1 posted on
07/11/2004 12:55:04 AM PDT by
JustPiper
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To: JustPiper
Todays ray of hope
IRAQ THE MODEL
Sunday, July 11, 2004
http://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/
Iraqi army takes initiative.
Last Wednesday I was at the hospital just as any other day. It was an ordinary morning and everything seemed quite except for 2 American helicopters that was patrolling above us. There was nothing abnormal in that but I noticed that they were flying at an altitude lower than usual sometimes maneuvering in between the buildings of the medical center just at the eastern bank of the tigris.
I didn’t expect anything serious as it’s been a while since we heard serious fighting at these hours of the day. Even the gun shots that we could hear frequently at night has considerably decreased in their frequency lately. However you could hear several explosions everyday without any particular timing.
Suddenly and out of no where fire was opened heavily on the other side of the river just in front of our eyes and we saw people running in every direction trying to take shelter. It was unfamiliar at this time of the day but I thought it won’t take long before it gets quite again, but as minutes passed the gun fire kept being heard and grew lauder and was followed by sounds of several mortar shells and RPGs exploding everywhere.
From the sounds I heard I thought that it was a confrontation between terrorist and IP or Iraqi army since the only heavy fire you could hear was that of mortars and RPGs. The strange thing was that it took this long, as after nearly an hour the fighting was still going on and getting more fierce. One of these bombs, and I guess it was a mortar shell, even crossed the river to land about a hundred meter away from our hospital causing the whole building to shake strongly.
All these events made me and the others wonder what was going on. it can’t be a terrorist attack because these thugs usually cut and run whether they faced resistance or not. They come after a certain target and after blowing it up they flee away fearing the response.
Why are they still fighting?
Where is the American support?
Could it be that these terrorists are trapped?
Why are they so confused to shoot in this random way?
My father happened to be at the area where the fighting ensued and he told me later that as he was driving in Haifa Street, a man armed with an AK47 jumped into the street and started shooting into the air! My father rushed back with his car from where he came but he found the entrance blocked with units of the Iraqi National Guard and he barely got away from that place.
After more than an hour of what seemed to be a fierce fighting, 2 American helicopters came in and kept flying above that area but they didn’t open fire. I remember hearing heavy machine guns only once and I think it was American. Few minutes later it was quite again with sporadic shooting every few minutes. I kept thinking about this and it didn’t make sense to me at the beginning as it didn’t simulate any other fighting I saw or heard in the past few weeks. I asked my friends about what they thought and whether they heard anything about it but no one had an explanation to what happened.
The only thing that I thought was logical is that it was a trap or a very well planned attack but I couldn’t tell who was trapped and who was the trapper but I favored the possibility of the Iraqi army attacking the Ba’athists and terrorists who took shelters in Haifa Street’s building although I had a difficulty in imagining that the Iraqi army was already strong enough to take the initiative instead of keep defending its places.
A friend of mine who his relative work in the Iraqi army told me later that it was indeed a trap carried by units of the Iraqi National Guard against the terrorists in that area and that dozens of those thugs were killed and others were arrested. I didn’t really take that to be the exact truth since I didn’t hear or see anything in the local or foreign news to support this story and I’ve seen so many “eyewitnesses” on Al Jazeera and other channels tell stories that only a fool can buy and that appeared to be just lies or exaggerations.
It appeared that my guess and what my friend told me was right as yesterday it was announced that it was a very well planned attack carried by the Iraqi national Guard and resulted in killing and capturing several terrorists. Here’s Al Sabah story:
In an operation to attack dens of terrorism in Baghdad, a platoon of the Iraqi National Guard has carried out a successful operation Wednesday against groups of Saddam's remnants and a number of Al- Zarqawi followers who were gathered in four buildings in the said street. That operation comes as a practical indication to transfer the initiative of the attack to the hand of the National Guard." An accurate intelligence information reported a group of Saddam's men and Al- Zarqawi followers were crowded in four buildings in Haifa street " Mr. Hazim Sh'lan the minister of defense elaborated, adding that the operation started in installing search points in front of these buildings for instigating the hostile elements who thought they could control the battalion of the national guard. Clarifying the details of the operation, the minister said that the battalion was able to be sheltered and specify the hostile fire sources further for cordoning the four buildings in pure Iraqi efforts, saying that the multi –national forces took the role of the monitor by the helicopters. Fighting were occurred from floor to another, from flat to another, about 19 terrorists killed and nine others arrested. Meanwhile one member of the National Guard was killed and 12 others wounded. Among the prisoners and dead were a number of Arab infiltrators.
