World Terrorism: News, History and Research Of A Changing World #4.

Tehran & Damascus Move to Lebanon Lebanon-born Walid Phares is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. Author of the recent book Future Jihad, he was also one of the architects of 2004’s United Nations resolution 1559, which called for the disarming of Hezbollah. NRO editor Kathryn Lopez recently talked to Phares about what’s going on in the Mideast, what happened to the Cedar Revolution, and this war we’re all in.

Kathryn Jean Lopez: What is “Future Jihad”? Are we seeing it in the Mideast now?

Walid Phares: “Future Jihad,” which has already begun, refers to a new and potent form of Islamic terrorism, characterized by a Khumeinist-Baathist axis. These are the two trees of jihadism, so to speak — the Salafism and Wahabism embodied in al Qaeda and the sort of jihadism led by Iran and also including Syria, Hezbollah, and their allies in Lebanon.

The alliance has not been in entire agreement as to strategy. The al Qaeda branch began its “Future Jihad” in the 1990s; its efforts culminated on 9/11 and have continued explosively since then. The international “Salafists” aimed at the U.S. in the past decade in order to strengthen their jihads on various battlefields (Chechnya, India, Sudan, Algeria, Indonesia, Palestine, etc.). “Weaken the resolve of America,” their ideologues said, “and the jihadists would overwhelm all the regional battlefields.”

As I argue in Future Jihad, bin Laden and his colleagues miscalculated on the timing of the massive attack against the U.S. in 2001. While they wounded America, they didn’t kill its will to fight (as was the case, for instance, in the Madrid 3/11 attacks). I have heard many jihadi cadres online, and have seen al Jazeera commentators on television, offering hints of criticism about the timing. They were blaming al Qaeda for shooting its imagined “silver bullet” before insuring a strategic follow up. But bin Laden and Zawahiri believe 9/11 served them well, and has put a global mobilization into motion. Perhaps it has, but the U.S. counter strategy in the Middle East, chaotic as the region currently appears, has unleashed counter jihadi forces. The jury is still out as to the time factor: when these forces will begin to weaken the jihadists depends on our perseverance and the public understanding of the whole conflict.

The other “tree” of jihadism, with its roots in Iran, withheld fire after 9/11. They were content to watch the Salafists fight it out with the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan and Iraq, not to mention within the West, as terror cells were hunted down. Ahmedinejad, Assad, and Nasrallah were analyzing how far the US would go, and how far the Sunnis and Salafis would go as well.

The fall of the Taliban and of the Baath in Iraq, however, changed Iran and Syria’s patient plans. The political changes in the neighborhood, regardless of their immediate instability, were strongly felt in Tehran and Damascus (but unfortunately not in the U.S., judging from the political debate here), and pushed the Khumeinists and the Syrian Baathists to enter the dance, but carefully. Assad opened his borders to the jihadists in an attempt to crumble the U.S. role in Iraq, while Iran articulated al Sadr’s ideology for Iraq’s Shiia majority.

A U.S.-led response came swiftly in 2004 with the voting of UNSCR 1559, smashing Syria’s role in Lebanon and forcing Assad to withdraw his troops by April 2005. In response, the “axis” prepared for a counter attack on the Lebanese battlefield by assassinating a number of the Cedar Revolution leaders, including MP Jebran Tueni. In short, the attacks by Hamas and Hezbollah and the kidnappings of soldiers were the tip of an offensive aimed at drawing attention away from Iran’s nuclear weapons programs and Syria’s assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Hariri. Hezbollah was awaiting its moment for revenge against the Cedar Revolution too.

What we see now is 1) a Syro-Iranian sponsored offensive aimed at all democracies in the region and fought in Lebanon; 2) Israel’s counter offensive (which it seems to have prepared earlier); and 3) an attempt by Hezbollah to take over or crumble the Lebanese government.

Phares: Actually, it would be more accurate to say that the Cedar Revolution was failed. The masses in Lebanon responded courageously in March 2005 by putting 1.5 million people on the streets of Beirut. They did it without “no-fly-zones,” expeditionary forces, or any weapons at all, for that matter, and against the power of three regimes, Iran, Syria, and pro-Syrian Lebanon, in addition to Hezbollah terror. The “revolution” was for a time astoundingly successful; since then it has been horribly failed, and first of all by Lebanon’s politicians themselves. One of their leaders, General Michel Aoun, shifted his allegiances to Syria and signed a document with Hezbollah. Other politicians from the “March 14 Movement” then stopped the demonstrations, leaving them with the support of God knows what. They failed in removing the pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud and brought back a pro-Syrian politician to serve as a speaker of the house, Nabih Berri. Meanwhile, even as they were elected by the faithful Cedar Revolution masses, they engaged in a round table dialogue with Hezbollah, a clear trap set by Hassan Nasrallah: “Let’s talk about the future,” he said — with the implication, of course, that they forget about the Cedar Revolution and the militia’s disarming. While political leaders sat for months, enjoying the photo ops with Hassan Nasrallah, he was preparing his counter offensive, which he unleashed just a few days before the Security Council would discuss the future of Iran’s nuclear programs.

The Lebanese government of Prime Minister Seniora also abandoned the Cedar Revolution. His cabinet neither disarmed Hezbollah nor called on the U.N. to help in implementing UNSCR 1559. This omission is baffling. The government was given so much support by the international community and, more importantly, overwhelming popular support inside Lebanon: 80 percent of the people were hoping the Cedar Revolution-backed government would be the one to resume the liberation of the country. Now Hezbollah has an upper hand and the government is on the defensive.

