Threat Matrix: December 2008

Thanks for your hard work on these thread! God bless you richly, Ian.

Thanks for your efforts Ian.

___________________________

Italy: Police arrest two Moroccan terrorism suspects
Dec.2.08

Milan - Italian anti-terrorist police on Tuesday arrested two Moroccans suspected of international terrorism, Ilhami Rachid and Abdelkader Ghaffir, and raided the homes of other people believed to be linked to the pair. Rachid and Ghaffir were allegedly plotting attacks on military and civilian targets on the outskirts of the northern city of Milan. Rachid, 31, and Ghaffir, 42, had planned attacks on a supermarket, a bar, night club car park, and two police stations, as well as the immigration office at police headquarters in Milan.

The two men do not belong to any terrorist organisation, but closely followed jihadist websites, especially statements by the Al-Qaeda terror network, according to investigators. Rachid had 'indoctrinated' his two-year-old son, teaching him to recognise photos of Al-Qaeda leader Bin Laden and to call him 'Uncle Osma', investigators said. Phone taps revealed he and Ghaffir had initially planned to use a van packed with explosives but then decided to use oxygen cylinders after searching and downloading the bomb-making information from the Internet.

Police are also checking a total 10 contacts of the Moroccans, who attended an Islamic cultural centre located in an old warehouse in the town of Macherio, where Rachid worked as an imam. Both he and Ghaffir had lived in Italy for some time, said investigators.

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=3.0.2778566399

They're Winning
by Steve Emerson

Terrorism expert Steve Emerson says there’s no hope of victory in the war on terrorism until we call it what it really is.

This past Saturday, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece entitled “What They Hate about Mumbai,” focusing specifically on the free market sins of that great city. With contrived evenhandedness, the op-ed managed to blame both Hindus and Muslim extremists—without blaming either party in particular for the murderous attacks.

Without realizing it, the Grey Lady had hit upon a great travel series. In the best spirit of jihad for dummies, why not a year’s worth of op-eds focusing on “Why They Hate____” filled in, mad-libs style, with the U.S., Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Kenya, and the other 74 countries where radical Islam has reared its violent head? With only the moral blindness that the New York Times could capture, each op-ed would portray the attacks in a contrived even-handed way, without blaming, or even naming, the perpetrators of the attacks—Muslim jihadists.

Watching and reading the last 5 days of reports of the Mumbai attacks was an Alice in Wonderland experience. Even after an Islamic terrorist group took credit, TV anchors and reporters assiduously avoided the term Islamic terrorist. They must have consulted with the Thesaurus for the Politically Correct to determine that the word “gunmen” would not offend any jihadist.

Excerpted

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-12-01/theyre-winning/

Terrorism expert Steve Emerson says there’s no hope of victory in the war on terrorism until we call it what it really is.

doomed to repeat history

New ID scanners at borders raise privacy alarm

Snippets: The federal government has already deployed new detection machines that can scan citizens without their knowledge from as far as 50 feet away and "read" their personal documents such as passports or driver's licenses.

The RFIDs are so sensitive that, even before a vehicle pulls up at a border checkpoint, agents already will have on their computer screen the personal data of the passengers, including each person's name, date of birth, nationality, passport or ID number, and even a digitized photo.

Panel rules jail stabbing constituted terrorism

A reputed former leader of Al Qaeda who is serving 32 years in prison for stabbing a jail guard in 2000 must be resentenced, a federal appeals panel in Manhattan ruled on Tuesday, because a judge wrongly concluded that the man’s crime did not meet the legal standard for terrorism.

Federal prosecutors, who argued that the attack met the standard for terrorism, had sought a life sentence for the defendant, Mamdouh Mahmud Salim. Officials have described him as a founder of Al Qaeda and a former top aide to Osama bin Laden.

Terrorism suspects arrested in Italy

Two Moroccan factory workers living in the Milan suburbs were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of plotting to carry out bomb attacks on the outskirts of Italy's financial capital.

Rachid Ilhami, 31, and Abdelkader Ghafir, 42, both married with children, had frequented an Islamic cultural centre in the town of Macherio, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owns a home. They had been grooming recruits there, police said.

Possible targets included the parking lots of a bar and a supermarket, a police barracks and an immigration office, according to police, who had been investigating the pair since March 2007.

Captured gunman sold into terrorism by his father

The sole Mumbai gunman to have been captured alive claims that his father introduced him to the terrorist faction suspected to be behind the terror attacks last week in exchange for cash.

Azam Amir Kasab, 21, believed to be from Pakistan, said that members of his family would be killed because he was ordered not to be taken alive. “Spread terror and your family will be looked after,” he was told, according to a leaked account of his interrogation.

Terrorism expert Steve Emerson says there’s no hope of victory in the war on terrorism until we call it what it really is.

The "Captured gunman" link, post no. 44, is notably politically correct wherein it consistently uses the word "gunman" for fear of insulting the killer or his supporters.

