Threat Matrix: December 2007

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[nwctwx]

Calculating the Risks in Pakistan

A small group of U.S. military experts and intelligence officials convened in Washington for a classified war game last year, exploring strategies for securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if the country's political institutions and military safeguards began to fall apart.

The secret exercise — conducted without official sponsorship from any government agency, apparently due to the sensitivity of its subject — was one of several such games the U.S. government has conducted in recent years examining various options and scenarios for Pakistan's nuclear weapons: How many troops might be required for a military intervention in Pakistan? Could Pakistani nuclear bunkers be isolated by saturating the surrounding areas with tens of thousands of high-powered mines, dropped from the air and packed with anti-tank and anti-personnel munitions? Or might such a move only worsen the security of Pakistan's arsenal?
Full story...

	Musharraf: U.S. Shares Blame for Pakistan and Afghanistan
	Bin Laden's Message to the Europeans
	Messages from bin Laden Since 9-11

Threat Matrix:
December 2007

November 2007

Threat Matrix Index

Theat Matrix Handbook

Theat Matrix 'BOLO'

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Preparedness

[Cindy]

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

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934257/posts

Iran expels Canadian ambassador from Tehran
CBC News - Canada ^ | December 3, 2007
Posted on 12/03/2007 6:05:02 PM PST by nuconvert
Iran expels Canadian ambassador from Tehran

December 3, 2007

Canada’s ambassador to Iran has been expelled from Tehran, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in a news release Monday evening.

The expulsion is believed to have stemmed from the two countries not being able to come to an agreement over an exchange of ambassador candidates, he said.

“Canada regrets the decision of the Government of Iran to order our ambassador to leave Tehran, which is entirely unjustifiable,” Bernier said in the release.

“We stand behind our ambassador, who has performed his diplomatic duties with professionalism and dedication.”

The Canadian embassy in Iran will be headed by Canada’s chargé d’affaires in the meantime. Both countries will continue to maintain embassies in the respective capitals and conduct normal operations, he said.

“As always, Canada remains prepared to receive an Iranian ambassador provided a suitable candidate is presented,” he said.

[Oorang]

The United States has been asking nations around the world to continue to put pressure on Iran to end its nuclear weapons program since Iran resumed its nuclear enrichment effort, Hadley said.

Well, one can hope. Thanks Cindy.

[Oorang]

More youths join al-Qaeda: US generals
Dec 4, 2007

BAGHDAD - MORE and more youths, some only 10, are being influenced by Al-Qaeda to join the insurgency in Iraq, US generals said on Monday, adding that 2,000 members of the jihadi group are being held in Iraqi prisons. The number of juveniles in detention had jumped from 100 in January to about 950 now, many of them roped into the anti-American insurgency by the Iraqi affiliate of Al-Qaeda, the officers said.

Al-Qaeda is targeting the 'young and the most impressionable. I equate them with drug dealers,' said Major General Douglas Stone, head of the US military's detention operations in Iraq. 'It is a real concern. If I can break their back, I would do it,' he said at his office in Camp Cropper, one of the two US-run prisons in Iraq. The jail near Baghdad airport holds around 4,000 of the nearly 26,000 people detained by the US military in he country. The rest are in Camp Bucca in the southern port city of Basra.

Of the 4,000 prisoners in Camp Cropper, 950 are juveniles, some as young as 10. Most are aged between 15 and 17 and are being held for offences ranging from 'planting bombs to picking up a gun and firefighting,' said Brigadier General Michael Nevin of the US military police.

Excerpted

http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/World/STIStory_183258.html

[Oorang]

Terror risk to nukes: Bhutto
December 04, 2007

Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto raised the spectre of al-Qa'ida-linked Islamic militants seizing control of the country's nuclear weapons yesterday as she warned of the need to overcome the Taliban insurgency. Referring to the full-scale conflict between the Pakistan army and Islamic fighters who have turned the Swat valley, a premier tourist resort only 150km north of the capital Islamabad, into a no-go area, Ms Bhutto said: "Whatever is happening in Swat and the tribal area today, that can come to Islamabad tomorrow."

The world, she said, "will not look on as spectators if Kahuta falls into their hands". Kahuta, close to Islamabad, is where the nuclear facility founded by rogue nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan is located and is the heart of the country's nuclear arsenal. The complex is frequently targeted by suicide bombers.

There are indications of rapidly growing concern in Washington and elsewhere about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons as the political turmoil in the nation intensifies.

Excerpted

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22863770-2703,00.html

[nw_arizona_granny]

You are welcome to the link.

I consider it one of my better ones, for when I want to know what the news really means.

