Threat Matrix: February 2008

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[nwctwx]

Is the U.S. Failing in Afghanistan?

It was malice in wonderland at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday as Bush Administration envoys insisted things are getting better in Afghanistan, while angry lawmakers from both parties cited facts and figures showing just the opposite. Even the senior Republican on the panel, Senator Richard Lugar, found the Administration's claims wanting. "I'm not sure that we have a plan for Afghanistan," he said.

Long seen as the "forgotten war" eclipsed by Iraq in U.S. priorities, Afghanistan is in the Washington spotlight this week with the release of three independent reports concluding that without a change in U.S. policy there, the erstwhile sanctuary of Osama bin Laden would remain a failed state. Read More

	Why the Taliban Feel Confident
	Top US Officer Lauds al-Qaida Death
	US Air Strike Signals al-Qaida Onslaught

Threat Matrix:
February 2008

January 2007

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Preparedness

[Cindy]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1024.html

Travel.State.Gov - Country Specific Information: “Spain and Andorra”

[Oorang]

Russians prompt boom in Montenegro
2/21/08

This week, Kosovo became Europe's newest state, a distinction held for the last two years by Montenegro - which declared independence from Serbia in 2006.

Russian money is transforming parts of Montenegro But Montenegro keeps another record - it gets more foreign investment per capita than any other country in Europe, well over $1,000 (£515) for each of its 650,000 people. Much of it comes from Russia.

Excerpted

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7255240.stm

Serbs hint future secession move from Bosnia
Feb 22, 2008

BANJA LUKA (Bosnia-Herzegovina) - THE Bosnian Serb Parliament said their entity had the right to secede from Bosnia if a significant number of the United Nations and most European Union countries recognise Kosovo's independence.

'If a significant number of the UN members, notably the EU members, recognise the independence of Kosovo ... In that case the Republika Srpska assembly believes it has the right to launch a referendum to reconsider its (Bosnian Serb entity's) statehood status,' a resolution adopted by an overwhelming majority in the Parliament said on Thursday.

Kosovo's independence proclamation has raised concerns about the future of Bosnia, which since its 1992-1995 war has been split into two entities - the Serbs' Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation.

Excerpted

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/World/STIStory_209199.html

[Cindy]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020057.php

February 21, 2008

“The problem with taqiyya is...
...you might have trouble keeping your story straight.”

[Oorang]

Violence erupts on Kosovo-Serbia border
2/21/08

BELGRADE — Violence flared on the Kosovo-Serbia border on Thursday, when several hundred former Serbian army reservists angered by Kosovo's independence attacked police with stones and burning tyres.

As Italy joined other major European powers in recognising Kosovo and Serbs poured into Belgrade for a rally to protest against the independence declaration, the group attacked around 100 Kosovo riot police at the southern Serbian border crossing point of Merdare. Serbian police estimated around 300 reservists were involved in the assault.

The violence was the latest in a series of incidents that followed Sunday's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian-dominated parliament -- a move vehemently opposed by Belgrade. Thick black plumes of smoke billowed from the border crossing and a NATO helicopter hovered overhead after the attack by the reservists, which lasted 20 minutes until they retreated. The reservists, civilians who once served in the Serbian army, had crossed a Serbian checkpoint unhindered.

In another incident, a UN-run court was stoned overnight in the Serb-populated half of the tense northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica, police said. On Tuesday, two other border crossing points at Banja and Jarinje were closed for 24 hours after they were ransacked and torched by at least 1,000 Serbs from Kosovo and Serbia.

Excerpted

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ibt0DET9_s3CGXQZ7uBVaqlwYTrQ

Posted a few months ago, but now as important as it was then.

Al-Qaeda in Kosovo
November 27, 2007

A reliable analysis carried out by NATO and KFOR marks the southern Serbian province as a transitional route for extremists from Islamic countries into Europe.

Since the arrival of international forces in Kosovo two parallel worlds have emerged there. The first is the official world. It has its so called institutions, political parties, judiciary, media, crime, terrorism, etc….

The second does not officially exist, but it can be sensed in the hundreds of newly built mosques, whose creation is being financed by Arab countries, and Wahhabi Saudi Arabia in particular. To peer into that parallel world of Islamic extremism, Wahhabism, the Mujahedeen, and terrorists is very difficult and extremely dangerous.

Members of KFOR and UNMIK don’t peer into it themselves, or do so quite rarely. The knowledge of its existence is gained mostly through the information they receive from whistleblowers and through spying on certain Islamic extremists.

Excerpted

http://www.serbianna.com/columns/ratkovic/004.shtml

[MamaDearest]

Airline passenger had boxcutter in hollowed out book

Snippets: A security officer at Tampa International Airport found a box cutter hidden in a hollowed-out book on Sunday.

Baines told officers he was moving to Las Vegas and forgot the cutter was in the book. Officers found books in the backpack titled "Muhammad in the Bible," "The Prophet's Prayer" and "The Noble Qur'an." He also had a copy of the Quran and the Bible.

