Threat Matrix: 2010

Freerepublic.com ^ | 12/31/2009 | Freeper TMers

[Velveeta]

Al Qaeda’s Yemen Connection, America and the Global Islamic Jihad

December 30, 2009 — The attempt to destroy Northwest Airlines flight 253 en route from Amsterdam to Detroit on Christmas Day underscores the growing ambition of al Qaeda's Yemen franchise, which has grown from a largely Yemeni agenda to become a player in the global Islamic jihad in the last year. Since merging with the al Qaeda franchise in Saudi Arabia last January and renaming itself Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), it has stepped up operations in Yemen itself, struck into Saudi Arabia, and now operates on the global stage. The weak Yemeni government of President Ali Abdallah Salih, which has never fully controlled the country and now faces a host of growing problems, will need significant American support to defeat AQAP.

Al Qaeda has long been active in Yemen, the original homeland of Osama bin Laden's family, and one of its first major terror attacks was conducted in Aden in 2000, when an al Qaeda cell nearly sank the USS Cole. A year ago, the al Qaeda franchises in Saudi Arabia and Yemen merged after the Saudi branch had been effectively repressed by the Saudi authorities under the leadership of Deputy Interior Minister Prince Muhammad bin Nayif. The new AQAP showed its claws last August, when it almost assassinated the prince with a suicide bomber who had passed through at least two airports on the way to his attempt on Nayif.

(snip)

The attack on the Amsterdam-Detroit flight also shows that al Qaeda remains obsessed with striking the American airline industry, a target it has gone after repeatedly since 1999. If AQAP has now been told by the al Qaeda core leadership to take on the job, we can probably assume that other al Qaeda franchises in North Africa, Iraq, Southeast Asia and elsewhere have also been pressed to attack.

The Brookings Institution

Threat Matrix:
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Intelligence is the best weapon against terrorism.
National Commission on Terrorism: 1999

Ian Livingston

Threat Matrix: Since November 3, 2003
							68	67	66	65	64	63	62	61	60	59	58	57	56	55	54	53	52	51
50	49	48	47	46	45	44	43	42	41	40	39	38	37	36	35	34	33	32	31	30	29	28	27	26
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"No matter where you live in the world, this is a message that bears repeating: Your assistance is needed to prevent terrorist acts." From TM'er and Freeper ~appalachian_dweller~
Submit Information Online: FBI Tips & Public Leads
CDC ::::: CIA ::::: DHS ::::: DOJ ::::: DOD ::::: FBI ::::: NSA
Government Web Sites			Homeland Security Weekly		Nuclear Threat Initiative
	Most Wanted Terrorists		Terror-Alert.com		NCI: Nuclear Terrorism
	FBI: Seeking Information		Global Crisis Watch		IR and Security Network
	Are you Ready?: Ready.Gov		SOFIR		World Policy Institute
	CDC: Preparedness/Response		Little Green Footballs	Threat Matrix Related
	Defense Dept. War on Terror		Terror Base UK		Terrorism Knowledge Base
	U.S. Immigration & Customs		The Blotter		Terror Information Bank
	DOJ: Combating Terrorism		Middle East Live Daily Thread		South Asia Terrorism Portal
	US-Cert: Current Activity	Think Tanks			Terrorist Scorecard
News & Information			The Terrorism Research Center		Iraq Pipeline Watch
	IPN - Fire & Police Paging		The Jamestown Foundation		National Security Archive
	MEMRI | MEMRI TV		The Brookings Institution		Islamic Dictionary
	The Counterterrorism Blog		Council on Foreign Relations		IACSP Terrorism/Antiterrorism
	Jihad Watch		SITE Institute	Maps
	GlobalTerrorAlert.com		CSIS		Terrorist Network in U.S. Map
	LauraMansfield.com		RAND Corporation		Recent Disasters: Worldwide
	Internet Haganah		International Crisis Group		Nuclear Weapon Effects Calc.
	Topix.net: Terrorism News		The Heritage Foundation		Nuclear Terrorism: Blast Maps
	Faith Freedom International		Foreign Policy Institute		FEMA Nuclear Fallout Map
	TrackingTerrorism.com		Center for Defense Information		U.S. Nuclear Targets Map
	DEBKAfile		The Cato Institute		Global Incident Map
	TerroristWarning.com		Hudson Institute	Pay Sites
	HomelandSecurityUS.net		Homeland Security Institute		Strategic Forecasting
New Links in Italics

"America Supports You" spotlights what Americans are doing in support of the military all across the land, encourages others to thank the troops and allows all to tell their stories by giving voice and visibility to their efforts.

