Threat Matrix: October 2008

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[nwctwx]

FBI Warns of Potential Terror Attacks

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security today issued an analytical "note" to U.S. law-enforcement officials cautioning that al-Qaida terrorists have in the past expressed interest in attacking public buildings using a dozen suicide bombers each carrying 20 kilograms of explosives.

Authors with the U.S. Office of Intelligence and Analysis added that they have "no credible or specific information that terrorists are planning operations against public buildings in the United States." The FBI and DHS analysts said they were releasing the note because "it is important for local authorities and building owners and operators to be aware of potential attack tactics."

According to the note obtained by NBC News, a "recently discovered audio recording of al-Qa‘ida training sessions conducted several years ago provides instruction to potential suicide terrorists on seizing a publicly accessible building and damaging or destroying it with explosive charges." Read More

	Is al-Qaida Winning the Battle?
	Al-Qaida Calls U.S Economic Crisis a Win
	Pakistan Insists no Deal Made with U.S. on Strikes

Threat Matrix:
October 2008

September 2008

Threat Matrix Index

Theat Matrix Handbook

Theat Matrix 'BOLO'

Invaluable Tips

Preparedness

[Rushmore Rocks]

Thanks, Cindy. Mexico is now off our list. We are going to stick to the safe places, like Vladivostok, Sarejevo, Riga, Shanghai, Hanoi, Colombia, Buenos Aires and Detroit. All of which we have been to in recent years. The only one that really scared me was Detroit. LOL!!

Seriously, Mexico is bad and getting worse. Very sad.

[Cindy]

You’re welcome RR.

OPINION:

I have to admit Detroit and Hanoi would be off my travel list, too.

[Cindy]

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106628/posts

Somali pirates hijack Philippines operated ship
AFP via Yahoo (Asia Pacific) ^ | 10/15/2008 | Agence France-Presse
Posted on October 15, 2008 5:50:11 PM PDT by ASA Vet

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15, 2008 (AFP) - Somali pirates hijacked a Philippines-managed bulk carrier with 21 sailors aboard on Wednesday, a maritime watchdog said.

Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP pirates boarded the vessel at 0344 GMT in the notorious Gulf of Aden.

(Excerpt) Read more at sg.news.yahoo.com ...

[Cindy]

http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php

#

NOTE: PHOTOS INCLUDED.

Note: The following text is a quote:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/main/all_piracy_al.php

Gulf of Aden Warning - Hijacking
15 October 2008
Gulf of Aden

To all ships transiting the Gulf of Aden

A bulk carrier has been attacked and hijacked by pirates in position 14 degrees north – 050 degrees east, Gulf of Aden on 15 Oct 2008 at 0344 UTC.

All ships are strongly advised to maintain a strict visual and radar watch. Early assessment / detection will allow ships to take measures to prevent boarding and request for assistance.

Masters and ship owners / operators are strongly urged to report ALL attacks and suspicious sightings to the IMB reporting center:

Tel: +603 2031 0014 / +603 2078 5763
email: piracy@icc-ccs.org / imbkl@icc-ccs.org

Intelligence sources revealed that there are now three suspicious vessels in the Gulf of Aden believed to be pirate mother vessels looking to attack ships with the intent to hijack.

The description of the suspected trawlers - long white, Russian made stern trawlers with names “BURUM OCEAN or ARENA or ATHENA”. One of the trawlers is believed to be operating at approximately 60 NM NE of Bossasso, Somalia in the Gulf of Aden. Also intelligence indicates a blue-coloured tug operating in the same vicinity

The centre has received information that the suspected pirate mother ships are at the following positions:

[Cindy]

Note: Post no. 244 is only a report SNIPPET.
Please click on the link in post no. 244 to view photos and read the full report.
Thank you.

[Cindy]

Note: Photo included.

http://www.jihadwatch.org/nicky-reilly-460_1009572c.jpg

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023105.php
(TELEGRAPH.co.uk)

October 15, 2008
“Muslim convert admits attempted suicide terror attack”

#

Previously...

http://jihadwatch.org/archives/021150.php
(THIS IS PLYMOUTH.co.uk)

May 24, 2008

“Muslim friend of UK restaurant nail-bomber shocked, shocked that he would do such a thing”

[Cindy]

ADDING link to post no. 246:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/nickyreilly

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/globaljihad
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/taliban
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/taleban
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/christianpersecution

#

PERSECUTION.ORG
http://www.persecution.org

#

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/023116.php
October 16, 2008
(COMPASS DIRECT, October 14, 2008)

“Pakistan: Taliban bombs Catholic girls’ high school”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Militants had already attacked or blown up and forced the closure of many girls’ schools in Swat, said Cecil Chaudhry, executive secretary of All Pakistan Minorities Alliance. They told the nuns they would destroy their school if it weren’t closed. Following the bombing the militants ransacked the school’s adjoining convent.

