Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Threat Matrix: Daily Terror Threat

Thread Thirty-One (Index)

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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!

Home grown Islamists may hit US: FBI chief
Full Story

WASHINGTON -- The United States could be attacked by "home grown" Islamist terror groups, the FBI's chief has warned.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told the London Financial Times newspaper in an interview published Thursday that the United States could face attacks from "home-grown terrorism" very similar to the July 7 bombings in London that killed 52 people and wounded another 700, Mueller said.

When asked if the United States could face such attacks from "home-grown groups", Mueller answered emphatically: "Absolutely, it could," the Financial Times said.

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

TM Terrorism Handbook

Link to Thread Thirty

"Code Red Implications:
Code Red - Stay Home and Await Word."
From Tm'er and Freeper ~MamaDearest~

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TM 'Be on the Lookout'

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Note: The following text is an exact quote:
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http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051020.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
October 6, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-20

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OPERATION RIVER GATE UPDATE

CAMP BLUE DIAMOND, AR RAMADI, Iraq – Approximately 350 Iraqi Security Force Soldiers and Coalition Marines, Soldiers and Sailors from Regimental Combat Team – 2 continued Operation Bawwabatu Annaher, River Gate in English, in the cities of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana.

Iraqi Soldiers provide security for Haditha General Hospital’s patients and personnel. The hospital is the largest medical facility in Western Al Anbar, and was targeted last spring by a suicide car bomber.

Operation River Gate began Oct. 4 with predawn air strikes on the Dulab, Haditha and Barwana bridges which span the Euphrates River. The strikes were carefully executed to disable the bridges and limit the terrorists’ ability to flee the cities.

Early this morning, Marines detained a man in Barwana for possession of a mortar system. At noon in Haditha, Iraqi Security Forces and Marines discovered a roadside bomb which consisted of two 155 mm artillery rounds. The bomb was destroyed in place without incident. This is the third such device found since yesterday morning.

Since the operation commenced Oct. 4, six Al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists have been killed in the fighting. Approximately 110 men suspected of terrorist activity have been detained.

Essential services such as electricity, water and access to medical care have not been disrupted by the ongoing operation.

More information will be released as it becomes available.

For more information, contact the 1st Marine Division Public Affairs Officer at VandenBosscheKS@gcenbf-wiraq.usmc.mil.
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http://www.centcom.mil/CENTCOMNews/News_Release.asp?NewsRelease=20051021.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
October 6, 2005
Release Number: 05-10-21

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TIP HELPS U.S. SOLDIERS FOIL CAR BOMB ATTACK NEAR SCHOOL

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.S. Soldiers, responding to an Iraqi citizen’s tip, foiled a potential terrorist car bomb attack near an elementary school in west Baghdad Oct. 3.

At 2 p.m., an Iraqi citizen reported a possible car bomb 20 yards from an elementary school. The man said the car had been parked there with its hood up since 11:30 a.m. He added that the driver then exited the vehicle and was picked up by another car, which then drove away.

An explosives ordnance disposal team investigated and found a mortar round, four tank rounds, a propane tank and a radio controlled detonation device wired to the car’s antenna. The Soldiers safely detonated the bomb.

In other combat operations Oct. 3, Task Force Baghdad Soldiers captured four suspected roadside bombers and found four weapons caches in different areas of the city.

U.S. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, stopped a suspicious-looking vehicle while manning a traffic control point at around 3 p.m. in south Baghdad.

When the unit searched the vehicle, they found TNT and blue and white wires often used to detonate improvised explosive devices in the trunk. The four occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody for questioning.

Coalition Forces found the four weapons caches hidden in various areas of Baghdad. The caches contained 29 mortar rounds and a mortar tripod, nine rockets, a bag of TNT with wires running from it, one rocket propelled grenade launcher and four RPGs, four machine guns, four AK-47 rifles and nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

The Soldiers also found anti-Iraqi forces propaganda and paraphernalia at one of the cache sites.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS RELEASE, CONTACT TASK FORCE BAGHDAD PUBLIC AFFAIRS, SGT. FIRST CLASS DAVID ABRAMS AT DAVID.ABRAMS@ID3.ARMY.MIL.
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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051005_2941.html

Car Bomb Stopped Before Reaching Target; 12 Wounded in Explosion

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2005 – U.S. and Iraqi police and military personnel stopped a car bomb from reaching its intended target Oct. 4 in Baghdad's fortified International Zone, U.S. military officials in Iraq said.

