Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread 5

CNN ^ | March 12, 2004

[judicial meanz]

Theory time:

I'm going to ask some hard questions that none of us wants to ask. I am not very sure I will like the answer, but its better to be informed than be led around by a leash.

In order to find out these facts, we have to look below the headlines, just like we have been doing for 35,000 posts. Much of this is now common knowledge to us.

Just a few observations noted in the latest news reports from the last few days. Looks like we have three potential flashpoints

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China-Taiwan

China and Taiwan seem to be heading towards a mutual showdown. PM Chen of Taiwan has publicly announced he will reject the status quo which regards Taiwan as a renegade province of China, and will seek a Constitution and independence.

China has announced this will undoubtably lead to a war if Chen continues to seek independence. In the meantime, China is moving military equipment, missiles and other logistics opposite Taiwan, and has for months. China also continues to stockpile oil and other strategic reserve material, as well.


Russia

Russia is beginning to experience a rise of nationalism and its military is undergoing a reformation. Although it claims to be "fighting terror", it seems to be fighting the Cold War, based on its latest strategic exercises.

Russia has many alliances with countries hostile to the US, including some state sponsors of terror, and some Middle East nations hostile to the US.

Russia just annnounced a hypersonic mystery weapon that will make any US missile defense obsolete before it is fielded, according to Pravda. ( Believed to be a hypersonic missile or cruise missile)


Middle East

Hamas spiritual leader and murderer extraordinaire Yassin was blown to atoms by the Israeli Defense Forces,( note-to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude and a case of beer---go IDF). Hamas and Hizbullah promptly announced a new strategic partnership, and are vowing revenge against Israel and the US.

Planned tactics in the new Hamas/Hizbullah campaign include multiple or mass suicide bombings on the Israeli population, which would be potentially catastrophic to Israel.


____________________________________________________________
Summary:

It is my opinion these seperate areas of the world tie in to each other and foretell something worse than we think is happening.

Perhaps this has the potential to lead to a third world war. This war could possibly be fought on three fronts, and would possibly involve military operations in our hemisphere.


Questions

1) What are the known strategic alliances in each region that will come into play if these crisis flash? ( i.e- If China attacks Taiwan, do we attack China, and then who helps each of us?) Who are our potential allies and enemies? Why is China stockpiling oil? ( big question here-is the oil stockpiling for strategic reserves in case of war preparations?)

2) What mutual defense agreements are in place in the each region? Is it a bipolar defense arrangement, similar to the Pre-WWI period prior to Archduke Ferdinands assassination? ( if so, the alliance system can immediately throw us into a world conflict with preset allies and enemies...we need to know who they are)

3) How much pre-positioning has been done by China in our Hemisphere? How much of an alliance does China have with Cuba, Venezuela, and other Communist leaning South American countries? Is there any pre-positioning of forces, material, or other war goods in South America which could be used on us in the future? What part do all these border incursions play in this picture?

4) Where is Russia in this picture. ( I think they are an Arab ally, and strategic ally of the Chinese..but I could be wrong)


Feel free to add, subtract, or flame as you see fit, but I think I am beginning to see an escalating trend in this

[TexKat]

France, UK, Germany Criticize Iran Nuclear Plant

By David Crossland

BERLIN (Reuters) - France, Britain and Germany toughened their stance on Iran Wednesday by criticizing its decision to start a uranium conversion plant and demanding Tehran explain itself.

In a strongly worded statement, Europe's "Big Three" powers said Iran's announcement that it was starting up the plant near its central city of Esfahan sent the wrong signal and would make it harder for the country to regain international confidence.

The United States says Iran's nuclear program is a front for building an atom bomb, while Britain, Germany and France defied Washington in September by offering to share technology with Tehran if it stopped its nuclear fuel enrichment program.

Wednesday's statement reflected the Big Three's frustration with Iran, which has repeatedly violated its obligation to inform the United Nations of its nuclear activities.

EU diplomats have privately complained that they have been far too soft on Iran. Tehran insists its nuclear program is solely for the peaceful generation of electricity.

"This announcement sends the wrong signal regarding Iran's readiness to implement a suspension of its activities relating to uranium enrichment," the German Foreign Ministry said, adding that France and Britain had issued the same statement.

"It will make it more difficult for Iran to restore international confidence in its activities. Iran must explain its announcement and its intentions."

GROWING CONCERN

Iran pledged to suspend activities related to uranium enrichment in October as a goodwill gesture while under intense U.S. pressure to prove it was not seeking nuclear weapons.