The U.S. and its allies can be accused of certain shortcomings as well. While the speeches by the U.S. president, congressional leaders from both parties, Tony Blair, and Jacques Chirac were right on target regarding Lebanon, and while the U.S. and its counterparts on the Security Council were diligent in their follow up on the Hariri assassination and on implementing UNSCR 1559, there was no policy or plan to support the popular movement in Lebanon. Incredibly, while billions were spent on the war of ideas in the region, Lebanese NGOs that wanted to resume the struggle of the Cedar Revolution and fighting alone for this purpose were not taken seriously at various levels. Policy planners thought they were dealing with the “Cedar Revolution” when they were meeting Lebanon’s government and Lebanese politicians. The difference between the high level speeches on Lebanon and the laissez-faire approach from lower levels is amazing. Simply put, there was no policy on supporting the Cedar Revolution against the three regimes opposing it and the $400 million received by Hezbollah from Iran.

The Cedar Revolution was basically betrayed by its own politicians and is now essentially without a head. Nevertheless, as long as the international support remains, the Revolution will find its way and will face the dangers. The one and a half million ordinary citizens who braved all the dangers didn’t change their minds about Hezbollah’s terror. The resistance and counter-attack was to be expected. Unfortunately, thus far Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah have outmaneuvered the West and are at the throats of the Cedar Revolution. The international community must revise its plans, and, if it is strongly backed by the U.S. and its allies, including France, the situation can be salvaged. The good seeds are still inside the country.

Who will deter whom?[Hezbollah Rocket Threat known in March, but Peretz didn't know it]

[Israeli D.M. Amir Peretz declared that he had not been warned by IDF
about
the rocket threat, but it was known to Ha'aretz last March]
Haaretz 4 March 2006
Who will deter whom?
By Ze'ev Schiff
www.10452lccc.com/hizbollah/who.will%20deter4.3.06.htm

Israel should not scoff at Iran's growing power as a regional force and
the
dangers of the worldview of its radical regime. Iran may have made some
mistakes, but it has achieved some outstanding accomplishments. While
the
world is busy only with its efforts to acquire nuclear arms, it has
managed
over the years, through a sophisticated move in cooperation with the
Syrians
and Hezbollah, to build an array of rockets in southern Lebanon that
could
harm Israel over long ranges.

There are recent reports that a weans convoy, apparently Iranian, made
its
way through Syria through the Lebanese Bekaa and received a transit
permit
with the Lebanese government openly confirming that it knew the
convoy's
goal was Hezbollah. Therefore, the Lebanese government is an indirect
partner in the establishment of the rocket array aimed against Israel.
It
has already been published that this includes some 12,000 Katyushas and
rockets of various types. Militarily, it makes no difference if there
were
only 5,000 Katyushas, for example. The important factor is the range,
which
Iran makes sure to constantly improve. The Fajr-3 and Fajr-5 rockets
have
increased their ranges to some 70 kilometers. This means Hezbollah and,
in
effect, Iran can shoot at targets south of Haifa, and not only in the
area
of Haifa Bay.

There are various approaches to this threat to Israel. The former chief
of
staff, Moshe Ya'alon, used to say that the Hezbollah rocketry array
will
rust on its own without being used. Maybe. But what if there are
reasons
found for its use before it rusts? Other say that this is not an
Iranian
threat, because the same targets could be hit by terror actions. That's
strange to say. Is the danger of putting two million people into
shelters
and a cessation of schooling and work in all the regional enterprises
within
the rockets' aim not a strategic blow? Past experience with artillery
fire
from southern Lebanon and the experience of primitive Qassam rockets
make it
difficult to come up with calming conclusions.

A few months ago there was a one-day conference at Haifa University on
dealing with a sudden multi-victim disaster in the Haifa Bay area. Dr.
Ephraim Dvir, head of the geography department for disaster areas and
the
chairman of the national steering committee for preparations for an
earthquake, spoke of the "disaster triangle" in the Haifa area. The
bay, he
said, is the most dangerous of all the sensitive areas in Israel
because of
the ammonia and bromide facilities, the oil refineries and the heavy
industry. Add to that the population density and the flawed local
infrastructure for dealing with the population during a surprise
disaster.

The experts remember that the state comptroller devoted three reports
to the
subject, as did two Knesset subcommittees. After much foot-dragging,
the
Home Front command announced that the huge ammonia tank in the bay area
does
not meet its standards. Safeguarding the tanks would require a most
enormous
expenditure, so Haifa municipality ordered Haifa Chemicals to
immediately
cease use of the tank. However, the sensitivity of the area, within
range of
Hezbollah rockets, remains.

Clearly, Israel has failed from every aspect in preventing the
establishment
of the Iranian-backed rocket array. No arms convoy or plane carrying
weapons
or warehouse of rockets in Lebanon has been struck. The rockets are
deployed
out of harm's way, and Iranian representatives in Lebanon help plan and
produce conclusions from Hezbollah operations. This does not mean that
Israel cannot deal with the threat; but it decided to base itself on a
strategy of bed-and-breakfasts and skiing, according to which it is
best not
to really respond to harm, kidnappings and provocations lest it
endanger the
tourism. In recent years, that strategy has been paramount and that is
what
enabled the Iranians to establish their deterrent arm against Israel.

Special Dispatch-Egypt/Antisemitism Documentation Project
August 18, 2006
No. 1255

The Mufti of Egypt: The True Face of the Blood-Sucking Hebrew Entity
has Been
Exposed

To view this Special Dispatch in HTML, visit:
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD125506 .

In an article in the Egyptian government daily Al-Ahram, Egyptian Mufti
Sheikh
Dr. 'Ali Gum'a expressed his support of the resistance in Lebanon and
stated
that the lies of the "Hebrew entity" expose "the true and hideous face
of the
blood-suckers... who prepare [Passover] matzos from human blood."(1)

The following are excerpts from the article:

"Greetings to the Lebanese people, to the Lebanese government, and to
the
Lebanese resistance - to the small and beautiful country that has
proved to
the world that the ideals of determination, bravery and self-dignity
still
exist in this era that has been taken over by the blood-sucking
murderers.

"Anyone who follows the news will discover that the Hebrew entity has
turned
into a [source] of [empty] talk, while the Arab discourse, which was
characterized in the sixties [as empty talk], has developed
significantly.
[The Arabs] have learned a lesson and have moved from talk to action,
and from
the fostering of illusions to honesty, transparency, realistic
goal-setting
and ability to change. The Israeli discourse, [on the other hand], has
turned
to false declarations based on illusions, with wishful thinking taking
precedence over facts.

