Threat Matrix: July 2007

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[nwctwx]

Threat Matrix:
July 2007

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Preparedness

US Steps Up Security Following Attack in Britain

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff made appearances on several television talk shows.

He told ABC's This Week program there is no indication of a linkage between the events in Britain and any specific attacks on the United States. "We do not have, at this point, specific, credible intelligence that there is an attack, a particular attack, focused on this country," he said.

But at the same time, speaking on CNN's Late Edition program, Chertoff said U.S. authorities are concerned about the threat of terrorism, especially in the coming months. "We have had a number of al-Qaida leaders quite publicly talking about how they want to carry out their threats against the West. So, given that and given the history that we have had over past summers, with attacks in Britain, I think we were clearly focused on this as a possibility," he said. Full story...

	More United Kingdom Attacks Possible
	More US Air Marshals on Flights to Europe
	Officials: Car Bomb Plot Bears al Qaida's Trademark

[Cindy]

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=25&sid=1195116

“Teen Assaulted by Man Posing as Officer”
July 20, 2007 - 1:49pm

CHANTILLY, Va. -

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The suspect is described as a white man in his 30s, about 6-feet-tall and approximately 160 pounds. He was wearing dark clothing. The suspect was driving an older model Chevrolet Caprice with dull, black paint. The car had a flashing blue light in the dash and tinted windows.

Anyone with information is asked to call Fairfax County Police at 703-691-2131 or Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).”

[Cindy]

http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/pa/pa_1161.html

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
This information is current as of today, Sat Jul 21 2007 03:59:12 GMT-0700.

Worldwide Caution

April 10, 2007

[Godzilla]

placemark

[callmejoe]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/884445.html

Last update - 20:44 21/07/2007
Lieberman urges establishing emergency gov’t to face Iranian threat
By Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondent

(excerpted)

Minister of Strategic Threats Avigdor Lieberman on Saturday called for the establishment of an emergency national unity government in light of the strategic threat posed by the tightening ties between Syria and Iran.

The right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu patry head urged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the chairman of the opposition Benjamin Netanyahu to form an alliance after the London-based Arabic-language newspaper Ashraq Al-Awsat reported Saturday that Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had pledged to help Syria conduct nuclear research during a visit to Damascus earlier this week.

In exchange, Syria agreed not to engage in peace talks with Israel, the newspaper reported. According to the report, Iran also pledged to provide Syria with $1 billion in military aid to purchase arms from Russia and North Korea.

In response to this report, Lieberman said that the relations between Syrian President Bashar Assad and Ahmadinejad “require Israel to reevaluate the political and military preparation” and added that “the Iranian threat is situated outside any political discussion, and therefore I urge Prime Minister Olmert and opposition chair Netanyahu to consider forming an emergency national unity government.”

On Friday, Olmert called on Assad to begin direct peace negotiations, without American mediation. The report was filed by the newspaper’s internationally respected Iranian correspondent Ali Nouri Zadeh, and is based comments made by an Iranian source who followed the talks in Damascus. . .

During his visit to Damascus on Thursday, Ahmadinejad met with Assad, Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah, and Hamas political chief Khaled Meshal. Ahmadinejad welcomed what he called Hezbollah’s victory over Israel in last summer’s war in Lebanon and called for a similar “victory” this summer. . .

[Rushmore Rocks]

VERY bad news. But thanks for the ping.

[callmejoe]

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyid=2007-07-21T181414Z_01_L21684200_RTRUKOC_0_US-ISRAEL-SYRIA.xml

Israel’s Olmert rejects Syria conditions for talks
Sat Jul 21, 2007 2:14 PM ET (excerpted)

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Syria was setting an “impossible threshold” for peace talks by demanding Israel commit to withdraw fully from the occupied Golan Heights before negotiations resume. In remarks broadcast on Saturday by Israel’s Channel 10 television, Olmert responded to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s call in a speech on Tuesday for Israel to guarantee a full pullback from the land it captured in a 1967 war.