Last month Iran promised to suspend all "remaining enrichment activities" after Tehran sparked a row by interpreting the suspension in the narrowest possible sense.

Uranium conversion plants are key to the enrichment process. They convert uranium oxide concentrate into uranium hexafluoride gas, which is placed in centrifuges, the machines that enrich uranium. The element can then be used to make fuel or weapons.

The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Saturday there was nothing controversial about the plant.

But an internal IAEA report obtained by Reuters said some inspections in Iran had been "managed" by the Iranians, who refused to let inspectors take pictures with U.N. cameras or use their own electronic devices.

A group of Western diplomats who follow the IAEA said recent intelligence had provoked suspicion that Tehran had not stopped enriching uranium but moved enrichment activities to smaller sites that are part of a parallel program U.N. inspectors have not uncovered.

Iran's ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Pirooz Hosseini, told Reuters the charges that smaller plants were continuing enrichment were "baseless" and "an attempt to destroy the fruitful cooperation between the IAEA and Iran."

[Mrs. Xtrmst]

You've raised some important issues, many of which we have discussed on this thread, but it's good to pull them all together for the "big picture". I personally do not believe Russia is in with the Islamists as a whole. They've got a mess in Chechnya & I tend to think that they probably dislike all the Arabs, although they may find them useful as the enemies of their enemies. I'm still not sure what's really going on in Iran so I guess if it were explained in small words I might be able to comment on it. If there is indeed a successful revolution there, we may find ourselves with a worthy ally. China/Tiawan, North/South Korea and the various alliances each communist nation may have with Cuba & Venezuela (not to mention Russia) all bear watching. I find the sudden activity in the Russian military, Chinese threats to Tiawan & just the general lunacy of Kim Jung Il very troubling.

Looking forward to reading other's observations. Sorry if this isn't as polished as other's posts. I'm grabbing a quick few minutes online while the toddler naps.

[judicial meanz]

I just pulled this off newsmax....it kinda fits in some areas:

http://www.newsmax.com/articles/?a=2000/1/28/80611
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NewsMax.com
January 28, 2000

They fear the United States. They need each other. They are allying militarily to dominate Asia and imperil America. They are Russia, China and Iran.

The very concept of a natural "fit" among these three unlikely world partners – let alone a threat directed at the United States – is alien to most Americans, beyond their experience, outside their consciousness.

It is very much in the minds – and recent actions – of those who rule in Moscow, Beijing and Tehran.

It is going unmentioned in the campaigns to select the next American president, who must face the grim reality once in the White House.

It is being virtually ignored by the mainstream U.S. news media, whose role is to keep a free people alert to such threats.

Ironically, the warning klaxon is being sounded by the press within – of all places – Russia, itself.

The source is Col. Vladimir Mukhin, military correspondent for Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Writing in a recent issue, he laid out a scenario that adds up to this:

Nominally democratic Russia, Communist China and militantly Muslim Iran have more in common than is generally assumed.

They are close Asian neighbors. China and Iran share borders with Russia.

Rigid, authoritarian regimes unfettered by accountability to the public will, China and Iran especially can move swiftly when they choose.

Those two are currently experiencing an economic upturn. They have cash – Iran from its immense oil resources, China from its trade with the United States.

Russia desperately needs cash. Its economy is foundering.

It has technology and military weapons that China and Iran lack and are willing to spend their cash to obtain.

The three are being drawn into a common demand-and-supply partnership.

Above all, they share resentment and fear of the United States, which they have adopted as their "Great Satan," to use Iran's favored characterization.

To Russia, America remains the mortal threat of the Cold War decades.

It has led the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to the most sensitive sector of the Russian geopolitical anatomy, its exposed Western plains.

The United States has led the conversion of NATO from a strictly defensive alliance, created to protect the West from Russian tanks racing across those plains, into an avowedly aggressive instrument to be deployed beyond the boundaries of its member states.

Russia's reaction: "Not in my back yard."

Its anxieties are heightened by President Clinton's cheerleading of Western nations' dire warnings of what could happen if Russia persists in its war in Chechnya.

Russians, particularly military leaders, cannot understand why Washington cannot understand why the Kremlin feels compelled to crush this rebellion in its soft underbelly.

Moscow's paranoia is fed by refusal of international American-dominated financial agencies to lend it more money.

Result: Russia feels impelled to search out partners who will play ball and not threaten its vital interests. Hence, China and Iran, with all their cash and shared hostility toward America.

This budding three-way relationship is taking the early form of expanded military contacts, followed by informal agreements to cooperate, followed by Chinese and Iranian purchases of the very technology, nuclear know-how and ready-to-roll military equipment that Russia offers and the other two partners lack.

