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New thread - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1981084/posts |
Posted on 02/01/2008 6:55:58 PM PST by nwctwx
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I like to agree with this third analysis. It makes sense tactically and strategically - standard recon in force / probing attack. Spineless Olmert is my biggest concern - the IDF can get the job done.
RIYADH — Saudi Arabia said on Monday it has rounded up 28 more Al-Qaeda suspects after arresting an equal number in December who plotted "terrorist" attacks and were in contact with the group's number two Ayman al-Zawahiri.
This brings to 56 the total number of members of the same group who have been detained and are linked to the Al-Qaeda leadership abroad, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the state SPA news agency. The group had been instructed by the Al-Qaeda leadership to launch a "terrorist campaign" inside the kingdom, it said.
Interrogation of the first batch held in December, whose arrest was announced following an alleged plot to carry out a "terrorist" attack during the annual Muslim pilgrimage, showed they "belong to the deviant group (official terminology for Al-Qaeda) and were in contact with leaders of the Al-Qaeda organisation abroad," the ministry said. "They were instructed to rebuild the deviant organisation and launch a terrorist campaign inside Saudi Arabia. Preparations for these criminal plans had reached advanced stages," it said.
Excerpted
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hTH4FA94FTUiZDQmjzHg8a-ICAGQ
Muqtada Al-Sadr Comatose In Iranian Hospital
3/3/08
Shi'ite cleric and leader Muqtada Al-Sadr was secretly transferred a few days ago from Iraq to Iran for hospitalization as he was comatose. It was reported that his illness resulted from food poisoning.
Al-Sadr is being treated by Iranian specialists, as well as by Russian doctors brought in to help the Iranian medical staff treat him.
Sounds good to me.
“I agree that Israel needs to quell Gaza I’m just not sure that Olmert has the tenacity to do it.”
I agree.
comatose?
Ok.
Pity for his cook.
Singapore government butt of jokes after prison escape
Terrorism is usually no laughing matter, especially not in security-conscious Singapore, but the escape from custody of a limping Islamist extremist suspect has led to scorn on the Internet.
Barbed jokes and irreverent spoofs have sprouted up on websites five days after Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged Singapore chief of regional terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, escaped with apparent ease from a detention centre.
also Russian doctors...that’s interesting.
And the antidote for ___ is___?
Scientists in Japan have developed a rice-based vaccination for cholera. The methodology can be applied to other types of pandemic diseases created by bio-terrorism. The advantage of utilizing this type of vaccination include the ability to store at room temperatures for 1.5 years. In addition, the vaccine is oral and may be widely dispensed in the event of wide-spread disease.
Re post 1508: should be “scientists”
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
Note: The following blog entry is a quote:
http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/5878.htm
Hizbullah Iran Sec-Gen: God Created Iranians To Conquer Entire World
Secretary-general of the Hizbullah-Iran organization Mohammed Bagher Kharazi, who is close to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has declared: “The goal of every Iranian who belongs to Hizbullah-Iran must be [to establish] a unity of Islamic republics for the conquest of the entire world, because God created the Iranians to conquer the entire world.”
Source: Rooz, Iran, March 3, 2008
Posted at: 2008-03-03
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49148
Coalition Forces Detain 11 in Iraq
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 – Coalition forces in Iraq today detained 11 suspected terrorists, including an Iranian-supported “special groups” facilitator, military officials reported.
The suspected special groups facilitator was detained with another suspected criminal early today in Mashru, south of Baghdad. Intelligence led ground forces to the target area, where they captured the two suspects without incident.
The targeted individual reportedly was a special groups logistical advisor for Wasit province. As a logistical leader, he allegedly facilitated the movement of special groups criminals involved in sniper and armor-piercing explosively formed penetrator attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces. He also is suspected of facilitating weapon shipments, including EFPs, rockets and mortars.
Reports also indicate the wanted individual was an associate of special groups criminal element leaders involved in attacks on Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said.
Also today, coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists while targeting an alleged foreign terrorist involved in improvised-explosive-device and mortar-attacks against coalition forces in Mosul.
