Threat Matrix: April 2008

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[nwctwx]

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army

Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years.

This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and Germany is likely to make a bigger commitment.

But American and Afghan government sources with knowledge of the expected Afghan proposal say that an increase from the current authorization of 86,000 Afghan Army soldiers to 120,000 is the only way to create an enduring defense against a resurgent Taliban and elusive Al Qaeda operatives. Read More

	France May Send More Troops to Afghanistan
	Special Operations Increase Possible for Iraq
	Al-Qaeda Grooming Militants Who 'Look Western': CIA Chief

Threat Matrix:
April 2008

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[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alarian
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/samialarian
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=25918

#

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020617.php

April 9, 2008
“Spencer: A Jailed Jihadist’s Unhappy Anniversary”

#

Note: Photo included.

Previously...

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/020416.php
(AP)

March 22, 2008
“Jailed jihadist ex-prof refuses to testify about Islamic charities in Virginia”

#

stepping back in time...

http://www.frontpagemagazine.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=E910E7A1-2EC7-4506-8C04-A944110B133D

“Terrorist Professor”
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, August 26, 2005

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/zimbabwe/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/mugabe/

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1998375/posts

“Zimbabwe election officials arrested for ‘undercounting Mugabe’”
Times Online ^ | April 8, 2008 | Alexi Mostrous and agencies
Posted on April 8, 2008 5:33:30 AM PDT by Anti-Bubba182

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/aclu

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/alhussayen
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/hussayen

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22Sami+Omar+Hussayen%22&btnG=Search
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Sami+Al-Hussayen&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=nw

#

http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8136603&nav=menu227_7
(AP)

“Boise attorneys tapped by ACLU to argue detainee case”
Associated Press - April 8, 2008 4:04 PM ET

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union say two Boise attorneys will be among 11 lawyers who will defend detainees who face military trials at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Boise lawyer David Nevin and his partner, Scott McKay, previously made a successful defense of Sami al-Hussayen, a University of Idaho graduate student charged with aiding terrorists, the Idaho Statesman reported.

The ACLU last week said the two Boise lawyers are part of an $8.5 million effort to provide top civilian defense attorneys for military detainees held at the compound.”

#

Previously...

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&um=1&tab=wn&scoring=n&q=janet+reno+%2B+aclu&btnG=Search+News

www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/johnadams.html
www.aclu.org/safefree/detention/34775res20080403.html

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=60908

“Gitmo lawyers wanted!”
by Doug Powers
Posted: April 07, 2008
1:00 am Eastern

COMMENTARY SNIPPET: “Reno will spearhead the ACLU’s $8.5 million effort, dubbed “The John Adams Project,” to see to the well-being of all the wrongly accused, Ghandi-esque saints being illegally detained at Gitmo.

Reno’s lengthy record of support for human rights goes clear back to 1993 in Waco, Texas, where she fought night and day for almost two months to defend the rights of 74 Branch Davidians, 20 of them children, until they were burned alive.”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/abuqatada
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/qatada

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1999157/posts

Bin Laden’s ‘right-hand man’ set for life on British benefits after judges rule
Daily Mail ^ | 9th April 2008
Posted on April 9, 2008 2:03:38 PM PDT by COUNTrecount

Bin Laden’s ‘right-hand man’ set for life on British benefits after judges rule deportation would breach his human rights

Terror suspect Abu Qatada cannot be deported to Jordan because he risks not getting a fair trial, judges ruled today.

They overturned a decision by a special panel last year that the extremist cleric, who is known as Osama bin Laden’s “right-hand man” in Europe, could be sent to his home country.

The Home Office may even have to free Qatada if the Law Lords and European judges uphold the decision of the Court of Appeal and he cannot be brought to trial.

Ministers would be very reluctant to order such a move which would spark uproar.

Qatada could be placed under a control order to monitor him but this system has proved ineffective in several cases where terror suspects have gone on the run.

The Court of Appeal also upheld the panel’s blocking of the deportations of two other suspected terrorists to Libya on the grounds that they may be tortured.

The rulings are a blow to the Government’s anti-terror laws as it had signed memorandums of understanding with Jordan and Libya that individuals expelled from the UK would get fair trials and not be tortured.

