Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Threat Matrix: August 2007
Previous Thread ^

Posted on 08/01/2007 10:32:19 PM PDT by nwctwx

:::FreeRepublic's Threat Matrix:::
Disaster Looms in Pakistan

Decorum was abandoned as accusations ricocheted between the wood-panelled walls of Pakistan's national assembly on Monday night. "Murderers! Murderers of innocent people!" screamed an MP from a religious party, his yellow turban shaking as he wagged a finger towards the government benches.

Five female parliamentarians, their faces concealed behind black and white burkas, slapped the benches with open palms. Another mullah stood up and started shouting. The speaker strained to maintain order.

Others were less captivated by the debate on last month's siege of the Red Mosque, in which more than 100 people died. One man snoozed at his desk. Across the vast hall others started whispered conversations. And high above them Muhammad Ali Jinnah, a dapper man with a pinched, clean-shaven face, looked on impassively from his giant portrait on the wall. Full story...

Critical Threats: Blank When None
Threat Matrix:
August 2007
Click for Color Code Information


TOPICS: Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: adamgadahn; afghanistan; alqaeda; alqaida; bus; china; denmark; epr; ferries; ferry; florida; france; gadahn; gangs; globaljihad; hamas; hezbollah; hizballah; hizbullah; hlf; holylandfoundation; india; internet; iran; iraq; jamesujaama; jihad; jolo; mexico; morocco; ms13; pakistan; philippines; russia; syria; taleban; taliban; threatmatrix; ujaama; vatech; virginiatech
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 1,521-1,5401,541-1,5601,561-1,580 ... 2,121-2,126 next last
To: All

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=47149

Iraqis Destroy Terrorist Safe House

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22, 2007 – Iraqi army scouts accompanied by U.S. special operations forces destroyed a suspected weapons cache and insurgent safe house yesterday in a helicopter assault. Other operations across Iraq have led to the capture of enemy fighters and weapons caches.

Yesterday’s raid targeted a residence near Karmah suspected of being used by foreign fighters and al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. Multiple secondary explosions indicated munitions were stored there.

“The destruction of this target and weapons cache will send a clear message to insurgents that Iraqi army and coalition forces are intent on preventing any safe havens for insurgents or foreign fighters in the Karmah region,” a U.S. special operations forces commander said.

In operations Aug. 20:

— U.S. soldiers found a car bomb and three weapons caches during operations in southwestern Baghdad. One cache contained 94 mortar rounds, two 107 mm rockets, two rocket-propelled-grenade launchers, four Iranian-made RPGs, a rifle, a sniper rifle, four hand-held radios and battery chargers, and an anti-aircraft sight. Another cache yielded several thousand rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition. The third cache contained an AK-47 rifle with two 30-round magazines and one set of Russian-made body armor.

— U.S. forces detained 13 men, one dressed as a pregnant woman, during an air-assault mission along the Euphrates River. The operation, dubbed “Crimson Shogun,” targeted al Qaeda-allied terror networks in the Owesat and Fetoah areas.

— Iraq security forces detained a person linked to al Qaeda in Iraq during an operation in Mosul. The individual is believed to be the security chief for a suspected front organization for al Qaeda in Iraq. He also is suspected of ordering kidnappings and murders, as well as heading an extortion ring. Another person, military equipment and documents also were seized during the raid.

In other news from Iraq, U.S. soldiers acting on tips found weapons and materials used for making improvised explosive devices inside a residence in Khadra, on the western outskirts of Baghdad, on Aug. 19. The cache contained seven artillery rounds, two mortar rounds, two recoilless rifles, two hand grenades, and 15 pounds of homemade explosive material.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Corps Iraq and Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force Arabian Peninsula news releases.)


