Free Republic

HEKR JANIN: Syria has deployed military forces along its northern Lebanon border and Beirut officials now fear an incursion is imminent, according to a report in The Times. Damascus has insisted its forces are involved in an anti-smuggling operation along the border, yet the Lebanese Government is braced for the first incursion since Syrian forces pulled out three years ago. Beirut believes the unusual scale of the operation is connected to tensions between the two countries over recent sectarian clashes in northern Lebanon. "People around here are worried. We don't know why the Syrians have arrived like this," said 18-year-old...

Several senior officers of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are reported to be currently visiting Islamabad were the target of the blast at the Marriott Hotel which took place here tonight. Well placed sources said that Marriott Hotel is usual hotel choice of the US officials and it seems that militants tipped off that certain high level US intelligence officers were currently staying at the hotel.

GORI, Georgia — On the day that Russia declared an end to its war in Georgia, Jumberi, a taxi driver who gave only his first name, took a long drag on a Marlboro Red cigarette and said that after the first bomb hit, all he saw was body parts. He motioned to the shattered windshield of his Toyota Corolla and the bloody handprints on the side of the car — left there when the wounded and dying collapsed as they begged him to take them to the hospital. "I heard the sound of the jets, but I did not see...

AUSSIES who find themselves under threat are more likely to shoot at Muslims, especially if they're in a good mood, a study claims. Researchers at the University of New South Wales have found that Australians perceive Muslim-style headgear as a threat, even if they don't realise they hold any prejudice. The study, published in The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, involved 66 uni students playing a computer game in which different male and female figures appeared on a balcony. Some figures were wearing Muslim-style turbans or hijabs while others were bareheaded. Participants were asked to shoot at the targets carrying...

Barack Obama targets the religious Right By Alex Spillius in Washington Last Updated: 8:46PM BST 11/06/2008 Democratic nominee Senator Barack Obama is aiming to lure members of the religious Right, as the movement that twice helped George W Bush win the White House. His campaign is set to launch the Joshua Generation Project, an initiative that will include household gatherings, blogs and concerts, to attract young evangelicals and Catholics ahead of November's US presidential election. The campaign has noted an "unprecedented energy" among young religious people for the Illinois senator and aims to bring them into a new coalition of...

For Iran, it's a no-brainer: Qatar hosts the largest U.S. base in the Middle East (8,000 U.S. soldiers are stationed there) and is also viewed by some as being friendly with Israel... Also, while Qatar is the only country [besides] Iran, heavily investing in Syria, and thereby propping up the Assad regime, it does not seem to pay off. Quite the contrary. In June 2006 the Kuwaiti daily Al Seyassah reported that Qatar had foiled a destabilization plot against the regime and that Qatari authorities had arrested about 100 Syrian workers and five Syrian intelligence officers. This plot was reportedly...

(WASHINGTON) — The State Department says terrorists may want to disrupt this summer's Olympics in China and warned of a heightened risk of terrorist attacks there in the coming months. In a travel alert Friday, the department said that despite increased Chinese security measures, Americans who plan to attend the Games or who live in China should use caution at all times, especially in large crowds. "There is a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within China in the near future," the alert said. "In light of these security concerns, U.S. citizens traveling in China are advised...

Rome, Apr. 15, 2008 (CWNews.com) - Representatives of the Al Qaida network have renewed their attacks on Pope Benedict XVI, in a message posted on the Islamic miliant web site al Hesbah. The latest message from Al Qaida expresses continuing anger at Pope Benedict, who was denounced by the terrorist network in March for leading a worldwide "crusade" against Islam. The message from Al Qaida also decried the electoral victory of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose People of Liberty party won a solid victory in national elections. (In a bid to end Italy's "birth dearth," Berlusconi's coalition has...

The California Senate is preparing to weigh in on the hot-button topic of torture, with a twist that combines elements of the Hippocratic oath and the military oath. Under a resolution that state Sen. Mark Ridley-Thomas plans to put to a vote Thursday, California regulators would notify physicians and other health professionals that they could lose their license and be prosecuted by the state if they are involved in the torture of suspected terrorists. The Los Angeles Democrat chairs the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development, which oversees boards that license health professionals in the state. During a...

