al-Qaeda – A Wounded But Very Dangerous Enemy

Although intelligence analysts may differ as to al Qaeda’s strength, influence and operational status, there is one thing most agree on, al Qaeda is still very dangerous and poses a great threat to the US.

The Washington Post has more.

In the past six weeks, Americans have witnessed two jarringly different but completely accurate views of al-Qaeda’s terrorist network. One image was that of terrorist leaders being hunted down and killed by satellite-guided, pilotless aircraft. The other was of an agile foe slipping past U.S. defenses and increasingly intent on striking inside the United States.

New assessments of al-Qaeda by the top U.S. counterterrorism experts offer grounds for both optimism and concern a year after President Obama took office. Officials say al-Qaeda’s ability to wage mass-casualty terrorism has been undercut by relentless U.S. attacks on the network’s leadership, finances and training camps. But even in its weakened state, the group has shifted tactics to focus on small-scale operations that are far harder to detect and disrupt, analysts say.

via Al-Qaeda is a wounded but dangerous enemy – washingtonpost.com.

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.

Officials Fear Toxic Botox Ingredient Could Be Terror Weapon

Interesting article in the Washington Post. In early 2006, a mysterious cosmetics trader named Rakhman began showing up at salons in St. Petersburg, Russia, hawking a popular anti-aging drug at suspiciously low prices. He flashed a briefcase filled with vials and promised he could deliver more”as many as you want,” he told buyers from a supplier somewhere in Chechnya.

[...]

Al-Qaeda is known to have sought botulinum toxin. The Lebanese Hezbollah movement, which the United States has designated a terrorist organization, and other groups have bought and sold counterfeit drugs to raise cash. Now, with the emergence of a global black market for fake Botox, terrorism experts see an opportunity for a deadly convergence.

Officials fear toxic ingredient in Botox could become terrorist tool – washingtonpost.com.

Report – al Qaeda Has Not Abandoned Plans For WMD’s

You may remember in September of 2003 when al Qaeda’s #2 man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, called off a planned chemical attack on New York’s subway system and offered a rather chilling explanation: The plot to unleash poison gas on New Yorkers was being dropped for “something better,” Zawahiri said in a message intercepted by U.S. eavesdroppers.

The meaning of Zawahiri’s cryptic threat remains unclear more than six years later, but a new report warns that al-Qaeda has not abandoned its goal of attacking the United States with a chemical, biological or even nuclear weapon.

The report, by a former senior CIA official who led the agency's hunt for terrorist’s weapons of mass destruction portrays al-Qaeda’s leaders as determined and patient, willing to wait for years to acquire the kind of weapons that could inflict widespread casualties.

via Read Full Article – washingtonpost.com.

Terrorists May Be Planning Paraglider Attacks in India

A paraglider terror attack? It may seem to be a little far-fetched at first blush, but for those who don’t believe that terrorists are continually devising new and surprising ways to launch their attacks, this story may change your mind. The Times Online reports that Indian intelligence officials suspect that the terrorist group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks is planning another audacious strike on the country, this time from the air, using suicide bombers flying paragliders.

U. K. Bansal, an Indian Home Ministry official, told reporters that the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba faction was thought to have acquired a number of the gliding parachutes.

“We have intelligence reports that LeT has purchased 50 paragliding kits from Europe with an intention to launch attacks on India,” he said.

No other details were given, but security levels have been hiked across the country ahead of tomorrow’s Republic Day celebrations, one of India’s biggest holidays.

via Read Full Article – Times 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.

What Prompted UK To Raise Terror Alert

What prompted the UK to raise it’s terror alert status to severe over the weekend? It appears it may have been more than just a single, isolated threat.

First, the UK’s Times Online reports that it was raised by authorities fearing that Islamist terrorists planned to hijack an Indian passenger jet and crash it into a British city.

Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert

MI5 was told by the Indian authorities early last week about a suspected plot by militants linked to Al-Qaeda in Pakistan to hijack an Air India or Indian Airlines flight from Mumbai or Delhi.The warning, which came after the capture of a suspected Islamic leader, was contained in a detailed “threat assessment” sent to MI5 by the Indian Intelligence Bureau.

