Threat Matrix: November 2008

Expanding Afghan War Awaits New President

An expanded U.S. military involvement awaits a new U.S. president in Afghanistan where the unfinished business of September 11 has flared over the past three years into a major insurgency.

A raft of assessments and reviews now underway in Washington point to a fundamental rethinking of the Afghan war.

But whoever is elected Tuesday will face choices on the size of the military buildup, how to strengthen the central government, how far to go in dealing with insurgent sanctuaries across the border, how to help stabilize Pakistan, and whether and how to reconcile with the Taliban, analysts say. Read More

	Gates: Afghan Conflict Must Not Be Seen as 'America's War'
	Al-Qaeda Propaganda Chief Killed
	Terrorists try to Infiltrate UK's Top Labs

Threat Matrix:
November 2008

October 2008

Threat Matrix Index

Theat Matrix Handbook

Theat Matrix 'BOLO'

Invaluable Tips

Preparedness

General Interest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwAtNILh6uY

“A World Without America”
Added: February 20, 2007

VIDEO DESCRIPTION - Quote: This is the fourth of 18DoughtyStreet.com’s weekly adverts. At a time of rampant anti-Americanism this ad - produced with BritainAndAmerica.com - aims to remind the world of the great economic, technological and political benefits that the US has brought to the world.

Category: News & Politics
Tags: BritainAndAmerica 18doughtystreet America USA advert commerical attackad worldwithoutamerica noamerica proamerica

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51782

Troops Kill Five Insurgents in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2008 – Afghan and coalition forces killed five insurgents during a combat security patrol in the Nahr Surkh district of Afghanistan’s Helmand province yesterday, military officials reported.

Insurgents engaged the patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The combined forces responded with small-arms fire, killing five insurgents. A small weapons cache was also discovered.

In other Afghanistan news, a U.S. civilian shot and killed a local national in an altercation that took place in southern Afghanistan this morning.

Reports indicate the man was shot after pouring and igniting a flammable liquid on another U.S. civilian, officials said. The civilian suffered serious burns and was transported to the nearest coalition forces medical facility. The incident is under investigation.

(Compiled from U.S. Forces Afghanistan news releases.)

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51790

Report Alleges Police Aided Taliban in Attack that Killed Nine

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2008 – Afghan police aided a complex attack on coalition positions in the Wanat complex in Afghanistan in July, according to a report released by Pentagon officials today.

The report, sent to the commander of Combined Joint Task Force 101 in Afghanistan, said the Taliban attack on Vehicle Patrol Base Wanat in Kunar province was complex, coordinated and aided by local police officials.

Nine Americans were killed in the attack, and 27 were wounded. Four Afghan soldiers were wounded in the attack.

A total of 72 American and Afghan troops stood off more than 200 Taliban insurgents in the action on July 13, according to the report. Forty-six soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, as well as two Marines, were embedded with the Afghan forces.

The enemy had inside intelligence on the base at Wanat, the report says. First, they diverted water to flow into an adjacent field, which negated any listening devices. Then when the attack started, the enemy hit the mortar pit and TOW missile vehicle first. They also attacked and overwhelmed an observation point near the vehicle patrol base.

Finally, the enemy approached the base from an area where they should have been plainly visible from the Afghan police station, according to the report. In the past, the police garrison “was uncommunicative at best, deliberately failing to inform U.S. and [Afghan National Army] leaders at the VPB about a meeting with locals about security in the area,” the report says.

Though the report is scrubbed to stop sensitive information from being disclosed, the heroism of the coalition forces comes across clearly. Though their attackers benefitted from inside knowledge, the report says U.S. and Afghan Army forces did not panic, maintained stern discipline and displayed incredible heroism in the face of a surprise attack. While the observation point was overrun, soldiers manned fighting positions and made the enemy pay dearly.

After the battle, Afghan commandos immediately went to the district center and disarmed 20 Afghan police.

“The coalition forces and Afghan commandos noted that the ANP station and district station appeared untouched by the fighting,” the report said. “This was noteworthy because although it was out of the avenues of approach the [enemy] used to enter Wanat. Soldiers also noted that the ANP personnel appeared to be wearing crisp, clean uniforms. This was unusual since most ANP only have one uniform, and it typically appears dirty and well-worn.”

