Informed Source

*Trouble at the border - with terrorist connections....
December 10, 2004 - Last week's arrest of a Bangladeshi immigrant trying to
illegally enter the country has federal authorities concerned over the
vulnerability of the U.S.-Mexico border to infiltration by terrorists.
Federal court records show Fakhrul Islam, age unknown, was arrested Dec. 4
with 13 other undocumented immigrants as they tried to pass through a wooded
area east of Brownsville. The records said a man later identified by Border
Patrol agents as a member of the Mara Salvatruchas gang was traveling in the
same group as Islam. The Central American gang has alleged links to
al-Qaida. "This is alarming," said U.S. Rep. Solomon P. Ortiz, D-Texas. In a
telephone interview Tuesday, Ortiz said the Central American gang members
and terrorists are suspected of trying to blend in with Mexican or other
immigrants trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. "We knew this was
happening underground, but now it's come to the surface," he said.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/ts_more.php?id=62630_0_10_0_M

*FBI Author of Pre-9/11 Memo Talks to Paper
November 22nd, 04: The FBI agent who wrote a memo warning that terrorists
were training at flight schools before the Sept. 11 attacks said concerns
over racial profiling may have prevented officials from acting on his
intelligence. "If you look at the world prior to 9/11, we were prevented
from doing certain things. We were victimized by our own restraints,'' Ken
Williams told The Arizona Republic in his first interview since writing his
now-famous memo in July 2001. Williams' findings were based on
investigations of Arizona aviation students tied to al-Qaida. At the time,
he recommended the State Department coordinate with the FBI to provide
information on flight students from Middle Eastern countries. His memo was
ignored by supervisors until after the attacks, but Williams said it was not
a case of incompetence or malfeasance and he never blamed supervisors for
the intelligence failure. Even while writing his memo, Williams said, he
never imagined that terrorists would fly a jumbo jet into a building. But on
the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Williams said he was galvanized by one
thought: "Osama bin Laden. It couldn't be anyone else." Williams said he is
still following leads from his memo, but he refused to discuss specific
findings.
Williams also said Americans have to reclaim the sense of unity they had
three years ago to thwart another terrorist attack. "They are going to try
and hit us again," he said. Jim

*Terror cells clone cash machine cards
http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1416532004

*..so....An Indonesian's Prison Memoir Takes Holy War Into Cyberspace
After Imam Samudra was charged with engineering the devastating Bali
nightclub bombings two years ago, he taunted his police accusers in court,
then greeted his death sentence with the cry, "Infidels die!" So when
Samudra published a jailhouse autobiography this fall, it was not surprising
that it contained virulent justifications for the Bali attacks, which killed
202 people, most of them foreign tourists. But tucked into the back of the
280-page book is a chapter of an entirely different cast titled "Hacking,
Why Not?" There, Samudra urges fellow Muslim radicals to take the holy war
into cyberspace by attacking U.S. computers, with the particular aim of
committing credit card fraud, called "carding." The chapter then provides an
outline on how to get started. The primer on carding is rudimentary,
according to U.S. and Indonesian cybercrime experts, but they said the
chapter provides a rare glimpse into the mounting threat posed by terrorists
using Internet fraud to finance their operations. "The worry is that an army
of people doing cybercrime could raise a great deal of money for other
activities that terrorists are carrying out," said Alan Paller, research
director of the Sans Institute, a U.S. Internet-security training company.
Mayer

*Comments by Intellproz:
These are good resources for daily/weekly updates on what is going on in the
anarchist community.
http://www.ruckus.org
http://www.actagainstwar.org

*...we keep telling you about OPSEC.....
December 8, 04: "Des Moines police are reacting to shocking news that some
of their personal information ended up in the wrong hands.Police raided a
storage building last month searching for bomb-making materials.What they
found was both very personal and scary to the officers and their families.
Officers involved in the raid found gunpowder, CO2 cartridges and other
materials used to make dangerous cricket bombs. They also found a complete
list of Des Moines police officers' names, along with their home addresses,
telephone numbers and work assignments......."
http://www.nbc4.tv/news/3980324/detail.html (OK, again, go to
http://www.opsec.org)