BAGHDAD - U.S. forces stepped deeper Friday into the Iraqi government's fight to cripple Shiite militias, launching airstrikes in the southern city of Basra and firing a Hellfire missile in the main Shiite stronghold in Baghdad. The American support occurred as Iraqi troops struggled against strong resistance in Basra and retaliation elsewhere in Shiite areas — including more salvos of rockets or mortars into the U.S.-protected Green Zone in Baghdad. It was the first time American jets have been called to attack militia positions since Iraqi ground forces launched an operation Tuesday to clear Basra of the armed groups that...

[Snip] Homeland Security Issues Warning on Sports Arenas As the spring sports season moves into high gear, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI today issued an assessment, called "Potential Threats to Popular Sports and Entertainment Venues," that said arenas and stadiums are attractive "potential targets during events." …..[Snip]   

US Cities At High Risk For Terrorist Attacks IdentifiedA color-coded map identifies American cities' level of risk to bioterrorism. Red identifies urban areas of highest risk, yellow is medium risk, and green is lowest risk. (Credit: Walter W. Piegorsch ScienceDaily (Mar. 5, 2008) — A University of Arizona researcher has created a new system to dramatically show American cities their relative level of vulnerability to bioterrorism. Walter W. Piegorsch, an expert on environmental risk, has placed 132 major cities -- from Albany, N.Y., to Youngstown, Ohio -- on a color-coded map that identifies their level of risk based on factors...

n a bulletin released Friday to U.S. law enforcement officials, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is warning of “continued strong terrorist interest” in targeting mass transit systems in the U.S. The 10-page threat assessment, labeled “Unclassified/For Official Use Only” and obtained by NBC News, cautions that the “U.S. mass transit and passenger rail systems are vulnerable to terrorist attacks because they are accessible to large numbers of the public and are notoriously difficult to secure.” Previous rail attacks in Madrid, London and Mumbai “could inspire terrorists to conduct similar attacks in the United States,” the report adds. However, the authors...

Prince Harry has been warned that serving in Afghanistan made him a prime target for terrorists. Muslim extremists say the young royal is a "legitimate target" after ten weeks secretly fighting the Taliban.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan's elections were supposed to usher in democracy after eight years of military rule, but for Talat Hussain life doesn't look much different. Every time his TV station tries to air shows critical of President Pervez Musharraf, the screen goes black. Pakistan's main opposition parties announced they would form a coalition government to bring civilian rule after voters delivered a crushing blow to the pro-Musharraf ruling party in Feb. 18 parliamentary polls. Two days after the vote, Aaj, the privately owned station where Hussain is news director, was knocked off the air. Its signal has been jammed...

WASHINGTON — More cities across the country are considered at high risk of a terrorist attack, according to a new list of funding priorities from the Homeland Security Department. Last year the department made 45 cities or regions eligible for a competitive counterterrorism grant program. This year, the list has been expanded to 60 areas that can apply for the nearly $782 million available, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The urban area grants are one of the department's most popular -- and most intensely debated -- programs. The department divides the regions at highest risk of a...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 8, 2008 – U.S. and Iraqi forces today launched Operation Phantom Phoenix, a joint offensive designed to corral remaining al Qaeda-aligned terrorists and other insurgents in Iraq, according to a senior military official. Iraqi and coalition division- and brigade-level security forces will work in tandem to pursue and neutralize remaining al Qaeda in Iraq operatives and other extremists, said Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq. Phantom Phoenix will employ lethal and nonlethal tactics to exploit recent security gains and disrupt terrorist support zones and their command and control systems, he said. “Working closely...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 28, 2007 – An air strike earlier this week in eastern Afghanistan was based on credible intelligence from multiple sources and by all indications struck its intended targets, the Pentagon’s press secretary told reporters today. NATO International Security Assistance Force troops used precision-guided munitions in the late Nov. 26 air strike in the mountainous Nuristan province, killing several insurgents, Geoff Morrell said during a Pentagon briefing. Abdullah Jan, the western Nuristan Taliban commander, is believed to be among those killed. Morrell dismissed press reports that the attack had mistakenly killed civilian construction workers. He noted that the closest...

