Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat - Thread Twenty-Five

[nwctwx]

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Twenty-Five (Index)

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Google News : Google Images : News Hotlinks

The Threat Matrix

The title refers to a daily report given to the president of the United States detailing the most serious terrorist threats against the country. To tackle those threats, the government has formed a top-notch task force to infiltrate the terror cells and cut off the danger.

"Every morning, the president receives a list of the top ten terrorist threats - this list is known as the threat matrix."

We here at FR are trying to be in conjunction with the daily reports around the world that involve threats. We try to provide a storehouse of information that takes hours of research.

YOU be the judge and get informed!

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U.S. works 'day and night' to rein in al-Qaida
Full Story

WASHINGTON - Prompted by new intelligence indicating Osama bin Laden reached out to the most feared terrorist in Iraq, President Bush charged Thursday that "al-Qaida still hopes to attack us on our own soil."

"Recently, we learned that Osama bin Laden has urged the terrorist Zarqawi to form a group to conduct attacks outside Iraq, including here in the United States," Bush said at the swearing-in of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.

The president vowed, "We're working every day and night to dismantle (bin Laden's) network and to bring him to justice."

Related:
Officials: Bin Laden Urges Zarqawi to Hit U.S.
Al-Qaeda's Completed Warning Cycle - Ready to Attack?

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"I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat."

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Threat Matrix "TM'er" Tips	Link to Thread Twenty-Four "Code Red Implications: Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word." From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~
TM Code of Conduct		ExSoldier's Invaluable Tips
TM's 'Be on the Lookout'		Godzilla's Summaries
Threat Matrix Book List		Tracking the Chatter with TM

[Cindy]

Thanks for all the flu links JP.

[JustPiper]

Emergence of Avian H1N1 Viruses in Pigs in China

genes to generate the Asian/57 (H2N2) and Hong Kong/68 (H3N2) pandemic strains earlier in this century

http://216.109.117.135/search/cache?p=H2N2+strain&toggle=1&ei=UTF-8&xargs=0&pstart=1&b=11&u=jvi.asm.org/cgi/reprint/70/11/8041.pdf&w=h2n2+strain&d=870E72A58A&icp=1&.intl=us

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H2N2. First identified in China, this virus caused roughly 70,000 deaths in the United States during the 1957-58 season. Because this strain ... no one under 30 years old has immunity to this strain.

http://www2.niaid.nih.gov/newsroom/focuson/flu04/timeline.htm

[JustPiper]

Welcome Cindy, after seeing the CDC press conference I was very emotional

[JustPiper]

LONDON (AP) Four of five defendants acquitted of conspiracy to murder in discovery of the poison ricin in a London apartment.

[appalachian_dweller]

Another reason I do not fly. Another reason why I want the borders closed.

Illegal Workers Raise Security Concerns

None of those arrested appear to have terrorism ties. Nearly all used fraudulent or altered driver's licenses and Social Security cards to obtain security clearances. All worked in security-sensitive areas _ whether beyond passenger screening checkpoints at airports or in close proximity to nuclear reactors _ federal authorities say.

"These individuals pose potential vulnerabilities," said Marcy M. Forman, director of the investigations office at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, an arm of the Homeland Security Department.

"Because many of them have utilized fraudulent documents, we don't know who they are," Forman said. "And if they're able to use fraudulent documents, what's to keep terrorists and criminals from doing similar things?"

As many as 11 million illegal immigrants live in the United States, according to a recent study by the Pew Hispanic Center, a private research group.

The U.S. Border Patrol apprehended 1.1 million illegal immigrants last year. Thousands more have been arrested or removed from their jobs since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, which triggered closer government scrutiny of hiring practices at potential target buildings.

Federal investigators regularly conduct unannounced checks of facilities with heightened security risks _ from a New Orleans oil refinery to the Sears Tower in Chicago. Illegal immigrants who are caught are usually deported or placed in immigration proceedings, and employers can face criminal sanctions.

Whom to blame for immigrants' apparent ease in slipping through gaps in security screening systems is not always clear.

Most of those arrested in March were contract employees sent to work at the facilities as janitors, mechanics, landscapers and other maintenance crew members. Security screening requirements vary widely among companies.

Moreover, an interim Homeland Security plan to protect critical infrastructure offers only vague guidance for businesses wishing to adopt employee security clearance programs.

