[osint] Vote-rigging 'mastermind' is found shot dead at home
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/print.cfm?id=1469732004referringtemplate=http%3A%2F%2Fthescotsman%2Escotsman%2Ecom%2Finternational%2Ecfmreferringquerystring=id%3D1469732004 print close Tue 28 Dec 2004 Vote-rigging 'mastermind' is found shot dead at home CHRIS STEPHEN IN KIEV A UKRANIAN minister accused of being behind the plan to move tens of thousands of government supporters around the country to engage in illegal multiple voting in November's annulled presidential election, was found shot dead last night. The body of Heorhiy Kirpa, the minister of transport, was found in his country house just outside the Ukrainian capital Kiev, said Eduard Zanyuk, a spokesman for the country's railways. The man has passed away. An investigation will clear up the circumstances, he said. Following the re-run election on Boxing Day and the victory for opposition leader Victor Yushchenko, Mr Kyrpa had been expected to face questioning and possible criminal prosecution for his part in the November vote rigging. Speculation in Kiev last night among demonstrators and diplomats was that he may have been assassinated by those fearing he would give investigators details of the extent of November's vote- rigging operation. However, local press also said he may have taken his own life. Mr Kyrpa was a respected member of the government of Viktor Yanukovich. Before the vote-rigging controversy he had attained cross-party praise for reforming state railways and opening high speed rail links between the capital and several provincial cities. But the opposition claimed Mr Kirpa used his powers to allocate trains to transport Yanukovich supporters to vote at multiple polling stations in presidential balloting last month that was annulled by the Supreme Court. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Blast kills many in Baghdad raid
[Excerpt: The blast was set off by remote control as police were inside. The building and several other houses were flattened..The incident, late on Tuesday, ended a day of unrelenting violence in Sunni Muslim areas north of Baghdad.] _http://212.58.240.132/1/hi/world/middle_east/4131479.stm_ (http://212.58.240.132/1/hi/world/middle_east/4131479.stm) Last Updated: Wednesday, 29 December, 2004, 10:55 GMT Blast kills many in Baghdad raid Insurgents lured Iraqi policemen to a house in west Baghdad and set off a huge amount of explosives, killing at least 29 people, seven of them police. The ambush happened in the ramshackle Ghazalia district after police received a tip-off about a militants' hideout. The blast was set off by remote control as police were inside. The building and several other houses were flattened. The incident, late on Tuesday, ended a day of unrelenting violence in Sunni Muslim areas north of Baghdad. Dozens of police were killed in a string of apparently coordinated attacks in Tikrit, Samarra, Baquba, and in Baghdad itself where a National Guard general narrowly escaped a car bomb outside his home. Several people were believed to be trapped under the rubble after Tuesday's blast, and four policemen are reported missing. Hoax tip-off The police said they responded to a call from a neighbour saying that there was shooting coming from a house. When the police arrived and went in, the house blew up. It seems to have been a trap, one police officer said The US military said that American soldiers and Iraqi troops worked through the night in the search for survivors. Initial findings indicated that 700-800kg (1,700-1,800lb) of explosives had been used in the attack, the US military said. The BBC's Jim Muir in Baghdad says Tuesday's attacks demonstrated that insurgents were not only well organised but capable of hitting a range of targets. In one of the attacks, a police station in Dijla was stormed by gunmen who executed 12 officers by slitting their throats, according to one report. Brig Gen Geoffrey Hammond, a senior officer in the US army brigade that controls Baghdad, said he expected insurgents would continue their efforts to destroy life in Baghdad. Violence has increased in the run-up to US-backed national elections set for 30 January. enditem [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Tsunami
Click the link for a rather riveting series of pictures. http://coreykoberg.com/Tsunami/ These were taken by my former roommate's co-worker who was visiting Thailand. I think it shows the force of the water more than anything I've seen on TV so far and how truly unaware people were of the destructive power of waves of this size. Europeans are by far the largest group of tourists to frequent the areas affected, but sadly their stinginess and hesitation to aid the areas they've enjoyed for years is apparent. C'mon Europe, do the right thing and donate! email me -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Blue: The Next Orange?
http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/cRosett/?id=110006082 ? ? OpinionJournal WSJ Online THE REAL WORLD Blue: The Next Orange? Forget reform. The U.N. needs regime change. BY CLAUDIA ROSETT Wednesday, December 29, 2004 12:01 a.m. EST UNITED NATIONS--The advance of liberty and its attendant institutions can be a rough business, provoking stiff resistance by those who find their interests most threatened: the dictators, cronies and retinues of careerocrats who have already have made their compromises of conscience. And although specifics vary, there are some broad familiar patterns to the process of genuine reform. Protests break out, criticism once whispered in backrooms is heard on the streets, misrule and corruption are increasingly exposed. The regime tries to smother dissent while announcing reforms: too little, too late. In the best of cases--the Baltics 15 years ago or, one hopes, Ukraine today--the old framework gives way, and the democratic revolution has arrived. In the worst of cases, however, we could just as well be talking about the ruckus of recent times at the United Nations, where the regime, is now really beginning to fight back, and may yet succeed in smothering progress. Without making a single truly significant reform--or, for that matter, suffering a single indictment--the U.N. this past year has weathered its worst spell since the early 1980s. That was the stretch in which the Soviets shot down a South Korean airliner, the U.S. pulled out of a corrupt Unesco, and with certain U.N. member states resenting all the fuss, U.S. Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick's deputy, Chuck Lichenstein, told unhappy member states that if they wished to leave America's shores, the members of the U.S. mission to the United Nations will be down at the dockside waving you a fond farewell as you sail into the sunset. Of course, the U.N. remained comfortably berthed in Turtle Bay, stoked to this day with U.S. taxpayer money, wrapped in diplomatic immunity, and steeped in secrecy more appropriate to the inner workings of the 18th-century French court than a modern world in which free and open political systems offer the best hope of all that peace and prosperity the U.N. is supposed to promote. But don't take my word for it. The phone number is 212-963-1234; the Web site is www.un.org. Go ahead, try getting a look at the books, or for that matter any serious audits, let alone the full deliberations of a Security Council the purports to represent the world's people while providing rotating seats to the likes of Syria and permanent veto power to the thugs of Beijing and the antidemocrats of the Kremlin. Not that the U.N.'s top officials make much secret about their opinions, of, say, their U.S. sugar daddy, the latest example being the rush by Undersecretary-General Jan Egeland this week to condemn as stingy U.S. and European offers of relief for the tsunami that has devastated South Asia. Mr. Egeland opined that taxpayers want to give more, a notion that somehow equates giving more via the U.N. with getting better results. This comes from a U.N. that while evidently failing to set up an international warning system for catastrophic tidal waves did manage last year to turn in a report on snow levels in Alpine ski resorts. Nor has Secretary-General Kofi Annan been particularly secretive about his views on the U.S.-led liberation of Iraq, informing the world not so long ago that he deemed it illegal--a word he has not to my knowledge applied to any aspect of his own supervision of the Oil for Food program, from which Saddam Hussein, while forking over $1.4 billion for Mr. Annan's Secretariat to supervise the process, scammed billions meant for sick and hungry Iraqis. On that subject, Mr. Annan has been most stunningly discreet, refusing in his year-end press conference last week to discuss even his own role. Instead, with a degree of patience the Secretariat has not displayed toward its critics, Mr. Annan seems to be waiting for the U.N.-authorized inquiry, funded at his behest with $30 million in residual Oil for Food money (meant to aid Iraqi citizens, not U.N. investigations), and led by former Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, to inform the secretary-general, privately, and at stately speed, sometime next year, what his own role actually was. At that stage, Mr. Annan will decide what information he deems appropriate to share with the public. To this scene in recent months we may add the reports of rape and child molestation committed by U.N. peacekeepers in Africa, allegations of sexual harassment involving the heads of both the U.N. refugee agency and the internal audit division, a revolt against senior management by the U.N. staff union, the findings of an internal U.N. integrity survey that a lot of U.N. employees fear retaliation if they speak out, and the statements of a few brave whistle-blowers, fighting for their jobs, to precisely that effect. Plus, if you like, there's the
[osint] Tony Blankley: Americans pass gut check
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/tonyblankley/printtb20041229.shtml Townhall.com Americans pass gut check Tony Blankley (back to web version) | Send December 29, 2004 Osama Bin Laden is getting positively chatty these days. He has released his third video in as many months -- this time calling for Iraqis to boycott next month's elections. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Having elected himself to his current lofty position as arbiter of all things on the planet, it would have been remarkable if he thought any more elections were necessary. Although, to be fair to him (not that he deserves fairness), in his previous video, the week before our election, he did warn American voters in the red states that they would pay a terrible price if they voted for George Bush. While he didn't explicitly endorse John Kerry (presumably, even he couldn't figure out what Kerry's position was on anything), his negative advertisement against Bush might reasonably have been seen as participation in a democratic election. But overall, I think we can put Mr. Laden down as viewing elections as unnecessary. As Emma Goldberg scornfully, if cleverly, observed prior to being deported as a dangerous foreign national to Russia during WWI -- elections are the opiate of the American people. For tyrants and their advocates, elections are silly, meaningless exercises of decisions between pre-chosen indistinguishable choices, intended to give the manipulated masses the illusion of free will in their choreographed political lives. Tell that to the Democrats ... and the Republicans ... and the Europeans ... and the terrorists. As I prepare to go out and celebrate New Year 2005 -- I plan to celebrate the majestic and history-making election of 2004. Our recent election joins the select ranks of epochal American presidential elections alongside: 1792, 1860, 1932 and 1980. In 1792, George Washington voluntarily stepped aside and ushered in true constitutional republicanism (or, as it is casually called, democracy). In 1860, Lincoln was elected, and he ensured the Republic while ending slavery. The year 1932 entered America into the modern age and, for better and worse, ended the limited role for government in our lives. The FDR era ended in 1980, and it started us on our current uncertain path back to our abiding first principles and values. As the first presidential election in the post-Sept. 11 Age of Terrorism, George Bush's re-election this year should be seen as equally significant. It is, of course, far too early to judge whether his anti-terrorism strategy and tactics will turn out to be effective in protecting America (and the world) from the scourge of global terror. What makes this an epochal election is what it says about the American public. After Nov. 2, the world now knows that Americans intend to stand and fight. So far, America's public is the only one that has so indicated. Others may, perhaps, make such a stand in the future. But, as of now, every poll of every other country shows their publics looking for excuses to avoid confronting terrorism. The flow of events since major hostilities were completed in Iraq in the spring of 2003 make the public support for George Bush all the more impressive. The news had been remorselessly bad for Mr. Bush: from the alleged ransacking of the Baghdad museums, to the rise of the insurrection, to the report by Dr. Kay that there were no WMDs in Iraq, to the prison scandal (and its willful over-reporting by the media), to the beheadings, to the growing effectiveness and lethality of the Iraqi bombings, to the growing number of American fatalities, amputations and other serious casualties -- the news has been much worse than was generally expected. (Although, in this space, I warned before the war, which I supported and continue to support, that we were entering a time of measureless peril.) Moreover, further threatening the president's re-election was the public judgment (by almost 60 percent to 40 percent) that the economy was not producing enough jobs and the country was going in the wrong direction. Hollywood, Manhattan publishing, network television and the mainline media then willfully distorted the news while it sneered at and mocked the president. No president since Richard Nixon in his final presidential months has taken such a consistently bad press. And yet, he won by a decisive three million votes -- in a nation that almost every political expert had been calling a 50 percent Republican 50 percent Democratic public. The American public had every excuse to cut and run. Had they elected Kerry, the world would have correctly judged it a repudiation of Bush's aggressive war strategy. But the American public stuck. And in so doing they have created a world historic event. In the face of an insurgent, violent, radical Islam, a solid majority of the American public does not intend to yield an inch. In a storm-tossed sea, the American public is
[osint] Joel Mowbray: Is it Oslo mania all over again?
