Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Fifteen

CNN ^ | 07/25/04 | N/A

[JustPiper]

Credit: The Cabal

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the Judge and get informed.


"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

Group linked to al Qaeda warns of 'columns of car bombs'

Australia and Italy have received warnings through a statement purportedly from militants linked to al Qaeda that demanded those countries withdraw troops from Iraq.

We are the "Stotters" who make ourselves aware of the enemy who wishes to do us harm.



Meet It!
Greet It!
Defeat It!

LINK TO THREAD FOURTEEN

[tmp02]

I think you meant Clinton, right? That was during the Cole bombing that was during Clinton's administration.

[tmp02]

I don't remember is this has been listed yet:

100 Kilos of Plastic Explosives found going from Iraq into Turkey

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1181964/posts

[appalachian_dweller]

I was referring to the 911 attacks. Sorry, I should have been clearer, but it is Friday....

[tmp02]

Sorry, I probably misunderstood you...like you said...Friday.

[Cindy]

NOTE: The following text is an exact quote:
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http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/NJ_Press/files/uti0729_r.htm
07-29-04 -- Teng Fang Li and Nei-Chien Chu -- Indictment -- News Release

Company President and Wife Indicted for Illegal Sale of National-Security Sensitive Items to Chinese Interests

CAMDEN - The president of a Mount Laurel company and his wife were arraigned on a 46-count Indictment unsealed today, charging that they used their business to illegally export sensitive national-security controlled items to state-sponsored research institutes and factories within the People's Republic of China, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Teng Fang Li, a/k/a "Terry Li," 63, president of Universal Technologies, Inc. (UTI) and his wife Nei-Chien Chu, a/ka/ "Pearl Li," 58, both of Cherry Hill, were indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday. The Indictment, which was unsealed today with the arrest of Nei-Chien Chu, charges them with one count of conspiracy, 10 counts of money laundering, 22 counts of exporting in violation of the Export Administration Act (EAA), and 13 counts of making false statements in violation of the EAA.

Teng Fang Li and six additional officers and employees of UTI and Manten Electronics, Inc. (both Mount Laurel companies) were arrested July 1, 2004, on criminal complaints charging that they used their businesses to illegally export national-security controlled items to the People's Republic of China. Nei-Chien Chu, who was not charged in the earlier criminal complaints, was arrested at her home this morning on the charges contained in the Indictment.

Two separate criminal Complaints on July 1 alleged that officers and employees of UTI and Manten were violating U.S. export laws. A multi-agency task force consisting of agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Department of Commerce have been conducting an investigation since January 2003.

Today's Indictment and the July 1 press release and two criminal complaints are available on the Internet at www.njusao.org

According to the Indictment, Teng Fang Li and Nei-Chien Chu were illegally exporting items that are used in a wide variety of defense weapons systems, including radar, smart weapons, electronic warfare and communications. The Indictment describes the scheme in which the defendants used various techniques to conceal their export activities, such as providing false statements on shipping documents to conceal that the shipments contained national-security controlled items by falsely certifying on shipping documents that no license was required to ship the goods to China when, in fact, a license was required.

In addition to the 46-counts, the Indictment includes a forfeiture allegation which gives notice that upon a conviction on the charges, the government intends to seek forfeiture of the defendants assets and various bank accounts.

Both defendants had an arraignment today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joel B. Rosen at the federal courthouse in Camden. Judge Rosen set Teng Fang Li's bail at $2 million to be secured by property, with the conditions of 24-hour home arrest with electronic monitoring and surrender of his travel documents, which include both U.S. and Taiwanese passports. Nei-Chien Chu's bail was set at $1 million to be secured by property with the same other conditions as her husband.

The conspiracy charge carries a maximum penalty 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each count of money laundering carries a maximum penalty 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount of the money laundering, whichever is greater. The violations of the Export Administration Regulations carry a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Both defendants are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Despite Indictment, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr., in Newark; the Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Sidney M. Simon, in New York; and the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge David Palmatier, in Philadelphia, with developing the investigation.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith H. Germano of the Criminal Division in Newark.

