Threat Matrix: March 2007

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=philadelphia

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809582/posts

Mayors Meet In Philly To Discuss Violent Crime
CBS 3 PHILADELPHIA ^ | 30 MARCH 2007 | AP

Posted on 03/30/2007 5:26:45 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist

(CBS 3) PHILADELPHIA -- Mayors from cities throughout the tri-state area met at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Friday to discuss ways of stemming violence.

Philadelphia Mayor John Street was joined by mayors of cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware as they searched for answers in a creating a safer environment for their residents.

"We recognize that we can be a better and a strong city and a strong region if we come together and we talk about these things," Mayor Street said.

Philadelphia is rapidly approaching 100 homicides for 2007, up 18 percent from last year. Officials agreed the impact of violent crime sends a shockwave through surrounding communities.

"Whether it's a homicide that takes place in Scranton and the victim may be from Philly or the crime takes place in Philly and someone goes to Allentown, we need to be able to communicate with each other," said Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty.

Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson recently announced 300 top ranked officers, including himself, will join patrols in Philadelphia's most violent neighborhoods.

"I'll be out there more than just four hours a day. I think it's very important," he said.

The group of mayors shared their thoughts on crime prevention and legislation, but it was clear there is no easy solution to bring an end to violent crime.

"No one has found that silver bullet yet, no one," Johnson said.

But Mayor Street said the meeting was a step in the right direction.

"We will be better prepared, better off to deal with the problems that we find in our individual jurisdictions, but we'll also be better prepared to work together to make sure that our common efforts are as effective as they can be," he said.

Mayor Street is also planning to push a public effort in attempts to convince Congress to pass stronger gun laws.

A Look At More Than Cartoons
http://www.truthusa.com/MoreThanCartoons.html

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MICHELLE MALKIN.com - blog: "HOW WOULD THE MSM COVER 'CHOCOLATE MOHAMMED AT RAMADAN?"
(March 30, 2007)
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007208.htm

A "token" repub .. how thotty of her.

Yes, must be a rino.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=minnesota

http://www.investors.com/images/editimg/issues04120506.gif

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http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=27634

"Minnesota Sharia and the Silence of the Left"
By Robert Spencer
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 30, 2007

UPDATE...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=cricket

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809653/posts

"Scotland Yard called in - Team to review Woolmer investigation (Cricket Murder)"
Jamaica Gleaner ^ | March 31, 2007 | Glenroy Sinclair

Posted on 03/30/2007 8:23:07 PM PDT by Shermy

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sc8987.doc.htm

"Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York
SANCTIONS COMMITTEE CONCERNING DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO ADDS TWO INDIVIDUALS,

FIVE ENTITIES TO ASSETS FREEZE, TRAVEL BAN LIST"

(March 29, 2007)

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.treas.gov/press/releases/hp334.htm

March 30, 2007
HP-334

Treasury Designates Ten Individuals and
Entities
for Their Contributions to the Conflict in
the
Democratic Republic of Congo

Washington, DC-- The U.S. Department of Treasury announced today that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has identified seven companies and three individuals, listed below, as subject to sanctions pursuant to Executive Order (EO) 13413, which targets, among others, individuals and entities determined to have supplied arms contributing to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or having provided support to armed militias or the leaders of foreign armed groups operating in the DRC.

"These individuals and firms trafficked in plundered gold and arms at the cost of human lives," said Adam Szubin, Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. "We are taking action in concert with the U.N. Security Council to disrupt their activities and to stem the violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo."

Three of the designated firms have been found to be owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, Viktor Bout, an international arms dealer and war profiteer who was named in the Annex to EO 13413 on October 27, 2006. This designation continues OFAC's efforts to disrupt the involvement of the Bout network, one of the largest illicit arms-trafficking networks in the world, in conflicts in the DRC and elsewhere. Two of the companies designated today, Compagnie Aerienne des Grands Lacs and Great Lakes Business Company, have been identified by the UN and other observers as being suppliers of weapons and ammunition to warring factions in the DRC. Another firm, Cargo Freight International, is included in this designation for its role as a holding company for some of Bout's assets in the region.

