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

[Velveeta]

Stepping back in time.
Finally found something I’ve been searching for:

Medical centers put up their guard after being told they could be hit soon after an attack

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

BY ANGELA STEWART AND JONATHAN SCHUPPE

Star-Ledger Staff

Counter-terrorism officials have warned New Jersey hospitals that they themselves could become targets of terrorists in the minutes after a large-scale attack. By becoming “secondary targets,” the hospitals would be crippled or rendered unable to treat victims of an earlier attack.

The warning, communicated through the state Department of Health and Senior Services, has caused many hospitals to change the way they are doing business. In addition to their primary mission of patient care, they are being forced to devise plans to protect their facilities and supplies, including pharmaceuticals. “Hospitals have been asked to improve their security, preparedness, and to test and drill,” state Health Commissioner Clifton R. Lacy said yesterday. In addition, the state Office of Counter-Terrorism issued a bulletin Monday instructing ambulance operators to guard against suspicious people or behavior. Within the last week, workers at two New Jersey rescue squads and one emergency room reported receiving peculiar inquiries, said Sidney Caspersen, head of the state’s Counter-Terrorism Office. “These concern us enough to tell the community to be more vigilant regarding ambulances and other emergency vehicles,” Caspersen said. “That means not leaving them unattended and so forth. And if you see suspicious activity, notify us or your local police.”

In the first incident, three men “of Middle Eastern appearance” went to a volunteer ambulance squad headquarters and inquired about obtaining credentials to operate an emergency vehicle, Caspersen said. They then offered to pay to have the process expedited, he said. In the second instance, which Caspersen said occurred outside the emergency room of an Essex County hospital, a firefighter observed a man taking notes next to an ambulance. When the firefighter asked what he was doing, the man replied that he was an “ambulance mechanic” and wanted to know the location of the nearest firehouse. The firefighter asked the man for identification, and he produced a New York state driver’s license, Caspersen said.

****Finally, a man claiming to be a doctor from Pakistan approached members of an ambulance squad in Middlesex County, Caspersen said. The man asked numerous questions, including one about how fast ambulances travel.****(snip)
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:ipg7YYtKFWIJ:www.cshe.org/WhatsNew/NJ%2520warns%2520hospitals%25208-11-04.doc+%22middle+eastern%22+fast+ambulances+travel&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=us

[drymans wife]

Thanks for the input.

[Cindy]

Thank you Velveeta.

[Cindy]

Note: the following text is a quote:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/017249.php

July 4, 2007

Would-be bomber in Pakistan confesses to threatening music shops, women’s schools, barbershops

One Sharia vigilante off the streets. Obviously, one would hope authorities are not treating this man as a lone operator and will actively pursue his associates. “Alleged bomber confesses to crime,” from Dawn:

MARDAN, July 2: An alleged militant, who was injured when an explosive device went off before he could plant it outside a [women’s] vocational centre, confessed to crime in a local court on Monday.

The accused, Imtiaz Khan, was produced before the court of civil judge Tanveer Iqbal by police.

He confessed his involvement in terrorist activities, including writing threatening letters to CDs and barber shops and women vocational centres and schools.

The accused was arrested in injured condition on June 16.

Posted by Marisol at July 4, 2007 8:17 AM

[brucecw]

From the original article:
Though all three inquiries could have been perfectly innocent, Caspersen said he deemed the memo necessary.

Um, yes, I suppose so. The problem is that all of this information is readily available, at any library or even on the Internet. Some of it is even in the phone book. It sounds like the individuals involved (whatever their motivation) are essentially clueless about how to find out information in this society, or even fail to understand how it operates at a basic level.

If the questions were legitimate (that is, they were just interested in new career, etc), it's a very strange way to go about it. On the other hand, if point was illegitimate (some kind of criminal or terrorist plot), it's still strange - it draws attention to themselves unnecessarily, and suggests either some kind of freelance activity or that they were sent or recruited without adequate preparation and planning.

I'm betting freelancers of some kind - who are essentially clueless but who can be dangerous if they manage to slip through the cracks.

[Cindy]

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

#

Thanks to RDTF for the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1861059/posts

Receipts & Pledges to-date: $7,175
10%
Woo hoo!! The first ten percent is in!! Thank you FReepers and Lurkers!!
China nightclub blast kills 5, injures 32: report (Reuters)
Reuters ^ | July 04, 2007 | Staff

Posted on 07/04/2007 8:14:35 PM PDT by jdm

BEIJING (Reuters)

[Velveeta]

Bomb Threats Force Airport Evacuation

Transportation Officials Did Not Know If Any Bombs Were Found

FLINT, Mich. — Bishop International Airport in Flint, Mich., and two airplanes on the ground had to be evacuated.

Officials said nine bomb threats were called in to the airport’s rescue department around 5 p.m.

The evacuation began shortly after the threats were reported.

Four or five flights had to be diverted while bomb-sniffing dogs searched the terminal. Operations at the airport returned to normal shortly before 9 p.m.

FBI agents are assisting local authorities. Transportation officials did not know if any bombs were found or whether there were any suspects.
http://www.channel3000.com/news/13622939/detail.html

[Velveeta]

I'm betting freelancers of some kind - who are essentially clueless but who can be dangerous if they manage to slip through the cracks.

I'm with you on the bet.
History has taught us that many of these guys tend to be as dumb as a box of hair.

[RDTF]

yikes!

I am so glad I didn’t travel this holiday

[nw_arizona_granny]

Thanks for the link.

[Velveeta]

Me too.