A vehicle burns outside one of the entrances of the International Zone in Baghdad Oct. 4 after a failed car bomb attack. Iraqi emergency response teams quickly contained the blaze. Army photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
The car bomber still managed to wound 12 U.S. and Iraqi personnel. Officials said the probable target was either an Iraqi Ministry of Interior official or a Transitional National Assembly delegate.

Initial reports indicate four Iraqi police officers, three Iraqi army soldiers and three civilians were wounded during the explosion. Two U.S. Task Force Baghdad soldiers were also slightly wounded.

Baghdad emergency workers and firefighters quickly responded to extinguish fires in cars that were set ablaze during the explosion.

In other news from Iraq, coalition forces captured 20 terror suspects during seven pre-dawn raids against terrorist safe houses in Baghdad Oct. 4. The raids, in part, are aimed at breaking up terror networks in and around the city.

Task Force Baghdad soldiers also caught three men before they could carry out a terrorist attack in the Thawra district of northeast Baghdad. The soldiers halted a vehicle with no license plate. Inside the vehicle, three men each had AK-47 assault rifles, and none had identification. The Americans detained the terror suspects and turned them over to Iraqi police.

Task Force Baghdad soldiers also seized four weapons caches, containing 571 mortar rounds, 19 artillery rounds, 15 rockets, nine rocket launchers, 110 rocket-propelled grenades, one RPG launcher, 31 grenades, 206 artillery fuses, a large-caliber machine gun with ammunition, and two AK-47 assault rifles.

In Taji, Iraqi army soldiers found a weapons cache while patrolling near a major thoroughfare. The soldiers found a 155 mm artillery shell, five mortar shells ranging in size from 100 mm to 120 mm, a box of rocket fuses, and five pounds of plastic explosives. The patrol also recovered two AK-47 assault rifles, a flare gun, and two remote-controlled detonators.

Elsewhere, soldiers from 3rd Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, and coalition troops discovered a sizeable weapons cache and detained three men Oct. 4 at a school in the Malaab district of Ramadi. No children were present at the school during the incident.

An inventory of the weaponry and IED-making components tallied 75 different item types in various quantities. The stash produced 33 assorted guns, 92 mortar rounds in different sizes, 36 assorted RPG rounds, eight bags of rifle ammunition, links and propellant rods, and seven two-and-a-half-gallon buckets of propellant and propellant and gasoline mix.

A wide array of explosives and components, such as charges, fuses, blasting caps, primers, detonation cord and a mix of electronic equipment such as cell phones, chargers, cables and transformers, was found also.

One man was identified as the guard at the school, and two other men present failed a "wipe test" for exposure to explosives residue. All three were taken into custody for further questioning by authorities.

Iraqi security forces found and cleared two IEDs Oct. 4 in the Fallujah area. Troops from the 2nd Battalion, 4th Brigade, 1st Iraqi Intervention Force, found an IED during a presence patrol and cordoned off the area. EOD excavated the device, which was determined to be a South African 155 mm M1A1 artillery round.

The soldiers also reported another IED discovered two weeks earlier in the vicinity, near a previously excavated weapons cache. The bomb was retrieved by EOD and turned out to be another 155 mm projectile. Both rounds were turned over for later disposal.

In north-central Iraq, Iraqi security forces and U.S. Task Force Liberty soldiers began Operation Saratoga in advance of the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum and to protect people during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Officials said Iraqi forces and Task Force Liberty soldiers will be much more visible across all the regions of north-central Iraq to act on recent information developed by the Iraqi police and army and coalition forces.

More than 500 Iraqi citizens have been killed or injured by terrorist attacks in Kirkuk, Bayji, Samarra, Duluiyah, Tuz, Baqubah and Balad, officials said. Nearly 80 Iraqi policemen and soldiers have died and another 101 wounded in their fight to protect the Iraqi people since the beginning of September.

Task Force Liberty soldiers and their Iraqi army and police partners have conducted almost 300 combat missions to disrupt terror cells. More than 800 suspected terrorists have been detained and another 25 enemy forces killed and 10 enemy wounded since Sept. 1, officials said.