The other four firms, along with two of the three designated individuals, are designated for their respective roles in supporting armed groups in the DRC's eastern provinces during the war. Butembo Airlines and Congocom Trading House are owned or controlled by Kambale Kisoni, a Congolese gold trader whose provision of various types of support to these armed groups, in violation of the international arms embargo imposed on warring parties in the DRC conflict, has been documented and reported by the UN and other outside observers. Another Congolese gold dealer, Dieudonne Ozia Mazio, is being designated for his role in similar activity. Uganda's two largest gold exporting firms, Uganda Commercial Impex and Machanga Ltd., are being designated for purchasing gold from designated Congolese gold dealers such as Kisoni and Ozia Mazio, as well as for providing direct financial support to the militias.

Straton Musoni, the final individual designated, is the First Vice-President of the Forces Democratiques pour la Liberation du Rwanda (FDLR), which is largely made up of Hutu extremists who participated in the 1993 Rwandan genocide. Musoni is being named because of his role as a leader of the FDLR, which has impeded the disarmament, repatriation, or resettlement of combatants in the DRC.

Today's action freezes any assets of the designated persons that are within U.S. jurisdiction and also prohibits any transactions between U.S. persons and the designated persons and entities.

These ten new names bring the total number of individuals and entities designated under EO 13413 to 17.

This action is taken in coordination with yesterday's (March 29, 2007) designation by the UN of eight of the above-named individuals and entities pursuant to various UN Security Council Resolutions. The UN is not listing Cargo Freight International at this time, while Ozio Mazio has been previously listed by the UN.

You're awesome, Godzilla. :)

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Tensions Between Iran, Britain Mount
Tensions between Iran and Britain heat up, as trouble spills over onto the battlefield in Iraq.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Mark Hosenball, Michael Hirsh and Babak Dehghanpisheh
Newsweek
Updated: 8:34 p.m. ET March 30, 2007
March 30, 2007 - The crisis over Iran's seizure of 15 British sailors and Marines seems to be going from bad to worse. A new confrontation between Britain and Iran occurred in the Iraqi city of Basra on Thursday morning when a group of British soldiers headed out on a routine patrol came under attack from "several bursts of small arms fire," according to Capt. Gary Hedges, a British military spokesman in Basra. The Brits discovered the shots were coming from a dilapidated building near the Iranian consulate, which is close to the base. After a 15-minute gunfight, the soldiers left, and no casualties occurred. But an Iranian official at the consulate, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitive nature of the crisis, told NEWSWEEK that the British patrol surrounded the consulate and began shooting. "They shot right at the consulate," says the official. "The bullet holes are still here."

The Iranian official also contended that the British have tried to search the consulate four times in the past month. "Since our consulate is close to their base, they suspect that we are shooting mortars at them," says the official. "Who shoots mortars from a consulate?" After the incident, Iran's foreign ministry in Tehran summoned British Ambassador Geoffrey Adams and handed him a formal complaint about the alleged siege of the Basra consulate. Hedges responds: "We absolutely did not fire on the Iranian consulate."

U.S. intelligence and national-security officials say they have disturbingly little hard intelligence about the motives and actors behind the March 23 seizure of 15 British sailors and Marines who were inspecting an Indian-flagged merchant ship in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iraq and Iran. What is clear is that an incident that both U.S. and British officials predicted would be quickly resolved has dragged on longer than expected—and there is no resolution in sight. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has appealed to the U.N. Security Council for help while he finds himself under intense pressure at home to react more aggressively to the crisis. Tehran, meanwhile, is angrily rejecting the legitimacy of the U.N. process after two Security Council resolutions sanctioning it over its nuclear program. And now it has begun parading the captives before TV cameras and coercing abject apologies from them.

Some American officials like Bruce Riedel, a veteran CIA Mideast expert who retired from the U.S. government last year, have even begun making comparisons to the 1979-81 hostage crisis at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran. The Iranians, says Riedel, who now works at the Saban Center, a Washington think tank, are "prepared to play hardball in places where we're vulnerable, particularly in Iraq." He notes that the current Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was active in the student movement that took U.S. diplomats hostage a generation ago, and that this movement ultimately transformed itself into the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)—allegedly the culprits behind the seizure of the British sailors and Marines. Ahmadinejad spent most of his career in IRGC, one of the Iranian theocracy's principal security forces, before going into politics.

