Re: Terrorism here in the US
well, there are too many people who think its not terrorism until they DO something, not get caught in the act. i AM NOT one of those people who think that. i think the same way you do, rick. if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck swims like a duck, its an F'n duck. pipe bombs? middle eastern? how F'n obvious can it be???????????? one more thing. NOTICE THE NATIONALITY. a KUWAITI, and an EGYPTIAN. these guys are DEF al qaeda.
ev
Re: Terrorism here in the US
Agreed.
Completely.
Got your PM as well, and see you posted here already. Good
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Updated:A third roomate, Ghassan Salhab, 27, from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday. (as in left the country)
FBI seizes computers, store video in bomb case
Agents go into a family home and a Wal-Mart.
By ABBIE VANSICKLE and KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writers
Published August 8, 2007
TAMPA - Investigators have removed computers from the family home of a University of South Florida student accused of having pipe bombs in his car, according to Ahmed Bedier, executive director of the Tampa chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
He said the FBI contacted the parents of Yousseff Samir Megahed of 4959 Anniston Circle, Tampa, who were on vacation, and got permission to search their home.
When they returned, their computers were gone.
Megahed is one of two USF students arrested near a naval base in South Carolina over the weekend.
Ahmed Abda Mohamed's family questioned why the men are being held on such a high bail amount.
"They know their son is innocent," said M. Nachabe, faculty adviser for student Mohamed, after speaking by telephone with the man's parents in Egypt.
Many questions remain in the case of Mohamed, of 2107 E Nedro Road, Tampa, an engineering graduate student, and Megahed, a 21-year-old undergraduate.
Mohamed's age is listed variously as 24 and 26 in law enforcement records.
The men were arrested Saturday afternoon in Goose Creek, S.C., on charges of possession of an explosive device. After a prosecutor argued the men were flight risks, a judge set bail at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed.
The FBI declined to discuss the case. An arrest affidavit from the Berkeley County, S.C., Sheriff's Office says that Mohamed told deputies he made the devices from components he bought at Wal-Mart.
The men told deputies that the explosives were fireworks, according to Berkeley County Sheriff Wayne DeWitt.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Sharon Weber said the FBI had gone to a store for surveillance footage but declined to say which store or what is on the tape.
"The FBI has been to a store and picked up videotape," she said. "It's an open investigation. I don't think it would be appropriate to respond to specific questions."
It remained unclear Tuesday exactly why the men were in rural South Carolina or if they had a destination.
Neither man has a criminal record, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
On July 24, Tampa police accused Mohamed of illegally shooting squirrels in an east Tampa park. Police say he and Ahmad A. Ishtay, 19, used a pellet gun to shoot the animals in Rowlette Park.
Both were issued citations for discharging a firearm and using an illegal method of taking game, a report said.
The case has not been resolved, court records show.
"He invited me," Ishtay said about going to the park with Mohamed.
Ishtay, who rents a Temple Terrace house and works at Boston Market, said he met Mohamed and Megahed through a roommate. He said he didn't know the roommate's last name, but he was from Mauritania.
Another of Ishtay's roommates, Ghassan Salhab, 27, said the man from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday.
Ishtay and Salhab said that sometimes when Mohamed and Megahed visited their house in Temple Terrace they would cook, but neither knew them well.
Megahed's family did not return a message for comment.
Mohamed's family lives in Egypt, but his faculty adviser said they're well aware of the situation and working for their son's release, asking the Egyptian consulate for help.
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/08/08/Hi...mputers_.shtml
Jag
Re: Terrorism here in the US
I'm gonna pull some not-so-random quotations from the above article and post them with my notes...
Check these out carefully....
"Mohamed's age is listed variously as 24 and 26 in law enforcement records. " (Variously listed, means in several places with difference ages. IN law enforcement records... hold this thought a minute).
Another of Ishtay's roommates, Ghassan Salhab, 27, said the man from Mauritania moved here from Canada recently and returned there Monday. THUS: After a prosecutor argued the men were flight risks, a judge set bail at $500,000 for Mohamed and $300,000 for Megahed.
"Neither man has a criminal record, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement." (Why then, do they have several ages listed in 'law enforcement records'?)
"On July 24, Tampa police accused Mohamed of illegally shooting squirrels in an east Tampa park. Police say he and Ahmad A. Ishtay, 19, used a pellet gun to shoot the animals in Rowlette Park." -- (Practice makes perfect... eh?)
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Dirty rat behind dirty bomb scare (Gadahn, lived on goat farm then converted to islam)
NY Daily News ^ | August 12 2007 | CELESTE KATZ
Raised by hippie parents, then turned to hate & radical Islam
The homegrown terrorist at the center of an Al Qaeda dirty bomb threat against the city is the first American charged with treason in more than 50 years and lives with a $1 million bounty on his head.
