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Posted on 10/01/2006 5:29:13 PM PDT by nwctwx
Not sure if this is going to be major, but it sure is strange:
(From IPN)
MOU| St. Louis| Special| | |Major Communication Outage - Multi 911 Lines Are Down - Multi Landlines &Cell Phone Companies Down| MOU024| 21:59
I worry that I'm overthinking it too, but remain compelled to keep a watch. ;-) My heart sinks every time I see a new AQ banner on Laura's web site, and then I go into turbo refresh until the darned thing gets released. ;-)
No problem. I don't follow Mir all that closely, so I'm not sure how exactly he laid that out, and if so, the sequence (before or after an attack) and specificity (audio, video, or live statement).
I typed out that part of the Fox interview yesterday because the case he made sounded "legit". And there have been quite a few tapes the past several weeks and he didn't start saying "signal" about any of them until yesterday (at least in the stories posted on here). I'm sure that in one of his other recent interviews he would have mentioned it had he thought it the case. So it surprised me. Then digging around, I began to see what he might have meant.
I know there have been stories on here, especially in the spring and summer of 2004, that a UBL statement might be associated with the next major attack that would exceed 9/11. But not sure what Mir has said in regard to that.
Did you pull the verses themselves from the Gadahn transcript? Or just the numbers?
It is not without basis so say that al Qaeda places significance on specific dates. The 9/11 Commission Report said the UBL originally slated the NYC/DC attacks for the seventh month anniversary (5/12/01) of the Cole attacks (10/12/00 = "12") but they weren't ready.
My guess is that above all, they aim for dates that offer the highest probability of success (weather conditions in target areas, traffic/population density patterns, dates of particular security vulnerability, etc), and if they can also target a date of religious or political significance, that is all the better as far as they are concerned.
But their first priority is to carry off the attack successfully, and when it happens is secondary (but very much related). For example, they waited through August 2001 for Congress to come back into session to do 9/11.
Thank you Right_Handed_Writer.
Updates appreciated.
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Also ON THE NET...
http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2006/10/03/news/news04.txt
Monday, October 2, 2006
Local News
"Emergency phone system knocked out"
From staff reports
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A problem with phone lines knocked out 911 phone communication in at least part of eastern North Carolina Monday evening.
“I don’t know what to tell you except most of eastern North Carolina is down,” said a dispatcher with the Washington Police Department. She declined to give her name.
In Hyde County the emergency system was down from 4:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. according to Emergency Management Coordinator Tony Spencer. Martin, Washington and Beaufort County were still down as of 8:30 p.m., he said
George Sullivan, emergency management coordinator for Beaufort County, said at least 10 nearby counties were involved.
“All I know is a phone line somewhere got cut,” Sullivan said. Later, Sullivan said he wasn’t sure about that. “All I know is there’s something wrong at the Rocky Mount hub.
All of Beaufort County’s 911 calls are being routed to the sheriff’s office, Sullivan said. Crews were still being dispatched.
“The E-911 address system is also affected by the outage but dispatchers are able to get around it,” he said."
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Marsh said he understood some service had been restored Monday night."
Thank you, All4one.
Sending prayers for the victims and their families.
Computer disks with personal info missing from Sea-Tac airport
SEATTLE Computer disks containing personal information about nearly seven-thousand current and former workers are missing from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
The Port of Seattle says in a news release that the information -- including Social Security numbers -- was on six disks from the Airport I-D Badging office.
Mark Reis, managing director at Sea-Tac, says officials have "no reason to believe that the information has been misused." But he says it's not known whether the disks were simply misplaced, or were removed from the airport.
Airport spokesman Bob Parker tells KING-TV that airport officials do not consider the incident a security risk, although the information went missing from the office where identification badges are made.(snip)
http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5487694&nav=menu484_2_8
I was surprised he said "signal" as well Joe. But I'm still stuck on his original report that there would be this audio recording as the third in this series leading up to whatever the attack will be. Funny he didn't mention that again.
Hamid Mir made his statements about a week before the news came out that UBL was dead (again.) I remember thinking that night that maybe it was an effort to smoke him out since this so-called audio message had not yet appeared. And then of course, I was rather surpised that not one, but two more AQ videos appeared that don't include any new audio at all from UBL.
