Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - July 2006

[nwctwx]

Bin Laden Says Will Take Fight to America
(Full Story)

Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden said his group reserved the right to fight the United States on its land and warned Washington and the world community against sending forces to Somalia, according to an Internet audio tape.

"We will fight its (U.S.) soldiers on the land of Somalia ... and we reserve the right to punish it on its land and anywhere possible," said the speaker, who sounded like the Saudi-born militant.

"We warn all of the countries in the world not to respond to America by sending international troops to Somalia," he said of the African nation where Islamists' power is rising.

	2nd Tape in Two Days Endorses al-Masri as Leader in Iraq
	SITE Institute: Preliminary Summary of July 1 Tape
	Audio and Video Tapes From Usama bin Laden

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[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www1.idf.il/DOVER/site/mainpage.asp?sl=EN&id=7&docid=54605&Pos=8&last=1&bScope=True

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News

Summary of IDF aerial attacks in the past 24 hours

Wednesday 19/07/2006 02:01



Including attacks on trucks carrying weaponry from Syria to Lebanon

The Hezbollah terror organization launched more than 130 missiles into Israel today, killing a civilian and wounding close to 30.

The IDF carried out aerial attacks against more than 100 targets in Lebanon since the morning of July 18th 2006.


Amongst the targets attacked:

Trucks carrying weaponry, including four trucks in the Beka valley area carrying weaponry from Syria to Lebanon.
12 access routes connecting between Syria and Lebanon.
75 sites used by Hezbollah to launch missiles at Israel.
Terror cells attempting to launch missiles at Israel
Tunnels used by terrorists
Structures used by Hezbollah terrorists
10 Hezbollah weapons warehouses.
Four bridges, targeted in order to prevent the movement of terrorists.
6 missile launchers


Since the Hezbollah attack on Israel on July 13th, over 180 missile launching sites have been targeted.

The IDF will continue to use all means at its disposal in order to protect the citizens of Israel and return the abducted IDF soldiers to their homes.

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060719_5687.html

Flying in Nontraditional Role, F-16 Thwarts Terrorist Activity

American Forces Press Service

SOUTHWEST ASIA, July 19, 2006 – A U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter, providing nontraditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to coalition ground forces, killed a member of an improvised explosive device cell and identified an IED emplacement yesterday near Baqubah, Iraq, U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials reported today.
The F-16 identified three possible IED emplacers and passed the information to ground forces. Ground unit personnel positively identified the terrorists and requested the F-16 engage the hostile forces. The F-16 strafed the terrorists, killing one and ending the engagement.

Coalition aircraft, operationally controlled by U.S. Central Command Air Forces from Southwest Asia bases, provide a constant air umbrella over Iraq, providing for the safety and security of the Iraqi people and coalition ground forces, officials said.

"Our message is clear to those who continue to harm innocent civilians and attack coalition forces: if terrorists continue their activities, we will identify, track and take appropriate action to stop them," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Anthony Haynes, Combined Air Operations Center director. "More than 30,000 deployed airmen are hard at work, in the air and on the ground, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, striving to improve the safety and quality of life for local citizens," he said.

(From a U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news release.)

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060719_5690.html

Extremists Use Holy Sites For Attacks, Hit Civilian Targets

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – Extremists in Afghanistan attacked coalition forces from a religious site yesterday, and targeted several civilian areas this week, including a bridge, a school and a wedding party, military officials in Afghanistan reported.
Extremists began firing on coalition forces in the village of Nowzad in Helmand province yesterday. The sniper fire came from the direction of a religious shrine. There were no reported injuries to coalition forces or damage to equipment.

In a separate incident in Kandahar province, a supply convoy received small-arms fire from a nearby mosque. While there were no casualties in this incident, this act by the extremists is against the Geneva Convention, officials said.

"To use religious buildings as hiding places and to fire from them is a clear message that the extremists use religion only when it is in their best interests," said Army Col. Thomas Collins, coalition spokesman. "The extremists place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people. The extremists today, for example, said they were 'holy warriors.' What kind of 'holy warrior' uses a shrine as a firing position? The extremists abuse the word 'mujahedin.' They are, in fact, 'mufsidun,' corrupt people who seek nothing but inflicting harm on the Afghan people."

In another incident, a homemade bomb was detonated under a bridge yesterday in Wadi Village, Khost province, but there was no damage to the bridge.

Elsewhere, extremists targeted a girls' school near Mehtar Lam in Laghman province on July 17, launching four or five rocket-propelled grenades. There were no reports of students or staff being injured in the attack.

"Afghans are working hard to build a better future for their children by providing an education and opportunities for success," Collins said. "By attacking another school, the extremists show that they only offer destruction and a return to repression for the people of Afghanistan."

On July 16, three extremists who were visiting the compound of Mullah Zeino Bodeen prematurely detonated a homemade bomb while they were working on the device. The explosion killed the mullah and injured the three extremists. The compound is seven kilometers north of Salerno in Khowst province.