Adam Yahiye Gadahn grew up the son of California hippies. He lived on a sprawling goat farm at the foot of the San Jacinto mountains. He is the grandson of a Jewish doctor.
He dabbled in death metal music as a teen, but by all accounts had a peaceful childhood until he embraced a virulent strain of Islam to fill a void in his life.
Gadahn was 17 when he announced his conversion and began frequenting an Islamic center where authorities say he came under the influence of foreign-born Islamic radicals.
As a U.S. citizen, he represents a growing breed of homegrown extremists who have turned against their country.
Gadahn, 29, is known as Azzam the American and serves as a key Al Qaeda mouthpiece, appearing frequently in the terror group's propaganda videos.
On the fourth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, Gadahn declared in a tape that Osama Bin Laden's followers "love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions and slitting the throats of the infidels."
An Israeli Web site triggered a dirty-bomb scare Friday in New York City when it reported that a rush of Al Qaeda chatter was accusing Americans of the "grave error" of failing to take seriously a new videotape by Gadahn.
The tape released last Sunday warned that U.S. embassies would be targeted.
One of the Internet communications that followed said U.S. officials would "soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations." Another said the attack would be carried out "by means of trucks loaded with radioactive material."
The NYPD responded to the threat by sending out hundreds of cops with radioactivity detectors, but declared yesterday that the threat was not substantiated.
"Gadahn is a fairly important player, and he's certainly an avid spokesman for the group, but the idea that one can divine hints about Al Qaeda's upcoming military operations from his lurid threats is wishful thinking," said terror expert Evan Kohlmann.
Most of Gadahn's childhood was spent in a cabin on a 40-acre farm in Orange County, Calif. His family lived an isolated life without running water or a phone.
Gadahn's father, born Phil Pearlman, was a psychedelic rocker and farmer. In a 1975 album titled "Relatively Clean Rivers," he dreamed that Arabs and Jews would "get together" and melt their weapons into sprinklers, tractors and hoes.
He and his wife, Jennifer, changed their last name to Gadahn in a reference to Gideon, the Biblical warrior who crushed the enemies of Israel.
Young Adam was home-schooled. He also played Little League baseball but he didn't seem to enjoy it. His parents would bring goat cheese to share with others in the stands, according to a profile in The New Yorker.
Rejecting his isolated lifestyle, Gadahn delved into the world of death metal and moved in with his grandparents, Carl and Agnes Pearlman, after finishing his home schooling.
Carl Pearlman was a urologist and board member of the Anti-Defamation League, and his hope for peace between Jews and Arabs was a central tenet of his life, although the family was largely secular.
Yearning for a spiritual home, Gadahn explored Christianity - the faith of his mom and grandmother. But he found it lacking. He fired up his grandma's computer and he found Islam.
Angered by a wave of antiMuslim sentiment in America in the wake of the 1993 World Trade Center attack, Gadahn delved deeper into extremism, hooking up with hard-liners and traveling to Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Today, he is "used by Al Qaeda for propaganda purposes intended for Western audiences," said Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke.
An FBI counterterrorism analyst said Gadahn is important to Al Qaeda because he is an American delivering their terror messages in his native English.
"Al Qaeda does not get a lot of American recruits. Whoever they get, they will use," the analyst said. "They just want the shock value of one American telling other Americans they are going to die."
ckatz@nydailynews.com
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Alert...
Something going on here in the Springs. Airport is shut down, roads going in and out have been closed. I'm listening to scanner traffic about it, but haven't heard anything about what the cause might be.
A local radio station also reported this, as is, apparently KOAA TV. I don't have a digital trunking radio system here at the house yet, but, that's probably next. All of our local authorities went to that.
Fire Dept confirms something happening "Major event" they called it. People are reporting that people can be seen outside the terminal, LOTS of people.
Also, I just heard "Sky One" requesting approach permission over the airport, and was directed to contact the tower. Tower appears to have given permission for them to swing over, get some shots of the Airport from the air, then get out of there.
I'll let you know if I hear more. FOX has nothing, neither did CNN when I scanned them a bit ago.
Rick
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Man, all I can find are 'telephone bomb threat - nothing found' articles re: Colo Springs Airport.
Re: Terrorism here in the US
There was a bomb threat at Colorado Springs Airport. It was considered serious enough based on the call, to immediately evacuate the terminal.
I listened to scanner traffic and one of my neighbors is a bomb dog handler, so I will get in touch with him this evening.
Basically, they stopped planes from coming into the terminals, held planes from leaving, moved everyone out the terminal and outside to safety, swept the terminals with dogs and then cleared it two hours later.