*Burglars Stealing Guns from Mid-Michigan Stores
http://www.officer.com/article/article.jsp?id=19092&siteSection=1 Jim

*Iraq
Dec. 14, 04: Adaptive tactics used by a "thinking enemy" have posed a
continuing challenge to protecting American forces in Iraq, the vice
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here Dec. 13. In a conference
call with military analysts, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said much effort goes
into the ongoing challenge to field a force properly equipped for its
mission and enemy. "The fact is that this is combat," he said. "We had some
good things when we went in, we're learning some lessons, we're trying to
adjust to that. The enemy does the same thing." Pace explained that the
initial mix of one-third armored vehicles and two- thirds wheeled vehicles
used by U.S. forces once major combat operations ended in Iraq was what the
commanders needed at the time. "And we were out in the light-skinned Humvees
and ended up with a thinking enemy," he said. In October and November 2003,
the general said, the enemy started relying heavily on improvised explosive
devices and vehicle bombs, "which caused the commanders on the ground to
reassess how they were employing their troops." "First it was one IED," he
said, "and then they would put that in place and we would change our
tactics, so they put in more (IEDs). And then, as we responded to that, they
have another one go off. So it's very much a force versus force thinking
process."

Dec. 14, 04: Pockets of resistance remain in Fallujah, but the vast majority
of insurgents have been cleared out, said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff during a visit here today. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers said at
a news conference that the Iraqi security forces and coalition troops are
doing a good job of clearing out the remaining pockets. He said that the
people of Fallujah should be able to start returning home soon.

The U.S. Army has started a project to improve information at its bases in
Iraq and Kuwait. The project is designed to improve communications within
and between bases. It uses off-the-shelf equipment for voice and data relay.
The Army has about 160,000 troops in Iraq and more than 25,000 in Kuwait.
Officials said the project stemmed from an assessment that the Army would
maintain a presence in both countries throughout the decade. Computer
Sciences Corp. is the prime contractor of the Rapid Response contract. In
one contract, CSC has selected General Dynamics Network Systems, a business
unit of General Dynamics, to install a complete voice, video, and data
network infrastructure in Camp Victory in Baghdad. CSC was expected to award
General Dynamics a contract for similar work at additional military
installations in the Baghdad area. The Camp Victory contract was estimated
at a $3.6 million. Officials said the army's Kuwait Iraq C4
Commercialization program would provide strategic communications at U.S.
military bases within Iraq and Kuwait. They said the project has come under
the authority of the army's Communications and Electronics Command Rapid
Response contract. The project has also completed work at several military
bases in Kuwait in work conducted by General Dynamics Network Systems. In
Kuwait, the company installed voice, video, and data network infrastructure.

Dec. 13, 04: Iraqi police and National Guardsmen beat back an insurgent
attack on a police station just south of Baghdad on Dec. 12. A written
statement from Multinational Force Iraq officials said the incident
increased optimism "that the fledgling Iraqi security forces are growing
more confident and capable, even in the face of a concerted campaign of
intimidation and terror." The early-morning assault on the Rasheed station
north of Mahmudiyah by an estimated 10 militants using mortars,
rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and small arms posed the biggest
test yet for the 507th ING Battalion, which has been operating alongside the
24th Marine Expeditionary Unit since July. The policemen and soldiers
immediately returned fire, holding their ground and summoning their
quick-reaction force. Marines were called to assist, but were not needed, as
the ING decisively repulsed the attack, officials said. Several attackers
fled to a nearby mosque, where ING soldiers found them and a variety of
weapons and ammunition. In a full sweep of the area, the ING detained 34
suspected insurgents. The soldiers also discovered a car bomb across the
street from the police station. Marine explosives experts were called in to
defuse and dispose of the bomb. One ING soldier was wounded in the
firefight.