Next step would be avowed, formal military alliances that enable Russia and China, especially, to deploy in concert their own strategic defenses in response to perceived threats from the United States.

Then, as the Russians learned from having observed NATO's 180-degree turnaround, it is only a small step to convert those defensive missiles into offensive weapons targeted at the American heartland.

It is no accident, no rhetoric to be dismissed, that China has been telling the world it regards Taiwan as its Chechnya.

With that analogy comes Russia's excuse for exercising what it regards as its right to use force to restore its governance of a breakaway province, followed by its rationale for further hostility toward an America trying to tell it how to run its own house.

Given those dynamics at work within China and Russia, the West should not be surprised that both countries are feverishly – and cooperatively – building submarines, surface ships, aircraft and nuclear missiles capable of thwarting or even destroying the United States.

The third partner of the new triumvirate, Iran, has not forgotten its anti-American genesis. It remains unalterably opposed to American hegemony, the extension of U.S. influence or power anywhere in the world.

Seizing on this, Russia is busy selling and helping install nuclear reactors within Iran. And it is about to sign contracts to license Iran to build Russian-designed transcontinental bombers inside its own borders.

In short, from the perspective of American vital interests: a sinister synergy.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta's military analyst concludes his commentary:

"For the moment, Russia is not afraid of the neighbors it is busy rearming.

"Russia, China and Iran form a group of countries along with India which are attempting to resist U.S. leadership in the world. What will come of all this is not certain, but that there is confrontation is clear.

"Russia is participating in this confrontation, and that is not a healthy situation

[all4one]

Great summary. I have had similar thoughts in the past few months regarding the changing alliances.

The allies that would be on our side seem to be UK, Japan, Poland, Mexico?, Canada?, Italy?.... The changes for the worse in Spain are troubling. They set a precedent by caving to the terrorists.

I posted earlier today about troubling info. in Cuba regarding WMD and bio-weapons. A few weeks ago I posted info. about the 1998 elected party in Bermuda (570+/- miles from our East Coast) and their dalliance with Cuba both politically and financially. I have found troubling info. on El Salvador and their upcoming election. I will post as I have completed info. Central and South America and our non-existant Mexican border is very troubling.

[TexKat]

4 Killed in Iraq Worked for Security Firm

MOYOCK, N.C. - The four civilians killed in Iraq on Wednesday worked for a North Carolina security firm that hires former military personnel from the United States and other countries.

Blackwater Security, based in northeastern North Carolina, provides security training and guard services. The company said in a statement Wednesday that it was a government subcontractor providing security for the delivery of food in the Fallujah area.

The names of the four victims were not immediately released because family members had yet to be notified, U.S. officials said. Jubilant Iraqi residents dragged two of the charred corpses through the streets and hanged them from a bridge, which the United States denounced as "horrific."

Blackwater President Gary Jackson and two other company leaders are former Navy SEAL commandos.

The company says it provides "mobile security teams" made up of former U.S. special operations troops or intelligence operatives. Those teams "stand ready to be deployed around the world with little notice in support of U.S. national security objectives, private or foreign interests," the company's Web site says.

___

On the Net:

Blackwater USA: http://blackwatersecurity.com

[MamaDearest]

My her sis-in-law is a Ukranian senior and do not dare even call her a "White Russian" she is "Ukranian"...touchy isn't she? -g-

My dad's side of the family is Slovak, and don't ever try to say they are Czech's - same story as your sister-in-law.

[knak]

Security to the safe delivery of their food huh? It makes me sick to my stomach that they bit the hand the feeds them.

[Revel]

There is an article on drudge about this. 4 contractors were killed and there bodys dragged through the street..Mutelated and burned. No US forces came for hours. That makes me sad. My feeling is that all those who are taking part in this and even those who are cheering should be instant target practice for our troups. The Iraqi's should be scared to death to even be on lookers in such a thing.

[MamaDearest]

My cleaning skills have diminished greatly since the inception of TM ;)

I know just what you mean - priorities - priorities - priorities!!!!!

[MamaDearest]

My cleaning skills have diminished greatly since the inception of TM ;)

I know just what you mean - priorities - priorities - priorities!!!!!

[TexKat]

Publisher Who Spied for Saddam Sentenced

By MIKE ROBINSON, Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO - A suburban Chicago newspaper publisher convicted of spying on Iraqi dissidents for Saddam Hussein was sentenced Wednesday to three years and 10 months in federal prison.