That's pretty much all the information I could glean from the scanners and local news sources. No suspects.
I understand that the caller sounded "serious" and actually convinced authorities that it was a real threat. Thus, this wasn't just a simple prank, or some one who was about to miss a plane (like that one guy a month or so ago).
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
How much you wanna bet 'someone' observed the reactions of responding units, airport personnel, evac routes, etc.
Re: Terrorism here in the US
.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...n_who_is_.html
The Man Who Is Planning the Next Attack on America
August 09, 2006 12:49 PM
Alexis Debat Reports:
Pakistani officials tell ABC News a new terrorist plan to attack the United States and Europe is being organized by a shadowy Pakistani, who is the keeper of the log of recruits who attended al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s.
Pakistani police and military officials identify the man as Matiur Rehman, whose role as al Qaeda's planning director was first revealed by ABCNews.com earlier this year.
U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News Rehman is now the "leading suspect" in the attack earlier this year on the U.S. consulate in Karachi that killed a State Department Foreign Service officer, David Foy. Officials say the car bomb attack was planned by Rehman.
The officials say Rehman was spotted within the last month in the slums of North Karachi but escaped capture. The Pakistani government has posted a reward of 10 million rupees for the capture of Rehman, who also uses the aliases "Akeel Khan" and "Sadamd Sial."
U.S. law enforcement officials tell ABC News there has been great concern since last March about a "Pakistani" network that could attempt multiple international attacks.
Rehman, along with his deputy, another Pakistani named Qari Hassan, are believed to be keepers of the "Directory of Jihad," which officials say contains "thousands of names" of young militants who trained at al Qaeda camps and have since dispersed around the world.
U.S. law enforcement officials confirm al Qaeda kept extensive recruitment records, many of which were recovered after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Rehman, now in his mid-30s, worked as an explosives instructor in the al Qaeda camps, according to Pakistani officials, who say he has been deeply involved in most of the major terror attacks in Pakistan in the last few years.
Officials say they disrupted yet another Rehman plot last month to assassinate Pakistani President Musharaff at a summer festival.
Pakistan intelligence officials tell ABC News that Rehman moves between between Karachi, Waziristan and South Punjab, where he was born. He is in "constant communication" with al Qaeda's top leaders, according to the officials.
A former militant of the Pakistani terrorist groups Harakat ul Jihad ul Islami and Lashkar e Jhangvi, Rehman rose to prominence in the late 1990s by setting up elaborate networks in Pakistan through which he recruited young men to be trained in al Qaeda's camps.
Pakistani intelligence officials tell ABC News that between 10,000 and 50,000 militants received basic training in these camps, where the best recruits were directly "hired" by al Qaeda. The rest was used by Pakistan's most violent terrorist groups such as Lashkar e Jhangvi, Harakat ul
Mujahideen and Jaish e Muhammad, either to fight in Kashmir or India, or conduct sectarian attacks within Pakistan.
U.S. officials say there is no information that any attack on the United States is imminent.
Re: Terrorism here in the US
I don't think I would take that bet. Look what I could get listening to scanners, and I didn't even have the cute little 500 dollar digital trunking scanner I REALLY needed to hear ALL the stuff.How much you wanna bet 'someone' observed the reactions of responding units, airport personnel, evac routes, etc.
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
3 To Be Extradited In Alleged JFK Plot
PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad - A judge Monday ordered three men extradited to the U.S. to face charges in an alleged plot to attack New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, and a confidential U.S. document said they planned to seek help from Iran.
Chief Magistrate Sherman McNicolls rejected without comment a defense argument that the men could not be extradited on conspiracy charges under Trinidadian law.
Taped conversations between the alleged conspirators show they planned to seek Tehran's help in a strike intended to dwarf the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, according to a 28-page document signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall C. Miller and delivered to lawyers here.
"We can try to send someone to Iran to get the movement, the revolutionary movement, and they can discuss that plan there," Trinidadian suspect Kareem Ibrahim, an Islamic cleric, was quoted as saying in the confidential report, which was shown to The Associated Press.
Russell Defreitas, a U.S. citizen who worked as a cargo handler at the airport until 1995 and is now in custody in New York, told Ibrahim that when contact was made with the Iranians, they should be told the attack should be staged late at night in the winter, because "these are the times they don't respond to nothing. Traffic slow down. Security slow down. Everything slows down," according to the document.
In another conversation, Ibrahim said he had recruited one of his associates, described in the document only as "individual F," who would "travel to Iran and present the plot to militants there."
"He say he will go," Ibrahim is quoted as saying. "All he has to do is renew his passport."
