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Locked on 11/01/2006 8:25:25 PM PST by Lead Moderator, reason:
November thread: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1730468/posts |
Posted on 10/01/2006 5:29:13 PM PDT by nwctwx
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Oct 19 10:58 AM US/Eastern By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer
The FBI interviewed a Milwaukee resident Thursday who officials believe was involved in posting Internet threats about dirty bomb attacks on NFL football stadiums this weekend. The threats appeared to be phony....
A very useful tool. NY area.
http://gothamist.com/labs/map
Wow! Thanks...planning a trip to NY soon...but hey after reading this...ummm...maybe not!
Ping to #1322
LOL, I know what you mean.
Thankfully, I didn't find a site like this for Chicago or I'd never leave my desk.
By LARA JAKES JORDAN
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON
The FBI interviewed a Milwaukee resident Thursday who
officials believe was involved in posting Internet
threats about dirty bomb attacks on NFL football
stadiums this weekend. The threats appeared to be phony.
The person, described only as a young adult, did not
appear to have any ties to terrorist groups, according
to a Washington law enforcement official who spoke on
condition of anonymity because the investigation was
ongoing.
In Milwaukee, FBI spokesman Richard K. Ruminski said the
"individual has come forward and provided information
about the posting of the threat against the NFL
stadiums. The U.S. government still believes this threat
is non-credible."
"As this is an ongoing matter, we will not provide
any additional information at this time," Ruminski said
in a statement.
The threats about radioactive bombs, posted on a Web
site a week ago, were not backed up by intelligence
indicating such an attack might be imminent, according
to the FBI and the Homeland Security Department.
Homeland Security on Wednesday alerted the NFL and
authorities in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle,
Houston, Oakland and Cleveland, saying they were acting
"out of an abundance of caution."
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke on Wednesday
said the threat was viewed "with strong skepticism."
Still, the agency contacted the National Football
League, local authorities and stadium owners. Also
notified was the National Collegiate Athletic
Association.
The online posting, dated Oct. 12, was part of an
ongoing conversation titled "New Attack on America Be
Afraid." It appeared on a Web site, that links to
various online forums and off- color cartoons. The
site's Internet provider declined to comment.
The message said trucks would deliver radiological bombs
to stadiums in New York, Miami, Atlanta, Seattle
, Houston, Oakland and Cleveland _ and that al-Qaida
leader Osama bin Laden would claim responsibility.
A dirty bomb would use conventional explosives to
scatter radioactive material. Such a blast probably
would not cause many deaths, experts say, but the fear
of contamination could spark panic. Land and buildings
hit with radioactive particles might be unusable for
years.
Authorities traced the site's Internet provider to Voxel
Dot Net Inc., which has support and engineering staff
based in Troy, N.Y. A man who answered the phone at
Voxel Wednesday declined to give his name, said he was
unaware of the posted threat and refused further comment.
The author of the threats, posted at 9:31 p.m. EDT on
Oct. 12, identified himself online as "javness."
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello said stadiums are
well-protected through "comprehensive security
procedures" that include bag searches and pat- downs.
Officials were made aware of the Web posting on Monday.
The threat was time for Sunday, marking the final day in
Mecca of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month.
A copy of the posting said: "The death toll will
approach 100,000 from the initial blasts and countless
other fatalities will later occur as result from
radioactive fallout."
It said al-Qaida automatically would receive blame for
the nearly simultaneous attacks, and predicted, "Later,
through Al-Jazeera, Osama bin Laden will issue a video
message claiming responsibility for what he dubbed
'America's Hiroshima.'"
The posting noted that all of the stadiums cited, with
the exception of Atlanta's, are open-air arenas. "Due
to the open air, the radiological fallout will destroy
those not killed in the initial explosion." The
retractable roof in Houston has been closed for all
games this season.
