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

Threat Matrix:
January 2008

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[Cindy]

RECAP and UPDATES:

COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG.org: "ISLAMISM AND CHALLENGES TO RESOURCES FOR U.S. STRATEGIC PLANNING AGAINST JIHAD" by Jeffrey Imm (January 12, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "THE IMPLICATIONS OF THE DISMISSAL OF STEPHEN COUGHLIN, JOINT STAFF, PENTAGON" (January 12, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "INSIDE THE RING Coughlin Backed" by Bill Gertz (January 11, 2008)

FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com: "FIRED FOR THE TRUTH" by Andrew G. Bostom (January 10, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org: "'The termination of Stephen Coughlin on the Joint Staff is an act of intellectual cowardice'" (January 5, 2008)

NADREW BOSTOM.org - blog: "EATON AGONISTES, REDUX?" (January 5, 2008)

WASHINGTON TIMES.com: "INSIDE THE RING Coughlin Sacked" by Bill Gertz (January 4, 2008)

JIHAD WATCH.org (WASHINGTON TIMES.com, "Inside the Ring" by Bill Gertz, Page 2): "PRO-MUSLIM PENTAGON OFFICIALS PRESSURING ONE OF THE U.S. MILITARY'S MOST IMPORTANT SPECIALISTS ON JIHAD" (December 28, 2007)

[Cindy]

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22white+al-qaeda%22&btnG=Search

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http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22white+al-qaida%22&btnG=Search

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http://www.serbianna.com/news/2008/01019.shtml

“Bosnian ‘White al-Qaeda’ seen as grave threat to Europe”
January 8, 2008
SERBIANNA

[Cindy]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3493373,00.html

“Report: Al-Qaeda planned to attack Israel from Egypt”

SNIPPET: “Local security sources tell Al Jazeera 14-member cell comprised of engineers, army officers planned to launch attacks against Israel with the use of an unmanned plane, rockets”

Roee Nahmias
Published: 01.13.08, 08:27 / Israel News

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “About two months ago Egyptian authorities arrested a 14-member terror cell comprised of engineers and army officers that were planning to carry out a series of al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks against Israel, Al Jazeera reported Saturday.

Quoting local security sources, the report said the cell members - 12 engineers and two officers in the Egyptian army - were planning to assemble an unmanned aircraft to attack targets inside Israel.

The report said the cell manufactured rockets similar to those being used by Palestinian terror organizations, which were meant to be launched toward Israel from inside Egyptian territory.”

[Cindy]

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&tab=wn&ned=us&q=Myanmar&btnG=Search

#

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1318360/1542866

“Bomb hits Myanmar rail station”
Jan 13, 2008 10:09 PM

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “A bomb exploded in the women’s toilet at the main railway station in Yangon on Sunday, two days after a similar attack killed at least one person near military-ruled Myanmar’s new capital, officials said.”

[Cindy]

http://www.washingtontimes.com/article/20080113/FOREIGN/671291724/1003

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Page 1 of 2

“Leader seeks end to U.N. nuke oversight”
By Ali Akbar Dareini
January 13, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “TEHRAN (AP) — Iran’s top leader demanded an end to U.N. Security Council oversight of the country’s nuclear program during a meeting yesterday with the chief of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, state-run television reported.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, told International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei that the IAEA should exclusively handle Iranian nuclear questions — not the Security Council.”

[Cindy]

More Details...

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006280.html

13 January 2008
“AH, THE OLD PUT-A-CAMERA-IN-EVERY-ROOM-OF-THE TERRORISTS’-APARTMENT TRICK...”

SNIPPET: “Of note because from the description, these guys might well have been Internet-trained. In addition they went the extra mile and bothered to test their detonators - in the stairwell of their apartment building. Neighbors told investigators about this, but apparently only after the subjects were arrested. A few other items of interest are bolded in the text.”

###

Previously...

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

22 December 2007
“TERRORIST USE OF THE INTERNET FOR TRAINING PURPOSES”
by A. Aaron Weisburd

[Cindy]

http://sfir-arabicsource.blogspot.com/2008/01/blog-post.html

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Note: The following text is a quote:

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006279.html

13 January 2008
AVOIDING OR DEALING WITH ARREST - NOTES BASED ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE BROTHERS IN IRAQ
Read at Arabic Source...

Posted on 13 January 2008 @ 16:35

[Cindy]

Ding, ding, bing, bong.

Award Winner:

http://internet-haganah.com/harchives/006278.html

[Cindy]

http://www.wcfia.harvard.edu/olin/images/Management%20of%20Savagery%20-%2005-23-2006.pdf

#
http://www.sofir.org/sarchives/006277.php

13 January 2008
“REGARDING JIHADI INFILTRATION OF THE ORGANIZATIONS OF VARIOUS ADVERSARIES”

SNIPPET: “[Source pp.52-53 of the Arabic text as found at pp.121-125 of William McCants’ translation of “The Management of Savagery” by Abu Bakr Naji (Translation funded by the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University).]”

SNIPPET: “Section Nine
Mastering the Security Dimension: Surveillance and Infiltrating Adversaries and Opponents of Every Kind”

[Cindy]

STRATEGY CENTER.net/docLib: "'TO OUR GREAT DETRIMENT': IGNORING WHAT EXTREMISTS SAY ABOUT JIHAD (with appendices)" by Stephen Collins Coughlin, Major, Military Intelligence, USAR, NDIC Class 2007 (July 2007) (pdf)

[Cindy]

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=914.0

#

Thanks to Freeper Stoat for the ping to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1953113/posts

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http://news.scotsman.com/latestnews/AlQaeda39s-white-army-of-terror.3667425.jp

Published Date: 13 January 2008
Source: Scotland On Sunday
Location: Scotland
Related Topics: Terrorism in the UK

“Al-Qaeda’s white army of terror”
By Richard Elias

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “HUNDREDS of British non-Muslims have been recruited by al-Qaeda to wage war against the West, senior security sources warned last night.