[callmejoe]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/04/AR2007070401385.html

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=15433&sectionid=351020202

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/878657.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183459195464&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/07/01/10136028.html

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1183053086694&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[angelsonmyside]

Thanks once again for the ping. I got a few hundred post behind so I will need to pay catch up but... In the past haven't they made tapes like this public, shortly before a strike?

As many of us are concerned about the Dr’s we have here, I can’t help but think of our Va Hospitals. They are over run with them. I know a lot of people were shocked to see Dr’s involved in the UK mess but I have never forgotten the Dr (in Jersey I think) that cheered when the towers fell. I have had an uneasy feeling about them since then.

It’s just sad that so many still have blinders on.

BTW in case I have not mentioned it I really appreciate all the work you all put into this thread. It is greatly appreciated.

[Cindy]

You’re very welcome angelsonmyside.

OPINION: Jihad is an everyday thing.
If there is a window of opportunity
and the means to to accomplish an
attack; the jihadis will take it.

[Cindy]

Adding on to your post no. 507:

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070705/METRO/707050399/1003

Thursday, July 05, 2007

“Flint airport evacuated for hours due to threats
Bishop International resumes normal operations after terminal, two planes emptied over bomb calls.”
The Associated Press

FLINT —

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “AirTran Flight 246, with 116 passengers and five crew members aboard, arrived from Atlanta at 5:43 p.m. “When he touched down in Flint, that’s when the airport operations advised the captain he had to go to remote parking,” Hutcheson said.
Law enforcement officials and emergency crews surrounded the Boeing 717, and passengers were held on the aircraft until about 8 p.m. before being allowed to deplane. The plane was searched and baggage was searched and scanned, Hutcheson said.

Flight 246 was scheduled to leave Flint at 6:45 p.m., but likely would not leave until almost 10 p.m., Hutcheson said. “It’s going to run later than it normally would, but it’s returning to normal now,” he said about 8:30 p.m.
An American Eagle flight and a small Cessna plane also were directed to the remote parking lot, the executive said.”

[Cindy]

Updating post no. 506

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6758391,00.html

“Blast at Karaoke Bar Kills 25 in China”
Thursday July 5, 2007 6:31 AM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “BEIJING (AP) - A blast in a karaoke parlor in northeast China killed 25 people and injured 33, state media reported Thursday.

Xinhua News Agency did not give a cause for the Wednesday night blast in Tianshifu township in Liaoning province.

China has suffered a string of blasts, fires and accidents in shopping malls, cinemas and other public places despite repeated government promises to improve safety. Many are blamed on lax safety procedures and negligence.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Last December, China executed two men found guilty of causing explosions at two Internet cafes in central China that killed two people.

The two had been found guilty in connection with blasts in May 2006 at two cafes in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province. Xinhua gave no motive for the attacks.”

[brucecw]

I have never forgotten the Dr (in Jersey I think) that cheered when the towers fell. I have had an uneasy feeling about them since then.

A professional degree (of any kind) is by no means complete insurance against radicalism (of any kind). Many of the high-level Nazis held MD's or PhD's, for example.

At best during all those years of education an individual is likely to absorb a broader perspective than the uneducated mob, or those educated only in the religious texts of a single religion. Often that prevents the more parochial forms of radicalism, but it doesn't mean that they'll turn out to be good people - even the Bible says that Satan himself can appear as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).

[Cindy]

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

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

#

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/07/hamass_hidden_economy.php
“Hamas’s Hidden Economy”
By Matthew Levitt
(Added July 3, 2007)

#

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/07/the_shifting_hamasal_qaeda_rel.php
“The Shifting Hamas-Al Qaeda Relationship”
By Douglas Farah

[Cindy]

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

#

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=26131_Video-_Hizb_Ut_Tahrir_in_Britain&only

~

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql3o7CJsmik

“UK; Hizb ut Tahrir”
(Added July 4, 2007)

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1857772/posts

“Background: Meet Hizb ut-Tahrir, the Islamic threat no one knows about (REVIVED CALIPHATE)”
THE JERUSALEM POST ^ | June 27, 2007 | Alex Kogan

Posted on 06/28/2007 10:36:07 AM PDT by Squidpup

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1603333/posts?page=63#63

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42463000/jpg/_42463782_internet_203.jpg

#

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6268934.stm

Last Updated: Wednesday, 4 July 2007, 17:01 GMT 18:01 UK

“Three admit inciting terror acts”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The court was told Al-Daour, Tsouli and Mughal had close links with al-Qaeda in Iraq and believed there was a “global conspiracy” to wipe out Islam.”

###

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070705.BRITAININTERNET05/TPStory/TPInternational/Europe/

“INTERNET INCITEMENT TO MURDER
Web kingpin of terrorism to be sentenced
Londoner, two accomplices distributed jihadist propaganda on a global basis”
COLIN FREEZE
July 5, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “”Younis Tsouli was the best of the so-called Internet jihadis. He played a significant role in promoting the global jihad, he demonstrated how online jihadist activity is directly connected to real-world terrorism,” said Aaron Weisburd, a U.S. computer expert who frequently clashed online with the figure he once knew only as Irhabi 007.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Daily Telegraph yesterday reported that authorities recovered a particularly ominous message from Mr. Tsouli’s computer - “We are 45 doctors and we are determined to undertake jihad and take the battle inside America”- but had no information linking it to last weekend’s thwarted car-bomb attacks by immigrant physicians in Britain.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Two British accomplices of Mr. Tsouli, who also pleaded guilty this week, are Waseem Mughal, 24, and Tariq Al-Daour, 21.”

###

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/global_jihad_2007/index.html

~

blog:

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2007/07/new-fresh-helli.html

“New Fresh Hellish Perspective”
(July 4, 2007)