"He said there will be another audio message from bin Laden aired within the next two weeks."
http://hotair.com/archives/2006/09/17/report-aq-warns-muslims-to-leave-nyc-washington/
The numbers I pulled were the text subtitles (of quoted verses) from the tape with both Azzam and Zawahiri- the one with the longer version of Azzam. I did all kinds of calculations adding across, down, simplifying etc. but didn't really come up with anything that literally jumped out at me... yet.
Snip: A plan to build a high-tech radar capable of tracking terrorists and drug runners on the high seas has been torpedoed because the government received a single complaint that the system interfered with someone's radio signal.
Spaniards tone down exploding Mohammed at fiestas
Snip: Spanish villages are toning down traditional fiestas in which revelers blow up dummies representing the Prophet Mohammed for fear of offending Muslims, the newspaper El Pais reported on Monday.
One eastern Spanish village, Bocairent, decided to abandon the custom of packing the head of a dummy representing Mohammed with fireworks after seeing the angry response by Muslims to a Danish newspaper's publication last year of cartoons of him.
Snip: A top 40 radio station has apologized for an on-air comedy skit called "Muslim Jeopardy" that Muslim advocacy groups said was offensive and derogatory.
The skit on KDWB-FM included an announcer using a fake South Asian accent introducing contest categories such as "infamous infidels" and "potent portables," according to the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations, which said it had received complaints about the skit.
The skit also included a threat to behead a female host when she got an answer wrong, CAIR said.
Parent protests - school defends unit on Islam
Snip: NYSSA, Ore. (AP) — After a parental protest, school officials defended a seventh-grade social studies unit on Islam that included students dressing in traditional Islamic dress.
Kendlee Garner of Nyssa said she was upset at the amount of time for the unit on Islam, four weeks. And, she told the Ontario Argus Observer, she objected to the wearing of religious garb and the lack of parental notification.
"I'm sure people would be outraged if they dressed up as the Pope," she said.
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Airport spokesman Bob Parker tells KING-TV that airport officials do not consider the incident a security risk, although the information went missing from the office where identification badges are made."
http://www.kndo.com/Global/story.asp?S=5487694&nav=menu484_2_8
I was surprised he said "signal" as well Joe. But I'm still stuck on his original report that there would be this audio recording as the third in this series leading up to whatever the attack will be. Funny he didn't mention that again. . . "He said there will be another audio message from bin Laden aired within the next two weeks." . . .
Not completely sure what it might mean, but Mir made it sound like this is no "ordinary" al Qaeda tape. It seems it is a tape that only UBL himself would have authority to release. He associates the tape specifically, personally, and uniquely to UBL saying (of this 1/8/2000 videotape):
1) "this is a clear message from Osama Bin Laden"
2) "this video was in the possession of Osama Bin Laden himself"
3) "Osama Bin Laden is trying to tell his people that "I'm alive" and they must be ready for the new attacks"
He was emphatic on this point.
The only other issue is that while this is then the third tape and it is indeed specifically from UBL himself, it is a videotape, not an audiotape. But it is a videotape without audio . . .
One could infer that Mir interprets that this 1/8/2000 video of Atta and Jarrah that he believes to have been in UBL's personal possession is the third tape in the sequence (relating it to the Zawahiri tape two days previous to it) and therefore it itself is the "signal" . . . a "tape with audio of Bin Laden speaking" from six years ago that is indeed "from Bin Laden", but is itself, technically speaking, a tape that has no audio of Bin Laden.
Hamid Mir (10/1/06):
. . . Yes, this is a clear message from Osama Bin Laden to his fighters who are hiding inside or outisde the United States that they must be ready for another attack. According to my information, this video was in the possession of Osama Bin Laden himself. So if it is released by al Qaeda, then it is, you see, definitely a message. . . And the other thing is that this video was released two days after the message of Dr. Ayman al Zawahiri, which is also very important. And Osama Bin Laden is trying to tell his people that "I'm alive" and they must be ready for the new attacks".
ON THE NET...
http://www.danielpipes.org
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=cair
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http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=/Culture/archive/200610/CUL20061002a.html
"Gym Attire Seen As Latest Attempt to Force Shari'a in US
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
October 02, 2006
(CNSNews.com) -
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "In light of the dispute over the gym class attire, CAIR also noted that it would conduct diversity training for Lake Braddock's newer staff, as well as "visit local middle and high schools to review their policies for accommodating the religious needs of Muslim students during Ramadan, Eid and throughout the school year."