"These lies have exposed the true and hideous face of the blood-suckers
who
were described by Filmange in his book 'The Treasure Hidden in the
Talmudic
Laws' [sic], which tells how [the Jews] planned [to prepare] a matzo
[unleavened Passover bread] using human blood.(2) If we follow events,
the
most important thing [that we discover], in my opinion, is that the war
going
on [today] plants hatred in the next generations, as though one of its
goals
is to perpetuate the conflict for many years to come.

"A number of questions have been echoing in my mind. I tried to put
them out
of my mind several times, but they would not let go: Why do these
foreigners
come from all over the world, [speaking] many different languages, [and
settle] in this small and narrow region of Palestine, in order to
create so
much mayhem and spill innocent blood in such a stupid manner? Why do
they so
unjustly insist on harming and rejecting the peace process, attacking
their
neighbors and occupying their lands, [while] constantly hollering that
it is
they who are threatened and oppressed? [Why do they insist on]
destroying
property, killing people, keeping the [entire] world busy [with the
conflict],
and violating all the principles accepted by the human [race]?

"Why are they here? Why do they receive all this support, which costs
the U.S.
[so much] money? What emotional or practical benefit does [the U.S.]
gain
[from this support]? Is it [trying to appropriate] the region's natural
resources? After all, [it obtains these resources] anyway with the
[full]
consent [of the countries in the region], based on accepted agreements
with
which it is satisfied. Is this a clash of civilizations, or [is America
acting] out of fear that some force will return to the region? [Is it
acting
out of] crazy fundamentalist tendencies, in anticipation of the
[second]
coming of the Messiah? Why is there need for such a large number of
Israeli
nuclear weapons, which threaten the existence of the entire region?...

"[I convey my] greetings to Lebanon, to the resistance, and to the
[Lebanese]
people, so unified and dignified, and say to them: You are writing the
pages
of the nation's history, [pages of] jihad that will not be in vain. The
blood
of those you have lost will be a curse on your enemies. You are not
only a
model for people living [today], you are also lighting the path for the
future
generations and finding the way to repulse aggression and set
priorities,
teaching [us] how to fight honorably and fairly, and how to endure the
crimes
and sins that have taken hold of people's minds...

"All the Lebanese victims of the [Israeli] crimes were civilians, while
those
killed on the enemy's [side] were all soldiers. This is reality that
speaks
for itself, and not [empty] talk [that comes to] justify [actions], and
will
later be exposed as lies..."

Endnotes:
(1) Al-Ahram (Egypt), August 7, 2006.
(2) The Treasure Hidden in the Talmudic Laws (1899) is a compilation of
two
books, translated into Arabic by Dr. Yusuf Hana Nasrallah. The first is
Der
Talmudjude (1871), by the antisemitic professor August Rohling, and the
other
is a history of Syria from 1840, edited by Achille Lorraine.
http://www.asharqalarabi.org.uk/center/kutob-kanz.htm

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit
organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle East.
Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are
available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used
with
proper attribution.

[unknown url]

New allegations of sexual abuse by UN troops in DR Congo

AFP

Thursday, August 17, 2006

The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) is
investigating new allegations implicating UN peacekeepers in the "sexual
exploitation of minors," it has said.

"MONUC has received allegations about the existence of a major
prostitution ring involving minors, close to a large concentration of Congolese
soldiers and Blue Helmets (UN forces) in South Kivu, (in the) northeast
of the Democratic Republic of Congo," the UN mission said in a
statement Thursday.

A MONUC spokeswoman in the South Kivu capital Bukavu told AFP: "To
attract the girls, the pimps used as a major advantage the fact that the
Blue Helmets were there and could have money."

The statement did not mention the nationalities of the peacekeepers
implicated, but the spokeswoman, Sylvie van den Wildenberg, said the
region had UN troops from India, Pakistan, South Africa and Uruguay.

She stressed that: "Most of the UN troops in South Kivu were ...
members of a Pakistani contingent whose ethics have rarely been questioned
... (and) Indian troops who have never been targeted with allegations of
this kind."

MONUC's reputation was sullied two years ago by revelations that
peacekeepers were involved in the sexual abuse of 13-year-old girls.

The scandal broke in December 2004 when "at least 140 cases of
allegations of sexual exploitation implicating MONUC personnel" were recorded,
according to Jean Tobie Okala, MONUC's deputy spokesman in the capital
Kinshasa.

A report at the time said that the allegations reflected a grave,
long-term problem among UN peacekeepers.

"The investigation ... found that the problem was serious and ongoing,"
said the internal affairs report, on 72 cases of alleged abuse.

The report said 20 cases were sufficiently detailed to move forward.
One of those involved a civilian UN employee and the other 19 were UN
peacekeepers.

Sources close to the cases said the civilian employee was a Frenchman,
later jailed in France, and that the soldiers in question hailed from
Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, South Africa, Tunisia and Uruguay.

The investigation was carried out in Bunia, Ituri, in the northeast of
the DR Congo, from May to September 2004 after local media alleged
peacekeeper abuse of women and young girls.

Many of the alleged acts were committed with "a feeling of impunity,"
the report noted.

The report also gave recommendations, especially that the UN demand
member countries take "appropriate action" against offending soldiers.

The UN department of peacekeeper operations and MONUC should put into
place a prevention program and should better inform soldiers what is
expected of them when in contact with local populations, the report said.

MONUC should also institute stricter discipline, the report said.

The MONUC statement at the time said that MONUC "forcefully reaffirms,
without any possible ambiguity, its zero-tolerance policy in this
matter."

Set up in 1999 and known by its French acronym, MONUC counts some
17,600 soldiers, the largest peace mission currently deployed by the United
Nations.