Being prepared is a good thing, no matter where one lives; no matter what alert level we are on.
From TM'er and Freeper ~Cindy~

Intelligence is the best weapon against terrorism.
National Commission on Terrorism: 1999

Ian Livingston

[votemout]

Can they reschedule for May? We’re going to Israel or plan to in late April.

[caww]

“Israel to strike Iran”....not March..propaganda to shake up Iran further. Could be earlier...depends on many variables going on over there now..but I think not March...last year they said Dec.

It’s no longer up to BO admin...though Israel will inform them once plains have begun the deed.

[caww]

Mesta,

You come down from the sweet Brown victory high yet?
Tis sweet indeed, my little ol’ heart still humming...

Serious note:

-Where’s the chatter at now?
-Any new infor. if Bo will or not let Haitians in?...I heard yesturday it’s a no go, in part because of what you wrote in this post.

News flash......damage control on, from the top:

-Bo interview w/ Stephanop./world news/nightline ....also tomorrow on Good Morn. Am.

Exrt:...From BO’s lips....” ..samething that swept Scott Brown into office swept me into office.” also...”fears about this bill are false:.....(Liar)

[caww]

.....Anything further on this guy?....

[caww]

I have Vista which too many have had problems with Zone Alarm on Vista..but understand a good one otherwise.

[jersey117]

Just heard a blurb on my radio about bomb residue found on laptop on plane at Munich airport. Suspect got away. Commuting on BB right now. See if you can find a link if you haven’t posted yet.

[Rushmore Rocks]

Post 1478.

[Moe Tzadik]

No. Just the usual downplaying. The guy’s laptop/case failed the swab test, he grabs it and runs, successfully evades and escapes and...CNN now says “But authorities later said the man may simply have been in a hurry, grabbed his things and left the airport.”

The (no description) “man” and his potential/real bomb are gone.

[caww]

Figures...one more to worry about...same o sameo

[jersey117]

Thanks RR. And thanks for the update Moe. Somehow I don’t think we’re getting the full story here.

[JustPiper]

I heard the same blurb FFNJ! any update?

[JustPiper]

hmmm...I’ll ask & see what I can do

[JustPiper]

Oh gawd:

Police spokesman admits security alarm could have been triggered by chemical substances such as perfume in hand luggage

~The rest of the article all PC & unwillingness to profile

[JustPiper]

U.S. intelligence officials believe there are dozens – perhaps hundreds – of Americans who have been in e-mail contact with the radical Yemeni cleric who is believed to have inspired and directed both the Fort Hood shooter and the failed Christmas Day airline bomber, the Investigative Project on Terrorism has learned.

Radical Yemeni Cleric's Extensive American Contacts a Source of Major Concern

[JustPiper]

I was surprised to learn today that Tariq Ramadan has abandoned his attempt to teach at the University of Notre Dame. Given that the State Department was openly rooting for him to try again, given that the Department of Homeland Security questions were excluded from his immigration interview in Basel, given that the higher education and related lobbies were pulling for him to be allowed in, it seemed only a matter of time until he would be permitted entry to the United States to take up the university position.

That he has formally resigned from Notre Dame suggests just how solid the DHS evidence against him is. And this, by the way, does not surprise me. A senior DHS official looked me hard in the eyes a few weeks ago and assured me, "The evidence we have is damning."

Tariq Ramadan Gives Up – Then Tries Again by Daniel Pipes

The title raises one's curiosity – "Islamic leader urges Jews be wary of fundamentalists" but it is the quotes in the Boston Globe story that takes one's breath away. Ingrid Mattson, apologist for Wahhabism and president of the Islamic Society of North America (a key component of the "Wahhabi lobby") spoke at Harvard University on March 12 and gave American Jews some unsolicited advice. "Right-wing Christians are very risky allies for American Jews because they are really anti-Semitic. They do not like Jews." And therefore, she implied, Jews should stay away from Evangelicals and other pro-Israel Christians.

Islamist Advice to Jews

[JustPiper]

Quote of the Day

There is no doubt that terrorists still want to go for the big spectaculars -- things like aircraft and dirty bombs.

--British Undersecretary for Security and Counterterrorism Alan West.

[JustPiper]

South Korea's defense minister warned North Korea today that his nation would attack first if it felt a nuclear strike was imminent, the New York Times reported

South Korea Threatens North With Pre-Emptive Attack

The summit is planned to be held April 12-13 in Washington. One preliminary session has been conducted in Tokyo and another is set for March in Washington

Preparatory Meeting Planned for Nuclear Security Summit

[JustPiper]

~Roll Call ping?

[JustPiper]

to quote Bette Midler in The Rose:
“Is anybody Here?”