Threat Matrix: January 2008

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[nwctwx]

Still in Control

Pervez Musharraf was calm, confident and—despite a flurry of rumors—not about to announce his resignation. Instead, the Pakistani president's "concession" to his troubled nation was an announcement that he would allow Britain's Scotland Yard to help local law enforcement agencies with their investigation into last week's assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Speaking in a nationally televised address two hours after Pakistan's election commission announced the postponement of the ballot to Feb. 18, six weeks later than had been scheduled, Musharraf was notably deferential in his remarks about Bhutto, often invoking her "martyrdom" and extolling her liberal democratic credentials. "May she go to heaven," he said. "I stand for the same things she said." Read More

	Pakistan's Frayed Politics
	Musharraf's Dangerous Liaisons
	Pakistan after Bhutto

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January 2008

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[Cindy]

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

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=672.0
http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=1296.0
http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

#

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=414975A3-2853-45D4-A2A5-C19AEC4A5FF2

“Symposium: The Day After”
By Jamie Glazov
FrontPageMagazine.com | Friday, January 04, 2008

Recent reports indicate that Israel is preparing for the day that the Mullahs in Iran get their hands on nuclear weapons. Israeli ministers are drafting proposals on what Israel will have to do in this nightmare scenario.
What exactly should Israel do? What can it do? What must it do? Are pre-emptive measures part of the possibilities?

To discuss this issue with us today, Frontpage Symposium has assembled a distinguished panel. “

[Cindy]

Post no. 101 is an article snippet.

To read the entire article, please click on the frontpagemag.com link in post no. 101.

[Cindy]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,320085,00.html
(AP)

“Judge Awards $466M to Family of Man Executed in Iran”
Thursday, January 03, 2008

LOS ANGELES —
ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Bayani was an officer in the Iranian Air Force since before the 1979 revolution that overthrew the Shah of Iran. He and his family sought U.S. asylum in 1984 after the Revolutionary Guard Corps began purging military officers who had served under the Shah.

Bayani became a naturalized citizen but in 1995 he returned to Iran to care for his mother, who was terminally ill with leukemia. He was arrested after being in the country about five months.

According to the suit, Bayani was tortured in prison. His mother-in-law testified that when she saw Bayani he had been beaten so badly that he could not walk upright and whippings had deformed his head and neck so much that “he had become a new being.”

Bayani’s mother found when she visited the prison that he had lost half of his body weight and he was covered in bruises, according to a finding of fact in the court ruling.

Iranian officials eventually contacted the family and offered to help get Bayani released in exchange for money. Family members paid $95,000, but Bayani was tried by a revolutionary court and hanged in 1997. The official Iranian government newspaper reported he was executed as a spy for the “Great Satan,” meaning the United States.”

[Cindy]

blog:

http://www.westernresistance.com/blog/archives/003933.html

January 4, 2008
“India: Fanatical Muslims Attack Woman Tennis Star - Again....”

[Cindy]

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019444.php
(REUTERS)

January 4, 2008
“Accused Fort Dix jihadists denied bail, but not opportunity for prison dawa”

#

Previously...

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019115.php
(AP)

December 12, 2007
“Fort Dix attack plot suspects promoting jihad in jail”

[Cindy]

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

#

http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&DBID=1&LNGID=1&TMID=111&FID=442&PID=0&IID=1920&TTL=The_Muslim_Brotherhood:_A_Moderate_Islamic_Alternative_to_al-Qaeda_or_a_Partner_in_Global_Jihad?

Home » Jerusalem Viewpoints » The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?
by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan D. Halevi
Published November 2007
The Jerusalem Viewpoints series is published by the Institute for Contemporary Affairs, founded jointly with the Wechsler Family Foundation.

