of Iran: Hallucinations of a psychopath. 3 Dec 2005
By Bahman Aghai Diba, PhD International Law - Persian Journal
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/article_11240.shtml
Elizabeth Kendal is the Principal Researcher and Writer for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty Commission (WEA RLC) www.worldevangelical.org/rlc.html. This article was initially written for the World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis mailing list.

Elizabeth can be contacted by e-mail at rl-research@crossnet.org.au.

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.
Send this story to a friend.

[Cindy]

PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org
===

http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s05120056.htm

ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com


Tuesday, December 13, 2005

CHRISTIANS IN UZBEKISTAN SUFFER INCREASED PERSECUTION

For Immediate Release
OPEN DOORS USA
Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Coordinator
Phone: 616-915-4117
E-mail: JerryD@odusa.org
Web: www.opendoorsusa.org

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- The situation of Uzbek Christians has deteriorated considerably since the demonstrations in the city of Andijan in the Ferghana Valley during the month of May.

Christians are now under much tighter control, and they are getting more “invitations” to come to the police office to answer questions and receive more fines. More frequent incidents of physical and psychological violence against Christians to force them to renounce their faith have occurred in the last few months.

“President Karimov is very afraid of losing his job,” said Esther Amado, Open Doors coordinator for Central Asia. “For this reason, he deals harshly with everyone whom he considers a threat to his regime. During these past months, many congregations have lost their registration and worship services have more frequently been interrupted by the police. Not only church leaders, but everyone present in the meeting is taken to the police station to be interrogated.”

The interrogations have a more aggressive character now than before the violent crushing of the demonstrations in Andijan, which resulted in the death of hundreds of people. Amado said, “Before this happened, Christians were put under pressure to stop attending church services. Now they are pushed to renounce their faith and to turn back to Islam, because then – according to the interrogators – all their problems will be over. If a Christian does not give in, chances are high that he will lose his job. On top of that, there is pressure from relatives. They will ostracize a Christian family member. An Uzbek should remain a Muslim.”

Police officers sometimes exert extreme pressure on Christians. Kural Bekjanov, 19, was held in prison and tortured for one month this summer. Fellow inmates also beat him terribly when they found out about his Christian faith. Bekjanov’s physical and mental recovery may take years. His family has serious financial difficulties because they had to pay for Bekjanov’s food when he was detained and for medical treatment since his release.

One of the ways Open Doors supports Uzbek Christians is through the seminars called “Standing Strong Through the Storm” (SSTS). During these seminars, participants study the biblical view on persecution and listen to testimonies of Christians who have remained faithful in spite of their hardships.

The seminar also teaches Uzbek Christians to be prepared for interrogations. “We have added a juridical component to the seminars,” says Amado. “Many police officers ‘bought’ their job or got it because they knew the right people. They shout many threats and state that people have broken the law, but they can’t even indicate the article they refer to. That is why it is very useful if Christians know the law when they are under such pressure.”

According to Amado, some Uzbeks still convert to Christianity. “We have had a time of great revival, but now the underground church is growing more slowly than before. Many Christians are keeping a low profile and evangelize less because of the higher risks. Muslims are also more cautious before they contact Christians and inquire about their faith.”

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors, celebrating 50 years of service to persecuted Christians in 2005, serves and strengthens the Persecuted Church in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535) or go to our USA Web site at www.opendoorsusa.org. To request a complimentary six-month subscription to our monthly newsletter Frontline Faith, call 888-5-BIBLE-5 or register on-line.

(For more information or to set up an interview, contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117).

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540809/posts

"The Terrorist Round-Up for December 15, 2005"

Posted on 12/15/2005 1:09:56 AM PST by Straight Vermonter

[Cindy]

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004068.htm

"INVESTIGATING JAMAAT UL-FUQRA"
By Michelle Malkin · December 13, 2005 07:51 PM

===
===

ON THE NET...