1,541 posted on 08/22/2007 3:39:28 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1537 | View Replies]

To: All

Note: Video Included.

blog:

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/08/22/video-five-year-old-lit-on-fire-by-jihadis-for-no-apparent-reason/

“Video: Five-year-old lit on fire by jihadis for no apparent reason”
posted at 6:32 pm on August 22, 2007 by Allahpundit

#

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=2cd_1187778888


1,542 posted on 08/22/2007 4:00:17 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1541 | View Replies]

To: All

Note: Video included.

blog:

http://hotair.com/archives/2007/08/22/new-jihad-watch-the-left-and-the-jihadists/
(JIHAD WATCH.org with Robert Spencer)

“New Jihad Watch: The Left and the Jihadists”
posted at 8:57 am on August 22, 2007 by Bryan


1,543 posted on 08/22/2007 4:02:44 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1542 | View Replies]

To: All

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

#

Note: The following blog entry is a quote:

http://www.thememriblog.org/blog_personal/en/2604.htm

Iranian Nobel Laureate Ebadi: I Am Working To Prevent Execution Of 15-Year-Old Boy

Iranian Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi, who heads the Center for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran, has demanded media attention for the issue of the regime’s execution of youths, and stated that she was working to prevent the execution of a 15-year-old boy.

She said that the torture being carried out in Iran’s prisons was not only physical, because solitary confinement was a type of psychological torture.

She added that if the Iranian authorities continued to ignore legal cases dealing with human rights violations, there would be no alternative but to turn to international forums.

Source: Rooz, Iran, August 22, 2007

Posted at: 2007-08-22


1,544 posted on 08/22/2007 4:07:17 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1542 | View Replies]

To: Rushmore Rocks; BurbankKarl

More dry runs..


1,545 posted on 08/22/2007 4:17:53 PM PDT by nwctwx
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1532 | View Replies]

To: nwctwx

Thanks, Ian. That was my first thought.


1,546 posted on 08/22/2007 4:19:04 PM PDT by Rushmore Rocks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1545 | View Replies]

To: All

PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

###

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1885077/posts

Two Christian girls of 11 and 16 kidnapped, converted to Islam and forced to marry
Asia News ^ | 8/22/2007 | Qaiser Felix

Posted on 08/22/2007 4:30:45 PM PDT by camerakid400

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Two Christian girls, little more than children, were kidnapped from their families recently, forcibly converted to Islam and then married off to strangers. Both of the kidnaps took place in Faisalabad, the third largest city in Pakistan, and both were completely ignored by the police. The phenomenon is not a new one however, underlined numerous human rights activist, but it is dangerously on the increase.

On August 5 Muhammad Adnan, a Muslim from Zulfiqar colony Faisalabad and his sister kidnapped Zunaira, an eleven years old Christian girl from her home in Warispura. After the kidnap, they forced her to convert to Islam and marry her kidnaper Muhammad.

The small girl’s mother, Abida, told AsiaNews: “When I was roaming in streets in search of my daughter two Muslim men of the area told me that they saw Adnan and his sister taking my daughter”. Abida decided to go to the kidnapper’s house, from which however she is thrown out. Returning home, she was contacted by two men who revealed the kidnappers identity and offer to act as negotiators for her daughters release in exchange for money.

Despite being desperately poor, Abida gives them 12 thousand Rupees (200 Euro): “I didn’t want to inform the police, because my daughter was engaged and I didn’t want my relatives to know. Unfortunately I found out too late that those men who said they would help me only want money: I have sold all I have, but it wasn’t enough and now I am alone”. Abida then turned to the police, but they refused help. The fact that the marriage is invalid given the age of the bride, “is not a matter for the police” said the officers.

In the second case Shumaila Tabussum, (16), was kidnapped from her home on August 16 by a Muslim man Mazher and some other unknown people. They told Shumaila that her father had been seriously injured in an accident and offered to accompany her to the hospital where he had been taken. The girl, without waiting for her mother, got into Mazher’s car: on the way she met two uncles at shouted the news of her father’s accident to them. These made their way to the hospital but found no-one.

Salamat Masih, 37, Shumaila’s father, immediately reported the abduction to the police. He told AsiaNews that he is “very worried because cases such as these are on the increase: Christian girls abducted, forcibly converted and subjected to becoming the wives of complete strangers”.

Khalil Tahir, chairman of a free legal aid organization “Adal Trust” and a well known Christian lawyer confirms this: “the growing number of attacks against Christians is worrying. We try to aid the victim’s families and at the same time help those who are subjected to this violence legally and practically, but the government must intervene with force if this is to be stopped”.


