Posted on 12/17/2006 4:03:30 PM PST by DAVEY CROCKETT
National:
[New York Post] NEW YORK - Pom-Bomb Fruit Juice Terror Strike [Food tampering]
"Animal-rights terrorists say they've contaminated 487 bottles of trendy Pom pomegranate juice sold in stores all along the East Coast, including in outlets of at least two grocery chains that do business in New York City"
http://www.nypost.com/seven/12202006/news/nationalnews/pom_bomb__fruit_juice_diarrhea_terror_strike_nationalnews_bill_sanderson.htm
[Anderson Independent Mail] GEORGIA - Suspicious fire threatens communications towers
http://www.independentmail.com/news/2006/dec/18/suspicious-fire-threatens-communications-towers/
[Hersam Acorn newspapers] New Canaan Police handle suspicious package [False alarm]
"A letter “oozing a white powdery substance”
http://www.acorn-online.com/news/publish/article_11554.shtml
[Desert Sun] CALIFORNIA - Man in custody after alleged bomb claim
http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061218/UPDATE/61218038
[Chicago Tribune] CHICAGO - Explosion at Zion hospital prompts evacuation of patients
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/custom/newsroom/chi-061218zion,1,5515571.story?coll=chi-news-hed
[Telegram.com] MASS - Fitchburg post office evacuated - Unknown illness strikes customers
"Chief Roy said it is possible the three people got a coincidently timed instantaneous onset of stomach flu"
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061218/ALERT01/61218001
[Pensacola News Journal] FLORIDA - Shoplifting case grows to include the FBI
"not American citizens"
"occupants of the home often moved about at night and frequently sent packages from their residence"
"the suspects' home had blackened windows and plastic sheeting had been installed to prevent people from seeing through the planks of a privacy fence"
http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/NEWS01/612190325/1006
[LoyalistParty.com] USA - The Loyalist Party - Loyalists against Islamic hate
http://www.loyalistparty.com/
[IndyStar.com] INDIANA - Bomb explodes in Fishers mailbox
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/LOCAL0102/612190461/1006/LOCAL
[KVIA] TEXAS - Suspicious vehicle found in newspaper parking lot
http://www.kvia.com/Global/story.asp?S=5817540
[WHIOTV.com] OHIO - Police: White Powder Shows Up In Mailboxes
"Investigators said several individuals opened their mailboxes on Tuesday morning and found 3 x 5 envelopes with white powder inside them. Police said there were no threatening messages with the powder"
http://www.whiotv.com/news/10569527/detail.html
[CBS/AP] NEW YORK - A.P. Headquarters Target Of White Powder Scare
"also contained explicit photographs"
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_353164708.html
[The Item] MASS - Librarian recalls white powder [Anthrax hoax]
http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061219/001-FRONTPAGE/612190779
[Press-Register] ALABAMA - Launching tubes for missiles found
"At least three tubes that are used to launch military-grade missiles were found Tuesday at a moving company on Interstate 65 Service Road West in Mobile, authorities said"
http://www.al.com/news/mobileregister/index.ssf?/base/news/116661011982480.xml&coll=3
International:
[IHT] FRANCE - French counterterror forces on high alert
"French counterterrorism forces are on high alert going into presidential elections next spring, two of the country's top terrorism officials say, citing three Islamist plots thwarted over the last 18 months — including one to bomb the Paris Métro and another targeting Orly Airport"
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/12/19/news/france.php
[AAp] INDONESIA - Indonesia on holiday attack alert
"is deploying some 18,000 police and troops to guard churches and mosques over Christmas and New Year with terror mastermind Noordin Top still on the loose"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,20953518-38196,00.html
[Reuters] EL SALVADOR - US Embassy in El Salvador evacuated on bomb threat
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N19280875.htm
[AP] RUSSIA - Car bomb kills local education official in Russia's troubled North Caucasus
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/12/19/europe/EU_GEN_Russia_Restive_South.php
[Telegraph] INDIA - Arrested rebel spills beans on red activity
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061219/asp/jamshedpur/story_7157727.asp
[Xinhua] NIGERIA - Two Car bombs explode in Nigeria's oil-rich Niger Delta
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-12/18/content_5504492.htm
[IsraelNN.com] ISRAEL - IDF Soldier Wounded in Gaza Bomb Attack
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=117725
[Khaleej Times] PAKISTAN / AFGHANISTAN - Militants planning suicide attacks
"Militants belonging to banned jihadi outfits are planning suicide attacks on army installations in Pakistan and foreign troops in Afghanistan in revenge for the air strike on a Bajaur madrassa in November, according to intelligence sources"
http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/subcontinent/2006/December/subcontinent_December640.xml§ion=subcontinent&col=
[Sri Lanka Ministry of Defence] SRI LANKA - LTTE terrorists abduct 23 school children
http://www.defence.lk/new.asp?fname=20061219_04
[AAp] AUSTRALIA - Evidence teacher had al-Qaeda links
" high school teacher facing terrorism charges allegedly claimed he was from al-Qaeda and threatened to carry out attacks, a court has been told"
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,20953070-2,00.html?from=public_rss
[Interfax] RUSSIA - Nalchik student explodes while making bomb
http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11650204
[Zee News] IRAQ - US led forces captured a senior al-Qaeda leader
"who was responsible for hundreds of civilian deaths and housed foreign fighters who carried out suicide bombings, the US military said today"
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=343235&sid=WOR
[AAP] AUSTRALIA - Blade found in Christmas cake: report
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/blade-found-in-christmas-cake-report/2006/12/20/1166290614130.html
[AFP] THAILAND - Bomb threat delays Thai Airways flight to Dubai
"female passenger reported to the airline she received a bomb threat on her mobile phone"
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=60063
[PTI] INDIA - Anonymous call about bomb turns out to be hoax
"An anonymous call today to the Delhi office of Indian about bombs planted in two flights to Guwahati from Kolkata turned out to be a hoax, officials here said"
"The anonymous caller warned that bombs may be planted on board this evening's Kolkata-Guwahati flight and the Kolkata- Guwahati flight early tomorrow,"
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200612201610.htm
Preliminary Analysis of New Zawahiri tape
We have just obtained a transcript of the Zawahiri tape, announced
by As Sahab 2 days ago but not yet released.
