Threat Matrix- Daily Terror Thread (4):

New York Post ^ | February 24, 2004 | By NILES LATHEM

[Revel]

February 24, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has dispatched the elite commando force that hunted down Saddam Hussein to Afghanistan for a new operation aimed at getting Osama bin Laden, officials said yesterday. Military sources confirmed that members of the shadowy Task Force 121, the unit that conducted the high-tech search for Saddam and his henchmen, have recently begun operating in the remote mountainous region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border where bin Laden and key al Qaeda and Taliban fugitives are believed to be hiding. The Task Force is made up of highly trained Delta and SEAL commandos, as well as CIA paramilitary operators. It operates outside normal military channels.

[SCR1]

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20040224/wl_nm/russia_government_dc

Putin Replaces Government Ahead of Own Re-Election

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) dismissed Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's government on Tuesday, saying he would appoint a fresh team that would form a new policy after next month's presidential election.


Reuters Photo



Putin, in what looked like a tacit acknowledgment that he is virtually certain of a second term after the March 14 poll, immediately signed a decree naming Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Khristenko as acting prime minister, a Kremlin spokeswoman said.


One Russian political analyst said Kasyanov's dismissal had been widely expected and that firing the entire government was a technical condition for that -- however, he expected little overall change on the assumption that Putin will be re-elected.


"In accordance with article 117 of the Russian Constitution, I have decided today that the government is to resign," Putin said in a live television broadcast.


"This decision is not linked to any assessment of the activity of the former government, which I believe on the whole to be satisfactory," he said.


"It is dictated by a wish once again to set down a position on how policy will develop in the country after March 14, 2004."


Putin has long expressed impatience with Kasyanov, who is associated with the former administration of Boris Yeltsin, for not proceeding quickly enough with reform and not producing strong enough economic growth.


Sergei Markov, an analyst at Moscow's Institute of Political Studies said: "It is not the firing of the government. It's the firing of Mikhail Kasyanov. According to the constitution, Putin can't do it without firing the whole cabinet.


"I think that the team of reformers headed by (Economy Minister) German Gref will keep their positions...I don't expect any big change.

[freeperfromnj]

Thanks for the thread (love the new logo)

Elite unit moved to arrest Osama

By Our Correspondent

WASHINGTON, Feb 23: The United States is moving a super- secret commando unit from Iraq to Afghanistan to join the hunt for Osama bin Laden, the Washington Times reported on Monday.

It is the same unit that played a major role in catching former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from a hideout near his hometown of Tikrit last year. Pentagon officials told the newspaper they were moving the unit to Afghanistan for two reasons: First, most high-value human targets in Iraq, including Saddam Hussein, have been caught or killed.

Second, US officials now possess authentic intelligence reports about the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden and feel that they need to increase their efforts to catch him.

In a front page story on Monday, the newspaper identified the unit as Task Force 121, a mix of Army Delta Force soldiers and Navy commandos called SEALs. Delta-SEAL teams typically move into theatre, practice missions and wait for military and CIA intelligence to provide the location of a target.

US military sources said reports of Osama's movements are becoming more numerous as the Al-Qaeda leader hides in the mountainous terrain straddling the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

Osama bin Laden is thought to be in the tribal areas along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border but US said its troops will not cross into Pakistan, leaving the hunt on the ground for Osama bin Laden to the CIA, and the Pakistan army.

The officials however warned that specific intelligence on Osama's whereabouts might prompt the use of a Delta-SEAL task force to raid his hide-out if he is found on the Pakistani side of the border.

http://www.dawn.com/2004/text/top3.htm

[TexKat]

President Putin Dismisses Russian Government, Kremlin Says

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Vladimir Putin dismissed the Russian government, the Kremlin's press service said. Russia's Micex index of stocks fell 1.4 percent after the announcement.

Kremlin officials declined to comment on why Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and his government had been fired. Kasyanov has been the only head of government during Putin's four years in office.

