Threat Matrix: January 2008

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[nwctwx]

Still in Control

Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling her liberal democratic credentials. "May she go to heaven," he said. "I stand for the same things she said." Read More

	Pakistan's Frayed Politics
	Musharraf's Dangerous Liaisons
	Pakistan after Bhutto

Threat Matrix:
January 2008

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[Oorang]

Suicide bomber falls down stairs
January 24, 2008

Khost, Afghanistan - A would-be suicide bomber fell down a flight of stairs and blew himself up as he headed out for an attack in Afghanistan, police say.

It was the second such incident in two days, with another man killing himself and three others on Tuesday when his bomb-filled waistcoat exploded as he was putting it on in the southern town of Lashkar Gah.

Yesterday's blast was in a busy market area of the eastern town of Khost, a deputy provincial police chief said. The would-be attacker tripped as he was leaving a building apparently to target an opening ceremony for a mosque that was expected to be attended by Afghan and international military officials, said Sakhi Mir. "Coming down the stairs, he fell down and exploded. Two civilian women and a man were wounded,'' Mir said.

Suicide attacks are regular feature of an insurgency led by the extremist Taliban movement that was in government between 1996 and 2001. The most deadly was in November 2007 and killed nearly 80 people, most of them school students.

http://www.news.com.au/mercury/story/0,22884,23101330-5005940,00.html

[Cindy]

Thanks Oorang for pointing to that article regarding The Port of Astoria.

Note to all:

See something suspicious?
Pick up the phone and dial 9-1-1.

An FYI resource number:

Port of Astoria:

“Emergency/Security after hours phone:(503)791-7735”
http://www.portofastoria.com/portfacilities/marinas/index.html

[Cindy]

http://www.fbi.gov/page2/jan08/shotspotter012308.html

“A WEAPON AGAINST CRIME
Tracking the Sound of Gunfire”
01/23/08

[Cindy]

Note: Posters have provided more reading links on this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1958994/posts

#

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com:80/html/jerrylarge/2004142078_jdl24.html

“As weapon, violence is boomerang”
Seattle Times staff columnist
Jerry Large

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “In May 2001, members of a Northwest group used arson to advance its agenda.

They set fire to the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University of Washington because they believed one of the researchers was genetically engineering poplar trees. He wasn’t.

The arsonists destroyed plants and the research of several people other than the man whose work they targeted. None of their goals was served by the violence.

“Misguided” is the word, I believe. I’d even call them ecoterrorists.

The crime is back in the news because a woman accused of acting as a lookout for the Earth Liberation Front is scheduled to go on trial next month.”

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.ice.gov/pi/news/newsreleases/articles/080124la.htm

Fugitive on ICE’s 10 “Most Wanted” list captured in Los Angeles
MS-13 gang member sought for questioning by LAPD in several homicides

LOS ANGELES - A Mexican national street gang member featured on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) list of 10 “Most Wanted” fugitives was captured yesterday in Los Angeles, ending a four-year manhunt.

David Rivera, 33, is expected to make his initial appearance in federal court here this morning on felony charges of re-entering the United States following a formal deportation, a violation that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The MS-13 member, whose criminal history includes prior arrests on narcotics and sexual assault charges and a conviction for firearms possession, is also wanted for questioning in connection with several gang and drug-related murders.

Rivera was taken into custody by ICE agents yesterday afternoon at an apartment complex in the Rampart section of Los Angeles. When Rivera realized officers were closing in, he attempted to flee out the back of the property. In addition to capturing Rivera, ICE agents arrested two other suspected gang associates on administrative immigration violations. Officers and detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division assisted with the arrests.

“This arrest is the pay off for perseverance, great police work, and partnership with local law enforcement,” said Jennifer Silliman, deputy special agent in charge of the ICE office of investigations in Los Angeles. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement counterparts in Los Angeles to target gang members like this man who put our communities and neighborhoods at risk.”

Rivera’s arrest is part of Operation Community Shield, an ongoing national initiative in which ICE is partnering with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to address the public safety threat posed by transnational gangs. Since Operation Community Shield was launched in February 2005, ICE agents nationwide have arrested more than 7,000 gang members and associates from more than 700 different street gangs. Those taken into custody include approximately 2,600 individuals arrested on criminal charges and more than 5,400 subjects arrested on administrative immigration violations.

Editor’s Note: A mug shot of this subject is available on ICE’s website - www.ice.gov. Click the link to ICE’s “Most Wanted” posted at the bottom of the home page.