The following is a preliminary analysis of the tape. Note that this is
a PRELIMINARY analysis and we will be updating as the day progresses.
Laura
The file dates indicate that the Word version of the translation
was created on December 10, 2006, so this tape is at least ten days old.
The tape references the Islamic State of Iraq, so it was almost
certainly created after that announcement on October 15. He also makes
specific reference to "courageous, resolute, martyrdom-seeking women of Bayt
Hanun", referring to the incident in Gaza where the women of Bayt Hanoun
acted as human shields in an effort to assist Palestinian fighters
escape from a mosque in early November 2006. Thus we can say with a high
degree of certainty that the tape was created between November 7 and
December 10 of this year.
The last tape from Zawahiri was some two weeks before that, on
September 27. This is the 15th message from Zawahiri in 2006.
He claims that the tape was issued on the 89th anniversary of the
signing of the Balfour Declaration. He discounts any possibility of
giving up any portions of Palestine, and dismisses the international
treaties and documents which have established the State of Israel. He calls
the resolutions "null and void, non-binding resolutions, which aren't
worth so much as a mosquito's wing on the scales of Islam".
He dismisses the legitimacy of the elections in Palestine and
elsewhere in the Islamic world, saying "it is unimaginable that the Muslims
could create a government in Palestine or elsewhere based on the rule
of other than the Shari'ah, and whose authority doesn't come from the
Shari'ah".
He goes on to state:
.every way other than Jihad will only lead us to loss and
failure, and those who attempt to liberate the lands of Islam through
elections which are held on the basis of the secular constitutions or the
resolutions surrendering Palestine to the Jews will never liberate one
sand-grain of Palestine: instead, their actions will lead to the smothering
of the Jihad and blockading of the Mujahideen.
He dismisses the United Nations as hostile to the Muslim world:
And here we must make clear the true nature of the United
Nations. The United Nations is an organization hostile to Islam. Its charter
is based on the rule of other than the Shari'ah and obligates all UN
members, including the governments of the Islamic countries, to recognize
Israel, because it - like them - is a member of the UN. And it also
obligates them to recognize Russia's occupation of Chechnya and the Muslim
Caucasus, China's occupation of East Turkistan, Spain's occupation of
Ceuta and Melilla and the occupation of other Muslim lands by non-Muslim
governments which are part of the UN.
Yet in many ways this most recent tape is a tape of extreme
contrast. It shows extreme belligerence on one hand, explicitly threatening
the US homeland, calling upon Muslims to join in the "resistance", yet
at the same time appears to show that there is weakness in the jihad.
He extols Muslims to join in the resistance or "we shall be finished",
he calls for more active fundraising, demands that Muslims join in
reconnaissance operations against US and "Zionist" targets, and limits his
call for support for the Islamic State of Iraq to young men currently in
Iraq.
He demands that the US depart "from our lands and stop supporting
the corrupt rulers, and don't prevent the Muslim Ummah from establishing
its legitimate Shura state accountable to it."
He says :
You must realize that a new period of world history has begun.
The period of the offspring of Abd al-Aziz Al-Sa'ud, the grandsons of the
Sharif Husayn and Sadat, Mubarak and Arafat has passed, and the period
of Khalid Islambouli, Abdullah Azzam, Abu Hafs the Commander, Khattab,
Muhammad Atta, Muhammad Siddique Khan, and Shehzad Tanwir (Allah have
mercy on them) has begun. And if you are unable to comprehend this
transformation, then blame no one but yourselves.
He makes explicit threats against the US, referencing a quote from
US President George W. Bush:
Bush deceives you when he says, "We strike the terrorists in
their countries so that they don't strike us in ours." On the contrary: if
we are struck in our countries, we shall never stop striking you in
your countries, with Allah's power and permission.
And as our commander, Shaykh Usama bin Ladin (may Allah preserve
him) told you, "As you bomb, you will be bombed, and as you kill, you
will be killed."
Yet in some portions of the tape he paints a rather bleak portrait
of the current state of jihad:
If the Ummah doesn't arm itself with this awareness, it will
never move on to victory, either because its sacrifices will be stolen from
it every time, or because it will obey leaderships unable to rise to
the level of the battle who spin their followers on the merry-go-round of
political mazes.
There is no solution without Jihad. All other solutions are not
only futile, but moreover, will exacerbate the state of collapse and
humiliation in which we live. They are like treating cancer with aspirin.
He cites suicide bombers as a major element in the success of the
jihadist activities in Iraq and Afghanistan:
The fact which our enemies realize before our friends is that the
thing which trimmed America's claws, broke its back, and aborted its
plans was neither the elections, nor trading in religion, nor beggary,
but rather, was the Mujahideen's love of martyrdom and their sacrifices
in Iraq and Afghanistan, in a Jihadi resistance which the people of
whims and prejudice have for so long criticized.
Yet at the same time, he seems to be concerned about the future of
the jihad, saying "if we don't resist, we shall be finished".