Sources close to the administration said the White House envisions the start
of a troop pullout in late 2005. The administration would begin discussions
on the feasibility of a significant reduction in U.S. troops following Iraqi
national elections, scheduled on Jan. 30, 2005, they said. But Pentagon
officials and consultants said Bush could launch a troop reduction in Iraq
as early as April 2005. They said the administration has been careful not to
show its hand so as not to undermine the interim government in Iraq. The
administration has been quietly urged to consider a withdrawal of the more
than 140,000 troops as a priority for the second Bush term. These advocates
have included Defense Department officials and consultants who supported the
war to topple the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, but who have concluded that
the U.S. military presence in Iraq has become counterproductive.

The U.S.-led coalition has completed training of the first batch of Iraqi
cadets to serve in a military rapid-response force. The Iraqi Army troops
were graduated Nov. 24 after completing a 12-week course at Al Nuimiyah
base, 140 kilometers south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The
graduates, the exact number of which has not been released by the military,
comprised the first group trained as rapid-response troops for the military.
Iraqi officials said rapid-response forces would be used for
counter-insurgency and related missions in any of Iraq's 18 provinces. They
said the troops would support regular army and police forces in urban
warfare missions, hostage crises as well as offensive operations along
border areas. Under the plan, each Iraqi province would have an emergency
response battalion. Officials said the goal was to complete deployment of
the battalions by late 2005. The rapid response force has been deemed a
priority of the Iraqi security forces amid the collapse of police throughout
western and northern Iraq. Officials said the mass defection that took place
in early November in Mosul as well as areas in Al Anbar pointed to the
vulnerability of Iraqi officers to pressure by insurgents. Officials said
the U.S. military and Defense Department have sought to increase weaponry to
Iraqi police and other security force units while revising operational
concepts in an effort to bolster effectiveness. The key change would be the
formation of special operations forces in the police and National Guard that
could be relied upon to quell insurgency campaigns.

*Congressman Warns of Iranian Attack on U.S.
http://www.nysun.com/pf.php?id=6231 Jim

*Iran accused of planning an attack on Saudi oil
Iran has been accused of planning an Al Qaida attack on a major oil facility
in Saudi Arabia. Egyptian officials said Iran has helped plan and finance
attacks on both Egypt and Saudi Arabia over the last year. They said an
Iranian diplomat planned the strike on a petrochemical facility in Yanbu,
Saudi Arabia in May 2004. The attack resulted in the killing of five Western
engineers. The Iranian diplomat has escaped Egypt but would be tried in
absentia. Officials said the diplomat employed an Egyptian national who has
been captured and would be charged with espionage and terrorist offenses.
Egyptian public prosecutor Maher Abdul Wahed identified the Iranian diplomat
as Mohammad Reza Hosseindoust. Abdul Wahed said Hosseindoust paid the
Egyptian detainee, identified as Mohammed Eid Mohammed Dabbous, who supplied
information that facilitated the attack on Yanbu. Dean

*U.S. stages simulated attack on Iran
The U.S. Defense Department was said to have completed simulated war games
to determine the feasibility of destroying Iran's nuclear weapons program.
The Atlantic Monthly magazine reported in its latest issue that the Pentagon
held simulations of a U.S. military strike on Iranian bases and nuclear
facilities. The magazine said the recent war games also included a ground
invasion of Iran. The simulation envisioned a three-phase war against the
Islamic republic. The first phase was composed of air strikes against bases
of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, believed to control Iran's nuclear
and missile programs. U.S. intelligence sources were quoted as saying that
such a strike would require one day and comprised the easiest part of any
military campaign.