But Daniel Pipes, a frequent critic of CAIR and the director of the Middle East Forum, told Cybercast News Service that the gym shorts are part of a "campaign" by CAIR to replace rules in the U.S.
It is a campaign "to adapt public schools in the United States to Islamic norms," Pipes said, and "is an integral part of its effort to adapt the country to the Shari'a, or Islamic law."
"Its success in getting the gym rules changed at Lake Braddock [Secondary] School, plus its success in providing 'diversity training' for school staff, have inspired it to become more bold and to 'review the policies' in other middle and high schools in an attempt to bend them too to the Shari'a," Pipes added."
Adding a few more links...
http://www.nefafoundation.org
http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/10/exclusive_the_911_suicide_will.php
"Exclusive - The 9/11 Suicide Wills Unmasked: 'Eid al-Fitr at Tarnak Farms'"
By Evan Kohlmann
http://www.globalterroralert.com/pdf/0906/911suicidewills.pdf
Adding Links to post no. 153:
http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=22804_9-11_Mass_Murderers_Last_Will&only
"9/11 Mass Murderer's Last Will"
(Note: Include Video (no sound) - October 2, 2006)
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Note: No audio.
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/184836.php
October 02, 2006
"(Original Vids) Atta and al Qaeda Videos Released(bumped)"
October 02, 2006
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "(Original Vids) Atta and al Qaeda Videos Released(bumped)
The Jawa Report has obtained the full length video of Mohammed Atta and other of the 9/11 conspirators as reported in the major media. You can watch the full video below in five parts or post them to your own website using Google video."
http://www.news.com.au/story/0%2C23599%2C20508703-2%2C00.html
"More Jihadists 'ready to go'"
By Emma-Kate Symons in Manila
October 02, 2006 12:46am
ARTICLE SNIPPET: "A NETWORK of homegrown converts to radical Islam has emerged as a major terrorist threat in South-East Asia, teaming up with higher-profile al-Qaeda offshoots Jemaah Islamiah and Abu Sayyaf to plot attacks on Western and local targets.
Manila's top anti-terrorism official has told The Australian that the group of former Christians known as Rajah Solaiman is highly educated and well-financed and lacked the profile of traditional Islamist terrorist groups, making it easier to evade detection.
His warning came as Indonesian and Australian mourners remembered the 20 people killed in JI's last major terror attacks, at Jimbaran Bay and Kuta in Bali a year ago yesterday.
Terrorist experts believe that while JI has suffered some significant setbacks in the past 12 months, its alliance with southern Philippines groups such as Rajah Solaiman mean it is still a potent force.
The Australian understands that Canberra is closely monitoring the pursuit of Rajah Solaiman, which shares JI's goal of a pan-Islamic state in Asia.
Rajah Solaiman has direct links to al-Qaeda's leadership and to JI's 2002 Bali bombers Umar Patek, who was killed last month, and Dulmatin, who is still on the run in the war-torn southern Philippines.
Philippines defence undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor said Rajah Solaiman was hiding out in the country's impenetrable south, conducting joint training exercises and plotting terror attacks with its JI and Abu Sayyaf allies."
ON THE NET...
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=northkorea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=nkorea
==
===
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1712622/posts
"N Korea 'to conduct nuclear test'"
BBC News ^ | 10/03/2006
Posted on 10/03/2006 2:50:20 AM PDT by Republicain
Paraphrasing from attached article:
After Monday's shooting in Nickel Mines PA, Delaware schools were alerted. Delaware State Troopers who were on patrol were told to keep an eye on the schools in their areas.
Additional info. in the article about the emergency response plans for the schools.
THANK YOU all4one.
Have a good day today.
PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org
===
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NOTE: The following text is a quote:
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http://www.assistnews.net/Stories/s06100009.htm
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com
Monday, October 2, 2006
Martyred Iranian’s daughter disappears after arrest
By Catherine Butcher
Special to ASSIST News Service
MASHAD, IRAN (ANS) -- Iranian church leaders Amir and Fereshteh Dibaj were arrested on Tuesday 26 September 2006 when the Iranian secret police raided their apartment in the north eastern city of Mashad. No reason was given for their arrest. Amir made a brief phone call on Friday to tell relatives he was fine, but he had no information about his wife Fereshteh. No one has heard from the 28-year-old since her arrest. The couple’s six-year-old daughter Christine is being cared for by her grandmother.