Hiring illegal workers at secure facilities will likely continue until the government issues a standard employee screening process, said P.J. Crowley, a Clinton administration national security aide and analyst at the Center for American Progress, a liberal advocacy group.

"Most of these people do not pose security risks per se, but the illegal immigrant today could be someone with nefarious goals tomorrow," Crowley said.

Complaints from labor union employees tipped off company officials to six illegal immigrants working at the Crystal River Power Plant in Crystal River, Fla.

Only one man, a Mexican, worked on the highly secure nuclear side of the plant as part of a crew of supervised painters inside a turbine building, Harris said. The plant has since tightened its security measures even for supervised workers, verifying their Social Security numbers with a credit-checking company before granting access.

"The ability for someone to get into the plant under some false identity _ we want to shut that off," plant spokesman Mac Harris said.

At Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro, Timco Aviation Services conducted five-year criminal background checks on all of its employees but left subcontractors to do their own screening, company spokesman Monty Hagler said. As a result of the arrests, Timco will require subcontractors to make background checks on their employees, he said.

At least two of the 27 airplane mechanics arrested at the airport bought fraudulent Social Security cards on a soccer field for between $50 and $70, according to court documents. But all the workers were supervised by certified mechanics, said Hagler, minimizing their security risks.

"Terrorism was not an issue in this. This was an immigration issue," Hagler said.

Immigration advocates said the arrests highlight the need to overhaul work laws for illegal immigrants. Last year, President Bush renewed his call for a guest worker program for immigrants seeking jobs.

"Part of reform needs to recognize that there are people here, living in the U.S., and working and paying taxes, who need to come out of the shadows," said Judy Golub, spokeswoman for the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

"We're never going to enhance our security until we have immigration reform," Golub said.


http://www.adelphia.net/news/read.php?ps=1018&id=11841630

[Cindy]

http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/003949.html

April 13, 2005
"Six Hizballah sites go missing"

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===


http://www.internet-haganah.us/harchives/003950.html

April 13, 2005
"fateh.tv?"

[appalachian_dweller]

Missed first 2 paragraphs of above story.


The Homeland Security Department arrested 57 illegal immigrants last month working at airports and other risk-sensitive facilities around the country, underscoring concerns that lax employment background checks are leaving a security breach for terrorists to exploit.

In one example, a Peruvian was hired as an airplane mechanic in Greensboro, N.C., using a fake Social Security card he bought for $70 on a soccer field, according to court documents. In another, a Florida power plant was alerted to a Mexican working at its nuclear facility only after being tipped off by labor union employees, company officials said.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1382829/posts

"Daily Terrorist Round-Up Stories - April 13, 2005 (Terrorists killed in Western Iraq)"
4/13/05


Posted on 04/13/2005 7:50:01 AM PDT by Straight Vermonter

[Cindy]

That's interesting AD.
Thank you.

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1383057/posts

"Illegals Blocking Marine Training"
Newsmax ^ | 4/13/05


Posted on 04/13/2005 12:18:57 PM PDT by areafiftyone

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is an exact quote:
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http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20050409.txt

NEWS RELEASE
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND
7115 South Boundary Boulevard
MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101
Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894


April 12, 2005
Release Number: 05-04-09


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


SMUGGLING RING RAIDED NEAR SYRIAN BORDER

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Multi-national forces conducted a raid April 12 on a known foreign-fighter and weapons-smuggling ring located near the Iraqi border town of Al Qaim, five miles east of the Syrian border. The raid was the result of information gathered from intelligence and testimony from terrorists who were detained recently.

Terrorists immediately engaged Coalition forces with small arms fire and multi-purpose assault weapons. Initial reports indicate a number of foreign terrorists were killed, including at least one suicide bomber. No Coalition forces were injured in the raid.

Over the last week, two other raids in the Al Qaim area resulted in the capture of smugglers who confessed to bringing weapons, foreign fighters and money for terrorists across the Syrian border into Iraq.

THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THIS RELEASE IS LT. COL. MICHAEL CALDWELL AT MULTI-NATIONAL FORCES IRAQ. ADDRESS QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS RELEASE TO HIM VIA E-MAIL AT MICHAEL.CALDWELL@IRAQ.CENTCOM.MIL OR BY PHONE AT (703) 343-8645.