- end -

[Labyrinthos]

Good place for a bookmark.

[Honestly]

My faith is what's been keeping me sane. I sense an impending strike, but I also believe that TPTB have averted more than just a few.

Philippians 4:6-7 is helping me lately:

Be anxious about nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

[Honestly]

Your question about where the terrorists are getting their intel made me think about where a lot of the big cyber attacks have originated. Russia, China, and North Korea have been behind a number of them, and al Qaeda brags about hacking into SCADA and military sites. DHS stated again this week that we're vulnerable in cyber space. One of the problems is that it's hard for us to think like the enemy because we haven't been oppressed all of our lives like they have. We need to think deviously too.

[Honestly]

I keep reading that Zarqawi has been caught too. It seems that China and Asia are covering it. Would the U.S. hold the news until the DNA results are back?

July 30, 2004
Kuwaiti newspaper: Zarqawi captured on Syrian - Iraq border

Reports in Kuwait on Friday said a man assumed to be Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab Zarqawi has been captured near the Syrian border.

Zarqawi, whose Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks in Iraq, was captured during a joint operation by US forces and Iraqi police, Al Siyasah newspaper, quoting informed Iraqi sources, said Friday.

The US and Iraqi investigators are trying to identify the captive and has sent his DNA sample for testing, the unconfirmed report indicated.

Zarqawi is the most wanted suspect in Iraq and has a US bounty of $25 million on his head.

http://www.albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=282053&lang=e&dir=news

[MWestMom]

Regarding post 2710 - Hahahahahahahahahah!!!! Now that made me spray Pepsi out my nose! I am not ready for four years of that - ever!

[HipShot]

That's a very hard thing to do. The reality of what I'm considering when I do it tends to slap me in the face. I suppose that the problem is that there is little I can do to defend against the plans I come up with. Some weak spots are systemic and can't be fixed. Others are political and WON'T be fixed.

We also need a fairly accurate resource list to get close to what may happen.


Cunning leads to knavery. It is but a step from one to the other, and that very slippery. Only lying makes the difference; add that to cunning, and it is knavery."
---Ovid

[Donna Lee Nardo]

Yes it does; I agree with you. That old "cagey" part is telling. I believe they can say more but choose not to. Darn them.

[HipShot]

Part III: Terror in the Skies, Again? [Update!]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1181990/posts

[Honestly]

I agree that it's difficult to get a glimpse into what they must be plotting because we're not inclined to embrace such hideous cruelties. I'm trying to educate myself on how their twisted minds think. This article gave some insight about how terrorists don't follow Islam:

Like Sheep without a Shepherd: The Lack of Leadership in Sunni Islam Dr. J.A. Morrow, Ph.D.

Be it in Palestine or Egypt, Iraq or Afghanistan, New York City or Madrid, Bali or Casablanca, Karachi or Baghdad, the attacks by Islamic groups are directly linked to the lack of leadership in Sunni Islam.

In Islam, the spiritual chain of command is clear. Muslims are obliged to follow the Quran, the Sunnah and the Ulema (scholars). The Holy Quran calls upon Muslims to: Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and the holders of authority from among you (4:59). The holders of authority are the religious scholars and not, as has been erroneously interpreted, leaders in general.

The Prophet Muhammad stressed the authority of the Ulema over the Muslim Ummah (public). He said that: "On the Day of Judgment I will take pride in the scholars of my community, for the scholars of my community are like the prophets preceding me." He also declared that "The scholars are rulers over the people" and that "The scholars are the heirs of the prophets."

So long as Muslims hold fast to the Quran, the Sunnah, and the Ulema, the guardians of the sacred sciences, they are sure not to stray. The Prophet Muhammad warned that in later days the worst of the people would become its leader. While this applies to despots and dictators, it applies equally to unqualified upstarts who assume the leadership of the Islamic movement.

In Afghanistan, the Taliban were led by Mullah Mohammed Omar, a parochial person who never even visited the capital Kabul. Although Mullah Omar never completed his religious education, he was bold enough to grant himself the title of Amir al-Muminin and cover himself with the Prophets cloak.