But then U.S. authorities stepped in, apparently before the overture to Iran could be made.
Officials at the Iranian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment Monday evening.
One of the three who faces extradition from Trinidad to the U.S. is Abdul Kadir, who was arrested in June as he was boarding a flight from Trinidad to Venezuela and planned to travel to Iran. His wife said he intended to attend an Islamic religious conference in Iran.
Kadir was an opposition legislator in Parliament in Guyana, a South American country along the Caribbean coast, until last year. Kadir, who is a cleric, studied Islam in Iran in the 1990s.
Richard Clarke-Wills, a lawyer for Abdel Nur — the third defendant in the extradition hearing — said he would appeal the ruling to the country's High Court and a decision should take at least six weeks.
Attorney Rajiv Persad, who represents Ibrahim and Kadir, said he had to speak to the men before deciding whether to pursue an appeal.
David West, a senior official in the Trinidad Attorney General's office, said the U.S. document is convincing.
"The evidence, in my view, was sufficient to warrant the magistrate to commit the defendants to be extradited," West said in a telephone interview.
But Clarke-Wills insisted that a confidential U.S. government informant entrapped the men into plotting to attack the New York airport.
"If it were not for the intervention of this source you would not have these three men before the courts," Clarke-Wills said before the ruling. "They had no terrorist aspirations or ideals ... I have no doubt whatsoever this is a clear case of entrapment."
Two of the suspects scoffed at the accusations before the hearing.
Nur and Ibrahim spoke briefly to The Associated Press as police escorted them with Kadir into the court in downtown Port-of-Spain for the extradition hearing.
"It's false," Nur told AP. "It's a setup. It's a big setup by the drug dealers."
Nur, who is from Guyana, was apparently referring to the confidential informant, a convicted drug dealer who taped conversations in which the suspects allegedly plotted to blow up a fuel pipeline that runs through residential neighborhoods and supplies the airport.
He underscored his point with a white T-shirt that proclaimed "No Extradition by Entrapment" in black letters on the back.
Ibrahim, who is from Trinidad, said of the allegations: "It's a movie."
The third suspect, Abdul Kadir, smiled but said nothing as he entered the Caribbean country's colonial Magistrate's Court, which was guarded by about a half a dozen police.
Their lawyers argued the men could not be extradited for conspiracy under Trinidadian law — a claim challenged by Douglas Mendes, a lawyer appointed to represent the U.S.
Mendes declined to comment on the defense claims that the men had been entrapped.
The three men were arrested in Trinidad in June, when U.S. authorities announced they were part of a cell led by a U.S. citizen Russell Defreitas, a Guyana native who worked as a cargo handler at the airport until 1995. Defreitas is in custody in New York.
The U.S. indictment charged the four with conspiring to "cause death, serious bodily injury and extensive destruction" at the airport.
Defreitas has not yet entered a plea to the charges and his lawyer has asked for a psychological evaluation of him.
Authorities alleged the plotters unsuccessfully sought support in Trinidad from Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group that staged a deadly coup attempt here in 1990. The leader of the Trinidadian group, however, has denied any link to the alleged plot.
Re: Terrorism here in the US
Seattle Washington - FBI Searching For Suspicious Ferry Passengers
By Homeland Security NTARC News | August 20, 2007
The FBI is asking for the public’s help to identify two men who have been seen acting strangely aboard Washington State ferries recently.
According to federal agents, passengers have seen the men on several occasions exhibiting unusual behavior. The FBI did not say precisely what that unusual behavior entailed.
FBI spokeswoman Robbie Burroughs said the men have been reported by by passengers on several ferry runs and, while the behavior may have been innocuous, investigators would like to talk to the men.
Burroughs said the men appeared to be taking an unusual interest in the workings of the boat, but she would not elaborate.
Passengers and crew members on different runs on separate dates reported the men to authorities.
Anyone who knows the men or there whereabouts are asked to call the FBI at (206) 622-0460.
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/u...ry-passengers/
Jag
Re: Terrorism here in the US
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/
Discovery of 'suspicious package' delays state ferry service
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEATTLE -- A "suspicious package" was found at the height of the Wednesday morning commute on one of the largest ferries in the Washington state fleet, idling the vessel for about an hour.
The 460-foot Puyallup had just been emptied of cars and passengers after arriving at Colman Dock from Bainbridge Island about 8 a.m. when the package was found behind the toilet in the disabled passenger stall in the men's restroom, said Marta Coursey, a spokeswoman for the ferry system.
Following a search and examination by State Patrol troopers, the 2,500-passenger, 202-vehicle capacity ferry was cleared to resume service about 9 a.m., Coursey said.