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/joelmowbray/printjm20041229.shtml Townhall.com Is it Oslo mania all over again? Joel Mowbray (back to web version) | Send December 29, 2004 HERZLIYA, ISRAEL - The spirit of peace can arise again, said Terje Rod-Larsen, the United Nations' top representative for the Middle East peace process, evoking the specter of the infamous Oslo peace accords at Israel's premier security conference recently. That a UN official would say that is of little surprise. But when Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his deputies sounded a similar theme, more than a few mouths were agape at the Interdisciplinary Center's annual Herzliya Conference. Speculation about what exactly Sharon would say in his widely-covered speech Thursday night was rampant. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom had made news two days earlier with an unmistakably upbeat speech in which he talked of normalizing relations in the not-too-distant future with ten Arab and Gulf states. Topping the headlines, though, was the Foreign Minister's rhetorical olive branch to Syria. Most remarkably-and most incredulously-Shalom seemed to accept as sincere Syria's recent overtures. Any declaration of the desire for peace by an Arab leader is a positive declaration, he said. Given the quasi-independence of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, many believed that Shalom had created a new policy goal at his own behest. But when Sharon spoke Thursday night, the Prime Minister echoed Mr. Shalom, though without identifying Syria by name. Referring to Syria, the Foreign Minister said, A hand outstretched for peace is not to be rejected. Near the end of his speech, Sharon talked of potential cooperation with moderate Arab states and said: When faced with tranquility and a hand extended in peace, we will know how to react in tranquility and extend an honest and brave hand in return. Though the Sharon government's optimism is decidedly cautious, the death of Yasser Arafat seems to have softened even the hardest of hearts. Sharon himself was explicit in explaining his newfound buoyancy: The most genuine and greatest opportunity for building a new and different relationship with the Palestinians was created following the death of Yasser Arafat, who constituted the primary obstacle to peace. Commented one American conference participant over a drink Wednesday night: Everybody focused on Arafat for so long that now that he's gone, the biggest obstacle seems to have been eliminated. While careful to stress that the first step in any process is cessation of terrorism, even Sharon signaled the impending start of some form of talks, holding out hopes for eventually achieving genuine peace. The particulars of how Sharon intends to reach genuine peace were not spelled out by any Israeli government leader in Herzliya, though two Israeli officials did just that for a roundtable of some 30 foreign journalists on the eve of the conference. As laid out, the blueprint is pretty straightforward: achieve recognition from the Palestinians, then Arab states will race to normalize relations with the Jewish state. The rough timetable, then, is to move fairly quickly after the upcoming Palestinian elections to reach some sort of accord, then attempt to strike deals with at least a handful of Arab and Gulf states in the next few years. But to paraphrase many conference participants not enamored with the Sharon strategy: This is not an Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but an Israeli-Arab one. For years, Arab despots have used Palestinians as pawns to divert the attention of not just the United States, the European Union, but also their own people. Even more fundamentally, however, is the simple fact that the radical Islamists, who enjoy ever-growing power in the Arab world, want to eliminate the Jewish state. Reality notwithstanding, a revival of the pre-Oslo mindset-minus the delusional optimism-appears to be underway. The Sharon government is resurrecting the most ominous pre-Oslo ghost: picking a Palestinian leader for the sole purpose of having someone with whom the Jewish state can negotiate. In a coronation ceremony masquerading as an election on January 9, the Palestinians will go to the polls with one real choice on the ballot: longtime Arafat crony Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. To paraphrase a popular leftist catchphrase about America's 2000 presidential race, Mr. Abbas is being selected, not elected. His true base of support-Israel, the U.S., the E.U.-is essentially the same bunch that pulled him and Arafat out of Tunis and foisted them upon the Palestinian people a decade ago. Just as Arafat delivered an accord as expected at Oslo, all indications are that Abbas will soon sign on the dotted line. Sharon's speech hinted at this when saying that he wanted to hand off security enforcement in the territories to a Palestinian government which is ready and able to take responsibility. To which one conference
[osint] Linda Chavez: Good vs. Evil
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/lindachavez/printlc20041229.shtml Townhall.com Good vs. Evil Linda Chavez (back to web version) | Send December 29, 2004 Coming as they did within hours of each other, two news stories defined the differences between America and its enemies. In the wake of the devastation in South Asia from a tsunami that has taken at least 44,000 lives, the United States is mobilizing to send food, water, medical supplies and teams of doctors, nurses, rescue workers and others to help the victims, many of whom are Muslim. Meanwhile, half-way 'round the world, a man who defines himself as a Muslim leader, Osama bin Laden, calls on his followers to kill not only Americans but fellow Muslims who dare to participate in elections in Iraq to choose their own leaders. No starker contrast could be made between good and evil. And yet so many people -- not just among our enemies but our friends and even our own countrymen -- fail to understand this struggle in its proper context. The war we are fighting in Iraq is not a war of conquest. It is not about acquiring territory or, as so many of our critics contend, Iraqi oil. We are not in Iraq to create an American empire but to allow the Iraqi people -- for the first time in their history -- to create their own destiny. We are also there to rid ourselves and the world of the threat of men like Osama bin Laden and his imitators, including the vicious Abu Musab al Zarqawi, who has killed so many in Iraq. This week, bin Laden made clear that Zarqawi is his deputy. The man who masterminded and ordered the killing of 3,000 innocent men, women and children on Sept. 11, 2001, embraces the man who, with his own hands, has beheaded dozens of Westerners and other foreign workers in Iraq. Bin Laden claims that he and Zarqawi are fighting for God's sake. But what kind of god would ask his followers to slit the throats of those who have come to a country to build roads and sanitation systems. Islamofascism is the personification of evil. It cannot be appeased; it cannot be reasoned with; it cannot be contained. The only possible way to deal with it is to defeat it, just as we defeated Nazism some 60 years ago. The battle will not be won easily or without the sacrifice of many good people. Defeating the Nazis and the Japanese cost America nearly a half-million lives and took nearly four years, and an even greater contribution in lives and years from our allies. To expect that we will be out of Iraq quickly or that we may not have to fight elsewhere to defeat this enemy is shortsighted. We will wage this fight not only with soldiers, guns and bombs, though they are vital to winning the war, but with humanitarian assistance. The struggle to defeat Islamofascism will also come by building schools and sewage systems, which is why Zarqawi and his killers target those involved in helping to rebuild Iraq. And, as we see this week, we will not allow the bin Ladens and Zarqawis to define the Muslim people. When Muslims are dying and need our help, we heed the call, as we did when thousands of Muslims from Indonesia to Somalia suffered from the deadly tsunami in the Indian Ocean. The United States will send millions of dollars in aid, not just from our government but from ordinary Americans who want to help. We don't ask whether those suffering share our values or politics or religion, whether they like us or wish us ill. No doubt, among those families who will receive American help in some of these nations will be those who are sympathetic to our enemies. We will help them, not because we hope to change their minds, but because it is the right thing to do. It is the difference between those who are fighting for good and those who are fighting for evil. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT
[osint] Director of Analysis Branch at the C.I.A. Is Being Removed
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/national/29intel.html?th=pagewanted=printposition= The New York Times December 29, 2004 Director of Analysis Branch at the C.I.A. Is Being Removed By DOUGLAS JEHL ASHINGTON, Dec. 28 - The head of the Central Intelligence Agency's analytical branch is being forced to step down, former intelligence officials say, opening a major new chapter in a shakeup under Porter J. Goss, the agency's chief. The official, Jami Miscik, the agency's deputy director for intelligence, told her subordinates on Tuesday afternoon of her plan to step down on Feb. 4. A former intelligence official said that Ms. Miscik was told before Christmas that Mr. Goss wanted to make a change and that the decision to depart was not hers. Ms. Miscik has headed analysis at the agency since 2002, a period in which prewar assessments of Iraq and its illicit weapons, which drew heavily on C.I.A. analysis, proved to be mistaken. Even before taking charge of the C.I.A., Mr. Goss, who was a congressman, and his closest associates had been openly critical of the directorate of intelligence, saying it suffered from poor leadership and was devoting too much effort to monitoring day-to-day developments rather than broad trends. Ms. Miscik's departure is the latest in a series of high-level ousters that have prompted unease within the C.I.A. since Mr. Goss took over as director of central intelligence in September. Of the officials who worked as top deputies to Mr. Goss's predecessor, George J. Tenet, at least a half-dozen have been fired or have retired abruptly, including the agency's No. 2 and No. 3 officials. Much of the top tier of the agency's clandestine service is also gone. The departure of Ms. Miscik will be the first major change within the directorate of intelligence, which is responsible for making important judgments about events around the world and whose products include the President's Daily Brief, the highly classified document prepared for the president each morning. The C.I.A. declined to comment on the move, and Ms. Miscik did not reply to written questions provided to her on Monday evening. But in her message to subordinates, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times, Ms. Miscik described her departure as part of a natural evolution, saying every intelligence chief has a desire to have his own team in place to implement his vision and to offer him counsel. Current and former intelligence officials said the move seemed to signal that Mr. Goss's overhaul, which has focused on human spying operations, would be widened to include the analytical unit. The former intelligence officials who agreed to discuss Ms. Miscik's plans did so on condition of anonymity. They defended her performance, saying that in 2003 she was quick to acknowledge the shortcomings of the agency's work on Iraq and adopted new safeguards intended to prevent future breakdowns. The changes at the C.I.A. come as the agency is bracing for a wider reorganization endorsed by Congress and the White House that will strip it of its leading status among the country's intelligence agencies. Under legislation signed into law this month, the chief of the C.I.A. will no longer oversee all 15 of the country's intelligence organizations, which include operations in the Pentagon, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National Security Agency. Instead, that power will be transferred to the new post of director of national intelligence, for which the White House has yet to choose a nominee. Administration officials say aides to President Bush are trying to narrow their search, with a decision expected in early January. It is not clear whether Mr. Goss, whose early personnel moves have been sharply criticized inside and outside the C.I.A., will be a candidate for the new job. Under the new law, the post of director of central intelligence will no longer exist. Among the questions not yet resolved, according to Congressional officials, is whether Senate confirmation would be required for the C.I.A. director. Ms. Miscik, an economist who rose through the ranks of the intelligence directorate over a 21-year career at the agency, suggested to associates as early as November that she did not expect to stay at the agency under Mr. Goss. But a former intelligence official who worked closely with her said she would have been happy to stay, despite the intensity of the criticism voiced by Mr. Goss and his top aides. Mr. Goss has not spoken publicly since he took over at the C.I.A., and the agency has announced only a few of his personnel moves. In November, he told the agency's employees to expect more changes in the days and weeks ahead. Several top jobs remain vacant, including the agency's No. 2 post, deputy director of central intelligence, from which John E. McLaughlin resigned early this month. There was no indication on Tuesday of whom Mr. Goss might name to succeed Ms. Miscik. One of her top deputies, Scott White,
[osint] Jonah Goldberg: Kofi's stingy uncle
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/jonahgoldberg/printjg20041229.shtml Townhall.com Kofi's stingy uncle Jonah Goldberg (back to web version) | Send December 29, 2004 As of this writing the death toll in Asia from the killer tsunami exceeds 50,000. Almost immediately, the United States put together an aid package of $15 million, with assurances that more will be on the way. We also dispatched emergency relief teams and Navy patrols both to help with the aftermath and to assess what more we can do. We also have to see this not just as a one-time thing, Colin Powell said. America is in the reconstruction effort for the long haul. This commitment, however, was not generous enough for Jan Egeland, the Norwegian bureaucrat who heads up relief efforts for the United Nations. It is beyond me why are we so stingy, really, Egeland told reporters, according to Bill Sammon of the Washington Times. (We'll let the we pass unmolested.) American and European politicians, Egeland complained, believe that they are really burdening the taxpayers too much, and the taxpayers want to give less. It's not true. They want to give more. Egeland quickly backtracked when he realized his comments were only slightly less impolitic than slapping Colin Powell with a flounder. Still, his candor is revealing. First, let's be fair. Egeland's right to be frustrated. His job is to help untold numbers of poor people in a terrible situation where no amount of aid or effort could ever make them whole. How much money does it take to compensate a father whose child was snatched away by an angry sea on a clear and sunny day? But it is one thing to say the victims need more help, and another thing entirely to suggest that Sri Lankans and Indonesians are suffering from the stinginess of Americans or U.S. tax policy. Let's review the obvious: The United Nations is an odious institution. Whenever I make this commonsense observation, I am invariably rebutted with questions like, What about the starving people it feeds? or What about the peacekeeping? OK, what about them? The United States supplies more than one-fifth of the United Nations' total budget (and 57 percent, 33 percent and 27 percent of the budgets for the World Food Program, the Refugee Agency, and Department of Peacekeeping Operations, respectively). We've been the United Nations' biggest donor every year since 1945. Taxpayers reluctantly agree to such largess because we're told of the good works the United Nations does. And yet, whenever there's a catastrophe, Uncle Sam is asked to dig deep into his pocket for more money. This is the global equivalent of when the Interior Department closes down the Washington Monument whenever it faces budget cuts of a few percentage points. Nobody wants the Monument to be closed down, so the bureaucrats make it the department's most vulnerable expenditure. Nobody objects when the United Nations helps victims of natural disasters, so U.N. defenders always use disaster relief and peacekeeping as their chief tool for fundraising. The problem is that the United Nations is not an impartial philanthropic organization. It is a political institution where a broad coalition of nations hope to curtail the power and influence of the United States. France uses the organization to leverage its relatively meager power by rallying African and Arab nations against us. Kofi Annan uses his megaphone to decry the moral and legal legitimacy of American foreign policy. Its Human Rights Committee is festooned with torture states, but it seems capable of issuing only condemnations inconvenient to the United States. And we foot the bill. This is the Catch-22 of the United Nations. Politically, it's often reprehensible and inimical to American interests. But we're never asked to pay for that stuff. This comes out of the general budget. It's only when human beings are suffering in vast numbers that we're shamed for being stingy - because the United Nations understands how to exploit America's decency. If only we could be shaken down for more money to pay the light bill in the General Assembly when they play whack-a-mole with the United States. The larger picture Mr. Egeland fails to appreciate is that America's wealth and prosperity - partly sustained by low taxes - is a greater bulwark against human suffering than the United Nations ever has been or likely will be. America guarantees global stability by keeping the sea lanes open, by preventing North Korea from invading South Korea and China from seizing Taiwan. We did it by preventing Saddam from keeping Kuwait. We ignored the United Nations and intervened to stop genocide in Yugoslavia, and we have 150,000 troops in Iraq working to create a democracy - while the United Nations is still too scared of terrorists, and too anti-American, to help. Meanwhile, American citizens, partly thanks to those stingy low taxes, send some $34 billion in private aid around the world every year. That's 10 times the United
[osint] Yushchenko Seeks to Bar Rival's Cabinet From a Meeting
