Yemen-American Imam Calls for US Muslim Revolt

A Yemeni-American Muslim preacher known for his ties to extremists operating in the U.S. called on American Muslims in a new audio message to turn against their government because of its actions against Muslims around the world.

Anwar al-Awlaki’s latest message, excerpts of which were aired on CNN Wednesday, described his own radicalization after U.S. operations against Muslims and called on those in the U.S. to follow his path, according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist Web Sites.

Source

Terrorists Targeting Children Via Social Media

The Internet grew 20 percent uglier last year, with terrorists and racists increasingly turning to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter — and targeting children, finds the 2010 Digital Hate Report.

The Internet grew 20 percent uglier last year, with terrorists and racists increasingly turning to social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter — and targeting children, finds the 2010 Digital Hate Report,as reported by Fox News.

The CD-ROM report, put out annually by the Simon Wiesenthal Center for Tolerance, aims to assist law enforcement, public officials, educators, parents and the news media to better grasp the scope of hate.

The report, based on some 11,500 problematic Web sites, social networks , chat forums, twitter posts, other Internet postings, found that hate-filled language is increasingly filling social networks. In compiling it, researchers for the Wiesenthal center found such disturbing online content as video footage showing bomb-making instructions and hate games — including one about bombing Haitian earthquake victims.

Read Full Article.

Adam Gadahn Video Indicates al-Qaeda Reeling

While many are disappointed American turncoat Adam Gadahn was not the al-Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan, as erroneously reported on Monday, there is still good cause to celebrate: Al Qaeda is on the run.

And it is a fitting irony that Gadahn’s latest propaganda video, released last Sunday, serves as an indicator al-Qaeda’s time in Pakistan may be running out. In it, al-Qaeda’s English-language spokesman unsurprisingly praises Fort Hood murderer, Nidal Hasan, and callously calls on al-Qaeda sympathizers in the West to launch similar homicidal attacks.

“You shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that military bases are the only high-value targets in America and the West. On the contrary, there are countless other strategic places, institutions and installations which, by striking, the Muslim can do major damage,” said the first American charged with treason since World War II.

But it was Gadahn’s telling potential al-Qaeda terrorists they need not travel abroad (meaning Pakistan) for training that constituted the video’s most unusual moment as well as the least commented on.

This statement, as one analyst noted, raises the question as to whether al-Qaeda is any longer in the position to train recruits. Gadahn’s call for individual operators to instead use “a little imagination and planning and a limited budget”, like in 9/11, to stage independent attacks rather than travel to al-Qaeda’s notorious training camps on the Afghan-Pakistan border indicates it isn’t.

via Read Full Article.

Fort Jackson – Alleged Attempt by Soldiers to Poison Food Supply

UPDATE: Jawa takes a well-balanced approach to this story.

“So until all the facts are known, a caution about making more out of this than what is known is certainly reasonable. But to dismiss the whole thing out-of-hand and claim that there is nothing to see here flies in the face of the fact that two months after this incident, there is still an open investigation. Bravo to CBN and Fox for making this investigation public and let’s see what investigators actually turn up in this case.”

Fox News is reporting Fort Jackson authorities are investigating an alleged attempt to poison the food supply at the base. Amazingly, if the reports are true, the investigation has been going on for nearly 2 months.

The U.S. Army is investigating allegations that soldiers were attempting to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson in South Carolina.The ongoing probe began two months ago, Chris Grey, a spokesman for the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, told Fox News.The Army is taking the allegations œextremely seriously, Grey said, but so far, “there is no credible information to support the allegations.

“The suspects were part of a Arabic translation program called “09 Lima” and use Arabic as their first language, two sources told Fox News. Another military source said they were Muslim. Grey would not confirm or deny the sources information.

via Source – read Full Article.

From CBN News – Five Muslim Soldiers Arrested at Fort Jackson in South Carolina

CBN News has learned exclusively that five Muslim soldiers at Fort Jackson in South Carolina were arrested just before Christmas. It is unclear whether the men are still in custody. The five were part of the Arabic Translation program at the base.

The men are suspected of trying to poison the food supply at Fort Jackson.

A source with intimate knowledge of the investigation, which is ongoing, told CBN News investigators suspect the “Fort Jackson Five” may have been in contact with the group of five Washington, DC area Muslims that traveled to Pakistan to wage jihad against U.S. troops in December. That group was arrested by Pakistani authorities, also just before Christmas.

Coming as it does on the heels of November’s Fort Hood jihadist massacre, this news has major implications.

Source – Read Full Article

WLTX Reports

Officials at Fort Jackson tell News19 that before Christmas several soldiers were detained in an ongoing investigation.

News19 was told Thursday evening that the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division is handling the investigation.

Several national news organizations are reporting that several soldiers tried to poison food kept at the base.

The media relations staff at Fort Jackson tells us that no one was poisoned and they are working to find out if any of the reports are true.