During the shutdown service on the Seattle-Bainbridge and Seattle-Bremerton runs was maintained on the terminal's other main slip.
Patrol Sgt. Craig H. Johnson would not disclose any details on the object, describing it only as a "suspicious package," but said investigators determined it did not pose any immediate threat and carried it off the vessel for further examination.
No arrests were made and no identified individuals were being sought, but "we'd like to find the person who left it there," Johnson said.
The scare came amid heightened security in the ferry system following reports of "suspicious behavior" in recent weeks. On Monday the FBI released photographs of two men who were described as showing unusual interest in the vessels, Agent Roberta A. Burroughs said.
The FBI would not release further details of the men's behavior, Burroughs said.
"It appeared to the people that reported it to us that the men seemed to have an undue interest in the workings of the ferry and the ferry terminal," she said.
Several ferry employees and passengers reported the men to the FBI about a month ago, but agents have been unable to identify them and released the photos hoping members of the public would know who they are.
Neither man is considered a suspect or has been charged with a crime.
"We admit right up front that the behavior could be completely innocuous," Burroughs said.
Coursey said two Seattle-Bainbridge runs were canceled during the package scare.
"These things tend to delay the entire system," she added.
The Puyallup delay was the second ferry disruption during the morning commute. Less heavily used runs between Point Defiance in Tacoma and Tahlequah at the south end of Vashon Island were canceled until midmorning after about a dozen cracks were found during the wee hours in the state ferry Rhododendron.
The 48-car Rhododendron, built in 1947 and rebuilt in 1990, was taken to Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island after the chief engineer noticed the cracks in a 12-foot by 10-inch section on the starboard side about five feet above the water line, Coursey said.
The cracks ranged in width from a pinhole to a gap big enough for a finger and were near the rub rail, a ridge that is the first part of the boat to contact the dock.
The 34-car ferry Hiyu, built in 1967, was dispatched to resume service between Point Defiance and Tahlequah after 10 a.m.
Ideal target for rats with that many people and cars on board.....
Jag
Re: Terrorism here in the US
No connection to Middle Eastern, Islamic Terrorism HERE....
Nothing to see, move along.
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Car carrying four men speeds past Customs entry in Port Angeles
Peninsula Daily News
PORT ANGELES - A car carrying four men reportedly sped through the U.S. Customs port of entry off the ferry from Victoria on Wednesday night.
The Port Angeles Police Department received a report through the PenCom dispatch center of the car failing to stop for inspection.
The car disembarked off the MV Coho at about 9:20 p.m. after the day's last southbound sailing.
It reportedly raced past the checkpoint so quickly that nobody could determine a license plate number or even the plates' jurisdiction.
The car turned left - or eastbound - onto Railroad Avenue from the port of entry, according to reports.
Police were looking for a four-door gray car or sport utility vehicle with four occupants, possibly Asian, headed east out of Port Angeles, said Sgt. Glen Roggenbuck.
Port Angeles police officers were unable to catch up with the vehicle and alerted the Clallam County Sheriff's Department and State Patrol, Roggenbuck said.
No more information was available Wednesday night. A U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer at the scene declined comment.
Customs officers check all vehicles disembarking the Coho in covered lanes between the ferry landing and Railroad Avenue.
Citizenship verification is done by U.S. officials at the Coho's Black Ball Transport terminal in Victoria before passengers and motorists board the 341-foot ferry.
Terrorist captured in 1999
On Dec. 14, 1999, Customs officers uncovered an al-Qaida-trained Algerian national, Ahmed Ressam, at the same Port Angeles port of entry.
A trunkload of bomb-making materials were found inside the rented sedan he was driving.
Ressam fled on foot, but was quickly captured by customs inspectors in downtown Port Angeles.
Ressam was tried in federal court and found guilty of plotting to blow up a terminal at Los Angeles International Airport with the explosives and gear in the car.
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/ap...NEWS/708230303
Jag
Re: Terrorism here in the US
Isn't that charming... More foreign terminology becoming mainstream here.Originally Posted by Jag
(They refer to Middle Easterners as "Asians" in Europe.)
Re: Terrorism here in the US
(1 character)http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20466414...wsweek/page/0/
Capital Sources: The Next Terrorist Attack
The head of the National Counterterrorism Center speaks out on Al Qaeda's plans, America’s readiness—and the nature of the war on terror.
WEB EXCLUSIVE
By Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Bartholet
Newsweek
Updated: 4:14 p.m. CT Aug 27, 2007
Aug. 27, 2007 - Al Qaeda has an active plot to hit the West. The United States knows about it but doesn’t have enough tactical detail to issue a precise warning or raise the threat level, says Vice Admiral (ret.) John Scott Redd, who heads the government’s National Counterterrorism Center. In an interview at his headquarters near Washington, D.C., Redd told Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Bartholet that the country is better prepared than ever to counter such threats. But he also believes another successful terror attack on the U.S. homeland is inevitable.
Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: People in various agencies have said that since Tora Bora in 2001, they at no time have had even 50-percent confidence that they knew where Osama bin Laden was on any particular day, and therefore they have been unable to mount any operations to go get him. Is that wrong?
Redd: What I’ll tell you about bin Laden is if we knew where he was, he’d either be dead or captured. It’s that simple. [He’s] obviously a tough target. That whole area is a tough target. And my standard answer on OBL is: remember [convicted Atlanta Olympics bomber] Eric Rudolph. Nobody likes to hear it but, I mean, here’s a guy [who was on the run] in the United States of America. We had unlimited access—the FBI, local law enforcement—and the guy hid out for an awful long time just by keeping a low profile. One reporter said the other day, “Well, gee, you’ve got all this great overhead stuff and various surveillance things.†I said, “Yeah. I’d trade those for about three great human sources.â€
NEWSWEEK: Why do people believe bin Laden’s still alive?
Redd: Well, I guess the question is, why do you believe he’s dead? I think we’re into the longest period we’ve gone without hearing from him, but we’ve done this before. Back in ’05, I think [the length of time we didn’t hear from bin Laden] may have been a week shorter than [the period of his silence] now. So, yeah, we haven’t heard from him [since spring 2006]. People are starting to say, “He’s dead. He’s dead.†Quite frankly, we think that if he had died it would have become known. It would be very hard to keep that from leaking out.
NEWSWEEK: Also, there are periodic rumors about him suffering from this disease or that disease, needing dialysis, having to get some exotic drug. Is any of that credible?
Redd: The short answer is, we don’t know. There are those sporadic reports indicating illness, indicating incapacitation, but nothing firm.
NEWSWEEK: Ayman al-Zawahiri seems to have much more freedom of expression, as it were, which implies more freedom of movement. His tapes now are reasonably well produced.
Redd: We saw almost a 300-percent increase in media stuff in 2006 out of all of Al Qaeda, and I think this year we are heading toward that mark already, or getting ahead of that. They are becoming more sophisticated. They are not relying on Al Jazeera or you folks to get the message out. They are using the Internet. They’ve got a fairly well-oiled, if you will, media group. They are doing things like going after a different audience or going after a larger audience, by using subtitles.
NEWSWEEK: English-language…
Redd: German, Italian, a number of different things. So they have become more sophisticated.
NEWSWEEK: So they actually upload this stuff on the Internet directly?
Redd: Well, Ayman al-Zawahiri doesn’t sit there and say, “Press and upload.â€â€¦But you know, what you see is sort of a desire to put themselves on the map. So Zawahiri, I think he had 15 videos last year—and he’s almost there [this year]. He’ll certainly get there this year, if not more, but you’re also seeing a broader spectrum of [Qaeda] people talking about subjects. To be crass about it, it kind of reminds me of a CEO in a start-up company in Silicon Valley. What do you want to do? You want your name out there. So you put out press releases. It helps your funding base—in that case, capitalists, in this case, people who fund Al Qaeda.
NEWSWEEK: While we’re on this topic, what can you tell us about Pakistan’s release of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan, who allegedly was a top Al Qaeda communications and computer guy and is now roaming free?
Redd: Obviously, we’re not exactly happy about that. We have a legal system, and the Pakistanis have a legal system, which was designed for a different era. I won’t go into their legal system because I am not an expert on it, but the [Pakistani] Supreme Court said, “You’ve got to release this guy,†and, you know, he’s out for a variety of reasons.
NEWSWEEK: What does the progression of terror cases in Britain tell you? Two years ago terrorists actually managed to kill some people. This year it’s these two clowns in Glasgow. They were doctors and engineers who seemed to have some connection to Pakistan and/or Iraq, yet they couldn’t build a bomb. What does this tell you about the evolution of the organization, the evolution of the front-line terrorists?
Redd: It shows you the advantage of having a safe haven—a place where you can take someone and not just say, “Here is the formula. Godspeed and go do something,†but rather, “Let’s [try] it. Let’s make it. Let’s see it go bang.â€
NEWSWEEK: Iraq is a giant university for bombmakers.
Redd: But, see, they don’t have to [make] it there. They just buy the explosives. It’s HBX or C4. There’s so much explosive material around there.
NEWSWEEK: But if they wanted to teach people, they certainly could.
Redd: But you don’t have to make C4. You put a detonator in it with a 99-percent likelihood that sucker is going to go off. And they are very good at that.