And I tell the Muslim Ummah: if we don't resist, we shall be
finished. Resistance is a must, and this resistance can be nothing but a
popular one at the hands of the Muslim Ummah, because the governments are
treasonous and many of the organizations have fallen into the swamp of
impotence and going after scraps of the booty.
He calls for fundraising, and for members of the Islamic "ummah",
or community, to participate in fundraising, and to join in and support
the "mujahideen". He also calls for heightened efforts in public
relations, and calls upon members of the "ummah" to assist in staking out
"targets" and gathering information for the "mujahideeen":
They must stake out targets and observe the activities and most
prominent aspects of the American-Zionist presence, and gather data and
pass it on to the Mujahideen. They must support the families of the
prisoners, and disseminate the Mujahideen's public relation
Zawahiri calls for the people in the Islamic countries to work for
the expulsion of US forces from "the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan
and Egypt". He calls for peace treaties, which he describes as
"surrender accords", with Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Mauritania to be
cancelled.
He makes specific reference to commerce, calling for boycotts and
attacks against merchants who trade with the US and coalition forces.
The Muslim Ummah must exploit all methods of popular protest,
like demonstrations, sit-ins, strikes, refusing to pay taxes, preventing
cooperation with the security forces, refusing to provide the Crusaders
with fuel, hitting traders who supply the Crusader forces, boycotting
Crusader and Jewish products, and other ways of popular protest.
Zawahiri calls for mosques, universities, colleges, and high school
to become centers of support for Jihad, and instructs students to "take
their anger to the streets".
He calls Pope Benedict a "charlatan", and praises those who
participate in protests against his visit to Turkey:
And in this context, I hail our Muslim brothers in Turkey on
their demonstrations rejecting the visit of Benedict the Charlatan, who
pretended to forget his own creed - full of fantasies and contradictions -
and attacked the Noblest Prophet, peace be upon him.
In this tape he reminds "all educated Muslims" that it is their
responsibility to join in battle against the "Zionist Crusade", and
references three Arab leaders, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of
Jordan, and Saudi Arabian King Abdullah, by name, calling them puppets and
traitors:
"And I remind every educated Muslim that his role in confronting
the Zionist Crusade is to bear arms. If he cannot, then he must support
and serve those who are bearing them, and he must speak the truth to
the faces of the idol-kings, tyrants and arrogant ones, and mention them
by name: i.e., he must say that Hosni Mubarak, Al Saud, and Ibn Hussein
Zawahiri congratulates the Mujahideen in Iraq on the establishment
of the Islamic State of Iraq, saying:
I send my greetings and those of my brothers to our brothers, the
Mujahideen in Iraq. And I congratulate them on the establishment of the
Islamic State of Iraq, and encourage the Islamic Ummah to back this
young, fledgling state, for it - Allah permitting - is the gateway to the
liberation of Palestine and the restoration of the Islamic Caliphate.
And I also encourage all my Mujahid brothers in Iraq to join this
blessed caravan to rescue Iraq of the Caliphate from the schemes of the
Crusaders and their agents, the traitorous religion-traders, and to ruin
what the beggar Abdul Aziz al-Hakim conspired about in Washington with his
master, the defender of the defeated cross.
It's interesting to note that this time his call is to only
"mujahid brothers in Iraq" to join the jihad in Iraq, rather than calling for
Muslim men from throughout the Islamic world as he has done in the
past.
Officials say he has confessed to his "illegal activities" in Afghanistan. These are said to include escorting Osama Bin Laden last year from Nuristan to Chitral.<<<
That may not be so far fetched, see the link just above this, the first batch of news links, there is one about the French, who say they could have shot OBL, but did not get the order to do so.......
I ran across it last night and didn't copy it.
Would love to see the 'papers' that were captured.
Thanks for the link.
You are welcome.
[I was wrong, the post was in my emails and not on the list]
http://za.today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2006-12-20T072559Z_01_BAN026744_RTRIDST_0_OZATP-FRANCE-BINLADEN-20061220.XML
French troops had bin Laden in sights - documentary
PARIS (Reuters) - A documentary says French special forces had Osama
bin Laden in their sights twice about three years ago but their U.S.
superiors never ordered them to fire.
The French military, however, said that the incidents never happened
and
the report was "erroneous information".
The documentary, due to air next year and seen by Reuters on Tuesday,
says the troops could have killed the al Qaeda leader in Afghanistan
but
the order to shoot never came, possibly because it took too long to
request it.
"In 2003 and 2004 we had bin Laden in our sights. The sniper said 'I
have bin Laden'," an anonymous French soldier is quoted as saying.
The documentary 'Bin Laden, the failings of a manhunt' is by
journalists
Emmanuel Razavi and Eric de Lavarene, who have worked for several major
French media outlets in Afghanistan. A cable television channel plans
to
air the documentary in March.
Razavi said the soldier told them it took roughly two hours for the
request to reach the U.S. officers who could authorise it but the
anonymous man is also quoted in the documentary as saying: "There was a
hesitation in command."
continued.........
Thanks to Milford421 for this report:
Talal "Ted" Ali Chammout - Merchant involved terror plot - CA
http://www.fresnobee.com/263/story/19138.html
Valley terror plot allegedFeds say Porterville merchant wanted to
buy military arms to send to the Middle East.By Pablo Lopez / The
Fresno Bee12/16/06 04:28:22
ADVERTISMENT
His attorney said Friday that Talal "Ted" Ali Chammout is a U.S.
citizen who loves America, adores his children and is a respectable
mini-mart owner in Porterville.