-By Ali.
- posted by Omar @ 01:49
638 posted on
07/12/2004 8:50:40 AM PDT by
Valin
(Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.)
To: JustPiper
Wow JP thanks for the 13th thread....and all of your tireless work. I have ohhhh about 1,000+ posts to catch-up....
1,159 posted on
07/13/2004 7:50:25 AM PDT by
all4one
(TM - Not a Proper Social Club & Not for the Fainthearted)
To: JustPiper
Piper, I got your freepmail, but haven't had a chance to get back to you yet. The place that I'm at blocks me from freepmail. I'm not ignoring you, I will reply as soon as I can. :)
1,201 posted on
07/13/2004 10:06:41 AM PDT by
thecabal
("For all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" --Aragorn)
To: JustPiper
FBI Alert on Dr. Amjad Mohammed Khan
Quiet capture, it seems.
Husband of Aafia Siddiqui: A Pakistani woman who studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received a biology degree in 1995 and wrote a doctoral thesis on neurological sciences in 2001 at Brandeis University. Authorities believe Siddiqui, 32, could be a "fixer," someone with knowledge of the United States who can get things done for other operatives. FBI officials believe Siddiqui also spent time in the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. The FBI issued a global alert for her arrest in March 2003 and requested that Pakistan locate Siddiqui. Her husband, Dr. Amjad Mohammed Khan, also is wanted by the FBI for questioning.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2001939986_terrorseven27.html
To: JustPiper
HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Front
page
July 12, 2004, 12:49AM
Mother of 3 hunts terrorists at night
Montana judge, 6 others use Web to snare suspects
By EVAN MOORE
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
CONRAD, MONT. - By day, she's the municipal judge of this tiny town, a
wife and mother of three, but by moonlight Shannen Rossmiller is a spy.
Then, Rossmiller - petite, blond and 34 - assumes one of several
unlikely false identities, all angry, violent, Muslim men, nurturing
hatred of the United States. In that guise, she combs the Internet
through the late evening and early morning and sifts through the
messages and declarations on extremist Islamic Web sites.
During those hours, Rossmiller is on a quest that consumes hours of each
day, days of each week. It's one that will place her on the stand
Thursday as the government's primary witness against a National
Guardsman accused of offering information to help Muslim extremists kill
U.S. troops.
It's a quest that has already placed her in danger.
Rossmiller works with an exclusive group, a coalition of seven
civilians, international "cyber spies" who chase terrorists on the
Internet.
They call themselves the "7-Seas."
Until recently they were a largely unknown, almost clandestine bunch.
Named for its global scope, the group consists of Rossmiller; a nuclear
physicist/software designer in Canada; a corporate security consultant
in Houston; a former private detective in Singapore; an Australian; and
two other Americans.
They might have remained unknown. That is, if some of Rossmiller's
efforts hadn't paid off, if she hadn't run across Ryan Anderson, a
National Guardsman accused of attempting to defect to al-Qaida and
offering information on troop strength and vulnerable points on a
Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Rossmiller never planned to be a witness. But then, she'd never planned
to become a spy. She had grown up, married and pursued her career in the
little town of 2,750.
Broke pelvis on 9/11
It's a quiet community, in the northwestern quadrant of Montana in the
shadow of Glacier National Park, home to wheat farmers, ranchers and a
group of Hutterites, a traditional Christian sect related to the Amish.
There, Rossmiller was perfectly happy as municipal judge and might have
remained so if she hadn't broken her pelvis.
"It happened on the evening of 9/11," said Rossmiller. "We'd put in a
new shower, I was just stepping into it and there I went. I was
incapacitated for the next six weeks and all I heard was the news.
"I couldn't avoid it, and I couldn't help but feel that I had to do
something."
Her first thought was to join the National Guard, a plan her husband,
emphatically opposed. Rossmiller, however, describes herself as
passionate in all her pursuits, and it wasn't long before she found a
new avenue.
"I began fishing around on the Internet and I found these groups," she
said.
The "groups" included both the violent fringe of Islamic extremists and
those who tracked them. Soon, Rossmiller was conversing with Brent
Astley, the Canadian member, and others in the 7-Seas, and found herself
drawn into their efforts.
"We're not a bunch of alarmists, and we're not politically motivated,"
said Dave, the Houston member who agreed to speak if not identified.
"We're probably the only group of our kind. Most of us have never met
the others in person, but we're all joined by the desire to stop
terrorism in any form.
"I guess we're like a parody of a spy novel, but we're real."
Rossmiller's role, however, was circumventing reality. Once she joined
7-Seas, she began creating various personae of violent, Islamic men.