Last week's seizure came at the tail end of a dramatic series of moves, which has left Iran feeling isolated and deprived of resources, as well as threatened in the Persian Gulf by a major U.S. show of force. And the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has been singled out in particular as a target of new U.N. sanctions authorized March 23, the same day the seizure occurred. In recent weeks a former Revolutionary Guard general, Alireza Asgari, disappeared in Turkey, possibly as a defection; around the same time, an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad was reportedly seized by an Iraqi special forces unit that collaborates closely with U.S. forces. American troops in Iraq also arrested Qais al-Khazali, an alleged liaison between IRGC operatives and "secret cells"—or terrorist elements—of the Shia Mahdi Army led by the militant Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The seizure could even represent an effort by IRGC zealots to prevent the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from cutting a deal with the West, some foreign diplomats and Iranian experts have suggested.

Some Iranian officials say even they are not sure who's in control in Tehran right now—and who gave the order, if any was given. "Lack of central command and the existence of fighting factions within the Islamic Republic [of Iran] is the scourge of our system," says a retired senior Iranian diplomat who did not want to be named commenting on such sensitive matters. "It usually happens like this: one small group does something, and then it's the whole system that has to clean up after them. From what I know, the British forces kept on coming very close to the Iranian territory in the past few months. As you can imagine with all the saber rattling in the U.S. and the U.K. against Iran, and the British and American governments accusing Iran of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs, the Islamic Republic as a whole is very sensitive to any act that may infringe its territorial integrity. So the Navy and Revolutionary Guard navy patrols have been on high alert for the past few months."

The former Iranian diplomat adds that the Revolutionary Guard commanders "have a very narrow and xenophobic view of the world in general and the West in particular. They were mostly in their teens and 20s when they joined the Guards during the Iran-Iraq War. They spent most of their time in the fronts fighting an enemy [Saddam Hussein's Iraq] that was helped by the American and the British. So their worldview was shaped by deep skepticism about the West and intentions about Iran." The only way out now, he suggests, is for the British and Americans to make the first gesture of conciliation. "I know for sure that some of the commanders of the Guards do not agree with the action taken by the Iranian troops in the south," he says, "but they can't just come and say, ‘We're sorry for what happened and we'd release these people immediately.' They need guarantees that Iran's territorial integrity won't be endangered by the British and American forces."

Ali Ansari, director of the Institute of Iranian Studies at Scotland's University of St. Andrews, predicts a longer standoff than the last such hostage-taking in 2004, when British sailors were also captured by the Iranians, paraded before TV cameras and then released within three days. "The difference with the last time is we have a different government in power in Iran today; it's much more hard line, it's much more willing to believe in British duplicity," he says. "On the other hand, since 2004 there has been a development of a cadre of Persian specialists in the [British] Foreign Office and other places … There is room for diplomacy and networking and connections to work. So in that sense I think the lesson from 2004 is to give that diplomatic process a chance."

But for now, it's not working. The 1979 hostage crisis went on for 444 days. It's an open question how long this one will last.

With Maziar Bahari in Tehran and William Underhill in London

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17879339/site/newsweek/

TGIF nw.

OPINION...Yep, this situation with Iran is getting interesting...maybe more interesting than Ahmadinejad knows.

We'll see.

ON THE NET...

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=iran
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=ahmadinejad

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=iaea
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=elbaradei

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=nuclear

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793738/posts?page=1631#1631
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

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MEMRI.ORG - VIDEO CLIPS - P.1-8 - TOPIC: "IRAN'S NUCLEAR PROGRAM"

http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=2
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=3
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=4
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=5
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=6
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=7
http://www.memritv.org/Search.asp?ACT=S5&P1=148&P3=8

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809693/posts

http://www.iranmania.com/News/ArticleView/Default.asp?NewsCode=50621&NewsKind=Current%20Affairs

ElBaradei: Iran not a nuclear threat to world

Saturday, March 31, 2007 - ?2005 IranMania.com
Related Pictures

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "LONDON, March 31 (IranMania) - IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said that Iran is not considered as a nuclear threat to the world, IRNA reported.