— ICE —

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48750

Coalition Forces in Afghanistan Kill, Detain Insurgents

American Forces Press Service

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Jan. 24, 2008 – Several insurgents were killed and nine suspected insurgents were detained yesterday as coalition forces conducted an operation to degrade Taliban command-and-control networks in Afghanistan’s Ghazni province, military officials reported.

Coalition forces searching several compounds in Ghazni district for a Taliban commander associated with suicide bombings were met with small-arms fire. They returned fire, using a combination of small-arms and aerial-delivered conventional munitions, killing several insurgents.

The coalition forces found and detained nine individuals when they continued their search of the area. The detainees will be questioned on their involvement in facilitation operations as well as other extremist activities, officials said.

Coalition forces also found and destroyed a cache of explosives to prevent further their use by extremist forces.

“We’re continuing to degrade insurgents’ ability to effectively manage their forces, paving the way for a stable, secure environment for the people of Afghanistan,” said Army Maj. Chris Belcher, a Combined Joint Task Force 82 spokesman.

(From a Combined Joint Task Force 82 news release.)

[Cindy]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48752

“Joint Raid Yields Capture of Terror Cell Leader”

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2008

[Jim Robinson]

Very sad news. Prayers for her family and loved ones.

[Cindy]

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

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1959124/posts

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/international/5612658/Dutch-appeal-court-acquits-Hofstad-group

“Dutch appeal court acquits ‘Hofstad’ group”
Published: Wednesday 23 January 2008 19:34 UTC
Last updated: Thursday 24 January 2008 17:03 UTC

The Hague

[Cindy]

ADDING to post no. 819:

Off-Topic.Internet-Haganah.com: "LAUNCH OF ISRAELI SPY SATELLITE SENDS IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO...let us just say 'to more than just Iran.'" (January 24, 2008)

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
http://www.memri.org/syria.html

#

http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=syria&ID=SP182208

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1822
January 23, 2008 No. 1822

“Editor of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat: Syrian-Iranian Intervention in Lebanon is Threatening Arab National Security”

SNIPPET: “In a January 16, 2008 editorial in the London daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, the paper’s editor-in-chief, Tariq Alhomayed, called on Arab League member states, and especially on Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to stop the Syrian-Iranian intervention in Lebanon, as well as in Palestine, Iraq and the Gulf. Alhomayed also argued that the Arab League should change the venue of its planned March 2008 Damascus summit, and should take a firm position vis-à-vis Syria, even to the point of enacting economic measures against it.

The following are excerpts from the article, as it appeared in the English edition of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat.”

#

Previously...

http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=syria&ID=SP182008

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1820
January 23, 2008 No. 1820

“Iranian Website: In Response to an Israeli Attack, Iran Can, With Syria’s Help, Wipe Out Half of Israel”

[MamaDearest]

....the stolen equipment could possibly be used to jam emergency frequencies.

Wonderful (sarc) - they knew exactly what they were going after!!!

Dozens get vaccinated after hepatitis news at Bakersfield eatery

The health department says the sick person worked at the Chuy's Mesquite Broiler on Rosedale Highway and was potentially infectious from Jan. 4 through Jan. 10. The clinic briefly ran out of supplies on Saturday after giving out 90 vaccine shots.

Hepatitis C top illness to sicken Missouri county

The health department reports that a total of 77 people had contracted the deadly liver disease during 2007, up from 52 confirmed cases in 2006.

Michigan suspects new bovine TB case in deer

A case of bovine tuberculosis may have turned up well outside the part of Michigan where the disease previously has been concentrated. State officials say a deer recently killed in Shiawassee County is suspected of carrying bovine TB. They are awaiting final test results. A hunter killed the deer more than 100 miles south of the TB Zone in Michigan's northern Lower Peninsula, where authorities have tried to contain the outbreak since the late 1990s.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture plans to schedule cattle herds for testing within a 10-mile radius of where the deer was taken. Meanwhile, the state has declared two sections of Iosco County as "potential high-risk areas" after bovine TB was confirmed in a couple of deer there.

[Cindy]

Posted here because: They watch us. We watch them.

#

Off - Topic:

www.alekhlaas.net/forum/

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1958835/posts

#

blog:

http://thunderpigblog.blogspot.com/2008/01/largest-terrorist-forum-happily.html
Thursday, January 24, 2008
“Largest Terrorist Forum Happily Proclaims:
If Hillary Clinton is President, America is Defeated”

[Velveeta]

Thank you Cindy, I just finished reading it.