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

[unknown url]

Nearly 100 rebels killed in fresh Sri Lanka fighting

AFP

Thursday, August 17, 2006

by Paul Peachey

Sri Lankan troops have beaten back a fresh attempt by Tamil Tigers to
overrun the main defences of the northern peninsula of Jaffna and killed
at least 98 guerrillas, media minister Anura Yapa has said.

More than 100 rebels were wounded in the close-quarter fighting in the
early hours of the morning, the minister told reporters here Thursday.

The attack on the northern peninsula, where hundreds have died in a
week of fierce fighting, came hours before US envoy Steven Mann met Sri
Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse to demand both sides halt violence and
return to negotiations.

"We believe a continuation of the fighting will only make the prospects
for peace worse and will benefit neither side. The US therefore calls
for the immediate cessation of hostilities," the senior state department
official told reporters.

Fighting also erupted in the eastern coastal town of Trincomalee, with
foreign ceasefire monitors saying they were forced to retreat from
heavy overnight shelling.

In Jaffna, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) launched a
seaborne attack on army bunkers at Kilali on the peninsula's southwestern
edge but troops hit back with rockets and rocket-propelled grenades,
officials said.

"The fight lasted until morning and Sri Lankan forces have been able to
inflict heavy casualties on the Tigers," said Yapa. "We have recovered
98 Tiger bodies and destroyed three LTTE boats."

Yapa gave no soldier casualty figures. But military officials who
wished to remain unnamed said at least six soldiers were killed and 60
wounded in the intense battle.

The defence ministry said before the latest assault that 250 rebels
fighting for autonomy for the nation's Tamil minority had been killed
since the latest upsurge in violence on Friday in Jaffna.

Military sources said some 150 troops had also been killed and 300
wounded.

There was no immediate reaction from the guerrillas to the military
claims but the rebels said their losses in the first two days since
launching an attempt to overrun military positions totalled only 22 dead.

Both sides are regularly accused of exaggerating the losses of their
opponents.

The Jaffna peninsula is cut off from the rest of Sri Lanka by
Tiger-held territory.

The military is forced to resupply its troops in the northern tip of
the island by air and by sea from the port of Trincomalee, which was
itself the scene of overnight fighting.

"We had to move our base from Trincomalee. The area where we were
staying came under heavy fire, our accommodation was almost hit," said
Thorfinnur Omarsson, spokesman for the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM).

Omarsson said the monitors moved Thursday some 50 kilometres away (31
miles) away to try to continue their work in the area.

President Rajapakse told newspaper editors Wednesday the government was
ready for talks with the rebels but stressed soldiers would take
defensive action if necessary.

Palitha Kohona, a senior adviser to Rajapakse and head of the peace
coordinating agency, told AFP Thursday the government was ready to
negotiate "any time, any place".

"What we are doing is just resisting LTTE attacks in areas which have
been under government control pursuant to the ceasefire agreement of
2002."

The SLMM has said the February 2002 ceasefire, however, "exists only on
paper."

Security forces remained on alert elsewhere, three days after a
Pakistani diplomat escaped a deadly bomb attack in Colombo.

Schools were closed while government and military installations were
closely watched amid fears the Tigers could stage retaliatory attacks
after an air raid Monday which the rebels said killed 61 school children
in the north.

A "peace march" in the capital Colombo Thursday turned into a melee
between Buddhist monks and a nationalist group backing the government's
anti-insurgency campaign.

Both the rebels and the government have blamed each other for the
upsurge in fighting which has claimed more than 1,500 lives by official
count and displaced 135,000 civilians since December. More than 60,000
people have died in three decades of Tiger insurgency.

Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved.

[Thank you to Milford421]

http://www.yorkdispatch.com/business/ci_4195703

Peach Bottom blaze quenched in 21 minutes
CHARLES SCHILLINGER The York Dispatch

Exelon's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station extinguished a small fire
in a backup diesel generator, but not before it prompted an "unusual
event" emergency.
The fire occurred Tuesday afternoon during testing of the four
emergency generators that are expected to kick on should the nuclear
power plant in Peach Bottom Township lose power.

The exhaust gasket on one of the four engines caught fire at about
6:14 p.m., 20 hours into a 24-hour endurance test of the system. The
fire was out 21 minutes later and required no response from state or
local officials.

Because the fire was not extinguished within 15 minutes and the
engine was located in a "protected area" -- the classification for a
limited access area at the station -- an unusual event was declared.
The unusual event was terminated about two hours later.

Under the classifications set by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, an unusual event is the lowest of four emergency events,
which required Exelon notify the public.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
called it a "pretty timely response."

"We are following up very closely to make sure the company is not
only looking for the root causes of the fire, but also to ensure
there's no commonalities between this problem and the other diesel
generators," Sheehan said.

Peach Bottom power plant spokeswoman April Schilpp said there was no
threat to personnel, and there was no danger to the plant or its
equipment. No injuries were reported.

Although it took longer than 15 minutes to extinguish, Schilpp said
the company was satisfied with the prompt detection and response to
the fire -- especially given the fire broke out on the roof of the
diesel generator building.

The company continues to investigate how the exhaust system caught
fire, Schilpp said.

-- Reach Charles Schillinger at 505-5431 or
cschillinger@yorkdispatch.com.