BAGHDAD - Hundreds of American and Iraqi troops backed by helicopters descended Friday on a remote desert area southwest of Baghdad to root out al-Qaida in Iraq and search for two U.S. soldiers missing after a deadly insurgent ambush six months ago. Acting on intelligence, the soldiers dug with shovels through heaps of sand and went house-to-house after a dramatic pre-dawn air assault into two Sunni villages near the boundary with Anbar province. U.S. officers said there was no sign of the missing soldiers but stressed it was only the first day of the operation dubbed Marne Courageous, which also...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- In what one FBI spokesman described as "almost an annual ritual," the bureau has obtained uncorroborated intelligence indicating al Qaeda would like to strike shopping malls during the holiday shopping season, two law enforcement sources said Thursday. Those sources confirmed there is intelligence dating back to August that al Qaeda would like to attack malls in Los Angeles, California, and Chicago, Illinois. The FBI's information is contained in an intelligence report and is intended for law enforcement and intelligence partners. "There is no information to state this is a credible threat," FBI spokesman Richard Kolko said in...

The FBI is warning that al Qaeda may be preparing a series of holiday attacks on U.S. shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to an intelligence bulletin distributed to law enforcement authorities across the country this morning.

Independent experts have pinpointed what they believe to be the Euphrates River site in Syria that was bombed by Israel last month, and satellite imagery of the area shows buildings under construction roughly similar in design to a North Korean reactor capable of producing nuclear material for one bomb a year, the experts say. Photographs of the site taken before the secret Sept. 6 airstrike depict an isolated compound that includes a tall, boxy structure similar to the type of building used to house a gas-graphite reactor. They also show what could have been a pumping station used to supply...

US President George W. Bush was among the possible targets in threats recorded by New Zealand police who have arrested 17 people in an anti-terrorist sweep, a report said today. New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Opposition Leader John Key were also discussed as potential targets, the Sunday Star-Times said quoting intelligence sources. Washington is said to have agreed to let New Zealand police handle the investigation, the report said. Ms Clark and Mr Key have both confirmed they were briefed by police ahead of last week's police raids but would not comment on whether they were possible targets....

Iran threatens missile attacks on US targetsBy David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent Last Updated: 11:33pm BST 17/09/2007 Iran threatened to fire long-range missiles at American targets in the Middle East yesterday as the war of words between Teheran and the West continued to escalate. A senior commander of the Revolutionary Guard, the largest component of the Islamic republic's armed forces, chose this moment to outline the capability of his country's ballistic missiles. The Shahab-3 rocket has a range of 1,250 miles, allowing it to strike an array of Western targets across the Middle East. "Today the Americans are around our country...

A Muslim extremist has called for Madonna and Britney Spears be beheaded for spreading "their satanic culture against Islam". Muhammad Abdel-Al, the senior leader of the Palestinian terror group The Popular Resistance Committees, attacked the two pop stars, labelling them "prostitutes". He rants, "If I meet these whores I will have the honour - I repeat, I will have the honour - to be the first one to cut the heads off Madonna and Britney Spears if they will keep spreading their satanic culture against Islam." Abdel-Al spoke out as Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie prepare to celebrate the Jewish...

Just heard on the NBC 5 10:00PM News here in Chicago that the Tower Bridge in London was a target on 9/11 along with a target in Sydney, Australia. Reported that an Al-Qaeda member was arrested and interrogated, he claimed that him and his thugs would fly a plane into the Tower Bridge. I guess that the USA wasn't the only target on 9/11 seems that London and Sydney were legitimate targets for Osama bin Laden. I did a search and this was not posted. If anyone has any info on this post it here.