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22JAMAAT+UL-FUQRA%22&hl=en&lr=&filter=0

http://groups.google.com/groups?q=%22JAMAAT+UL-FUQRA%22&start=0&scoring=d&hl=en&lr=&filter=0&

http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=%22JAMAAT+UL-FUQRA%22&btnG=Search+Blogs&scoring=d

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540815/posts

"Terror suspects have indirect Zarqawi link -France"
newkerala.com ^ | 15 Dec 2005 | Reuters

Posted on 12/15/2005 1:58:38 AM PST by Jim Robinson

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1540818/posts


"No Holocaust repeat, Israel tells Iran"
The Daily Telegraph ^ | December 14, 2005

Posted on 12/15/2005 2:17:47 AM PST by F14 Pilot

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "ISRAEL urged the world to "open its eyes" to the Iranian regime and its nuclear programme after its outspoken president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the Holocaust as a "myth".

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's spokesman pledged that Israel had the means to defend itself and would not allow for a second genocide of Jews.

"Thank God, Israel has the means at its disposal to bring about the downfall of this extremist regime in Iran. There will be no second 'final solution'," Sharon's spokesman Raanan Gissin said."

[Cindy]

http://www.satp.org
http://www.saag.org

===
===

http://www.saag.org/papers17/paper1643.html
Paper no. 1643

10. 12. 2005

"INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM MONITOR: PAPER NO. 4
ESCALATION OF JIHADI TERRORISM IN BANGLADESH"

[Cindy]

OFF TOPIC...

It's Zombie Time!
Zombie went to the Tookie Vigil and here's the report and photos:


ZOMBIE TIME.com: "The Stanley "Tookie" Williams Vigil at San Quentin, Monday, December 12, 2005"
http://www.zombietime.com/tookie/

[Cindy]

http://www.memri.org/jihad.html
---

NOTE: The following video clips (and the links to the transcripts) are on the current front page of MEMRITV.ORG:

http://www.memritv.org

MEMRITV clips may have audio delays, we apologize for the inconvenience


#962 - Lebanese Students at a Hizbullah TV Symposium: We Should Fight the Jews and Burn Them Like Hitler. Israel Should Be Wiped Off the Map
Al-Manar TV (Lebanon) - 11/29/2005 - 00:02:03


#961 - Iranian Leader Ali Khamenei: It Is Not Unusual for Heads of State to Wish for the Death of Another Country's President
IRIB/Jaam-E-Jam2 (Iran) - 12/8/2005 - 00:02:03


#960 - Saudi Al-Qaeda Terrorists: Al-Qaeda's Policy in the Late 90s Was to Recruit as Many Saudis as Possible in Preparation for the Attacks in Saudi Arabia
Saudi TV Ch.1 - 12/6/2005 - 00:02:28


#959 - Iraqi Elections Broadcasts
Al-Arabiya TV (Dubai), Al-Iraqiya TV (Iraq) - 12/2005 - 00:04:12

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.internet-haganah.us/jihadi/hizballah.html

===
===

ON THE NET...

http://www.memritv.org/Transcript.asp?P1=962
11/29/2005 Clip No. 962

"Lebanese Students at a Hizbullah TV Symposium: We Should Fight the Jews and Burn Them Like Hitler. Israel Should Be Wiped Off the Map"

SNIPPET: "Following are excerpts from a symposium of students at Universite Libanaise, hosted by Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, and broadcast on November 29, 2005."

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

FRONT PAGE MAGAZINE.com: "HEZBOLLAH RISING" by Brigitte Gabriel (November 30, 2005)

MEMRITV.org - Video Clip No. 962:"Lebanese Students at a Hizbullah TV Symposium: We Should Fight the Jews and Burn Them Like Hitler. Israel Should Be Wiped Off the Map" (SNIPPET: "Following are excerpts from a symposium of students at Universite Libanaise, hosted by Hizbullah's Al-Manar TV, and broadcast on November 29, 2005."

"www.internet-haganah.us/jihadi/hizballah.html"

[Velveeta]

I have seen stuff cross posted here from the TB2K forum about it in the past.

Oh, I remember now...thanks for the refresher!

[Velveeta]

Northgate google on a whim:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22north+gate%22+muslims&btnG=Search

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22northgate%22+muslims

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=%22northgate%22+islam

[Velveeta]

To all of you who now serve and have served your country, thank you and Merry Christmas.


Amen!