Terrorists Threaten Athletes Competing In India

The safety of athletes competing in high-profile sporting events in India is under a cloud, following a terror threat from a Pakistani militant with links to al-Qaeda.

Threatening attacks across India, Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami commander Ilyas Kashmiri has warned international sportspersons not to visit the country for the Hockey World Cup, Indian Premier League and Commonwealth Games.

A former Pakistani commando whose 313 Brigade is an operational arm of al-Qaeda, Kashmiri is the fugitive chief of the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir chapter of the HuJI. He is believed to have directed Lashkar-e-Toiba operative David Coleman Headley in his planning missions for the 26/11 attacks.

Kashmiri’s warning to India was posted by Asia Times Online which said it received his message on Monday morning, shortly after the Pune attack. The message does not specifically claim responsibility for the bombing but implies the involvement of the 313 Brigade, the news portal said in a report datelined Islamabad.

“We warn the international community not to send their people to 2010 Hockey World Cup, IPL and Commonwealth Games… Nor should their people visit India. If they do, they will be responsible for the consequences,” warned Kashmiri.

Indian security expert B. Raman said Kashmiri “is a well-known terrorist figure in Pakistan, so this has to be closely followed up”.

via Source.

al Qaeda Studied Airline Security Prior To Bomb Design

Leaders of al Qaeda in Yemen claim that they studied airline security in the U.S. and overseas carefully before designing the bomb that Umar Abdulmutallab carried with him on Christmas Day.

In a new publication, according to a translation prepared by terrorism analyst Evan Kohlmann's translators, the group claims it studied x-ray machines, metal detectors, and explosive trace sniffers in considering how to prepare the bomb.

“It becomes clear that every machine has a weakness point that can be undermined,” the article says.

It also says that al Qaeda experts have determined that the detonator in the device did, in fact, go off, consisting of more than four grams of PETN high-explosive material.

“The fuse detonated, and this is what one of the passengers spoke about, that he heard a strong sound onboard the plane,” the article says.

The main charge, it says, was sealed to prevent “hydration,” presumably a reference to the fact that the explosive powder was in a plastic pouch to prevent it from being contaminated by perspiration.

via Al Qaeda studied airline security – First Read – msnbc.com.

al Qaeda Recruiting English Speakers and Women

al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals according to intelligence officials in this Fox News report., Investigators say they are looking for people who are more like Americans, having been born in the United States or Canada. “Anyone who can fit in and not attract suspicion” is desirable to the terror network right now, said one official.

An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in Al Qaeda's strategy from the failed Christmas Day attack by accused “underpants bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

via Read Full Article.

Are Police Officers Ready For The Next Generation of Active Shooters?

HSTV explores law enforcement’s preparedness for the Next Generation of active shooter threats. Featuring law enforcement training expert, Fred Leland of Law Enforcement Security Consulting Inc., you’ll be surprised by what you learn.

Watch Videos – Parts 1 & 2

Homeland Security TV

al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Urges Jihad

A Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda has called on Muslims in the region to wage holy war against the US and its allies.

A purported audio statement by Said al-Shihri, deputy leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, warned “American and Crusader interests are everywhere”.

“Attack them and eliminate as many enemies as you can,” Mr Shihri urged.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has said it was behind a failed bomb attack on a US passenger jet as it flew into Detroit on Christmas Day.

A Nigerian man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, has been charged with attempting to blow up the Northwest Airlines Airbus A330.

He has allegedly said AQAP operatives trained him in Yemen, equipped him with a powerful explosive device and told him what to do.

via BBC News – Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula urges jihad.

Five American Muslims Retract Statement on Joining Jihad

Apparently a few weeks in a Pakistani jail will give you plenty of time to rethink the idea of jihad. Five American Muslims arrested for allegedly plotting terror attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan today retracted their statement about plans to join the jihad against US forces during an appearance in an anti-terrorism court.

When the young men were produced in the anti-terrorism court in Sargodha district of Punjab province, they told the judge that they were innocent and had neither committed any crime nor had plans to do so.

The men Ramy Zamzam, 22, Waqar Hussain Khan, 22, Ahmed Abdullah Minni, 20, Iman Hasan Yemer, 17 and Omar Farooq, 24 also told the court that they had been subjected to torture by the FBI and the Pakistani police.

The FBI had sent a team to Pakistan last month to question the youths. The youths slipped a note written on toilet paper to the media while leaving the court. The note read: “We have done nothing wrong. Please help us.” The court adjourned the hearing of the case against them till February 16.

Earlier, police had submitted a chargesheet in the court that alleged the US nationals wanted to join hands with militants fighting in Afghanistan. The chargesheet also said they had plans to target important installations in Pakistan and to embrace ’shahadat’ (martyrdom).

Five American Muslims retract statement on joining Jihad – Source.