-30-

[TexKat]

BTTT!!!

[ExSoldier]

The W.H.O. is felony stupid to allow this to get into the open. The real danger here is that some terrorist or scientist looking to make a serious profit (and not caring it will kill millions) might capitalize on the vulnerability and try to get infected or pass the bug to a terror related third party. I'm not concerned about an infection happening at a lab where the flu was sent. I don't see a STAND (from the novel/movie by Stephen King) situation here. These labs are used to handling infectious agents. Of course it's their own lives on the line first, so they'll be extra careful. Also remember the levels of medicine and medical technology in 1957 were substantially less than currently available, so I wouldn't see quite the major pandemic EVEN IF it got out.

[JustPiper]

Worry too they will help smuggle this:

U.S. Tracking Dangerous Flu Strain Sent to Labs
19 minutes ago
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/fc/health/influenza/latest_developments/story_more/*http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=1&u=/nm/20050413/ts_nm/health_flu_dc_10

From WHO:
International response to the distribution of a H2N2 influenza virus for laboratory testing: Risk considered low for laboratory workers and the public*
12 April 2005
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/influenza/h2n2_2005_04_12/en/

Killer flu: Could the world cope?

It is only a matter of time before a major outbreak of potentially deadly flu, according to scientists. Could the world cope?

There have been three flu pandemics during the past 100 years.

The Asian flu of 1957 was caught much earlier but still claimed one million lives.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3497355.stm

[JustPiper]

We also have all the "missing scientists" to worry about Also the leaks in our labs And the worry that many of this strains didn't even reach their destinations, being many are UNaccounted for

[JustPiper]

Other accidents happened at Texas City refinery unit

http://www.heralddemocrat.com/articles/2005/04/12/texas_news/iq_1803361.txt

Nuclear Plants Not Keeping Track of Waste
GAO Study Faults Federal Government for Failing to Implement Safeguards

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44916-2005Apr11.html

[JustPiper]

Health ; Threat of 'flesh-eating' MRSA bug:

[Health News] US doctors warn of small but alarming rates of a flesh-eating type of superbug. Patients appear to have caught the MRSA infection that attacks the skin outside of hospital, reports the New England Journal of Medicine.

At a centre in California, 14 patients were identified between 2003 and 2004, and some needed to be hospitalised.

So far no cases have been seen in the UK, but health officials said they were monitoring the situation.

http://www.keralanext.com/news/indexread.asp?id=177988

[JustPiper]

Interesting from Promed concerning Marburg:
{Via email no link}
From: Philippe Hovette hovette.philippe@wanadoo.fr [translated by LM]

Angola: Comments on the Nature of the Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever Outbreak

As an internist and tropical medicine specialist, I am interested in the outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in Angola. I know little about diseases caused by iloviruses, and certain points intrigue me.

Firstly, this is the 1st epidemic caused by a filovirus which has developed in an urban environment, whereas previously they have been rural zoonoses. Which means of contagion allows an urban epidemic? In an urban zone rodents are the first suspects, but could fructivorous
bats, already accused in Durba and in the epidemics of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, be the origin of the spread?

Secondly, 75 percent of the deceased are children of less than 5 years of age (thus not in school and generally carried on the backs of their mothers), whereas in the 1st epidemic of Marburg hemorrhagic fever which developed in Durba in Zaire, miners and their associates were the victims. There is probably a local factor which has not been highlighted yet. Several assumptions can be considered: viral variation, a local activity responsible for the spread, or infection of children admitted to the hospitals of Uige for another infection [measles, malaria, and typhoid have all been reported from the adjacent Democratic Republic of Congo (see: WHO Bulletin of 19 Jan
2005)].

Thirdly, more surprising is the fact that mothers are little affected despite very close contact with their infants.

Finally, it seems to me that the high mortality compared to the sporadic outbreaks (25 percent) and the epidemic of Durba (82 percent) are explainable by the fact that the population initially consults traditional practitioners and "kimbandeiros," since the disease is locally ascribed to fate. They go to hospital only after failure of these treatments and often arrive moribund. The sparse resources available to the centers of provincial care are also in
question as well as contaminations by re-used needles.