[Cindy]

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Al-Qaeda is targeting the ‘young and the most impressionable. I equate them with drug dealers,’ said Major General Douglas Stone...”

and may I add that I equate jihad recruiters to drug dealers and pedophiles as they all prey on children.

[Cindy]

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=1151.0

#

http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=281576932449479

“Hyping Hate Crime Vs. Muslims”
By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Monday, December 03, 2007 4:20 PM PT

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Discrimination: New FBI data on hate crimes reveal Muslim groups are crying wolf about exploding anti-Muslim abuses. They’re actually shrinking, belying claims of mass Islamophobia.

Related Topics: Religion

Not only are anti-Islamic hate crimes way down, but they’re a fraction of overall religious hate crimes. The overwhelming majority of such crimes target Jews, something CAIR and other Muslim groups don’t seem all that concerned about.

In 2006, a whopping 66% of religiously motivated attacks were on Jews, while just 11% targeted Muslims, even though the Jewish and Muslim populations are similar in size. Catholics and Protestants, who together account for 9% of victims, are subject to almost as much abuse as Muslims in this country.

Last year’s anti-Islamic hate crimes totaled 156. While just one hate crime is one too many, that’s a 68% drop from 2001.”

[Cindy]

Thanks to Jet Jaguar for starting this thread.

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1934359/posts

CORRECTED: 6-way nuke talks face delay due to ‘difficult situation’: Komura+
Breitbart.com ^ | Dec. 4, 2007 | Komura+ (AP)
Posted on 12/03/2007 11:42:50 PM PST by Jet Jaguar

(Kyodo)—Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura indicated Tuesday that a meeting of chief delegates to six-nation talks on denuclearizing North Korea, which Japan, China, South Korea and others had initially hoped would begin on Thursday, will now likely be delayed.

“At first we wanted to have it from Dec. 6-8 and we discussed it at the trilateral (foreign ministerial) meeting between Japan, China and South Korea in Singapore recently,” Komura told reporters. “But right now, a difficult situation has developed and I have been told coordination is still under way.”

He did not elaborate on what the difficulties were.

Under an Oct. 3 six-way agreement, a meeting of the heads of delegations from North and South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States will take place to discuss the agenda for a meeting of foreign ministers from the six countries in Beijing.

North Korea agreed under the deal to disable three key nuclear facilities in Yongbyon and to declare all of its nuclear programs by the end of the year.

U.S. top nuclear negotiator Christopher Hill arrived in Pyongyang on Monday for a three-day visit to monitor the progress of the disablement process and to meet with his North Korean counterpart.

On the North’s promised declaration of its nuclear programs, Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi said Monday he has “not heard” that it has been made, imply that Pyongyang is responsible for the delay in realizing the talks.

Komura met his Chinese and South Korean counterparts in Singapore on Nov. 20 on the sidelines of a regional summit related to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

[Cindy]

Thanks to Nick Grace for another edition of Global Crisis Watch.

http://threatswatch.org/gcw/
http://threatswatch.org/site-resources/podcast/gcw_071203.mp3

#

QUOTE:

http://threatswatch.org/gcw/2007/12/02/

December 3, 2007 [Listen Here]
32:00 (Mins) | 15 (MB)

Global Crisis Watch gauges the significance of Osama bin Laden’s latest message and the latest terror risks in Europe, reviews the situation in Sudan in context of the Gibbons fallout, and covers the deteriorating situation in Eastern Chad amidst the rising influence of Wahhabis. Guests: Olivier Guitta, editor of The Crossaint in Washington, and Ramadji Doumnande, leading Chadian political activist and editor of Ramadji.com in Rochester, NY.

8:11 PM

[Cindy]

Note: Regarding the Global Crisis Watch edition:

UPDATE: The teddy bear incident teacher has been
released from Sudan and is out of Sudan. See Teddy
Bear updates here:

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=1230.0

[Cindy]

Ding. Ding. Ding. Today’s STUCK ON STUPID AWARD WINNERS:

http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=/ForeignBureaus/archive/200712/INT20071203c.html

“UK Leftists Praise Chavez, Castro”
By Kevin McCandless
CNSNews.com Correspondent
December 03, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “London (CNSNews.com) - Countries like Venezuela and Cuba are giving hope to socialists all over the world and should be supported by Britain, a conference of liberal activists heard here on Saturday.

More than 600 participants attended the 3rd annual Latin America Solidarity Conference in London, where legislators and other speakers praised the leftward drift in the region. The meeting came one day before the referendum in Venezuela over controversial constitutional amendments, including an end to presidential term limits.”