In an interview with Al-Arabia television network, he said the country poses no nuclear threats to any country around the globe."

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "There is no doubt that the issue should be merely resolved through dialogue, he said.

The international community should differentiate between technical duty of IAEA and political evaluations of UNSC, he pointed out.

"Although we declared that there is no evidence of existence of nuclear weapons in Iraq but they did not give us enough chance to accomplish our task and ignited the war," he said."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809468/posts?page=93#93

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1741897/posts?page=298#298

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVYEdeYYEMQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Flittlegreenfootballs%2Ecom%2Fweblog%2F%3Fentry%3D24966%5FGlenn%5FBeck%5Fon%5Fthe%5FRadical%5FIslamic%5FAgenda

Glenn Beck Says...
(Added March 28, 2007)

A Sampler ON THE NET...

DR LAURA.com - blog: "WHAT KIND OF CREEPS WOULD BURN IN EFFIGY A U.S. SOLDIER?" (March 28, 2007, 12:54 pm)

MICHELLE MALKIN.com - blog: "WITNESS TO A US SOLDIER EFFIGY BURNING" (March 21, 2007, 10:05 am)

MEMRI.org - Special Dispatch Series - No. 1508: "ISLAMIST WEBSITE INSTRUCTS MUJAHIDEEN IN USING POPULAR U.S. WEB FORUMS TO FOSTER ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT AMONG AMERICANS" (March 20, 2007)

WorldNetDaily.com: "STUDENTS WHO 'DESECRATED ALLAH' ACQUITTED University decides not to punish stepping on makeshift Hezbollah, Hamas flags" (Posted March 21, 2007)

EVENT:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/015869.php

March 31, 2007

"Seven rallies today against the global jihad

Rally Against Islamofascism Day. All rallies will be held TODAY, Saturday, March 31st. For details, see the UAC site."

http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003666.html

blog:

March 30, 2007
"Bangladesh: High Security After Islamist Leaders' Executions"

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1741897/posts?page=300#300

http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20070330-114945-6888r.htm

"Imams narrow target of 'Does'"
By Audrey Hudson
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
March 31, 2007

RECAP:

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "IMAMS NARROW TARGET OF 'DOES'" by Audrey Hudson (March 31, 2007)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "HOUSE VOTES TO PROTECT 'JOHN DOE' ON FLIGHTS" by Audrey Hudson (March 27, 2007)

OSINT.INTERNET-HAGANAH.com: "PROTECTING AMERICANS FIGHTING TERRORISM ACT OF 2007" (March 27, 2007)

"pearce.house.gov/press07/3.22.07.shtml"

"pearce.house.gov/pdf/HR1640.pdf"

"pearce.house.gov/pdf/usairwayscomplaint.pdf"

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "HILL BILL PROTECTS FLYING PUBLIC" by Audrey Hudson (March 24, 2007)

JIHAD WATCH.org (BECKETFUND.org): "TACTICS IN CASE OF THE FLYING IMAMS AKIN TO 'LEGAL TERRORISM' A press release from The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty" (March 23, 2007)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "MUSLIMS OFFER TO HELP 'JOHN DOES' SUED BY IMAMS" by Audrey Hudson (March 21, 2007)

POWERLINE blog.com: "THE NEW JOHN DOE MOVEMENT" (March 19, 2007)

POWERLINE blog.com: "MEET JOHN DOE" (March 15, 2007)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "'IMAMS' SUIT RISKS 'CHILL' ON SECURITY" by Audrey Hudson (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Six imams who are suing an airline and an airport for removing them from a flight also have aimed the lawsuit at passengers who the imams believe reported some of their activities. The suit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis names as defendants "John Does" who "contacted US Airways to report the alleged suspicious behavior" of the imams before the Nov. 20 flight -- an inclusion some lawyers, who are not connected to the litigation, say will have a "chilling effect" on airline security.") (March 16, 2007)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/keyword?k=nafta

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1809715/posts

"Bill calls for NAFTA pullout"
WorldNetDaily.com ^ | March 31, 2007

Posted on 03/31/2007 3:17:03 AM PDT by Man50D

WASHINGTON

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1793738/posts?page=1670#1670

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UPDATE:

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3383341,00.html

Report: Captive UK sailors may face Iran trial

Published: 03.31.07, 12:17 / Israel News

The 15 British sailors and marines seized in the Gulf eight days ago may face trial and legal moves have been launched, Iran's ambassador to Moscow was quoted as telling a Russian television station.