Britain – Terrorists Plan Attack With Bombs Inside Their Bodies

From Mail Online – Security services believe the move has been prompted by the recent introduction at airports of body scanners, which are designed to catch terrorists before they board flights.

It is understood MI5 became aware of the threat after observing increasingly vocal internet ‘chatter’ on Arab websites this year.

The warning comes in the wake of the failed attempt by London-educated Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner approaching Detroit on Christmas Day.

One security source said: ‘If the terrorists are talking about this, we need to be ready and do all we can to counter the threat.’

A leading source added that male bombers would have the explosive secreted near their appendix or in their buttocks, while females would have the material placed inside their breasts in the same way as figure-enhancing implants.

Experts said the explosive PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) would be placed in a plastic sachet inside the bomber’s body before the wound was stitched up like a normal operation incision and allowed to heal.

via Terrorists ‘plan attack on Britain with bombs INSIDE their bodies’ to foil new airport scanners | Mail Online.

Could Shopping Malls Be Next Terror Target

America’s shopping malls could be among the next major terrorist targets according to a compelling article written by J.R Dunn on the American Thinker website.

Malls make such obvious high-value targets that it’s difficult to grasp why they haven’t been hit up until now. Shopping malls are America’s marketplaces, constantly packed with people, with uncontrolled entry, and openly vulnerable to any given form of attack. We need only consider the darkest days of the Iraqi terror campaign of 2006-2007 to grasp how the jihadis view marketplaces. Scarcely a week went by without another Iraqi marketplace bombing, with casualties largely consisting of women and children, mounting from the dozens to the hundreds. We need only add the fact that the mall in many ways symbolizes the United States to people across the world, acting as kind of American Horn of Plenty, to see the inevitability of the threat. Such attacks will come, and they will be ugly.

For terrorists intent on making a statement, a shopping mall is a perfect target. Spike TV’s Surviving Disaster shows you how to survive and escape an active shooting by a group of terrorists in a shopping mall. Watch here

It’s not as if the jihadis haven’t tried. In late 2003, Nuradin Abdi, a Somali native, was arrested in Louisville, Kentucky while in the midst of plans to attack a mall in Columbus, Ohio. Abdi was closely associated with al-Qaeda member Iyman Faris, arrested for planning a bombing of the Brooklyn Bridge.

[...]

Late last year, Tarek Mehanna of Sudbury, Massachusetts was arrested for, among other things, conspiring with Ahmad Abousamra and Daniel Maldonado to attack unidentified malls with automatic weapons. (Abousamra and Maldonado, who had received training in al-Qaeda camps, were evidently already in custody).

On at least two occasions in 2004 and 2007, the FBI circulated warnings of potential mall attacks during the holiday season, when they would present what is known as a “target-rich environment.” The 2004 warning involved a mall in central Los Angeles, while the later incident involved malls in both L.A. and Chicago. While no attacks occurred, it remains unknown how far jihadi plans were actually taken.

via Read Full Article.

My question. Could the recent rash of airport/airline disturbances, failed plots and possible dry runs simply be a diversion by terrorists? One intended to keep authorities focused on something other than the real threat? It’s anyone’s guess, but more importantly, reason enough to exercise a little extra vigilance when you’re out and about. Report ANY suspicious behavior.

al Qaeda Training Women for US Suicide Attacks

Additional details have been released since we first reported airline security officials are on the lookout for possible female suicide bombers traveling with western passports on U.S. bound flights.

Intelligence officials issued the alert believing the women may have been trained by Al Qaeda in Yemen.

“U.S. intelligence does believe that there are other suicide bombers out there who have been give missions to attack the United Sates and they have not been found,” said ABC News consultant Richard Clarke.

Authorities told ABC News they received the information from accused Northwest airlines bomber, Umar Abdulmutallab. He provided the FBI with specific names and descriptions of others who trained with him in Yemen.

“There are also women who have been trained. So Al Qaeda is looking to put together an attack using people that would not fit a profile that we'd be looking for,” said Clarke.

US officials say in one 48-hour period last weekend, six different people on the no-fly list were stopped from boarding US flights.

Two of them at London's Heathrow airport attempting to board flights on American Airlines to Miami and a United Airlines flight to Chicago.

The four others were stopped attempting to board flights in Nairobi, Kenya, the Caribbean island of Saint Maarten, in Fort Lauderdale and Minneapolis.

via Al Qaeda training women for US suicide attacks – Source – abc7.com.

Female Suicide Bombers May Attempt To Enter US

American law enforcement officials have been told to be on the lookout for female suicide bombers who may attempt to enter the United States.The women, believed to have ties to al Qaeda may have a western appearance and passports.

One official said at least two of them are believed to be connected to al Qaeda in Yemen, and may have a non-Arab appearance and be traveling on Western passports.

The threat was described as “current” but not imminent, said the official.

“They have trained women,” said former White House counter-terrorism official Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant.

via Female Suicide Bombers May Be Heading Here from Yemen, Say Sources – Source.

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