Posted on 06/19/2007 4:43:36 PM PDT by DAVEY CROCKETT
Saudi King Says Middle East Crisis Will Affect The World
DUBAI, June 19 (Bernama) -- The Saudi king has warned of an impending "explosion" in the Middle East, saying that it will not only affect the region but will spread all over the world, the English daily Gulf News reports.
"The Middle East region suffers from the longest conflict in our contemporary history which is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel's occupation of Arab lands," King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, said in an interview with the Spanish El Pas newspaper which was published simultaneously in Al Riyadh newspaper yesterday.
"At this point in time we are exerting efforts to solve this conflict, but we are witnessing an expansion of the crisis to include other countries like Iraq and Lebanon," he said.
"This makes the region replete with troubles that pose grave concerns for us. My fears are the fears of all reasonable men that the explosive situation will not be confined to the region but will extend to the whole world," he added.
The Saudi monarch yesterday began a five-nation trip that will take him to Spain, France, Poland, Egypt and Jordan.
King Abdullah also underlined the importance of solving the problem of Iran's nuclear programme peacefully in a way that guarantees all countries in the region to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in accordance with the standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=268361
(Excerpt) Read more at bernama.com ...
[I do not know why this was pulled today, with one of my google alerts, could be connected to the release above, that says OBL is still alive...granny]
Bin Laden offers Americans truce
In an audio tape broadcast on Aljazeera, Osama bin Laden has warned that al-Qaida is preparing an attack very soon, but also offers Americans a long-term truce.
Bin Laden had not been heard from since December 2004
The voice, attributed to Bin Laden and apparently addressing Americans, said: “The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you’ll see it in your homeland very soon.”
But the voice on the tape, which appeared to be aimed at the American public, also offered a truce: “We do not mind establishing a long-term truce between us and you.”
The tape, broadcast by Aljazeera on Thursday evening but dated to December last year, comes after a year of silence from the al-Qaida leader.
“This message is about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and how to end those wars,” it began.
“It was not my intention to talk to you about this, because those wars are definitely going our way.
“But what triggered my desire to talk to you is the continuous deliberate misinformation given by your President [George] Bush, when it comes to polls made in your home country which reveal that the majority of your people are willing to withdraw US forces from Iraq.
Americans want peace
“We know that the majority of your people want this war to end and opinion polls show the Americans do not want to fight the Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their [US] land.
“The new operations of al-Qaida has not happened not because we could not penetrate the security measures. It is being prepared and you’ll see it in your homeland very soon”
Osama bin Laden
“But Bush does not want this and claims that it is better to fight his enemies on their land rather than on American land.
“Bush tried to ignore the polls that demanded that he end the war in Iraq.
“We are getting increasingly stronger while your situation is getting from bad to worse,” he told the US, referring to poor US troop morale and the huge economic losses inflicted by the war.
“The war in Iraq is raging and the operations in Afghanistan are increasing.”
Truce offer
“In response to the substance of the polls in the US, which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims on Muslim land, nor do they want Muslims to fight them on their land, we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to.
“We are a nation that Allah banned from lying and stabbing others in the back, hence both parties of the truce will enjoy stability and security to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan, which were destroyed by war.
“In response to the substance of the polls in the US, which indicate that Americans do not want to fight Muslims ... we do not mind offering a long-term truce based on just conditions that we will stick to”
Bin Laden
“There is no problem in this solution, but it will prevent hundreds of billions from going to influential people and war lords in America - those who supported Bush’s electoral campaign - and from this, we can understand Bush and his gang’s insistence on continuing the war.”
Addressing Americans again, he said: “If your desire for peace, stability and reconciliation was true, here we have given you the answer to your call.”
Analysis
Aljazeera dedicated its evening broadcast to Arab and Muslim analysts who gave their assessments and analysis of Bin Laden’s approach.
Shaikh Said bin Zughair, a prominent Saudi Muslim scholar, said Bin Laden was delivering a professional political message.
“He was responsible. He said do not fight us and we will not fight you, then he offered a truce. He was speaking politically,” he said.
“It is not the first time that al-Qaida offers a truce. The last time it offered it to European peoples. I remember back then, they asked a woman from London about her opinion of the suggested truce.
“She said let us go for it, if Bin Laden is sincere, we will be winners, if not, we will not lose anything,” he said.
Zughair called on the US to adopt this theory, saying reason sometimes beats politics.
Dr Dia Rashwan, an Egyptian specialist in Islamic movements, said the bad quality of the tape indicates that Bin Laden is far from his aide Dr Ayman al-Zawahiri.
“We saw al-Zawahiri’s previous recordings were clear and professionally recorded, while today’s Bin Laden tape is of bad sound quality, which indicates that the two men live in two different environments,” he said.