But federal prosecutor Carl Faller said Chammout, 47, wanted to
purchase missiles and rocket launchers and other weaponry to send to
terrorists in Iraq, Syria and Jordan.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lawrence O'Neill heeded Faller's advice and
ordered Chammout to be detained in the downtown Fresno jail, even
though Chammout's relatives were ready to put up $1 million in
property as bail until his trial on weapons charges.
Chammout was in U.S. District Court, accused of being a felon in
possession of firearms. A criminal complaint alleges he purchased
five semiautomatic pistols from a government witness who told
Chammout the weapons were stolen from the military.
After Faller spoke of Chammout's intentions to hire a hit man,
perhaps to kill his wife, and purchase sophisticated military
weapons, O'Neill said, "The discussion we have now is in the
terrorist category."
O'Neill ruled that Chammout is a potential danger to society and
ordered him detained without bail. He faces 10 years in prison and a
$250,000 fine if convicted of the federal weapons charges. His next
hearing is Dec. 22.
Chammout, arrested Dec. 7, is charged with violating a federal
weapons code outlawing the possession of firearms shipped through
interstate commerce after having been convicted of a felony. Court
records show he was convicted in June 1995 in Tulare County Superior
Court of an assault causing great bodily injury.
Chammout's lawyer, Roger Nuttall, said his client, who has family in
Lebanon, is a U.S. citizen, cares for his three children and employs
a number of people at his Porterville minimart, Trucker's Oil Co.
Petroleum Products.
"He has a love for this country," Nuttall told O'Neill. "The
allegations are diametrically opposed to a man who made his life
here."
But Faller, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the judge that the FBI
has had Chammout under surveillance since 2004. Faller then gave
snippets of Chammout's alleged activity.
In March 2004, Faller said, Chammout met with a confidential witness
for the government and inquired about purchasing stolen military
weapons. Then in the spring of 2005, Chammout wanted to purchase a
gun with a silencer, Faller said.
In a conversation with an FBI agent posing as a hit man, Chammout
inquired about killing someone, perhaps his estranged wife, Faller
said. When the agent balked, Faller said, Chammout still gave the
agent "$1,000 for his trouble."
In September 2005, Chammout talked with the confidential witness
about purchasing rocket launchers, Faller said. The next month, he
wanted anti-tank weapons, the prosecutor said.
In February of this year, Chammout asked about missile systems that
shoot down aircraft, Faller said. Chammout also told the
confidential witnesses that "these guys want the stuff. If [news] of
it gets out, you're dead."
As Faller spoke, Chammout shook his head no.
Defense attorney Nuttall gave the judge a newspaper clipping that
showed Chammout received a businessman of the year award. Chammout's
relatives in court also brought O'Neill paperwork showing they owned
properties in Dearborn, Mich., that they said were worth $1 million.
"He has no reason to leave this county," Nuttall said in arguing for
his client's release from jail. "He has made his life here. This is
his country."
According to a criminal complaint, the confidential witness met with
Chammout earlier this month, bringing with him 20 semiautomatic
pistols as previously arranged.
The witness allegedly told Chammout the pistols were stolen from the
U.S. military. Chammout agreed to purchase five of the pistols from
the witness for $1,000, the complaint said.
All the guns had traveled through interstate or foreign commerce
because they had been manufactured outside of California, according
to the complaint.
FBI agents then arrested Chammout and served a search warrant at a
business and two homes controlled by Chammout. At the business, on
the 900 block of Westfield Avenue in Porterville, law enforcement
officials seized about 40 firearms, including AK-47 assault weapons
and a TEC-9 pistol, according to the court papers.
<*> Milford421's Yahoo Group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/under-investigation/
December 20, 2006
Al Qaeda's Zawahiri Threatens More Attacks on USA, West
By Jeffrey Imm
Counterterrorism Blog
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/12/al_qaedas_zawahiri_threatens_m.php
Al-Jazeera has released additional excerpts from Al Qaeda deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri's videotaped message:
Earlier excerpts of Zawahiri's message referenced Hamas and Palestinian government, calling for a renewal of Jihadist activity and Islamism in Palestinian government.
In the latest excerpts of his message, Zawahiri renewed threats against the United States and the West, and also referenced the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Threats Against US and West:
"If we are attacked in our land we shall not stop attacking you in your countries, God willing..." and "As our emir Sheikh Osama bin Laden, God keep him, said, 'Like you bomb, you will be bombed, and like you kill, you will be killed".
Regarding Afghanistan and Iraq:
Zawahiri stated that President Bush was deceiving the American people by telling them he was going after "terrorists" in Afghanistan and Iraq in order to keep them away from the United States. "Your safety lies in the following equation: you will not dream of security until we live secure in Palestine and all Muslim lands," Zawahiri said.
"Both Democrats and Republicans are scrambling to find an exit from the disasters in Afghanistan and Iraq and are still thinking with the same rash mentality and trying to negotiate with some sides to secure your exit but these sides cannot offer you an escape and your attempts will only bring more failure."
"You are not negotiating with the real powers in the Muslim world and you appear to be heading towards a painful round of negotiations, after which you will forced to talks to the real forces..." he said.
Regarding Revival of Islamic caliphate:
"I urge the whole Muslim nation to support this fledgling state as it is, God willing, the gateway for the liberation of Palestine and the revival of the Islamic caliphate." "I also urge all my mujahideen brothers in Iraq to join this blessed convoy to save the Iraq caliphate from the shackles of the crusaders and their agents, the traitors who have sold their faith", and in discussing Palestine, stating that it is "the duty of every Muslim" to recover Muslim land."
Criticizing Iraq Shiite Muslim Leaders (he claims oppose Jihad against US):
"How is it possible that jihad against the Jews in Lebanon is in line with Islam but jihad against Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan is taboo"?