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/29/international/europe/29ukraine.html?th=pagewanted=printposition= The New York Times December 29, 2004 Yushchenko Seeks to Bar Rival's Cabinet From a Meeting By C. J. CHIVERS IEV, Ukraine, Dec. 28 - Tensions and risk flared anew in Ukraine on Tuesday after Viktor A. Yushchenko, the opposition leader and presumptive president-elect, called for his supporters to renew the blockade of a government building in the capital where the cabinet of ministers plans to meet early Wednesday. Speaking at an evening rally at Independence Square, Mr. Yushchenko warned that his opponent, apparently the loser, in the election on Sunday, Prime Minister Viktor F. Yanukovich, planned to lead a meeting of what now appears to be a lame-duck cabinet. Mr. Yushchenko called the session illegal. The new call for civil disobedience raised the possibility of confrontation between peaceful demonstrators and the authorities in Kiev, and came at a seemingly unlikely time, as the Central Election Commission completed its count of ballots from the election, and further solidified the opposition's seeming victory. The results, which have not yet been certified, gave Mr. Yushchenko 51.99 percent of the vote to 44.19 percent for the prime minister. Even though the victory seemed clear, with Mr. Yushchenko receiving more than 2.2 million more votes than his rival, Mr. Yanukovich has refused to concede, saying he will challenge the election results in the Supreme Court. And on Tuesday, his staff announced, the prime minister ended the leave he began on Dec. 6 to campaign for the repeat election, and was back at work. The prime minister's spokesman, Oleksandr Ternavsky, also said Mr. Yanukovich would lead a meeting of ministers on Wednesday morning, as the Constitution allows until he is replaced by a new government after the presidential inauguration next month. Mr. Ternavsky insisted that Mr. Yanukovich planned no controversial acts. There is nothing special on the agenda, he said. It is just a regular meeting. That is it. Mr. Yushchenko's campaign officials were suspicious and annoyed, however, and asked for the demonstrators on the square, who used mass civil disobedience to paralyze the country for more than two weeks after the Nov. 21 vote, to encircle the cabinet's building early Wednesday. Many of the opposition's supporters remain in the tent cities they built in late November, when their demonstrations began, and Mr. Yushchenko appealed to them for yet another move against the state. I would ask the population of the encampment early in the morning to start blocking the cabinet, Mr. Yushchenko said, to prevent what he called the illegitimate government from conducting state business. He did not say precisely what he feared Mr. Yanukovich might do. He also said that his own government would soon be formed, after a public inauguration in Independence Square, perhaps within as little as two weeks. Although the idea of a renewed demonstration against the government carried certain risks, Mr. Yushchenko did not call for the sort of activities he encouraged after the November election, which was tainted by widespread fraud. After that vote, which was overturned by the Supreme Court on Dec. 4, Mr. Yushchenko called for a national strike, a tent encampment in the city, and civil demonstrations throughout much of Kiev's government center. Mr. Yanukovich seems to have much less support now than before, having broken with the departing president, Leonid D. Kuchma, his onetime mentor. Many of his top supporters have abandoned him in recent weeks, and the troops of the Interior Ministry, which faced off against the demonstrators for more than two weeks after the Nov. 21 election, have not been evident on the streets this week. Copyrigh -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence
[osint] Iraq Sunnis fear bombs not bin Laden on poll day
[Excerpt: It makes no sense to put your life in danger to vote when the Americans will put whoever they want in power anyway, said Mohammed, a Baghdad resident who refused to give his full name, on Tuesday Whatever Bin Laden says, people had already made up their minds not to vote. I didn't even register.] http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143sid=5433798 Wednesday 29.12.2004, CET 15:50 http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=143sid=5433798 December 28, 2004 4:00 PM Iraq Sunnis fear bombs not bin Laden on poll day By Lin Noueihed BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Plagued by violence and fearing reprisals, many of Iraq's Sunni Muslims say they had resolved to stay at home on election day long before Osama bin Laden said anyone who voted was a infidel. With only a month to go until Iraq's first free poll, many Iraqis in the Sunni north and west said they would not vote while U.S.-led troops remained on Iraqi soil anyway. Even those who once dreamed of casting their ballot now say they are too busy trying to stay alive to think about the January 30 poll. It makes no sense to put your life in danger to vote when the Americans will put whoever they want in power anyway, said Mohammed, a Baghdad resident who refused to give his full name, on Tuesday. Whatever Bin Laden says, people had already made up their minds not to vote. I didn't even register. An audio tape purportedly from the al Qaeda leader was aired on Monday, urging Iraqis to boycott the poll and saying anyone who took part was an infidel. But Iraqis dismissed the Saudi-born militant's threats as outside interference. They had more pressing worries. I'm not bothered about the election; all I want is to return to Falluja and for violence to stop throughout Iraq, said Said al-Dulaimi, 42, who fled last month's U.S.-led offensive in the western Iraqi city. Bin Laden knows nothing about Iraq; he is an extremist who lives in caves. He lost 75 percent of his support in Iraq by making everyone who votes in elections an infidel. Most of Falluja's population is still sheltering outside the city after the U.S. attack aimed at crushing foreign fighters led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. U.S. and Iraqi officials admit some Sunni provinces are still not ready for elections. The possiblity that they will be excluded has raised fears over the legitimacy of a poll in which only Iraq's 60-percent Shi'ite majority in the south and Kurds, who already have automony in the north, take part. MARKED FOR ATTACK In Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, extremists have stuck posters up in mosques warning those who vote will be punished. Last month, insurgents overran police stations in the city of three million and most officers deserted. People feel they have no authority to turn to. In Samarra, 100 km (60 miles) north of the capital, rebels have distributed leaflets warning residents to keep away from polling stations because they were marked for attack. Three officials from Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission, which is organising the poll, were dragged from their cars in Baghdad this month and killed in broad daylight. Northern polling stations have been attacked with rockets. I won't participate in the election because I am scared, said Omar Selham, 29, a businessman from the northern city of Mosul, whose population is mainly Sunni Arab with some Kurds. Anyway, the American presence in the country gives you the impression that the election is false and unfair. U.S. officials are pushing for Iraqis to give Sunni Arabs, who make up 20 percent of Iraq's population, government posts even if they win few seats in the election because their constituents could not or would not vote. On Monday, Iraq's leading Sunni party said it was pulling out of the election because violence in Sunni areas meant it would not be fair to the minority which dominated the country under ousted president Saddam Hussein. That left even those who were willing to brave bombs and bullets to take part with few choices to vote for. Reuters enditem Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the
[osint] Former US attorney general joins Saddam defence team
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/focusoniraq/2004/December/focusoniraq_December239.xmlsection=focusoniraq Khaleej Times Online Former US attorney general joins Saddam defence team (AFP) 29 December 2004 AMMAN - Former US attorney general and left-wing activist Ramsey Clark is to join the defence team of Saddam Hussein, a spokesman for the toppled Iraqi president's lawyers said on Wednesday. Clark, who held the office of attorney general under US president Lyndon B. Johnson, is one of the members of the defence team of president Saddam Hussein, Ziad Khassawneh said. This honours and inspires us. The former top US justice official, who arrived Tuesday in Jordan where the defence team is based, has become known as a left-wing lawyer and firm critic of US foreign policy since leaving office. He visited Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in February 2003 just before the US-lead invasion and has also been involved with the defence of former Yugoslav leader Solbodan Milosevic, on trial for war crimes at a UN court in the Hague. Clark told reporters in the Jordanian capital that his principle concern was protecting the rights of Saddam, who only saw a lawyer for the first time this month, a year after his capture. In international law, anyone accused of crime has the right to be tried by a confident, independent and impartial court, and there can be no fair trail without those qualities, said Clark. The special court in Iraq was created by the Iraqi governing council, which is nothing more than a creation of the US military occupation and has no authority in law as a criminal court, he said. The Iraq Special Tribunal was established by the US-led coalition last December to try members of the former regime of Saddam. Clark also said the United States itself must be tried for the November assault on Fallujah, destruction of houses, torture in prisons and its role in the deaths of thousands of Iraqis in the war. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Another Moderate Muslim Group
Another Moderate Muslim Group By http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=2283 Daniel Pipes FrontPageMagazine.com | December 29, 2004 Muqtedar Khan of the Brookings Institution has announced, in a recent http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_25-12-2004_pg3_3 article in the Daily Times of Lahore, the coming into existence on Dec. 13, 2004, of yet another organization of American Muslims claiming to be moderates. It does not lack for ambitions: Now with the constitution of the American Muslim Group for Policy Planning, Moderate Muslims in America have a name and an address. Unfortunately, in its initial form, the AMGPP does not at all appear to be moderate. Rather, it resembles the Progressive Muslim Union (which opened its virtual doors a month earlier, and which I have analyzed in a lengthy http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/361 blog entry). The two organizations have overlapping personnel, some on the left (Ahmed Nassef) and others Islamist (Salam Al-Marayati). They share an American feel to them (in contrast to many other Muslim organizations, with their more immigrant-like quality). Their main difference seems to be that PMU is based in New York and AMGPP in Washington; this means that while the one has a regular feature on Sex and the Umma, the other includes the phrase policy planning' in its name. The one tries to be hip, the other to be influential. AMGPP's naked bid for power is of particular note. On the one hand, it offers to help the U.S. government: AMGPP is willing to play a very active role in helping improve US image and counter the tide of extremism and anti-Americanism in the Muslim World. The group is eager to take a leadership role on issues of public diplomacy and outreach on behalf of the State Department and to act as a spokesperson for American policies, concerns and interests. On the other, it seeks to extract maximum advantage: However in order to be able to play the role of an honest broker, AMGPP must be convinced that the policies it is willing to defend and explain are deserving of defence. This can be accomplished only by the inclusion of American Muslims in the policymaking process. American Muslims cannot explain or defend policies that they disagree with and have had no hand in making. In other words, only if the U.S. government gives us authority over issues we care about will we help it. The AMPGG's offer, which sounds more like a threat than an opportunity, raises the obvious question: what mandate can it claim to oversee policy? Like the PMU and Islamist organizations, AMGPP persists in the stale, discredited notion that Islam and Muslims are being demonised in the US, their civil rights situation is terrible and Muslims are routinely excluded from policy deliberations. Khan also carries on with the old trope of a rising Islamophobia in the US. In reality, hate crimes and cases of provable discrimination against Muslims are extremely rare numerically, for example, much fewer than anti-Jewish incidents. Were AMGPP truly moderate, it would recognize, along with http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/319 Abdel Rahman al-Rashed, that while not all Muslims are terrorists, it is equally certain, and exceptionally painful, that almost all terrorists are Muslims. Al-Rashed insists that, as Muslims, We cannot clear our names unless we own up to the shameful fact that terrorism has become an Islamic enterprise; an almost exclusive monopoly, implemented by Muslim men and women. AMGPP's owning up to this problem would point to moderation. Hiding it suggests the opposite. Further, Khan does not criticize the regnant Islamist organizations in the United States but, in stating that many moderate Muslims have been working as individuals or as part of mainstream American Muslim organizations, rather condones them. If there is any single requirement of a would-be moderate organization, it is to denounce, explicitly and specifically, the http://www.insightmag.com/main.cfm?include=detailstoryid=258204 Wahhabi lobby that dominates the American Muslim scene. Also disturbing are those individuals associated with the AMGPP in its initial stage, including Yahya Basha (president of the now-defunct http://www.danielpipes.org/article/423 American Muslim Council), http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/78 John Esposito (radical Islam's leading academic apologist), and Hadia Mubarak (president of the Wahhabi http://www.meforum.org/article/603 Muslim Students Association). The AMGPPs appearance comes at a time of increasing confusion as to who really is a moderate Muslim. I have http://www.danielpipes.org/article/1322 proposed some questions as a preliminary test to distinguish between http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/390 real moderates and the fake ones, and these already have http://www.danielpipes.org/blog/327 one prominent success. But much more work is needed, for the separating of friend from foe cannot be done
[osint] Terror Case Against 7 Men Underway in Cambodia
(12/29/2004): THE WORLD Terror Case Against 7 Men Underway in Cambodia From Associated Press December 29, 2004 PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - Prosecutors opened their case Tuesday against seven men accused of plotting to bomb Western targets in Cambodia, but three of the key suspects - including Asia's top terrorism suspect, Hambali - were being tried in absentia. Prosecutor Yet Chakriya accused the seven defendants of attempted premeditated murder with the goal of terrorism, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment. The suspects present at the trial were Esam Mohammed Khidr Ali of Egypt, Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Mohammed Yalaludin Mading of Thailand and Sman Ismael of Cambodia. Being tried in absentia were Hambali, who is Indonesian, and two other foreigners identified only as Rousha Yasser and Ibrahim. Hambali was arrested in Thailand in August 2003 and is being held by U.S. officials at an undisclosed location. The four suspects present in court were arrested in May and June 2003 on suspicion of having ties to Jemaah Islamiah, which some experts describe as Al Qaeda's Southeast Asian arm. Cambodian police had broken up their Umm Qura group, which operated a Saudi-funded school outside Phnom Penh. Umm Qura, Chakriya said, was a terrorist cell associated with Jemaah Islamiah, and its main role was to attack the United States and British embassies in Cambodia. Hambali, Jemaah Islamiah's suspected operations chief whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, reportedly spent several months in Cambodia in 2002. He tried to use the country as a base from which to launch regional attacks, the prosecution said. Chakriya alleged that Hambali taught the Egyptian, Thai and Cambodian suspects how to set off explosions and that the men closely cooperated in hiding Hambali. The four suspects in the courtroom denied the charges, saying they worked for a charity to help poor Cambodians. A prosecution witness, garage worker and taxi driver Thorn Lundi, told the court that Ibrahim had told him he planned to use a car bomb to attack the British Embassy. Abdul Azi Haji Chiming told the court that Hambali had left two bags with him while he traveled from Phnom Penh. One contained money, clothes and a computer CD. When I played it, I saw Arabic songs, and another disc showed a car with four black boxes and an arrow sign saying 'bomb.' I did not know what it was about, he said. When Judge Ya Sokhan asked him if he had accompanied Hambali to the British Embassy, he replied: I did not even know where the embassy is located. The judge is expected to deliver a verdict today. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cambodia29dec29,1,38141 30,print.story) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Attack With Dirty Bomb More Likely, Officials Say
Attack With Dirty Bomb More Likely, Officials Say By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 29, 2004; Page A06 Often called a weapon of mass disruption, not destruction, a dirty bomb -- which uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive material -- causes far fewer casualties than a nuclear explosion. But because such devices are easier to assemble and the ingredients are readily available, government officials and terrorism experts consider a dirty-bomb attack more likely than a terrorist nuclear strike. You would need a stick of dynamite and the kind of radioactive source you find in a common smoke detector, said Charles D. Ferguson, co-author of The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism. There have been several alleged attempts to carry out a dirty-bomb attack. In June 2002, U.S. authorities arrested Jose Padilla, a former gang member from Brooklyn, on charges of plotting a dirty-bomb strike in the United States on behalf of al Qaeda. Last December, the Department of Energy dispatched scores of nuclear scientists with sophisticated detection equipment to scour several major cities for radiological bombs. In September, British police arrested four men suspected of plotting to set off a dirty bomb in London. Any person who could build a car bomb or suicide bomb, like the ones we've seen in Iraq or other places, could couple that to radioactive materials and that is it, Ferguson said. Such an attack can be carried out by detonating a small conventional bomb that spews the radioactive material and radiation across a small area. John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control, said in an interview that the availability of radiological sources presents a significant risk, and that both the United States and the rest of the world have not paid enough attention to this question. Everybody needs to do more work on that. Americium, which is found in smoke detectors, is one of eight types of radioactive sources suitable for bombs. Four sources cause external injuries to skin and eyes, and three others, plus americium, can cause extensive internal damage, as well. Terrorists would need less than a gram of any one of the sources to build a dirty bomb, but the trace amounts found in everyday products are so minuscule that plotters would need more than 1 million smoke detectors to get enough americium for a weapon. Even if a terrorist was able to assemble, plant and detonate a dirty bomb, officials and experts agree the damage would be more psychological than lethal. The real effects would be economic shutdown due to contamination, as well as the social and psychological fear created, Ferguson said. C 2004 The Washington Post Company http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32310-2004Dec28?language=printer Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Nuclear Capabilities May Elude Terrorists, Experts Say