“Bin Laden was specific in the terminology he used, he used the word ‘war’ to describe the situation in Iraq, while he used the term “increasing operations” to describe the situation in Afghanistan,” Rashwan said.
US response
The White House said on Thursday that the US “does not negotiate with terrorists”.
Bin Laden, who had not been heard of since a 27 December 2004 audiotape in which he anointed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq’s most wanted man, as al-Qaida’s leader in Iraq, also said his network was winning the war against the US.
“I would like to tell you that everything is going to our advantage and the number of your dead is increasing, according to Pentagon figures.”
Al-Zawahiri said in a September videotape that his leader was still alive and leading the jihad against the West.
Source: Aljazeera
This was posted Jan. 20th, 2006..........at:
http://english.aljazeera.net/English/archive/archive?ArchiveId=18136
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Suspicious mail creates HazMat incident - NJ
Similar incidents in NY (previous post) Financial
firms....Suspicious mail creates HazMat incident
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
PLAINSBORO — An administrative assistant with Munich- Reinsurance
America Inc. opened an envelope Monday morning and found a blank
greeting card and a plastic zip-closure bag filled with a white
powder, police said.
The envelope was addressed to the chief financial officer at the
company’s building at 555 College Road East.
Police were contacted along with the Middlesex County Hazardous
Materials Response Team, officials said.
The investigation revealed that the substance was corn starch. The
incident is under investigation.
http://www.nj.com/news/times/regional/index.ssf?/base/news-10/118775572698750.xml&coll=5
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Officer injured, downtown evacuated after ammonia gas leak in
Meridian
Click-2-Listen
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
By Emily Ingram
Tribune-Herald staff writer
MERIDIAN — Officials are investigating after clouds of noxious
ammonia gas shut down a Central Texas courthouse square Monday
morning.
Workers at the Bosque County Courthouse in Meridian, as well as
neighboring businesses and homes, were evacuated or shut down twice
in an hour as a food plant released the gas, said Dewey Ratliff,
Bosque County emergency management coordinator.
The gas came from a safety release valve on a refrigeration unit at
the Double B Foods company that “popped off” and released a “pretty
significant amount” of the gas into the air at about 8:30 a.m.,
Ratliff said.
The kolache-producing company is located across from the county
courthouse, on Meridian’s town square.
Officials scrambled to evacuate the area and closed people indoors
in a maneuver called “shelter in place,” he said.
The gas dissipated in 20 to 25 minutes, but after15 minutes of clear
air, another larger gas cloud was released from the plant, Ratliff
said.
A Bosque County Sheriff’s deputy suffered respiratory distress while
trying to evacuate the area and was taken to Goodall-Witcher
Hospital in Clifton, Ratliff said. He was treated and later released.
Officials allowed people back downtown about 30 minutes after the
second cloud of gas was released. Ratliff said there were no other
reports of hospitalizations from the gas as of Monday evening.
Everyone within a block of the company would have been agitated by
the gas, enough to have breathing issues, Ratliff said. Ammonia gas
is fatal in large amounts.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the Environmental
Protection Agency were investigating the incident Monday evening,
Ratliff said. No citations had been issued.
Monday’s incident wasn’t the first time the gas has been released
into the air from the plant. Ratliff said in the three to four years
he has been in Meridian, ammonia gas has been released “at least a
half dozen” times.
http://www.wacotrib.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/08/21/08212007wacammonia.html
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Two exploding packages delivered in Canada.
Canada Free Press and the Northeast Intelligence Network are
following this case closely.
Full size image: PARCEL BOMB LABEL
Canada Free Press article
http://www.homelandsecurityus.com/Toronto082107
About 3 years ago, at Seattle, a fisherman, hooked and towed to dock a floating boat.
He thought that some fishermans small aluminum boat had broken its mooring line, the boat was a floating bomb, filled with explosives.
This was about the same time of the floating bombs, the alert was out, to NOT touch floating black trash bags [several in Louisiana] and floating styrofoam ice chests, it was summer and about now, or at least near our major holidays, as in July 4th.
as my memory stored the above.
granny]
Thanks to Milford 421 for this alert.
Suspicious Boat Reported by Ferry Crew Member on 8/18.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2003846877_bl
otter22n.html
Wednesday, August 22, 2007 - Page updated at 02:02 AM
Police report
Incidents from law-enforcement agencies around the county
Emonds County -
Saturday - August 18, 2007
“A Washington State ferry crew reported a suspicious boat near the
bottom of Main Street”.
Not the right one, but interesting:
Floating bombs all over the place:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13187-2004Jun28.html
FBI Warns That Terrorists May Use Floating Bombs
Reuters
Tuesday, June 29, 2004; Page A02
Homemade bombs and mines hidden in inner tubes or other harmless-looking flotsam may be bobbing in U.S. waters, a confidential FBI bulletin warned shortly before new anti-terror shipping laws take effect.