*...sa madda you?
International terrorism charges and allegations of ties to al Qaeda might be
enough to scare away some cellmates, in some countries. But Italian mobsters
jailed on the island of Sardinia, apparently outraged by terrorism, beat up
an Algerian terror suspect and threatened to kill him unless he got himself
transferred to a new prison. The same threat was made against at least one
other Algerian inmate. "You guys set off bombs and do massacres. If you
don't change prisons, you're dead," the criminals were reported to have told
Saadi Nassim, in comments confirmed by his lawyer. The case won prominence
in leading Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera on Friday in a story
headlined: "Muslim prisoners beat up by Camorra," referring the Naples-based
mob organization. The criminals who threatened Nassim were themselves
accused of murder, the paper said, without naming names. Nassim is fighting
charges of belonging to a cell linked to al Qaeda. A judge has authorized
Nassim's transfer to a new prison, and a decision in the 2-year-old case is
expected sometime next year. Dean (Hah! another member of the coalition!!)

*Winning the hearts and minds..... (forwarded by Bo)
Beautiful,
Just wanted to write to you and tell you another story about an experience
we had over here.

As you know, I asked for toys for the Iraqi children over here and several
people (Americans that support us) sent them over by the box. On each patrol
we take through the city, we take as many toys as will fit in our pockets
and hand them out as we can. The kids take the toys and run to show them off
as if they were worth a million bucks. We are as friendly as we can be to
everyone we see, but especially so with the kids. Most of them don't have
any idea what is going on and are completely innocent in all of this.

On one such patrol, our lead security vehicle stopped in the middle of the
street. This is not normal and is very unsafe, so the following vehicles
began to inquire over the radio. The lead vehicle reported a little girl
sitting in the road and said she just would not budge. The command vehicle
told the lead to simply go around her and to be kind as they did. The street
was wide enough to allow this maneuver and so they waved to her as they
drove around.

As the vehicles went around her, I soon saw her sitting there and in her
arms she was clutching a little bear that we had handed her a few patrols
back. Feeling an immediate connection to the girl, I radioed that we were
going to stop. The rest of the convoy paused and I got out the make sure she
was OK. The little girl looked scared and concerned, but there was a warmth
in her eyes toward me. As I knelt down to talk to her, she moved over and
pointed to a mine in the road.

Immediately a cordon was set as the Marine convoy assumed a defensive
posture around the site. The mine was destroyed in place.

It was the heart of an American that sent that toy. It was the heart of an
American that gave that toy to that little girl. It was the heart of an
American that protected that convoy from that mine. Sure, she was a little
Iraqi girl and she had no knowledge of purple mountain's majesty or fruited
plains. It was a heart of acceptance, of tolerance, of peace and grace, even
through the inconveniences of conflict that saved that convoy from hitting
that mine. Those attributes are what keep Americans' hearts beating. She may
have no affiliation at all with the United States, but she knows what it is
to be brave and if we can continue to support her and her new government,
she will know what it is to be free. Isn't that what Americans are, the free
and the brave?

If you sent over a toy or a Marine (US Service member) you took part in
this. You are a reason that Iraq has to believe in a better future. Thank
you so much for supporting us and for supporting our cause over here.
Semper Fi,
Mark J. Francis
GySgt / USMC

*US-trained forces scour Sahara for terror links
http://www.boston.com/news/world/africa/articles/2004/12/12/us_trained_f...
s_scour_sahara_for_terror_links/?rss_id=Boston%20Globe%20--%20World%20News

*High Court: Arrest on 'Reasonable' Grounds OK, Even If Charges Later Fall
Through
The Supreme Court has ruled that police have authority to arrest a person on
an accusation that later falls apart, so long as officers had a second,
valid reason for the detention. The 8-0 ruling Monday set aside a 9th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in favor of Jerome Alford. Two Washington
State Patrol officers had arrested him for tape recording their conversation
during a traffic stop in November 1997. During the traffic stop, Alford told
the officers he had case law showing the taping was legal. Police arrested
him anyway, partly for the separate reason, which they did not tell him,
that he appeared to be impersonating a police officer. The 9th Circuit said
the arrest was improper, ruling that the separate allegation was not
sufficiently "closely related" to the initial offense for which he was
arrested. But in an opinion Monday by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme
Court disagreed. Scalia reasoned that the Fourth Amendment holds an arrest
to be lawful if it was "reasonable" given all the facts at the time. Thus,
even though officers were wrong about the tape-recording allegation, the
suspicious circumstances in which the man appeared to be impersonating an
officer could justify the arrest, he said. Scalia also noted that a ruling
to the contrary would deter officers from providing reasons for their
arrest, as they did in Alford's case, to avoid having their grounds
challenged later if they were proved wrong. Under Washington state law,
officers are not required to state the reasons for an arrest.