No. 558 20 Heshvan 5768 / 1 November 2007

“The Muslim Brotherhood: A Moderate Islamic Alternative
to al-Qaeda or a Partner in Global Jihad?”
by Lt. Col. (res.) Jonathan Dahoah-Halevi

[Cindy]

http://off-topic.internet-haganah.com/archives/001312.html
(New Delhi, PTI)

January 04, 2008
“INDIA, ISRAEL DECIDE TO SHARE INTELLIGENCE”

[Cindy]

http://internet-haganah.org/hmedia/03jan08/andalus-lg.gif

#

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006277.html

04 January 2008
“MOURNING THE LOSS OF AL-ANDALUS”

[Cindy]

http://www.sofir.org/sarchives/006276.php

04 January 2008
“THE FILES DOWNLOADED BY THE MADRID BOMBERS”

#

Previously...

http://www.sofir.org/sarchives/005905.php

07 February 2007
“’FAVORITES’ OF THE MADRID BOMBERS”

###
###

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006273.html

22 December 2007

“TERRORIST USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TRAINING PURPOSES”
by A. Aaron Weisburd

[Cindy]

RECAP and UPDATED:

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP180008

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1800
January 4, 2008 No.1800

“Al-Sharq Al-Awsat Columnist: Al-Qaeda Online Media Initiative ‘Open Meeting with Al-Zawahiri’ Is Nothing but ‘A Recruiting Campaign For Al-Qaeda’”

SNIPPET: “On December 16, 2007, Al-Qaeda’s media company Al-Sahab and the Al-Qaeda affiliated Media Center Al-Fajr announced a joint media initiative called “Open Meeting with Al-Zawahiri,” in which Osama bin Laden’s deputy would answer questions from the public. [1]

Theinitiative aroused interest as well as criticism in the Arab media. Al-Sharq Al-Awsat columnist Hussein Shobokshi wrote that it was a recruiting campaign aimed at luring young men to join Al-Qaeda, and condemned the media for giving Al-Qaeda’s media activities too much publicity.

Following are some details about the initiative, and excerpts from Shobokshi’s article in the English edition of Al-Sharq Al-Awsat (the text has been edited for clarity). [2]

The Al-Sahab announcement, which was published in the most recent Al-Zawahiri video, dated December 16, 2007, [3] asked that questions for Al-Zawahiri be kept “brief and focused” and that they be posted on four specific Islamist forums - Al-Ikhlass (www.ek-ls.org ), Al-Hesbah (http://al-hesbah.com ), Al-Boraq (http://al-boraq.org ) and Al-Firdaws (http://210.193.49.35/vb ); [4] the administrators of these sites were instructed to forward the questions to Al-Qaeda. This strengthens the supposition that these Islamist forums have direct ties to high-ranking figures in Al-Qaeda.”

#

http://threatswatch.org/gcw/2007/12/17/

December 17, 2007 [listen Here]
25:00 (Mins) | 11.5 (MB)

Global Crisis Watch discusses the significance of AQ #2 Ayman al-Zawahiri’s latest propaganda and frustration with the Iraq theater, the assassination of Brig. Gen. Francois al-Hajj in Lebanon, and the continued politicking in Pakistan. Guests: Dr. Walid Phares, author of The War of Ideas and Director of the Future Terrorism Project at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, and military analyst Bill Roggio of the Long War Journal.

http://threatswatch.org/site-resources/podcast/gcw_071217.mp3

#

http://memriiwmp.org/content/en/report.htm?report=2481

http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=jihad&ID=SP178707

Special Dispatch Series - No. 1787
December 18, 2007 No.1787

“Al-Zawahiri in Two Recent Messages: ‘Iran Stabbed a Knife into the Back of the Islamic Nation;’ Urges Hamas to Declare Commitment to Restoring the Caliphate”

#

http://threatswatch.org/rapidrecon/2007/12/zawahiri-a-review-of-events/

“Zawahiri: A Review of Events”
The As-Sahab Foundation, which represents

SNIPPET: “[Editor’s Note: We have begun posting the propaganda from al-Qaeda and others for the primary purpose of informing and educating both the general public and policy makers about the level to which the enemy has actively engaged in Information Warfare. Some of the messages contain graphic content. We at ThreatsWatch post these videos as evidence of the brutal nature of the enemy we face and the clear intent they have to kill those not aligned with them. Making the public aware of the nature of the enemy - as well as the often forgotten virtues of our own nation - is one of the primary missions of ThreatsWatch and the Center for Threat Awareness.]”