It did not state that Britain was a specific target. But police security sources said it had raised fears in London that a British city might be attacked.

via Indian hijack plot caused new UK terror alert – Source.

However; The Independent reports:

Yemen Meeting Caused Switch To Severe Terror Alert

The terror threat to the UK was raised to “severe” after intelligence suggested this week’s London conferences on Yemen and Afghanistan could be used by al-Qa’ida as an opportunity to strike at the West, Whitehall sources said yesterday.

The Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, announced that Britain is on its second-highest alert level – meaning an attack is considered “highly likely” – on Friday evening amid concerns in London and Washington that al-Qa’ida is planning a renewed push against US and UK interests.

Other, anonymous, sources keen for levels of public awareness, or anxiety, to be raised gave different accounts. The Sunday Telegraph said that a group of female terrorists, who may have a “non-Arab” appearance, had been trained to attack western targets. The Sunday Times reported MI5 fears that Islamic terrorists planned to hijack an Indian airliner and crash it into a British city.

Source

And as if those those were not sufficient reasons, there is also a threat of women suicide bombers, as reported in the Sunday Telegraph.

Al-Qaeda has trained female suicide bombers to attack West, US officials warn

Al-Qaeda terror cells have trained a group of female suicide bombers to attack Western targets, US officials have warned.

The women, who may have a “non Arab” appearance and be travelling on Western passports, have been prepared for their missions by the Yemeni group responsible for the operation to blow up an airliner over the United States on Christmas Day.

Details of the bombers emerged just hours after British spy chiefs raised the UK threat state to “severe” amid fears that al-Qaeda was planning a wave of attacks against western targets.

Source

Britain To Ban Terror Suspects From Boarding Planes

Thousands of terror suspects will be banned from boarding planes to Britain by a no-fly list.

Gordon Brown made the announcement with intelligence showing terror cells “are actively trying to attack Britain”.

It follows the failed bomb attack by former British student Umar Abdulmutallab on a flight to Detroit. The no-fly list will ban serious suspects from UKbound flights. Others will face extensive searches.

Among other measures include full body scans at airports from next week.

via Terror suspects to be banned from boarding planes to Britain – mirror.co.uk.

Would You Want al Qaeda In Your Backyard?

Interesting questions. Would you want Khalid Sheikh Mohammed living in your backyard? How about the accused mastermind of 9/11 and his four alleged cohorts spending their time just yards from your back door?

That, essentially, is what the residents of the New York City apartment building Chatham Towers face. Their 240 apartments are just yards from the Federal Courthouse in lower Manhattan where the Obama administration plans to try the terror suspects in civilian court. In fact, by my measurement, the corner of the courthouse at one point is a mere 30 feet from the corner of the apartment complex. The buildings are so close, you can look right into the windows of the courthouse “and see them eating lunch,” as one resident put it.

The people who live here are outraged at the White House decision and are urging the administration to move the trials.

“People’s lives are going to be altered, this is going to be a federal armed camp,” resident Jeanie Chin told Fox News. “I hope that President Obama will reconsider when he understands that densely packed residential buildings surround the court.”

Fox News visited a couple of apartments and we could clearly see the goings on inside the courthouse with the naked eye. The windows are so close, that we could view whom we presumed to be Assistant United States Attorneys going about their work on federal criminal cases, administrative assistants using the copying machine, and people working on their desktop computers and drinking coffee. We could also view lawyers and others in what appears to be a federal courtroom. At one point, people inside a courthouse office even waved back.

via Read Full Article.

Terror Suspect Siddiqui Wants To Meet With President

According to the New York Post, in a somewhat strange outburst in court, alleged terror suspect Aaifa Sidiqui exclaimed, “The president has to meet with me,”"It’s important!” There are no additional details explaining why Siddiqui made the statement.

Siddiqui’s trial, which began this morning, comes after she extradited to this country in August 2008 on federal charges of attempted murder and assault.

She allegedly shot at two FBI special agents, a US Army officer and other military personnel while being held at an Afghan facility in July 2008.