[MamaDearest]

Cause of natural gas explosion in Mountain Top still unknown

The cause of a massive explosion and fire at a natural gas transfer station in Wright Township early Monday is still under investigation, a state police fire marshal said Tuesday.

“Right now, I’m trying to exhaust every possible means before I render my opinion,” Deputy Fire Marshal Ron Jarocha said.

North Dakota imposes new tests for Minnesota livestock

Since October 2007, four beef cattle herds in the northwest Minnesota have tested positive for the highly contagious respiratory disease. All were found within a TB management zone set up by the state in southern Roseau and northwestern Beltrami Counties.

Illegal alien caused fatal bus accident

You may have heard about an accident in southwestern Minnesota in which a school bus was rammed from the side by a van, killing four school children. After considerable heming and hawing, it has been confirmed that the woman who was driving the van, Alianiss Morales, is an illegal alien. Morales has been booked on suspicion of criminal vehicular operation.

It's a tragic story, with elements that, as so often happens, make little sense. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that Morales has a "Minnesota identification card" but does not have a driver's license. I'm not sure what a "Minnesota identification card" is, or how an illegal alien can get one. In 2006, Morales was convicted of driving without a license. It appears that, not only does Morales not have a license, she does not know how to drive a car.

[Cindy]

Thanks Mama Dearest for the links.

I’d like to know the final determination is in that explosion.

[Cindy]

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200802/FOR20080220b.html

“US Military Commanders Bemoan Lack of Concern About Terror Threat”
By Julie Stahl
CNSNews.com Jerusalem Bureau Chief
February 20, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - While Islamic fundamentalist terrorists are seeking to destroy the Western way of life, Americans are more concerned about the life of movie stars and going out for a hamburger than issues crucial to their freedom, several senior retired American military officers said here.

“We know far more in the United States about what Britney Spears is doing than we know about the issues,” said retired U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Norman Saunders.

Speaking to a small group of reporters on the sidelines of the fifth annual Jerusalem Conference, Saunders said that the U.S. faces a “very serious challenge from the fanatical Muslim population that would seek to do away with the way of life of the Western World as we know it.”

“We listen to our presidential candidates - [in] what is probably a very critical election for our country if not the world - talk constantly about change without any definition of what that represents. What would they change? How would they confront the threats? Are there new ideas that they would bring forward?” Saunders asked.

Saunders, a former commanding officer of the U.S. Coast Guard who is responsible for a number of Homeland Defense and Security matters, said that Americans need to understand the issues.

“I’d like them to take their minds off whatever it is that keeps them occupied today and pay attention to what really is going on in the world and understand that and evaluate it for themselves,” Saunders said.

Saunders said he did not believe that the media even understood the issues or reports on them.”

[Cindy]

http://www.persecution.org

#

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=8DC2FF2E-114E-403C-BB89-1BA0D3D89BED

“The Holy Land’s Christian Targets”
By Mark D. Tooley
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, February 22, 2008

[Cindy]

Note: Photos included.

http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/gj_200208e.htm

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Israel Intelligence Heritage & Commemoration Center (IICC)
February 21, 2008

“YMCA library building in Gaza City blown up: another incident in a series of attacks on Western and Christian targets in the Gaza Strip by groups associated with the global jihad and radical Islam. The Hamas movement, which controls the Gaza Strip, does not put an end to the phenomenon.”

[Cindy]

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29016&only

#

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7255664.stm

Last Updated: Thursday, 21 February 2008, 09:42 GMT

“Exiled Iraqi clowns cheer refugees”
By Lina Sinjab
BBC News, Damascus

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Rahman, Ali and Safi are members of Happy Family Clowns group, established in 2004 to put smiles on the faces of Iraqi children.

A few months ago the group started receiving death threats warning them against continuing their show, entitled A Child is as Scared as a Country.

But the clowns kept going, until two members of the troupe were murdered.

This was enough to drive the surviving three to leave Iraq.

“We don’t know why they targeted us. We were entertaining children,” says Rahman.”

[Cindy]

Video Clip:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1691.htm

“Title of Video: Sheik Yousuf Al-Qaradhawi, Recently Barred from the U.K., Reiterates His Position on Suicide Bombings and Declares: Jews Are Not the Offspring of Apes and Pigs”

“Clip #1691 Broadcast: February 15-18, 2008”

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1974404/posts

Iraqi pair nabbed in Mexico, headed to U.S. with fake IDs
WorldNetdaily.com ^ | February 21, 2008
Posted on 02/22/2008 4:04:55 AM PST by Man50D

WASHINGTON – Two more Iraqis with false Bulgarian passports were detained by Mexican officials in Monterrey – bringing the total to four this month.

Wisam Gorgies, a 34-year-old man, and Rana Nazar Peyoz, a 26-year-old woman, reportedly flew from Madrid and landed in Monterrey, according to reports in two Mexican newspapers today.

Following questioning, the pair admitted they intended to reach the United States. They were taken to Saltillo in the state of Coahuila, for final determination of their status.