_______________________________________________________

[This outbreak -- like prior outbreaks of viral hemorrhagic fevers -- began outside the urban environment but transmission was potentiated in the hospital setting. The index case may well have been an adult male whose wife was infected after caring for him, and who then infected their child(ren). An infected child was then hospitalized
in an environment where infectious disease isolation is not routinely practiced, and where supplies are limited so that needles and syringes (or other medical devices) may not be adequately sterilized between uses. Beds may have become contaminated and although washed between patients, perhaps not sufficiently to eliminate the virus.

All of the above were described as sources of transmission in prior viral hemorrhagic fever outbreaks in which the hospital served as a potentiator for transmission of the virus.

The outbreak then took hold in the pediatric ward, among patients that were already admitted for other illnesses not related to Marburg. Because these were hospitalized children, the direct contact with their families was a bit more limited than if they had stayed home. But I suspect that there was more transmission to the family members who then stayed at home and were ill (and died) at home, away from the attention of the formal health sector. That
would explain the early apparent waves in the pediatric population, but now the shifting age distribution involving the hospital staff, and probably family members of the children. I suspect the final epidemiologic reports will reflect this.

With the above theory, the index case probably had the more "traditional route" (whatever that may be) of primary infection -- exposure to bat droppings (as postulated from an isolated Ebola case related to spelunking in Kenya, and for the outbreak in miners in the Democratic Republic of Congo), or exposure to an infected primate through skinning and preparing for food (I do not know if monkeys are eaten in Angola, but I suspect they are, especially in a zone where food resources are limited).

I suspect that the observed high mortality rate may be a function of "in-hospital" mortality rate, and the true rate may be closer to that seen in the Durba outbreak. The disparity from earlier reported mortalities with Marburg may be related to either a different strain,
or more likely to level of medical care available (earlier outbreaks were in more highly developed areas). It will be interesting to see if an analysis of CFR by age group indicates a differential based on age. A true CFR would require doing a baseline serosurvey in the community to establish the denominator of infected individuals. It
is possible that there are milder cases that are not within the radarscope of the health sector. Given the high emotional state in the area, I suspect that such a serosurvey will have to wait until after things quiet down and "return to normal".
___________________________________________________________

Angola: Death Toll exceeds 200

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Health officials in Angola said on Mon 11 Apr 2005 that 203 people out of 221 infected with Marburg virus had died, as local and international health workers race to stem the spread of the disease.

Most of the dead were children under 5 years of age, health workers in the northern Angolan province of Uige -- the most affected region -- said. It is the deadliest Marburg virus outbreak ever recorded.

Panic has spread through the region, with some people hiding their infected relatives and dead bodies from health workers, compounding the problem. Officials also told reporters that a local tradition of delaying the burial of loved ones risked increasing the spread of the
deadly virus. Health workers also said local residents lacked sufficient information about the disease and that hospitals failed to observe basic rules of hygiene that could help stem the epidemic.

[JustPiper]

Strain of _Clostridium difficile_ produces high levels of toxins A and B

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The emergence of a highly toxigenic strain of _Clostridium difficile_ may be responsible for an outbreak of disease at the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke (CHUS) in Quebec, Canada, according to the results of a study to be presented tomorrow at the 15th annual scientific meeting of the Society for Healthcare
Epidemiology of America (SHEA) in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

According to an SHEA news release, the toxic strain is identical to that which caused outbreaks in 7 hospitals across 6 USA states from 2001 to 2004. Data presented in 2004 at the Infectious Diseases Society of America meeting suggest that the bacterium is resistant to fluoroquinolone therapy.

https://profreg.medscape.com/px/getlogin.do?urlCache=aHR0cDovL3d3dy5tZWRzY2FwZS5jb20vdmlld2FydGljbGUvNTAyODI4P3NyYz1zZWFyY2g=

[JustPiper]

Iran nuke commercial hits TV markets
Spot depicting atomic terror attack in NYC to be seen in 20 cities

A commercial produced by an organization fighting for the freedom of Iran that depicts a nuclear terror attack in America – the kind many experts believe is possible should Tehran get the bomb – will run in 20 markets across the country this month.

Titled "An Atomic 9-11: When Evil is Appeased," the spot, sponsored by the Iran Freedom Foundation, is based on a scenario described in the new WND Books release "Atomic Iran: How the Terrorist Regime Bought the Bomb and American Politicians," by Jerome R. Corsi, co-author of the best-selling "Unfit for Command."

http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=43766