Threat Matrix: December 2008

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[nwctwx]

The Age of 'Celebrity Terrorism'

Quite apart from the scores murdered and the hundreds injured, what the Mumbai terrorists really wanted was an exaggerated - and preferably extreme - reaction on the part of governments, the media and public opinion.

In these terms, the attackers received as much attention as they could possibly have hoped for, and the Mumbai outrage can only be described as a very significant terrorist success.

The attack received saturation coverage in the world's media from the outset. Read More

	Mumbai Terrorist Attack May Affect U.S. Foreign Policy
	Nuke, Bioterror Attack Called Likely
	Zawahri Hails Executed Bali Bombers

Threat Matrix:
December 2008

November 2008

Threat Matrix Index

Theat Matrix Handbook

Theat Matrix 'BOLO'

Invaluable Tips

Preparedness

[Velveeta]

If it really tightens security on those who would want to harm us, then I’m all for it. In the meantime, grandma and grandpa Jones are still having to remove their shoes.

[Velveeta]

Thanks very much for the information. I suspect it will be a tense couple of weeks.

[Velveeta]

Opening of third ‘Liberty City Six’ terror trial delayed

The third federal trial of the Miami terror suspects dubbed the ‘’Liberty City Six’’ has been delayed and will start with jury selection on Jan. 20.

The start, planned for Tuesday, was put off for one week because the federal judge presiding over the case, Joan Lenard, is still in trial in another case......
http://www.miamiherald.com/459/story/849447.html

[Velveeta]

Genocidal Jew-hating jihadist Sheikh has a friend in...Ohio!

Earlier today we saw Sheikh Qaradawi expressing these pious sentiments:

Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers, and kill them, down to the very last one.......
http://www.jihadwatch.org/

[Velveeta]

“Heil Hitler” and “We must just kill all those Jews, man!” — at Copenhagen pro-jihad demo
http://www.jihadwatch.org/

London Muslim protesters attack police: “Run, you cowards! Kuffar!”
http://www.jihadwatch.org/

Videos at link

[Velveeta]

Terrorism trial witness appears via satelliteLast Updated:

A terrorism trial underway in the eastern Australian city of Sydney has heard evidence from a man who was at a Lashkar-e-Toiba training camp in Pakistan with one of the accused.

Five men are on trial accused of conspiring to commit acts in preparation for a terrorist act.

The witness, Yong Ki Kwon, had his US jail sentence reduced for rolling over on other trainees.

http://www.radioaustralianews.net.au/stories/200901/2464949.htm?desktop

[Velveeta]

Amid fighting, Israeli leader warns Hamas of ‘iron fist’

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert stood within Hamas rocket range Monday and warned Islamic militants that they face an “iron fist” unless they agree to Israeli terms for an end to war in the Gaza Strip.
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/chi-090112-gaza-israel-palestinians-latest,0,2402154.story

[Velveeta]

Tainted Peanut Butter May Be Linked to 3 Deaths
http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/us_world/NATL-Three-Deaths-May-Be-Linked-to-Tainted-Peanut-Butter.html

[WestCoastGal]

January 13th, 2009 6:57 AM Eastern

FNC’s Mike Tobin reporting from war by Greta Van Susteren From my FNC colleague Mike Tobin in Israel…reporting on the war:

The acrid smell of spent machine gun rounds was floating up through the loadmaster’s porthole on the turret of the Merkava Tank. It burned my nostrils and made my eyes water. The sun had gone down and the little DV camera I had was not getting a good picture of the big cannon on the front of the tank in low light. So, I fished in the pocket of my flack vest and pulled out a little l.e.d. flashlight. I held the camera in my right hand, cause my left one is broken. I used the broken hand to hold the flashlight and tried to illuminate the cannon on the front of the tank.

Adam, the loadmaster, tapped on my leg from the inside of the tank. He told me I needed to get my feet over to a rail that ran along the edge of the cabin inside the tank because the 120 mm cannon was about to fire and if the recoil hit my legs, it would be bad.

So, I had my feet pitched off to one side, both hands extended out like a crossing guard, one recording, one lighting. I balanced by wedging my flack jacket in the porthole. My head was sticking up out of a Merkava tank, in combat. I was scared.

Did I have my legs out of the way enough? Was I going to lose my hearing? Was I going to get knocked silly and fall into this tank when it fired?

I got my answer soon enough.

From a distance tank fire always sounds like trucks crashing head-on, without the screeching of tires. When you are balanced above the cannon, it sounds like a big pop. I was wearing one of the Israeli tank crew helmets complete with ear protection. But the headset wasn’t a good fit. There was a gap by my right ear. As I write this, my ear is still ringing. There was a tremendous flash of light. I was knocked off balance but saved because my kevlar-wrapped girth kept me wedged tight in the small porthole. The cannon fired a total of 3 times. That followed all of the small arms fire that was directed at a Palestinian Mortar team in the Gaza strip.