By Nick Grace on December 17, 2007 at 1:46 PM

#

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/newest_alzawahiri_tape_include.php

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: “NEWEST AL-ZAWAHIRI TAPE INCLUDES FOOTAGE OF EVAN KOHLMANN” by Andrew Cochran
(December 16, 2007)

#

http://siteinstitute.org/bin/articles.cgi?ID=publications333907&Category=publications&Subcategory=0

SITE INSTITUTE.org: “’A REVIEW OF EVENTS’ - The Fourth As-Sahab Interview with Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri - 12/2007”
(December 16, 2007)

#

ekhlaas.org/forum/
www.ek-ls.org/forum/

#

http://threatswatch.org/rapidrecon/2007/12/zawahri-annapolis-the-betrayal/
THREATS WATCH.org: “ZAWAHIRI: ANNAPOLIS, THE BETRAYAL”
(December 14, 2007)

#

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/zawahiri_on_annapolis.php
“Al-Qaeda’s Zawahiri Denounces Annapolis Conference”
By Jeffrey Imm

(December 14, 2007)

#

http://www.arb-up.com/files/arb-up-Dec1/JbF39970.jpg
http://www.arb-up.com/files/arb-up-Dec1/6Rp29972.gif
ekhlaas.org/forum/showthread.php?t=106794
ekhlaas.org/forum

[Cindy]

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=48574

Coalition Forces in Iraq Kill 2 Terrorists, Detain 12 Suspects

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 4, 2008 – Coalition forces killed two terrorists and detained 12 suspected insurgents today during operations targeting al Qaeda operatives in central and northern Iraq, military officials said.

During two separate raids conducted north of Muqdadiyah, coalition forces targeted reported al Qaeda operations in the northeast Diyala River Valley region.

During one of the operations, the coalition force engaged and killed two terrorists. In a separate raid, a suspected terrorist displayed what appeared to be fresh wounds from a previous engagement. He was treated on site and subsequently detained, along with one other suspect. Coalition forces also destroyed a building in the area that was assessed to be a safe house for terrorist operations.

During an operation in Sadiyah, coalition forces captured a wanted individual believed to be involved in an al Qaeda in Iraq media cell operating north of Muqdadiyah. The wanted individual also allegedly is associated with numerous terrorists operating in the Diyala River Valley region. During the operation, the wanted individual identified himself to coalition troops and was detained, along with three more suspected terrorists.

Southwest of Kifri, coalition forces captured another alleged terrorist leader responsible for a network operating in the Diyala region. The detainee allegedly is responsible for numerous attacks against coalition forces. Reports also indicate the suspect was previously injured during an Iraqi security forces operation. The detainee allegedly escaped from the hospital with the help of other terrorists, killing five Iraqi policemen during the escape.

In Mosul, coalition forces detained five suspects while targeting an alleged al Qaeda leader involved in weapons facilitation and kidnapping operations.

“Our operations are steadily chipping away at the al Qaeda in Iraq network,” said Navy Capt. Vic Beck, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to relentlessly apply pressure on these terrorists that carry out brutal attacks against the Iraqi people and the security forces that protect them.”

Yesterday, coalition forces killed seven terrorists during anti-al Qaeda operations in Muqdadiyah.

Coalition forces targeted associates of an al Qaeda leader allegedly responsible for coordinating and directing a large terrorist group, and carrying out executions in the Diyala River Valley region. Intelligence reports indicate that this terror cell killed at least two people in the last few days and has attacked coalition forces on multiple occasions.

The terrorists were positively identified at a known al Qaeda in Iraq safe house. Coalition forces directed a precision air strike that killed two of the terrorists.