Scope of Zawahiri Message
SITE Institute has provided the banner announced on Jihadist websites on Monday, December 18, 2006, advertising the anticipated Zawahiri message as being entitled: "The Truth of the Conflict Between the Muslims and the Infidels".
Sources:
Zawahiri vows attacks on US, slams Hamas - AFP
Qaeda's Zawahri threatens more attacks on West - Reuters
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President Bush Insists on 'Success' in Iraq
(CNSNews.com) – President Bush on Wednesday said he’s “inclined to believe we need” a troop increase in Iraq, and he said he’s asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates to determine how such an increase could take place. He said “success” in Iraq is “essential” for the security of future generations and will require a “sustained commitment from the American people.”
Log Cabin Republicans Urged to Move in ‘New Direction’
(CNSNews.com) – The new president of the Log Cabin Republicans should take the Republican homosexual advocacy group in a “new direction” that would respect “the fundamental First Amendment right” of freedom of religion, a conservative analyst said Tuesday...
Supreme Court Asked to Hear Eminent Domain ‘Extortion’ Case
(CNSNews.com) – Claiming he is the victim of legalized extortion carried out under eminent domain powers, a landowner in New York is asking the Supreme Court to hear his case...
‘Left Behind’ Game Promotes Religious Violence, Group Says
(CNSNews.com) – A U.S. Islamic advocacy group Tuesday called on the country’s largest retailer to stop selling a video game it says glorifies religious violence and could negatively affect interfaith relations...
Terrorist Screening Program on ‘Firm Legal Ground’ Says DHS
(CNSNews.com) – While some Americans believe the federal government's post-9/11 anti-terrorism measures have compromised their privacy rights, a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security is defending his agency's passenger and cargo screening program as the “best tool we have” in combating terrorism...
Putin, Assad Discuss Middle East
Moscow (CNSNews.com) – In an effort to boost Moscow’s clout in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin Tuesday held talks with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, aimed at strengthening bilateral relations. Putin warned that the situation in the Middle Eastern was deteriorating...
Israeli-Syria Talks Would Be About the Golan Heights, Not Peace
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – Possible Israeli-Syrian negotiations would not be about a peace agreement – they would focus on Israel giving up its strategic advantage on the Golan Heights, and therefore Israel would be foolish to engage in such negotiations, experts here said...
Click here for much more of this hour's top news...
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NEWS FROM THE WEB:
New Congress May Limit Food Commercials Aimed at Kids
Fired Up About Coal-Fired Plants
Moderate Muslims Should Unite, Blair Says
Rice Refers to ‘Alignment of Moderate Forces’
Bush Changing Stance on Iraq?
COMMENTARIES:
2006: The Year of Perpetual Outrage
By Michelle Malkin
It began with the Danish cartoons. It ended with the flying imams. Two thousand six was a banner year for the Religion of Perpetual Outrage. Twelve turbulent months of fist-waving, embassy-burning, fatwa-issuing mayhem, intimidation, and murder resounded with the ululations of the aggrieved. All this in the name of defending Islam from “insult.” Let’s review…
Racial Profiling
By Walter E. Williams
Charges of racial, religious and ethnic profiling followed in the wake of US Airways’ removal of six imams. Among other allegations, three of the men had no checked baggage and only one-way tickets. The racial profiling controversy is nothing new. For a number of years, black Americans have invoked it. Clever phrases have emerged, such as “driving while black” and now “flying while Muslim,” but they don’t help much in terms of understanding. Let’s apply some economic analysis to the issue…
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Baker’s Self-Serving Recommendations
[unknown url, from news group]
Hamas Terror Cell Planning Abduction Arrested
December 20th, 2006
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Attributed to "security sources" [Provided by the IDF Spokesperson's Office]
Hamas terror cell planning abduction arrested
It has now been released for publication that in a joint IDF, ISA and Israeli Police operation in October 2006, security forces arrested the members of a Hamas terror cell which was in the advanced stages of planning the abduction of an Israeli in the Jerusalem area. The cell, which was being directed by senior Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip, was planning to use
The men arrested are:
* The head of the cell, Fahres Awad Abed Al Fatah Quwassma, is a 30 year-old resident of Hebron. Quwassma told investigators that he had established contact with a Hamas terrorist from the Gaza Strip during his previous period of imprisonment and had begun planning the abduction with him. Following his release from prison in May 2006, he was contacted by the terrorists in the Gaza Strip and was instructed to recruit a cell to carry out the abduction.
* Hamza Ibrahim Moussah Zahran, is a 26 year-old Hamas terrorist from the Ramallah area. Zahran was recruited by Quwassma and was tasked with acquiring weapons and recruiting additional members to the cell.
* Iyad Feisel Diab Mansour, is a 26 year-old Hamas terrorist from the
Ramallah area.
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Jet crash-lands safely at Akron-Canton Airport
Akron- No one was hurt when a corporate jet with balky landing gear
landed
on its belly Monday night at Akron-Canton Airport, officials say.
The Cessna Citation V circled for a half-hour, trying to deploy
malfunctioning gear under its right wing. When the gear would not come
down,
the pilot landed with the gear on the front of the plane and the left
side
down, said airport spokeswoman Kristie VanAuken.
The jet touched down at 90 mph and slid in a circle before it stopped,
VanAuken said. Emergency crews rushed to the jet to help shaken
passengers.
The jet held four people, VanAuken said. She did not know where the
flight
originated but said the jet is based at Wayne County airport.
The jet landed on Akron's main north-south runway and remained there
into
the night, one wing bent upward, VanAuken said. The Federal Aviation
Administration and Summit County Sheriff's Department were
investigating,
she said.