The high school enrolled approximately 1,000 female students, nearly 95 percent of them Muslim.

The Santoga school has faced threats from Islamic extremists before. It closed its doors in September 2007 after received a threatening letter from extremists that demanded all teachers and female students wear the burqa. The letter claimed the faculty was working to convert Muslim students to Christianity.

The Taliban has not singled out the school for its Christian ties but instead wants to clamp down on all girls’ schools, which they believe encourage female participation in society, government officials claim.
In the last two years it has indiscriminately targeted more than 150 public and private girls’ schools in northwest Pakistan.”

[Cindy]

http://www.thethirdjihad.com
“THE THIRD JIHAD”

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2106822/posts?page=28#28

#

Thanks to F15 Eagle for the ping to this thread:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2106822/posts

“Muslim DVD rattles voters in key battleground states”
CNN’s American Morning | By Deborah Feyerick and Sheila Steffen
Posted on October 15, 2008 10:41:50 PM PDT by F15Eagle

DENVER, Colorado (CNN)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/canada

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/gaspipeline
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/pipeline

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106840/posts

B.C. pipeline explosion likely terrorism: ex-CSIS official
Canadian Broadcast Corp News website ^ | Oct 16, 2008 | CBC News
Posted on October 15, 2008 11:31:48 PM PDT by Robert357

Former CSIS strategist David Harris says a weekend explosion near the town of Dawson Creek in northeastern B.C. fits the description of terrorism, despite police statements to the contrary.

Sometime overnight Saturday, someone detonated a large explosion next to the sour gas pipeline about 50 kilometres from the B.C.-Alberta border.

The blast did not rupture the pipeline but blew a 1.8-metre crater in the ground, which was discovered by a hunter on Sunday.

“How on earth anyone could declare this was not terrorism at this early stage is beyond me. Terrorism is associated with an attempt by threat or actual violence … to change policy,” said Harris, former chief of strategic planning for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service and now a private security expert.

The previous week, suspicious handwritten letters arrived at newspapers and a TV station in Dawson Creek calling EnCana Corp. and other energy companies “terrorists” for expanding “deadly” gas wells and giving the firms a deadline to shut down operations, including the gas plant served by the pipeline.

“You have until Oct. 11, 2008 (Saturday, 12 noon) to close down your operations … and leave the area until further notice,” the letters said.

“We will not negotiate with terrorists, which you are, as you keep on endangering our families with crazy expansion of deadly gas wells in our homelands,” the letters said.

RCMP spokesman Sgt. Tim Shields called the blast a serious criminal matter but stopped short of calling the explosion terrorism.

“It was set there … with the intent to blow up that pipeline. That’s a threat to the infrastructure of this province,” said Shields. “We’re not categorizing this as terrorism.”

“We just don’t want to start using the word terrorism at this point. It gives credence and maybe satisfaction to the people who are involved in setting this explosive off,” he said.

Police view disputed But Harris said that was exactly what the explosion was.

Police would not comment on whether the blast had any connection to the recent theft of a huge cache of dynamite from a work site in nearby Chetwynd in July.

Shields said investigators are worried whoever is responsible could strike again.

“We are concerned that there could be another similar incident or even one in a more populated area.”

Peace River South MLA Blair Lekstrom said the Kelly Lake Métis community is just some 40 kilometres away from where the targeted pipeline is located.

Lekstrom said people’s safety is a concern because the area near the pipeline is used by hikers, hunters, and outdoorsmen.

The targeted pipeline is owned by EnCana and carries sour gas to the Steep Rock gas plant, police said. Sour gas is a form of natural gas that contains hydrogen sulphide, a toxic substance that is removed through a treatment process at the plant.

The RCMP investigation is being conducted by members from the force’s explosives disposal unit, the forensic identification section and the integrated national security enforcement team.

[Cindy]

stepping back in time...

http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/2004/05/shannen-rossmiller-american-hero.html

#

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/11/06/america/NA-GEN-US-Terror-Sting.php

“US man sentenced to 30 years in plot to blow up pipelines”

The Associated Press
Published: November 6, 2007

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “SCRANTON, Pennsylvania: A Pennsylvania man was sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in federal prison for plotting to help what he believed was an al-Qaida operative blow up U.S. oil pipelines and refineries.”