1,547 posted on 08/22/2007 4:38:23 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1544 | View Replies]

To: Cindy; Godzilla; nwctwx; Rushmore Rocks; callmejoe; PGalt; MamaDearest; JellyJam; KylaStarr; ...
Police seize massive cache of explosives in Kosovo
Aug 22, 2007

Pristina - Kosovo police and NATO-led peacekeepers (KFOR) discovered a massive amount of explosive in the western part of the breakaway province and made two arrests, authorities in Pristina said Wednesday.

Authorities uncovered 92.6 kilos of what was believed to be TNT in two houses in Vitomirica and Novo Selo, a village in the area of Pec, 80 kilometres west of Pristina, Kosovo police spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. Police acted on an anonymous tip that explosives could be found in the villages, close to Kosovo's border with Montenegro, spokesman Veton Elshani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

'In Vitomirica we found 48.6 kilos in the search, while in the nearby Novo Selo we found another 44 kilos,' he said. 'So in total we have seized 92.6 kilos.' Sources close to the police said the two arrested people were Kosovo Albanians. They said KFOR had tightened controls in the area during the search, which lasted several hours Wednesday afternoon. 'We don't know yet what the explosive was intended for, but it sure wasn't for fishing,' said Beqir Kelmendi, a senior police official in Pec, estimating that the amount seized was enough to 'blow up several buildings.'

Excerpted

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1346531.php/Police_seize_massive_cache_of_explosives_in_Kosovo__Roundup_

Homes evacuated, park closed after devices found (Colorado)
8/22/2007

BERTHOUD – Police evacuated several homes and closed a park Tuesday night while they investigated a report of suspicious devices. The two devices were found near Berthoud Park around 5:40 p.m. The park is at 200 7th Street. Berthoud Police says one of the devices was found in a trash Dumpster and the other was also found in the park.

The bomb squad was called and police closed off the area and evacuated some nearby homes as a precaution. Not many people were home when police first arrived on scene, so only a few residents were evacuated. Once people started coming home from work, they were kept out of their homes, according to police. The bomb squad detonated both of the devices as a precaution. One was detonated around 9:45 p.m. and the other was detonated earlier in the evening. Police did not say what the devices were, but treated them as dangerous. They are still investigating if the devices were bombs.

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=75902

Suspicious powder locks down Estes plant (Colorado)
Wed. Aug. 22, 2007

PENROSE - A white powdery substance sent two people to the hospital and caused a possible hazardous materials scare at the Estes-Cox Corp. model rocket plant Tuesday.

Penrose Volunteer Fire Department Assistant Chief Calvin Sundermann said his crew was dispatched shortly after 3 p.m. on a report of a possible hazardous materials situation at the model rocket plant. "A shipment of rocket parts from China had a white powdery substance on a box," Sundermann said. "Two male employees who had the most exposure because they were unloading the truck felt ill and as a precaution were taken to the hospital."

Those two employees were treated and released from St. Thomas More Hospital in Canon City, according to hospital spokesperson Jennifer Kemp. Also called to the scene were the Colorado State Patrol and Canon City Fire Department Hazardous Materials teams. The materials experts decided to suit up six team members in full protective gear to collect the powder which was secured by about 8:30 p.m. Testing of the powder was planned both on-site and in Pueblo. Results of the tests were not available by press time.

All employees in the building with the boxes, about 20 workers, were placed on a lock down situation pending the collection. After collection of the powder, the teams planned to put each employee through the decontamination procedure in the plant parking lot as a precaution and expected to have everyone released by 11 p.m. "The company usually receives five shipments like that a week and they have never been an issue. The rocket parts are locked and sealed in the boxes and the seal was not broken," Sundermann said.

http://www.chieftain.com/metro/1187816848/18

1,548 posted on 08/22/2007 6:00:09 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1547 | View Replies]

Oil firms in Pakistan threatened
Aug. 20, 2007

Oil companies operating in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier province have halted work following bomb threats from local rebels. The companies involved are Hungary’s MOL and Schlumberger, along with Pakistani firms Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Ltd., Oil and Gas Development Corp. and Pakistan Petroleum, Geo TV reported Sunday.