The 7:15 p.m. crash did not affect commercial air traffic at
Akron-Canton,
she said.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/summit/11665212766
650.xml&coll=2
Chalk's pilots feared the 'inevitable' before crash
A year after the deadly Chalk's seaplane crash in Miami, it's clear
that
some of the airline's pilots were worried about plane maintenance.
In November 2004, the cable controlling the pitch of a Chalk's Airways
seaplane snapped as it climbed 1,000 feet over Nassau Harbor with 16
passengers aboard.
Capt. Jai Guidry radioed an emergency to Nassau airport, warned them to
have
firetrucks standing by and -- with only minimal control of the tail
wing --
managed to land without serious damage to the plane or the passengers.
Then he resigned.
Guidry had just received a job offer from another airline. But two of
Chalk's other six captains would resign in the months ahead without
other
jobs to go to. Both cited similarly terrifying near-misses, and what
they
called the company's miserly approach to maintaining its beautiful, but
aging, World War II-era seaplanes. One warned in his resignation letter
of
''inevitable'' disaster.
A year ago today, a wing snapped off a Chalk's plane as it climbed over
Government Cut in Miami on its way to Bimini in the Bahamas. Both
pilots and
18 passengers died instantly when the nearly five-ton fuselage slammed
into
the water off South Beach.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not announced an official
cause
of the crash yet. But when investigators pulled the charred, severed
wing
from the water, they immediately noticed a ''fatigue crack'' on a wing
spar
-- a crucial support structure connecting the wing to the fuselage. So
far,
the crack is the only possible cause of the crash investigators have
discussed publicly.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which approves
standards for maintenance and inspection, would not say on Monday how
frequently such spars had to be inspected on the old planes. ''That's
not
considered a public document,'' said spokesman Les Door, suggesting a
reporter check with the airline.
''I don't have time to talk to you right now, I'm very busy. I'm trying
to
be polite,'' said Chalk's owner Jim Confalone.
After the crash, however, the FAA required a detailed inspection of the
spars on all remaining Grumman G-73T Turbo Mallards -- most of which
are
owned by wealthy history buffs. Chalk's was the only airline using
them.
But to do those inspections, owners would have to peel the metal skin
from
the wings, which could cost more than the planes are worth. In recent
days,
Chalk's has requested an FAA review of an alternative method for
performing
the inspections, Door said.
After Guidry's near-miss, the company told pilots that the corroded
cable
broke in a place that was difficult to inspect -- where 17 screws had
to be
taken out to remove a panel covering it, according to a resignation
letter
written by fellow Capt. Grady Washatka.
Costs have been a major hurdle for the often cash-strapped airline
since
Confalone bought it out of bankruptcy in 1999.
When Capt. Eric Weber went to work for Chalk's in April 2001, he was
impressed with the company's maintenance program, which included 12
mechanics, he told NTSB investigators. By late 2004, the company had
half
that number of mechanics, Weber said.
After the Miami crash, former pilot Washatka told investigators that in
October 2004, a mechanic said the maintenance department was not
allowed to
buy any new parts for the rest of the year.
IN-FLIGHT TROUBLES
The reported decline in maintenance coincided with a series of
frightening
in-flight problems.
On Jan. 16, 2005, Weber was flying from Fort Lauderdale to Paradise
Island
in the Bahamas at low altitude -- 1,500 feet -- when he noticed that
the
left engine was slowly losing power. The problem only lasted about 15
seconds, but Weber put the plane down on Bimini Island.
On Feb. 12, Weber was climbing 8,900 feet in the same twin-engined
aircraft
when one of the power plants suddenly stopped. A key section of the
engine
had ''disintegrated,'' an NTSB report said.
After his second emergency landing on Bimini in less than a month,
Weber
''took several days off from work, thought about things, and resigned
from
Chalk's,'' the report said.
Both emergencies happened in the plane that later crashed on Dec. 19,
2005.
That same plane, which carried tail No. N2969, had a history of leaks
from
its wings, which served as giant fuel tanks.
Cracks and missing rivets on the right wing had become such a concern
for
pilots in the fall of 2004 that a group of pilots took the company's
director of operations, Roger Nair, to the hangar and pointed them out
from
the top of a ladder, Washatka told the NTSB.
Nair promised to have them all fixed, according to an NTSB report.
''Airplane N2969 was the focus of concern for structural issues,''
investigators noted.
Chalk's mechanics repaired corrosion on the doomed plane's right wing
spars
in 1991, and on the left wing in 1992, FAA records show. Chalk's
repaired a
cracked rod in the right wing in 2000.
Chalk's other planes also had problems. Weber told investigators he
often
noticed leaks along rivets under the right wing of tail No. N142PA, and
in
``a pocket where the wing and fuselage meet.''
After complaining about the same problem several times in January 2005,
former Chalk's First Officer Robert Lutz found a rag stuffed into a
leak at
the crucial juncture of the wing and fuselage. His captain that day,
Washatka, refused to fly the plane.
Nair ''said he was sure that the rag was a mistake'' and promised a
more
permanent solution to the problem, Washatka told investigators.
Nair did not respond to a request for comment on Monday.
Washatka, who told investigators that Nair threatened to discipline him
for
pointing out so many maintenance problems, warned of impending disaster
in
his January 2005 resignation letter.
ENJOYED THE JOB
But not all the pilots were as concerned.
First Officer Paul DeSanctis was reportedly in a great mood as he
waited for
a morning fog to burn off on Dec. 19, 2005. The 34-year-old former high
school football player had worked his way through several attempts at
college, then flight lessons, at a buddy's heating and plumbing
business in
Reading, Pa.