The FBI report, issued Wednesday and titled “Potential Indicators of Floating Improvised Explosive Devices or Terrorist Improvised Mines,” said the agency knew of no specific planned attack, an FBI official said yesterday. But he said the bulletin sought to warn local, state and federal authorities that such attacks could occur.
continued..........
What I want is not here, but there are lots of dead bodies floating in black plastic bags:
This is not the one that I recalled, but a 2000 report:
https://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/Year_2000/december2000.htm
December 26, 2000
Home made explosive device found aboard boat in Lower Keys
A homemade explosive device was found aboard a boat today on Rockland Key. The owners of the 24-foot open fisherman type boat called the Sheriff’s Office shortly after nine a.m., stating that their boat was missing from a docking area on Big Coppitt Key. While they were filing a report with Deputy Genie Hernandez about the missing boat, they spotted the boat across the bay on nearby Rockland Key. Apparently, after it was set adrift, another boater had spotted the vessel floating unattended and towed it in. The owners went aboard to inspect it with Sheriff’s Deputies when they noticed that a liquid-filled plastic jug with attached wires and some type of timing device had been placed near the boat’s forward console.
The Deputies called for Sheriff’s bomb squad technician, Sgt. Bobby Randolph. After inspecting the device, Sgt. Randolph determined that the explosive device consisted of a plastic jug of gasoline that had been wired with a timing device. Sgt. Randolph said that the timing device itself had ignited, but it failed to cause the gasoline to explode. Randolph said that someone had definitely tried to fire bomb the boat. The device was safely removed from the boat. The case is under investigation. Anyone with information should call the Sheriff’s Office at 296-2424. Anonymous calls can be made to the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-346-TIPS. Crime Stoppers will pay cash for information leading to an arrest in this case.
from this search:
A 1952 report on UFO’s, I see Russia and lots more, should be very interesting, it is from declassified papers and may be what my brother was talking about having see in Alaska:
http://www.cufon.org/cufon/5004aiss.htm
http://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/year_2007/august_2007.htm
August 19, 2007
Detective arrests two after USCG pursuit of migrant smugglers
Lower Keys - Sheriff’s detectives arrested two men after they fled from the U.S. Coast Guard Friday with 19 Cuban migrants on board their go fast boat.
According to Detective Paul Schultz, the Coast Guard was notified by the Cuban Government at 4:30 a.m. Friday of a go fast type boat headed northbound from Cuba with possible Cuban migrants on board. The Coast Guard was able to locate the vessel and launched a boat and a helicopter to intercept it. The 33 foot 2007 Avanti with twin 275 horsepower Mercury engines was located, headed for the Marquesas and the Coast Guard attempted to stop it using the lights and siren on it’s pursuit vessel. The boat refused to stop.
Visible on board the boat were a number of passengers that reportedly appeared to be Cuban migrants. The operators of the boat, later identified as 26 year old Yudel Armada of Hialeah and 23 year old Dariel Sanchez of Homestead, refused to stop. Instead, they continued to flee at speeds reaching 45 knots. Several times during the pursuit, the suspects attempted to ram the Coast Guard vessel, one time actually hitting it.
Because of the extreme danger to both the passengers on the fleeing boat and the crew on the Coast Guard vessel, Detective Schultz said the Coast Guard finally had to fire a weapon into the starboard engine of the go-fast, bringing it to a stop. Sanchez and Armada were both taken into custody and were taken to U.S. Coast Guard station Key West. The Sheriff’s Office was notified and responded, arresting the two men for fleeing and eluding police, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer and reckless operation of a vessel and they were booked into the Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.
According to Detective Schultz, the Coast Guard took custody of the 19 Cuban migrants, who will reportedly be repatriated to Cuba. No one was reported to be injured during the incident.
http://www.keysso.net/pio/crimereports/year_2007/august_2007.htm
August 14, 2007
Inmate escapes from Marathon jail
Escaped Inmate 22 year old Naoul Senat. Click photo for a larger version
Marathon - An inmate, being held in the Marathon jail on drug charges, escaped by climbing over a fence today.
22 year old Senat Naoul was arrested by Key West Police in June on drug charges, and was subsequently charged with violation of probation. Investigations have revealed just before 9 a.m. today he placed two chairs up against an outer fence at the Marathon jail and climbed over the fence. He was last seen wearing blue jail pants and a white t-shirt. He is described as a black male, five foot seven inches tall, 130 pounds with short black hair. He is originally from Haiti but his last known address is at 3920 South Roosevelt Boulevard in Key West. Jail officials say they will be investigating the circumstances of the escape.
Detectives are investigating. A notice to be on the lookout for him has been sent out to all law enforcement agencies in our region.