Khaled Abdel-Latif Dumeisi, 61, is expected to be deported after he finishes his prison term.

U.S. District Judge Suzanne B. Conlon also said he may not re-enter the United States without permission from the attorney general.

"He helped to sustain a hostile foreign government," federal prosecutor Daniel Gillogly said in urging a tough sentence.

Defense attorney William H. Theis argued that his client was not very important in the world of Iraqi intelligence.

Dumeisi was convicted of failing to register as a foreign agent, conspiring to fail to register, lying to a federal grand jury and lying to an immigration agent. He was not convicted of espionage, which involves theft of defense secrets, nor was there any allegation the case involved terrorism.

Witnesses said that Dumeisi spied on Iraqi dissidents living in the United States who were opposed to Saddam's regime and that he forwarded his information to Iraqi intelligence agents who worked at that country's U.N. mission under the guise of diplomats.

His tiny suburban newspaper, Al Mahjar, was full of articles critical of U.S. Mideast policy and praising the Iraqi dictator.

[MamaDearest]

Nobody will stand by us in the end. We will be alone.

Don't understand for the life of me why we don't begin deporting those who have abused our immigration system as the highest of high priorities for them? There are bounty hunters who do nothing but go after those who flaunt our laws. Why not give them the chance to rid us of those "sleeper cell" scum as the nation's #1 priority. Anyone here without legal right to be here should be arrested and either jailed or deported - no citizenship / no excuses / no rights at all!! Political correctness should not apply in this time of potential danger to all legal citizens of this country.

[MamaDearest]

Thanks, I will vote to keep guns in the home.

That's one right we have to fight to keep. Judges who rule against those who shoot to protect themselves in their own homes should be ousted as well.

[Indie]

No US forces came for hours.

Sad? How about mad as he!! /

Who is running the show over there, anyone? It sounds to me like our little war has turned into a PC circus, something I would expect from Klinton, not Bush.

Of course what do I expect? I live in a country that won't punish its own criminals, allows unhindered illegal immigration and crimes therefrom, and has allowed 45 million babies to die from abortion. Why should I think we'd go after the perps of THIS crime or rush to their aid?! God forbid we make any of those islamonazis mad at us!
Heck I guess even our leaders have been desensitized and put to sleep.

Nuke the town. Just do it.

[Indie]

Our own government [LAWYERS] would have crucified that man had he shot the illegals that were threatening him. People are afraid to act. They know what when they do, it will mean war..or incarceration for life. The commies have totally reversed our moral code. Bad guys = good. Good guys = bad.
Killing criminals = bad. Killing babies = good.

[liberallyconservative]

It's about time for another Threat Matrix Summary attempt:

DOMESTIC/MILITARY INTERESTS:
1) Specific internet jihadi threats to the USS Kitty Hawk were made, but the date mentioned (3/30) blessedly passed without incident.

2) There continues to be concern involving oil refineries/gas distribution in the Texas coastal areas, especially since Homeland Security specifically mentioned that these were considered to be targets of interest. (The FBI issued a statement that refineries may be targeted before the November elections.) Astute FReepers are keeping track of the incidents back to and including the surveillance and subsequent shooting of the BASF guard in Freeport, up to the current explosions at the BP refinery in Texas City.

3) A tanker truck blast on I-95 in Bridgeport,Connecticut which shut down traffic in both directions for several days and forced the delay/rerouting of thousands followed a SPECIFIC THREAT to I-95 which was made public on the day the "accident" occurred. REPEAT: I-95 WAS SPECIFICALLY THREATENED and security in the area was being stepped up (combination of local, state, Coast Guard, and Homeland Security) when a tanker crash and resulting explosion collapsed a bridge and forced the closure of I-95 in the Bridgeport area.

3a) In other truck crash news, a Russian semi driver in Salt Lake City is being investigated after he was found more than a mile back from his crashed truck. He was seriously injured and may have been thrown from the truck.

3b) In other weird CT news, a radioactive cannister usually found aboard Sikorsky helicopters was found in a man's yard and is under investigation as to how it got there.

4) There have been 4 military aircraft crashes in the past few days, at a cost of approximately $150 million, but blessedly, no loss of life.

4a) An F-14D Tomcat crashed off the coast of San Diego on 3/29 , with the 2 pilots ejecting safely.

4b) Also on Monday, an F/A-18 Hornet crashed in rural Rhea County, TN, with the pilot ejecting safely, suffering a broken foot and other minor injuries.

4c) On Friday, 3/26, a Hornet crashed and burned during takeoff from Raleigh/Durham airport. Pilot safely ejected.