He had started at Chalk's in April 2005 and enjoyed the job, despite
the low
pay, said his father, Joe DeSanctis.
Capt. Michele Marks, 37, had just skippered a 38-foot sailboat from
Naples
to Vero Beach with her husband. It was no pleasure cruise. They were in
the
midst of a divorce, and the boat was for him to live on, her father
said.
The passage had been choppy.
Her job, which she adored for its combination of boating and hands-on
flying
-- no autopilot -- had become complicated, too. She had begun to worry
constantly about maintenance troubles, her ex-husband told
investigators
after the crash.
The flight from Watson Island to Bimini that afternoon was straight and
level -- there should have been no undue stress on the wing, Guidry
told
investigators.
Still, at 2:39 p.m., as a tourist on South Beach trained his video
camera on
the iconic plane climbing into the sky, the right wing tore off in a
blur of
orange flame and black smoke. The fuselage remained largely intact
until it
slammed into the water.
Marks' father, Jack McCormick, watched the live coverage on CNN. ''At
first,
they kept talking about survivors,'' he remembered from the hours spent
staring at his TV. 'She was such a strong swimmer, I actually caught
myself
thinking, `Maybe.' It was terrible.''
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/16270891.htm
Ten aircraft from Indian's fleet grounded: Govt.(India)
New Delhi, Dec. 19 (PTI): As many as ten aircraft out of state-owned
carrier
Indian's 57 Airbus fleet are grounded at present for maintenance and
want of
engines, Lok Sabha was informed today.
Observing that normally about seven aircraft remained grounded at any
given
point of time, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said during
Question
Hour that nine A-320s and one A-300 planes were presently not in
service for
major maintenance, want of engines or scheduled maintenance.
The Indian has a fleet of 57 Airbus aircraft -- six A-319s, 48 A-320s
and
three A-300s, he said, adding that efforts were on to increase engine
availability so that optimum utilisation of aircraft as per laid down
norms
was achieved.
Asked what steps the government proposed to take on the "arbitrary
decision"
of private airlines to impose a congestion surcharge for hovering over
Delhi
and Mumbai airports, Patel said: "Domestic air fares are not regulated
by
the government after the repeal of the Air Corporation Act 1953.
Domestic
airlines are free to charge air fares as per their commercial
judgement".
Maintaining that the average domestic aviation turbine fuel prices had
declined by about eight per cent, he said the question that government
should impress private carriers to reduce prices "does not arise".
To a question on Air-India's plans to launch direct flights to the US
from
next summer, Patel said the fares on this route have not been decided.
Air-India planned to launch the non-stop service after taking delivery
of
three new ultra-long range Boeing 777-200 LR aircraft in April-May
2007.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/002200612191440.htm
Thanks FARS.
"Moscow's Patrice Lumumba Friendship University" ping.
The URL is
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=6790
Arutz Sheva - IsraelNationalNews.com
http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411749/938983
Light plane hits California sewage tank
Dec 20, 2006
Three Japanese men died when their small plane crashed into a tank full
of raw sewage in California, an employee at the flight school that
operated the aircraft said on Tuesday.
Shoki Haraguchi was a flight instructor and Yoshiyuki Kato and Yasushi
Miyata were students at Nice Air flight school in San Jose, California,
Vicki Gonzales, the school's office manager, told Reuters in a
telephone interview.
The three died on Monday when their twin-engine Beechcraft Travel Air
crashed into a sewage tank at a wastewater treatment plant in the farm
town of Gilroy, according to the Federal Aviation Administration, which
is investigating the crash with the National Transportation Safety
Board.
Workers draining the tank, about 10 to 15 feet (3 to 4.7 metres) deep,
saw the bodies of the three men in the wreckage of the submerged
aeroplane, FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/HL14Ad01.html
Greater China
Dec 14, 2006
China's real nuclear capabilities
By David Isenberg
WASHINGTON - It is never hard to find someone worrying about China's nuclear weapons. For example, the recent annual report of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission says, "Beijing continues to improve its older intercontinental ballistic missiles and seeks to field increasingly mobile, accurate and survivable and therefore more credible ICBMs ... China's newer longer-range [missile] systems will reach many areas of the world ... including virtually the entire continental United
States."
Yet it seems that China has more to worry about than the United States, according to another recent report. It found, just like classic "missile gap" alarm of the Cold War, that the US military, intelligence agencies and conservative think-tanks and news organizations are exaggerating China's nuclear-weapons capability to justify developing a new generation of nuclear and conventional weapons.
And in a surrealistic act of mirror-imaging, the Chinese have been citing US weapons upgrades as a rationale for modernizing theirs, locking the two nations in a dangerous action-and-reaction competition reminiscent of the Cold War, according to a report issued on November 30 by the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).
In a perverse way it actually makes sense. Ever since the crackup of the Soviet Union, various political and military figures have been desperately searching for rationales to justify hanging on to and modernizing the US nuclear arsenal.
Of course, the negligible size of China's nuclear forces has made that a hard sell. As the report notes right at the start, "The Chinese-US nuclear relationship is dramatically disproportionate in favor of the United States and will remain so for the foreseeable future."
Even the Pentagon's last annual "Military Power of the People's Republic of China" report notes that Beijing has consistently stated its adherence to a "no first use" nuclear doctrine, which is that China will never use nuclear weapons first against a nuclear-weapons state, nor will China use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapons state or nuclear-weapons-free zone.