"It is possible that the British soldiers who entered into Iranian waters will go on trial for taking this illegal action," Ambassador Gholamreza Ansari told Russian television channel Vesti-24, according to Iran's IRNA news agency. (Reuters)

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6512927.stm

Last Updated: Saturday, 31 March 2007, 09:59 GMT 10:59 UK

"US rejects Iran captives exchange"

ARTICLE SNIPPET: "US officials have ruled out a deal to exchange 15 Royal Navy personnel captured in the Gulf for five Iranians seized by American forces in Iraq.

State department spokesman Sean McCormack rejected suggestions that a swap could be made.

The five, believed to be members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, were seized in January in the Iraqi city of Irbil.

Britain denies Iran's claims that the UK crew was in its waters when seized on 23 March.

The five Iranians were captured in a raid along with equipment which the Americans say shows clear Iranian links to networks supplying Iraqi insurgents with technology and weapons.

US officials have condemned Iran's actions and publicly supported the UK."

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1809719/posts?page=7#7
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1809719/posts?page=9#9

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http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1809719/posts

"House Silent on British Hostage Crisis"
Associated Press ^ | 30 March 07 | ANNE FLAHERTY

Posted on 03/31/2007 3:59:54 AM PDT by SkyPilot

WASHINGTON (AP)

Note: The following text is a quote:

https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=65787

you are here: Home > Reports > Consular Affairs Bulletins > Report
Warden Message: Zimbabwe "Stay Away" April 3-4
Consular Affairs Bulletins
Sub-Saharan Africa - Zimbabwe
30 Mar 2007

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Related Reports
28 Mar 2007
Warden Message: Harare Street Closures
26 Mar 2007
Warden Message: Zimbabwe Civil Disturbances Possible March 27
16 Mar 2007
Warden Message: Zimbabwe Instability, Political Violence
12 Jan 2007
Zimbabwe 2007 Crime & Safety Report
11 Oct 2006
Worldwide Caution Public Announcement
U.S. Embassy Harare issued the following Warden Message on March 30:

This message is being issued to alert American citizens in Zimbabwe that there have been widespread media reports of an opposition-organized “stay away” throughout the country on April 3rd and 4th. If the “stay away” takes place and is wide-spread, it has the potential to disrupt normal transportation, commerce and security operations.

American citizens should exercise caution when traveling throughout Zimbabwe, in both urban and rural areas, should avoid public demonstrations and large gatherings, and should refrain from taking pictures or video of political demonstrations. Avoid visiting high-density or industrial areas and any large gatherings or political rallies. If possible, carry a mobile phone or other means of communication.

To enhance security measures, the government of Zimbabwe may set up roadblocks in the major cities. American citizens traveling by road should be prepared to produce identification, submit to searches of their vehicle, and carry a photocopy of their U.S. passports. Do not stop at any unofficial roadblocks.

The US Embassy in Harare will be open for business during normal hours on both days.

For the latest security information, Americans living and traveling abroad should regularly monitor the Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs Internet web site at http://travel.state.gov, where the current Worldwide Cautions, Public Announcements, and Travel Warnings can be found. Up-to-date information on security can also be obtained by calling 1-888-407-4747 toll free in the U.S., or, for callers outside the U.S. and Canada, a regular toll line at 1-202-501-4444. These numbers are available from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time, Monday through Friday (except U.S. federal holidays).

American citizens can register their presence in Zimbabwe via the Internet at http://harare.usembassy.gov or in person at the U.S. Embassy in Harare, located at 172 Herbert Chitepo Avenue (Tel. 263-4-250-593/4/5). In the event of an after-hours emergency, please call the above number and ask to be transferred to the duty officer.