The police also behaved as if nothing had happened, the report says. The Afghan commandos searched the station and found more than 100 firearms, thousands of rounds of ammunition, rocket-propelled grenades, shotguns and more. “All for a police force of 20 individuals,” the report said. Many of the weapons had recently been fired.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=51784

Coalition Forces Apprehend 11 Suspected Terrorists

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4, 2008 – Coalition forces continued to pressure al-Qaida in Iraq networks yesterday and today, detaining 11 suspected terrorists in the country’s central and northern regions, military officials reported.
In operations today:

— Coalition forces in Mosul captured a man who reports suggest has connections to the city’s senior al-Qaida leaders. The man surrendered himself to ground forces without incident.

— An operation targeting al-Qaida leadership networks in Baghdad led to the detention of one suspect.

— West of Baghdad, a suspected terrorist believed to facilitate the movement of car-bomb materials was captured, and four additional suspects were detained for further questioning.

— Forces in Tikrit captured a man who reports suggest provides weapons to terrorists in exchange for their promise to conduct operations against coalition forces.

— In Kirkuk, coalition forces captured a suspected terrorist who allegedly works within al-Qaida’s security and courier networks.

Yesterday, coalition forces captured a suspected roadside-bomb cell member and detained another man assessed to be his associate during an operation yesterday in Tikrit. Also yesterday, Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers found a weapons cache in Baghdad. Soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s Company B, 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, found 13 AK-47 assault rifles, 20 AK-47 magazines, two digital decoder boards, three blasting cap initiators, a hand grenade fuse and a magnetic “sticky” bomb in the Iraqi capital’s Mansour district.

Separately, Iraqi army soldiers seized a weapons cache in Baghdad’s Sadr City district yesterday.

Over the past two weeks, officials said, Iraqi soldiers have been gathering up an enemy weapons stockpile they found in Baghdad’s Sadr City district. An explosive ordnance detachment inventoried the cache, which consisted of 35 mortar rounds of various sizes, two rocket pods, 20 pounds of bulk C-4 explosive, 5 pounds of stick propellant, two capacitors, a 100 mm projectile, two 73 mm fragmentary rockets, 15 40 mm projectile grenades, 49 propellant charges, five illumination grenades, five 85 mm rockets, three 70 mm rockets, three mortar fuses, two 152 mm projectiles and two smoke grenades.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/rezko
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/obama

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/nov/04/fbi-asked-questions-on-rezko-land-deal/

“FBI asked questions on Rezko land deal
Value at issue, appraiser says”

Jerry Seper
Tuesday, November 4, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: ““Agents and I talked about payoff, bribe, kickback for a long time, though it took them only a short number of minutes of talking with me while looking at the appraisal to acknowledge what they already seemed to know: The Rezko lot was grossly overvalued,” Mr. Conner told The Washington Times Monday.

“Rezko paid the asking price on the same day Obama paid $300,000 less than the asking price to the same seller for his adjacent mansion,” he said. “This begs the question of payoff, bribe, kickback.””

ADDIING to post no. 93:

english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2008/11/4/20081141658284734_5.jpg

english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2008/11/200811415530429515.html
“Bin Laden’s son seeks Spain asylum”

UPDATED ON:
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 04, 2008
20:13 MECCA TIME, 17:13 GMT

Discussion Forum:

forums.islamicawakening.com/showthread.php?s=d824ad7882927134630a3a6c02c5f4fe&t=17927

“IA Forums > Main Topics > Politics, Jihad and Current Affairs
Bin Laden’s son seeks Spain asylum”

ADDING to post no. 96:

http://theamericansentinel.com/2008/11/04/philadelphia-liberal-judge-removes-gop-poll-watchers-while-lack-black-panthers-intimidate-voters/

Home » Conservative Issues, Election 2008, McCain-Palin, Obama-Biden, Politics, human rights

“Philadelphia: Liberal Judge Removes GOP Poll Watchers While lack Black Panthers Intimidate Voters”
Author: Michael Eden
4 NOVEMBER 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Philadelphia was the birthplace of freedom in this nation, given that the Declaration of Independence was signed there. But things have a way of coming full circle when one reads history, and it is happening again: the birthplace of freedom is proving to be the dying place, as well.