As many as 1,500 white Britons are believed to have converted to Islam for the purpose of funding, planning and carrying out surprise terror attacks inside the UK, according to one MI5 source.

Lord Carlile, the Government’s independent reviewer of anti-terrorism legislation, said many of the converts had been targeted by radical Muslims while serving prison terms.

Security experts say the growing secret army of white terrorists poses a particularly serious threat as they are far less likely to be detected than members of the Asian community.

Since the 7/7 and 21/7 London bombings, police and intelligence services have had considerable success in identifying, disrupting and stopping extremist plots. As a result, groups such as al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba and Harkat-ul-Mujahideen have been forced to change tack. Converting white non-Muslims has been one response.

The trend is well established in the United States. American-born Adam Gadahn is one of the FBI’s top 10 most-wanted terrorists after converting to Islam and rising through al-Qaeda’s ranks to become a prominent spokesman.”

[Cindy]

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=18.0
http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?board=5.0

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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019545.php

January 13, 2008

“Brave mujahedin in Algeria attack... “youths gathering chestnuts””

SNIPPET: “Not unlike their intrepid brethren who attacked and murdered Christmas Eve picnickers in Mauritania. “Islamists in Algeria kill three youths gathering chestnuts,” from the Associated Press:

ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) - Islamic insurgents killed three youths gathering chestnuts in a forest south of Algiers, triggering a search by soldiers for the culprits, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.”

[Cindy]

A few more details...

http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=10.0

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http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019543.php
(INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE)

January 13, 2008

“Death threat to former Italian PM: “We will do like they did in Pakistan, with Bhutto: a shot to the head with real bullets and then an Italian-style suicide bomber to make sure that they depart this world””

ROME

[Cindy]

RECAP:

http://www.jihadwatch.org/archives/019547.php
(NEWS.com.au)

January 13, 2008

“Jihadists plotted to kill the Queen”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The terrorists had planned to hide inside two broadcast vans owned by the Ugandan Broadcasting Corporation and then set off bombs during the Queen’s visit to Kampala last November.

London’s Sunday Express reported the vans were seized after a tip-off from intelligence agents.”

[Cindy]

ADDING to post no. 495:

http://www.nefafoundation.org/miscellaneous/nefacareintl0108.pdf

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http://counterterrorismblog.org/2008/01/us_v_muntasser_et_al_the_evide.php

“U.S. v. Muntasser et al - The Evidence Behind the Convictions”
By Evan Kohlm

[Cindy]

EVENT:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1953148/posts

[Cindy]

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

#

January 14, 2008

http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=1059637

MIL-YEMEN-FESTIVAL-DEATH
“Three killed, 16 wounded in S. Yemen”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “SANAA, Jan 13 (KUNA) — At least three people were killed and 16 others were wounded on Sunday in the southern city of Adan when chaos broke out during the “Tolerance and Conciliation Festival” marking the 22nd anniversary of the 1986 massacre by the Socialist Party which ruled the then South Yemen.”

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Security sources told KUNA that “infiltrators” sparked off a sound bomb and, in the commotion, took control over a machine gun and opened fire randomly at those present.

The perpetrators were apprehended, the sources said, adding that among the wounded were seven security personnel.”

KUNA 131640 Jan 08NNNN

[Cindy]

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

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Thanks to fanfan for the ping.

I encourage all freepers and especially TMers to keep up with Mr. Levant’s updates. Thank you. -Cindy

#

Note: The following post is a quote:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1953102/posts

The limits of free speech, and the power to order me to apologize
EzraLevant.com ^ | January 13, 2008 | Ezra Levant
Posted on 01/13/2008 1:34:44 PM PST by abb

Officer McGovern asked if I thought there should be any limits to free speech under our constitution. Of course there should be, and I listed a half-dozen examples. But I drew a distinction between criminal or tortious speech and political speech. I also pointed out that free political speech isn’t just protected in a liberal democracy — it protects a liberal democracy. That’s because it acts as a “safety valve” for people who want to change society. They don’t have to resort to arms.

We also discussed the absurd — and illegal — power of the commission to “order” me to apologize for publishing the cartoons, even if I didn’t feel contrite. Officer McGovern confirmed that was the remedy sought by the complainants.

snip

[Cindy]

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

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http://truthusa.com/a/index.php?topic=810.0

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http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/NATION/77666783/1001

“Pakistan’s al Qaeda sows alarm”
By Sara A. Carter
January 12, 2008

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “The Pentagon is “extremely concerned” about the emergence of al Qaeda in Pakistan, Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said yesterday.

“There are concerns now about how much [al Qaeda] turned inward, literally, inside Pakistan, as well as the kind of planning, training, financing and support that the worldwide effort is,” Adm. Mullen said.

“So, [the Pentagon is] extremely, extremely concerned about that, and I think continued pressure there will have to be brought,” he said.”

[Cindy]

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1199964913361&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Jan 13, 2008 20:09
“New bill seeks to make web sites legally responsible for talkback content”
By SHEERA CLAIRE FRENKEL

ARTICLE SNIPPET: “Web site owners or editors will be legally responsible for any content on their site, including comments made in talkbacks and message boards, a bill passed on Sunday by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation states.”