Anyone with information about Senat, or his whereabouts, should call the Sheriff’s Office or call Crime Stoppers of the Florida Keys. Callers to Crime Stoppers may remain anonymous and are eligible for a cash reward if their information leads to an arrest. The Crime Stoppers hot line number is 1-800-346-TIPS.
Hi Ladies!
Have you seen the photos of studly Pooty-Pooet Putin? ROFL!
He looks more like Brokeback Cowboy.
What was he thinkin????
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1333582007
Police: Bomb Threat Sent Electronically (TX)
More than one threat reportedly sent
MCALLEN - Air travel returned to normal at the McAllen Miller International Airport, after a morning bomb scare.
“A bunch of things running through my head, especially since 9/11, so I tried not to think about it,” says J.D. Corey, one of the passengers evacuated from the airport. “It’s a little scary... evacuation... not knowing.”
Passengers waited in the parking lot, while a bomb squad searched the airport. A sniffer dog was also used to look for anything suspicious.
Police tell us the threat was sent electronically. According to officers, there were two or more threats made.
They say they’re taking the threat very seriously.
McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez tells us, “This is an airline facility. We know what’s happened in this country. This is not something we take lightly.”
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2007/8/22/978080/Police—Bomb-Threat-Sent-Electronically
Our history lessons for today, so full of information, you will want to weep...............keep reading, as it is a collection of articles:
Vets refuse to forgive Kerry for antiwar acts
Washington Times ^ | February 20, 2004 | By Charles Hurt
Posted on 09/07/2004 1:24:21 PM PDT by Calpernia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1209454/posts
Posted on 08/22/2007 1:26:32 PM PDT by Fedora
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1884984/posts?page=15
Putin, is attempting to show the world that he is powerful.
I thought he was gross.
I like my men to have honest muscles, earned by building goat pens and hauling tons of hay.............LOL
[2006]
Zetas break silence
Tuesday , June 06, 2006 Posted: 08:18 PM
Related Stories:
Tuesday , June 06, 2006
Valley warning
WESLACO - They are one of the deadliest gangs working along the U.S.-Mexico border. They admit to causing terror in Mexico and say they’re busy in America. They are known as Los Zetas, and they sat down to speak with NEWSCHANNEL 5.
Along the Rio Grande, there are secrets. Secrets of kidnapping, murder and violence. It is that violence against the innocent that caused two members of the Zetas to come forward.
The meet was arranged by an individual who wished to remain anonymous. We met our contact at a restaurant, then it was off to rent a cheap motel room. Once there, the Zetas soon followed.
Both men, who will be identified simply as Zeta-1 and Zeta-2 confirmed they were members of the violent gang of former Mexican soldiers who now work for the Gulf Cartel. Their boss is the infamous Osiel Cardenas Guillen.
“Zetas are an armed group,” said Zeta-1 in Spanish. “They pick up any people. They kill them. They kidnap them. They rob their houses. They find away to make people disappear.”
The center of Zeta activity, the “stronghold,” is the town of Carmago, Mexico, right across the river from Rio Grande City in Starr County. The men in the room say at least 50 of them are there, in a secluded compound, plotting their next move.
It’s the same in other Mexican border cities like Reynosa, Miguel Aleman, and the violence-plagued Nuevo Laredo.
“They figure how they are going to kill,” Zeta-1 said. “Burn(ing) in containers of diesel. They can dismember and put you in concrete containers. They toss you in the river, and you never see your family again.”
Zeta-1 says he has killed people.
The motivation for these men, according to Zeta-2, is simple: money.
“I was in the military. I was a soldier,” he said.
Zeta-2 was a soldier, trained by U.S. Special Forces to protect his country. Now, he is running with drug traffickers.
“They (Zetas) offered me a lot of money,” Zeta-2 said. “While in the military they don’t pay much. With that, I decided to work with them.”
The military training comes in handy with the arms the Zetas carry, including 9mm weapons and infared technology - all parts of an armory equivalent to an American SWAT team. Drug money pays for it all.
The Zeta arsenal could make the group attractive to other groups, like al-Qaeda or the Mara Salvatruchas. When asked about their ties to terror groups, Zeta-1 said he would “not respond very well if they have any relations with terrorists.”
But, he did acknowledge a tie with the MS-13.
“”They don’t work together. But there are some of the Maras inside the organization.”
While the Zetas are a problem for Mexican police, they also claim to work with drug dealers in the United States. Their work includes cold-blooded killings. They told us they knew of a hit on two men outside a Rio Grande City restaurant, and the murder of two men watching a cock-fight in Starr County.
“They cross the river. They do the job over here,” Zeta-1 said. “They kill. They pick up - they make people disappear, and they come back to the Mexican side. That’s why police never find them.”