TerroristWarning.com Terrorism Headlines 08/17/2006 # 1

National:

[KVOA] ARIZONA - Huachuca City detains 2 Middle Eastern men with 1000 cell phones; Feds release them

http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5286637&nav=HMO6HMaY

[News-Gazette/AP] ILLINOIS - Police investigate suspicious purchase of cell phones

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2006/08/16/police_investigate_suspicious_purchase_of_cell_phones

[KHGI / KWNB] NEBRASKA - Cell Phones Bought in Bulk in Tri-Cities

http://www.nebraska.tv/news/local/3577792.html

[Worldview Weekend] USA - Our Nation at Risk: The Threat of EMP

http://www.worldviewweekend.com/secure/cwnetwork/article.php?ArticleID=925

[AP] USA - Study: Nuke Attack on California Port Could Kill 60,000 Instantly, Irradiate 150,000 More

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,208727,00.html

[VOA News] USA - Combating Nuclear Terrorism

http://www.voanews.com/english/NewsAnalysis/LooseNukes2006-08-16-voa50.cfm

[Courier Post] NEW JERSEY - Suspicious powder found at Cooper hospital

http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060817/NEWS01/60817014/1006

[KOMO] WASHINGTON - Explosives found at Puyallup courthouse

"Investigators in Puyallup are trying to find whoever placed two pipe bombs in the Puyallup Municipal Court building early Thursday morning"

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/281601_Puyallup17ww.html

[Herald-Dispatch] WEST VIRGINIA - Water bottle triggers evacuation at Tri-State Airport, official says

"passenger’s water bottle screened positive for a possible explosive material"

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060817/NEWS01/60817009

[AP] USA - Judge Nixes Warrantless Surveillance

"federal judge ruled Thursday that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional and ordered an immediate halt to it"

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060817/D8JI9A281.html

International:

[AKI] THAILAND - Fouth Southern Province May Be Next Rebel Target - [Possibly tomorrow]

"could be the next target of a large-scale attack by pro-Islamists rebels, according to Thailand's intelligence services"

http://www.adnki.com/index_2Level_English.php?cat=Security&loid=8.0.330841355&par=

[TNA] THAILAND - Authorities foil Yala bomb plot in deep south

http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=112289

[Reuters] PHILIPPINES - Philippines arrests man with detonators on ferry

"man suspected of trying to smuggle 6,000 detonators from the southwestern island of Jolo, where troops are pursuing a group of Muslim rebels linked to al Qaeda"

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/MAN283714.htm

[AP] ISRAEL - Fox Cameraman's Wife Pleads for Release

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/08/16/D8JHMAUO0.html

[Reuters] INDIA - Bomb blast inside Hindu temple kills at least three

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20157132-401,00.html

[PTI] INDIA - Security tightened at Narora nuke plant after arrests

"Security at nuclear facilities across the country was stepped up last week following reports that terrorists might target these institutions"

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Security+tightened+at+Narora+nuke+plant&id=91607

[Anadolu] TURKEY - Three Terrorists Arrested With Explosives In Alanya

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=137884

[Reuters] IRAQ - Security incidents in Iraq, 16 Aug 2006

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/KHII-6SR4KJ?OpenDocument

[Bangkok Post] THAILAND - Discovery of new strain of H5N1 prompts rethink of fowl controls

"new type of the H5N1 strain has been confirmed in Nakhon Phanom"

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/17Aug2006_news02.php

[NDTV] INDIA - Mysterious boxes found at Ratnagiri coast [contained magnesium]

"On the side of the box was painted "Explosive Number 89" and a warning that read "Explodes if contact with water and other combustible substances"

http://www.ndtv.com/morenews/showmorestory.asp?category=National&slug=Mysterious+boxes+found+at+Ratnagiri+coast&id=91679

[GG2] KASHMIR - Militants attack security patrol in Kashmir, two policemen wounded

http://www.gg2.net/viewnews.asp?nid=4504&tid=breaking_news&catid=Breaking%20News

[Reuters] BANGLADESH - Bangladesh police kill 11 militants in shootout

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-17T112503Z_01_DHA286078_RTRUKOC_0_US-BANGLADESH-VIOLENCE.xml&archived=False

[IANS] AFGHANISTAN - Eight militants killed in Afghanistan

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/7598_1770408,000500020005.htm

[VOA News] KENYA - Kenya Reacts to US Terror Warning

http://www.voanews.com/english/Africa/2006-08-17-voa32.cfm

[AHN] SRI LANKA - US Issues Travel Warning For Sri Lanka

"citing "the heightened potential for terrorist actions, including attacks against civilians"

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004557257

[Australian Broadcasting Corporation] AUSTRALIA / INDONESIA - Terrorism expert warns of further attacks

http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2006/s1717732.htm

[News Limited] INDONESIA - Indonesia travel alert issued

"Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has warned of continuing intelligence suggesting terrorists may be planning an attack on Western interests in Indonesia"

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,20166698-5001028,00.html

[Xinhua ] COLOMBIA - Colombian police uncover abandoned explosives [ Near shopping mall, FARC]

http://english.people.com.cn/200608/17/eng20060817_294079.html

[Yorkshire Post] UNITED KINGDOM - Reid looks at blocking websites in battle against terrorism

http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID=1701291

[Aberdeen Independent] UNITED KINGDOM - Ricin poison scare at Ellon

"sinister threat to poison employees with the deadly toxin – ricin"

http://www.gazette-series.co.uk/news/ind.cfm?newsid=2598

[icScotland] SCOTLAND - Anthrax scare: 50 offered treatment

http://icscotland.icnetwork.co.uk/news/scottish/tm_objectid=17579836%26method=full%26siteid=50141%26headline=anthrax%2dscare%2d%2d50%2doffered%2dtreatment-name_page.html

[Inquirer] PHILIPPINES - Trader hurt in Laguna grenade attack

http://newsinfo.inq7.net/breakingnews/metroregions/view_article.php?article_id=15830

[China Daily] CHINA - Explosives found at Changsha airport

"Seven pieces of explosives were detected Wednesday in a traveler's bag at Huanghua International Airport in Changsha, central China's Hunan Province"

"It was soon found that each of the 'fireworks' contained an electronic detonator and two small bags of explosives"

"owner, a man in his 50s, appeared nervous and strained"

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2006-08/17/content_667141.htm

[KUNA] SYRIA - Five people die with gas contamination aboard ship ['strelizing gas']

"Five people died and 30 others had to be hospitalized after being poisoned with contaminating gas aboard a ship at Tartous port on Wednesday"

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=897179

See also http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1154525895993&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[KUNA] UNITED KINGDOM - Two arrested under UK Terrorism Act at port [Arrests not disclosed 'for operational reasons']

http://www.kuna.net.kw/Home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=897271