Nuclear Capabilities May Elude Terrorists, Experts Say By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 29, 2004; Page A01 Of all the clues that Osama bin Laden is after a nuclear weapon, perhaps the most significant came in intelligence reports indicating that he received fresh approval last year from a Saudi cleric for the use of a doomsday bomb against the United States. For bin Laden, the religious ruling was a milestone in a long quest for an atomic weapon. For U.S. officials and others, it was a frightening reminder of what many consider the ultimate mass-casualty threat posed by modern terrorists. Even a small nuclear weapon detonated in a major American population center would be among history's most lethal acts of war, potentially rivaling the atomic destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Despite the obvious gravity of the threat, however, counterterrorism and nuclear experts in and out of government say they consider the danger more distant than immediate. They point to enormous technical and logistical obstacles confronting would-be nuclear terrorists, and to the fact that neither al Qaeda nor any other group has come close to demonstrating the means to overcome them. So difficult are the challenges that senior officials on President Bush's national security team believe al Qaeda has shifted its attention to other efforts, at least for now. I would say that from the perspective of terrorism, the overwhelming bulk of the evidence we have is that their efforts are focused on biological and chemical weapons, said John R. Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. Not to say there aren't any dealings with radiological materials, but the technology for bio and chem is comparatively so much easier that that's where their efforts are concentrating. Still, the sheer magnitude of the danger posed by a nuclear weapon in terrorist hands -- and classified intelligence assessments that deem such a scenario plausible -- has spurred intelligence and military operations to combat a threat once dismissed as all but nonexistent. The effort includes billions of dollars spent on attempts to secure borders, retrain weapons scientists in other countries and lock up dangerous materials and stockpiles. The thing to keep in mind is that while it is extremely difficult, we have highly motivated and intelligent people who would like to do it, said Daniel Benjamin, a former National Security Council staff member and senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Each type of weapon of mass destruction -- nuclear, biological and chemical -- presents special challenges for the groups seeking to acquire them, but also opportunities that can be exploited by people determined to unleash their awesome destructive powers. This is the first of three articles aimed at exploring those risks and challenges. Difficult Course Without sophisticated laboratories, expensive technology and years of scientific experience, al Qaeda has two primary options for getting a bomb, experts say, both of which rely on theft -- either of an existing weapon or one of its key ingredients, plutonium or highly enriched uranium. Nuclear scientists tend to believe the most plausible route for terrorists would be to build a crude device using stolen uranium from the former Soviet Union. Counterterrorism officials think bin Laden would prefer to buy a ready-made weapon stolen in Russia or Pakistan, and to obtain inside help in detonating it. Last month, Michael Scheuer, who ran the CIA's bin Laden unit, first disclosed in an interview on CBS's 60 Minutes that bin Laden's nuclear efforts had been blessed by the Saudi cleric in May 2003, a statement other sources later corroborated. As early as 1998, bin Laden had publicly labeled acquisition of nuclear or chemical weapons a religious duty, and U.S. officials had reports around that time that al Qaeda leaders were discussing attacks they likened to the one on Hiroshima. A week after his CBS appearance, Scheuer said at breakfast with reporters in Washington that he believed al Qaeda would probably seek to buy a nuclear device from Russian gangsters, rather than build its own. There were as many as a dozen types of nuclear weapons in the hands of the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War, but Russian officials have said that several kinds have since been destroyed and that the country has secured the remainder of its arsenal. The nature and scope of nuclear caches are among the most tightly held national security secrets in Russia and Pakistan. It is unclear how quickly either country could detect a theft, but experts said it would be very difficult for terrorists to figure out on their own how to work a Russian or Pakistani bomb. Newer Russian weapons, for example, are equipped with heat- and time-sensitive locking systems, known as permissive action links, that experts say would be extremely difficult to defeat
[osint] Asia's Top Terror Suspect Hambali Tried
December 28, 2004 Asia's Top Terror Suspect Hambali Tried By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Filed at 11:04 p.m. ET PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) -- Asia's top terror suspect, the al-Qaida linked Islamic militant Hambali, was put on trial in absentia Tuesday along with other suspects on charges of attempted murder in an alleged plot to bomb targets in Cambodia. Hambali is in U.S. custody at an undisclosed location after his arrest in Thailand in August. Two other foreigners, identified only as Rousha Yasser and Ibrahim, were also being tried in absentia while four suspects were in court Tuesday. The four suspects in court -- Esam Mohammed Khidr Ali of Egypt, Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Muhammad Yalaludin Mading of Thailand, and Cambodian national Sman Ismael -- were arrested in May and June 2003 for alleged links with Jemaah Islamiyah, al-Qaida's Southeast Asian arm. The charges of attempted murder and terrorism carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. The four denied the charges Tuesday and said they were doing charity work in Cambodia. Police accused the four of using a Saudi-funded school outside the capital Phnom Penh as a cover for a terrorist training operation, where they allegedly plotted attacks against the U.S. and British embassies in Cambodia. Hambali, an Indonesian whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, reportedly spent several months in Cambodia in 2002. He is accused of trying to use the country as a base to launch regional terror attacks. Prosecutor Yet Chakriya said Hambali also taught the other suspects how to detonate explosives. Yet Chakriya said the suspects also helped hide Hambali while he was in Cambodia. Judge Ya Sokhan said he will deliver a verdict on Wednesday. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Cambodia-Terror-Trial.html? pagewanted=printposition= Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Colombia Cartel Suspect Is Seized
(12/29/2004): THE WORLD Colombia Cartel Suspect Is Seized From Associated Press December 29, 2004 BOGOTA, Colombia - Police captured a reputed leader of the Norte del Valle drug cartel Tuesday in a U.S.-backed effort to dismantle the gang. Dagoberto Florez was on a most-wanted list of alleged cocaine kingpins sought by U.S. authorities under a court order handed down in New York in May. The U.S. government had offered a $5-million reward for his capture. Police seized Florez early Tuesday in a rural area outside Medellin, Colombia's second-largest city, the national police chief, Gen. Jorge Daniel Castro, told reporters. He declined to provide details on the capture and said it had not been decided who, if anyone, would receive the reward money. Florez was among nine reputed Norte del Valle cartel leaders sought for extradition after U.S. investigators traced a money trail from three small wire transfer businesses in New York to cartel leaders in Colombia. Florez was the second on the list to be captured, following the arrest in October of Gabriel Puerta-Parra. In its heyday in the late 1990s, the Norte del Valle, named for the region of Colombia where the cartel originated, trafficked about half of the cocaine sold in the U.S. The U.S. government says the cartel exported $10 billion worth of cocaine in the last 15 years. Under President Alvaro Uribe, a strong Washington ally, Colombia has extradited more than 100 alleged drug traffickers to the U.S. This month, he extradited Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela, a co-leader of the dismantled Cali cartel, considered the most powerful drug trafficker ever sent to a U.S. prison. (http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-colomb29dec29,1,4232641 ,print.story?coll=la-headlines-world) Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] False friends
http://jewishworldreview.com/cols/gaffney1.asp Dec. 28, 2004 / 16 Teves 5765 Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. False friends During the recent presidential campaign, Sen. John Kerry assailed President Bush for alienating key U.S. allies, evidence he maintained of the incumbent's lack of foreign policy acumen and an arena in which the challenger insisted he could do better. Implicit in this critique was the belief that such allies - notably, the French - were anxious to be our friends, if they were not mistreated by America's leader. In fact, it is increasingly clear the French government under President Jacques Chirac is bent on policies antithetical to U.S. interests. They are not simply anti-Bush, they are anti-American and anti-Atlaniticist. The latest example is Mr. Chirac's determination to have French and other European weapons manufacturers arm Communist China as part of what he has called a necessary rebalancing of the 'grand triangle' formed by America, Europe and Asia. This is, of course, hardly the first time that French policy toward the United States has been defined by balance-of-power considerations. Indeed, the decisive assistance of France to the American Revolution did not reflect affection for those bent on ending royal misrule - a phenomenon its own king would be murderously subjected to soon after. Rather, the motivation was to weaken France's age-old rival, Britain, by helping to cut loose her American Colonies and sapping her wealth in a costly war to bring them to heel. Just a few years later, though, weakening the United States seemed in France's interest. France engaged in predatory acts against American shipping and backed subversion here at home, culminating in the so-called XYZ Affair that roiled Franco-American relations in this country's earliest days. In the 19th century, the French helped Southern secessionists and would have recognized their independent Confederacy had timely and decisive Union victories not made it clear which side would prevail. Nearly a hundred years later, President Charles de Gaulle repaid U.S. help in the liberation of France by cultivating close ties with the Soviet Union and expelling NATO headquarters from Paris. Jacques Chirac was no less troubled by notions of alliance solidarity when the French government reportedly assured Saddam Hussein it would oppose any U.N. authorization of the use of force against his regime. Seen against this backdrop, Mr. Chirac's calculation that Europe must strengthen China militarily at America's expense is not just a one-off betrayal of an ally. It is part of a geostrategic tradition that renders France, at best, an unreliable partner in international affairs and, at worst, what the French call a faux ami, or false friend. Unfortunately, as this column has noted repeatedly in recent months, France is striving to impose its strain of anti-Americanism on other European states that have traditionally preferred the trans-Atlantic partnership to French or Franco-German domination of their Continent's affairs. The principal vehicle for enforcing the latter over unwilling states - notably, Great Britain and nations Don Rumsfeld has described as New Europe - is the new European Constitution. If this draft constitution is ratified by voters in Britain, France and a half-dozen other countries, the European Union will have authority to define and implement a common foreign and security policy, including the progressive framing of a common defense policy. The U.S. can forget about special relationships and strong bilateral ties, let alone coalitions of the willing, with states bound by such a compact. Even before such an authority gets conferred upon unaccountable bureaucrats in Brussels, Paris is working on a dress rehearsal: its bid to rebalance American power by augmenting that of Communist China. France and the EU's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, are pushing hard for lifting an embargo on arms sales to Communist China imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre. All other things being equal, the French and Germans expect, with help from a double-dealing British government, to dispense by next spring with opposition to such a step from the Netherlands, New European states like Lithuania and the European Parliament. The implications of European weapons manufacturers joining Russia in arming China to the teeth are quite worrisome. Thoughtful observers, like acclaimed author Mark Helprin, warn of China's rising application of its immense accumulated wealth to strategic advantage. The latter include: neutralizing U.S. dominance in space and information technology (Chinese acquisition of IBM's personal computer division is not an accident); moving aggressively to dominate the world's critical minerals and other resources
[osint] In war on terrorism, U.S. drafts shops to be on guard
--- begin forwarded text Date: Wed, 29 Dec 2004 10:07:46 -0800 To: R. A. Hettinga [EMAIL PROTECTED] From: Vinnie Moscaritolo [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: In war on terrorism, U.S. drafts shops to be on guard In war on terrorism, U.S. drafts shops to be on guard By Steve Johnson Knight Ridder Newspapers SAN JOSE, Calif. - It may surprise some people to learn that one of the linchpins in this nation's war on terrorism is the Bin Barrel Mini Mart in Fremont, Calif. Manager Sonia Cheema certainly was when her dad bought the store in October. Under federal rules still being fine-tuned, she discovered, the Bin Barrel - like thousands of other businesses - must have a written plan for foiling money-laundering terrorists. It also must have a compliance officer to ensure the plan is heeded, train its employees to spot shady transactions and regularly audit its own performance. That's not all. While not widely known, the Bin Barrel and every other U.S. business must steer clear of people on the government's 192-page list of specially designated nationals, which has more than 5,000 names and is updated frequently. Otherwise, business people could face huge fines and a long stay in prison. Oh gosh! Imagine one person coming to cash a check and going through a list, said the 25-year-old Cheema, who has temporarily stopped cashing checks and processing money orders, at least until she understands the federal rules better. It's going to be a lot of work. ... I don't think it's worth it. Previously, banks were pretty much the only businesses that had to worry about money launderers. But that changed after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11. On Sept. 24, 2001, President Bush signed an executive order barring business dealings with anyone on the specially designated list, which includes the names and aliases of suspected terrorists, drug kingpins and their associates. Those failing to comply can be fined $10 million and jailed up to 10 years. That was followed a month later by enactment of the USA Patriot Act, which forces financial institutions- broadly defined to include everything from liquor stores to pawn shops - to have detailed programs for combating money launderers. Under its enforcement provisions, business operators face potential $500,000 fines and 10-year prison terms. The Patriot Act already is in effect for casinos, mutual funds, credit-card firms, banks and money service businesses like the Bin Barrel, which offer such things as check cashing and money transfers. Still others - jewelers, vehicle dealers, travel agents, loan companies, investment firms and people involved in real estate closings - are waiting for the government to issue their regulations under the act. As word about the law spreads, many business people don't like what they are hearing. A lot of our members are just starting to wake up to all of the things they are required to do, said Karen Penafiel, assistant vice president for advocacy for the Building Owners Managers Association International. When the group's executive committee held a briefing on the act in November, she said, there was a sense that, 'you've got to be kidding.' Expecting businesses - especially tiny ones - to keep track of terrorists strikes some people as silly. It's just lame, said Pat Kennedy, who owns Alpine Recreation, a Morgan Hill, Calif., RV dealership. I'm trying to imagine any local terrorist picking up his motor home and doing a little camping. Palo Alto, Calif., attorney Jonathan Axelrad has similar concerns about the law's potential application to venture capital funds. Forcing the funds' managers to monitor money laundering would simply be an expensive, unnecessary burden, he said, because the risks and withdrawal limits of such investments would likely be unattractive to terrorists. But terrorists are capable of using a wide range of businesses and purchases - including recreational vehicles - to hide their assets, according to federal officials, who insist the new rules already are paying off. They note that from Feb. 18, 2003, through Nov. 9, 2004, they received tips from various financial institutions about suspicious activity in 129 terrorism-related cases. That resulted in 648 grand jury subpoenas, nine arrests and two indictments. Even so, compliance with the act has been spotty so far. William Fox, director of the U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, told Congress in September that only 21,058 of the estimated 200,000 money service businesses nationwide had registered with his agency, as required under the Patriot Act. Although firms that handle small transactions are exempt under the law, he testified, we believe there are a significant number of money services business required to register that have failed to do so. The reason for that isn't clear. But even among companies that have heard of the law, many remain perplexed about its provisions. There is mass