"I'd never be taken seriously at those Web sites as a woman," she said.
Paying attention to detail
The ruse requires careful preparation. Rossmiller, with her husband's
help, creates false "proxies" to indicate her e-mails originated from
the Middle East. She uses a commercial translation tool to decipher
messages and to change her text to Arabic. She studies the Koran and
searches out actual addresses and names of Mosques and clerics to refer
to. She keeps a world clock and makes sure she never sends a message
during the hours she would be praying.
An early riser, she makes most of her communications between the hours
of 4 a.m. and 7 a.m., when it is afternoon in the Middle East.
Her efforts soon paid off. Within a few months of searching, she began
communicating with a person who claimed to be an arms dealer. She calls
him "Rocket Man."
"This character said he had missiles and missile parts for sale," said
Rossmiller. "I went about it pretty slowly, said I didn't believe him.
"I really didn't believe it when he sent me a picture of himself and his
address."
Rossmiller turned the dealer in to the FBI. She's never learned what was
done with the information.
Then, last October, she came across a man who called himself "Amir Abdul
Rashid, a brother fighting on the wrong side." In reality, "Rashid"
allegedly was Anderson, a 26-year-old tank driver with the 81st Armor
Brigade at Fort Lewis.
Rossmiller will not discuss her upcoming testimony in Anderson's
court-martial. Her testimony in the May hearing, however, made it clear
that she had extensive communication with the guardsman.
"This is like a second job for all of us," she said. "I probably devote
as much time to it as I do to being a judge."
After exchanging 27 e-mails with "Rashid," Rossmiller called the FBI.
Undercover agents then met with Anderson in a secretly videotaped
session, during which he designated vulnerable points on a tank and
offered other information.
Rossmiller netted an arrest.
"Shannen's the only member of the group who makes contact with
terrorists," said Astley, the longest tenured of the 7-Seas.
"I guess we could be likened to a militia and have been. For the most
part we visit terrorist Web sites. We analyze the data and we try to
inform the appropriate authorities.
"But the word 'militia' has some unpleasant connotations. We believe in
what we're doing and we try to bring terrorists to justice, but we're
not vigilantes. ... "
Often, said Astley, the group has no idea what is done with the warnings
they pass on to authorities.
Her identity aired in court
The organization also has been obscure. Few among government agencies
will acknowledge their existence, and few among the intelligence
community are aware of them.
Within the latter group however, 7-Seas has drawn some small praise.
"We applaud their efforts, what little we know of them," said Elizabeth
Bancroft, executive director of the Association of Former Intelligence
Officers in Washington, D.C.
That service has a price, however. When Rossmiller was called to testify
in Anderson's preliminary hearing in May, her identity and her
membership in 7-Seas were revealed. Days after she appeared in court,
phone threats were called in to Rossmiller's office in Conrad, and she
has been under police protection since.
The experience was sobering for Rossmiller and other members of her
group.
"I think about it, but I don't worry about it constantly. One of the
good things about living in a town the size of Conrad is that it would
be pretty difficult for a stranger to be here for any length of time and
not be noticed."
evan.moore@chron.com
To: All
Came across this while trying to learn Flash.
Figured it might be a good resource for some of the newer visitors to this thread. Someone might want to archive this, it's a rather old article, never know when it might disappear.
The stuff about the "deep web", files that are in formats that aren't recognized by standard web crawlers, is very interesting.
Good Luck.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0%2C1759%2C1306756%2C00.asp
1,635 posted on
07/13/2004 7:34:55 PM PDT by
1_Inch_Group
(Gun Owners. The front line of homeland defence)
To: JustPiper
Thanks for everything you do, Justpiper.
I'm deeply touched.
For a while now, the Threat Matrix has endured some rough times. Flame wars and spamming. Accusations and counter-accusations. Trolls and lockdowns by the moderators. At this time, when the threat is the largest and most aggressive that it has ever been since 9/11, our thread is at a crossroads.
The Threat Matrix is in a very unusual position. There are those who want to see it go in a certain direction, while there are others who think it should be handled in a different way. No doubt, there are also those who do not like the light of truth the Threat Matrix exposes on certain subjects. Due to the nature of the topic we discuss here, there are also those who wish the Threat Matrix to end, perhaps even a few of those who post here. The dilemma that we face is inherent in the way we operate. With no guidelines, leadership, or principles, it is my belief the the thread would become far too chaotic to be useful. On the other hand, not all of us will agree upon what is valid subject matter for the thread. There is no such thing as leadership by committee.