Mexican officials said the are investigating “a network that could be made up of Mexicans operating in Greece who are selling false Bulgarian passports for $10,000 to European and Middle Eastern citizens.”

Earlier this month, El Universal, a daily in Mexico City, reported two other Iraqis, Markos Ramy, a 25-year-old man, and Sollem Pate, a 20-year-old woman, presented Bulgarian passports upon arrival at the Monterrey airport after a flight from Spain.

They told customs officials they came as tourists for a couple days. But because they spoke no Bulgarian, their passports were determined to be fraudulent. The Bulgarian consulate did not acknowledge them as citizens and their hotel reservations proved to be phony.

Only after their cover story was blown did the couple admit to being Iraqis. They claimed to be fleeing the war.

Last year, dozens of Iraqis were discovered attempting to enter Monterrey with phony ID – 17 of them in a single event.

In addition, earlier this month, Norwegian authorities reported that Iraqis affiliated with al-Qaida and former Baath Party members may have slipped into Kuwait after obtaining $15,000 Norwegian passports. Authorities in Kuwait say they are on the lookout for any Iraqi citizen bearing a Norwegian passport.

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

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

blogs:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29009_A_Correction_from_the_St._Louis_Post-Dispatch&only

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/02/feds-coming-aft.html

http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/02/making-case-for-temperate-speech.html

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

#

blog:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/191367.php

February 21, 2008
“Iranian Man Gets Jail, Lashes for Walking Dog”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1969529/posts

#

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3509896,00.html

“Israel issues hijack alert to all airlines”

SNIPPET: “Fearing Hizbullah retaliation for Imad Mugniyah’s death, Transportation Ministry orders all carriers to Israel to tighten security measures in bid to counter potential terror attack”
Aryeh Egozi
Published: 02.22.08, 10:04 / Israel News

[Cindy]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/tw/tw_922.html

Travel Warning
United States Department of State
Bureau of Consular Affairs
Washington, DC 20520

This information is current as of today, Fri Feb 22 2008 05:00:47 GMT-0800 (PST).

ISRAEL, THE WEST BANK AND GAZA

July 13, 2007

[Cindy]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html

Worldwide Caution

January 17, 2008

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17230&Itemid=21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080222-06
February 21, 2008

Suspected Special Groups criminal cell leader arrested in Abu T’shir

Multi-National Division – Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers captured a suspected Special Groups criminal cell leader in the Rashid District of the Iraqi capital Feb. 19.

Soldiers from 2nd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, attached to Task Force Dragon, noticed a man fitting the description of a suspected cell leader during a routine patrol of Abu T’Shir and detained him without incident.

It is believed the alleged Special Groups cell leader had taken over the day-to-day direction of the criminal cell after its previous leader was arrested by Coalition forces in the same area.

The suspect was taken to a Coalition forces detention facility for further questioning.

“The criminal activities of those who choose to dishonor the ceasefire pledge of al-Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr will not be tolerated,” said Lt. Col. Steve Stover, MND-B spokesman. “We will continue to work with Iraqi security forces to identify these criminals and bring them to justice.”

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[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17231&Itemid=21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080222-07
February 22, 2008

Sons of Iraq tip lead to weapons cache in Jabr al Ansari
Multi-National Division – Center

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq – Acting on information provided by the Sons of Iraq, soldiers assigned to Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, confiscated a weapons cache in Jabr al Ansari, a small village southeast of Baghdad, Feb. 19.

The cache contained 21 122mm Russian projectiles and three 130mm Russian projectiles. The munitions were buried approximately three feet deep in a suspect’s backyardt. The suspect was detained and brought back to Combat Outpost Cashe for questioning.

“Every time the Sons of Iraq bring in or lead us to ordnance, it saves the lives of innocent Iraqis, as well as the lives of Iraqi and Coalition forces,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Dan Huell, from Miami, command sergeant major of 3-1st Cav. Regt. “This act signifies that most Iraqis have rejected violence and are on the side of peace.”

Lt. Col. John Kolasheski, from Louden, Tenn., commander of 3-1 Cav. Regt., believes his troops’ effectiveness operating in the Jisr Diyala area is due to the rapport developed with their Iraqi neighbors.

“This cache find serves as another example of how our soldiers are winning the trust and confidence of the population,” Kolasheski said. “By denying terrorists the use of these dangerous munitions, we collectively make Jisr Diyala and the surrounding areas a safer place for the people of the region. The Sons of Iraq continue to show their effectiveness in thickening our lines.”

The SOI have played a significant role in most of 3-1 Cav. Regt.’s recent cache finds by providing information.

“The Sons of Iraq continue to demonstrate the effectiveness of local security by decreasing accelerants and extremist activities in our area of operations,” said 1st Lt. Jamel Reese, a platoon leader in Headquarters Troop, 3-1 Cav. Regt.

The cache was destroyed by the 789th Ordnance Company, from Ft. Benning, Ga., currently attached to the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team.

The 3-1 Cav. Regt. is assigned to the 3rd HBCT, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Benning, Ga., and has been deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom since March.

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