Authorities said Siddiqui, who was behind a curtain, fired two shots at personnel with an officer’s rifle, but no one was struck.

via Source.

Experts Question U.S. National Terror Alert System

Despite the palpable level of angst that a source described over an al Qaeda threat against the United States, the national terror threat level remains at “Elevated” or “Yellow” where it has been stuck since 2005.

Information gathered since an attempted airliner bombing on Christmas Day has U.S. officials concerned that al Qaeda in Yemen has “trained and equipped … viable operatives” to strike U.S. targets, including targets unrelated to aviation, a reliable source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

“I have not seen people this ramped up on the terror front like this for probably two years,” the source said. “The palpable level of angst is incredible.”Read more on the new threat

The threat level for the aviation sector didn’t change after the Christmas Day incident it has been at “High” or “Orange” since 2006 when British officials uncovered a plot to use liquid explosives to bring down Transatlantic flights. A security expert calls the current color-coded system “useless.”

“It’s ineffective as communicating to the American public. And it’s obsolete in terms of kind of managing national preparedness levels,” said James Carafano, a homeland security expert at the conservative Heritage Foundation. “It really is useless.”

The system officially known as the Homeland Security Advisory System was implemented in March 2002 just months after the September 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.

The terror alert system is most recognizable by a color coded graphic, which includes: Severe (red), High (orange), Elevvated.

NationalTerrorAlert.com will continue to maintain a live web alert, adapting to any new alert, once DHS has made a final decision. For those of you fetauring the alert on your website, we don’t anticipate you having to make any changes.

via National Terror Alert System.

Increased Checks for Explosives at Airports

The Department of Homeland Security moved Thursday to increase random checks for explosives at American airports after officials cited a heightened concern over possible terror plots against the aviation system.

Counterterrorism officials said that recent intelligence tips had hinted at a planned attack by Qaeda operatives, but that the threat information was vague and did not specify a particular target or date.

via Read Full Article.

Lady Al Qaeda Aafia Siddiqui Removed From Courtroom

A jury was chosen Thursday in the “Lady Al Qaeda” trial, but not before the defendant interrupted the process with more outbursts and was tossed from the courtroom.

A day after she demanded Jews be excluded from the jury, Aafia Siddiqui went to deliver more rants about Jews and the 9/11 terror attacks.

“I have nothing to do with 9/11,” she said when a potential juror who cited her personal experience on Sept. 11 was dismissed.

Siddiqui is on trial in Manhattan federal court for attempted murder.

She was arrested by Afghan police after being caught in July 2008 with two pounds of sodium cyanide, a list of New York targets, and instructions for chemical and biological weapons, prosecutors say.

When an American team tried to question her, she allegedly grabbed an unsecured M-4 rifle and opened fire.

Siddiqui has repeatedly said she is boycotting her own trial and has attempted to make her case directly to prospective jurors and the judge.

via ‘Lady Al Qaeda’ trial: Suspected terrorist Aafia Siddiqui tossed from courtroom after outburst.

Mathematical Patterns May Predict Future Terror Attacks

Could mathematical equations predict future terror attacks ? Researchers from the University of Miami and other institutions claim to have found patterns in the behavior of insurgencies that can help predict future attacks.

The findings were published in the journal Nature last month. For the study, researchers examined 54,000 attacks across nearly a dozen wars in countries ranging from Iraq to Colombia.

“The sizes and timing of violent events within different insurgent conflicts exhibit remarkable similarities,” they found.

Neil Johnson, study co-author and physics professor at the University of Miami, said the researchers found a pattern to the way insurgents form and break up and the way they spread out deadly attacks.

Less deadly attacks occur far more frequently than deadly ones, which may seem obvious. But the researchers found that the ratio of deadly attacks to less deadly attacks is fairly constant across all modern wars.

“They’re not random,” Johnson told FoxNews.com. “It’s the same for all of these different wars.”

He compared the calibrated chaos of insurgent warfare to the financial markets. As with traders on the stock market, he said, insurgents are making decisions timed for maximum impact.

Read Full Article

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