Olmert said Israel was ready to withdraw from the Golan. “Certainly we will also have to make concessions,” he said at a collective farm in northern Israel. But Assad’s demand for a guarantee to remove Jewish settlers and troops from the entire territory before talks resumed “creates conditions that set an impossible threshold for the start of negotiations,” Olmert said. Israeli leaders have agreed in the past to withdraw from the Golan in exchange for a peace treaty with Syria. But the last negotiations between the sides broke down in 2000 over a dispute about the terms of such an Israeli pullout. . .

http://www.france24.com/france24Public/en/administration/afp-news.html?id=070721150331.ivdqa3ii&cat=null

21/07/07 16h03 GMT+1

AFP News brief
Israel rejects Golan pullout before peace talks: report (excerpted)

Israel has rejected a Syrian demand that it withdraw from the Golan Heights it has occupied since 1967 before peace talks can resume between the two countries, public radio reported on Saturday. “When the Syrian president says that Israel must commit to pulling back to the lines of June 4, 1967 he is imposing a prior condition” that is unacceptable, it quoted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as saying on Friday. “I cannot accept this before negotiations even begin,” the radio quoted Olmert as saying during a visit to northern Israel.

It said he reiterated the Israeli position that any talks with Syria must be direct, which Damascus rejects. “I want to make peace with all Arab states and I want to do so through direct negotiations, as was the case with Egypt and Jordan,” Olmert said. On Tuesday Syrian President Bashar al-Assad called on Israeli leaders “to state in a clear and official manner their desire for peace” and “to give guarantees that all of our land will be returned.” He was speaking in parliament in Damascus after being sworn in for a second seven-year presidential term. . .

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3428012,00.html

Axis of evil increasing, MK says

Knesset members censure military deal between Iran and Syria, with some, including Lieberman, calling for emergency national government

Amnon Meranda

The strengthening ties between Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad “require Israel to prepare itself anew from a governmental, military and political perspective,” said Strategic Affair Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in response to reports of a military deal between Iran and Syria.

“The Iranian threat lies outside the realm of political argument. As such, I call on the government and the head of the opposition (MK Benjamin Netanyahu) to reconsider the possibility of an national emergency government,” the Yisrael Beiteinu chairman, added. According to a Saturday report in the London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, Tehran will help Syria fund future arms deals with North Korea and Russia, set up military plants in there and back Syria on the Lebanon issue. In return, Assad promised Ahmadinejad to refrain from entering peace talks with Israel.

The deal had a number of Knesset up in arms. In light of the situation, Kadima member Isaac Ben-Israel also called for the establishment of a national emergency emergency government. “Iran openly supported Hizbullah during the war against Israel last summer and came out unscathed. Now the Iranian president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) is trying to broaden the axis of evil to include Syria. Israel’s silence will only encourage Tehran to become even more extreme and even transfer nuclear technology to Syria,” he said.

Fellow party member Tzachi Hanegbi called the international community’s apathy to the growing strength of this ‘axis of evil’ troubling. Iran is becoming an increased threat not only to Israel but to the region’s stability, the pragmatic Arab regimes and the hegemony of the realist and sane West,” said Hanegbi, chairman of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. The MK added “the fact that Syria joined Iran is indicative of the adventurous and hasty nature of President Bashar Assad... Unlike his father Hafez, Bashar is taking unnecessary risks that are jeopardizing his regime.”

Knesset Member Arieh Eldad (National Union-NRP) said the agreement between Iran and Syria is “reminiscent of the pacts that were signed on the eve of the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars”. “The Iranian decision will lead to the launching of an attack on Israel from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran,” he stated. “For some reason, the government of Israel, chooses to ignore not only intelligence information, but even information that is published for all to see,” he said.

On the other side of the spectrum, Knesset member Yossi Beilin agreed that the deal was troubling, but interpreted it as an indication that direct talks with Syria were needed. “The threat from the north is growing right before our eyes, and our government is responding only by rejecting Syrian President Bashar Assad’s statements,” the Meretz party chairman said. “Those who today are refusing to enter direct or indirect talks with Syria instead of acting in Israel’s interests may find themselves responsible for another round of unnecessary bloodshed in the region,” he added.

[callmejoe]

” . . . Before Ahmadinejad and party departed Damascus Thursday night, they visited two important Shiite shrines and prayed for victory in the near future. Witnesses heard the Iranian president sobbing loudly.”

http://www.debka.com/headline.php?hid=4429

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Ahmadinejad follows up Damascus talks with a council of war in Tehran Friday with Hizballah, Hamas and Jihadi Islami leaders

July 21, 2007, 4:28 PM (GMT+02:00)

Our Iranian and intelligence sources reveal that the Iranian president flew out of Damascus Thursday with this group saying: “I prefer cooler places but this region faces a torrid summer of victories.”

Aboard his plane were four HIzballlah leaders, Secy-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, defense chief Imad Mughniyeh, chief of staff Ibrahim Aqil and chief of special operations Unit 1800 Hajj Khalil Harb; and Jihad Islami’s Abdallah Ramadan Shalah and operations chief Zaid Nahle.