[Cindy]

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/22961/IT-S-NHS-BEDLAM/

“IT’S NHS BEDLAM”

4th December 2007 By Jerry Lawton

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “OVERWORKED nurses have been ordered to stop their work five times a day – and move Muslim patients’ beds to face towards Mecca.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The changes have been introduced by Dewsbury and District Hospital’s chief matron Catherine Briggs.

She said: “Some of our former Muslim patients suggested that a more informed understanding of the Islamic cultures would help staff to further improve their service. We always do our best to listen to our patients and are willing to adapt our nursing practices where possible to help patients uphold their cultural beliefs.””

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “And Philip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, West Yorks, and anti-political correctness campaigner and added: “I’m sure nurses and medical staff have got far better things to do with their time than constantly move beds around so patients are facing the right way.

“This seems a totally unnecessary burden to their workload.””

[Cindy]

Note: Photo included.

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http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071203-7.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 3, 2007

“President Bush Meets with U.S.-Palestinian Public-Private Partnership”
Roosevelt Room
2:25 P.M. EST

[Cindy]

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48301

“Bush Asks Congress to Pass Funds for Troops”

By Sgt. Sara Moore, USA
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 3, 2007

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071203-1.html

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
December 3, 2007

President Bush Discusses Congress’s Legislative Priorities for the Remainder of the Year
Rose Garden
9:57 A.M. EST

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. Congress returns from its two-week Thanksgiving break today. They have just two weeks to go before they leave town again. That’s not really a lot of time to squeeze in nearly a year’s worth of unfinished business.

In fairness, Congress was not entirely out over the past two weeks. In a political maneuver designed to block my ability to make recess appointments, congressional leaders arranged for a senator to come in every three days or so, bang a gavel, wait for about 30 seconds, bang a gavel again, and then leave. Under the Senate rules, this counts as a full day. If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a lot of work to do.

Congress needs to start by passing a bill to fund our troops in combat. Beginning in February, I submitted detailed funding requests to Congress to fund these operations in the war on terror. Yet some in Congress are withholding this funding because they want to substitute their judgment for that of our military commanders. Instead of listening to the judgment of General Petraeus, they are threatening to withhold money he needs unless they can mandate an arbitrary date of withdrawal.

This month more of our troops will return home as a result of the success we’re seeing in Iraq. People are coming home. For Congress to insist on setting an arbitrary date for withdrawal would put the gains General Petraeus and our troops have made in danger — and that would threaten the security of our country. It’s unconscionable to deny funds to our troops in harm’s way because some in Congress want to force a self-defeating policy — especially when we’re seeing the benefits of success.

Secretary Gates and other senior Pentagon officials say the delay in our funding will means this for our military: Unless Congress acts, the Defense Department will soon be required to begin giving layoff notices to about 100,000 civilian employees. Unless Congress acts, the military task force developing ways to better detect and protect our troops from roadside bombs will run out of money by early next year. Unless Congress acts, the Army will run out of operations and maintenance money in February. Unless Congress acts, the Marine Corps will run out of similar funds in March.

Earlier this year, Congressional leaders were trying to impose conditions on funds because they said our strategy in Iraq was not working. We changed our strategy, and now even many of those who initially opposed the surge acknowledge that it is achieving results. It is time for members of Congress to meet their responsibility to our men and women in uniform. And they should stay in session until they pass these emergency funds for our troops.

Second, Congress needs to make sure our intelligence professionals can continue to monitor terrorist communications. In August, Congress passed legislation to help modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. That bill closed critical intelligence gaps, allowing us to collect important foreign intelligence information about terrorist plots. The problem is, the new law expires on February 1st — while the threat from the terrorists does not expire.

The Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, has warned that unless the FISA reforms in the Act are made permanent, our national security professionals will lose critical tools they need to protect our country. Instead of listening to the judgment of Director McConnell, some in Congress now want to restrict the intelligence tools that help keep the American people safe. They are blocking efforts to provide meaningful liability protection to those companies now facing multi-billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our nation following the September the 11th attacks. Congress must stop this obstruction, and make certain our national security professionals do not lose a critical tool for keeping our country safe.

Third, Congress needs to act immediately to prevent the Alternative Minimum Tax from hitting more Americans this year. The AMT was enacted in 1969 to ensure that a few hundred wealthy individuals paid their fair share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT, it was not indexed for inflation. As a result, the AMT’s higher tax burden is being imposed on more and more middle-class families.

Last month, Treasury Secretary Paulson wrote a letter to members of Congress warning them about this: that if they put off an AMT fix, it could delay the delivery of about $75 billion worth of tax refund checks. Yet instead of listening to Secretary Paulson’s warning, Congress continues to delay action. The longer Congress delays action, the longer Americans will wait — likely wait to get their tax refund checks next year.