Holiday airport queues are 'terror targets' By David Millward, Transport Correspondent Last Updated: 2:32am BST 26/07/2007 Airline passengers are in danger of being turned into potential terrorist targets by the new security regime at airports, MPs warn today. Lengthy queues at check-in desks are vulnerable to a terrorist attack Lengthy queues at check-in desks and in departure halls are vulnerable to a bomb attack - presenting a "significant security threat". The warning comes in a withering report by the all-party transport committee on the many problems endured by passengers, as the summer season enters its height. The terrorist threat was...

Only at the tail end of the coverage was it admitted that a car bomb might have been parked outside a club in Piccadilly because it was "ladies night" and that this explosion might have been designed to lure people into to the street, the better to be burned and shredded by the succeeding explosion from the second car-borne cargo of gasoline and nails. Since we have known since 2004 that a near-identical attack on a club called the Ministry of Sound was proposed in just these terms, on the grounds that dead "slags" or "sluts" would be regretted by...

Why on earth do people keep saying, "There but for the grace of God ?"? If matters had been very slightly different over the past weekend, the streets of London and the airport check-in area in Glasgow, Scotland, would have been strewn with charred body parts. And this would have been, according to the would-be perpetrators, because of the grace of God. Whatever our own private theology or theodicy, we might at least agree to take this vile belief seriously. Instead, almost every other conceivable explanation was canvassed. The June 30 New York Times report managed to quote three people,...

I orginally wrote this as Friday's radio spot script, but I personally like it as a read, so here's both. Last year, I got in trouble with YouTube for trying to air one of my television show segments that included the videotaped beheading of an American captured by Iraqi insurgents. That video was aired all around the Islamic world, yet was kept off our televisions because that was considered “inappropriate content”. They figured we just couldn’t handle the truth. Earlier this week, I read a story in the UK Sun; a story that we have yet to hear in America....

Why on earth do people keep saying, "There but for the grace of God …"? If matters had been very slightly different over the past weekend, the streets of London and the airport check-in area in Glasgow, Scotland, would have been strewn with charred body parts. And this would have been, according to the would-be perpetrators, because of the grace of God. Whatever our own private theology or theodicy, we might at least agree to take this vile belief seriously. Instead, almost every other conceivable explanation was canvassed. The June 30 New York Times report managed to quote three people,...

THE terrorists who attempted to bomb central London last week deliberately placed the second vehicle to catch rescuers attending the injured from the first explosion, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. The senior security source also said the primitive gas and petrol devices were most likely the work of determined terrorists struggling - because of the security crackdown - to get their hands on the ingredients needed to create high explosives. Yesterday, a huge police manhunt was under way for the terrorists responsible as forensic experts continued to examine the vehicles involved for clues. The attack was thwarted after fumes were...

A combination intelligence "chatter," a suspicious video, and arrests along the Pakistani border have led authorities to warn that the threat of terrorist attacks in Germany is real.Germany faced an elevated threat of terrorism on Friday because of its involvement in Afghanistan, according to officials who say the risk of an attack here is as high as it has ever been since September 11, 2001. "We are alarmed," the normally mild-mannered August Hanning, Deputy Secretary at the Federal Ministry of the Interior, told reporters on Thursday evening. Hanning said the level of so-called "chatter" from intelligence sources reminded him of...

War is about breaking the enemy’s will. Having laid bare the sorry state of our brains and our guts, jihadists are now zeroing in on the will’s final piece: our hearts. That is the central lesson to be gleaned from Saturday’s news that four Muslim men have been charged with plotting to blow up John F. Kennedy International Airport, and with it much of Queens. We now learn that for radical Islamists, lovers of death, the heart is the jihad’s most coveted prize. Tear it out, and you get to kill not once but twice. So says 63-year-old ringleader, Russell...

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2007 – A newly formed military division in Iraq is focusing on stopping the flow into Baghdad of what the unit’s commander called “accelerants of violence” from the south. Speaking to Pentagon reporters via satellite from the Iraqi capital, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch discussed the mission of Multinational Division Center, which officially stood up April 1 to support Multinational Division Baghdad. The division’s area runs from just south of Baghdad to Iraq’s border with Saudi Arabia. “Our mission is inextricably tied to the security of Baghdad,” Lynch said. “Our goal is to stop the flow...