[Cindy]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=Al-Zubaidi&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tab=wn&scoring=n

#

Well now, this sure is NOT nice.
A look at PROPAGANDA:

http://www.memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=countries&Area=iraq&ID=SP208208

Special Dispatch Series - No. 2082
October 14, 2008 No. 2082

“Iraqi Writer in Saudi Daily: Step Up Resistance Against U.S.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “On September 27, 2008, the London-based Saudi daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat published an article by Walid Al-Zubaidi, an Iraqi political analyst who supports the Iraqi resistance against the U.S., listing four alternatives that Al-Zubaidi believes to be open to the Iraqi resistance forces. Rejecting the first three options, he states that an intensification of the conflict is the only feasible alternative since, he says, “throughout history, occupation has been terminated only as a result of great battles.” Al-Zubaidi argues, “If the U.S. forces should [suddenly] lose a large number of troops, and this receives wide media coverage, or if the resistance fighters capture American soldiers and officers, or take over U.S. [military] bases and headquarters, the White House would ask for negotiations [with them] without delay, and would either immediately withdraw or set up a timetable for such a withdrawal - thereby complying with all Iraqi demands.”

Following are excerpts from Al-Zubaidi’s article”

[Cindy]

RECAP and more details:

BLOG:

Note: Photo included.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2008/10/us_forces_kill_al_qa_1.php

“US forces kill al Qaeda in Iraq’s deputy commander”
By BILL ROGGIO
October 15, 2008 10:10 AM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Like al Masri and much of al Qaeda in Iraq’s senior leadership, Abu Qaswarah was a foreigner. Qaswarah was a Moroccan citizen “who trained with al Qaeda in Afghanistan.” He had “had historic ties to AQI founder Abu Musab al Zarqawi and senior al Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan,” the US military stated.”

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html

http://covertradioshow.com/

#

http://covertradioshow.com/podcast.cfm?pid=84

“Covert Radio Show: Bad Deals”

DESCRIPTION: “Today we look at the latest in Iranian internal politics, plus what is really going on with North Koreas Nukes and China sells us faulty computer chips designed to wreck our military? All that plus Mexican drug blowback. Runs 60 Mins”
(October 15, 2008)

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106860/posts

“Syria and Iran consider joint bank”
The Financial Times ^ | 10/13/2008 | Anna Fifield, Roula Khalaf and Najmeh Bozorgmehrin
Posted on October 16, 2008 1:34:08 AM PDT by bruinbirdman

[Cindy]

BLOG:

Note: The following blog entry is a quote:

http://www.thememriblog.org/iran/blog_personal/en/10543.htm

Senior Iranian Official: Bushehr Reactor To Begin Operating In March 2009

Senior Iranian nuclear program official Ahmad Fayaz Bakhsh has announced that 700 nuclear engineers trained in Russia in the past four years are ready to operate the Bushehr nuclear reactor.

He added that the reactor would begin operating before the end of March 2009.

Iranian Majlis speaker Ali Larijani announced that Iran wished to renew talks with the West on the nuclear issue, but would not comply with illogical demands.

Source: Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, London, October 15, 2008

Posted at: 2008-10-15

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/oil/
http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/iran

#

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2106862/posts

“Minister sacked as Iran shakes up oil industry”
The Financial Times ^ | 10/14/2008 | Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran
Posted on October 16, 2008 1:41:36 AM PDT by bruinbirdman

[Cindy]

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/syria
http://www.memri.org/syria.html

#

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=F99509CD-A6A9-4C2C-9C7F-EFE354A25A9E

“Syria, Enemy of Peace”
By P. David Hornik
FrontPageMagazine.com | Thursday, October 16, 2008

[Cindy]

http://www.truthusa.com/IRAN.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/themes/people/mahmoud-ahmadinejad/

#

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=0E11D10B-526A-40DF-AFDF-1DA63C68AE32

“Iran’s ‘World Without America’”
By Clifford D. May and James Jay Carafano
The Washington Times | Thursday, October 16, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Which world leader is on record musing about “a world without America” - a goal he calls “attainable”? Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.”

[Cindy]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081016/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_terror
(AP)

“Spanish police make arrests in terrorism raids”
By CIARAN GILES, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 1 minute ago

SNIPPET: “MADRID, Spain - Spain’s National Court says several people have been arrested in raids targeting groups suspected of collecting funds for Islamic terrorism groups.”