During coordinated operations in Tarmiyah today, coalition forces captured two wanted individuals believed to be involved in the al Qaeda in Iraq network in Baghdad’s northern belt. One of the suspects allegedly acts as an advisor to senior leaders in the network, while the other suspect is believed to be the al Qaeda in Iraq military leader for the network.
The network is responsible for the majority of IED attacks in the area, and is involved in extortion, intimidation, weapons trafficking, and facilitating foreign terrorists, officials said. In addition to the two wanted individuals, coalition forces detained two suspected terrorists during the operations.
Northwest of Haditha today, coalition forces captured an alleged associate of an al Qaeda in Iraq senior leader. Two other suspects were detained southwest of Samarra in operations targeting an alleged leader for the al Qaeda in Iraq network in the area.
“We will continue to target al Qaeda in Iraq’s networks, disrupting their ability to conduct brutal, indiscriminate attacks,” said Army Lt. Col. Maura Gillen, a Multinational Force Iraq spokeswoman. “These successful operations, combined with efforts of Iraqi security forces, will erode insurgents’ resources and their ability to strike fear into the people of Iraq.”
Also today, a suicide car bomb exploded in the Muthan Zayuna neighborhood in the eastern Baghdad district of Rusafa, killing two Iraqi army soldiers and wounding two Iraqi soldiers and three civilians.
Soldiers identified and prevented the suicide bomber from reaching its intended target at about 7:30 a.m. On-scene Iraqi army commanders reported the target likely was the Iraqi army headquarters in Rusafa.
Yesterday in Iraq, during operations in eastern Mosul, coalition forces targeted an alleged Saudi leader of an al Qaeda in Iraq suicide-bombing cell in the city. The targeted individual reportedly is responsible for facilitating foreign terrorists and conducting attacks against coalition and Iraqi forces in the area, officials said. The suspect also is an alleged associate of Abu Yasir al-Saudi, also known as Jar Allah, the Saudi al Qaeda in Iraq leader and foreign-terrorist facilitator who was killed Feb. 27.
As the ground force entered the target area, they discovered a vehicle containing a weapons cache, including two anti-aircraft weapons, mortar rounds and machine gun ammunition. Coalition forces then began to receive heavy machine-gun fire from enemy personnel in and around the area. The ground force returned fire and, during a series of engagements, killed an estimated five terrorists. Coalition forces also found another vehicle containing a cache of weapons, which included two heavy machine guns, a mortar tube, rockets and several hundred machine-gun rounds. Both vehicles found in the target area and the weapons caches were destroyed on site. Due to the hostile environment, the ground force departed and was not able to clear the area.
Also yesterday, Iraqi traffic police found an IED on a foot bridge in the Karada district of eastern Baghdad and alerted Iraqi security forces in the area.
Iraq police and Iraqi army soldiers confirmed the presence of the IED and secured the area. The police and Iraqi army detained a suspect who they believe placed the IED. The suspect appeared to be fleeing the scene, and his vehicle was confiscated. Explosive ordnance disposal personnel safely detonated the IED on site without incident.
On March 1, Iraqi security forces and Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers detained a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq operative in the Rashid district of the Iraqi capital.
Following numerous tips, Iraqi and coalition soldiers conducted an operation at a home in Doura and detained a man believed to be an al Qaeda in Iraq cell member with ties to IED and indirect-fire attacks. The suspect was taken to a coalition forces detention facility for further questioning.
(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49152
Coalition Takes Fight to Al Qaeda in Mosul
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49156
“Mullen Arrives in Pakistan for Military Talks”
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 3, 2008
UPDATE:
Note: The following post is a quote:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1979896/posts
Guilty Plea in NYC in Quran Desecration
AP via SFGate ^ | 3/3/8
Posted on 03/03/2008 4:46:01 PM PST by SmithL
New York (AP) — A man who threw copies of the Quran into a toilet after disputes with Muslims at the college he once attended pleaded guilty Monday to disorderly conduct.
A Quran recovered at Pace University in 2006 “was covered in feces,” according to a criminal complaint. Muslims view desecration of their holy book as an offense against God.
Stanislav Shmulevich, 24, pleaded guilty as part of a deal in which he must complete 300 hours of community service.