Head of Hamas’ Damascus HQ Khaled Meshaal did not join the party flying to Tehran to avoid giving his Saudi and Egyptian friends the impression he was in Iran’s pocket. Either he flew there earlier, or else assigned a Hamas representative based in the Gulf to represent his moement at the council of war in Tehran.

As for Syria’s role, DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that 20 high-ranking Iranian officers were on the Iran president’s flight to Damascus, headed by defense minister Mustafa Najar. They did not join Ahmadinejad’s talks with Syrian president Bashar Assad. Instead, they were driven to Syrian General Staff headquarters, where they were awaited by Syrian defense minister Gen. Hassan Turkmani, chief of staff Gen. Ali Habib and corps commanders.

Our intelligence sources believe this conference was in fact round one of the council of war which continued in Tehran Friday with Hizballah and Palestinian terrorist chiefs.

The most urgent decision facing the Iran-Syrian alliance concerns Lebanon and how far they can go to get rid of the pro-Western Siniora government in Beirut. Both Iran and Syria understand the United States and France will not stand for its ouster by military or terrorist means. But time is running out. The international tribunal is about to be installed to start hearing the Hariri assassination case and must be stopped before Assad and aides are prosecuted. Tehran and Damascus must decide quickly whether to focus on subversive action inside Lebanon or resort to diversionary tactics such as fomenting trouble against Israel on the Golan, from the Lebanese border or from Gaza.

Before Ahmadinejad and party departed Damascus Thursday night, they visited two important Shiite shrines and prayed for victory in the near future. Witnesses heard the Iranian president sobbing loudly.

DEBKAfile sources refute the Shawq al-Awsat claim Saturday, July 21,that the Iranian president rewarded Assad for abandoning its quest for a peace track with Israel by one billion dollars for arms purchases from Russia and North Korea - plus Iranian backing on Lebanon issues. The arms Iranian-funded arms deals have been in progress since the beginning of this year, long before Ahmadinejad’s Damascus visit.

http://www.debka.com/headline_print.php?hid=4433

DEBKAfile Exclusive: Hizballah’s Nasrallah records war speech from Tehran council of war. Al Jezeera TV bids for tape

July 21, 2007, 4:57 PM (GMT+02:00)

DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report exclusively that the Hizballah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah whose fiery oratory is a byword in the Arab world, recorded a speech Sat. July 21, in Tehran. He is there secretly with top leaders of his movement to attend a council of war called by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as DEBKAfile revealed exclusively Friday.

Our sources learn that his themes are Lebanon and the Palestinian question and will most likely also include threats to the United States and Israel. The network to air the speech - the Arabic TV Al Jazeera in Qatar, Tehran’s Arabic station, or the Hizballah’s Al Manar which broadcasts from Lebanon – is the subject of intense negotiation. We have learned that Al Jazeera is offering an extra-large fee for exclusive use of the tape, keen to preserve its lead as the preferred platform for top-line radical Muslims, such as al Qaeda big shots. Scheduling will be attuned to the timeline for Hizballah’s military plans.

[Cindy]

Yep.

OPINION: It’s time for the Iranians to rise up NOW and clean up their government.

[nwctwx]

http://www.youtube.com/terrormonitor

= =

7/2007 NIE: A Persistant and Evolving Threat from al Qa’ida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBQxvg6Aj7A
06:11

7/17/07 – FOX News/Brit Hume: The first National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) focused exclusively on dangers to the homeland says al Qa’ida has not given up desire to attack and is strengthening in the badlands of tribal northwestern Pakistan. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell says in reference to al Qa’ida, “they are capable and they are planning, but they are not as robust or as capable as they were in 2001 [prior to 9/11]”. At the same time McConnell notes that al Qa’ida is looking for “mass casualties larger than 9/11 – their intent is mass casualties and their intent is spectacular destruction.” The NIE also warns that al Qa’ida leadership has instructed its operatives to acquire chemical biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) material.

Michael Scheuer and Peter Zeihan on the NIE and al Qa’ida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dni02t3RfIg
06:03

7/18/07 – Fox News/O’Reilly Factor: Michael Scheuer, former chief of the CIA’s bin Laden joins Peter Zeihan of Stratfor.com to discuss al Qa’ida in light of the new Intelligence Estimate. Scheuer agrees that the U.S. has failed to neutralize the effect of al Qa’ida and also believes that still very few understand al Qa’ida. He believes the NIE is correct in that “al Qa’ida is still in operation and we have a second tier of threat from people who are instigated and inspired by bin Laden”. Zeihan points out important differences between today’s al Qa’ida and the al Qa’ida of 2001 that had international financing, freedom to move and simultaneous planning activities in multiple regions.