In Indianapolis, where the Colts were preparing for a
home game this weekend, head coach Tony Dungy said,
"I've been waiting for this to happen for a couple of
years now and you try and handle the security and put it
out of your mind." http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/19/D8KRP5CO0.html
Yesterday, the Reform Party of Syria ("RPS"), one of the many Syrian dissident groups and a good source of information, sent a blast email charging the following: "The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood (SMB), in alliance with the ex-vice president of Syria Abdul Halim Khaddam, a staunch Ba'athist, have opened an office in Washington DC. The aim of the office is to infiltrate the US government to influence its apathy towards political Islam. RPS has learned that Ammar Abdul Hamid, a Syrian intellectual who works at Brookings Institute, will be running the office for the National Salvation Front. His duties are to sell political Islam and Ba'athism to reluctant US government officials and to give the Muslim Brotherhood a platform in the Think Tank community of Washington from which they can preach democracy."
Intrigued, I called the Brookings Institution's Saban Center for Middle East Policy, where Abdulhamid is a nonresident fellow, and asked for a response. They issued a press release last night stating: "Mr. Abdulhamid is not a member of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and has never been. He is not opening and will not be opening an office for the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and/or the National Salvation Front in Washington DC... Ammar Abdulhamid is a founding liberal member of the NSF, a broad-based, pragmatic coalition of Syrian opposition groups and independent liberal activists... Mr. Abdulhamid is also the director of the Tharwa Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving public information and discussion regarding diversity and human rights issues in the Arab world." A spokeperson for the Center also called me and vociferously denied it (and I mean really vociferously). You can read the press release here.
I conducted some research on Abdulhamid and asked two others (who asked to remain anonymous) who are well known in Washington for their expertise on Syrian dissident groups and the MB. I did the standard Google search on Abdulhamid and found his English-language personal blog site and another personal website, his Arabic-language site, the website of the Tharwa Project, and the website for DarEmar, which Abdulhamid describes as "a publishing house/NGO dedicated to raising the standards of civic awareness in the Arab World." I found nothing on the English-language sites which directly links him to the Syrian MB or leads me to believe he's a MB sympathizer. The Tharwa Project is opening an office in Washington, but I did not find any such announcement about the National Salvation Front (English site here and Arabic site here). The combined information from the two experts is (a) there is no explicit evidence that Abdulhamid is a MB member or sympathizer; (b) the National Salvation Front includes many anti-Assad elements, including MB; (c) the Tharwa Foundation, to the best of knowledge, doesn't have explicit ties to MB (and "Tharwa" means "fortune" in case you're wondering); and (d) it's possible, of course, that Mr. Abdulhamid has periodically entered, accidentally or purposefully, into a tactical relationship with MB types in the course of his work (but that's not apparent from the websites or the RPS press release).
I don't read Arabic and welcome readers' translations of the linked Arabic sites above. In the meantime, my conclusions are: (a) the RPS should either substantiate the charge or recant it; (b) I smell an internecine conflict between Syrian dissident groups which is not beneficial to their cause; and (c) Mr. Abdulhamid appears to be careful about his associations and, hopefully, will remain careful. My thanks to the Saban Center for their rapid response and to my two expert friends for their contributions. I will post updates to this story as needed.
"PC baloney"
You're right on target.
Wowser, thanks for that followup all4one.
Duly noted.
It's a small world, isn't it?
""It's one of the largest cash seizures that I can think of," narcotics Capt. Chris Werner said."
Smiling...now, now, who is going to go to the PD to claim that money?
Have a great time.
It should be a wonderful weekend.
Well, we have at least one man on the ground there who will be monitoring things and will report on any "infiltration."
Smiling; just saw this.
Ok, I started here at the top link and finished off at the bottom link (for archived info purposes).
That's a very good resource, Velveeta.
Adding it to my list.
Can you provide a link or source showing the article has nothing to do with terrorism? I have no idea if the article is true, or false, but it is more interesting than what someone is having for dinner tonight or how many berries they picked, which certainly has nothing to do with a terror threat.
Don't shoot the messenger, just scroll right on by posts you don't want to read. What is it about that particular bit of info, that has caused WOMEN to become hysterical and have a negative reaction. Aren't we all on the same side?
In the meanwhile, there seems to be no point in donating a dollar a day to be insulted.
I was kind of surprised to see it. I don't know much about it, but I created his bio when he joined recently. I went to his sites and did a little reading, seems like an up and up guy and I think that's the idea counterterrorismblog is trying to get across.
probably better discussed privately, I'd think.
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