[osint] LAX Preps Against Shoulder-Fired Missiles
http://www.aviationnow.com/avnow/news/channel_airports_story.jsp?id=news/LAX 12214.xml LAX Preps Against Shoulder-Fired Missiles By Kimberly Johnson 12/21/2004 08:23:53 AM Perimeter and air patrols are being beefed up at Los Angeles International as defense against possible shoulder-fired missile attacks on commercial aircraft, a top security official said. Security officials are undergoing training specific for that threat, and additional helicopter patrols are being deployed, John Miller, head of the Los Angeles Police Department's counterterrorism bureau, told Airports Friday. While air patrols would not be able to counter a launched missile strike, they could give officials an important vantage point over the adjacent waterfront. And, Miller added, if an attack were launched several miles away, an air patrol could trace the contrails back to the assailants. This is something terrorists are already trying, Miller said. Miller noted that shoulder-fired missiles have been used against commercial flights in recent years, most recently against a cargo plane at Baghdad International. About 20,000 shoulder-fired missiles are on the black market, and no one knows how many could have been smuggled into the U.S., he said. Lawmakers on Capitol Hill recognize the threat and included a provision in the intelligence reform bill to press the President to use diplomacy to limit proliferation. They also called on FAA to expedite airworthiness certification for aircraft defense systems. President Bush signed the bill into law last week. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Early data on Asian quake went unnoticed in Vienna [eurocrats on vacation]
http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/12/28/news/nuke.html Early data on Asian quake went unnoticed in Vienna By Thomas Fuller International Herald Tribune Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Early on Sunday morning, powerful computers in a Vienna office building received seismic data on the earthquake that spawned the devastating tsunamis across south Asia - information that might have saved lives in the hours between the quake and the waves hitting the coasts of Sri Lanka, India and several other countries. . But the data streaming into the computers of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization served no purpose Sunday. . The 300 staff are on vacation until Jan. 4. The organization itself is still nothing more than a nascent group of seismic experts and bureaucrats who await signature or ratification on the test ban treaty from 11 more countries before they can officially act. . The organization uses a vast network of scientific equipment set up to monitor nuclear explosions, but as fine a measure of nature's force as devised by the humans who have proven so powerless before it. . A spokeswoman for the organization, Daniela Rozgonova, said Tuesday that she hoped the world would now see the wider uses of the seismic sensors. She said equipment maintained by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty Organization could help scientists better understand natural disasters. . The discussion is not finished yet about how much of the data can be released, Rozgonova said. I suppose that events like this might speed things up. . Countries like China consider the data collected by the organization as secretive and have resisted its dissemination. . More importantly, the United States has still not ratified the agreement on which the organization is based; India and Pakistan, both declared nuclear powers, have not even signed it; and North Korea, a country now suspected of having material for nuclear weapons, is not a party to the treaty. . Even if such barriers fell, the Vienna-based group would need to change substantially before it became an instrument to monitor earthquakes. . On a very basic level, the organization would have to become a 24-hour operation with continuous staffing through the Christmas and New Year vacation period. Analysts would have to speed up their processing of data, which now takes an average of 24 hours, according to Rozgonova. . The group's officials have long noted that their organization, which has an annual budget of $100 million, is sitting on equipment that could save lives. A document produced by the organization in 2002 lays out dozens of civilian uses for its monitoring devices - everything from alerting countries to tsunamis to tracking the creation of icebergs and underwater volcanoes. . The Vienna office receives data from 300 monitoring points around the globe. The organization checks for changes in seismic activity, underwater disturbances caused by nuclear devices and particulate matter in the air. . Phil McFadden, chief scientist of Geoscience Australia, a government funded organization that monitors earthquakes, said the seismic information was by far the most useful. . McFadden said organizations in Australia, Britain and the United States relied on seismic monitors set up by the Vienna group, but that many countries were not set up to receive the data. . On Sunday, Geoscience Australia issued an alert in Australia 33 minutes after the earthquake struck saying there was a risk of tsunami, McFadden said, but there was no one to receive the message in affected countries. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for
[osint] Terrorist: West must stop equating Jihad with terrorism
http://www.paktribune.com/news/index.php?id=88520 Coming from a bin Laden ally and terrorist this is rich! Bruce West must stop equating Jihad with terrorism: Fazl Wednesday December 29, 2004 (1414 PST) ISLAMABAD, December 30 (Online): Maulana Fazlur Rehman, opposition leader in the Lower House on Wednesday called upon Western world to stop equating 'Jihad' with terrorism. Talking to Mayor of Italy Mr Lostanio at his (Fazl) residence here he said that religious parties of Pakistan are trying to play their role in settling the difference between Islam and West through negotiations. They discussed hosts of issues including role of international community in war against terrorism and bilateral relations between Pakistan and Italy. International community must address the real causes behind terrorism, he noted. Maulana Fazl said that terming Jehad a form of terrorism is wrong interpretation of Holy War and people fighting in Palestine and Kashmir are freedom fighters, they are not terrorists. Pakistan is providing political diplomatic and moral support to people of these areas, he held and added if international community will not do its duty in resolving these issue then people of these nations have no other choice left but to continue their struggle for freedom by waging wars against oppressors. He said religious parties favour peaceful political atmosphere in the country and are against any kind of repression. We want to settle all issues through negotiations, he maintained. Islamic TV channel to be launched to counter anti Islam propaganda: Durrani State minister for sports, culture and youth affairs, Muhammad Ali Durrani has said that Islamic Satellite TV Channel will soon be launched to counter anti Islam vicious propaganda blitz being unleashed by western media. He told this in a press briefing here Wednesday after the meeting of culture ministers of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) member country in PID Media centre. Outlining the objective of meeting he pointed out that OIC cultural conference was organised to highlight cultural of member countries of OIC. Pakistan also attended it. He regretted that western media was engaged in launching propaganda campaign against Islam. Therefore, it was imperative to convene a conference for promotion of vision of enlightened moderation. Resolutions were presented in the conference on enlightenment and moderation. Final approval will be accorded in this respect after a month, he stated. He informed that conference has talked of highlighting the intra cultural activities. Pakistan will hold a cultural festival on March 23 in Algeria. He told that Algerian president will also visit Pakistan for bolstering bilateral co-operation in different areas of activities. About his meeting with OIC secretary general he said that it has remained productive. The matters related to Islamic countries were discussed in depth in the conference. Durrani underlined that implementation of all the decisions taken in conference will be ensured and funds will also be collected in this regard. It is need of hour to make OIC vibrant so that positive activities could be promoted in Islamic countries without wasting time, he urged. End. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL
[osint] Agencies Clash on Fingerprint Database
are checked. ___ On the Net: Justice Department inspector general: www.usdoj.gov/oig http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/ap/20041229/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/finge rprints_database_5 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Failed bomb attack a terrorist plot - Aglipay
Failed bomb attack a terrorist plot - Aglipay By Christina Mendez The Philippine Star 12/29/2004 The bomb planted at the G-liner passenger bus on Christmas Eve in Manila could have killed all its passengers had it not been discovered an before its timed explosion, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Edgar Aglipay said yesterday. Aglipay issued the statement following Monday's shootout inside the old PNP Intelligence Group building at Camp Crame that killed PO1 Rolando Nolasco and bombing suspect Allan Borlagdatan, a member of the Rajah Sulaiman movement with alleged links to the international terror group Jemaah Islamiya. The improvised explosive device (IED) planted on that bus was not only meant to scare. It was designated purposely to cause death and destruction considering the type of explosives used and the selection of the target, he added. This was the first time that the PNP admitted that the Dec. 24 foiled bomb attack was part of a move to terrorize Metro Manila. We are thankful that the bomb was discovered a before it could detonate. Had the bomb detonated, it would have destroyed the bus and killed all its passengers, Aglipay said. Borlagdatan, also known by his Muslim name Abdul Hakim and believed to be a member of the Rajah Suliman movement with alleged links to the international terror group Jemaah Islamiya, allegedly grabbed the M-16 rifle of PO1 Rolando Nolasco and shot the officer dead while he was being escorted to his detention cell, but he was gunned down by another officer after ignoring orders to surrender. Borlagdatan sustained five bullet wounds from M-16 rifles while Nolasco sustained two bullet wounds coming from his own service firearm, a caliber .45 pistol. Aglipay, however, refused to immediately link Borlagdatan to the JI terror cell operating in the Southeast Asian region, pending results of follow-up operations. We leave that for our investigators to determine. We are tracking down other suspects in the incident, he said. Aglipay said intelligence agents who arrested Borlagdatan last Monday in Valenzuela found a caliber .38 revolver and several SIM cards with names of his believed contacts in Metro Manila and Mindanao in his possession. These cell cards from different cellular phone companies are now being examined, he said. Intelligence officials admitted that they have doubled monitoring activities of extremist groups in a bid to thwart any retaliatory attack as an offshoot of Borlagdatan's death. Meanwhile, quoting reports from Western Police District (WPD) director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong, police said the design of the device (used in the Dec. 24 foiled bomb attack) is similar to other bombs that were exploded and recovered in past bombing incidents of suspected JI and Abu Sayyaf groups. Police said the comparison was arrived at after the WPD explosives team coordinated with experts from the US Embassy, which found that the chemical composition was trinitrotoluene or TNT. A huge amount of TNT powder were also used in the Rizal Day bombings that ripped a passenger bus in Cubao, Quezon City and an LRT coach in Blumentritt station, and exploded in Plaza Ferguson across the US Embassy in Manila, a vacant lot near a gasoline station in Makati City, and the cargo terminal of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City on Dec. 30, 2000. As this developed, Borlagdatan's family cried foul over police's accusations that the man was linked to terrorist groups engaged in plotting bomb attacks in Metro Manila. Mabait siyang tao. Nabigla kaming lahat na patay na siya. Walang katotohanan na siya ay terorista. Muslim siyang maiituring pero hindi siya terorista (He is a kind person. We were all shocked with news of his death. He may be a Muslim but he is not a terrorist), said the victim's uncle, Judy Nastor, 28, a member of the Iglesia ni Cristo. Nastor was with his mother, Eufemia, and other relatives at the St. Ignatius Chapel across Camp Crame yesterday to get the remains of Borlagdatan who was set to be buried in Islamic rites at the Muslim cemetery in Maharlika Village in Taguig yesterday. Nastor also denied police claims that Borlagdatan was arrested in their residence in Barangay Paso de Blas in Valenzuela. We were supposed to fetch him at the (North Luzon) tollgate (exit) but we did not see him decided to go home, Nastor said, adding that Borlagdatan even sent a text message that he was arriving yesterday afternoon to spend the New Year celebration with them. In a press conference yesterday morning, Aglipay, however, said Borlagdatan was arrested on May 2, 2002, along with Redendo Cain Dellos, Dawid del Rosario Santos, Pio Abagne de Vera, Marcelo Egil and Angelito Trinidad at the Madrasah Islamic School in Barangay Malag, Ando town when retired general Reynaldo Berroya was the regional director of Central Luzon. He jumped bail and went into hiding, police said. - Christina Mendez
[osint] Asia Vigilant for Terror Attacks
Asia Vigilant for Terror Attacks Wed Dec 29,11:38 AM ET World - AP Asia By PAUL ALEXANDER, Associated Press Writer MANILA, Philippines - Security forces on alert for possible terrorist attacks in Southeast Asia during the Christmas-New Year holidays are trying to remain vigilant, although their focus has shifted to coping with the tsunami that has devastated regional coastlines. Dealing with the disaster aftermath across the region with about a dozen countries affected by Sunday's earthquake and resulting tsunami divides attention, said senior Supt. Rodolfo Mendoza, head of the Philippine National Police's anti-terrorism office. We have a certain degree of vulnerability, he added, suggesting terror groups might try to take advantage of the chaos as attackers did recently in his country. While the Philippines was spared the havoc that its neighbors have suffered this week, it was still recovering from brutal storms that killed over 1,000 people when a large timebomb was found on a bus in Manila on Christmas Eve, just before it was set to explode. These people don't care. The most important thing is that they can wreak havoc on their targets, Mendoza said. Terrorists don't consider human suffering because they're actually aspiring for this suffering to happen. Still, terrorist or militant groups face the same limits on their movements as anyone else because local infrastructure has been destroyed, noted Bradley Allan, a security consultant. Even the militants, terrorists, have been caught off-guard, said Allan, a Hong Kong-based executive at the U.S. security consulting company Pinkerton. Their infrastructure is being as damaged as everyone else's. Allan said it's also unlikely that terrorists or militants will attack U.S. or local government troops providing relief because it hurts their public image. To survive, these insurgent, terrorist groups need a certain amount of popular support, Allan said. There's no way it could be justified. A Philippine National Police intelligence officer involved in anti-terrorist operations disagreed, saying local terrorist groups have a standing list of targets and often it's just a matter of waiting for the right time to strike. The disaster has added to the poverty and disillusionment that can provide the breeding grounds for terrorist recruitment, however. Police in Indonesian - which has been hardest hit by the earthquake and tsunami - had undertaken a massive security operation at churches, malls and hotels amid warnings that Islamic terrorists were planning holiday attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. Lt. Col. Triwuri Yani, a police spokeswoman in Jakarta, dismissed any concerns about terrorism related to the quake. But she said Wednesday that authorities remained on alert. We hope there will be no more terrorist attacks with this earthquake, but we have to be alert, Yani said. We have to be careful with everyone celebrating the holiday, but we have been on increased alert since before Christmas. The areas that were worst hit this week were generally not hotbeds of terrorism. Indonesia's badly hit Aceh province is home to a long, bloody separatist movement, but the rebels have rebuffed overtures from the regional al-Qaida-linked terror group Jemaah Islamiyah. Thailand has been suffering attacks by Muslim insurgents in the country's deep south. Documents recently found at the house of a fugitive Islamic insurgent leader indicated plans were developing to spread attacks against tourist resorts in other parts of the country, but disaster areas have had no reports to indicate they are moving in now. Security officials in Malaysia said they also remain on high alert. A security official said many foreign tourists remain at Malaysian holiday resorts after the tsunami but there's adequate security to protect them. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said there's little chance Jemaah Islamiyah could carry out an attack because the movement has been badly crippled there by crackdowns on the group and its affiliates. __ Associated Press writers Min Lee in Hong Kong, Irwan Firdaus in Jakarta, Jim Gomez in Manila, Jasbant Singh in Kula Lumpur and Denis Gray in Bangkok contributed to this report. http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=storyu=/ap/20041229/ap_on_re_as/tsunami_ter rorism_2 Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted
[osint] Deconstructing the Bin Laden Tapes