If Congress fails to act, as many as 25 million Americans would be subject to the AMT. On average, these taxpayers — many of them middle class families — would have to send an extra $2,000 to the IRS next April. At a time when many Americans are struggling with home mortgages and healthcare costs, the last thing they need is for Congress to stick them with an additional tax increase.

Finally, Congress has important work to do on the federal budget. One of Congress’s most basic duties is to fund the day-to-day operations of the federal government. Yet only one of the 12 spending bills has made it into law. Congressional leaders are now talking about piling the remaining bills into one monster piece of legislation, which they will load up with billions of dollars in earmarks and wasteful spending. Now is not the time to burden our economy with wasteful Washington spending that will lead to higher taxes. Congressional leaders need to do their job, and pass the remaining spending bills in a fiscally responsible way. If they send me an irresponsible spending bill, I will veto it.

The end of 2007 is approaching fast, and the new Congress has little to show for it. I call on members to use the time left to support our troops, and to protect our citizens, prevent harmful tax increases, and responsibly fund our government.

Thank you.

END 10:03 A.M. EST

[Cindy]

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP177707

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1777
December 4, 2007
No.1777

“Jihadists Broaden Reach by Launching English-Language Forums, Blogs”

SNIPPET: “As part of their efforts to reach and influence non-Arabic-speaking audiences, Islamists have set up English-language pages on existing Arabic-language forums, and have also launched jihadist blogs in English. [1] An examination of the content of these forum pages and blogs suggests that they are aimed at various audiences in the West, inter alia to influence Western public opinion on the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, to enlist support for jihad among Muslims living in the West, and even to encourage these Muslims to carry out martyrdom operations.

This report presents details on these websites and some examples of their content.

Some Examples of Forums and Blogs”

[Cindy]

http://www.cia.gov

#

https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/todays-cia/index.html
“TODAY’S CIA”

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http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/cia_to_critics_we_get_off_our.php

“CIA to Critics: We Get Off Our Tails to Spy”
By James Gordon Meek

BLOG ENTRY SNIPPET: “Hillary Clinton loves to tout her foreign policy creds, which amounts to being a former first lady who made a lot of overseas trips - often with first daughter Chelsea in tow to share the occasional elephant ride. As a Senate Armed Services Committee member, she also has parachuted into hotspots like Iraq and Afghanistan. Apparently Clinton thinks America’s spies ought to follow her example and get off their tushes. She took a jab at the CIA for being risk-averse in a bizarre non sequitur buried in her Foreign Affairs magazine op-ed published last month, which left many scratching their heads.”

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http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20071101faessay86601/hillary-rodham-clinton/security-and-opportunity-for-the-twenty-first-century.html

“Security and Opportunity for the Twenty-first Century”
Hillary Rodham Clinton
From Foreign Affairs, November/December 2007

[Cindy]

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=042B70FB-8A54-4B2D-8144-470F72F5DD57

“American Islamic Hamas Relief”
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | Tuesday, December 04, 2007

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http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=EA623D17-2B74-47DB-93CA-023F896EECE5

“ICNA Dollars for Hamas and Wildfires”
By Joe Kaufman
FrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, November 05, 2007

[Cindy]

ON THE INTERNET:

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

http://terrorism-info.org.il/site/html/search.asp?isSearch=yes&isT8=yes&searchText=T86&pid=104&sid=13&preview=

http://memritv.org/subject/en/95.htm

[Cindy]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3478789,00.html

“Hamas: Sign of life from Shalit in exchange for hundreds of prisoners”
Ali Waked
Published: 12.04.07, 11:03 / Israel News

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Hamas leaders denied Tuesday reports saying there was progress concerning a possible prisoner swap deal that would include Gilad Shalit, adding that it also did not agree to relay messages between the kidnapped soldier and his family in Israel.

Red Cross representatives in Gaza said the Islamist group agreed to pass on a letter from Shalit, but a senior member of the organization told Ynet, “There is no concrete discussion on anything, but if a fair and worthy exchange is put on the table, we will be willing to consider any offer.”

According to him, Hamas would agree to show signs of life from Shalit or discuss the possibility of a meeting between the kidnapped soldier and neutral party in return for the release of “hundreds of prisoners – not just one or two.”

[Cindy]

Note: Video included.

http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1627

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blog:

http://www.TheAviationNation.com/2007/12/03/gaos-explosive-airplane-bomb-videos/

“GAO’s Explosive Airplane Bomb Videos”
By Annie Jacobsen