See also http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/5260350.stm

[Reuters] AUSTRALIA - Threat against plane at Sydney Airport -officials

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-08-17T092235Z_01_SP290920_RTRUKOC_0_UK-SECURITY-AUSTRALIA-PLANE.xml

See also http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20162677-2702,00.html

[Mail&Guardian] SOUTH AFRICA - SA plane diverted after security alert

"someone external called the airport, "saying stuff that concerned security"

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=281062&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__national/

[The Australian] AUSTRALIA - Airport security a joke, ALP says

"The Daily Telegraph today said Sydney airport had adopted an "open-door policy" on terrorism, with gates to the complex left wide open to the public"

"Sydney airport security is becoming the standing joke of the aviation security industry"

"Government's inspector of transport security, Mick Palmer, needed to be on the job full-time because, at present, he was only working on average one day a week"

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20133835-1702,00.html

Another, from Novaya Gazeta

Anatoly Kiselev

Lyudmila Kiseleva showed me the photograph. "So tell me," she asked. "Can such a man really die?" In the picture stood a well-built, handsome man who looked much younger than his 48 years. He resembled an American film hero, sort of a mix of Tom Cruise, Kevin Costner, and Gary Cooper.

"He was extraordinary," she said. "Just read what he wrote." Many women say the same about their loved ones, especially if their loved ones are no more: extraordinary. Reading the text, and most of all, the labor of his life, Equitology, one can repeat Lyudmila's word: extraordinary.

He was a handsome boy, then later a student. First at the Nevelski nautical school in Vladivostok, then later at the Makarov naval academy in St. Petersburg. He was a navigator who sailed all the seas and oceans, and later a researcher at the oceanographic institute. Anatoly Kiselev was an inventor, a hunter, a fisherman, and an artist who was drawn into the philosophic games of Georgy Shchedrovitski. Anatoly Kiselev was keen on philosophy, a thorough student of Hegel, Bacon, Locke, and other foreign luminaries, as well as our own Marab Mamardashvili and Evald Ilenkov. At work his nickname was 'Hegellian', while at home he was 'the walking encyclopedia'. He wrote a book - Equitology.

Equitology is a word invented by Kiselev, derived from the Latin Aequitas, which means steadiness, proportionality, and equality before the law. It is the study of symmetry in social systems as a subsystem of physics. Months at sea, days alone with nature while hunting or fishing, and hours at work when he was shut off from all vanities, allowed his mind to speculate, to look at matters without preconception, in a fresh way. It was almost as if from childhood he had been searching for a truth that would seem shocking, and, at first, far from comprehensible.

Lyudmila Alexandrovna and I spoke for many hours.

"Even though we lived together 30 years, I was always in love with him."

Why did he go to 'Nord-Ost' alone?

"You decided this because I only talk about him? No, we were together, but for some reason only I survived."

Did you often go to the theater?

"Not often, because almost every free Saturday he went hunting - I can't tell you how much he loved hunting. Look at his bookcase: books on hunting, guns... I often stayed home. The boys are grown. One's 30, the other's 28, and they have their own places. So to keep me happy he agreed to go to that musical."

You never went hunting with him?

"Very rarely. He was happy when he was leaving and coming back. Preparing for the hunt, everything was the best: wife, kids, equipment. When he'd come home, he'd say: 'I was sitting in the tree stand, and I was snug as a mouse, warm in the snow.' It was warm because his feet were in mukluks that he made from Elk hide. We always had meat at home, even when we were poor. He knew how to cook game. He even made me a blouse, and for the kids, how many trousers and coats he made? He could do everything. He knew how to be happy. I don't remember when I talked him into going. The ticket lady said: 'We only have seats in the 22nd row'. I asked if this was all the way in the back, but she said: 'I don't know'. I said: 'I don't want to be in the last seats'. Well, it turned out we were."

I asked Lyudmila how they met.

"I graduated from medical college and worked as a nurse. I then went into the fog," she told me. "In the literal sense of the word. I went with a biological expedition to Sayansk. When I got there, I sat down at the bank of a mountain stream for two hours. I just couldn't tear myself away. It was a valley straight out of a fairy tale. Later, some kids came, and Anatoly was with them.

And how was Baikal?

"Baikal was like a movie, but it was awkward for me. We only had one sleeping bag, and no tent. No food - they only had one rusted can of herring and some spaghetti in the store. Anatoly found a grotto, and we slept in it. Our love story began when I got his first letter in Moscow."

A declaration of love?

"Yes, but a special one. It shocked me. After the letter something happened."

What next?

"I got ready to go on another expedition, it was still winter, yet it still seems to me that those winter days smelled of spring. We started seeing each other, and began a torrid love affair. He had to go back to Vladivostok for his exams. I wanted to go with him, but I got a letter from his mother: 'Lyuda, leave my child alone'. Everyone was against me: my mother, his mother. His mother and little sister came over to talk me out of it, to leave him alone. It was all terrible, but that was later. When he left, I went kind of crazy. It seemed to me that he was everywhere, just beyond every corner, behind every tree, past every creek. When he died, it was the same way. At the time I thought that we'd live together a year or two, but we stayed together for life."

Immortality, Kiselev thought, is provided by genius and culture, phenomena essential for mankind. Take away from human memory all inventions, he wrote. All ideas, all literary forms, poems, and even language, all that has been made through the creativity of people, and we are just several billion animals who would quickly gobble each other up until our numbers reached prehistoric levels.

I asked Lyudmila if, while sitting there in the theater hall, they were afraid of dying.

"Two times it was very frightening," she said. "Once, when they put two chairs on stage and began to strap explosives to the backs, and one of them brought a canister and sat it on a chair. The other time was when they began to set up the bomb in the hall, five rows from us. I started to tremble. I tried to think of something to calm myself down, and I said: 'Anatoly, we've already had a good life. Just look at how many young people are here'."

Was he afraid?