The pacts are key to removing around 20 terror suspects to countries which sanction torture or the death penalty.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith launched an immediate appeal to the Law Lords against the Qatada judgment.

Right-hand man: Qatada is Osama bin Laden’s (pictured) spiritual ambassador The case could end up in the European Court of Human Rights leaving the British taxpayer with a bill expected to hit £500,000.

Ministers hailed a ruling by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission last February that Qatada, now in Belmarsh prison, could return to Jordan.

But a panel of three senior judges headed by the Master of the Rolls, Sir Anthony Clarke, today quashed this judgement on the grounds that the Jordanian national could face a trial in which evidence against him may have been extracted by torture.

However, the Government stressed Qatada’s deportation was blocked on just one ground, despite claims by his lawyers that he would face beatings, and is confident this obstacle can be resolved.

Home Office Minister Tony McNulty said: “We are seeking to overturn that point, and I believe that we will be able to secure his deportation to Jordan.

[Cindy]

blog:

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/04/09/the-ap-and-bilal-hussein-story-is-not-over/

“The AP and Bilal Hussein: Story is not over”
By Michelle Malkin • April 9, 2008 03:03 PM

#

blog:

http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/192199.php
(AP)

April 09, 2008
“Bilal Hussein Gets Amnesty!”

[Cindy]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49515

“Petraeus Cites ‘Significant, but Uneven’ Security Progress in Iraq”

By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49517

Iraqi SWAT Team Nabs Six Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 9, 2008 – A Baqouba-based Iraqi special weapons and tactics unit advised by U.S. Special Forces soldiers captured six terrorists in Iraq’s Shilbah village yesterday.

The SWAT team targeted al-Qaida in Iraq fighters in the village who were using the area as a base for bomb and small-arms attacks against Iraqi security forces and as a prison and meeting place.

In other Iraq operations, Iraqi special operations forces killed 14 and captured a dozen suspected terrorists and Iranian-backed “special group” members in Basra in the past week, military officials reported. The suspects reportedly are responsible for attacks against Iraqi security forces. During the operations, Iraqi special operations troops cleared more than 30 buildings and destroyed nine homemade bombs.

Also in Iraq:

— Coalition forces found a homemade-bomb-making facility in Diyala province yesterday. A U.S. Air Force F-16 destroyed the facility with a 500-pound bomb.

— Iraqi soldiers found a weapons cache holding nearly 300 mortar rounds near Rushdi Mullah on April 7. Forces recovered 60 mm, 120 mm and smaller mortar rounds, three rocket-propelled-grenade warheads, two cinderblock improvised explosive devices, and fuses.

— U.S. Special Forces soldiers destroyed an al-Qaida in Iraq training camp and large weapons cache in operations last week in the Jazeera Desert. A former radar station was used for the site. The cache included more than 20,000 rounds of ammunition, surface-to-air missiles, machine guns, rockets, dynamite, suicide-vest charges, hand grenades, mortar rounds and tubes, one rocket-propelled-grenade launcher and warheads, and homemade explosives materials. Forces called for air strikes to destroy the compound and the cache.

(Compiled from Multinational Corps Iraq releases.)

[Cindy]

http://www.youtube.com/user/longwarjournal

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAKKJj0utQM
“Patrolling Sadr City”
(Added April 6, 2008)

#

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/04/clashes_continue_in.php

“Clashes continue in Baghdad, Basrah”
By BILL ROGGIO
April 8, 2008 9:26 PM

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18320&Itemid=21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
RELEASE No. 20080409-11
April 9, 2008

ISF, SOI discover 11 weapons caches in northern Iraq

Multi-National Division – North PAO

TIKRIT, Iraq – Iraqi Security Forces and Abna al-Iraq, or Sons of Iraq, have discovered 11 weapons caches in northern Iraq April 7 and 8.

Over the two days, five caches were discovered in Diyala Province along with two caches each in Ta’Mim, Ninewah and Salah ad Din Provinces.

The caches consisted of rockets, mortars, projectiles of different sizes and hundreds of pounds of improvised explosive device making materials.

