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Threat Matrix: March 2008
Previous Thread ^

Posted on 03/05/2008 5:59:39 PM PST by nwctwx

:::FreeRepublic's Threat Matrix:::
Critical Threats: Blank When None
Petraeus: Al Qaida Trying to 'Come Back In'

U.S. military officials said there will be no significant reduction in coalition troops in the Baghdad area as part of an effort to stop the Al Qaida offensive in northern Iraq.

They said Al Qaida was trying to reenter Baghdad and reverse its losses in 2007.

"Al Qaida is trying to come back in," U.S. military commander Gen. David Petraeus said. "We can feel it and see it, and what we're trying to do is rip out any roots before they can get deeply into the ground." Read More


Threat Matrix:
March 2008
Click for Color Code Information


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: abdelkaderbelliraj; abdullahu; abudajaneh; abujihaad; abuwaleed; afghanistan; agronabdullahu; ahmedkhalfanghailani; ahmedmohamed; airjamaica; alayadi; alf; algeria; algiers; allibi; almaqdisi; almuhajiroun; alqaeda; alqaida; alqosi; alshabaab; alzawahiri; alzawahri; amarusman; amtrak; andrewsmulian; anjemchoudary; anthrax; antiimperialist; antisemitism; aqim; arizona; asians; assahab; austria; bakri; bali; balibombers; bavaria; belgium; belliraj; belvidere; belviderehighschool; benmohamed; bergersen; bilal; bilalmohammed; binladen; birmingham; bki; blackmarket; bosnia; bouisir; bout; bus; byhj; cair; canada; cartoonjihad; cesium137; charlesmanson; charlottesville; chavez; chimak; china; choudary; ciftci; cueneytciftci; cuneyt; cuneytc; cuneytciftci; cyanide; dajaneh; danielfaulkner; dc; demark; denmark; dulmatin; earthliberationfront; ecuador; ehsanulsadequee; election; elf; embassies; embassy; emporia; eta; etim; facebook; faln; farc; fathalislam; faulkner; filmjihad; fisa; fitna; florida; footballjihad; fortdix; fsln; ftdix; gabrielmondragon; gang; gangs; gaza; gazastrip; germany; ghailani; gimf; globaljihad; gwot; hamas; hamzabinladen; haqqani; hezbollah; hizballah; hizbullah; homicidebomber; homicidebombers; hugochavez; huji; humanbomb; humanbombs; ibrahimbouisir; iju; internet; iran; iraq; ireland; islamicjihad; islamicjihadistunion; islamicjihadunion; israel; jalaldinhaqqani; jerusalem; jihad; jihadmedia; jihadpropaganda; kabul; kang; khan; kintastanton; kuo; laithallibi; lasvegas; lebanon; leemedia; legaljihad; libya; litvinenko; loca; mak; manhattan; manson; markwoods; maupin; mediajihad; megahed; mercazharavyeshiva; mexico; mohamed; mohamedsifaoui; mohammed; mohammedanism; mohammedrahim; mondragon; morocco; mrta; mugniyah; mugniyeh; muhajiroun; mumbai; mumia; muslimbrotherhood; muthannaalhanooti; nato; netanya; netherlands; newjersey; newyork; newyorkcity; nj; nkorea; nm; nmexico; northkorea; nuclear; ny; nyc; oic; oil; omarbakri; pakistan; passport; passports; perfume; peru; pflp; philippines; phoenix; pij; pkk; plane; prc; prewardocs; prison; prisons; propaganda; qassam; rahim; realira; rhodeisland; rhus; ri; ricin; rocketlaunchers; rozhetskin; russia; sadequee; saltlake; saltlakecity; sams; seattle; serbia; shafiqalayadi; sifaoui; smulian; soccerjihad; sonora; spain; sports; sportsarena; srilanka; stadium; stadiums; stanton; stockholm; suicidebomber; suicidebombers; sultan; sweden; syria; taishenkuo; taleban; taliban; tamiltigers; tatp; telaviv; thailand; thambithurai; threatmatrix; thugs; tibet; timessquare; toronto; toronto18; train; trains; trix; tunisia; turk; turkey; uk; uranium; usembassy; usman; utah; va; vancouver; venezuela; victorbout; viktorbout; virginia; virtualjihadi; wafasultan; waleed; wallstreet; washington; washingtondc; washwoodheath; wbank; wedding; weddings; westbank; woods; wot; yahyaallibi; yemen; yemeni; yeshiva; youssefmegahed; youths; yuxinkang; zawahiri; zawahri
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To: Cindy
Not
A
Good
Idea
(Banging head against wall)
1,101 posted on 03/26/2008 12:21:10 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
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To: Unrepentant VN Vet

Thank you for the Thread Bump Unrepentant VN Vet.


1,102 posted on 03/26/2008 1:30:46 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: drymans wife

Yep, and there’s a related url(s) where this stuff can be found unless it/they have gone down.

Thanks for the article link/post, drymans wife.


1,103 posted on 03/26/2008 1:40:10 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Oorang

“...This is a dangerous slippery slope...”

Yes.


1,104 posted on 03/26/2008 1:41:02 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Oorang

BIG DITTO.


1,105 posted on 03/26/2008 1:42:54 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Cindy
Iran is busy in southern Iraq in the manner that it supports Hexbollah...however:

IRAQ: (Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says) Basra gunmen given 3-day ultimatum

1,106 posted on 03/26/2008 1:46:40 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach (No Burkas for my Grandaughters!)
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To: Cindy

Posts about gun confiscation really, really frighten me. I lived in Germany from 1945 to 1952 and saw what devastating results came from that.

So glad I live in the woods, where a gun is a requisite. (and I even had to use one last week.....little mountain lion problem)


1,107 posted on 03/26/2008 2:03:27 PM PDT by Rushmore Rocks
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach

Thank you Ernest for update.


1,108 posted on 03/26/2008 2:04:43 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Rushmore Rocks

I understand RR and this is a time when anyone who is a legal gun owner and understands the need for a weapon(s) in every home to protect ourselves and our family should speak up.

I’m glad you shared this with us.

I could not imagine not have guns in the house.

While I’ve never had to shoot anybody; I’ve come face-to-face with attempted burglars and burglars that have completed the act over the years. Without a gun, the outcome probably wouldn’t have been positive.


1,109 posted on 03/26/2008 2:09:16 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1992074/posts

“CSAG and FTSE announce launch of FTSE-CSAG Terror-Free Index Series.”
Terror-Free Investing ^ | 26 March 08 | Press Release
Posted on 03/26/2008 2:02:52 PM PDT by LSUfan


1,110 posted on 03/26/2008 2:10:22 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

UPDATE:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49367

“Officials Express Regret Over Death in Suez Canal Incident”

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008


1,111 posted on 03/26/2008 2:14:10 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49374

“Afghan Forces to Assume ‘Leading Role’ Against Enemy, General Says”

By Kristen Noel
Special to American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008


1,112 posted on 03/26/2008 2:15:32 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49376

Air Strike Targets Al Qaeda in Iraq Member in Tikrit

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 – A coalition air strike today targeted an al Qaeda in Iraq operative linked to local car bombings, U.S. military officials said.

When coalition forces arrived at the target location, they were attacked by enemy small-arms fire. Coalition forces returned fire and called in fixed-wing aircraft to provide air-to-ground support.

After the air strike, coalition forces continued to receive heavy fire, as armed terrorists ran from the target area and attempted to hide in nearby homes, using occupants as shields. Several civilians were injured or killed during the gun battle. The wounded were treated on site and taken to a military medical facility.

“Coalition forces make every effort to protect civilians during our operations, but al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists continue to place women and children in harm’s way while they plan and conduct their brutal attacks,” said Army Maj. Winfield Danielson, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “The Multinational Force Iraq sincerely regrets when civilians are wounded or killed and their families have our heartfelt condolences. We are working with local authorities to provide assistance.”

In other recent Iraq news, U.S. soldiers yesterday detained three suspects linked to mortar attacks against coalition forces. The soldiers also seized an 81 mm mortar tube with base plate and tripod, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher, RPG warheads, an aiming device, a compass, a global positioning system, sets of military-style uniforms, AK-47 rifles and documents.

“We are relentless in our pursuit of those who would do harm to the Iraqi people and coalition forces and will bring them to justice,” said Army Col. Allen Batschelet, chief of staff for Multinational Division Baghdad. “The vast majority of Iraqis want security and stability. Coalition forces want the same, a better future for all Iraqis. The Iraqi security forces and coalition forces will yield no ground to the enemy.”

Elsewhere, U.S. soldiers acted on an Iraqi citizen’s tip and seized a buried weapons cache in Sayifiyah on March 24. The cache contained components used to make roadside bombs. The Iraqi witnessed a white Honda with a gray trunk at the cache site and reported the suspicious activity to U.S. soldiers, who then found the ordnance buried in barrels alongside a roadway. The cache contained: 16 107 mm rockets, 16 82 mm projectiles, 22 120 mm mortar rounds, one 82 mm projectile, one 55-gallon barrel containing 50 pounds of homemade explosives, 500 7.62 mm AK-47 rounds, 25 bags of propellant, three 60 mm projectiles, one 80 mm mortar, eight firing caps for 82 mm mortars, and one 500-foot roll of detonation cord. The cache also contained weapons, documents and mortar fuses. An explosives disposal team destroyed the cache.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)
Related Sites:


1,113 posted on 03/26/2008 2:17:50 PM PDT by Cindy
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Israel: Hamas mastermind captured
Wed Mar 26, 2008

JERUSALEM - The Israeli military says it has captured the mastermind of the deadliest suicide bombing of the Palestinian uprising.

Omar Jabar had been on the run since the March 2002 bombing at a hotel in the Israeli city of Netanya. In the attack, the bomber blew himself up during a dinner celebrating the Jewish holiday of Passover. Thirty people were killed and nearly 150 were wounded. The attack sparked a large Israeli military operation in the West Bank.

The army says Jabar planned the attack and dispatched the bomber to the hotel. It says Jabar was arrested early Wednesday in the West Bank.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080326/ap_on_re_mi_ea/israel_militant_arrested_1;_ylt=AlQjOkBCPldIB9zQKdqZMcsUvioA

1,114 posted on 03/26/2008 2:20:29 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; All

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49380

Iraqi Prime Minister Deserves Credit, Pentagon Spokesman Says

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 – Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki should be commended for taking the initiative to go after extremists and criminals in Basra, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said today.

The Iraqi government launched an operation last week to go after militias and criminal elements that do not follow the rule of law in the southern oil city.

“Citizens down there have been living in a city of chaos and corruption for some time, and they and the prime minister clearly have had enough of it,” Morrell said.

News reports out of Basra said there has been fighting between the Iraqi army and illegal militias and criminal elements. Maliki ordered five extra battalions to the city, bumping the force up to 15,000.

“They are conducting aggressive military operations … trying to rid the city of militias, thugs, smugglers that have been plaguing it for months now,” Morrell said. “But I think it’s very noteworthy that the prime minister, that the government, for that matter, is ready, willing and now able to take the fight to the extremists and to the criminals down there. They were not of this capacity some months ago.”

The Iraqi security forces could not deploy a force like this in the past, Morrell said. “Part of the point of the surge was to give them the time (and) the training to increase their capability, and they are now displaying it,” he said.

The coalition has provided some air support in the operation, but no ground elements, the press secretary said. “This is an Iraqi-led operation, and what’s more than that, it is a Shiia-dominated government going after Shiia extremists down there, and that is significant,” he said.

The Iraqi military has made enough progress that the government now feels confident in going after Shiite extremists in a part of the country where it previously had not exerted great influence.

The problems in Basra have been festering, Morrell said.

“I think the city has always been dealing with a level of criminality and corruption that no one has been comfortable with,” he said. “It has not been to a point such that it became a security threat that would undermine the central government.”

###
###

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49378

New Operations in Basra, Baghdad Take Aim at ‘Lawlessness’

By John J. Kruzel
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 – Some 2,000 Iraqi security force members yesterday entered Basra, Iraq, on a mission to crack down on “lawlessness.” Meanwhile, Iraqi and coalition forces have renewed similar efforts in the Iraqi capital.

In Basra, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his national security ministers decided on and directed the Iraqi-led operation, while coalition forces have only “limited involvement,” Army Maj. Gen. Kevin Bergner, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman, said today.

“The lawlessness is going on under religious or political cover, along with the smuggling of oil, weapons and drugs,” said Bergner, quoting a statement by Maliki. “These outlaws found support from inside government institutions, either willingly or by coercion, turning Basra into a place where citizens struggle to feel secure for their lives and property.”

Now in the second day of a “difficult and challenging” mission in Basra, the roughly two-brigade-sized force comprising Iraqi emergency response units, special operations forces, helicopter operators and conventional forces is seeing some success, Bergner told reporters.

“Initial reports are that they are making progress and they have had some tough encounters in their initial day or so of operations,” Bergner said during a news conference in the Iraqi capital.

The general emphasized the Basra operation is not aimed at operatives of Jaysh al-Mahdi, the militia loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, who pledged in August to suspend offensive operations against coalition forces and citizens and recently extended that pledge. Neither is it a proxy war between the United States and Iran, he said. Both have been reported in news media as possible motives for the new operations.

“It is the government of Iraq taking responsible action necessary to deal with criminals on the streets with weapons,” Bergner said.

He added that the Basra mission reflects the growing ability of Iraqi security forces, noting that coalition involvement is limited to transition team members embedded with Iraqis, various Iraqi-coalition liaison elements and some air assets.

In Baghdad, coalition and Iraqi security forces continue to work to quell criminal behavior, including Iranian-backed “special groups” and other elements perpetrating “indiscriminate violence.” Bergner noted that forces, however, are careful to exercise operational restraint.

“We have not, for example, indiscriminately returned fire on the locations from which the rockets have been launched,” he said. “We have not undertaken large-scale operations against neighborhoods, just because that is where the indirect fire originated from.”

Likewise, Bergner said, combined forces will continue to “show restraint” to Jaysh al-Mahdi members who uphold Sadr’s ceasefire pledge.

Bergner underscored that operations in the Iraqi capital, as in Basra, are not aimed at affiliates of particular religious or political groups.

“The suggestion that coalition forces and Iraqi security forces are targeting individuals because of their political affiliation is simply incorrect,” he said. “We are targeting criminals regardless of their political or other affiliation. People who break the law are arrested and subject to the rule of law.”


1,115 posted on 03/26/2008 2:23:30 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Ernest_at_the_Beach; All

and Bill Roggio files this report:

blog:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/03/iraqi_security_force_11.php

“Iraqi security forces battle the Mahdi Army”
By BILL ROGGIO
March 26, 2008 8:10 AM


1,116 posted on 03/26/2008 2:25:44 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: All

blog:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/03/in_pictures_inside_t.php

“In Pictures: Inside the Bridge”
By PHIL PETERSONMarch 26, 2008 7:05 AM


1,117 posted on 03/26/2008 2:27:43 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Oorang

That’s GREAT news, Oorang.


1,118 posted on 03/26/2008 2:29:49 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Oorang; All

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3524138,00.html

PRC, Islamic Jihad claim responsibility for Qassam fire
Published: 03.26.08, 22:44 / Israel News

The al-Quds Brigades, the Islamic Jihad’s military wing, and the Salah a-Din Brigades, the Popular Resistance Committee’s military wing, claimed responsibility for the Qassam rockets fired at Sderot.

On Wednesday evening eight Qassam rockets were fired at Sderot, two of which fell near a commercial center. Two people were lightly wounded and nine others suffered from shock. (Ali Waked)

###

Note: The following news brief is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3524120,00.html

2 wounded as Qassam barrage hits Sderot
Published: 03.26.08, 21:48 / Israel News

Palestinian terror groups in northern Gaza launched a barrage of eight Qassam rockets towards the town of Sderot late Wednesday evening. Security forces have yet to confirm where the rockets crashed.

Two people have been reported lightly wounded and nine others were treated for shock. (Shmulik Hadad)


1,119 posted on 03/26/2008 2:35:44 PM PDT by Cindy
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To: Cindy; eastforker; MamaDearest; WestCoastGal; Godzilla; nwctwx; backhoe; PGalt; All
Bomb, Iraqi currency lure FBI into stolen-car case (New Mexico)
3/25/08

The FBI is now involved in the theft of a car after it was found in Los Lunas with an explosive device and Iraqi currency inside. FBI agents say that they have ruled out terrorism.

The car was reported stolen last week. After the theft, the car’s owner was fueling his motorcycle when he spotted his stolen car. “While he was refueling his motorcycle, low and behold, the vehicle that he had reported stolen that belongs to him happened to pull into the gas station area also,” said Los Lunas Police Captain Charles Nuanes.

The car’s owner pulled the keys out of the ignition of his stolen car and the people in the car fled. When police arrived, they found the explosive device and less than $1,000 worth of Iraqi cash.

“We don’t know what their intentions were,” said Nuanes. “We don’t know what they were planning on doing with any of this.” Police suspect Toby Jaramillo, who is well known to Valencia County law enforcement, was behind the car’s theft. He’s in jail charged with stealing another car.

http://kob.com/article/stories/S389767.shtml?cat=517


1,120 posted on 03/26/2008 2:36:25 PM PDT by Oorang (Tyranny thrives best where government need not fear the wrath of an armed people - Alex Kozinski)
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