It also noted that China currently deploys about 20 silo-based, liquid-fueled ICBMs, which constitute its primary means of holding continental US targets at risk. But according to the FAS-NRDC report, the United States has more than 830 missiles - most with multiple warheads - that can reach China. By 2015, when US intelligence projects that China will have 75 missiles primarily targeted against the United States, the US force will include 780 land- and sea-based missiles.
The report found that although the United States has maintained extensive nuclear-strike plans against Chinese targets for more than a half-century, China has never responded by building large nuclear forces of its own and is unlikely to do so in the future. As a result, Chinese nuclear weapons are quantitatively and qualitatively much inferior to their US counterparts.
China's total stockpile numbers about 200 warheads; the United States has nearly 10,000. By 2015, after China deploys a new generation of ballistic missiles and the US has completed its planned reductions, China may have some 220 warheads and the US more than 5,000.
The report's main finding is that the Pentagon and others routinely highlight specific incidents out of context that inaccurately portray a looming Chinese threat. Specifically, the report demonstrates that they have been embellishing China's submarine- and long-range-missile capabilities.
US intelligence agencies warn that the Chinese will be able to target 75-100 nuclear warheads at the continental United States by 2015. But that prediction assumes China will be able to deploy 40-55 new DF-31A missiles before 2015, in addition to two other shorter-range missiles. Given that the Chinese have yet to conduct test flights of the DF-31A, the report concluded that that assumption is highly questionable.
The Pentagon also has made much out of the fact that China's next-generation missiles will be mobile. But the majority of China's ballistic-missile force has always been mobile, the report points out, and the US military has targeted it as a routine matter since the 1980s. In fact, improved US targeting of Chinese missiles has played a significant role in prompting China to develop new long-range missiles.
# As the report makes clear, the disparity between US and Chinese nuclear capabilities is so overwhelming as to make any talk about the Chinese threat farcical. For example: None of China's long-range nuclear forces are believed to be on alert; most US ballistic missiles are on high alert, ready to launch within minutes after receiving a launch order.
# China's sole nuclear-ballistic-missile submarine has never gone on patrol. As a result, the crews of the new Jin-class subs currently under construction will need to start almost from scratch to develop the operational and tactical skills and procedures that are essential if a sea-based deterrent is to be militarily effective and matter strategically.
# China may be able to build two or three new missile subs over the next decade, but they would be highly vulnerable to anti-submarine forces; the US Navy has 14 missile-bearing subs and has moved the majority of them into the Pacific.
# China may have a small number of aircraft with a secondary nuclear capability, but they would be severely tested by US and allied air-defense systems or in air-to-air combat. The United States operates 72 long-range bombers assigned missions with nuclear gravity bombs and land-attack cruise missiles.
# China does not have nuclear-armed cruise missiles, although US intelligence suspects it might develop such a capability in the future. The United States has more than 1,000 nuclear cruise missiles for delivery by aircraft and attack submarines.
Another relevant aspect of the report, especially in light of recent US experience with Iraq, details how badly US intelligence has misjudged Chinese nuclear capabilities. The report found that estimates about the size of the Chinese nuclear arsenal were grossly overstated, sometimes by several hundred percent, and timelines for when new systems would come on line were almost always much too optimistic.
The reasons for these misjudgments include China's ability to keep its capabilities hidden, a tendency among some intelligence analysts to overstate their conclusions, and the Pentagon's general inclination to assume the worst. This predisposition to exaggerate the Chinese threat unfortunately remains evident today.
The sad irony is that both countries point to what the other is doing as a justification to modernize. The report notes that China is about to deploy three new long-range ballistic missiles that the US says were developed in response to its own deployment of more accurate Trident sea-launched ballistic missiles in the early 1980s.
Meanwhile, the US has increased its capability to target Chinese mobile missiles, and the Pentagon is arguing that the long-term outlook for China's long-range ballistic-missile force requires increased targeting of Chinese forces.
David Isenberg, a senior analyst with the Washington-based British American Security Information Council (BASIC), has a wide background in arms-control and national-security issues. The views expressed are his own.
(Copyright 2006 Asia Times Online Ltd.
This is a newsletter with every country reported on, in French:
http://groups.google.com/group/1RSL/browse_thread/thread/7cebbca9db2d2290/b2dd5cd13d3df90b?lnk=raot#b2dd5cd13d3df90b
The home page, in several languages:
http://groups.google.com/group/1RSL
Description: ÕÍÇÝíæä ÈáÇ ÞíæÏ ÕÍÇÝÉ ËæÑíÉ ãÍÇÑÈÉ ÚÖæ ãÄÓÓ ÇáÊÌãÚ ÇáÏæáí ááãÄÓÓÇÊ ÇáÍÞæÞíÉ æÇáÇäÓÇäíÉ Ýí ÇáÔÑÞ ÇáÇæÓØ æÔãÇá ÇÝÑíÞíÇ
Reporters Sans Limites Presse Révolutionnaire ÕÈÞ ñRSL Dossier de Presse : 13/2005 ãáÝ ÇáÕÍÇÝÉ Dépôt legal : 2006/0038 - CIN: 352158 N°: 1529/2006 ÇáÅíÏÇÚ ÇáÞÇäæäí
(6589 members)
I think this is links to jihad sites, it is the latest post:
http://groups.google.com/group/1RSL/browse_thread/thread/85cced655bd86b9d/e18065afe07201b7#e18065afe07201b7
There is also what looks like a manual link.
Human Rights website for Arab Countries:
http://www.hrinfo.org/en/
American muslim, in Singapore to teach muslim law and show the values of being a muslim:
http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.singapore/browse_thread/thread/7a94ea55b1819c6a/a21abed9a4d5ba67#a21abed9a4d5ba67
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