Later that day, coalition forces positively identified terrorists involved in the same terrorist cell operating in the region. Coalition forces directed a second air strike that killed five more terrorists.

“Al Qaeda remains a threat to the safety and security of the Iraqi people,” said Navy Cmdr. Ed Buclatin, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to strike the al Qaeda networks that are responsible for conducting heinous attacks against the Iraqi people.”

In other Iraq news:

U.S. helicopter aviators destroyed an al Qaeda in Iraq safe house in the Zambraniyah area Jan. 1. A U.S. infantry patrol reported being firing on by occupants of the house. An AH-64 Apache helicopter from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade engaged the house with a Hellfire missile. One enemy was killed, another enemy was wounded, and five suspected al Qaeda fighters were detained during the operation. One local Iraqi was wounded. A second Apache helicopter destroyed an improvised explosive device discovered by a local citizen in the area.

Meanwhile, U.S. and Iraqi soldiers captured dozens of al Qaeda-affiliated extremists during a Dec. 29 operation conducted in the Ubaydi farmland 20 miles south of Baghdad.

During the operation, American and Iraqi troops searched houses and fields near the Tigris River. Iraqi soldiers detained 32 people that were on their most-wanted list. Three of the detainees were found in a “spider hole.”

About half of the anti-insurgent force was made up of Iraqi soldiers. Iraqi police stopped al Qaeda fighters from escaping the targeted area.

“The purpose was to clear all reported or suspected enemy safe houses, meeting locations and cache sites in the northern portion of (the area of operations) Anzio,” said Army Lt. Col. Dane Barksdale, a task force commander. “We detained more than 40 enemy and confiscated or destroyed enemy mortar and anti-aircraft ammunition.” Iraqi soldiers discovered four 120 mm mortar rounds and 80 rounds of 20 mm anti-aircraft ammunition.

In Dec. 28 operations:

Coalition forces killed an al Qaeda leader and two other insurgents during operations conducted near Baghdad. Coalition forces targeted Muhammad Khalil Ibrahim, the deputy military leader for the al Qaeda in Iraq network operating south of Baghdad.

Ibrahim was a key planner in numerous attacks against coalition forces operating in the Mahmudiyah area. He also was involved in the facilitation of foreign terrorists and weapons. Ibrahim and other senior al Qaeda members allegedly were planning to conduct a large-scale attack against coalition forces in the near future.

“This was a dangerous terrorist who will never again harm innocent Iraqis or the security forces that protect them,” said Army Maj. Anton Alston, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We will continue to relentless pursue terrorist leaders, like Ibrahim, who threaten our forces and attempt to deny the Iraqi people a future of their choice.”

— U.S. soldiers found an explosively formed penetrator cache during a cordon-and-search operation conducted in Baghdad’s west Rashid sector. U.S. soldiers found three assembled armor-piercing bombs and six more ready for assembly while searching a residence in Aamel. The captured ordnance was removed for disposal.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

[Cindy]

A closer look...

blog:

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/01/seven_al_qaeda_kille.php

“Seven al Qaeda killed in Miqdadiyah”
By BILL ROGGIO
January 3, 2008 7:32 PM

#

Previously...

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2007/12/al_qaeda_establishes.php

“Al Qaeda establishes ‘a haven in Diyala’”
By BILL ROGGIO
December 30, 2007 4:31 PM

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948501/posts

#

http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Security/?id=1.0.1734496251

Pakistan: Top pro-Taliban commander’s hideout ‘bombed’

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Tank, 4 Jan. (AKI/DAWN) - Warplanes bombed the suspected locations of militants in the lawless South Waziristan tribal area on Thursday after an intelligence report said that the militant Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud was hiding somewhere in the area.”

[Velveeta]

Wowsers, I really didn’t expect this:

The Pentagon’s Muslim tug-of-war ends in defeat

Islam, no pun intended as you’ll see below, wins a victory at the highest levels of the Pentagon.

Mentioned Dec 28, Steve Coughlin is looking for a new job. (snip)

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/01/04/the-pentagons-muslim-tug-of-war-ends-in-defeat/

[Cindy]

I understand.