But it is also innocents who get targeted.
“Whatever person,” Zeta-2 said. “Whatever person has money. Rich people that have money. They get them. They pick them up and take their money.”
And the pursuit of money knows no bounds - even the ice cream man is a target. The Zetas claim there is no place to hide in Mexico.
“The municipal police, the state police, the ministerial police, the police of the state,” Zeta-1 said. “The soldiers and the federal preventive police. The military on the border. They are bought by the Zetas.”
The Zeta’s tools even include uniforms given by the police themselves. Another tool is torture. It was the torture of the innocent that caused Zeta-1 to break the code of silence.
“I talked about a short time ago, there is a tiger that they put live people in with to get information,” he said. “Once they get the information. All the information they get - after this throw them to the tiger to eat them up. They never find their body.”
“I realized these are many injustices that they are committing,” he added.
These two members of the Zeta army also have a warning for American law enforcement: They are here, with cells operating in Roma, Rio Grande City and Mission - and more are coming.
“It’s is not a lie,” Zeta-2 said. “They need to check good, because it is true.”
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2006/5/22/7820/Zetas-break-silence
[2006]
Al Qaeda Leader: Materials Smuggled Across Border
Thursday , November 02, 2006 Posted: 10:31 PM
NEWSCHANNEL 5 Investigation
Related Stories:
Friday , May 11, 2007
New Terror Trend
Terrorists trying to blend in with Mexican culture
A NEWSCHANNEL 5 investigation reveals what the feds don’t want you to know. Suspected terrorists are hiding inside the U.S. and they got here by sneaking across the Mexican border.
What we’ve been reporting for more than a year has been confirmed by a government report just released. (Click here to download the report.)
And a brand new interview by Pakistani investigative reporter Hamid Mir is bringing in more information.
Mir has interviewed some of America’s most dangerous terrorist enemies. This time the Al Qaeda commander he talked to gave a grim warning that another attack on America is coming very soon.
“We can attack America anytime,” says Abu Dawood during the interview. He also told the reporter that Muslims must leave America.
Mir says, “Abu Dawood told me, ‘We are determined to attack America again and that attack will be bigger than 9/11.”
The Al Qaeda commander says the attack will be led by Adnan El Shukrijumah. He goes by many aliases but is called Brother Adnan by his terrorist friends.
Brother Adnan is wanted by the feds for possible terrorist threats against the U.S. He’s considered armed and dangerous
According to the Pakistani reporter, Dawood said Brother Adnan “had smuggled some dangerous materials from the Mexican border to inside the United States of America.”
“It’s the kind of scenario that worries everybody,” says Fred Burton, a former special agent for the U.S. State Department.
Burton spent much of his federal career studying terrorists, predicting their next move. He now does the same thing at Stratfor, a private intelligence agency in Austin.
NEWSCHANNEL 5 asked Burton about the threat.
“I think it has to be viewed credible, until proven otherwise,” he says.
The former special agent tells us the U.S. government is well aware Al Qaeda’s been working hard to get a dirty bomb into the country, an explosive packed with nuclear materials small enough to carry in a suitcase.
Smugglers have been caught 300 times in the past four years trying to sneak in radioactive material, which could be used to make a dirty bomb.
That’s what the International Atomic Energy Agency told the London Times last month.
But Burton says, “I think if Al Qaeda has a dirty bomb, we would have seen it by now.” He says a chemical attack is more likely and the Valley could be a launching ground.
Burton says there are several specific locations in Houston, which if hit, could carry out a devastating terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
However Burton also says if Al Qaeda really does have a dirty bomb, border cities are much more vulnerable to attack, because he says terrorists don’t want to get caught.
“You’d want to bring that in right across the border, and you’d want to detonate that as soon as you can,” he explains.
We asked who would be at risk.
“You would look at cities such as El Paso or Brownsville,” he replied.
For law enforcement, it’s a very big worry, says Zapata County Sheriff Sigifredo Gonzalez Jr.
He testified to lawmakers in Washington about the dangers of terrorists and terrorist weapons getting smuggled in through South Texas.
The sheriff tells us his biggest fear is that something could go wrong with a bomb.
“We’re not prepared,” he says.
The possible dangers are also a concern to U.S. Congressman Solomon Ortiz. He was among the first in Washington to sound the alarm about dangers at the border.
Ortiz says, “The biggest threat is people coming in and we don’t know who they are.”
The government does know terror groups like Al Qaeda, Hamas, and Hezbollah are active in Latin America. In fact, members of Hezbolla are already inside the U.S., coming in through the Mexican border.
We’re also learning these Middle Easterners are changing their Islamic names to Hispanic names, buying fake documents, learning Spanish and posing as Hispanic immigrants.
Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo says there’s even a training camp in Brazil teaching Middle Easterners how to blend in to the Mexican culture.