Imagine that, Spain had acquiesced to the terrorists, pulled out of Iraq and they’re still a target.

[Cindy]

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

#

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/emedia/105252.mp3

#

http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?sid=1332144&nid=322

“Message for Hezbollah: Think Twice”

January 24, 2008 - 9:57am

Play
The Intel Briefing
Download mp3

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Intelligence from Strategic Forecasting indicates they’re already operational.

Stratfor has received information from multiple sources that Shiite militant organization Hezbollah is making preparations for kidnappings targeting Western citizens. Hezbollah and its patrons, Iran and Syria, would have little to gain from such a move at this point (though they are likely deriving benefits from spreading this threat). That said, the organization has the assets in place to pull off such an operation, and the threat of taking Westerners hostage in Lebanon should be taken seriously.
But Hezbollah has a good reason to think twice about going through with that.

“We know where a good portion of Hezbollah’s infrastructure is”, says Robert Richer, who retired from the CIA in 2005 as head of the Clandestine Services’ worldwide collection and operational activities. He’s now CEO of Total Intel, and says a repeat of that behavior would result in US retaliation, “and the retaliation would be pretty total.””

[Cindy]

RECAP:

REWARDS FOR JUSTICE.net: "WANTED TERRORISTS" (View Posters. Read More...)

FBI.gov: "MOST WANTED TERRORISTS" (View Posters. Read More...)

FBI.gov - War On Terrorism: "SEEKING INFORMATION" (View Posters. Read More...)

ICE.gov - Public Information: "MOST WANTED" (View Posters. Read More...)

[Cindy]

RECAP:

YALIBNAN.com ("Sources: Stratfor, Ya Libnan"): "IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE OFFICIAL VISITS LEBANON" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Beirut - A senior Iranian intelligence officer arrived in Lebanon the week of Dec. 9, and Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah official in charge of foreign operations accompanied the officer to his meetings there, Stratfor sources said Dec. 16") (December 17, 2007, 6:32 pm) (Read More...)

Link (Read More...)

[Cindy]

Yes, weakness doesn’t pay...I learned that by watch wild animal programs on TV.

[Cindy]

watching...

[MamaDearest]

Spanish judge says Islamic cell planned suicide attack in Barcelona<

A judge in Spain says a militant cell broken up over the weekend was planning a suicide attack targeting Barcelona's public transport network.

Islamic Network pay your bills

Maybe some "charitable" organization will give them a hand.

Anti-terrorism task force busts Bosnian CDL scam

The Federal Bureau of Investigation busted a scam Thursday that was helping Bosnian men get Washington Commercial Drivers Licenses in Spokane.

The Inland Northwest Joint Terrorism Task Force executed several search warrants in Spokane related to the operations of commercial truck driving schools in raids that netted at least two arrests.

Indictments unsealed late Thursday afternoon say a local Bosnian man was running a scam to put commercial drivers licenses in the hands of other Bosnian men from around the country for a price. That man, identified as Brano Milovanovic, has been arrested on mail fraud charges.

Investigators searched his west Spokane hom, removing four computers and some documents from the premises.

A federal indictment alleges Milovanovic was running a scam where Bosnian-speaking men from around the country would pay him $2,500 for a Commercial Driver's License. They would fly to Spokane where Milovanovic would act as their interpreter and give them the correct answers on the written portion of their driver's test.

Then Milovanovic would pay a friend, a state certified driving tester, $200 to $500 dollars to pass the Bosnian-speaking men on their driving test.

Documents say the tests were never given and the men would never even get behind the wheel. As many as 92 of these fraudulent CDLs were mailed to different homes in Spokane.

A second man, 19-year-old Spokane Community College student Saud Grebic, was also arrested in connection with the raids Thursday and the FBI confirms that more arrests are expected.

Thursday's raids were similar to a crackdown in Kansas City in late 2006 that netted 15 individuals for their role in illegally providing around 80 Somali and Bosnian nationals with commercial driver's licenses.

The Kansas City raid included the indictment of a superintendent of a truck driving company and the owner of another.

Those indicted in Missouri were providing illegal licenses that circumvented the testing, as officials of the schools received money in exchange for making sure the Bosnian and Somali nationals received licenses. Often, this was done regardless of testing performance, by providing answers to test questions beforehand, or passing students who weren't even present at the time of the test.