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/6766600/site/newsweek/ Deconstructing the Bin Laden Tapes The messages are coming more frequently now and have a new tone. Does that mean a new U.S. attack is imminent? WEB-EXCLUSIVE COMMENTARY By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball Newsweek Updated: 5:36 p.m. ET Dec. 29, 2004 Dec. 29 - The two big explosions that rocked the capital of Saudi Arabia Wednesday evening reinforce concerns among U.S. intelligence analysts that Osama bin Laden's increasingly frequent broadcast messages are still finding a receptive audience in the Arab world. The latest bombings in Riyadh-including one apparent car bomb near the Saudi Interior Ministry-come less than two weeks after an audiotape by the Al Qaeda leader blasted the Saudi rulers for violating God's rules. The tape also praised as our brothers the men who attacked the U.S. consulate in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia earlier this month. The sins the [Saudi] regime committed are great...It practiced injustices against the people, violating their rights, humiliating their pride, Bin Laden said in the audiotape that first appeared on Dec. 16. The Saudi royal family, he asserted, was misspending public money while millions of people are suffering from poverty and deprivation. On Tuesday, another bin Laden tape surfaced, this one endorsing the Iraqi insurgency and declaring holy war on U.S. and Iraqi forces trying to safeguard the election. Less than 24 hours later, 28 people were killed in Baghdad, when insurgents detonated three-quarters of a ton of explosives in a house that police were raiding, flattening neighboring homes. Proving a direct connection between bin Laden's taped messages and any particular terrorist attacks is difficult, if not impossible. Still, the latest developments are almost certain to bolster those analysts who argue the alarming spate of recent bin Laden messages are a harbinger of more attacks to come-rather than, as some Bush administration officials have argued, the desperate last gasps of a cowering, isolated terrorist leader trying to prove his relevance. The debate over what bin Laden is up to has intensified in recent weeks with a seemingly unprecedented public relations campaign by the Al Qaeda leader. In all, bin Laden and his chief deputy, Ayman Al-Zawahiri, will have released 11 different audio and video missives in 2004. Those messages-an average of one every six weeks-are coming at twice the rate of recent years, according to a chronology prepared by the Reuters news agency. In 2003, for example, bin Laden appeared in just four audio messages and in one video, in which he and Zawahiri appeared together taking a leisurely hike through an unidentified mountainside. In 2002, international media broadcast six bin Laden audio or video messages (including an Al Jazeera interview with bin Laden). But at least some of those 2002 messages contained time references that were so generic or non-specific that they actually fed speculation that bin Laden could be dead. Dec. 29 - Lately, the Al Qaeda leader has been anything but non-specific. Starting with a startling audiotape played by Al Jazeera just days before the U.S. presidential election-in which he made references to alleged war profiteering by Halliburton, the firm formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney-bin Laden has repeatedly sought to inject himself squarely into political debates in the United States and throughout the Arab world. But reaching a consensus on what these tapes mean has proven just as elusive as finding bin Laden himself. Some U.S. intelligence and policy officials argue that the tapes demonstrate that bin Laden is unable to order or carry out attacks himself and that he has been reduced to a sidelines role as Islamic jihad's most prominent cheerleader. In his most recent messages-including the Dec. 16 audio blessing the Jeddah attack and the Dec. 27 tape praising the Iraqi jihadi leader Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi-bin Laden has tried to associate Al Qaeda with terror attacks perpetrated by local groups. An intelligence official noted that one theme that was present in bin Laden's messages before and immediately after 9/11-that Americans are wimps who don't have the spiritual fortitude to stand up to the aspirations of fierce and righteous Islamic warriors-has now vanished from bin Laden and Zawahiri's more recent messages. What this means is that we're winning, said a Bush Administration official. But other experts sharply dispute this analysis. Michael Scheuer, a former chief of the CIA's bin Laden unit who recently left the agency after publishing Imperial Hubris, a book critical of the Bush administration anti-terror policy, says that benign analysis is wishful thinking. Scheuer believes recent bin Laden and Zawahiri messages suggest that the Al Qaeda leadership has now decided to go ahead with another huge attack inside the United States. Scheuer says that the ease and frequency with which bin Laden and Zawahiri recently have
[osint] Sex for Food
http://online.wsj.com/article_print/0,,SB110428235654211678,00.html The Wall Street Journal December 29, 2004 REVIEW OUTLOOK Sex for Food December 29, 2004; Page A8 Two years after the charges first surfaced, Kofi Annan has finally admitted that U.N. peacekeeping troops sexually abused war refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am really shocked by these accusations, the United Nations Secretary-General told reporters last week. He shouldn't be. Allegations of sex crimes committed by U.N. staff and troops date back at least a decade and span operations on three continents, in places like Kosovo, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Cambodia. But rather than showing the kind of zero tolerance toward sexual crimes that Mr. Annan now promises, the U.N. has treated such instances with cavalier nonchalance. In Congo, some 150 cases are under investigation. The charges range from rape, in which some victims were children, to sexual exploitation. In some cases, women and young girls have been coaxed into sex in exchange for essential food items. A French U.N. staffer was arrested for raping underage girls and taking digital pictures of them. He has been sent back home where he will stand trial. U.N. officials reportedly are worried that if these pictures and other rape videos allegedly shot by U.N. troops find their way into the media, it could become the U.N.'s Abu Ghraib. The difference, of course, is that the abuses in Iraq came quickly to light through the chain of command and were immediately prosecuted by the U.S. military. In contrast, the U.N. is investigating the cases in Congo only after much delay and even now is unwilling to name and shame the countries whose soldiers committed these crimes. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Most Russians miss Soviet Union
http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041229-025404-5878r.htm December 29, 2004 Most Russians miss Soviet Union Moscow, Russia, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Two-thirds of Russians miss the Soviet Union and are sorry it is gone, Interfax news agency reported Wednesday. A new opinion poll from the Yuri Levada Analytical Center, also known as VTsIOM, said 67 percent of Russia's population regret the collapse of the Soviet Union. However, the poll also found 58 percent of Russians consider their country's relations with the 11 other former Soviet republics in the Commonwealth of Independent States normal, friendly or good-neighborly. The VTsIOM poll found 26 percent of Russians were glad the Soviet Union fell apart at the end of 1991, the news agency said. The report did not say how many people were sampled in the survey, but VTsIOM usually interviews about 2,000 people in statistically samplings across Russia in both cities and rural areas. VTsIOM is widely regarded as the most respected Russian opinion polling organization. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Iraqi police face new terror threat as 30 die in booby-trapped house
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1419007,00.html The outlook from the US military is almost as bleak. Brigadier-General Jeffery Hammond, deputy commander of US forces in Baghdad, said that extremists would step up their strikes in the run-up to elections on January 30. The Iraqi interim parliament said that the terrorists wanted to provoke a civil war and it urged Iraqis to maintain their national unity. Yet the Government's message is little more than a call to Iraqis to grit their teeth and weather the violence as best they can. # US forces have captured a man described as a senior commander of a militant group linked to al-Qaeda, the Iraqi Government said. The 33-year-old Iraqi was a leader of the hitherto unknown Abu Talha group, affiliated to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whom Osama bin Laden endorsed this week as his lieutenant in Iraq. In Mosul yesterday car bombs were used to attack a US patrol and a combat outpost. Fifty insurgents then raided the outpost. US soldiers killed at least 25 people; 15 Americans were injured. In Baghdad two Lebanese businessmen were kidnapped by armed men who broke into a house in an upmarket suburb yesterday.Iraqi police face new terror threat as 30 die in booby-trapped house From James Hider in Baghdad FIRST there was the car bomb, the scourge of the police; now the escalating insurgency in Iraq has thrown a new terror against struggling security forces: the house bomb. As police stormed an insurgent safe house in western Baghdad on Tuesday night, the building exploded on their heads, killing six officers and wiping out entire families asleep in neighbouring homes. In all, 30 people are thought to have died in the blast, with more than 20 wounded. Three adjacent houses were destroyed. US soldiers and Iraqi police scrambled all night through the debris, pulling one civilian alive from the ruins. Police were investigating whether they had been lured into a trap after officers said that the patrolmen had been tricked by an anonymous tip-off that led them to their deaths in Ghazaliya, a predominantly Sunni district where guerrillas are known to operate. It seems to have been a trap, one police officer said. The house was turned into a bomb. Colonel Adnan Abdelrahman, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said that the police had moved in to the area after local people complained that a gunman was firing on people from the roof at about 10pm on Tuesday. He said that all the patrolmen who responded to the call were killed. The US Army said that the blast was caused by almost two tons of explosives, leading them to believe that the house may have been an insurgents' bomb-making factory. Iraqi police said that they suspected that foreign fighters may have been involved in setting the booby-trap and were examining whether the blast had been detonated by a suicide bomber or remote control. When US Marines invaded the rebel-held city of Fallujah last month, their greatest concern was that guerrillas could have rigged buildings to explode as their troops went in. That did not happen, but the sudden rise in attacks in the past week, with scores killed, has raised concerns that the Fallujah offensive failed to break the insurgency. The Ghazaliya blast ended a day on which 32 Iraqi police officers and National Guardsmen died in co-ordinated attacks across central Iraq. Saad Jabr, a senior Iraqi lawmaker, said that the carnage would continue until the American military allowed the Iraqi forces free rein to buy heavy weapons. I guess the Americans are afraid they'll turn the weapons on them, Mr Jabr, who heads the interim national assembly's finance committee, said. He accused the US military of doing a wishy-washy job of smashing the insurgency, which has cost thousands of Iraqi lives as well as those of almost 1,000 US troops. They are not doing a very tough or complete job. They did Fallujah, but they didn't finish it, he said. In Mosul, they hardly did anything (when guerrillas rose up there last month). A suicide bomber, apparently in Iraqi military uniform, blew himself up in a US army mess hall in Mosul last week, killing 22 people. It's about time the Americans take a decision: either they do the job properly or they let Iraqis do it themselves, Mr Jabr said. He admitted, however, that the security forces, under-equipped and under attack, were getting more and more scared. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[osint] In Iraq, a clear-cut bin Laden-Zarqawi alliance
Much ado about absolutely nothing. Bin Laden and Zarqawi have been allied, and Zarqawi a member of al-Qaeda for years. This changes nothing. Bruce http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1230/p01s03-woiq.html?s=hns from the December 30, 2004 edition (Photograph) TERRORIST LINK: Osama bin Laden (left) and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. AL-JAZEERA/AP; US STATE DEPARTMENT/AP In Iraq, a clear-cut bin Laden-Zarqawi alliance Audiotape of Al Qaeda leader, released Tuesday, coincided with deadly insurgent attacks. By Dan Murphy | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor AMMAN, JORDAN - The connection between Osama bin Laden and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was cemented with Mr. bin Laden's latest taped statement on Tuesday, in which he praised the Jordanian militant and said anyone who participates in Iraq's Jan. 30 election will be considered an infidel and fair game for attack. When Mr. Zarqawi's terrorist movement emerged in Iraq more than a year ago, intelligence analysts saw it as separate from Al Qaeda, with more ferocious rhetoric than the better-known terror group and a willingness to kill large numbers of Muslim civilians. But now, the US and its allies face a grave and growing threat: an alliance of mutual interests and convenience between the group that carried out the 9/11 attacks in the United States and the one that has contributed so much to Iraq's chaos. There were certainly some differences between bin Laden and Zarqawi,'' says Rohan Gunaratna, a terrorism expert at Singapore's Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies. But these differences were minor compared to the biggest things they have in common - their desire to hit at the US. Preelection violence Mr. bin Laden's statement coincided with a devastating spurt of insurgent activity inside Iraq. On Tuesday, insurgent attacks killed at least 54 people in the center of Iraq, including the detonation of a massive bomb in a house police were searching in Baghdad that killed at least 29, and 12 policemen who were captured and killed. Wednesday the Assar al-Sunnah Army, the insurgent group that claimed responsibility for the Dec. 21 bombing of the US base in Mosul, signaled it would escalate attacks in the coming days by calling for a three-day curfew for civilians. In the statement, reported by the Associated Press, the group said, All polling stations and those in them will be targets for our brave soldiers. US and Iraqi officials concede that violence is likely to continue to grow as the elections draw nearer, but add they are determined to hold the elections on schedule, a plan which both bin Laden and Zarqawi are intent on disrupting. The Zarqawi-bin Laden link For bin Laden, the advantages of the alliance are clear, says Mr. Gunaratna. The operational capabilities of Al Qaeda have been relentlessly trimmed back by the US since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, but he and most of his ideological core remain free. Since the Iraq invasion, bin Laden has repeatedly called Iraq a battleground against the crusader West, even as Zarqawi has emerged as his principal agent. Zarqawi has positioned himself at the head of a growing network that US officials believe has been behind more than 70 car-bombings inside Iraq and now makes him the de facto operational head of the Al Qaeda movement, not the Al Qaeda group, worldwide,'' says Gunaratna. Zarqawi and his fighters were the target of the US siege on Fallujah last month. But US officials say they suspect many of the militants escaped Fallujah to other Sunni cities such as Mosul, which has been the scene of recent insurgent attacks. By combining their resources, Zarqawi and Al Qaeda seem to be aiming to further amplify their message of total war against the US, the Middle Eastern regimes it favors, and Israel, with an expanded Internet reach and ongoing attacks against US and Iraqi forces. The Sunni-Shiite split Bin Laden's latest statement urged Muslims to attack the US and any Iraqis that work with the interim arrangements, including voters and election workers. In the two-minute, five-second audio tape, he referred to what he sees as the third world war, led by the Crusader Zionist Alliance against Muslims who, in turn, have a rare and precious opportunity to get out of the dependency and slavery to the West. Zarqawi originally called his group Tawhid and Jihad, and his first statement of note in Iraq was peppered with venomous anti-Shiite attacks. Analysts once thought Bin Laden was unwilling to call for all out war between Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims, the dominant Muslim sect of which both bin Laden and Zarqawi belong. Both men's Salafy branch of Sunni Islam is highly intolerant of Shiites, as is Saudi Arabia, but it had seemed that bin Laden wanted to keep the focus on the US. Zarqawi, for his part, seemed to want to form his own organization. But in an October Internet statement, Zarqawi announced he was changing the name of his group to Al Qaeda in
[osint] Traitorous US Lawyer Helped Spread Terror Message
It's worth remembering that Lynne Stewart was put on the blind Sheikh's case by Ramsey Clark...another anti-American, pro-Marxist, pro-Islamic terror supporter. Bruce http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNewsstoryID=7201856 US Lawyer Helped Spread Terror Message - Prosecutor Wed Dec 29, 2004 03:02 PM ET By Gail Appleson NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. criminal defense lawyer was part of a plot to help her militant Muslim client smuggle messages out of prison calling for a return to violence in Egypt and the killing of Jews wherever they are, a federal prosecutor said on Wednesday. The accusations were made in closing arguments in the closely watched case against Lynne Stewart, a liberal New York lawyer known for representing the poor and unpopular. Stewart, 65, has denied any wrongdoing and said she followed ethical rules that guide an attorney's behavior. Her case is being followed by the nation's defense lawyers, some of whom are worried the Bush administration is trying to intimidate attorneys who represent suspected terrorists and other unpopular clients. She is charged with breaking the law while working for radical cleric Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman. He was convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack U.S. targets and is serving a life sentence. Prosecutors say the plot included the 1993 bombing of New York's World Trade Center. The most serious charge against Stewart, providing material support to terrorists, carries a maximum prison term of 15 years. Stewart, together with the cleric's former paralegal and his translator, used attorney-client visits to the prison to take Abdel-Rahman's terroristic messages out of prison and deliver them to his violent followers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Dember said. They broke Abdel-Rahman out of jail, not literally but figuratively. They made him available to other criminals, the worst kind of criminals -- terrorists, Dember told the court. MESSAGES FROM RIFAI TAHA The three are accused of helping Abdel-Rahman communicate with the Islamic Group, which prosecutors say is a terrorist organization and the cleric is its spiritual leader. Among the charges is that they helped pass messages from Rifai Taha, a militant Islamic Group leader, to Abdel-Rahman in prison. Taha urged the end of the cease-fire that the group had observed since its 1997 attack that killed close to 60 foreign tourists in Luxor, Egypt. Dember said the Luxor attack was a hallmark of the Islamic Group. They committed this horrific act in the name of Abdel-Rahman to achieve his release, he said. All they achieved was bloody murder. In 2000, Stewart called a Reuters correspondent in Egypt and read a statement issued by the cleric saying he had withdrawn his support for the cease-fire. That correspondent was subpoenaed in the case. Dember also accused defendant Ahmed Abdel Sattar, the cleric's former paralegal, of helping to draft a 2000 fatwa, or religious order, issued in Abdel-Rahman's name calling on Muslim men to fight the Jews and kill them wherever they are found. Stewart has denied condoning the fatwa. The case against Stewart includes charges that she violated signed agreements to follow special prison restrictions aimed at preventing Abdel-Rahman from sending messages that could result in violence. The rules limited the cleric's access to mail, the media, phones and visitors. Dember said Stewart signed an agreement on the restrictions but had no intention of abiding by it. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to:
[osint] Iran Gholam Shire'i questioned secularism in France
http://www.iranian.ws/iran_news/publish/printer_5170.shtml Iran Gholam Shire'i questioned secularism in France Persian Journal Iran News Iran Gholam Shire'i questioned secularism in France Dec 29, 2004, 12:39 Iran majlis speaker Gholam Adel known as Gholam Shire'i in majlis Wednesday denounced the expulsion of a Muslim student from a French school for wearing a veil. Gholam Shire'i urged European countries to confront such unfair French measures, the Iranian News Agency reported. The French decision to ban the Muslim veil in public schools is a blunt violation of human rights and aimed at confronting a religious minority in that country, Gholam Shire'i told mullah-run majlis. He said Muslim women know very well that wearing the veil does not curb their political and social activities. France earlier this year passed a controversial law banning the provocative display of religious symbols in public schools, including Muslim veils, Jewish skullcaps and oversized crosses. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Muslims claim unfair treatment at border
Sounds like they're getting very fair treatment, considering their support of a hostile, terroristic, political ideology. Bruce (AP) Muslims claim unfair treatment at border By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press Writer BUFFALO, N.Y. An Islamic civil rights group Wednesday accused U.S. border agents of religious profiling after dozens of American Muslims were searched, fingerprinted and photographed while returning from a religious conference in Toronto. Some of those stopped said they were held at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge for six hours or more with no explanation. A spokeswoman for Homeland Security's Customs and Border Protection said agents stopped anyone who said they attended the three-day convention, titled Reviving the Islamic Spirit, based on information that such gatherings can be a means for terrorists to promote their cause. I asked `If I refuse to give my fingerprints, what will you do?' said Galeb Rizek, 32, who claimed he arrived at the border around midnight and was held until 6:30 a.m. (The agent) said, `You can refuse, but you'll be here until you do.' Rizek, whose family owns a hotel in Niagara Falls, said he is a frequent traveler across the border and has never before been fingerprinted or photographed. He described one woman, traveling with her young daughter, who protested and sobbed through the fingerprinting. The little girl cried as well. It was kind of dramatic. You really feel like a criminal and you haven't done anything wrong, said Rizek, who was born in the United States. The image of a room full of American Muslim citizens apparently being held solely because of their faith and the fact that they attended an Islamic conference is one that should be disturbing to all Americans who value religious freedom, said Nihad Awad, executive director of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. The group demanded an investigation by Homeland Security officials. CBP spokeswoman Kristie Clemens said 34 people were stopped at the Lewiston crossing and four others were checked at the nearby Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. They were held for an average of 2 1/2 hours and offered coffee and tea, she said. Clemens acknowledged the inconvenience over the additional security measures, but said with the threat of terrorism, there was no room for error. We have ongoing credible information that conferences such as the one that these 34 individuals just left in Toronto may be used by terrorist organizations to promote terrorist activities, which includes traveling and fund raising, Clemens said. As the front-line border agency, it is our duty to verify the identity of individuals _ including U.S. citizens _ and one way of doing that is fingerprinting. Mo Rizek, 19, said frustration among those held for several hours boiled over to anger. Everyone was yelling, he said. Some people had a 10-hour drive back to Connecticut in front of them, people had to go to work in the morning ... Every single person there was a U.S. citizen. He said one of the messages of the convention was how to change for the better the way people feel about Muslims post-Sept. 11. ___ On the Net: Reviving the Islamic Spirit: http://www.revivingtheislamicspirit.com Department of Homeland Security: http://www.DHS.gov Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To
[osint] The how-to of terror: al-Qaeda bulletin revealed
http://www.smh.com.au/news/Global-Terrorism/The-howto-of-terror-alQaeda-bull etin-revealed/2004/12/30/1104344900198.html The how-to of terror: al-Qaeda bulletin revealed December 30, 2004 - 11:27AM A new US government intelligence bulletin describes in the greatest detail yet al-Qaeda's techniques for assessing potential targets, extolling the lethal power of flying, shattered building glass and advising that kerosene and tyres are effective for a deadly arson attack. The focus is on maximising the destructive and killing power of an attack, the bulletin says. The bulletin provides a fresh glimpse of terrorist reports found in computers and disks seized in Pakistan in July. The reports described the casing by terrorists of several buildings in the United States and prompted US authorities to raise the terror threat level earlier this year for high-profile financial facilities in New York, Washington and Newark, New Jersey. The heightened alert was released shortly after the November 2 election, and there is no evidence a potential attack ever moved beyond initial planning. Current intelligence provides no indications that al-Qaeda has operatives to conduct an attack based upon the information in these reports, the eight-page bulletin said. Produced by the FBI and Homeland Security Department, the bulletin was circulated on Tuesday to law enforcement, government and industry officials nationwide and obtained by The Associated Press. The excerpts, according to the bulletin, show that al-Qaeda operatives go well beyond the basic description of a potential target to sophisticated analysis of vulnerabilities in building construction, an examination of potential police and emergency response and recommendations for possible methods of attack. In one report, an unidentified al-Qaeda operative notes that a building is almost completely made to resemble a glass house - which could be devastating in an emergency scenario ... that is to say, that when shattered, each piece of glass becomes a potential flying piece of cutthroat shrapnel! Another excerpt calculates that a particular building has precisely 67,000-square-feet of glass, adding for emphasis that it amounts to an acre and a half of glass. The author provides five possible methods of attack in one scenario, leading with parking a vehicle packed with explosives next to an exposed building column. The terrorist also suggests that operatives rent space in the building or use any of several substances in an arson attack. Combinations with leaking gas cylinders (esp.oxygen), bleach, ammonia and tires (they burn well) could be lethal, the al-Qaeda report says. Added to this, also be advised that kerosene burns more powerfully than an ordinarily fuelled fire (although it may not be hot enough to melt steel unless used in very large quantities). The reports note such things as when people take lunch and smoking breaks, where surveillance cameras are positioned, what public events were scheduled near buildings and how many cars and pedestrians typically pass by per minute. Detailed descriptions of security guards included their uniforms, whether they were armed and a notation that one male guard's weapon appears to be a Colt .45 pistol. In two reports, the al-Qaeda author assumed that undercover security officers are likely to be stationed near possible targets. That shows that security officials must regularly review, refresh and reinforce their undercover teams to prevent them from being identified, the bulletin said. One al-Qaeda operative also advises where additional reconnaissance could be performed before an attack, such as inside the coffee shop, restaurants or bars etc. Or even on the upstairs floor of the bookshop (there is one end where people regularly sit and browse through books). The bulletin said the casing reports demonstrate a high level of sophistication among al-Qaeda surveillance operatives and suggest that the terror group wants to use people who have experience living in the United States to help choose targets. Many of the reconnaissance techniques are described in a captured al-Qaeda manual titled Military Studies in the Jihad Against the Tyrants. That manual says that public information can provide 80 per cent of the information needed about a possible target, demonstrating that security officials in government and the private sector must carefully review what is available on the Internet and elsewhere, the bulletin said. Surveillance of a potential target can occur as little as one week to as much as three years prior to an attack, the bulletin said. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this
[osint] U.S. Politician Targets Immigration
http://www.ipsnews.net/new_nota.asp?idnews=26850 CHALLENGES 2004-2005: U.S. Politician Targets Immigration William Fisher NEW YORK, Dec 29 (IPS) - The law to revamp U.S. intelligence services was passed at the 11th hour in the last Congress partly because of a deal that deleted many contentious anti-immigration provisos. But the sponsor of those sections says he will reintroduce them as must pass legislation on the first day of the 109th Congress in January. With Republican President George W Bush, many human rights groups, most Democrats and a number of civil libertarian conservatives arrayed against the measures, such an act is destined to trigger a fierce battle on Capitol Hill. These common-sense provisions are aimed at preventing another 9/11-type attack by plugging holes in our homeland security efforts. We must address these vulnerabilities very soon because we know America's enemies diligently probe our vulnerabilities to carry out their deadly intentions, said their sponsor, Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner, the powerful chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. Most media coverage of the last session's immigration proposals focused on such issues as proposed uniform security standards for drivers' licenses and border security, such as closing the five-km hole in the U.S.-Mexico border fence near San Diego, California. But far more worrying to human rights groups and civil libertarians are provisions that relate to tightening asylum regulations. For example, the legislation would allow immigration judges to determine witness credibility in asylum cases while significantly reducing the opportunity for appeal; stipulate that all terrorism-related grounds for inadmissibility are grounds for deportation; and provide for the expedited deportation of immigrants and visitors, even to countries where they are likely to face prison torture. Human rights groups have unanimously opposed these provisions. According to Susan Benesch of Amnesty International USA, the Sensenbrenner proposals would prevent refugees from finding safe haven in the United States and erode their chance for due process in presenting their asylum claims. These anti-refugee and anti-immigrant measures were not recommended by the 9-11 Commission for good reason -- they would not improve our national security. On the contrary: they would deny safety to people whose own security is in danger, she told IPS in an email interview. Amnesty, she added, also opposes the outsourcing of torture -- the United States is bound by the U.N. Convention Against Torture to prevent or punish torture, certainly not to facilitate it. The intelligence legislation was based on the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, established to investigate the Sep. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon. The Sensenbrenner provisions were not part of the commission's recommendations. Much of the controversy surrounding the congressman's suggestions stems from the widespread round up of primarily Arab and Muslim immigrants and visitors after the 9/11 attacks and again just prior to the 2004 presidential election. More than 5,000 people were arrested, and many detained for long periods without access to lawyers. None were charged with a terror-related crime, but many were deported, some to countries where they were likely to be arrested again and face torture in detention. The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has refused to disclose the names of any of the detainees. Amnesty's Benesch says her organisation would be equally opposed if no Muslims had been rounded up, because the proposals will work to deny long-established asylum rights. Mark Dow, author of 'American Gulag: Inside U.S. Immigration Prisons', told IPS, even sympathetic observers continue to believe that though the post-911 roundup failed to catch terrorists, it was intended to do so. This ignores the evidence that roundups were at least in part a cover to make it look like the Justice Department was doing something. It is less the case, as is commonly asserted, that roundups of Arabs and Muslims were intended to fight terrorism than that terrorism was used as a pretext to justify the roundups -- a pattern that is in full force today around the country, he added. After 9/11 the Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) was separated into three agencies, one of which is the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). All are now part of the new Department of Homeland Security (DHS). One of the few Sensenbrenner provisions that made it into the final intelligence law increased the numbers of beds in detention facilities. Dow says it is unconscionable to give DHS more detention capacity. Instead, Congress should establish a permanent independent oversight system to review the legality and humaneness of all current and future immigration detainee cases, and to monitor the treatment of all detainees. In American Gulag, Dow pointed out that
[osint] Risks, Benefits and the Terror War
http://www.techcentralstation.com/122904F.html Tech Central Station Risks, Benefits and the Terror War By Charlotte Wuerzig Published 12/29/2004 Doubts about the Terror War have taken the strangest forms of late. Many who are against the war in Iraq and critical of the War on Terror have begun using a favorite tool of fiscal conservatives to question military and homeland security expenditures. And it would seem to be a clever and plausible move (albeit a little hypocritical). In short, critics are asking whether we should spend so much money on the military and homeland security. Is it overkill -- or more aptly, perhaps, over-save? Conservative risk-cost-benefit analysis arguments usually go like this: A certain Superfund initiative has the likelihood of saving one human life for every $200,000 spent. Now, given that we have a finite Federal health and safety budget, wouldn't it make more sense to spend that $200,000 on something that could save 100 lives? For example, if the government were to put up guardrails near unsafe curves around the country, wouldn't we increase the likelihood of saving more lives? Risk analysts say: if you're going to spend the money, save more lives. It's a simple utilitarian calculation, but it makes a lot of sense when there's a bottom to the federal pot. In fact, one can apply risk analysis to a variety of environmental issues. Ironically, the people who care the most about the environment are usually the ones who turn the deafest ears to this kind of rationale. But maybe their ears are not as deaf as we think, as many who are against the Iraq War and aspects of the War on Terror are turning the rationale of risk analysis to current security expenditures. And this isn't a bad idea at the face of it. The questions become: how many American lives will be saved by spending billions over in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as billions on a costly Homeland Security bureaucracy (not to mention soldiers' lives)? Couldn't we save more lives spending that money somewhere else? OK, let's back up. While I'm quite happy to see questions of risks, costs and benefits coming from unusual quarters, I don't believe such criticisms can be employed in quite the same way in the case of national security. The disanalogies come in comparing the relevant aspects of the different domains -- i.e. the aspects of the environment versus aspects of national security. First, in the former domain, the threats are usually static. Lead-level in the soil of Aspen, Colorado is a known, calculable risk that is not really subject to change into the future. In the latter domain, the threats are dynamic. Why? Call it the human factor. The economic conditions, political structures, funding networks, emotions, resolve and animus on the part of current or future Jihadis is in constant flux -- and thus the threat is indeterminate in many respects. One thing we can predict, however, is that complacency and inaction will embolden our enemies. Thus complacency and inaction are sure to increase the dangers. Terrorist threats have a kind of multiplier effect, where toxins in soil etc., in most cases, do not. Consider the argument that says scaling back of military and intelligence spending during the Clinton years made 9-11 more likely, not less. In such a case, there were consequences of complacency and inaction. For al Qaeda, the United States was perceived as a paper tiger both in its unwillingness to see military endeavors to their conclusions, and in its inertia with respect to prior, smaller-scale terrorist strikes (which should have served as warnings). There is some merit in these arguments, even though one should doubt any Administration (Clinton's or Bush's) could have truly come to grips with such dangers until they materialized that September morning. In any case, we have learned a lot since 2001, and one of things we now know is that inaction and complacency is a particularly bad option. And in the future, a few more successful terrorist strikes could change the dynamic considerably. Therefore, in the case of national security, it's really not a question of trying to tally up the average number of lives lost in terrorist attacks over the last twenty odd years and calculate that number against the anti-terror expenditures in order to derive a cost-per-life figure to apply in the next budget. In the case of terrorism, there are so many more variables; and the variables shift as the relevant parties act (or fail to act). But suppose for a moment we were going to take such a tack. We would have to do some pretty serious Monte Carlo-type projections just to get a ballpark estimate of what 3000 productive lives would have yielded in the future, not to mention their network effects on the economy. And even Monte Carlo couldn't help us with calculating the net benefit of productive lives not taken thanks to current expensive security measures. Now, apart from 3000 dead, think of the