4d) On Weds. 3/24, a Beaufort-based Hornet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Savannah. Pilot safely ejected/rescued.

5) Bomb threats to several Northwest Airlines planes/flights prompted searches of planes in Detroit, Miami, LA, and Memphis. Searches did not turn up anything and the threats were not deemed credible. (Hmmm...but they were credible enough at the time to cause groundings/delays/searches...)

6) Rail lines, both commercial and industrial, have become an increased concern, especially after the Madrid attacks. Astute Freepers are keeping up with the myriad derailments throughout the country.

6a) 3 Amtrak passenger train enroute to NY were delayed/searched after receiving specific threats.

6b) A small explosion aboard a Manhattan subway Monday morning is under investigation. There were no injuries.

7) News of our porous borders continues to be reported on a daily basis. FBI and Homeland Security monitoring of airline passenger lists is for naught when terrorists can waltz across our borders like the rest of the illegal aliens who continue to flood our country. AND IF WE DON'T GET ANGRY AND VOCAL ABOUT THIS, WE WILL BE ATTACKED BY THE EVIL WITHIN!!! (Sorry, I just want to know WHY Vicente Sly-as-a-Fox has so much control over OUR country!)

7a) Border Patrol agents continue to come under attack from illegals & "coyotes." 2 agents were seriously hurt recently when attempting to apprehend a group of suspected illegals who had just crossed over in AZ.

7b) Also in AZ, a convoy of 6 trucks carrying 165 illegals was apprehended near Tucson, with another 6 trucks escaping. The NATIONALITIES of those apprehended was not disclosed.

7c) Latest updates say the number of terrorist cells that are probably already in place in Canada is staggering.

8) FReepers are chronicalling "interesting" stories regarding unexplained illnesses and outbreaks.

8a) Passengers aboard a Detroit to Cedar Rapids flight were detained due to a rash reported by one of the flight attendants. Turns out, the vector was a passenger from New Delhi, and the disease is measles. Authorities were still trying to locate all of the passengers from the earlier Northwest flight leg from Amsterdam to Detroit.

8b) Several schools across the country (in PA and MO, and I can't recall the others) have had outbreaks of unexplained illnesses. Possibly food related...

INTERNATIONAL INTERESTS:
1) The Israeli assassination of Hamas founder Yassin prompted many threats against Israel and the US. The new Hamas leader backed off his original threats against the US.

2) UK authorities apprehended 8 Pakistani immigrants/Islamic terrorists suspected of al-Qaeda ties and seized bomb-making materials. A huge threat thwarted.

3) Philippine officials also averted large terrorist attacks when they seized 36 kilos of TNT and operatives in a cell of Abu Sayyaf. Philippine elections are scheduled for May 10.

4) 4 days of continuing violence in Uzbekistan. Of note: they are considered to be a US ally in the war on terror, and they have upcoming parliamentary elections scheduled for Dec. Are we beginning to see a pattern here?

5) Israel thwarted an attack from sea by 3 scuba divers. This following our mysterious scuba diver deaths/sitings in the US and Homeland Security warnings against possible attacks from sea.

6) China/North Korea and the whole area requires close monitoring due to the recent Taiwan elections, a renewed sense of Taiwanese nationalism, and China's continuing threats to seize control at all cost if they threaten independence.

7) The US can ill-afford to forget the continuing Communist threat posed by Russia, Cuba, and a large number of South American countries with pro-Castro leanings.

8) Today saw an increase in attacks against US troops and soft targets in and around Fallujah, Iraq.

9) We cannot over look the continuing threat of Iran, in light of renewed allegations concerning their nuclear "power plants"/weapons development.

Whew... that's about all I can come up with at the moment. Sorry for the rant, and please feel free to add/correct...

[liberallyconservative]

Wow, I just now read your post after posting my summary. I think we are very much on the same wavelength...

[MamaDearest]

Associated Press Television News pictures showed one man beating a charred corpse with a metal pole. Others tied a yellow rope to a body, hooked it to a car and dragged it down the main street of town. Two blackened and mangled corpses were hung from a green iron bridge across the Euphrates.

And then we have the audacity to reprimand our own troops when they treat the enemy harshly....do they not have a clue that the enemy is out there to kill, maim and defeat us! God have mercy on our troops and may our higher ups in the military sanction whatever means are necessary (including immediate death to those who attack us) to protect our troops!

[MamaDearest]

I made the mistake of looking at the pictures of the bodies hanging on the bridge. It will haunt me for a long, long time to come. God knows something drastic needs to be done in Fakluja very soon. This situation is not improving.