Reporting on the arrest on their “Pray for Iran” web site (www.prayerforiran.com), Elam Ministries said, “At about 7:00am local time on Tuesday September 26, 2006 several men from the Iranian secret police raided their apartment and confiscated their computers, Christian literature, and other items they thought may be of interest to them.
Fereshteh Dibaj with six year old Christine
“Thankfully Amir had a chance to quickly phone his mother to ask her to come and take their six year old daughter, Christine. By the time she arrived, Amir and Fereshteh had already been forced into the police car.
“When Amir’s mother went into the apartment to get Christine, there were still two men there searching the apartment. She asked them why this was happening and were they were taking Amir and Fereshteh to. She was told they were being taken to a certain police station, which later turned out not to be the case. They were in fact taken to a secret police station belonging to the notorious Revolutionary Guard.
“Amir's parents have made repeated attempts to find out why their son and Fereshteh have been detained, but so far have not received any reply, other than being told that the interrogation is still continuing. On September 28, the authorities informed Amir's parents that the couple was to appear before a revolutionary court at a certain time and location, but when they went to witness the trial, Amir and Fereshteh were not there and they were told to come back on Saturday for a possible trial then.”
Fereshteh’s father martyred
When Fereshteh was six years old – as her daughter is now -- her father Mehdi Dibaj was arrested and charged with apostasy. He then spent more than nine years under sentence of death until international pressure secured his release from prison. Mehdi Dibaj was on the way to his daughter Fereshteh’s 16th birthday party a few months after his release, when he was abducted and killed.
While her father was in prison, persecution and threats to her life forced Fereshteh’s mother to convert to Islam.
Persecution and martyrdom are well known to Amir and Fereshteh. They lead an independent house church in Mashad -- a popular Muslim pilgrimage destination, considered to be Iran's holiest city. The pastor of their church, Revd. Hussein Soodmand, was hanged in December 1990 as a convert from Islam who refused to recant.
Fereshteh’s brother, Issa Dibaj, who lives and works in England, said yesterday, “Please feel free to spread this news as I think it would be good for the Iranian government to know that the rest of the world knows about this and cares.”
Mehdi Dibaj remembered
After spending nine years in an Iranian prison on the charge of apostasy, Mehdi Dibaj was tried in December 1993, found guilty and sentenced to death. Due to pressure from human rights groups, he was released in January 1994, but he was found murdered on 5 July 1994.
PHOTO: ELAM MINISTRIES
Issa remembers his father as “a very gentle man” – “loved by all the prisoners and the guards”. His evident gentleness was noticed by one of his fellow inmates, Bahman Aghai Diba, who wrote in the on-line Persian Journal1, of his prison encounter with Mehdi in Iran’s notorious Evin prison: “The old man had a calm face. He kept smiling mildly and looked around with appreciation…
“He was not one of my cellmates, and I noticed him because he was walking as a person who was very satisfied and content. He was telling things slowly to himself that I could not understand at first. Later I came to know that he was reciting Christian hymns in Farsi and English. I asked him "why are you so joyful?" He said I am praying to God that has made this beautiful day possible for me. Look around you; isn't it beautiful? The flowers, the sight of mountains and the huge trees are around us, and I am in the company of nice people. I am thankful to God.
“Of course, I did not care about his Christianity, as I did not care about my Islam. However, in the middle of terrible conditions that existed there …it was interesting for me that a person can have such a spirit.”
“For many years we were just waiting for him to be put on trial,” Issa explained. “Because his crime was apostasy the sentence already laid down under Islamic sharia law is death. But the government didn’t want to kill him because that would give them bad publicity, so every time his case was due to be dealt with, he had to sign an appeal letter and they postponed it. Finally he said ‘No, this time I won’t appeal. Either release me or kill me. It would be an honor for me to die for Christ.’”
The case finally went to court in December 1993. Mehdi Dibaj was found guilty and sentenced to death. The court verdict read: “... he has chosen the religion of Christianity... because of his non-repentance and his insistence on his non-Islamic belief... he is sentenced to execution.”