According to government intelligence, Middle Eastern aliens from countries known to harbor terrorists are smuggled to staging areas in places like Venezuela and the tri-border region between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. Then they’re smuggled again through Mexico and our border right into the U.S.
There’s a big payoff for those who sneak them in. Mexican illegals pay smugglers an average of $2,000. Middle Easterners pay as much as thirty times that amount, up to $60,000!
“I don’t think they really care who they’re bringing across, as long as they get paid for it,” says Texas Congressman Michael McCaul. He put out the report, which also says Islamic terrorist groups may be using Mexico as a refuge.
During our investigation, we found out a lot of people from suspicious countries are crossing right here in South Texas. Since 9/11, literally hundreds of illegal aliens have been caught here from places like Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt and Pakistan.
Federal law enforcement estimates only ten to thirty percent of illegals who cross are actually caught.
Governor Rick Perry says, “To think that international terrorists have not already exploited our border is naive.”
http://www.newschannel5.tv/2006/11/2/30781/-Al-Qaeda-Leader—Materials-Smuggled-Across-Border-
Other interesting investigations:
http://www.newschannel5.tv/Investigations
Interesting link you sent, I posted a couple of 2006 investigations from it, one on the attempts to smuggle a dirty bomb into the U.S., from Mexico.
There was nothing new on the bomb threat.
Interesting, thanks for posting the alert on it.
Lots of activity today.
http://www.laotze.blogspot.com/
Expatguy has several articles on the planned Islamic state and caliphate.
If you haven’t been to his site lately, it is time for a visit.
http://www.antimullah.com has also been updated.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1209454/posts?page=248#248
In post 248, there is a list of Viet Nam POW’s in Russian prison camps, it is quite detailed.
Calpernia, thank you for posting the important bits of history, those hidden bits, that many do not know about.
August 22, 2007 PM Anti-Terrorism News
(Turkey) Report: Egyptian claiming al-Qaida ties and Turkish citizen
charged with hijacking in Turkey
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Turkey-Hijacked-Plane.php
(Afghanistan) Taliban tapping British troops’ mobiles to taunt
soldiers’ families
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=476959&in_page_id=1811
(Afghanistan) 11 dead in Taliban bombing (updated)
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22292458-663,00.html
(Afghanistan) 11 NATO troops wounded in Taliban attack
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-08-22-afghanistan_N.htm
(Al Qaeda) In Their Own Words — Newly translated writings of the al
Qaeda leadership: “The Al Qaeda Reader”
http://www.victorhanson.com/articles/thornton081907.html
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/038551655X?ie=UTF8&tag=privatepapers-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=038551655X
(Algeria) Al Qaeda Maghreb says member behind Algeria attack
http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN245224.html
(Algeria) Al-Qaida in North Africa denies responsibility for car
bombing in Algeria
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Algeria-Violence.php
(Egypt) Police arrest two Muslim Brotherhood lawmakers in latest
crackdown
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/africa/ME-GEN-Egypt-Brotherhood-Arrests.php
Islamic Jihad claims responsibility for launching missiles at S. Israel
http://www.kuna.net.kw/NewsAgenciesPublicSite/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=1835929&Language=en
Iran develops 900-kg “smart bomb” - official media
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-29101020070822
Senior Hamas official: Palestinian President Abbas launching full-out
war in West Bank
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/africa/ME-GEN-Lebanon-Palestinians.php
(Lebanon) Hamas rep in Lebanon told Iranian TV that suicide bombings
against Israel justified, especially attacks in buses (shortened)
http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/osama_hamdan0807e.htm
Lebanese Shi’ite Scholar Slams Syria, Iran, Hizbullah; Declares Support
for Saudi Efforts (shortened) - MEMRI transcript
http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD169307
(Lebanon) Germany to Continue Naval Deployment to Lebanon
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2747782,00.html
Albanian, Saudi Militants Among Kosova Jailbreakers - Saudi terrorism
suspect, 2 leaders of Albanian National Army group escaped Aug. 18
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/08/4-see/see-220807.asp
(U.S.) Spy chief discloses classified details about U.S. foreign
surveillance work
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Spy-Chief-Opens-Up.php
(U.S.) New U.S. appeals court reveals growing pains for terrorism
prosecution plans
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/NA-GEN-US-Terror-Appeals-Court.php
(U.S.) Imams drop ‘John Doe’ suit — against “John Doe” airline
passengers for reporting suspicious behavior
http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20070822/NATION/108220091/1002
NBC Video: Look inside online jihad — Evan Kohlmann quoted
http://video.msn.com/v/us/fv/fv.htm??g=37e3aa83-31b5-47a5-81ec-19271184ead7&f=34&fg=rss
The cyberwar against America
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/08/22/opinion/edmelnick.php
(U.S.) HLF Trial: Fundraising Speakers Include Hamas Leaders, “Yusuf
Islam” (aka Cat Stevens?)