"I don't know. He always said that there was nothing worse than death. In 1995 he travelled to Izmail, he went on board the ship to see to the unloading of some cargo. There was a woman there, who the captain said was the wife of a sailor whom they always listened to regarding the future. Suddenly she grabbed Anatoly's arm and started to say something rapidly. He got interested, and asked her what had happened to him on October 11th, 1994. She told him that he met a UFO, but had behaved badly, aggressively, and that he should excuse himself to them next time. He really had seen a flying saucer while out hunting. It flew out from the forest, and was so close that he was shocked, and so grabbed for his rifle."

It that all that she told him?

"No, not all. She said that he had little time left to live. When he came home and told me about the woman, I started to cry, and I asked how much time was left, ten years? He said: 'Dream on', but never said how long."

When the gas was released, did you lose consciousness?

"I came back from the toilet and saw that the whole hall was asleep, and that there was some kind of light-blue haze over the hall. I thought that there was a fire, so I wet my shawl and scarf. I held out the scarf to Anatoly, and he reached for it sluggishly, without opening his eyes. I don't remember anything else. I woke up at the Sklifosovsky hospital. The watch Anatoly had given me had been stolen, and my best fur coat. I was very sad about the watch - Anatoly had bought it for me in Spain when we were leaving the Salvador Dali museum. I asked everyone at Sklifisovsky: 'Where's my husband? Where's my husband?' They wouldn't answer me. I heard them say that I was gravely ill. The next day I asked them what the problem was, they said that it was respiratory failure. There was nothing about this on my discharge papers, simply 'posthypoxic condition'. What is hypoxia? You don't feel good outside and so you have hypoxia."

Do you have any health problems now?

"A big problem with my liver."

What did you think about at Dubrovka?

"The whole time I had a feeling that they were going to blow us up, and that we'd all die. But we didn't die from Chechen bullets, or an explosion, but from our own troops. I hate our government. I couldn't live anywhere else, under any other government, but I hate this one."

Olga KUCHKINA
17.02.2003

England will not be our ally much longer.

Storm Track Infiltration: Letting The Camel’s Nose into the Tent

There's an old Arab saying that warns, "Don't let the camel's nose into your tent. Once the nose is in, the rest of the camel will follow."

Britain has a camel problem. A big camel problem. A form of jihad is starting to engulf the nation. Last years bus and tube bombings and the foiled terrorist plot to blow up airlines were all instigated by young Muslims. The solution? Yep. Talk to the community.

And that’s what Britain did. But the answer the government received was not what they expected. When they asked Muslim community leaders how to tackle extremism in their midst, the Muslim leaders responded with two ‘far ranging’ solutions (my satiric reference). Extremism in the British Muslim community can be mediated with:

Public holidays to mark Muslim religious festivals.

Shari law for Muslim families

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly had prepared an uncompromising message on the need to tackle dangerous radicalism. But, in what she admitted were 'sharp' exchanges, some senior Muslim figures turned the tables yesterday and made a series of demands which also included the introduction of sharia law for family matters. The group also asked Ms Kelly for separate public holidays for Muslims.

“Dr Syed Aziz Pasha, secretary general of the Union of Muslim Organizations of the UK and Ireland, said: 'We told her if you give us religious rights, we will be in a better position to convince young people that they are being treated equally along with other citizens.' Some of the 30 moderate Muslim leaders at the meeting told Miss Kelly that important days in their two main religious festivals - Ramadan and Eid-ul-Adha - should be made public holidays for followers of the faith. Sharia law, which is practiced in large parts of the Middle East, should also be introduced in Britain, they argued. While it specifies stonings and amputations as routine punishments for crimes, Dr Pasha said he wanted it only for family affairs.”

So….they only wish to stone and amputate family members?

“A recent poll suggested that a third of British Muslims would rather live under Sharia law, while a similar number said they also hope Britain will one day become an Islamic state. But Dr Pasha claimed the legal changes he proposed would help convince young Muslims to integrate better into British society.”

I bet they would! It would be Islam not Britain anymore.

I’ve spoken before about the Islamist strategy for the world domination of Islam. That strategy includes three types of jihad:

Demographic Jihad
Economic Jihad
Militant Jihad

Demographic jihad is what’s taking place in Europe. Fjordman explained the tactic of demographic jihad or a lawful, non-violent jihad on the free world.

“British citizenship has been granted to nearly one million foreign nationals since Labour and Tony Blair came to power in 1997.”Grants of citizenship have quadrupled under the present Government. This is a direct result of their 'no limits' immigration policy." "Immigration on this scale is changing the nature of our society without public consent.”

Here’s the strategy of demographic jihad.

“Former Muslim Dr. Patrick Sookhdeo warned that British Muslims could soon form a state within the state. Dr Sookhdeo believed that "in a decade, you will see parts of English cities which are controlled by Muslim clerics and which follow, not the common law, but aspects of Muslim sharia law." "In 1980, the Islamic Council of Europe laid out their strategy for the future - and the fundamental rule was never dilute your presence. That is to say, do not integrate." "Rather, concentrate Muslim presence in a particular area until you are a majority in that area, so that the institutions of the local community come to reflect Islamic structures. The education system will be Islamic, the shops will serve only halal food, there will be no advertisements showing naked or semi-naked women, and so on."”

It seems, for now, that Britain is losing the demographic jihad. When will they awake? And when they do, will it be too late and the civil war in Europe that some predict will occur? Who knows? But if Britain bows to the demands of the Islamists in their midst and allow the camel’s nose to enter their tent, the entire camel will be sitting in their laps in short time.

http://the-gathering-storm.blogsource.com/post.mhtml?post_id=372462

From Zalozhniki.ru

I had a double loss, a double grief: my 34 year-old son, Yevgeny, and his wife, Vera. She was an orphan. They wanted to go to 'Nord-Ost', in order to take a break from their cares. At 10 PM on the 23rd I found out what had happened on TV. We spent the 24th through 26th with the grandkids. The youngest I took to kindergarten, but the oldest we let let go to school just once. I accidentally blurted out to one of the parents what had happened, and the next day the oldest grandson asked me if it was true that his mother and father were hostages of the Chechens. This whole time I hid from the grandkids what had happened. At first I lied to them, I said that someone had broken a window out at the cabin, and that their mother and father had gone there the fix it. Later I said that their car had broken down, and that were getting it fixed. The oldest one advised me to call them on the mobile phone. I told him that its battery was dead.