An extremist tossed a grenade into a wedding party crowd in Sabari, Khost province, on July 16, killing one and injuring 16. Afghan National Police are searching for the attacker.

"Extremists place no value on human life and continue to threaten the safety of the Afghan people," Collins said.

(Compiled from Combined Forces Command Afghanistan news releases.)

[MamaDearest]

You're welcome RR! Great weather for a trip to the waterpark. Kind of your daughter and you to help the "challenged" students to have a "fun" day.

FBI Chief: Canada's terror laws weak

Snip: "Countries that do not afford extended jail time for those who engage in support of material terrorism are opening themselves up in my mind to the possibility that these networks will find a haven from which to operate," Mueller told reporters yesterday at a Toronto conference.

Atlanta pair allegedly trained for jihad

Snip: Two young men from the Atlanta area were accused in a federal indictment Wednesday of undergoing paramilitary training in northwest Georgia and plotting violent holy war. Their civilian and government targets included an air base in suburban Atlanta, the indictment says.

Named in the grand jury's indictment were Syed Ahmed, a 21-year-old Georgia Tech student who was arrested in March, and Ehsanul Islam Sadequee, another U.S. citizen who grew up in Atlanta area.

They were previously accused of traveling to Canada last year to meet with Islamic extremists to discuss "strategic locations in the United States suitable for a terrorist strike," according to prosecutors.

In a new indictment filed Wednesday, the men are now also accused of traveling to Washington, D.C., to film possible targets, including the U.S. Capitol and the headquarters of the World Bank, and sharing them with another alleged terrorist based in Great Britain.

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jul2006/20060719_5691.html

Iraqi, Coalition Forces Kill Two Terrorists, Detain 19

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2006 – In several incidents July 16 and 17 and yesterday, Iraqi soldiers, police, and coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained 19, military officials reported.
Soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division, captured and detained a suspected terrorist at a checkpoint northwest of Baghdad at about 3 p.m. yesterday.

The suspect was traveling with a woman and with four children under the age of 2 in a vehicle carrying multiple mortar systems, three 130 mm rounds and two directional charges. The Iraqi army detained the suspected terrorist.

In a separate event, soldiers from Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, were attacked by small-arms fire while conducting area reconnaissance at about 3 p.m. in an outlying area of southwestern Baghdad. The soldiers returned fire on their attackers; after searching the area, they found the bodies of two dead terrorists and detained seven others.

Soldiers confiscated six AK-47s, two drums of 7.62 mm ammunition, a pistol with a magazine, and a rocket-propelled grenade launcher with a round attached and ready to fire.

Elsewhere, coalition forces successfully targeted and captured two al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists and five additional suspects during a July 17 raid near Muhammadi.

The security forces targeted the local terrorist leaders for their extensive ties to foreign fighter facilitators and improvised explosive device cell leaders. The detainee serving as the top local terrorist leader recently assumed his position within al Qaeda after security forces killed his predecessor, officials said.

The forces secured multiple buildings and detained the seven individuals without incident. The two primarily targeted individuals identified themselves on location. Additionally, the assault force found numerous IED-making materials, including a video used to demonstrate the placing of IEDs.

Intelligence indicated two buildings targeted were used as foreign fighter safe houses and as a staging area for insurgent attacks against Iraqi security forces, civilians and coalition troops. Coalition forces destroyed the houses to prevent their further use by terrorists in the area.

In another incident, Iraqi police and Multinational Division Baghdad's 1st Battalion, 66th Armor, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, detained four terrorist cell members July 16 after receiving a call from a concerned citizen, who informed them of an attack planned against the Rashadia police station.

The telephone tip warned that attackers had surrounded the police station. Soldiers responded to the area to provide assistance to Iraqi police.

After an exchange of gunfire, the terrorists attempted to escape, but Iraqi police and coalition soldiers pursued them. Four local citizens stopped the fleeing suspects, and the Iraqi police took them into custody.

According to information gleaned from the individuals taken into custody, their plan was to attack the police station because they wanted to kill two terrorist leaders they believed were being held there.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Smartass]