We are all grateful guests of Jim Robinson. This is his "turf" and he can do with it what he sees fit. If the Threat Matrix becomes too much of a pain to moderate, no doubt it will be pulled...and rightly so. We have to police ourselves, lest we draw the negative attention of our host. The problem that I see is that there is no effective way for us to police ourselves. Ironically, there is a similar situation happening today in ham radio. As long as the hams keep quiet and don't get too far out of line, no one touches them. But if too many crackpots cause trouble, the iron fist will come down on amateur radio (the iron fist being the FCC in this case). Self-policing does not seem to work very well in amateur radio; which I don't think is a phenomena limited to ham radio.
There have been many allegations of various cliques either running people off the thread or trying to impose their will on others. It's hard for me to get a grasp on what I think about that idea. In any social network, you are going to have "cliques" just based on the fact that certain personalities get along better than others. I don't doubt there has been some unfair targeting of people based upon the likes and dislikes of a clique. I also do not doubt that there are also some people who take suggestions by their peers way too personally. Once again, we are back to the problem of self-policing.
I've tried to do my best to defend the thread from what I saw as threats to its existence. I may have been too judgmental or harsh at times, and for that I do apologize. I have also tried to maintain a level of impartiality and to give everyone a fair shake. God knows I'm not perfect and have not always held true to those principles. I don't know any of you personally, but I feel that I have made a few friends here. For what it's worth, I sorely miss the early days when things were running so smoothly.
Believe it or not, there is a point to this rant. We find ourselves at a point where we need to decide what we want to do with the thread. Overall, I was happy with the way we have conducted business, but I am questioning things now. Obviously, there is no way we will have an absolute leader who can set the rules and enforce them. None of the people who have the power to moderate have the desire or time to perform that function. None of us here have the capability to perform the functions of moderator. That leaves us in limbo. We can't seem to come to a consensus on how to run the thread and we don't have anyone who can or will lay down the rules. At this point, I'm wondering if we should not just let the Threat Matrix be a free-for-all thread. Obviously there are the rules of Free Republic to follow, but other than that, anything goes. Then let nature take its course.
Thanks for indulging my rant, I hope I haven't put any of you to sleep. Whether or not you agree with what I am proposing, please at least take the time to reflect on what I have said. For all of those who are committed to fighting for what's right, God bless you. For those of you working to tear down this great nation, the last hope of mankind, may you be paid back threefold the evil you have delivered unto mankind.
1,781 posted on
07/14/2004 12:19:56 AM PDT by
thecabal
("For all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" --Aragorn)
To: JustPiper
Call me a troll if you like but as I read through these threads, I can't shake the feeling that if terrorists are indeed monitoring this thread, they must be laughing their collective asses off.
1,868 posted on
07/14/2004 7:59:46 AM PDT by
Trampled by Lambs
("Making Al Gore regret inventing the internet, one post at a time")
To: JustPiper; Cindy
2,513 posted on
07/15/2004 10:42:29 AM PDT by
thecabal
("For all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!" --Aragorn)
To: JustPiper
To: JustPiper
http://michellemalkin.com/
TERROR IN THE SKIES III
By Michelle Malkin · July 16, 2004 03:05 PM
I have been speaking with Brendi Rawlin of Porter Novelli (PR rep for Womens Wall Street). According to Brendi, the Washington Post has been sitting on the true story of Annie Jacobsen's "Terror in the Skies" account since last Friday. Dave Adams, the air marshal's spokesman, not only confirmed the story, but has also apparently supplied witness statements and other corroborations of Jacobsen's account. NBC Nightly News, ABC, and Dateline NBC are now on the story as well.
More to come...
To: JustPiper; All
A VERY PRECIOUS TMMMer has come forward offering Jerseygirl a 4 year old machine fully loaded.
But we need shipping costs. I'm waiting to get an estimate on that from CA to Penn.
If you think you can help out whether making such a trip for other reasons or however, please let me know by FREEPMAIL.
THANKS TONS.
3,700 posted on
07/17/2004 4:15:33 PM PDT by
Quix
(PRAYER WARRIORS, DO YOUR STUFF! LIVES, SOULS AND NATIONS DEPEND ON IT)
To: JustPiper
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1173767/posts
Jordanian charged with lying to obtain pilot's license (Sami Abuhamatto, Age 24)
BROOKFIELD, Ill. - A Jordanian man living in the U.S. illegally is accused of lying about his immigration status to obtain a pilot's license.
Sami Abuhamatto, 24, was arrested on Friday and is charged in federal court with making a false statement on his application. He will remain in custody until Monday when a detention hearing will be held.
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