NEWSWEEK: Is there evidence, though, that they are training people in Iraq to do operations abroad?
Redd: AQI has done—certainly under Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi—“external operations†[in Jordan]. I am not going to comment on the most recent U.K. thing and whether there was a connection.
NEWSWEEK: The Europeans have been concerned about traffic between Iraq and Europe.
Redd: There’s always a concern. Frankly, with what is going on inside Iraq right now, it is probably fair to say that Abu Ayyub al-Masri [the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq] pretty much has his hands full, although not completely.
NEWSWEEK: Tell us about the threat that emerged earlier this year.
Redd: We’ve got this intelligence threat; we’re pretty certain we know what’s going on. We don’t have all the tactical details about it, [but] in some ways it’s not unlike the U.K. aviation threat last year. So we know there is a threat out there. The question is, what do we do about it? And the response was, we stood up an interagency task force under NCTC leadership. So you have all the players you would expect: FBI, CIA, DHS, DIA, DoD, the operators—the military side comes into that—participating in an integrated plan, but integrated in a much more granular and tactical way than we’ve ever done before. This is my 40th year in government service, 36 in uniform and almost four as a civilian. This is revolutionary stuff, and it is affecting the way we do business.
NEWSWEEK: Earlier this summer, there was talk that people were picking up chatter that reminded them of the summer before 9/11. The Germans basically said this is like pre-9/11. They said, “We are very worried.†What do you make of this?
Redd: We have very strong indicators that Al Qaeda is planning to attack the West and is likely to [try to] attack, and we are pretty sure about that. We know some of the precursors from—
NEWSWEEK: Attack Europe?
Redd: Well, they would like to come West, and they would like to come as far West as they can. What we don’t know is…if it’s going to be Mark Hosenball, and he’s coming in on Flight 727 out of Karachi, he’s stopping in Frankfurt, and he’s coming on through with his European Union passport, and he’s coming into New York, and he’s going to do something. I mean, we don’t have that kind of tactical detail. What we do have, though, is a couple of threads that indicate, you know, some very tactical stuff, and that's what—you know, that’s what you’re seeing bits and pieces of, and I really can’t go much more into it.
NEWSWEEK: But this did not affect our threat level. We didn’t change our code.
Redd: We’re pretty high-threat right now. Until you know something that is going to make a difference, you know, you don’t necessarily change the threat level. What that does is really stir a lot of people up and get them ticked off, but it probably doesn’t accomplish very much.
NEWSWEEK: And you don’t as of today see any particular reduction in that threat?
Redd: It’s still there. It’s very serious, you know, and we’re watching it. We’re learning more all the time, but it’s still a very serious threat.
NEWSWEEK: Last thing: Are we winning or losing the war on terrorism?
Redd: This is a long war. People say, “What is this like?†I say it’s like the cold war in only two respects. Number one, there is a strong ideological content to it. Number two, it is going to be a long war. I’ll be dead before this one is over. We will probably lose a battle or two along the way. We have to prepare for that. Statistically, you can’t bat 1.000 forever, but we haven’t been hit for six years, [which is] no accident.
I will tell you this: We are better prepared today for the war on terror than at any time in our history. We have done an incredible amount of things since 9/11, across the board. Intelligence is better. They are sharing it better. We are taking the terrorists down. We are working with the allies very carefully. We are doing the strategic operational planning, going after every element in the terrorist life cycle. So we have come a long way. But these guys are smart. They are determined. They are patient. So over time we are going to lose a battle or two. We are going to get hit again, you know, but you’ve got to have the stick-to-itiveness or persistence to outlast it.
Re: Terrorism here in the US
Euro-speak... "Asian" = "Muslim"
Libertatem Prius!
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Re: Terrorism here in the US
Bomb Threats Received Across The Country
By Homeland Security NTARC News | August 29, 2007
Bomb threats are being received at banks, universities, stores, shopping centers and more across the country. Several of the calls appear to have been placed from outside the United States. In one instance, a Wal-Mart store wired $10,000 to an account after being threatened.
Man Extorts $10,000 From Wal-Mart Store
Police said a bomb threat at a Wal-Mart in Newport was part of a broader money scheme that has hit other businesses around the country.
Sgt. James Quinn of the Newport police said a man called the store around 7 a.m. threatening a bomb and demanding that the store wire $10,000 to an account. Quinn said the store sent the money.
Article
Bomb Threat Caller Threatens Shoppers – Forces Several To Strip
A similar threat was received at a Dillons grocery store in Hutchinson Kansas. At the Dillons, it appeared the caller had some sort of visual access to the store.
Police received two calls about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday claiming there were bombs at the Dillons stores at 13th and Main and 30th and Plum streets. The store at 13th and Main was searched and nothing was found. But at 30th and Plum, in north Hutchinson, an employee also received a threatening call.