We can start with a liberal judge removing GOP Election Board members from “at least” half a dozen polling locations. As Amanda Carpenter reports, “A Pennsylvania judge previously ruled that court-appointed poll watchers could be NOT removed from their boards by an on-site election judge, but that is exactly what is happening, according to sources on the ground.”

Denying access to the minority (in this case Republican) poll watchers and inspectors is a violation of Pennsylvania state law. Those who violate the law can be punished with a misdemeanor and subjected to a fine of $1,000 and sent to prison between one month and two years.

But in this case, that would only happen if one liberal judge put another one in jail. Don’t hold your breath.

What is most frightening of all was the judge’s justification for removing Republicans:

A liberal judge previously ruled that court-appointed Republican poll watchers could be removed from their boards by an on-site election judge, citing their “minority” status as cause.

This along with the fact that the Democratic Ohio Secretary of State had to be ordered to verify voter registrations after huge numbers of falsified registrations turned up in the process. Rather than do her duty, and basically do her job, Jennifer Brunner instead found a “better judge” to overturn the ruling of the first.

The official corruption, the court orders that enable voter fraud, the looking the other so the mice can play, is truly frightening.

ACORN (which is deemed “non partisan” when it comes to getting $126 MILLION in government funding but is as partisan as hell when it comes to putting itself behind Democrats) is being investigated for voter fraud in at least 22 states. And, strangely, all the states in which fraud keeps being found are all battleground states, where a few thousand votes (or even just a few votes) could decide the election.”

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

ADDING to post no. 72:

BLOG:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/11124.htm

Hizbullah Leader, Al-Sistani Aide Meet In Lebanon

Hizbullah secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has met in Lebanon with Javad Al-Shahrastani, general aide to senior Iranian Shi’ite cleric Ayatollah Ali Al-Sistani.

Also present at the meeting, during which the two discussed recent developments in the region, were several Hizbullah officials.

Amal Presidential Council member ‘Abbas Nasrallah welcomed Shahrastani, and said that Iraq was the Arab world’s strategic depth in its war against the occupation. He said that Sistani was the spearhead in the liberation of Iraq, and that his opposition to the U.S.-Iraq security pact was right and reflected the opinion of the Iraqi people.

Source: Alrafidayn.com, November 2, 2008

Posted at: 2008-11-03

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125100/posts

Vandalizing and Violence Begins (First Hand Report)
Myself | 11-04-2008 | my favorite headache
Posted on November 4, 2008 3:40:19 PM PST by My Favorite Headache

I just got home about 25 minutes ago from a frustrating afternoon to say the least. Long story short...my wife and I were leaving a restaurant late this afternoon after voting and as we were pulling out I noticed a very tall male between the ages of 18-20 yrs of age spray painting the huge McCain/Palin signs that were in front of the mall...he was putting the word “DON’T” in yellow spray paint with a nazi symbol on the bottom.

He was doing this in broad daylight on a public road...so I turned my truck around and hauled it down the side of the road this was going on. I got out and immediately confronted this punk who proceeded to tell me to get away from him that it was “his right to campaign however he wanted to”, then looked at my truck and saw McCain/Palin stickers on the back window and went with his can to spray my truck saying “You are one of them...you bastards are going down”, I then paced down the sidewalk with him in a full on shouting match of him telling me the McCain sign was taxpayer dollars and he could do whatever he wanted to do...and yelling that he was 16 years old and I couldn’t touch him or he would have me in jail and that he could hit me in self defense. He then swung at me screaming he was gonna kill me but did not connect the punch and the chase ensued. There was no way this punk was 16 yrs of age. He looked 18-19 yrs of age and was about 6 foot 5 inches tall.

He then took off as I was dialing 9-1-1 and started running in the mall parking lot all the while spraying cars as he was running across the lot.

The cops arrived within 2 mins but the punk vanished into one of the stores so they kept 3 squad cars in the mall and said they were going to wait it out and wait for him to come out and be sighted by mall security.