The private television station reported that local lawmaker Maulana Shah Abdul Aziz said officials of the foreign companies had complained of threatening letters and telephone calls warning of suicide attacks if security personnel at their offices were not removed. He said the companies were thinking of leaving Karak districts where the threats came. Aziz added his Khatak tribe along with others had assured the companies of protection. The region is known to be a hotbed of Taliban and al-Qaida activities.

http://www.upi.com/International_Security/Energy/Briefing/2007/08/20/oil_firms_in_pakistan_threatened/8332/print_view/

Philippine police find bomb in bus 15 minutes before its timed explosion
08/22/2007

Philippine police found a bomb on a passenger bus in the south of the country. The device was neutralized only 15 minutes before it was timed to explode and just hours after a blast in the territory injured at least 14 people, officials said Wednesday.

A time bomb hidden under a concrete bench exploded in a crowded square in Zamboanga city late Tuesday, wounding at least 14 people. The bomb, staged amid already-tight security in the city, may have been set off by the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group to divert the military's focus from the offensives on nearby Jolo and Basilan islands.

Later Tuesday, police found another bomb on a bus after its passengers disembarked at a crowded terminal in Pagadian city in nearby Zamboanga del Sur province, city police chief Oscar Buenaobra said. The bomb, hidden in a powdered milk can, was found 15 minutes before it was set to explode, and an army ordnance team defused it, Buenaobra said. The bomb was timed to explode at midnight, when the bus was scheduled to arrive at the terminal. The bus driver may have saved lives by arriving early, the police chief said.

"The bomb was supposed to blow up in transit but the driver drove fast. Thanks, God," Buenaobra told The Associated Press by telephone from Pagadian, about 780 kilometers (487 miles) southeast of Manila. He would not immediately speculate on who planted the bomb, but said Muslim rebels had been suspected in an attack on a public market in Pagadian last year.

A security official said the bomb that went off in Zamboanga's Pershing Square late Tuesday resembled those used by Muslim rebel groups, including the Abu Sayyaf. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. The two incidents heightened security concerns in Jolo and Basilan where the military has renewed an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf. At least 56 troops and scores of militants have died in three key battles on the islands since last month.

Excerpted

http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/22-08-2007/96208-philippines-0

1,549 posted on 08/22/2007 6:07:36 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1548 | View Replies]

Detonators taken from railway van (U.K.)
Wednesday, 22 August 2007

People are asked to be vigilant after detonators were stolen from a Network Rail van in Derbyshire. Thieves took 12 of the yellow disc shaped detonators from the vehicle parked on Gadsby Rise at Nether Heage at about 0520 BST on Wednesday.

The detonators are regularly used on railway lines and contain a small amount of explosive material. They can explode if hit with force or ignited and give off a blast similar to a shotgun firing. Officers have urged anyone with any information on the theft to contact them.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/derbyshire/6958991.stm

Bosnia revokes 500 citizenships granted to foreigners
Wed, 22 Aug 2007 08Sarajevo - A special commission of Bosnia-Herzegovina's government has almost completed a revision of citizenships granted to foreign citizens during the country's 1992-1995 war, Sarajevo daily Dnevni Avaz reported Wednesday quoting a commission official. The head of the commission, Vjekoslav Vukovic said that the government had so far revoked 500 citizenships, while additional checking was underway for another 60 cases.

Most of the people with the revoked Bosnian citizenship - a total of 330 - had not been living in the country for several years already, he said. The rest of them received the decision that their Bosnia- Herzegovina citizenship had been revoked, but they used legal instruments to try to change the government's decision and stay in the country, Vukovic said.

Citizenship was revoked mostly from people from Islamic countries - like Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey - who came to Bosnia-Herzegovina to help Bosnian Muslims fight against Serbs and Croats during the 1992-1995 war.

Excerpted

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/96594.html

1,550 posted on 08/22/2007 6:20:41 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1549 | View Replies]

To: Oorang

I’m always glad when explosives are found before going off.

THANK YOU Oorang.


1,551 posted on 08/22/2007 6:20:58 PM PDT by Cindy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1548 | View Replies]

To: Cindy
You’re welcome and I agree, prior to detonation is excellent timing :-)
1,552 posted on 08/22/2007 6:22:12 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1551 | View Replies]

Bin Laden active says Taliban chief
August 22, 2007

WASHINGTON: A top Taliban commander said Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden was alive and well.