Colonel Yigal, who was the commander, told me the mortar team had been firing at infantry soldiers with Israel’s Givati brigades. There were 5 people on the mortar team, 3 of them, he said, had been killed.

That’s the part that struck me. The machinery of war kept me very distant from the human impact. We were roughly 300 yards from the mortar team, but I never saw them. I never heard one of their rounds. From my perspective, we could have been blasting away at a shooting range. But as I watched the number of Palestinian dead increased by 3 and with combat still raging as I write, the death toll has crossed 900 and edges ever closer to 1000.

[WestCoastGal]

IDFWebsite Soldiers wounded; latest ground op info: http://tinyurl.com/9vrpcw about 1 hour ago from web

IDFWebsite Hamas Abuses Palestinian Civilians and Impedes Aid Efforts: http://dover.idf.il/IDF/Eng... about 1 hour ago from web

[Velveeta]

Feds Cite Racist Chatter for ‘Higher State of Alert’ in Inauguration

Federal agents are on “a higher state of alert” because of hate talk by white supremacists about Barack Obama’s Inauguration, officials told the New York Daily News on Tuesday.

“That chatter is out there, no doubt about it,” one senior FBI agent in Washington told me this afternoon, adding that no credible plots against the 56th Presidential Inauguration have been detected.

The Bureau has ordered agents in all 56 field offices to “shake the trees” in advance of the Jan. 20 swearing-in of the 44th President, who will become the first African-American to occupy the Oval Office. “They’re talking to sources to determine if there is any threat information in regard to the Inauguration,” the FBI source said......

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2009/01/feds_cite_racist_chatter_for_h.php

[Velveeta]

Former Osama bin Laden courier goes on trial

JAKARTA, Indonesia – A Singaporean who was a courier for Osama bin Laden before the Sept. 11 attacks went on trial in Indonesia on Tuesday with nine other suspected Islamic militants.

The case highlights the lingering threat in Indonesia, home of the 2002 Bali nightclub attacks that thrust the world’s most populous Muslim nation onto the front lines in the war on terror.

The indictment said the men are believed to belong to the Southeast Asian terrorist network Jemaah Islamiyah, formerly funded by al-Qaida, which is accused of five suicide bombings against Western targets in Indonesia since 2002 that killed more than 240 people, including the Bali attacks......

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090113/ap_on_re_as/as_indonesia_islamic_militants;_ylt=AuqmIc8GdxrGcHL94T6FKi5vaA8F

[Velveeta]

Obama: Close Gitmo on Day One
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/01/13/ED5U159B83.DTL

Dozens of Gitmo Parolees Returned to Terrorism
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/pentagon_guantanamo/2009/01/13/170887.html

[Velveeta]

Protesters not allowed at Bill Ayers’ talk

~snippet~

The lone person to voice dissent during Ayers’ 30-minute talk on educational reform was quickly escorted out of the nearly packed ballroom by university police.
http://www.tallahassee.com/article/20090112/NEWS01/901120316/1010/news01

[Velveeta]

Senator: Missing American in secret prison in Iran

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — A U.S. senator revealed Tuesday that he believes a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran nearly two years ago is being held in a secret prison there.

Sen. Bill Nelson shed new light on the disappearance of Robert Levinson during a confirmation hearing for Hillary Rodham Clinton in Washington. Levinson, of Coral Springs, Fla., was last seen on Iran’s Kish island in March 2007 where he had gone to seek information for a client of his security firm.

Nelson, D-Fla., said the Iranian government has rebuffed numerous requests for information on Levinson’s whereabouts.

“The door has been closed at every turn,” Nelson said. “We think he is being held by the government of Iran in a secret prison.”......
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iy72RZ6Px3X0r1bG5S4ptIgRr0VgD95MI8NO0

[Velveeta]

FBI shares threat-tips with local police agencies

~snippet~

Ahead of next week’s inauguration, officials say they are getting as many as 1,000 tips a day from the public.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hL3umBJaWDcpCfHcC8dYusyy-gIQD95MHG000

[Velveeta]

Obama team joins Bush ‘war gaming’

Members of President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming administration spent several hours at the White House on Tuesday rehearsing how they would respond if terrorists detonate bombs in several American cities at once.

The White House dubbed it “war gaming.”

Mr. Obama’s incoming chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, said it was “a very, very important meeting.” ......

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/14/obama-team-joins-bush-war-gaming/

[Velveeta]

Terrific: Hamas launches HamasTube
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/01/13/terrific-hamas-launches-hamastube/

[WestCoastGal]

cnnbrk CNN TV: Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden calls for jihad to stop Israeli offensive in Gaza, AP reports. about 1 hour ago from CNN Alert

[LayoutGuru2]

Posted 5 minutes ago:

Bin Laden urges jihad against Israel over Gaza
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_al_qaida_israel