Yep, how quickly we go to a pre-9/11 world

An 18 year old planted a bomb with a detenotion device at a gas station. He was quickly identified and arrested. During the patdown officers found a second bomb strapped to his body.

http://www.wapakdailynews.com/content/view/83750/1/

Bombs found in St. Marys (ohio)
Wednesday, 03 December 2008
By ANGELA WEAVER
Staff Writer
ST. MARYS — A former Wapakoneta High School student is in custody after law enforcement officers Tuesday found two bombs in St. Marys he allegedly made.
Jesse B. McDermitt, 18, who faced criminal charges for bringing bomb-making materials to Wapakoneta High School in March 2006, left an incinerating device at the Marathon station on South Street in St. Marys. St. Marys Police officers discovered a second device strapped to his body when they took the St. Marys teen into custody.
St. Marys Police Chief Greg Foxhoven said Tuesday afternoon McDermitt is being held on unrelated charges and they are in the process of applying for a search warrant for McDermitt’s apartment.
McDermitt is currently being held at the Auglaize County Jail.
“He’s not going anywhere,” Foxhoven said during a news conference.
McDermitt was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in juvenile detention in 2006 when he was arrested for bringing homemade explosive devices, shotgun shells, a gas mask and knives to Wapakoneta High School, where he was a student.
At a 2006 court hearing, McDermitt admitted to bringing a number of homemade explosive devices to Wapakoneta High School, saying he was upset because he had been the subject of ridicule.
St. Marys Safety-Service Director Tom Hitchcock said police officials notified him of the situation, and he visited the scene at the Marathon.
“I was very proud of the way the city fire department and police department acted,” Hitchcock said. “I’m happy no one was hurt, and we have him in custody.”
McDermitt became an immediate suspect after reviewing the St. Marys Marathon station’s surveillance video.
“He walked up, set it down, made an attempt to cover his face and walked away,” Foxhoven said of the scene captured on the video in which McDermitt was wearing the same clothing he wore when he was taken into custody by the police. “He was wearing the same red coat when we went to his house.”
St. Marys Police officers responded to the gasoline station after receiving a telephone call at 9:12 a.m.
A customer at the Marathon picked up the black backpack and brought it inside, thinking someone left it by the pump on accident. When employees opened the bag looking for identification, they saw the device and notified authorities.
Police officers placed the device in the dumpster and contacted the St. Marys Fire Department and the Allen County Bomb Squad.
While firefighters waited for the bomb squad personnel to arrive, Foxhoven, police officers and an Auglaize County probation officer went to McDermitt’s residence at Townview Terrace Apartments on Greenville Road.
“While we were taking him into custody, during the patdown, we felt a bulge in his coat,” Foxhoven said, noting another device strapped to McDermitt’s body.
The officers were able to detach the device and take it to a dumpster, as well as evacuate the apartments adjacent to McDermitt’s apartment.
The device at Marathon was disabled at approximately noon and the device at the apartment disabled soon after that.
Authorities contacted St. Marys School Superintendent Mary Riepenhoff, who ordered Memorial High School and McBroom Junior High School, which are located across the street from the gasoline station, under lockdown.
“While the bomb squad was on its way, I went over to the school and met with Mary (Riepenhoff) and discussed the options they had,” St. Marys Fire Chief Ken Cline said.
“We knew the St. Marys Police Department was in contact with the Allen County Bomb Squad describing the devices,” he said, adding that they knew it was a detonation device from the information they received. “We felt it was safe to leave the kids at the high school.”
Riepenhoff ordered school officials to search the inside and outside of the building for other possible devices.
“We did not find anything that looked suspicious or out of the ordinary,” Riepenhoff said.
She initiated the lockdown through the lunch periods and lifted it at 1:20 p.m.
Foxhoven said the department has had recent dealings with McDermitt and were currently in the process of interrogating him.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, the Allen County Bomb Squad members and the Auglaize County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who were on the scene, also plan to interview McDermitt.
Foxhoven said the department is in the early stages of investigation and could not provide a motive at the time.
Cline said the city has had bomb threats but none like this in the past.
“We’ve had bottle bombs but nothing with a detonation device,” Cline said.

Last Updated ( Wednesday, 03 December 2008 )

Israeli squadron devising attack on Iran?

The Israeli Air Force is reportedly holding secret training sessions to prepare for what may be a future attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

An Israeli squadron is conducting dress rehearsals in the Negev desert, for a strike on Iran’s nuclear infrastructure The Sunday Times reported.
http://www.payvand.com/news/08/nov/1232.html
According to the Sunday report, the secret mission could lead to Israel’s third and ‘easily most dangerous’ attack on a nuclear plant in three decades if it gets ‘the political go-ahead’. Israel had earlier attacked nuclear plants in Iraq and Syria.

“We feel the future of Israel isn’t safe and we want to do what we can to defend it,” The Sunday Times quoted a pilot as saying on condition of anonymity.

This comes as some 120 US military personnel in the Nevatim air base near the Negev desert are adding the finishing touches to an advanced X-band radar system, with a range of 1,250 miles that will gravely enhance Israel’s tactical capacity in the air.