Tue, Jul 18, 2006

	Federal Appellate Court Hands Traditional Marriage Another Victory ANN ARBOR, MI – On Friday, July 14th, a federal appeals court reversed a lower federal court ruling that had struck down Nebraska’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriages. The constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages had been passed by seventy per cent of that state’s voters in 2000. In Citizens for Equal Protection v. Bruning, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reinstated Nebraska's constitutional amendment defining marriage as a union between a man and a woman. In a first such ruling by a federal appeals court, a three-judge panel unanimously held that Nebraska voters had not violated the Constitution by seeking to preserve the traditional definition of marriage, since "laws limiting the state-recognized institution of marriage to heterosexual couples are rationally related to legitimate state interests." The opinion was written by Chief Judge James B. Loken and joined by Circuit Judges Bowman and Smith. Writing for the court, Judge Loken held that the express intent of traditional marriage laws to encourage heterosexual couples to bear and raise children in committed relationships is a legitimate state interest. The Thomas More Law Center, a national public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, advised the Nebraska Attorney General's office in the case, and also filed an amicus brief arguing that the Nebraska marriage protection amendment did not violate the Constitution's equal protection jurisprudence as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in Romer v. Evans, 517 U.S. 620 (1996). The Eighth Circuit panel spent the majority of its opinion on precisely this issue, agreeing with the Thomas More Law Center that the Nebraska constitutional amendment is "rationally related to a legitimate government interest" under the Romer analysis. According to Kim Daniels, the Trial Counsel for the Law Center who authored the amicus brief on behalf of the Law Center, "The Eighth Circuit's unanimous opinion in Bruning represents a significant step forward in the fight to preserve traditional marriage. The Nebraska voters who overwhelmingly passed this amendment have been vindicated, and it's heartening to finally see a federal appeals court affirm that citizens have the right to enact laws preserving the institution of marriage." Amicus briefs supporting Nebraska’s position were submitted by eleven other states, numerous public interest organizations, the Nebraska Catholic Conference and members of the Nebraska Legislature. Earlier in the month, the highest courts in New York and Georgia rejected attempts to gain marriage rights for same- sex couples. On July 5th, the Thomas More Law Center filed a lawsuit against Michigan State University (MSU) challenging that institution’s recognition of same-sex domestic partnerships for the purpose of providing benefits. The lawsuit claims that MSU’s policy violates Michigan’s Marriage Amendment, passed by the voters in 2004, which provides that “the union of one man and one women in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose,” as well as Michigan statues that prohibit recognition of same-sex marriages.

[Cindy]

That's GOOD news.
Thanks Smartass.

[bitt]

bump and thanks to a link to today's SCARY news too....

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

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

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668798/posts?page=20#20

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Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668798/posts


Hamas and Hezbollah Find Support in an Unexpected Place
Fox News ^ | July 19, 2006 | Brit Hume

Posted on 07/19/2006 4:28:10 PM PDT by Ooh-Ah

Who Likes Hamas?


With even the Arab League blaming Hezbollah and Hamas for the violence in the Middle East, it seems the terrorist organizations' last bastions of support are Iran, Syria — and parts of California. Left-wing protesters chanting their support for the two groups in front of the Israeli consulate in San Francisco had to be separated from pro-Israel demonstrators by police the other day. Many protesters waved Palestinian flags, while some mask-wearing demonstrators wore t-shirts advocating violence against Jews.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...

[Oorang]

SNIP from July 18, 2006 article linked below:

SNIP:
The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported that Israeli aircraft were honing in on the underground bunkers in Lebanon occupied by Hezbollah's military leadership. Those expected to be found inside include Imad Mugniyah, a master terrorist who plotted the 1983 operations that killed 241 American Marines stationed in Beirut. Mr. Mugniyah was America's most wanted terrorist before the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In January, Israeli soldiers on the border with Lebanon told the Sun that photographs of Hezbollah positions on the Lebanese side suggested that Mr. Mugniyah made regular visits to that front.

http://www.nysun.com/article/36219?page_no=2

[Cindy]

WOWSER...That is just great!
I can't wait to see the official results.

THANKS Oorang.

[Donna Lee Nardo]

So far no one hour warning issued. That's the good news in a sea of bad news, of course.

[Cindy]

OFF TOPIC...

2 games online

http://off-topic.internet-haganah.com/archives/000451.html

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:
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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668862/posts


Marine Cleared in Shooting Death of Iraq Ambassador's Relative
AP Via FoxNews ^ | July 19, 2006

Posted on 07/19/2006 6:03:59 PM PDT by Chickenhawk Warmonger

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A U.S. Marine has been cleared of criminal wrongdoing in last year's fatal shooting of a relative of Iraq's ambassador to the United States, a U.S. official said Wednesday.

The 21-year-old engineering student, Mohammed Sumaidaie, was killed during a search of his family's home near Haditha on June 25, 2005. U.S. authorities ordered an investigation after Samir Sumaidaie complained that his unarmed cousin had been shot in cold blood.

However, Maj. Douglas Powell, a U.S. military spokesman, said the Naval Criminal Investigative Service determined that the Marine "acted properly in self defense in response to unexpectedly encountering a man pointing an AK-47 at him."

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...

[Jet Jaguar]

Thanks Cindy. Good news.

[FlashBack]

They stand up and fight...but it seems that they always seem to be standing behind innocents when they do. Any chance of the Lebanon gov't "joining" in with the IDF to put the squeeze on the bad guys??

[Cindy]

Yes it is and I love spreading good news.

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

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

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1668889/posts

"IDF: Hizbullah built mass bunker network"
YNet ^ | July 19, 2006 | Hanan Greenberg

Posted on 07/19/2006 7:09:34 PM PDT by Alouette

[Oorang]

I found this opinion piece very interesting. Take with a grain of salt but worth the read, IMO. A bit long so I'm just posting a link.

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,105948_1,00.html

[Cindy]

Actually that is not a conspiracy opinion, in my opinion.
Good piece, by the way.

I have an article or two where he was IDd.

Let me hunt around for it/them and I'll pot it.