Putin is expected to win about 80 percent of the votes at presidential elections scheduled for March 14, according to a poll conducted by the Moscow-based All Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion from Feb. 13-16.

[Velveeta]

Those military exercises did not go well, eh?

We knew heads would roll, but the entire government? The more things change, the more they stay the same. Only in Russia...

[TexKat]

Fox News Alert: President Bush to speak regarding gay marraige this morning at 10:45 a.m. ET.

[TexKat]

We knew heads would roll, but the entire government? The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Mikhail Kasyanov was a holdover from the Yeltsin era.

Bret Baer of Fox News just reported that there had not been much enthusiam in the election. And that Putin had stated that this was a step toward the change that was going to occur after the election. Whatever that means.

[Rutles4Ever]

we're getting close

[Rutles4Ever]

Baloney. They have nothing. NOTHING. No way would they warn us ahead of time with plot after plot being foiled or discredited. This is nothing but bluster.

[freeperfromnj]

I feel it too, we are getting close. When we catch OBL it will remind everyone of what this war on terror has been about. It seems so many have forgotten what our priorities should be and have moved on from the worst attack on American soil.

[labowski]

bookmark

[knak]

He! We got our new name!

Good morning all.

[WestCoastGal]

Good job!! Thanks for staying up and getting us going....thread 4, who would have imagined that??

[Domestic Church]

Saw a clip of Putin on Foxnews this morning...the man has rapidly lost weight since the wargames began.

[tmp02]

I agree...and why didn't OBL make the comment?

[freeperfromnj]

PASSENGERS SUBDUE UNRULY MAN ON PLANE AT NEWARK AIRPORT

Flight Forced Back To Gate Before Takeoff

UPDATED: 8:28 am EST February 24, 2004

NEWARK, N.J. -- An international flight about to take off Monday night was forced back to the gate at Newark Liberty International Airport after a passenger became unruly and was subdued by passengers and crew members, Port Authority police said.

The flight, Alitalia flight No. 607, was scheduled to depart at 6:45 p.m. and arrive in Milan, Italy, at 8:40 a.m. Tuesday.

But a passenger became so unruly after the plane had pushed off from the gate that the aircraft was forced to return to the gate at Terminal B, said Alan Hicks, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey police.

Port Authority police then boarded the plane and removed the passenger to a waiting ambulance, Hicks said. He was taken to Trinitas Hospital in Elizabeth for observation, Hicks said.

The police did not identify the man or divulge the nature or extent of the difficulty aboard the aircraft.

The Alitalia flight finally departed at 9:55 p.m., more than three hours late, according to the airline's automated flight tracker.

http://www.wnbc.com/news/2869030/detail.html

[Indie]

Ayman al-Zawahri said: "Bush, strengthen your defenses and your security measures for the Muslim nation which sent you the legion of New York and Washington has determined to send you legion after legion seeking death and paradise."

And Mr al-zawahri...if that happens, you can say goodbye to every Muslim living in the US who, by their silence, have accepted and approved of this terror. They won't get a free pass from "we the people" this time around. Vaya con Dios baby.

[Domestic Church]

"...this was a step toward the change that was going to occur after the election."

Back to soviet style government? He did praise it recently.

[TexKat]

2/22/04 Secretary Rumsfeld En-Route to Kuwait

2/23/04 Secretary Rumsfeld Interview with the Iraqi Media Network

2/23/04 Secretary Rumsfeld Remarks at the Baghdad Police Academy

2/23/04 Secretary Rumsfeld Availability with Traveling Press

2/23/04 Coalition Provisional Authority Media Availability with Traveling Press

2/23/04 Ambassador Bremer Media Availability with Traveling Press

[oceanview]

I would like to believe that is true, but it isn't. US muslims have, and will continue to get, a free ride.

[TexKat]

Back to soviet style government? He did praise it recently.

That is true Domestic Church. I did not think about that.