SELLS — Shadow Wolves officer Sloan Satepauhoodle's patience is wearing thin. She's been following tracks of four suspected drug runners for nearly two hours beneath a blazing sun and battling a hot, brisk wind that is sweeping dust over footprints, and blowing away broken twigs or burlap fibers that would provide signs. The latest tracks look too dry. They've probably already made it into the nearby village of Topawa, she says. The lessons her training officers taught her when she began six years ago remain ingrained in her psyche: "Be patient, Sloan, be patient." But, she really wants to make...

WASHINGTON, May 3, 2007 – Coalition forces have been targeting al Qaeda in Iraq over the last six days in a series of raids dubbed “Operation Rat Trap,” a senior spokesman told reporters in Baghdad today. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell said coalition forces have no information that would substantiate the rumored -- and widely reported -- deaths of terrorist leaders Abu Ayyub al-Masri or Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In fact, the general added, coalition officials don’t know who Baghdadi is. However, Caldwell said, coalition forces killed Muharib Abdul Latif, al Qaeda in Iraq’s chief propagandist, at about 2 a.m....

Iranian navy starts war games in the Gulf Published: 03.22.07, 12:54 / Israel News Iran's navy started more than a week of war games in the Gulf on Thursday using small vessels carrying missile launchers and tactical submarines, state television reported. The exercises are the latest in a series of manoeuvres staged by Iran's military in the Gulf region, where the United States has deployed a second aircraft carrier, a move widely seen as a warning to Tehran over its nuclear ambitions. State television said the war games staged by Iran's regular naval forces "Showed their defensive power for protecting...

WASHINGTON, March 15, 2007 – The United States is keeping a watchful eye on developments in North Africa to ensure terrorists don’t gain a foothold there, a senior U.S. military officer said in remarks provided to the U.S. House Armed Services Committee at a hearing here today. The Defense Department is participating in the U.S. State Department’s Trans-Sahara Counter Terrorism Partnership, Army Gen. Bantz J. Craddock stated, because of concern that Islamic terrorist organizations like al Qaeda may use ungoverned areas of North Africa to gain new recruits and train for future attacks. Craddock is chief of U.S. European...

WASHINGTON, March 11, 2007 – Afghan and coalition forces captured five suspected terrorists early today near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, during a search for individuals believed to be responsible for transporting and hiding al Qaeda terrorists and other fighters moving into and around Nangarhar province, officials said. No shots were fired, and there were no injures to Afghan or coalition forces. Yesterday in the Gereshk district of Helmand province, a precision air strike targeted a Taliban weapons facilitator. Officials said the goal of the operation was to destroy a command element of the Taliban’s terrorist organization responsible for facilitating the movement...

With mounting bipartisan criticism from Republican congressmen and California Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the Department of Justice has stepped up an unprecedented public relations campaign to defend its prosecution of former Border Patrol Agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, now serving 11-and 12-year prison terms. But new facts keep emerging to prove that this prosecution was a gross injustice. CNN judicial expert Jeffrey Toobin described it as “one of the most unusual prosecutions I've ever seen. . . . I am baffled why this case was brought.” So am I. The government prosecuted Ramos and Compean criminally for acts that called...

BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. and Iraqi forces pushed deeper Thursday into Sunni militant strongholds in Baghdad — where cars rigged with explosives greeted their advance — while British-led teams in southern Iraq used shipping containers to block suspected weapon smuggling routes from Iran. The series of car bomb blasts, which killed at least seven civilians, touched all corners of Baghdad. But it did little to disrupt a security sweep seeking to weaken militia groups' ability to fight U.S.-allied forces — and each other — as Iraq slips further into factional bloodshed. The attacks, however, pointed to the critical struggle to...