We never lost hope the whole time they were hostages. When the Chechens pushed their demands, I hoped that they would be satisfied. We tought that people were more important to the government.

I hoped that they would pull the troops out of Chechnya. Or at least pretend to, but after the president's speech it was clear that there was nothing that could be done. After this there was news that the Chechens were going to shoot 10 hostages every hour. We changed channels, watched every station, but then they announced the storming of the theater.

I prayed for a happy ending. Because there were small children at home, I had to hold myself together. On the 27th we found out about the death of Yevgeny and Vera. A neighbor took the kids to a rest home for two days.

On October 26th friends of Vera and Yevgeny looked for them. They weren't on on the lists. On October 27th the Frolovs did not on appear on the certified list of 700 hostages. But hope dies last.

On the hospital certificate, it was written that both died of cardiac insufficiency and cerebral hemorrhage. They were under the gas for a minimum of 2 to 2 1/2 hours. If they had been laying on the sidewalk afterwards for a long time, then that could also have decreased their chances. They were wearing only thin t-shirts. Friends told me later that they had given their sweaters to some schoolchildren among the hostages.

I believe that my children died from the poor organization of the rescue operation. This lawsuit is against the Moscow city and the Russian federal governments.

I am 53, and my husband is 55. Now we have two small children. We already raised three sons to be defenders of the fatherland. Our whole life we worked, and what did we get? Grief, pain, and tears. We swore before the coffins of our children that we would raise our grandchildren to be upstanding and useful people.

As far as material and moral damages, before all of this I never suffered from insomnia, but now I can't fall asleep until 3 or 4 in the morning. I have to get up at 7 to send the children to school. I suffer from angina, and my husband now has high blood pressure.

Yevgeny's brother Andrey has had heart problems since he went to identify the bodies. Andrey said that it was very difficult to recognize his brother - Yevgeny's neck had swollen wider than his head. Andrey and Yevgeny were only 3 years apart, and very close. Yevgeny and Vera were found on the evening of the 27th, almost two days after their deaths. All this time Vera had in her pocket her passport with their adress. I have the impression that the authorities tried to hide Vera's death.

The above is from a statement Larisa Frolova made in court on January 21st, 2003. Her son and daughter-in-law had the same last name as 13-year-old Dasha Frolova, who also died there, but were no relation.

The above is from the list of the 125 hostages who died from the effects of the gas, and does not include Vasilev, Vlakh, Romanova, Gribkov, and Zakharov, who were shot by the terrorists before the theater was 'put to sleep'.

On top of p.67 is #99, Sandy Alan Booker, from Oklahoma City, who went to Russia to meet his fiancee.

#110, #111, & #112 are Yevgeny Frolov, Vera Frolova, and Darya (Dasha) Frolova. #113 and #114 are Timur Haziev and Fyodor Hramtsov, whose stories I posted earlier.

The stamp on the lower right reads: "True Copy - Inspector of the directorate for the investigation of gangsterism and murders of the Moscow city prosecutor's office, V.I. Kalchuk."

More on Vladimir Kalchuk here.

He'd have a cow if he knew I had these papers ;-)

http://www.swtimes.com/articles/2006/08/17/news/news10.txt

Bomb Threat On Airplane Leads To Arrest

By Wanda Freeman
Thursday, August 17, 2006 8:58 AM CDT
TIMES RECORD • WFREEMAN@SWTIMES.COM

A Fort Smith man was jailed Tuesday evening and faces federal charges in connection with a security concern that developed earlier in the day at Fort Smith Regional Airport, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

Michael Terrell Jackson, 30, was booked into the Sebastian County Adult Detention Center at about 7 p.m. and was being held for the U.S. marshal, according to a jail docket.

Steve Frazier, public affairs officer with the FBI, said the FBI filed a complaint with the U.S. attorney alleging Jackson violated Title 49 of the U.S. Code, which outlaws making a false statement about a bomb being on an airplane.

“It was a marital dispute. He was not a terrorist,” Frazier said. “He was arrested ... on a federal complaint for making a threat to blow up a plane in an attempt to prevent his wife and two children from leaving Arkansas.”

According to a Fort Smith police report written before Jackson’s arrest, Terrell is suspected of calling a TSA official, claiming there were bombs on two planes going to Texas, and challenging the official to “find them if you can.”

An American Eagle flight scheduled for 1:34 p.m. departure to Dallas was the only plane going to Texas, and it was cleared for flight after being checked by a bomb squad and an FBI agent, the report states.

The reporting officer wrote that Jackson’s wife and children did not board the aircraft, although they were booked on the flight, and they were believed to have left the airport in a vehicle with Jackson.

Frazier said Fort Smith police located Jackson after he left the airport, and he believed the police and TSA officers should share credit with the FBI agents in making the arrest.

Airport director Kent Penney said people and luggage were removed from the plane for rescreening, and the process delayed departure by less than one hour.

Two women whose husbands took the delayed flight to Dallas said they and their husbands were not apprised of the security concern.

Cheri Christensen said that when she spoke to her husband in Dallas and asked him why he got back on the plane after rescreening, he told her he had no idea there was a bomb threat or security problem.

“All they told them was they were doing another security check,” she said.

Mildred Wilson, whose husband works for the same contractor as Christensen’s husband, said she asked an employee when the plane was going to leave.

“She said, ‘I don’t know, I don’t know,’ and threw up her hands,” Wilson said.

Penney said airport and TSA personnel were concerned only with security issues, and that the airline was responsible for communicating with passengers.

“There were three ladies I spoke with after the secondary level of screening,” he said. Penney said he explained that there had been the need for a second review and that the plane was “good to go.”

Officials with American Eagle’s corporate office, American Airlines, did not return a phone call Wednesday.

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