The business student was initially charged with two counts of criminal mischief as a hate crime, a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.
“There was no hate crime here,” said defense lawyer Glenn Morak. “He accepts responsibility, and he is repentant.”
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/farc/
#
February 29, 2008
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/February/08_crm_156.html
Foreign Nationals Sentenced in Alien Smuggling and Conspiracy to Support the FARC
WASHINGTON – Five foreign nationals have been sentenced by a federal judge in Miami for their roles in a conspiracy to smuggle purported terrorists to the United States from Colombia, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida R. Alexander Acosta announced today. All 10 defendants charged in the original indictment have now been convicted and sentenced for their crimes.
Victor Daniel Salamanca (Salamanca), 65, of Bogota, Colombia; Jalal Sadat Moheisen (Sadat), 50, a Palestinian national residing in Bogota; and Carmen Maria Ponton Caro (Ponton), 38, of Bogota, were sentenced to 70 months in prison by Judge Joan A. Lenard after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, a State Department-designated foreign terrorist organization. All three received sentencing enhancements based on their roles as leaders of the criminal organization. Their co-conspirators Nicolas Ricardo Tapasco Romero (Tapasco), 45, and Edizon Ramirez Gamboa (Ramirez), 40, both of Bogota, were sentenced to three years incarceration after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit alien smuggling and bringing aliens to the United States for private financial gain. All five defendants were also sentenced to three years supervised release and received judicial deportation orders.
The five defendants were arrested along with five other co-defendants in Colombia in January and February of 2006, as the result of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) sting operation. U.S. government informants posed as FARC operatives seeking illicit travel to Miami for the purpose of laundering FARC money from the United States to Colombia. The laundered funds, represented as drug proceeds, would finance additional drug and arms purchases in support of the FARC’s mission.
From May 25, 2005, to Jan. 2, 2006, the alien smuggling organization, led by Salamanca, Sadat, and Ponton obtained fraudulent Colombian and Spanish passports and other identity documents for the purported terrorists. Using contacts including Tapasco and Ramirez – each of whom are former law enforcement officers with Colombia’s federal law enforcement agency – the organization circumvented Colombian airport immigration controls and smuggled the purported terrorists to the United States. In addition, Salamanca and his co-conspirator Lopez engineered a money laundering scheme intending to move up to $5 million per week of purported FARC drug money.
The case was investigated by the Office of the ICE Attache in Bogota, Colombia. Trial Attorney Brian Skaret of the Domestic Security Section (DSS) of the Department of Justice prosecuted the case. Support was provided by the Department’s International Affairs’ Office of the Judicial Attache in Colombia. Assistant U.S. Attorney William White of the Southern District of Florida served as local counsel on the case. Valuable support was also provided by Colombian and Panamanian law enforcement authorities, and DSS Program Analyst Dawn Cauraugh.
###
08-156
March 3, 2008
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/March/08_nsd_161.html
Foreign National Pleads Guilty to Conspiring to Act as an Illegal Agent of the Venezuelan Government
WASHINGTON – Carlos Kauffman, 35, one of five foreign nationals accused of acting and conspiring to act as an agent of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (”Venezuela”) within the United States without prior notification to the Attorney General of the United States, pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to act as an unregistered Venezuelan agent before U.S. District Court Judge Joan Lenard in Miami.
The plea was announced by R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 12, 2008, at 2:00 PM before Judge Lenard.
Kauffman is the second defendant to plead guilty in this case. On Jan. 25, 2008, Moises Maionica, 36, pleaded guilty to acting and conspiring to act as an illegal agent of the Venezuelan government. The case against co-defendants Antonio Jose Canchica Gomez, 37, Rodolfo Wanseele Paciello, 40, Franklin Duran, 40, is still pending. Trial is currently scheduled for June 23, 2008.
Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its work in this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas J. Mulvihill and Senior Trial Attorney Clifford I. Rones, of the Counterespionage Section at the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. A copy of this press release may be found on the Justice Department’s website at www.usdoj.gov, or on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov/ or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
###
08-161
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/china/
#
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49162
“China Military Expansion Could Have Global Implications”
By Fred W. Baker III
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008
#
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080303/NATION/507590403
“China speeds pace of military buildup”
By Bill Gertz
March 3, 2008
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “”The pace and scope of China’s military transformation have increased in recent years, fueled by acquisition of advanced foreign weapons, continued high rates of investment in its domestic defense and science and technology industries, and far-reaching organizational and doctrinal reforms of the armed forces,” the report states.
The report also warned that China’s expanding military forces “are changing East Asian military balances; improvements in China’s strategic capabilities have implications beyond the Asia-Pacific region.”
The new weapons include road-mobile long-range nuclear missiles.”
Excellent news, thanks MamaD.
http://www.internet-haganah.com
http://www.internet-haganah.com/haganah/internet.html
http://www.memriiwmp.org/
http://memriiwmp.org/content/en/more_islamist_web_status.htm?param=IStatus
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/internet/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cyberjihad/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/ejihad
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cyberterrorism
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cyberterrorists
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/globaljihad
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/jihadmedia
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/jihadpropaganda
#
Note: The following text is a quote:
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49161
Cyber Warfare a Major Challenge, Deputy Secretary Says
By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, March 3, 2008 – Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England today was the latest in a series of government officials to express concern about the United States’ cyberspace vulnerabilities.
“Cyber warfare is already here,” said England. “It’s one of our major challenges.”
Describing the new battlefront, the deputy secretary said, “I think cyber attacks are probably analogous to the first time, way back when people had bows and arrows and spears, and somebody showed up with gunpowder and everybody said, ‘Wow. What was that?’”
England, speaking to an audience gathered here for a Veterans of Foreign Wars conference, noted that President Bush addressed the threat by establishing a task force to coordinate U.S. government efforts to safeguard computers against cyber attacks.
In addition, the United States and other NATO allies are expected to address the issue of cyber defense when the 20th NATO summit convenes in Bucharest, Romania, in early April.
Estonia, a NATO member, was victimized by a series of data-flooding attacks April 26 to May 18 that brought down the Web sites of several daily newspapers and forced Estonia’s largest bank to shut down its online banking network.
“Estonia happens to be very advanced, in terms of networks in their country,” England said. “So a strength was turned into a vulnerability.”
The deputy defense secretary is the latest in a series of government officials who recently expressed concern about the United States’ cyber vulnerabilities. Last week, the Pentagon’s top intelligence official today told a Senate committee that cyber threats are contributing to the “unusually complex” security environment the United States faces.
“A global military trend of concern is … the sophisticated ability of select nations and non-state groups to exploit and perhaps target for attack our computer networks,” Army Lt. Gen. Michael D. Maples, director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Feb. 27.
Joining the Pentagon’s top intelligence official at the hearing on current and future threats facing the United States was the director of national intelligence, retired Navy Vice Adm. John M. “Mike” McConnell. Asked by senators about cyber threats, McConnell said, “We’re not prepared to deal with it.”
“The United States information infrastructure, including telecommunications and computer networks and systems, and most importantly the data that reside on these systems is critical to virtually every aspect of our modern life,” he continued. “Threats to our intelligence infrastructure are an important focus of this community.”
McConnell said China, Russia and possibly other nation-states have been assessed as being capable of collecting or exploiting data held on U.S. information systems.
“The threat that also concerns us a great deal, and maybe even more so, is if someone has the ability to enter information in systems, they can destroy data,” he added. “And the destroying data could be something like money supply, electric power distribution, transportation sequencing and that sort of thing.”
Elsewhere on Capitol Hill last week, Michael G. Vickers, assistant secretary of defense for special operations, low-intensity conflict and interdependent capabilities, appeared before the Strategic Force Subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee on Feb. 27.
“In the area of cyberspace, both nation states and non-state actors continued to seek ways and means to counter the advantages we obtain from our use of information and to turn those same advantages against us in both conventional and unconventional ways,” he said.
Vickers said the Defense Department is working closely with interagency partners to scope future missions, address the partners’ respective roles and to determine how best to face potential adversaries’ attempts to counter our information advantages.
“We are making progress,” he said, “but much remains to be done.”
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