EU backtracks on CO2 targets for cleaner cars By Bruno Waterfield in Brussels and Charles Clover Last Updated: 1:50am GMT 08/02/2007 The European Union was accused yesterday of failing its first test on climate change less than a week after UN scientists warned that urgent action was needed to fight global warming. The European Commission said it was watering down plans to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from cars in the face of intense pressure from car manufacturers. They have claimed the move would damage Europe's economy and force car manufacture overseas. Environmental groups said the concession in the plans, aimed...

Fitzgerald Targets Cheney in Libby Tapes Tuesday February 6, 2007 1:01 AM By MATT APUZZO Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, in tapes played Monday in the CIA leak trial, pressed Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff on whether Cheney had directed him to leak the identity of a CIA operative to reporters. The audiotapes showed that Fitzgerald, just two months into his leak investigation, was asking pointed questions about the highest levels of government. The first 90 minutes of audiotapes, recorded during the 2003 grand jury testimony of top Cheney aide I. Lewis...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 2, 2007 – A coalition air strike targeted al Qaeda leaders today in Iraq, and Iraqi and coalition forces detained 45 terrorists and foiled attacks throughout Iraq this week, military officials reported. Coalition forces targeted the leadership of an al Qaeda in Iraq-related car bomb network during today’s air strike operation near Arab Jabour. Intelligence reports indicated that this network is responsible for a large and devastating number of car-bomb attacks in the Baghdad area. It also is responsible for roadside-bomb and sniper attacks against the Iraqi people and Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said. Coalition officials...

New in Gaza: Priest, nun human shields Priest, nun from Michigan join dozens of Palestinians gathered at Gaza houses in effort to prevent bombing, say ‘If Israel claims family member involved in violence, arrest them, don’t’ destroy home populated by entire family’ Ali Waked Published: 11.22.06, 16:17 For the past two months, the IDF has been called activists and their family members in Gaza to warn them of their intent on bombing their homes. Palestinians have found away to prevent the bombings; dozens, even hundreds, gather at the homes of those wanted, thereby thwarting the destruction. In recent days, Father...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 11, 2006 – A Taliban suicide bomber detonated an explosive strapped to his body today during the funeral ceremony for the late governor of Afghanistan’s Paktia province, Mohammad Hakim Taniwal, U.S. military officials reported. As family, friends, colleagues and government officials paid their last respects to Taniwal in Khowst province, the suicide bomber approached the funeral and detonated the explosive, killing six people, including two Afghan National Police officers, and injuring more than 35 civilians. Religious leaders condemned the attack, officials said. Coalition forces responded immediately and transported the injured to the Khowst hospital, where they are being...

Mastermind of 9/11 had 'plot to hit Heathrow' By Duncan Gardham (Filed: 09/09/2006) The mastermind behind the September 11 attacks on America went on to plan a hijack plot to attack London, it was alleged yesterday. Ramzi bin al-Shibh was tasked by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to recruit operatives in Saudi Arabia for an attack on Heathrow Airport Four men in Saudi Arabia had already been recruited to fly aircraft into Heathrow airport when the plot was allegedly thwarted, according to United States sources. President George W Bush suggested that the Canary Wharf tower in London's Docklands might also have been...

NEW YORK -- Five years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, Islamic extremists -- including members of Hezbollah -- still view the city as a prime target for another terrorist strike, police officials warned Thursday. The threat "is a permanent condition, and in all likelihood will worsen,'' the New York Police Department's top counterterrorism official, Richard Falkenrath, told an audience of private security executives. "It's a very sobering conclusion and I don't reach it at all happily, but I do think it is true,'' he said. The NYPD summoned the executives to offer the terrorism threat assessment...

Iranian president issues veiled threat to Bush, official news agency reports Wed Sep 06 2006 11:30:01 ET Iran's official news agency reported Wednesday what appeared to be a veiled threat from hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President Bush. During the same speech Wednesday, Ahmadinejad reiterated a proposal from last month to debate Bush, suggesting on Wednesday that the United Nations would be the ideal venue, his official web site reported. The official Islamic Republic News Agency said Ahmadinejad had warned in a speech that anyone who refused to accept an invitation would suffer a bad fate. It said the statement...