“As security continues to improve, so will the number of caches discovered. Both ISF and the Sons of Iraq are leading the way for the safety and security for the people of Iraq,” said Maj. Peggy Kageleiry, spokesman for Multi-National Division – North.

-30-

[Cindy]

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529865,00.html

Mortar fired toward Nahal Oz
Published: 04.09.08, 21:14 / Israel News

A mortar shell fired by terrorists in north Gaza landed near Kibbutz Nahal Oz in south Israel. No injuries or damage were reported.

More than 20 mortars were fired toward Israel on Tuesday; some caused damage to cars and structures in the kibbutz. (Shmulik Hadad)

[Cindy]

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529884,00.html

Nahal Oz victims are Oleg Lipson, Lev Charniak
Published: 04.09.08, 22:08 / Israel News

The two victims killed during the terror attack on Nahal Oz are Oleg Lipson, 37 years old and Lev Charniak, 53 years old; both from Beersheba.

The two victims were shot by terrorists at the Nahal Oz fuel terminal. (Ynet)

[Cindy]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529878,00.html

“IDF injures 2 terrorists responsible for Nahal Oz attack”
Published: 04.09.08, 21:58 / Israel News

[Cindy]

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3529892,00.html

IDF kills Popular Front operative in Gaza
Published: 04.09.08, 22:49 / Israel News

Palestinian sources reported that a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine operative, Abu Ali Mustafa, was killed by IDF fire in Gaza. With this report the count of Palestinian gunmen killed by the IDF in Gaza Wednesday rose to eight. (Ali Waked)

[Unrepentant VN Vet]

bttt

[Oorang]

Police find bomb parts in search of terrorist in Laguna (Philippines)
04/09/2008

Police search for an alleged terrorist in Laguna province have led them to a compound where they found parts of a bomb, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno said.

Puno said members of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) were looking for one Khalid Pagayao when their search led them to the town of Alaminos and to the Al-imam compound where they found 550 pieces of improvised blasting caps, 25 pieces of time fuse, 2 pieces of detonating cord, and an undetermined amount of Tetryl compound.

Pagayao, who is being wanted for his alleged ties with the Southeast Asian terror network, Jemaah Islamiyah, was no longer in the area when the operatives arrived Tuesday night, said Puno.

Excerpted

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20080409-129307/Police-find-bomb-parts-in-search-of-terrorist-in-Laguna

2 seized in Santa Rosa on explosives charges (California)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008

A dispute in Santa Rosa between a soldier on leave from Iraq and his wife's boyfriend led authorities Monday to discover a cache of firearms and 350 pounds of fireworks and other explosives that resulted in the arrests of the wife and her boyfriend. Sonoma County authorities arrested Margaret Reily-Sabourin, 49, and Robert Didier, 51, on suspicion of making explosive devices at her home in the Wayside Mobile Home Park. The two are being held at the Sonoma County Jail with bail set at $50,000 each.

Authorities were responding to a call placed Monday morning by a 55-year-old Army National Guard soldier on leave from Iraq. The soldier, who is married to but estranged from Reily-Sabourin, asked sheriff's deputies to accompany him to a mobile home on Santa Rosa Avenue in order to pick up some personal items. The soldier, whom authorities did not identify, had been in a fight with Didier several days earlier.

At the home, authorities saw what appeared to be evidence of a fireworks and explosive device manufacturing operation. They obtained a search warrant and called the county's bomb squad. Deputies seized 250 pounds of fireworks and homemade bombs, and 100 pounds of explosive powders, said sheriff's Lt. Greg Contos. Authorities said they also seized six rifles, one of which appears to be an unregistered assault rifle, and two handguns from the residence. The findings prompted an evacuation of a portion of the mobile home park. Investigators said there was no evidence the couple planned a large-scale attack.

"This is not a terrorist cell or people with a big plan to blow something up," Contos said. "It's a couple of people making explosive devices for whatever reason that's undetermined at this time."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/08/BAAB101NG8.DTL

[Oorang]

Police seize explosives, ball bearings, arrest 2 men in raid on bakery (Pakistan)
Wednesday, April 09, 2008

ISLAMABAD: Ball bearings and explosives were seized and two men were arrested in a raid on bakery in a remote northwestern town, local police have said. Officer Niaz Muhammed Khan said the seizure was made early on Tuesday in Warai after a tip from an informer.