The “Dirty” Bomb Terror Threat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzp0pwMTzp0
03:25

7/20/07 – CNN: CNN’s International Security Correspondent Paula Newton reports on the threat of a “dirty” bomb being used on a Western target. The International Atomic Energy Agency reports that illicit trafficking in radiological material has more than doubled since 2002. An example of the threat comes from Dhiren Barot who was arrested in 2004 after coming up with a simple scheme – harvest smoke detector material and lace a conventional car bomb with it to spread radioactive waste in the blast. Radioactive material is used throughout the world in unsecured sites such as hospitals and the threat is very real that material could fall into the wrong hands.

Trouble Brewing in Pakistan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXJobO6n1kU
06:28

7/20/07 – CNN International: Critics of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf are celebrating the overturned suspension of chief justice by the Supreme Court who ruled the original decision was “illegal”. Meanwhile, parts of Pakistan have become a safe haven for extremists and new waves of violence have spread across the country following the recent siege at the Red Mosque. The Pakistani military is now attempting to remove extremists yet again after failing in the past while the U.S. in providing support and intelligence. Experts now believe the bloodshed will worsen and that Pakistan will be messy for some time – concern that Musharraf has allied with the wrong groups in the past makes future U.S. intervention possible.

Khurshid Kasuri, Pakistani Foreign Minister, believes that it would be foolish for the United States to attempt to go into Waziristan after al Qa’ida alone and believes the Pakistani army to be capable and committed to removing the threat. U.S. General Peter Pace says the U.S. is working hard with Musharraf based on what he says his country needs but we are not offering more help than requested because it may be counterproductive in the eyes of his citizens.

Is Pakistan On the Brink?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g85bpDUftSI
06:10

7/20/07 – NBC Nightly News: There are fears that great pressure from within will crush President Pervez Musharraf leading to chaos in Pakistan, the region and world. The Bush Administration has poured $10b into the Musharraf government since 9/11 but now critics believe Musharraf may not survive politically while we have no “plan B”. Pakistani officials resoundingly answer “no” when asked about a greater U.S. presence in the country to destroy extremists as their nuclear weapons and growing program appears perilously close to falling into the wrong hands.

President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass joins to explain why U.S. leaders, including himself, stay awake at night worrying about the “nightmare” Pakistan could become. He argues that we are now seeing the beginning of the end of the Musharraf era in Pakistan and he will gradually lose power and he believes this could indeed become the single toughest U.S. foreign policy question in the future.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Thank you all for the interesting articles.

Sounds like the fuel is piled up all over the ME, just waiting for a spark.

Rather like the forest fire threats here and throughout the west.

Truly frightening.

[Cindy]

Thank you nw for the links.

[Cindy]

That’s a very true and accurate analogy, in my opinion, RR.

[Cindy]

Note: Photos and other links included.

Thanks to bd476 for the ping to this post:

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1869615/posts?page=19#19

From the articles:

“...Evidence of training in explosives and poisons, and instructions on flying a Boeing 747 were reportedly found...

...Twenty foreign students were also arrested in a related dawn raid and police said that those without residence permits would be deported...

...The suspects were running an “in-depth operation of instruction and training in the use of weapons and combat techniques suitable for terrorist acts”, police said...

...Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque’s cellar and equipment for remote detonation of explosives was also discovered, they added...” (BBC article linked above)

*****

“...Among the Internet files were instructions on handling poisons, explosives and sending encrypted messages via computer...

Police said there were also ‘instructions aimed at aspiring mujahideen to get safely to conflict zones’...” (ABC News Australia article linked above)

19 posted on 07/21/2007 2:33:44 PM PDT by bd476

#

and the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1869615/posts

“Italy police raid ‘terror school’”
BBC ^ | 21 July 2007

Posted on 07/21/2007 1:59:08 PM PDT by bd476

[Cindy]

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=cyanide

http://www.jihadwatch.org/cgi-bin/mt-search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=cyanide

http://www.saag.org/searchb10.asp?search=cyanide&searchtype=all&B1=Submit

http://www.memri.org/bin/search/search.cgi?nocpp=1&p%3Ats_udav=0&sort-method=3&Match=1&Terms=cyanide&Realm=All

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=us&q=cyanide&btnG=Search+News

###
###
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6909961.stm

Last Updated: Saturday, 21 July 2007, 20:19 GMT 21:19 UK

“Italy police raid ‘terror school’”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Ponte Felcino mosque is located in a suburb of Perugia

Chemicals - including acids and cyanide - were found in the mosque’s cellar and equipment for remote detonation of explosives was also discovered, they added.