Jim Peterson, one of the hostages, said he was in the checkout line when the store manager told everyone to come to the front of the store. He said the manager was right next to him, talking to the caller.
Peterson said the manager was pleading with the caller not to harm anyone in the store.
“He was just beside himself,†Peterson said of the manager. “Everyone was really scared. We didn’t know if there was a bomb.â€
At one point, the caller or perhaps a second person called the police. Capt. Troy Hoover said he spoke with the man briefly.
Walter Merian of Sterling said he and the other hostages obeyed the caller out of fear. He said he was worried someone was posing as a hostage and had a weapon.
“We thought if we tried something we could get shot,†he said.
Merian, Peterson and police said the caller demanded the female hostages take off their clothes. About 20 minutes later, the caller made a similar demand of the males.
Merian and Peterson said some complied out of fear of what would happen if they didn’t. Others refused.
Read Article
As stated previously, similar bomb threats have been received at numerous locations across the U.S. Below, are links to several of those stories.
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Bomb Threat Prompts Vons Store Evacuation
Safeway in Prescott evacuated over bomb threat
FBI agents are investigating a bomb scare at a Prescott Safeway store Tuesday morning because the incident was similar to bomb scares at Safeway stores in other parts of the nation.
“We are aware of other similar incidents with bomb threats at Safeway stores nationwide,†FBI Special Agent Deborah McCarley said Tuesday. “We are looking into whether they are connected.â€
Read Article
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Bomb Threat At North County Grocery Store
A North County supermarket was evacuated Friday after a caller threatened to detonate a bomb and carry out a shooting rampage at the store unless money was wired to an Internet account, authorities said.
Read Article
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Police investigate bomb threat at Sandy Safeway
The Sandy Safeway has reopened for business after a bomb threat shut down the grocery store for three-and-a-half hours Thursday.
Read Article
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Police respond to bomb threat in Buchanan store
A bomb threat and hostage situation at the Hardings grocery store on Niles/Buchanan Road in Buchanan has forced the evacuation of the surrounding area.
Read Article
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Banks in Missouri and Kansas receive bomb threats
Read Article
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University of Iowa Receive Bomb Threat
The University of Iowa received another bomb threat today – its third e-mailed threat in just over two weeks.
But UI officials believe the e-mail today, and possibly the previous threats, could be part of a national rash of bomb threats at colleges and universities.
“Apparently these are happening on campuses all across the country,†UI spokesman Steve Parrott said.
Read Article
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Two bomb threats and two evacuations at an Orem Macy’s store this morning.
Police say a man called early today to say there was a bomb in the store at 800 North State Street. He ordered store personnel to put cash on the front desk and leave.
Read Article
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Bomb threats close Salem, Fairlawn Wal-Marts
Two separate but similar bomb threats led to evacuations of the Salem and Fairlawn Wal-Marts during the mid-day hours today. Both stores re-opened within two hours.
The first call came to Salem. Police say a man called the Woodforest National Bank office inside the store and said there was a bomb inside the building. The caller said the bomb would be detonated unless money was wired to an account. There are no details regarding how much money was demanded; police say the Western Union address given was not in the Roanoke area.
Read Article
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Bomb Threat Raises Concern on Local College Campus
MTSU was among five universities across the country to receive bomb threats on the first day of the fall semester.
Three Middle Tennessee State University employees received e-mails Monday saying there were explosive devices on campus. Authorities said they checked several buildings, but didn’t find anything.
Read Article
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Bomb threat closes King Soopers
A bomb threat this morning has closed the King Soopers shopping market at 30th Street and Arapahoe Avenue.
Police searched the building and found nothing, according to police spokeswoman Julie Brooks, and now bomb-sniffing dogs are being brought in to search the site.
Brooks said someone called in the threat and asked that money be wired or a bomb would be detonated in the market.
Read Article
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Dean receives Bryan Hall bomb threat via e-mail
Police officers were dispatched to Bryan Hall Sunday after being notified of a bomb threat, IU Police Department Capt. Jerry Minger said.
Around 10 a.m., a dean in the building received a threatening e-mail mentioning a bomb around Bryan Hall, a building where the University president and other administrators work.
Read Article
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UNH office receives fake bomb threat
Local police are working with federal authorities to investigate who e-mailed a fake bomb threat to the University of New Hampshire’s admissions office Sunday morning after several other schools across the country received bomb threats, too.
Read Article
http://www.nationalterroralert.com/
Two questions, has Osama arrived here and why in the hell is Wal-Mart paying money to an unknown phone caller who says pay or we bomb!
Jag
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