Polling-site security will be augmented by more than 1,400 concrete barriers emplaced in recent weeks to support Iraqi police and army operations to secure access for voters, officials said.

In the air war over Iraq, coalition aircraft flew 34 close-air-support and armed-reconnaissance sorties Oct. 4 for Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities, and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities. Coalition aircraft also supported Iraqi and coalition ground forces to create a secure environment for ongoing Transitional National Assembly meetings.

U.S. Air Force F-16s performed a strike against a building used by anti-Iraqi forces in the vicinity of Karabilah, expending one GBU-38 500-pound bomb.

Other U.S. Air Force F-16s and F-15s and British Royal Air Force GR-4s provided close air support to coalition troops in the vicinities of Mahmudiyah, Ramadi, and Tuz Khurmatu.

In addition, nine U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions in support of operations in Iraq. British Royal Air Force fighter aircraft also performed in a non-traditional ISR role with their electro-optical and infrared sensors.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq, Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq, Task Force Baghdad, Task Force Liberty and U.S. Central Command Air Forces Forward news releases.)

Related Sites:
Multinational Force Iraq
Multinational Security Transition Command Iraq
U.S. Central Command Air Forces

Firefighters battle to put out the blaze of a car that was caught in the blast of a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device at Baghdad's International Zone, Oct. 4. Army photo

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http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2005/20051005_2949.html

Operation River Gate Begins in Iraq's Euphrates Valley

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5, 2005 – The 2nd Marine Division launched Operation River Gate in the cities of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana in Iraq Oct. 4, military officials reported.
About 2,500 Marines, soldiers and sailors from Regimental Combat Team 2 and Iraqi security forces soldiers are participating in the operation, making it the largest operation in Iraq's Anbar province this year, officials said.

The operation's goal is to deny the al Qaeda in Iraq terrorist network the ability to operate in the three Euphrates River Valley cities and to free the local citizens from the insurgents' campaign of murder and intimidation, a 2nd Marine Division statement said.

Haditha is an important crossroads for al Qaeda in Iraq's smuggling activities from the Syrian border, officials said. Once in Haditha, smugglers can go north to Mosul or continue on to Ramadi, Fallujah or Baghdad. The city is home to about 75,000 Iraqis, a vital hydroelectric power plant and 28 schools.

In other news from Iraq, Task Force Baghdad soldiers and Iraqi security forces netted 11 suspected terrorists Oct. 3 through today.

Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, conducted a cordon and search in east Rashid today, killing one terrorist and wounding another. Two suspected terrorists were also detained.

In another operation, elements of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, conducted cordon-and-search operations at various locations in Bayaa and detained nine suspected terrorists early today. Three of the nine detainees are wanted members of an improvised explosive device cell, officials said.

A would-be roadside bomb emplacement team became victims of their own device on the night of Oct. 3 in southern Baghdad.

Terrorists driving a car were en route to place an IED when it detonated prematurely. Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, investigated the explosion and discovered a small truck at the site of the explosion along with scattered explosive devices. The terrorists responsible had already fled the area.

Elsewhere, U.S. soldiers, responding to an Iraqi citizen's tip, foiled a potential terrorist car bomb attack near an elementary school in western Baghdad Oct. 3.

At 2 p.m., an Iraqi citizen reported a possible car bomb 20 yards from an elementary school. The man said the car had been parked there with its hood up since 11:30 a.m. He added that the driver exited the vehicle after parking it and was picked up by another car, which then drove away.

An explosives ordnance disposal team investigated and found a mortar round, four tank rounds, a propane tank and a radio-controlled detonation device wired to the car's antenna. The soldiers safely detonated the bomb.

In other combat operations Oct. 3, Task Force Baghdad soldiers captured four suspected roadside bombers and found four weapons caches in different areas of Baghdad.

U.S. soldiers from 1st Battalion, 184th Infantry Regiment, stopped a suspicious-looking vehicle while manning a traffic control point at around 3 p.m. in southern Baghdad.

When the soldiers searched the vehicle, they found TNT and blue and white wires often used to detonate IEDs in the trunk. The four occupants of the vehicle were taken into custody for questioning.