"All praise be to Allah, he is extremely healthy and active," commander Mansour Dadullah said in a video interview, according to a transcript of the video's English subtitled translation, released on Tuesday by the analyst IntelCentre.

Dadullah, whose brother Mullah Dadullah was also a top commander in the Afghanistan-based militants and was killed this year, said he had been contacted by Bin Laden, the man blamed for the 9/11 attacks. "I received a message from him in which he advised me 'I must follow Mullah Dadullah and continue the same activities so that the mujahideen (Islamic fighters) may not weaken," he said, according to the transcript. The video is dated June 15, 2007, IntelCentre said.

Bin Laden, who has a $50-million (BD19m) US bounty on his head, has appeared in a series of video and audio clips since the 9-11 attacks but has not been heard from since May 2006, when the CIA authenticated a voice recording on the Internet as his.

In the recording, accompanied by online text, Bin Laden said Zacarias Moussaoui, a 37-year-old Frenchman of Moroccan origin and the only man convicted in the 9/11 attacks, had nothing to do with the operation. The recording surfaced on May 23, 2006, about two weeks after Moussaoui was sentenced at a court in Alexandria, Virginia to life imprisonment.

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=191481&Sn=WORL&IssueID=30156

Suspected terrorist seeking asylum in Slovakia
8.22.07

Algerian citizen Mustapha Labsi, suspected of cooperating with al-Qaeda, has asked for asylum in Slovakia, the Nový čas daily reported on August 22.

Labsi, who has been in prison in Slovakia, was to be extradited to Algeria. But the process has been suspended due to his asylum application.

http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=28784


1,553 posted on 08/22/2007 7:18:51 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1552 | View Replies]

Muslim warns of Scotland's 'home-grown' terror threat
Aug.23.2007

SCOTLAND could face attacks by "home-grown" terrorists unless urgent action is taken, according to a prominent Muslim community leader.

Mohammed Akram, president of the Council of British Pakistanis (Scotland), warned there was no evidence that the country would be "immune" to incidents like the 7/7 bombings which targeted London's transport network.

His comments came as a report revealed that almost half of Scotland's mosque leaders believed extremism existed in Muslim communities north of the Border. A study by the council found that the "vast majority" of imams blamed the UK government's foreign policy.

Excerpted

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1335502007

Egypt makes Muslim Brotherhood arrests
August 23, 2007

CAIRO, Egypt - Two lawmakers from the banned Muslim Brotherhood were arrested Wednesday, officials said, in an intensifying crackdown on the nation's most powerful opposition movement.

Legislators Sabri Amer and Ragab Abu Zaid were arrested in Manufiya, a district some 50 miles north of Cairo, in early morning raids on their homes, a police official said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, said the two were "wanted for questioning in a case with other Brotherhood members."

The two legislators had their parliament immunity stripped in May after state security accused them of taking part in the group's unlawful activities. But no arrest warrants had been issued against them.

Excerpted

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070823/ap_on_re_mi_ea/egypt_opposition_arrests

1,554 posted on 08/22/2007 7:33:39 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1553 | View Replies]

To: Cindy

“Video: Five-year-old lit on fire by jihadis for no apparent reason”

OMG, prayers for the young boy.


1,555 posted on 08/22/2007 7:36:16 PM PDT by Velveeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1542 | View Replies]

To: Oorang

Bin Laden active says Taliban chief
August 22, 2007
WASHINGTON: A top Taliban commander said Al Qaeda mastermind Osama bin Laden was alive and well.

“All praise be to Allah, he is extremely healthy and active,” commander Mansour Dadullah said in a video interview, according to a transcript of the video’s English subtitled translation, released on Tuesday by the analyst IntelCentre.
******************************

Didn’t Mansour Dadullah say the same thing just a few months ago?


