Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - June 2006

[nwctwx]

Al-Qaeda's Long March to War
(Full Story)

In recent weeks, media reports from both Iraq and Afghanistan have suggested the appearance of a slow evolution of the Islamist insurgents' tactics in the direction of the battlefield deployment of larger mujahideen units that attack "harder" facilities.

These attacks are not replacing small-unit attacks, ambushes, kidnappings, assassinations and suicide bombings in either country, but rather seem to be initial and tentative forays toward another stage of fighting.

	Karzai Condemns U.S. Troops Using Gunfire
	Taliban Kill, Kidnap Dozens of Afghan Police
	US Sends More Troops into Iraq
	Where does Karzai go from here?
	Kabul Comes Undone

Thread Thirty-Seven

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[Cindy]

Thanks to fanfan for this update:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656750/posts


"Bail denied for two teens facing terrorism-related charges"
Canoe ^ | June 27, 2006 | Clement-Meoni Poon

Posted on 06/27/2006 4:36:59 PM PDT by Squawk 8888

BRAMPTON, Ont. (CP)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656927/posts


"India - Navy's spies catch Chinese subs"
Times of India ^ | June 28, 2006 | Rajat Pandit

Posted on 06/28/2006 12:06:24 AM PDT by HAL9000

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "NEW DELHI: Keeping as it does a watchful eye on the rapidly-modernising Chinese Navy, the Indian Navy has detected, tracked and photographed three spanking new Chinese submarines in the Mediterranean region.
This is the second such instance of remarkable long-range maritime snooping by the Navy this year. Its TU-142M and IL-38 maritime surveillance aircraft had "spooked" a new Chinese destroyer off Yemen's Socotra Island, almost 2,300-km away from the Indian mainland, as was reported by TOI in February."

[Cindy]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=23131
"Freelance Jihadists"
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | June 28, 2006

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656933/posts

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlimage&blobheader=image%2Fjpeg&blobkey=id&blobtable=JPImage&blobwhere=1150885869144&cachecontrol=never&ssbinary=true

"Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri.
Photo: AP"

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?blobcol=urlimage&blobheader=image%2Fjpeg&blobkey=id&blobtable=JPImage&blobwhere=1150885863650&cachecontrol=never&ssbinary=true
"Mohammed Abdel Al, also known as Abu Abir, a spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees, a violent group with ties to the Hamas-led Palestinian government, speaking to journalists in Gaza City Tuesday.
Photo: AP"

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1150885858552&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jun. 27, 2006 2:17 | Updated Jun. 28, 2006 10:42
"PRC threaten to 'butcher' Asheri on TV"
By REBECCA ANNA STOIL AND JPOST.COM STAFF


Talkbacks for this article: 110

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "According to a Palestinian Resistance Committees statement Wednesday morning, the group claimed it was holding, "Eliyahu Pinchas Asheri," the 18-year-old Itamar resident who went missing on Sunday.

A spokesman for the group, known only as Abu Abir, told Al-Jazeera satellite TV early Wednesday that Asheri would be "butchered in front of TV cameras" if the IDF operation in Gaza did not stop. "Our patience is running out," said Abu Abir.

"I am announcing for the first time that the kidnapped Zionist Israel is searching for is the same settler who is being held by us. He is aged 18-and-a-half... and is a soldier in a pre-military academy," said Abu Abir, the terrorist group's mouthpiece. The claim was being taken very seriously by security forces because Asheri's middle name, Pinchas, had not been revealed to the public.

The PRC also said that no more information about Asheri would be given without a price.

Two days after IDF soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, was captured by Palestinian terrorists near Gaza, security establishment officials began assessing on Tuesday evening that the 18-year-old had, in fact, also been kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.

Sources had revealed the assessment was based on circumstantial evidence, while the IDF and Shin Bet had no concrete proof, Israel Radio reported."

[Cindy]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewNation.asp?Page=/Nation/archive/200606/NAT20060628c.html

"Former Gitmo Chaplain Calls for Camp Closure"
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
June 28, 2006

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(CNSNews.com) - A former Muslim chaplain at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp who was accused of espionage and aiding the enemy before being cleared in 2004, said the prison remains a "potent symbol" for questioning the U.S. commitment to human rights and should be closed.

"If we close Guantanamo it would be a great first step," James Yee said at a Capitol Hill news conference Tuesday sponsored by the Council for American Islamic Relations. Yee was a Muslim chaplain at Guantanamo Bay from November 2002 to September 2003, at which point he was arrested, charged and taken to a Navy brig in South Carolina. He was cleared of all charges six months later."

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Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/2006/06/012014print.html

June 27, 2006

Official: Gitmo Prisoners Waging 'Jihad'

Well, of course they are. What did you expect them to do? From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:



Guantanamo Bay detainees are staging suicide attempts and hunger strikes to undermine American policy in the war on terror, a senior U.S. military official said, calling the acts a "jihad" against the United States.

"The detainees view this as a struggle. They view this as a jihad ... They're trying to figure out ways that they can continue the fight," Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris, the commander of the U.S. prison on Cuba's southeastern tip. "They do that with hunger strikes, overdosing on medicines. And now they've succeeded in killing themselves."

Three detainees - two Saudis and a Yemeni - committed suicide in their cells on June 10. The U.S. military said the men hanged themselves by fashioning nooses from bed sheets. Harris said the deaths and other suicide attempts were coordinated acts of resistance - not acts of desperation prompted by their indefinite detention.

"I think it is less about the length of their detention ... It's less about that and it's more that they continue to fight their fight," Harris told reporters, adding that defiance in the prison was widespread. "I think the vast majority of detainees are resisting us."

Posted at June 27, 2006 11:47 PM

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...
(Note: Includes photos)

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21258_The_Media_Are_the_Enemy&only
(June 27, 2006)

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21258_The_Media_Are_the_Enemy#comments

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656939/posts?page=4#4

===

Note: The following post is a quote:
---

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1656939/posts


Muslim Bosnia convert arrested over bomb plot
serbianna.com ^

Posted on 06/28/2006 2:46:12 AM PDT by kronos77

TIMISOARA, Romania (AP)--Police have detained a Romanian man suspected of planning a car bomb attack to protest Romania's alliance with the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan, authorities said Tuesday.

Florin Les, 30, who authorities said had converted to Islam in Bosnia, allegedly planned to detonate the car in a public place in this western city, prosecutor Mircea Andres said.

Police from the organized crime unit blocked his car late Monday about 30 kilometers east of Timsoara while he was driving toward the city. He tried unsuccessfully to escape, said Andres.

Police searching the car found two metal natural gas canisters connected to an improvised detonator which was designed to be triggered by a cellular telephone and cause an explosion, Andres said.

The man had been under surveillance for months by the Romanian Intelligence Service for suspected terrorist activity after he traveled to Bosnia a year ago. He is believed to have had contacts with members of an unidentified terrorist Islamic network, Andres said. Authorities were to hold a press conference later Tuesday.

Romania has about 860 troops in Iraq and in 700 peackeeping troops in Afghanistan.

June 27, 2006 05:26 ET (09:26 GMT)

[Cindy]

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

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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=50821
"Chaplain faces punishment for gospel message
Navy officer already subject to court-martial for 'praying in Jesus name'"
Posted: June 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Art Moore

[Cindy]

UPDATE...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20060627-103617-7798r.htm

"U.S. rejects limits on personal guns"
By Betsy Pisik
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 28, 2006

NEW YORK

[Cindy]

Note: Updates appreciated.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201261,00.html
AP

"Police Shoot Man Who Pulled Knife on Boy at Las Vegas Airport"
Tuesday, June 27, 2006

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LAS VEGAS — Police shot and wounded a man at the city's international airport Tuesday after he grabbed a child and ran through a security checkpoint, authorities said.

The man had pulled a knife on a boy just outside a screening area, said Elaine Sanchez, spokeswoman for McCarran International Airport.

The child was unharmed and returned to his mother, who was at the airport, Sanchez said. The man was taken to a hospital."

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=china

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=iran

http://www.newsmax.com/pundits/archives/Charles_R._Smith-archive.shtml
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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/6/27/204007.shtml
"Chinese Spies Among Us"
Charles R. Smith
Wednesday, June 28, 2006

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http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/6/21/85758.shtml
"Chinese Companies Sell WMD to Iran"
Charles R. Smith
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

[all4one]

Off Topic But Interesting Info. for Science Geeks:

Huge Asteroid To Fly Past Earth July 3

June 26, 2006 9:01 p.m. EST

Shaveta Bansal - All Headline News Staff Writer Washington D.C. (AHN) - A large asteroid, measuring 1,345 to 3,018-feet is expected to make its way over Earth on Monday, July 3.

The asteroid will make an exceptionally close approach to the blue planet, passing just beyond the Moon's average distance from Earth.

Astronomers will attempt to make a more accurate assessment of space rock's shape and size using radar measurements.

The asteroid named 2004 XP14 is a member of a class of asteroids known as Apollo, which have Earth-crossing orbits. There are now 1,989 known Apollos.

The half-a-mile wide cosmic rock that will pass Earth in proximity is classified as "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid" (PNA) by the Minor Planet Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. There are currently 783 PNAs.

The latest calculations reveal that 2004 XP14 will pass closest to Earth at 04:25 UT on July 3 (12:25 a.m. EDT or 9:25 p.m. PDT on July 2).

As per the reports, spotting 2004 XP14 will be a challenge, as only seasoned observers with moderate-sized telescopes will be able to see the asteroid.

In 2004 XP14, was discovered on Dec. 10, 2004 by the Lincoln Laboratory Near Earth Asteroid Research (LINEAR), a continuing camera survey to keep watch for asteroids that may pass uncomfortably close to Earth.

Link to Article

[all4one]

Good Morning and Good Day Cindy!

[Cindy]

Have a great day all4one.

It's weeds and watering for me later today.

[all4one]

Well here in the northeast we have had PLENTY of watering over the last week. I guess I will need to look forward to more than my share of weeds in the coming weeks...AAACCCKK! Even with plenty of mulch, they make their way into my gardens.

[Cindy]

Well, I'm sure sorry to hear about the flooding and other problems related to all that rain in the NE.

Yep, after the rain, comes the weeds.

[Velveeta]

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=21258_The_Media_Are_the_Enemy&only

Sam, I think you'd be interested in these Reuters "photographers".

[Velveeta]

Al-Qaeda preparing for major attacks

(snippet)
It is only a matter of time for us to witness another tool of deaths but this time outside Iraq. No one will be immune at all even those who consider themselves protected. Jordan is another target and the American interests everywhere will certainly be targeted.

Countries which support the terrorism in Iraq have walked with it unharmed. Saudi Arabia is the major supplier and Syria directly involved. Iran has indirect involvement and some other regional countries are doing so.(snip)
http://www.hammorabi.blogspot.com/

****FYI, this is the same blogger who predicted the attack in Jordan a few hours before it happened.

[Velveeta]

Freight train accident affects Metra service (IL)
http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/train28.html

On our local news.

What hasn't been reported in print yet is that another car slammed into the pickup truck and pushed it onto the tracks.

The occupants of the car that slammed into the pickup - fled the scene.

[LucyT]

Saudi-U.S. visas double in 2006 --- We hope to see a continuation of this positive momentum

Amanda D. Rogers-Harper, a spokeswoman for the US State Department, confirmed that as of June 10, a total of 18,683 non-immigrant US visas had been issued to Saudi citizens since the start of the current fiscal year.

"This," she noted, "is twice as many as the 9,338 issuances to Saudis" in the corresponding period last year, marking an increase of over 100 percent in just the past 12 months. ...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1657080/posts