“The investigation has shown that... there was a continued training for terrorist activity,” anti-terrorism police head Carlo De Stefano said.

“We have discovered and neutralised a real ‘terror school,’ which was part of a widespread terrorism system made up of small cells that act on their own.”

According to the police, the Perugia cell had contacts with two members of the Moroccan Islamic Combat Group arrested around two years ago in Belgium.

The group is believed to have ties to al-Qaeda and has been linked to the 2004 Madrid bombings and 2003 attacks in Casablanca.

The detained men were named as imam Korchi el Moustapha, 41, Mohamed el Jari, 47, and Driss Safika, 46.”

###
###

(http://www.shropshirestar.co.uk/?aID=35799 )

Off Topic and stepping back in time...

NOTE: The following text is a quote:

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/004670.html

04 August 2005
Warning on cyanide theft (UK)
Aug 03, 2005:

An urgent warning has been issued to Shropshire residents after a number of pots of poison were stolen from an industrial estate.
Telford police issued the warning after five pots of gold potassium cyanide were stolen from a locked store cupboard at an industrial unit in Halesfield, overnight.

The poison is used in the process of making gold plating and is lethal if ingested, even in small amounts.

The 100g pots are clearly labelled. The substance looks similar to rock salt, police said today.

Anyone with information can contact the police on 08457 444 888.

Posted on 04 August 2005 @ 14:20

[callmejoe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/21/AR2007072100442_pf.html

Top Aide to Sistani Fatally Stabbed in Najaf
Iraqi Police Take Four Suspects Into Custody

By Megan Greenwell
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 21, 2007; 5:04 PM (excerpted)

BAGHDAD, July 21 — A top aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani was stabbed to death in what Sistani’s supporters believe was a warning to Iraq’s senior Shiite cleric, authorities said Saturday.

Abdullah Falaq was killed Friday in his office, which is adjacent to Sistani’s home in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, about 100 miles south of Baghdad, according to an aide to the cleric. Sistani is considered one of the most influential Shiite leaders in Iraq, and Falaq was his chief adviser on matters of Islamic law.

Police said they had taken four suspects into custody. An officer said he could not comment on whether the men are part of any insurgent group. In January, an attempt to assassinate Sistani was foiled during a battle between U.S. and Iraqi military forces and insurgents in Najaf.

A representative from Sistani’s office said that he was concerned that an armed attacker had gained entrance to the heavily guarded compound with a weapon and that he suspects one of the cleric’s bodyguards had aided the killer. He said officials close to Sistani interpreted the attack as a threat to the ayatollah and are considering moving him out of Najaf. . .

http://www.washtimes.com/national/20040811-123531-3824r.htm

U.S. Officials: Al Qaeda Plans Major Assassination; Bin Laden Will Signal Attack

August 11, 2004
By Bill Gertz
THE WASHINGTON TIMES (excerpted)

U.S. intelligence officials say a high-profile political assassination, triggered by the public release of a new message from Osama bin Laden, will lead off the next major al Qaeda terrorist attack, The Washington Times has learned. The assassination plan is among new details of al Qaeda plots disclosed by U.S. officials familiar with intelligence reports who, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the killing could be carried out against a U.S. or foreign leader either in the United States or abroad. . .

[Cindy]

RECAP:

http://www.mi5.gov.uk/

https://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page18.html
“How You Can Help”

[Cindy]

Thanks you for the info, callmejoe.

[Oorang]

Thanks for the ping and info Joe.

Aboard his plane were four HIzballlah leaders, Secy-Gen. Hassan Nasrallah, defense chief Imad Mughniyeh, chief of staff Ibrahim Aqil and chief of special operations Unit 1800 Hajj Khalil Harb; and Jihad Islami’s Abdallah Ramadan Shalah and operations chief Zaid Nahle.

What a gang of thugs. Things are heating up.

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thank you for the ping and links.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1869652/posts

“Minutemen Shut down Day Labor Center (Fallbrook, CA) Lots of Pictures

Posted on 07/21/2007 3:32:05 PM PDT by Ladycalif

#

Cindy’t Note...All the photos were great and the signs thoughtful, but I’ll post these 2 here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/bdaz01/Fallbrook/DSC05257.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v216/bdaz01/Fallbrook/DSC05258-1.jpg