The system is also believed to be capable of countering Iran’s advanced Shahab-3 and the newly-tested Sejjil ballistic missiles. Earlier reports suggested that the system could also facilitate an Israeli air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

The Haaretz daily, meanwhile, reported on Sunday that Israeli defense chiefs are calling for contingency plans to be drawn up for military action against the Islamic Republic.

“Israel faces these threats almost alone ... It is imperative to mobilize the international community and obtain regional cooperation. The new American administration is an opportunity to do this,” Haaretz quoted one of the military chiefs as saying.

The report came as US President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are to hold crucial White House talks in the wake of the latest UN nuclear watchdog report on Iran, which states that the agency ‘has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclear material in Iran,’ adding that there has been ‘no indication’ of Iran conducting nuclear reprocessing activities.

The Guardian has confirmed that Olmert sought a green light to strike Iranian nuclear installations in a May 14 meeting with President George W. Bush.

On July 13, The Sunday Times quoted a senior Pentagon official as saying that the Bush administration had given the ‘amber light’ to an Israeli plan to attack Iran by means of long-range bombing sorties.

“Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you’re ready,” said the official on condition of anonymity.

On October 12, The Times reported that there is the likelihood of Israel bypassing US warnings and unilaterally striking Iranian nuclear facilities in the same manner Georgia attacked South Ossetia.

“The experience of Georgia has given an amber, if not a green light to Israel (to attack Iran) and only Bush can switch that to red,” The Times asserted.

I can’t believe that 10 men caused all this damage. Two per hotel just seems unbelievable.

bttt

Thanks for the ping!

excerpts from the interview, as published in the Urdu-language Pakistani newspaper Roznama Express:

"Pakistan's nuclear assets are in safe hands.

"Every Indian city is on the target of our missiles, and [Pakistan's] atomic technology is better than that of India. [We] can fire the missiles at only 10 minutes' notice...

"I am very satisfied with the defense preparedness. As long as [we] didn't have nuclear weapons, India had a three and a half advantage [over Pakistan]. But this advantage was levelled when we conducted the nuclear testing.

"Following the nuclear testing, we tested missiles like the Shaheen, the Ghaznavi, the Shaheen II, and the Ghauri. After this, India's tone and language [vis-à-vis Pakistan] changed...

"The nuclear tests carried out by India were of eight to 10 tons, whereas our [atomic tests] were of 25 to 30 tons, and the one we conducted in Kharan [Desert, in Baluchistan] were of 10 to 12 tons. This is why our weapons are better [than India's]...

"Our Shaheen missiles hit targets [during testing]; the world recognized their delivery system. None of India's cities can remain safe from our missiles... Pakistan's width is less than India's, which is 1,200 to 1,400 kilometers. Therefore, no corner of India is safe from the Shaheen II...

"We have also developed cruise missiles. And Pakistan is the fourth country in the world to have cruise missiles...

"We should talk to India strongly... Even while giving the message of friendship, we should make [Indians] realize that we are not weak...

"Being a small nation, if we abandon the option... to launch a nuclear attack, then there won't be any use of the second option. This way you end one advantage...

"Our missile system is ready, [and] can be fired in only 10 minutes – they are on the launchers..."

Thanks for the ping MamaD. I hope they throw the book at Mamdouh.

BBC: 6 gunmen shot and killed at New Delhi airport... Developing...
Indian airports on high alert...

From Drudge

Thanks. FOX News was reporting it earlier, too. It’s not over.

Well, now they are denying it.

Security scare at Delhi’s airport

Security has been stepped up at India’s airport after attack warnings
The police force in charge of security at Delhi’s main airport has denied reports that people have been shot and injured there.

Police are investigating “two sharp sounds that were heard at the airport”, the force told the BBC’s Delhi bureau.

Earlier, airport officials told the BBC shots had been fired, and that several gunmen had been killed or injured.

Security has been strengthened at Indian airports after warnings of possible attacks.

Indian media reported that operations at Delhi’s main international airport appeared to have returned to normal after security forces examined the terminal after the security alert.

Tensions have been high in India since last week when at least 10 gunmen went on a shooting spree in Mumbai, killing nearly 200 people.

Indian officials have blamed Pakistan-based militants for the Mumbai attacks.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7766139.stm

Thanks RR, I have been sleeping. I got one of those pneumonia immunizations two days ago and I have been sick as a dog ever since. Headache, painful arm AND shoulder, painful little nodules under my arm and a fever. Ugh.

they are going to be twitchy for a while, particularly with the rumor that there are 5 terrorists still on the loose.

Well, that doesn’t sound good. But thanks for the reminder. My last pneumonia vaccine was 10 years ago. I think I’m due again. I react to nearly all shots that way. Even my annual flu vaccine. I know it’s not supposed to happen, but it does to me. Even my MD is surprised by the reactions I get. And, no, I’m not allergic to eggs.

Hope you feel better very soon. Now, get back to bed. The news will still be here when you wake........unfortunately.

[The news will still be here when you wake........unfortunately.]

That’s all the encouragement I need to give up sleep altogether, unless I start using my 1911A1 for a teddybear again.

Guess we’re not the only ones getting twitchy, though. Grandma’s been wondering out loud if we should start sending some of the excess weaponry around the Homestead to the kids.