http://counterterrorismblog.org/site-resources/images/linking.pdf
(U.S.) Poultry Farm Industry Group unwilling to support U.S. Homeland
Security by completing a form on propane -— lobby group protests DHS
attempts to regulate anyone purchasing 7,500 pounds of propane (my title)
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/08/22/terror/main3194196.shtml
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1110AP_Terror_Chickens.html
(U.S.) Commentary: Terror trials hurt the nation even when they lead to
convictions.
http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=110010505
(U.S.) Commentary: Padilla Case Proves System Works
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/08/padilla_case_proves_system_wor.php
(UK) Scotland: Student terrorism trial date set — Mohammed Atif
Siddique in Glasgow charged with possession of bomb making instructions, the
use of various weapons systems, terrorist training camp information
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6525961.stm
(Germany) Dresdner Bank Joins Others in Withdrawing From Iran - Third
major German bank ends business
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,2747687,00.html?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf
French police arrest former Red Brigades member
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-France-Red-Brigades-Arrest.php
(Canada) Alleged terrorist Adil Charkaoui wants restrictions against
him lifted
http://www.mytelus.com/ncp_news/article.en.do?pn=canada&articleID=2741547
(Canada) Charkaoui witness recants, reporter tells court — withdrawn
his allegations against the accused al-Qaeda sleeper agent
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/08/22/charkaoui-court.html?ref=rss
(Australia) Secret terror stockpile — of emergency drugs to treat
victims of a terrorist strike
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22292460-5006301,00.html
(Philippines) Human Security Act loopholes allow funneling of terrorist
funds - Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) assistant governor
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=89563
Somalia: Grenade Explosion Kills Two in the Capital
http://allafrica.com/stories/200708220781.html
Somali pirates release crew of hijacked Danish ship
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Denmark-Somalia-Hijacked-Ship.php
(Columbia) 5 Colombian farmers killed in a suspected FARC attack in
country’s northwest
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/america/LA-GEN-Colombia-Massacre.php
Other News:
Norwegian Christians, Muslims adopt declaration on right to covert
between religions
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/08/22/europe/EU-GEN-Norway-Religious-Freedom.php
Priest: Pakistan Short on Religious Freedom
http://www.zenit.org/article-20296?l=english
(U.S.) M80 Publicity Assisting CNN on Promotion of “CNN Presents: God’s
Warriors”
http://www.amazon.com/tag/religion/forum/ref=cm_cd_et_md_pl/?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx417AUXOWKSRN&cdMsgNo=1&cdPage=1&cdSort=oldest&cdThread=Tx1R9FDR6AC8HO4&cdMsgID=Mx30K3H1PYBGQ32#Mx30K3H1PYBGQ32
Commentary: The Battle for the Artic
http://rightsidenews.com/content/view/73/31/
Propaganda Alert:
(UK) How the West humiliated the Muslim world
http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?storyID=8297
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e2648ea-5014-11dc-a6b0-0000779fd2ac.html
US launches ‘MySpace for spies’
By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington
Published: August 21 2007 20:29 | Last updated: August 21 2007 20:29
Spies and teenagers normally have little in common but that is about to change as America’s intelligence agencies prepare to launch “A-Space”, an internal communications tool modelled on the popular social networking sites, Facebook and MySpace.
The Director of National Intelligence will open the site to the entire intelligence community in December. The move is the latest part of an ongoing effort to transform the analytical business following the failure to detect the 9/11 terrorist attacks or find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.
Thomas Fingar, the deputy director of national intelligence for analysis, believes the common workspace – a kind of “MySpace for analysts” – will generate better analysis by breaking down firewalls across the traditionally stove-piped intelligence community. He says the technology can also help process increasing amounts of information where the number of analysts is limited.
“Burying the same number of analysts in ever higher piles of hay would no more increase the number of needles,” says Mr Fingar.
Underscoring the power of social-networking sites, the Central Intelligence Agency recently used Facebook to help boost applications for the national clandestine service. The move sparked concerns that the CIA was monitoring members, which the agency denies.
”Earlier this year, the CIA used Facebook - an excellent peer-to-peer marketing tool - to advertise employment opportunities with the agency,” said George Little, a CIA spokesman. “This effort, part of a much broader campaign leveraging traditional and new advertising media, was used strictly for informational purposes.”
The DNI has also built an internal collaborative site called Intellipedia, modelled on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. It has also created a version of http://del.icio.us, the social book-marking site, for members of the intelligence community. Another tool that has been developed is a national intelligence library, which can be accessed from A-Space.