In Egypt, the ranks of the Islamic Jihad are filled with the young, the uneducated, the disenfranchised and the desperate. While the Islamic Jihad does indeed include intellectuals and professionals - most of whom went over the edge because of torture - the group is not led by bona fide religious scholars, which leads to obvious excesses like the November 1997 massacre of 58 tourists and 4 Egyptians at Luxor in southern Egypt.

As for Al Qaeda, known as the World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders, its leaders include Usama bin Laden, a civil engineer, and Ayman al-Zawahari, a medical doctor who became the leader of the military wing of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, the Vanguards of Conquest, in the 1990s. Its other senior leaders include Mohammed Atef, bin Ladens military chief, who was a police officer in Egypt.

As for Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of the nebulous Al Tawhid group, he was raised in an unfurnished hut with only mattresses on the floor. Although this high school dropout possesses no scholarly credentials of any sort, he assumes the title of Shaykh (tribal leader) and acts in the name of Islam, bringing shame to the religion of mercy he claims to follow.

How is it, then, that such individuals have assumed a leadership role in the Sunni world? While the question is complex, part of the problem lies in the closing of the doors of ijtihad in the 10th century. Ijtihad refers to the post-Prophetic interpretation and application of Islamic Law to changing times and circumstances. Those who practice ijtihad are known as mujtahidun or jurists while taqlid refers to the act of following a mujtahid. In the early centuries of Islam, when the doors of ijtihad were still open, any new development was interpreted and analyzed in light of the Quran and Sunnah. Since the demise of ijtihad one thousand years ago, Sunni Muslims have been obliged to follow the law as understood and interpreted by medieval scholars. For this reason, Sunnism sometimes has difficulty dealing with modernity.

Issues like birth control, insurance, interest and cloning are often received in a reactionary fashion by Sunni Muslims, particularly among the Wahhabis and Salafis, who adhere to an arid literalism and reject the very concepts of taqlid which they denounce as blind following. Without taqlid the most learned living mujtahid, Sunni Muslims are left without vital direction and guidance. As a result, some Sunni militants deliberately target civilians, including women and children, and engage in atrocities such as rape and torture as was seen in Afghanistan and Algeria. Clearly - where scholars are absent, ignorance will reign.

The revival of ijtihad among Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jamaah (Sunni Muslims) is imperative. A living tradition of ijtihad would keep Islamic Law active, modern and contemporary. The demise of ijtihad and taqlid among Sunnis has left a void which is increasingly being filled by scholarly charlatans and merchants of religion.

Individuals like bin Laden and Al Zawahari have no authority whatsoever to pass fatwas or religious edicts. Not only are they not mujtahids, they are not even alims (educated). It is a case of the blind leading the blind which leads to errors and excess. The creation of an independent scholarly hierarchy of tolerant, moderate and mainstream Muslims is long overdue.

As a result of closing the doors of ijtihad, the independent interpretation of Islamic Law based on reasoning, many Sunni Muslim militants of today are like sheep without a shepherd, wandering aimlessly in the night. In the context of Sunni Islam, ignorance is not bliss. It is death and destruction. Unless Sunni Muslims hold fast to the Quran, the Sunnah (the Prophets practice) and the Ulema, the ignorant among them will continue to fall prey to wolves in sheepskins, illegitimate leaders and pseudo-scholars.

http://albawaba.com/news/index.php3?sid=281721&lang=e&dir=news

[appalachian_dweller]

As usual, going offline for the weekend.

Prayers out to everyone (especially TMers) for a safe, happy, fun, relaxing weekend. We all need it. It's been a busy week for us. I expect the trend to continue.

God Bless

A_D

[MamaDearest]

It would wipe out a lot of CEO's...

Please add attorneys and politicians to that list.

[HipShot]

Thanks

[HipShot]

Have a BLAST!

[Honestly]

You're welcome.

[Mrs. Xtrmst]

Yes, it's been mentioned but thanks for the link. I know there was discussion of something with the President's visit to either NM or AZ last Spring (sorry Southwesterners...I get those two states confused). What was the time frame of that visit & was there any other concern with that region for May 2004?