In the meantime...2 punks on the other end of the lot spray painted an Obama symbol and keyed approx 7 cars that had McCain/Palin stickers on their car.

The area this took place in Melbourne,Fla.

The police are still there and they took reports from witnesses.

I worked with the local campaign for nearly 2.5 months...I worked on putting those signs up...I’d be damned if I didn’t do something about this. Unfortunately the police said all he would get is a night in Juvie Hall and a slap on the wrist by a judge (if he was really 16), they were praying he was older for the punch he threw and the multiple cars he damaged.

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125128/posts

Some Georgians Suspected Of Voting Twice
Palin Planet ^
Posted on November 4, 2008 4:18:57 PM PST by WaveMan

ATLANTA – Georgia’s Secretary of State has launched a full investigation and may seek criminal charges against three Georgia men who appear to have early-voted twice. “This is extraordinarily disturbing,” said Secretary of State Karen Handel.

A team of investigative journalists from WSB-TV in Atlanta, WFTV in Orlando and WFTS in Tampa and WCPO in Cincinnati compared Georgia’s voter rolls with those in Florida and Ohio and found more than 100,000 people who appear to be registered to vote in more than one state, with no government oversight to catch it.

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

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2125158/posts

Phone Call I just received in CA
Posted by Self ^ | 11/4/08 | Self
Posted on November 4, 2008 4:48:26 PM PST by Hootch

I just received a phone call from a RoboCall. First... The call was a blocked number. Second... The call said it was a breaking news alert and that Obama has won FL, PA and OH... No matter what people in Western States do it won’t matter.

I am pretty sure this is illegal.

Should I report this to someone??

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2125176/posts

http://www.city-journal.org/2008/eon1103df.html

DANIEL J. FLYNN
“The Ghosts in Grant Park
Obama plans a party where his radical friends once ran wild.”
3 November 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Tuesday night, Barack Obama holds what he hopes will be his victory celebration in his adopted hometown’s Grant Park. The Associated Press explains: “Grant Park is the place Chicagoans have long gathered to party, protest, and pray,” noting visits by Franklin Roosevelt, the Queen of England, and Pope John Paul II. If the park is a natural place for a party celebrating Chicago’s favorite son, it’s also an unwelcome reminder of two of the Windy City’s black sheep, who nearly derailed his presidential ambitions.

Should Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, by now the most infamous Chicago Friends of Obama, attend the Grant Park victory celebration, their lives will have come full circle. In October 1969, Grant Park served as a rallying point for several events during the radical leftist group Weatherman’s “Days of Rage”—four days of planned chaos in the Windy City. Born into wealth and privilege, Ayers and Dohrn marginalized themselves by voicing insane rhetoric exalting parricide and Charles Manson, committing acts of terrorism against the police, banks, and government, and remaining fugitives from the law throughout the 1970s. Now, 28 years after emerging from hiding, Ayers and Dohrn amazingly have a friend and political ally poised to win the presidency—one who hails from the same Chicago they once terrorized.

The Days of Rage scheme was 1969’s unimaginative sequel to 1968’s protests at the Democratic National Convention. It used the same set (the streets of Chicago), featured the same villain (Mayor Richard J. Daley), and recycled the same script (youth rising up against the Man). “

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/germany
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/bus

Fyi Only.

Note: Video and photo included.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7709616.stm

Page last updated at 23:55 GMT, Tuesday, 4 November 2008

“Fatal bus fire on German motorway”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Up to 20 people have been killed and several injured in a bus fire on a motorway near Hanover in Germany.

The bus had been travelling to Berlin when the fire broke out, trapping some passengers, most of whom were reported to be elderly.

But 10 people were able to escape from the vehicle after the fire started, on the A2 Autobahn.

The cause of the fire is not yet known but some reports say the fire may have been started by a cigarette.

“Someone was smoking secretly in the toilet and that’s what started the fire. It happens,” said Oliver Pehl, whose mother is the owner of the coach company.

However, officials said it was too early to be sure of the cause and a technical fault could be to blame.

Mr Pehl said he had driven the coach himself in the past and it had never had any problems.”

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.