Coalition forces found the four weapons caches hidden in various areas of Baghdad. The caches contained 29 mortar rounds and a mortar tripod, nine rockets, a bag of TNT with wires running from it, a rocket-propelled-grenade launcher and four RPGs, four machine guns, four AK-47 rifles and nearly 3,000 rounds of ammunition.

The soldiers also found terrorist propaganda and paraphernalia at one of the cache sites.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and 2nd Marine Division news releases.)

Related Sites:
Multinational Force Iraq
2nd Marine Division

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1497527/posts

'Infra-red' bombs based on tactics used by Hezbollah_(...)
Timesonline ^

Posted on 10/06/2005 1:41:44 AM PDT by Flavius

THE six British soldiers and two British civilian security guards killed by roadside bombs since July in southern Iraq were victims of a sophisticated method of insurgency attack using infra-red technology.

For several months there has been a growing use of improved explosives tech- nology in the hands of insurgents in the south. This expertise is widely believed to have come from outside Iraq.

In particular, infra-red “trip wires” have been used to set off explosives. This is a complex technique and one that has been mastered by the Hezbollah organisation in Lebanon.

When British military counter-insurgency specialists first discovered the infra-red technology, suspicion fell on Hezbollah, and by extension on Iran, which funds, arms and trains its militants.

The official British military maps in Basra in southern Iraq highlight the long border with Iran, a frontier denoted as a “totally-porous border”.

The counter-insurgency experts try to keep a step ahead of the insurgents, attempting to outwit them as they develop different ways of targeting British soldiers; but help from over the border, whether official or unofficial from elements in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, has made their task more difficult.

“It’s a cat and mouse game, they [the insurgents] get better than us and then we get better than them, but every time they get better than us, someone dies,” a military source said.

The attacks are believed to be the work of a breakaway section of the followers of Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric, as well as Sunni insurgents.

The most recent British death was that of Major Matthew Bacon, of the Intelligence Corps, who was serving as a staff officer with the headquarters of the Multinational Division Southeast in Basra. Major Bacon, 34, was travelling in an armoured Land Rover in Basra when a roadside bomb was detonated by infra-red. He died and three other soldiers were seriously injured. The Land Rover was obliterated.

The other soldiers killed by the enhanced explosives technology were Fusilier Donal Meade, 20, and Fusilier Stephen Manning, 22, of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, who were killed on September 5; and 2nd Lieutenant Richard Shearer, 26, Private Leon Spicer, 26, and Private Phillip Hewett, 21, of the 1st Battalion Staffordshire Regiment, who died on July 17.

Two civilians working for Control Risks Group security company, Andrew Holloway, 32, and Ken Hull, 48, were also killed by a roadside bomb.

Before the development of the more advanced roadside bombs, the British military had been dealing with devices detonated by remote control.

Since Operation Telic (the British campaign in Iraq) started in March 2003, 63 British military personnel have died as a result of hostile action.

A_D I think you're just a teeeeny bit off base here. This is what FREEPER Smokin' Joe had to say on the OU thread and I think he's SPOT ON in his analysis: The lack of info isn't incompetence, but is allowing further investigation to occur, and people like the missing roommate may already be at/on their way to Gitmo. I have no doubt this is being pursued somewhere, quietly.

The authorities are forced to weigh the possibility of a recurrence against the potential benefit of tracking multiple jihadis and possibly multiple cells. Solutions may or may not involve grabbing co-conspiritors immediately, they may produce more information while being tracked at large, and lead to the prevention of multiple acts.

The newsies will play ball, because the FCC and IRS have big sticks.

We are in the 'blogosphere', are unofficial, and can always be dismissed as tinfoil hat material, even if we are shooting in the X ring.

A_D I think this is a well reasoned and thoughtful response that makes excellent sense. There may be underlying reasons for this action that have nothing to do with those stated, but the above, I believe represents the overriding process at work here.

Yes we need to be concerned. But given the huge list of days with "high expectations" that failed to materialize, trying to maintain that ultra high alert level is exhausting. It's possible to sharpen a knife edge too much. What is the result when that happens? Gets brittle and is easily broken. Right? Either you're ready or you're not. Being "extra-ready" for a specific set of circumstances like yours is a very wise move.

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