While MySpace and Facebook have spread like wildfire, particularly among the younger generations of internet users, members of the intelligence community are divided. Mike Wertheimer, the senior DNI official for analytic transformation and technology, illustrates the dilemma with an example from an internal blog thread last year.
A female employee who had arranged a high-school reunion on MySpace asked why the community had not created a similar tool. That prompted a response that she wasn’t thinking big enough. But Mr Wertheimer says two other people immediately jumped in with concerns about a “counter-intelligence nightmare” that could cost US lives.
“That is very typical within the intelligence community of the approach to social networking tools,” says Mr Wertheimer. “The positive value is…not easily quantified. The negative, the risk for people under cover… is drawn out so starkly, even though it is speculative, that they tend to carry the day.”
But he says the intelligence community needs to consider that not sharing information can also cost lives, a lesson learned from the 9/11 attacks.
“We are willing to experiment in ways that we have never experimented before,” he adds. “It breaks a lot of traditional senses that people’s lives are at risk, and how can you take any step that increases that risk.”
Mr Wertheimer says A-Space will initially be voluntary to assuage worries of spies concerned about blowing their cover. The DNI wants some foreign intelligence services to participate in A-Space, but there has been some resistance.
“I would say in the entire community, the folks most virulently against sharing the information are the foreign partners,” says Mr Wertheimer, who says the also want access to the intelligence library.
“They ask ‘well can we have access?’,” says Mr Wertheimer. “I ask them back if you want access, what services are you willing to create for the library, what data are you willing to put in it, have you thought through your risk/profit scenario? They kind of stand back because that is not normally how we talk to them. It is a new day.”
A-Space will be equipped with web-based email and software that recommends areas of interest to the user just like Amazon suggests books to its customers. The site will also allow users to create and modify documents, and determine user privileges, in a similar fashion to Google Documents.
Mr Wertheimer says the new infrastructures should help break down some of the physical communications problems in the intelligence community.
“I am unable to send email, and even make secure phone calls, to a good portion of the Intel community from my desktop because of firewalls,” he says.
In September, the DNI and the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, a public-private intelligence group, will hold a conference to enlist support and ideas from the private sector and academia.
“We have gotten to the stage where we want to open this up, tap more ideas, stimulate some competition to help us here,” says Mr Fingar.
Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, invited the chief executives of Facebook and MySpace to participate, but so far Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Facebook, has declined. A Facebook spokeswoman said the decision was purely because of scheduling conflicts.
Email the reporter: demetri.sevastopulo@ft.com
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/df1fb758-5022-11dc-a6b0-0000779fd2ac.html
Iranian-American freed from Tehran jail
By Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Published: August 21 2007 22:16 | Last updated: August 21 2007 22:16
Haleh Esfandiari, a Washington-based Iranian-American academic, was released on bail on Tuesday after spending almost four months in a Tehran jail on charges of espionage and involvement in planning a “soft revolution” against the Islamic Republic.
Her detention – and that of three other dual nationals – had fuelled a climate of fear among other academics and heightened tensions between Iran and the US. President George W. Bush demanded their release in June.
The incident exposed Iranian sensitivity to the links between academics and US institutions and think-tanks amid mounting tension between the two countries over the development of Iran’s nuclear programme and allegations of Iranian involvement with Shia militia in neighbouring Iraq.
“I’m very happy. It was unexpected. I thank all those who made efforts to make it possible for me to go home,” Ms Esfandiari said outside the Evin prison after being released. State-run television showed her walking out of the prison grounds before meeting her family, who were waiting in a car on a nearby street.
It was not clear if Ms Esfandiari, who is the Middle East director of the Woodrow Wilson Center, would be allowed to leave the country or if a court date had been set to hear her case. Her bail was set at 3bn rials ($320,000, €240,000, £160,000) Lee Hamilton, head of the Woodrow Wilson Center and a former US congressman, welcomed the release and called for her return to the US.
Shirin Ebadi, a lawyer for Ms Esfandiari and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, was confident that there was no evidence against her client and that she would be “acquitted” if the case came to trial.
Three Iranian-American national citizens, including Ms Esfandiari, were arrested in May on similar charges, while another has been barred from leaving the country since January.
An unnamed judiciary official was quoted by Iranian news wires as saying Kian Tajbakhsh, like Ms Esfandiari charged with espionage and linked to the New York-based Open Society Institute, would be released on bail “in a few days”. No more details were given.
In a controversial move last month, Iranian television aired “confessions” by Ms Esfandiari and Mr Tajbakhsh, which the foreign ministry said had revealed a US-backed plot to overthrow Iran’s clerical rulers. The US denounced the broadcast.
The arrests have created anxiety among dual national citizens with links to western political circles who are now wary of travelling to Iran. Many Iranians inside the country who have had connections with European embassies in Tehran also refuse to see diplomats.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
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