Police found 59 kg of explosives, 180 dynamite sticks, 48 kg of ball bearings, and hundreds of rounds of rifle and pistol ammunition. Ball bearings are sometimes used in suicide jackets to maximise the damage.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008/04/09/story_9-4-2008_pg7_75

Children Told they are Dogs during Mosque Visit
09/04/08

THE HAGUE - A primary school in Amsterdam wished to provide its pupils with an understanding for other cultures. But during a visit to a mosque, the children were told they were dogs.

With a view to developing understanding and respect for other cultures among children, primary school De Horizon regularly organises outings to various religious organisations. The chairman of the El Mouchidine mosque told the children from group 7 (aged 10) and their chaperones however that non-Muslims are dogs.

In a letter to the children's parents, the school expresses its regret at the incident: "We are shocked that during the guided tour, the mosque's chairman told the children and chaperoning parents that non believers were dogs. We consider this statement as unacceptable since we allow our children to partake in this project to develop respect for freedom of religious choice".

In the meantime, the school's management has addressed the mosque on the undesirable behaviour of the chairman. Both parties will say nothing further on the matter. "We will resolve the matter amongst ourselves and I have no inclination whatsoever to discuss the matter with the media", as newspaper De Telegraaf quoted the school's spokesperson Mariet ten Berge. "We have been to the mosque before and it always went well".

Angry parents had sent the letter on to De Telegraaf but were reportedly rapped on the knuckles by the school's management. "The school wishes to play this down. That is precisely the problem", as one mother commented.

http://www.nisnews.nl/public/090408_2.htm

[Oorang]

Bomb Squad Finds Explosive Device, Weapons In Home (Newton, MA)
April 8, 2008

A Newton homeowner is facing a slew of charges after the State Police Bomb Squad evacuated his neighborhood Monday evening when an explosive device, various weapons and a cabinet full of chemicals were found in his home.

Stephen Wong, 56, of 21 Talbot St., was arrested after he turned over an inventory of weapons to police just before 6 p.m., said Lt. Bruce Apotheker. When police arrived, Wong directed them to a bedroom on the second floor of his home and allowed officers to remove two unsecured loaded guns from a closet.

Officers also found several dangerous weapons in plain view inside the closet, including knives, throwing stars and blowguns.

Police observed various glass and plastic containers with various labels on them. Mercury, sulfur flour, nickel chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride were among other chemicals recovered by the Haz-Mat team.

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/04/08/bomb-squad-finds-explosive-device-weapons-in-home-newton-ma/

HazMat Identifies Chemical Found In Water Treatment Discharge Pipe (PA)
April 9, 2008

Emergency personnel from Fayette County HazMat identified a substance found Monday in a pipe at the Kalp discharge site located off Route 711 as ammonium chloride.

Krissy Kasserman, Youghiogheny Riverkeeper for the Mountain Watershed Association (MWA), said HazMat is conducting a more detailed lab analysis to determine if any other chemicals were included in the compound initially found on top the manhole covering the pipe by officials from the Bureau of Abandoned Mine Reclamation (BAMR) and National Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).

According to Kasserman, the substance was found to cause respiratory tract and eye irritation and is typically used in welding. Kasserman added ammonium chloride could be purchased at local hardware stores. Beverly Braverman, Mountain Watershed Association (MWA) executive director, said BAMR and NCRS were going to clean the pipe as part of a routine maintenance when they discovered the substance.

Braverman added the substance was brought to the site. “Someone tired to sabotage the system,” said Braverman who was at the site Friday, but didn’t notice anything suspicious.

Excerpted

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2008/04/09/hazmat-identifies-chemical-found-in-water-treatment-discharge-pipe/

[Cindy]

Thanks Oorang.

I’ll link to them both.

[Cindy]

Now, there I was surfing middle east type videos, and somehow I ended up in San Francisco. The internet can be so interesting at times.

A visit to San Francisco.
Yes you can (si se puede) click on this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qmu47-6XlJA

[Cindy]

Thank you for the bump Unrepentant VN Vet.