I’m very sorry this happened and I hope it is not the start of....(fill in the blanks).

[Cindy]

blog:

http://memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=339
“Al-Qaeda Maghreb Claims Responsibility for Naciria Bombing”
(Posted January 4, 2008)

###

blog:

Previously...

http://memriiwmp.org/content/en/blog_personal.htm?id=338
“Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb Claims Responsibility for Attack in Mauritania”
(Posted January 2, 2008)

[Cindy]

Thanks to RDTF for the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948231/posts

#

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080104/NATION/625307569

“Ex-security chief admits falsely deputizing cohort”
By Jim McElhatton
January 4, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The former counterterrorism officer for the Defense Logistics Agency’s headquarters at Fort Belvoir pleaded guilty yesterday to federal charges that he ordered official police credentials for a business associate.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “According to court records, Flanagan worked as the security operations chief at the agency, an arm of the Department of Defense that supplies tens of billions of dollars in supplies to U.S. troops.

He also told an investigator that he had a part-time job working for restaurant owner Osama El-Atari and his brother, records show.

An affidavit filed by a Defense Department criminal investigator stated that Flanagan said he gave Mr. El-Atari an official agency police badge in what he hoped might be seen “as a gift for future business opportunities.” Mr. El-Atari is a restaurateur in Northern Virginia.”

[Cindy]

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/January/08_crt_007.html

“Indiana Man Sentenced for Role in Cross-burning”

PRESS RELEASE SNIPPET: “WASHINGTON– A federal judge today sentenced Kyle Shroyer of Muncie, Ind., to serve 15 months in prison for his role in burning an eight-foot cross in front of a biracial family’s home, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, Susan Brooks, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana, and Michael Welch, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Indianapolis office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Defendant Kyle Shroyer admitted in September 2007 that he and another man conspired to violate the civil rights of a woman and her three biracial children by burning the cross at their home in Muncie, Ind., in March 2006. At the hearing today, Shroyer was sentenced to 15 months in prison, three years supervised release, a $500 fine and a $100 special assessment. The judge enhanced the defendant’s sentence because the crime was racially motivated and because several of the victims were unusually vulnerable because of their age.”
(January 4, 2008)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1948516/posts

“Dakar Rally Canceled After Terror Threat Paris-Dakar”
Breitbart.com ^ | Jan 4 2007 | ANGELA DOLAND
Posted on 01/04/2008 4:25:26 PM PST by Cincinna

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Al-Qaida threats against the Dakar Rally and an attack in Mauritania forced organizers to cancel the annual race on Friday, the eve of the 5,760-mile trek across North African desert scrubland and savannah. It was the first time the automobile, motorbike and truck rally has been called off in its 30-year history. In a statement, organizers blamed “threats launched directly against the race by terrorist organizations.” the Dec. 24 killings of a French family and international tensions.

The race’s central appeal—its course through African deserts, scrubland and savannas—is also its weak point, making it difficult to protect thousands of people as they cross remote regions.

“No other decision but the cancellation of the sporting event could be taken,” organizers said.

France, where the race organizers are based, had urged the rally to avoid Mauritania after the four family members were killed in an attack blamed on a terror cell that uses the Mauritanian desert as a hideout.

Officials say the cell is linked to the Algeria-based al-Qaida in Islamic North Africa, which has claimed responsibility for a series of deadly attacks, including the Dec. 11 twin suicide bombings at U.N. offices and a government building in Algiers, which killed at least 37 people.

Patrice Clerc, who heads the company that organizes the rally, told The Associated Press the threats against the rally came from al- Qaida’s North Africa wing. He said the French government warned explicitly that the race was threatened but did not share its intelligence.

“Yes, we perhaps bowed to terrorism but our company today does not have the right to run this risk for all those people who trust it,” Clerc added. “We don’t have the right to play games with safety.”

Mauritania’s foreign minister criticized the decision to scrap the race.”