In his defense, Mehdi said, “I am a Christian, a sinner who believes Jesus has died for my sins on the cross and who by His resurrection and victory over death, has made me righteous in the presence of the Holy God….
“…They say, ‘You were a Muslim and you have become a Christian.’ No, for many years I had no religion. After searching and studying I accepted God's call and I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ in order to receive eternal life. People choose their religion, but a Christian is chosen by Christ. He says, ‘You have not chosen me but I have chosen you.’ From when? Before the foundation of the world.
“People say, ‘You were a Muslim from your birth.’ God says, ‘You were a Christian from the beginning.’ He states that He chose us thousands of years ago, even before the creation of the universe, so that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ we may be His! A Christian means one who belongs to Jesus Christ.
“The eternal God, who sees the end from the beginning and who has chosen me to belong to Him, knew from everlasting whose heart would be drawn to Him and who would be willing to sell their faith and eternity for a pot of porridge.
“I would rather have the whole world against me, but know the Almighty God is with me; be called an apostate, but know I have the approval of the God of glory…”
Baroness Caroline Cox and Issa Dibaj at the launch of Cox's Book of Modern Saints & Martyrs.
Issa said, “When my father received the execution letter he gave a copy of it to an Armenian prison guard who passed it to Bishop Haik, the Bishop of our church. Within days, the news that an Iranian was about to be executed because of his faith was all over the world. Lord Alton, Baroness Cox and many others were among those campaigning for his release. The government was not expecting this reaction so they released him.”
During his imprisonment Mehdi’s wife’s life had been threatened and she had been forced to convert to Islam. Issa was studying at Tehran University at the time of his father’s release, and his brother and two sisters were also studying in different Iranian cities, so Mehdi began planning to return to Afghanistan as a missionary.
But those bent on violence were not finished with him. Three days after Mehdi’s release from prison, Assemblies of God Bishop Haik Hovsepian-Mehr was killed. His phone had been tapped and government officials knew he was behind the international protests over Mehdi’s death sentence.
According to government officials in Iran, Bishop Haik’s body was found by the police in one of the suburbs of Tehran. He had been stabbed several times in the chest.
At the beginning of July 1994 Tateos Michaelian, Bishop Haik's successor as chairman of Iran’s Council of Protestant Ministers, was also killed. According to official reports his body was found inside a freezer in a private house. The cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
Days later, on 5 July, when he was on his way to his daughter Fereshteh’s 16th birthday party, Mehdi Dibaj was murdered. He was stabbed three times in the heart.
The Iranian government claimed that the three deaths were the work of extremists, but when the regime changed proof came to light that government officers had carried out the killings. Mahmoud Saeedi was the director of the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) at the time. He was removed from office in 1999 following mounting pressure as it became clear that his department oversaw the murders of Bishop Haik Hovsepian Mehr, Bishop Tateos Michaelian, and Revd Mehdi Dibaj. Now, under the latest regime in Iran, Mahmoud Saeedi has become the Iranian deputy Minister of Interior.
The challenge of forgiveness
Going with his younger brother to identify his father’s body had a profound effect on Issa Dibaj, who was 19 at the time.
“We had to be careful not to let hatred get the upper hand – forgiveness was a challenge. The turning point for me was when my brother and I went to the morgue to identify his body. It was the first time that I had come face to face with the reality of death. It brought me to my senses and I knew I had to take my own relationship with God a lot more seriously. After all, one day I, too, will die and have to be personally accountable to God. Also, my Christian faith was something for which my father’s blood had been shed.”
Issa came to terms with his father’s death, forgiving his executioners “by thinking Jesus died for them also – Jesus forgave them, so who am I not to forgive them.”
Issa later came to the UK to complete a PhD. He and his wife now live in England where he is involved in Bible translation work. Issa shows no trace of bitterness about his father’s death and has high hopes for the Church in Iran where, he says, the government is afraid of Christians: “The average Iranian is fascinated by this message of love. They look at their own religion and see nothing but fighting and hatred. Then they see Christians who love each other, who are so joyful; they see the difference immediately and they want to know how to become like that. The government doesn’t like this.”
British journalist and editor Catherine Butcher has written several books, including the Cox’s Book of Modern Saints & Martyrs, (ISBN 0826487882 Continuum, £9.99) which she co-authored with Baroness Cox.
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