1,556 posted on 08/22/2007 7:43:25 PM PDT by Velveeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1553 | View Replies]

To: Oorang

Answering my own question ;-)

Yes he did:

Bin Laden alive and well, says Taliban

Mark Oliver
****Tuesday June 5, 2007****
Guardian Unlimited

The brother of a Taliban commander killed by US forces has claimed that he received a letter of condolence from Osama Bin Laden, who was “alive, active and well”.
In a television interview today, Haji Mansour Dadullah said the al-Qaida leader had expressed sympathy for the death of his brother, Mullah Dadullah, who was killed by US forces last month.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/afghanistan/story/0,,2095975,00.html


1,557 posted on 08/22/2007 7:45:07 PM PDT by Velveeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1553 | View Replies]

U.S. to leave Cheyenne even as Russia flexes muscle
Wed Aug 22

CHEYENNE MOUNTAIN, Colo. - The U.S. military will move its secure command center from deep inside Cheyenne Mountain even as Russia revives military maneuvers that led America to burrow under the rock almost 50 years ago.

Construction on a new command center 12 miles away at Peterson Air Force Base is well under way despite security concerns that have driven some lawmakers to consider halting funding for the transition.

The move will shift more than 100 people responsible for detecting attacks on North America from a facility that sits under 2,000 feet of granite to a basement in an office building on the base that officials concede offers lower protection. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, the U.S. commander responsible for homeland defense and protecting North American air space, says the switch is worth the risk of leaving a facility built to withstand the indirect effects of a multi-megaton nuclear blast.

It will combine operations now divided between Cheyenne and Peterson, helping the commander to receive information and respond to crises or attacks more quickly, Renuart said. It will not, however, save money as the military promised, congressional investigators have shown. Renuart said the plan was the best way to make the most of resources currently split between the two Colorado locations.

"We can't accommodate all of that integrated command and control capability in the mountain," he said. "And so it makes sense to have that put in place where we can get the best unity of all of that effort, and that really is down here at Peterson." He said using communications technologies to link the two centers was no substitute for having everyone in one place.

RUSSIAN MANEUVERS

But those arguments, offered repeatedly by defense officials for more than a year, come against a backdrop of tension between Washington and Moscow and Russia's decision to resume long-range bomber missions common during the Cold War. Russia, angered by U.S. plans to place missile defense assets in Eastern Europe, said the flights were resumed on a permanent basis due to security threats. In recent weeks, those flights have come near Alaska and Guam, a U.S. territory.

Those actions, coupled with China's increasing military capabilities and concerns about the intentions of North Korea and Iran, have led some officials at Cheyenne to oppose the move out of the mountain. Speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of harm to their careers, they say the new command center at Peterson cannot be protected from nuclear, chemical or biological attack and its systems will not be sufficiently hardened against an electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear blast overhead.

A former senior defense official who led Pentagon efforts to close unneeded military bases said Cheyenne is one of just three facilities the United States should never close. "Given the uncertainty of the future threat and the value of protected operation sites, that move seems to be excessively risky," said David Berteau, now a consultant with Washington firm Clark & Weinstock. Renuart characterized both Russia and China as partners and said Iran and North Korea were not yet capable of a precise strike in the middle of North America.

"You don't necessarily want to live in the mountain just because it's possible that that country may develop (capability)," he said of Pyongyang and Tehran. But Col. Andre Dupuis, a Canadian officer at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the Cheyenne-based U.S.-Canadian operation commanded by Renuart, bristled at a suggestion that North America does not face the threat Cheyenne was built to defend against. He said Russia may not intend to harm the United States but certainly has the capability. "Threat is capability and intent," Dupuis said. "They (the Russians) have a very useful, capable, powerful armed forces and they would be silly not to use them in whatever ways that are in their best national interests." "They have capability. I don't believe they have intent," he said. "But it doesn't mean we ignore them then because there could be a threat."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070822/pl_nm/usa_military_cheyenne_dc

1,558 posted on 08/22/2007 7:46:07 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1554 | View Replies]

To: Velveeta
Yep, seems a bit repetitive. Perhaps the poor Mansour has developed a stutter.
1,559 posted on 08/22/2007 7:47:24 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1556 | View Replies]

To: Oorang

LOL, perhaps you’re right.


1,560 posted on 08/22/2007 7:50:18 PM PDT by Velveeta
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1559 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 1,521-1,5401,541-1,5601,561-1,580 ... 2,121-2,126 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson