Threat Matrix: April 2008

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[nwctwx]

Afghanistan to Ask NATO for Bigger Army

Afghan officials will go to the NATO summit in Romania Thursday with a request: pay to increase our national Army by 40 percent. A bigger Army, Afghan officials argue, will allow the US and other coalition members to scale back in the coming years.

This appeal comes amid pleas from the US and Canada for other NATO members to commit more to the Afghanistan mission, which many analysts say has floundered over the past year for lack of resources and a coherent strategy. France is expected to contribute another 1,000 forces and Germany is likely to make a bigger commitment.

But American and Afghan government sources with knowledge of the expected Afghan proposal say that an increase from the current authorization of 86,000 Afghan Army soldiers to 120,000 is the only way to create an enduring defense against a resurgent Taliban and elusive Al Qaeda operatives. Read More

	France May Send More Troops to Afghanistan
	Special Operations Increase Possible for Iraq
	Al-Qaeda Grooming Militants Who 'Look Western': CIA Chief

Threat Matrix:
April 2008

March 2007

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Preparedness

[Cindy]

RECAP and UPDATED:

JIHAD WATCH.org: "INFLUENTIAL MUSLIM IN DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CLEARED OF ANY WRONGDOING" (April 5, 2008)

FreeRepublic.com - Discussion Forum (CENTER FOR SECURITY POLICY.org) - Topic: "'TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT' (revisit Major Coughlin's paper and some extras)" (March 24, 2008)

Link

Link

JIHAD WATCH.org: "PENTAGON ISLAMIC LAW EXPERT FIRED AFTER ALL?" (February 27, 2008)

TOWNHALL.com: "THE COUGHLIN AFFAIR" -Column by Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. (February 25, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com - INSIDE THE RING by Bill Gertz - Page 2: "COUGHLIN v. ISLAM" (February 15, 2008)

ANDREW BOSTOM.org - blog: "MAJOR COUGHLIN WILL NOW BE RETAINED BY THE DOD, and the rest of Congresswoman Sue Myrick's Statement on the Coughlin Affair, 2/5/08"

INVESTIGATIVE PROJECT.org - IPT News: "PENTAGON AIDE'S INVITATIONS CONTRADICTED U.S. POLICY" by Steven Emerson (February 4, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "INSIDE THE RING Islam Probed" by Bill Gertz (February 1, 2008)

FreeRepublic.com - Discussion Forum - (FAMILY SECURITY MATTERS): "MAJ. STEVE COUGHLIN FOR BEGINNERS" by Jeffrey Breinholt (January 30, 2008)

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "DEPARTMENT OF THE DEFENSELESS" by Joe Kaufman (January 28, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org (PHI BETA CONS): "STEPHEN COUGHLIN AND THREE VIEWS ON JIHAD" (January 26, 2008)

NATIONAL REVIEW.com: "QUESTIONS FOR THE PENTAGON Who is Hesham Islam?" by Claudia Rosett (January 25, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com - INSIDE THE RING by Bill Gertz - Page 2: "CENTCOM and Islam" (January 25, 2008)

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "VALIDATING MAJOR COUGHLIN" by Andrew G. Bostom (January 24, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "FRONT-GATE" -Commentary by Frank J. Gaffney Jr. (January 22, 2008)

IBD EDITORIALS.com: "GULLIBLE GORDON'S PENTAGON PC" by Investor's Business Daily (January 18, 2008)

CNS NEWS.com: "CONGRESSMEN SEEK ANSWERS ABOUT TERROR EXPERT'S FIRING" by Fred Lucas (January 16, 2008)

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "ISLAMISM AND CHALLENGES TO RESOURCES FOR U.S. STRATEGIC PLANNING AGAINST JIHAD" by Jeffrey Imm (January 12, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DISMISSAL OF STEPHEN COUGHLIN, JOINT STAFF, PENTAGON" (January 12, 2008)

Off-Topic.Internet-Haganah.com: "ELEMENTS IN THE US MILITARY INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY FIND THE KOOL-AID* LESS-THAN-PALATABLE..." (January 11, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "INSIDE THE RING Coughlin Backed" by Bill Gertz (January 11, 2008)

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "FIRED FOR THE TRUTH" by Andrew G. Bostom (January 10, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "'The termination of Stephen Coughlin on the Joint Staff is an act of intellectual cowardice'" (January 5, 2008)

NADREW BOSTOM.org - blog: "EATON AGONISTES, REDUX?" (January 5, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "INSIDE THE RING Coughlin Sacked" by Bill Gertz (January 4, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org (WASHINGTON TIMES.com, "Inside the Ring" by Bill Gertz, Page 2): "PRO-MUSLIM PENTAGON OFFICIALS PRESSURING ONE OF THE U.S. MILITARY'S MOST IMPORTANT SPECIALISTS ON JIHAD" (December 28, 2007)

STRATEGY CENTER.net/docLib: "'TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT': IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD (with appendices)" by Stephen Collins Coughlin, Major, Military Intelligence, USAR, NDIC Class 2007 (July 2007) (pdf)

[drymans wife]

LOL

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.mnf-iraq.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18152&Itemid=21

Press Release A080405b
April 5, 2008

Coalition forces conduct airstrike in Basra, one criminal killed

BAGHDAD – Coalition aircraft conducted a precision strike in support of Iraqi Security Forces in Basra Friday, killing an armed criminal.

After receiving reports that Iraqi Security Forces were under attack and taking small-arms fire from a building, Coalition forces employed an unmanned aerial vehicle to observe and confirm the target in Basra’s Haiyaniya district. A rotary-winged aircraft then conducted the strike. An armed criminal was confirmed killed in the precision airstrike.

“Coalition forces are providing surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, as well as support aircraft, on an as-requested basis for Iraqi Security Forces in Basra,” said Cmdr. Scott Rye, MNF-I spokesman. “We strongly support the Government of Iraq and Iraqi Security Forces in their efforts to enforce the rule of law and disrupt criminal activity.”

- 30 -

[Cindy]

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

#

blog:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=29501_We_Got_Mail-_Buffaloes_Stupid&only

“We Got Mail: ‘Buffaloes Stupid’”
Fri, Apr 4, 2008 at 6:01:26 pm PST

[Cindy]

The internet today seems to be fully loaded.

So, before I go eat lunch, here’s one more:

http://www.memritv.org

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1731.htm

“Title of Video: Qadhafi to Leaders at the Arab Summit: We All Hate One Another. The Americans Might Hang You All One Day Like They Hanged Saddam”

“Clip #1731 Broadcast: March 29, 2008”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/philadelphia/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/subway/

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997300/posts

“4 more teens arrested in fatal subway attack; sixth sought [Philadelphia]”
Phila Daily News ^ | 4/3/08 | DAVID GAMBACORTA, DAFNEY TALES & JULIE SHAW
Posted on 04/05/2008 1:57:35 PM PDT by freespirited

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/china
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/thermalimaging/

#

Thanks to RDTF for the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997309/posts

“2 Arrested With Infrared Cameras at LAX”
Breitbart ^ | April5, 2008 | AP
Posted on 04/05/2008 2:11:52 PM PDT by RDTF
LOS ANGELES (AP)

[Cindy]

ADDING 1 link to post no. 232:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://osint.internet-haganah.com/archives/001377.html

April 03, 2008

45 AL-QAIDA SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN TURKEY

The Media Line News Agency Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST Apr. 2, 2008

Turkish security forces have detained 45 people suspected of being part of an Al-Qaida cell. The detainees were arrested during simultaneous raids throughout Istanbul, local media outlets reported.

The raids were carried out in eight neighborhoods in the European part of Istanbul. The local police said the suspects were planning to commit terror attacks.

Posted on 03 April

[Cindy]

Thanks to The Spirit of Allegiance for the ping to this event:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1996107/posts

“Gathering of Eagles to hold press conference supporting Iraq mission and U.S. military”
Gathering of Eagles Website ^ | 1 April 2008 | Coby Dillard
Posted on 04/03/2008 8:37:31 AM PDT by concretebob

[Cindy]

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

Is Al Sadr really ready to rock and roll again?

Hmmm...we’ll see about that.

#

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080405/FOREIGN/275149421/-1/RSS_FP

“Al-Sadr militia prep for U.S., Iraqi fighting”
By Sharon Behn
April 5, 2008

#

Previously...

http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/6541.htm
http://memri.org/bin/latestnews.cgi?ID=SD188308

Video:

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1726.htm

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iran/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/syria/

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drones/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drone/

#
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1207238165593&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Apr 6, 2008 1:00 | Updated Apr 6, 2008 3:29
“Defense officials fear Hizbullah may send bomb-laden UAVs”
By YAAKOV KATZ

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “As tensions rise with Syria, fears have mounted in the defense establishment that Hizbullah may fly an explosives-packed drone into Israel in retaliation for the February assassination of Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

During the 2006 war with Lebanon, Hizbullah launched four unmanned aerial vehicles at Israel. One was shot down by a Python 5 air-to-air missile fired by an F-16, another crashed shortly after takeoff, one was shot down over the sea and another crashed in Israel.

The UAVs were all Iranian-made Ababils, which have a known range of 150 km., and can reach 300 kph. and carry 45 kg. of high-grade explosives. Alternatively, they can carry surveillance equipment.

According to globalsecurity.org, Iran has a number Ababil- and Mohajer-class UAVs. Both can carrying surveillance equipment as well as explosives for kamikaze attacks. Iran is known to have supplied at least a dozen Mohajer-4 UAVs to Hizbullah in recent years; they are called Misrad-1 by the guerrilla group.

According to the Web site, Syria has a number of Soviet-made Tupolev DR-3 drones.

There are fears in Israel that Hizbullah could receive these UAVs. “Our assumption is that whatever is small enough to fit into a shipping container can have been sent from Iran or Syria to Hizbullah,” a top defense official said.”

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/bishara/

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/hezbollah
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/hizballah
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/hizbulluh

#

Note: Photo included.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997402/posts

#

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125759

GSS: Ex-MK Bishara Recruiting for Hizbullah
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz

SNIPPET: “(IsraelNN.com) Security services suspect that former MK Azmi Bishara, a fugitive living abroad accused of providing aid to Hizbullah, is intent on recruiting agents for the Lebanese terrorist group among Israeli Arabs.”

[MamaDearest]

Off topic, but interesting nevertheless:

Nautical News

A late-night crossing for the captain of the Chappaquiddick ferry on Martha's Vineyard turned into a harrowing experience for himself and his three passengers on board. The passengers were riding the ferry across Edgartown Harbor while sitting in their 2006 Mercedes SUV. The person sitting in the driver's seat of the car made believe she was steering the ferry by turning the car's steering wheel back and forth. She also admitted that she never shut off the car's engine nor put it in park. Apparently the turning of the car's steering wheel dislodged the wooden blocks the captain had placed in front of the car's wheels and the car rolled off the Chappaquiddick ferry, sinking like a stone into Edgartown Harbor. When rescuers arrived, the three occupants of the Mercedes had already escaped and were out of the water. Two of them had no injuries, but one of them was transported to the hospital, treated and released. Police said they expect to file charges against the driver of the car. Chappaquiddick became famous around the world after Senator Kennedy drove a car off the Chappaquiddick bridge, killing Mary Jo Kopechne.

EU bans GM-contaminated rice from China

Snippets: BEWARE Chinese rice. That's the message following the discovery of rice consignments containing an experimental genetically modified strain called Bt63. From 15 April, all rice imported from China into the European Union must be certified as free of Bt63.

But does the rice really pose a hazard? Bt63 is a bacterial protein made by GM rice to kill insect pests. The UK-based Friends of the Earth lobby group cites studies in the US and Cuba which suggest that GM rice strains containing similar proteins caused allergy-like responses in farm workers.

[Cindy]

OPINION:

Well now, should this surprise me?
No, of course it shouldn’t.
Jihadis recruit even online, have their own
media outlets, etc.

Of course, jihadis are just media - glorified gangbangers.

With that in mind, drug cartels advertising for
hired help does not surprise me at all. -Cindy

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/mexico

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drugcartel
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/drugcartels

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997413/posts

Mexican drug cartels post help-wanted ads
UPI ^ | April 4, 2008
Posted on 04/05/2008 6:46:45 PM PDT by SwinneySwitch

EL PASO, Texas - Mexican Consulate officials in El Paso, Texas, said Mexican drug cartels have been posting help-wanted ads in Juarez, Mexico, newspapers.

The officials said publications including P.M., El Diario de Juarez and El Norte have been printing vague help-wanted ads that are designed to trick young people into smuggling drugs over the border into the United States, the Las Cruces (N.M.) Sun-News reported Friday.

Mexican Consulate spokeswoman Socorro Cordova said the issue came to the attention of officials nine months ago when the family of a driver stopped at the U.S. border showed the ad to Mexican officials.

A Juarez woman who identified herself as Martha said her daughter was duped by one of the ads into accepting a job with a junkyard company that required her to drive twice a week to El Paso. Martha said her daughter was met at the border by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers.

“It was like they sent them a fax or something,” she said. “Officers came out of everywhere and they let the other cars pass. This is what they are doing. They are tricking kids.”

[Cindy]

Thanks for the info MamaDearest.

I appreciate it.

[Cindy]

Thanks to BurbankKarl for the ping to this post.

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997353/posts?page=22#22

There was a citywide officer safety broadcast yesterday for LAPD...there was intel that they (Mexican mafia) were gunning for officers. The “ban” lasted all of two hours, before a drive by shooting at Van Nuys Blvd and Ventura in Sherman Oaks wounded someone leaving a pizza place.

22 posted on 04/05/2008 7:08:50 PM PDT by BurbankKarl

###
###

QUOTE:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1997353/posts?page=2#2

http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_8804727?source=rss_viewed

The gang member shot to death in a gunbattle with police in Wilmington on Wednesday had vowed to kill a Los Angeles officer to take revenge for two officer-involved shootings last month, authorities said Thursday.

David Valentine Sedillo, 26, almost succeeded. One of the .38-caliber bullets he fired struck a small Marine Corps pin attached to the top left of an officer’s uniform and was deflected, Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said.

According to police, the two Wilmington shootings in March put Sedillo on his mission to kill officers.

In the first shooting March 13, two police officers stopped Avila about 9 p.m. at Watson Avenue and L Street as he rode his bicycle. Avila, a fellow gang member, fought with the officers, who tried to pepper-spray him. That failed to have any effect.

During the struggle, Avila fired a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol inside his pocket, narrowly missing the officers, police said.

The officers shot and killed him.

Avila, who had been recently released from prison, sported freshly inked Eastside Wilmas gang tattoos on his skin, police said.

2 posted on 04/05/2008 4:15:44 PM PDT by radar101

[MamaDearest]

Drug cartels operating paramilitary camps near border

Authorities say drug cartels have set up camps to train recruits and turn them into highly skilled killers.

Thick brush along the border provides the perfect cover for drug smugglers. Webb County Sherriff's deputies see it all the time.

The remote region near the Rio Grande River is also a hideaway for training camps set up by the Mexican drug cartels.

The Dallas Morning News first reported the existence of the paramilitary camps clustered in two Mexican states bordering Texas.

Rugged terrain is common throughout south Texas, and it's the same thing on the Mexican side of the border.

[MamaDearest]

You’re welcome Cindy.

[Oorang]

Egyptians Searching Sinai for Sudanese Terrorists
April 5, 2008

Egyptian forces in Sinai are searching for two Sudanese nationals said to be driving a truck laden with explosives. Egypt says that the Sudanese are planning to carry out a terror attack against a tourist site in Sinai. Police have set up roadblocks on main highways, and have sent out patrols on back roads. All cars are being checked thoroughly.

Israel has several times in the past warned citizens to stay out of Sinai and not to patronize tourist sites there because of the high security risks involved.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/144464

Hezbollah to "follow closely" Israeli drill along Lebanese border
Apr 5, 2008

Beirut - The Lebanese Shiite movement is to 'follow closely' Israel army manoeuvres planned for Sunday, the group's commander in south Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, was quoted as saying Saturday.

'Israel's military drill is not a testament of its strength but of its frustration and despair following its defeat in the Second Lebanon War,' Hezbollah television al-Manar quoted Kaouk as saying. According to Lebanese security sources, Hezbollah has put its militants in a state of full alert ahead of Sunday's manoeuvres.

Excerpted

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/middleeast/news/article_1398529.php/Hezbollah_to_%26quotfollow_closely%26quot_Israeli_drill_along_Lebanese_border

[Oorang]

Adding on to first article in post #259:

Egypt warns of a chemical attack
Apr 5, 2008

The report on Jpost says that Egyptian police “search for two Sudanese of planning attacks against government installations and tourist resorts in the Sinai”, is nowhere to find except on two Egyptian newspapers but in different versions.

Al-Badeel says they are already arrested terrorists plotting to attack Israelis and Americans in Sharm Al-Sheik with a car-bomb, the newspaper says they are all Egyptians, and police are searching for suspect.

Almasryoon reported that Oil companies and chemical factories warned by the government of possible terrorists chemical-attacks and to take all the measures that their products do not fall into the hand of a terrorists organization, but according to the website the warning distributed on the factories asked the employees “to be alert and watching foreigners”, which suggests that the attackers are not Egyptians.

http://www.roadstoiraq.com/2008/04/05/egypt-warns-of-a-chemical-attack/