[osint] The Training Iraqis Diversion: A Dangerous Idea
http://www.techcentralstation.com/122804A.html Tech Central Station The Training Iraqis Diversion: A Dangerous Idea By Uriah Kriegel Published 12/28/2004 It appears to have become a consensus among congressmen, opinionados, and the like chatterers that the training of Iraqi soldiers is the key to victory in Iraq. What started as a harmless idea to create the seeds of an exit strategy while giving Iraqis a sense of empowerment has morphed, at least in the public perception, into a central strategic plank of the actual waging of war in Iraq. This newfound significance of the otherwise nice idea of training Iraqis is both silly and dangerous. It is silly inasmuch as the trained Iraqis are not going to be a replacement for the American military. If our military has not been able to crush the insurgency as yet -- though doubtless great strides have been taken - it's unlikely a late-fangled Iraqi contingent will not do the trick. At the moment, we offer a three-week training program for those brave Iraqis willing to join our effort. I am a thirty years old male in good health; but if you started training me on New Year's Day, I will not make the most impressive soldier by January 22nd. Certainly not impressive enough to reestablish law and order in Iraq. At this stage in the game, what we need to train is not an Iraqi army, but an Iraqi police force. The Iraqis we train could not conceivably take on the hodgepodge of angry militants in Mosul, Fallujah, and half a dozen other soft targets. Not if we cannot. Nor does the Iraqi nation need the United States to create its army. In fact, such a US-created army is bound to lack legitimacy in Iraqi eyes. The new Iraqi army will have to be created by the Iraqi nation when the Iraqi state regains stability. But bringing the Iraqi state to stability is our own mission. Nobody can do it but the United States Armed Forces. The danger is that we start thinking of those trained Iraqis as our ticket out of Iraq, as many among us appear to have already done. The trained Iraqis can battle petty thievery and, on a day of glamour, armed robbery. They cannot finish the job the American military is struggling to accomplish. The American military will have to finish that job, whether or not there is an alternative Iraqi force in its wing, and then we can leave Iraq. So our ticket out of Iraq is simply the completion of the mission we have taken upon us: to replace the murderous despotism of Saddam Hussein with a democratic government (or at least a government that is otherwise answerable to the governed) that rules over a relatively stable Iraq. That is our ticket out and the only honorable way we can bring our troops back home. As American casualties mount, and the American public starts wondering why we are doing this, there is a temptation to sell to the public a fairytale about an American-trained Iraqi military that will soon take over, replacing American casualties with Iraqi ones. To the extent that this is sheer deceit, it is wrong. But it is even more dangerous if it is meant in earnest. For it may lead eventually to a public upheaval that culminates in a demand to act on such a plan, with disastrous implications for Iraq and consequently American credibility. If we get out of Iraq before the job is done because we cannot accept the death toll, we will have confirmed Bin Laden's diagnosis that we don't have what it takes to take on such grand projects as we have initiated in Iraq. And we can forget about reforming and reshaping the Middle East, the sort of reshaping that is the only genuine cure for the malady of terrorism. It is time for the nation's leaders, starting with the President, to say so clearly and unambiguously. We must accept the possibility that by the time we leave Iraq 5,000 of our best compatriots will have died; that we cannot leave before we ourselves restore law, order, and stability to the reemerging Iraqi state; and that no collection of hurriedly trained Iraqi soldiers, however courageous and devoted, can complete that task in our stead. Rather than indulge in the fantasy of seeing our troops soon replaced by non-American soldiers, one would do better this holiday season to make a donation to Operation Gratitude, the Wounded Warrior Project, USO, and other organizations devoted to supporting our troops in battle and beyond -- with a clear-headed determination to stay the course. The author teaches philosophy at the University of Arizona. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion
[osint] Two terror suspects, civilian killed in shootouts in Saudi capital
[Excerpt: The gunman opened fire from the car he was driving and hurled a bomb at security men, slightly injuring four of them, said a ministry statement reported by official media. Security forces at the scene chased the car and encircled it, trading fire with the driver, who was killed on the spot, the statement said.The incident occurred as security forces were combing the scene of Tuesday evenings clash in the Saudi capital in which a suspected militant and a civilian were killed, the ministry said. ] _http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/Dec ember/middleeast_December796.xmlsection=middleeast_ (http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/December/middleeast_December 796.xmlsection=middleeast) Two terror suspects, civilian killed in shootouts in Saudi capital (AFP) 29 December 2004 RIYADH - Saudi security forces shot dead a gunman in Riyadh early on Wednesday in a fresh shootout as they combed the district where a terror suspect and a civilian were killed in a clash the previous night, the interior ministry said. The gunman opened fire from the car he was driving and hurled a bomb at security men, slightly injuring four of them, said a ministry statement reported by official media. Security forces at the scene chased the car and encircled it, trading fire with the driver, who was killed on the spot, the statement said. The incident occurred as security forces were combing the scene of Tuesday evenings clash in the Saudi capital in which a suspected militant and a civilian were killed, the ministry said. Security forces also arrested a suspected member of the deviant group in the Red Sea city of Jeddah Wednesday, the ministry added, using the official term for suspected Al Qaeda militants. They have killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds more since launching a wave of bombing and shooting attacks in May 2003. Many militants and security men have been killed in clashes since the wave of attacks began. Hundreds of suspects have been rounded up. The man was wounded while resisting security forces and attempting to flee, the ministry said, promising to release more details later. Earlier Wednesday, the interior ministry said a suspected terrorist and a civilian were killed during a shootout between Saudi security forces and armed men in Riyadh Tuesday evening. Security forces chased a car carrying two members of the deviant group, the ministry said. The car stopped near a gas station inside a residential district of Riyadh. When security forces approached the vehicle, those inside it opened fire, a ministry official said, quoted by the state SPA news agency. The security forces returned fire, killing one of the gunmen and wounding the other, the official said. A gas station attendant was also killed, and a security man slightly injured, he said. Security forces seized automatic weapons, ammunition, bombs, explosives, forged documents and an unspecified amount of money in the car, the official added. He did not disclose the identity of the two members of the deviant group. Gunmen stormed the US consulate in Jeddah on December 6, killing five non-American staff members in the latest attack claimed by Al Qaeda militants. enditem [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more
[osint] Judge orders deportation of Kurdish restaurant owner accused of terrorism
Good riddance, and the Turks will know what to do with him. Bruce http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-21/110435904326 060.xml http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/base/news-21/11043590432 6060.xmlstorylist=newsmichigan storylist=newsmichigan Judge orders deportation of Kurdish restaurant owner accused of terrorism 12/29/2004, 5:19 p.m. ET By SARAH KARUSH The Associated Press DETROIT (AP) - An immigration judge on Wednesday ordered the deportation to Turkey of a Kurdish restaurant owner who the government accuses of terrorism, a court spokesman said. http://ads.mlive.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.mlive.com/xml/story/ap/ mi/n/6260/@StoryAd?x Ibrahim Parlak was granted asylum in 1992 and owns Cafe Gulistan in the Lake Michigan resort town of Harbert. The government demanded his deportation because of his past ties to the group PKK, the Kurdistan Workers' Party, now known as KONGRA-GEL. The U.S. State Department classified the PKK as a terrorist group in 1997. Judge Elizabeth Hacker ruled that all the charges against Parlak were proven and ordered him removed. She denied his application for protection under the Convention Against Torture, said Greg Gagne, a spokesman for the Executive Office for Immigration Review. Parlak's case has attracted strong support around Harbert, and his friends have raised money for his defense. They argue that Parlak suffered discrimination in Turkey because of his ethnicity and was imprisoned by authorities there for political reasons. They say he has reason to fear for his safety if he returns. During a two-day hearing in Detroit earlier this month, attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security argued that Parlak did not disclose important details about his separatist activities in his original asylum application and also omitted his conviction in Turkey from subsequent immigration forms. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Re: [osint] In war on terrorism, U.S. drafts shops to be on guard
At 9:51 PM -0500 12/29/04, David Bier wrote: URL please. It's all over the place. Google is your friend? http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2004/12/27/news/business/monbiz02.txt :-) Cheers, RAH -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Soros foundation charged in Kazakhstan with tax evasion
http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=35365 Turkish Press Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Soros foundation charged in Kazakhstan with tax evasion AFP: 12/28/2004 ALMATY, Dec 28 (AFP) - The Open Society Institute of billionaire US financier George Soros has been charged with tax evasion in the former Soviet republic of Kazakhstan, police said here Tuesday. A spokesman for the tax police, Ruslan Tlemisov, said the institute which promotes civil society and good governance throughout the world had not paid 623,000 dollars (458,000 euros) in taxes. He said charges had been laid and the case would be heard in the district court early next year. The court may fine the foundation in addition to the (unpaid taxes) and avoiding the payment may lead to the cancellation of the licence of the foundation, Tlemisov said. Soros has come under attack throughout the former Soviet bloc for his alleged support for the overthrow of post-Soviet Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze last year. The Open Society Institute has been banished from Belarus and Uzbekistan, and its activities were severely curtailed in Russia in November last year over a complicated property dispute. Soros himself was splashed with water and glue by two protesters as he addressed a human rights conference in Ukraine in March. -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Blasts rock Saudi capital
[Excerpt: The car was forced down a road leading to a tunnel and blew up, wounding several people, the spokesman said..The explosion occurred between the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Interior, ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Turki told CNN..Local television stations reported a third blast more than an hour later in the Jazirah district of Riyadh.] http://64.236.16.116/2004/WORLD/meast/12/29/saudi.blast/index.html Blasts rock Saudi capital Wednesday, December 29, 2004 Posted: 3:07 PM EST (2007 GMT) RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- At least two explosions rocked the Saudi capital Wednesday night, wounding several people, authorities said. At 8:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. ET), a car was fired upon as it attempted to drive through a security checkpoint outside the Interior Ministry, a spokesman for the Ministry of Information said. The car was forced down a road leading to a tunnel and blew up, wounding several people, the spokesman said. The explosion occurred between the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Interior, ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Mansour Turki told CNN. A source who said he was in the municipality building near the Interior Ministry said automatic gunfire preceded the explosion. A person on the ninth floor of the municipality building was slightly wounded by flying debris, the source said. About three minutes later, a second car bomb detonated about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away, east of the capital, Turki told CNN. It was not clear whether anyone was hurt in the second blast, which occurred near where the kingdom's counterterrorism forces are stationed, he said. Turki said he had no information on fatalities or the number of injuries, nor did he know whether anyone was in the cars when they exploded. Local television stations reported a third blast more than an hour later in the Jazirah district of Riyadh. Authorities in Saudi Arabia have been battling terrorist activities in recent years, many linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, which opposes the presence of the U.S. military in the oil-rich nation and the ruling Saudi royal family. Earlier this month, a Saudi group linked to al Qaeda claimed responsibility for an attack on the U.S. Consulate in the Saudi city of Jeddah in which at least five employees and four attackers were killed. In 2003, two Al Qaeda suicide attacks on Riyadh housing compounds killed 40 people. Reporter Essam Al-Ghalib in Jeddah and CNN.com Arabic's Caroline Faraj in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report. Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
[osint] Navy SEALs Sue Associated Press Over Iraq Photos
http://www.sierratimes.com/rss/newswire.php?article=/nm/20041229/us_nm/media _ap_dctime=1104329151f eed=iraq Navy SEALs Sue Associated Press Over Iraq Photos Posted: Wednesday December 29,2004 - 06:05:51 am By Ben Berkowitz LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Six Navy SEALs and the wives of two of them sued The Associated Press and a reporter on Tuesday for publishing photos taken from a Web site that appeared to show the troops abusing prisoners in Iraq . The suit, filed in San Diego Superior Court, said the pictures did not depict abuse and instead put the lives of the soldiers at risk by exposing their faces to the world. We believe AP's use of the photos and the manner in which they were obtained were entirely lawful and proper, said Associated Press attorney Dave Tomlin, who is representing the news agency and reporter Seth Hettena. The plaintiffs are identified only as Six Navy SEALs and Two Jane Does, and the suit indicates they have been allowed to file anonymously by court order. By failing to conceal the identities of the Navy SEALs, Defendants Seth Hettena and the AP have jeopardized the lives of Plaintiffs Six Navy Seals and their families, as well as compromised their future missions and careers, the suit said. The U.S. Navy said it had nothing to do with the suit. The lawsuit is not a naval special warfare issue but rather a civil matter undertaken by these individuals against The Associated Press, which is being handled through the legal process available to all Americans, said Taylor Clark, a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command. An AP reporter discovered the photos, posted on the picture-sharing site Smugmug.com, during research on another set of photos that purportedly showed Navy SEALs abusing detainees. Confronted with the photos, the Navy said this month it had launched an investigation. The plaintiffs said in their suit that the photos depicted regular special operations techniques and did not show abuse. Jane Doe One, the lawsuit said, stored the photos on Smugmug.com, among a collection of personal photographs. The suit said the two Jane Does are wives of two of the SEALs, members of the elite Navy force Sea-Air-Land. The AP reported that the unnamed woman said the photos came from her husband, who brought them from Iraq after his tour of duty. But the suit denies that that was the case, or that she told the AP as much. Distributed around the world, the AP reported the photos showed Navy SEALs sitting on hooded and bound detainees, holding a gun to a detainee's bloodied head, and placing a boot on the chest of a prone man. Other photos showed grinning U.S. personnel sitting or lying atop three hooded prisoners in the bed of a pickup truck. The Dec. 3 AP story quoted a spokesman for the Naval Special Warfare Command as saying some of the photos could put the lives of the SEALs at risk. The suit, which claims invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress, seeks damages and an injunction barring further distribution of the photos. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ~-- $4.98 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/Q7_YsB/neXJAA/yQLSAA/TySplB/TM ~- -- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