*Attack Assessment by the Israeli's
One critical evaluation discussed by the Shabak was received from a German
source summarizing the reasons for special Christmas and New Year readiness:
-Jihadis want to conclude the year with a major terror event, thus taking
their war against the infidels to new heights.
-So-called crusader activities in several Muslim locations continues to
grow, including Iraq, the Persian Gulf, Horn of Africa, Afghanistan and
Russia's Far East.
-Countries such as France, Holland, Germany, Australia and others have,
according to jihadi groups, applied unacceptable laws and regulations
targeted against their communities. A French law prohibiting girls from
wearing head scarves in public schools, a traditional Muslim code for women,
is one such example.
-Agencies have carried out during 2004 a number of successful operations
against jihadi and pro-jihadi organizations, a situation which merits
retaliatory actions.
-Logistical evaluations on terrorist groups and organizations indicate most
cells were neither destroyed nor forced to disband by counter-terror
activities. Most of their full-fledged ring leaders and volunteers have not
been fully identified and therefore remain free.
-Terrorist icons and ideologists, such as Osama Bin Laden, continue to fool
the west.
-A Christmas or New Year attack will be a morale boost for the terrorists
and a morale shock to the targeted society.
-Large numbers of travelers crossing borders with all modes of
transportation enable terrorists to move from country to country in and
outside of Europe with relative ease.
-The Christmas season provides a variety of prime targets.

Hezbollah terrorists are studying the options of terror attacks in Israel,
Europe and the U.S. Such widespread, and possibly simultaneous, activities
might involve 10 to 20 percent of Hezbollah dormant cells. The decision to
activate a cell must consider the possibility that when a terror event has
occurred a very wide counter-terror net is thrown around possibly trapping
other, as yet non-activated, members. During 2004 Hezbollah was active in
the recruitment of non-domestic volunteers such as Israeli Arabs, Muslim
zealots in the west and in North and South America. This information is
based on the following facts:
-Signs of increased contacts between Hezbollah-Lebanon and the Shiite
Lebanese Diaspora.
-Increased numbers of foreign trainees in Lebanon Hezbollah bases.
-Underwater demolition, maritime and air activity expert volunteers
returning to Lebanon from Iran.

This information on Hezbollah is in essence similar to intelligence
collected in the Philippines, Indonesia, Pakistan and India. One of the best
examples comes from Indonesia where both government and foreign agencies are
sounding the alarm concerning terror plans to hit Australian and American
targets. A slight increase in overall terror activity during 2004, both
operational and logistical, with the possibility of terror hits anticipated
in the U.S., are known to be in the making. Jihadi groups regard the U.S.
more than ever before, as a legitimate target for her role and own
admission, as leader of the world war on terrorism. Chris

*Is this 9-1-1?? (transcripts of real calls! Thanks Dean!)
Dispatcher: 9-1-1 What is the nature of your emergency?
Caller: I'm trying to reach nine-eleven but my phone doesn't have an eleven
on it.
Dispatcher: This is nine-eleven.
Caller: I thought you just said it was nine-one-one.
Dispatcher: Yes ma'am, nine-one-one and nine-eleven are the same thing.
Caller: Honey, I may be old, but I'm not stupid.

but the winner is:
Dispatcher: 9-1-1
Caller: Yeah, I'm having trouble breathing; I'm all out of breath. Darn,I
think I'm going to pass out.
Dispatcher: Sir, where are you calling from?
Caller: I'm at a pay phone. North and Foster.
Dispatcher: Sir, an ambulance is on the way.
Are you an asthmatic?
Caller: No.
Dispatcher: What were you doing before you started having trouble breathing?
Caller: Running from the police.

*Christmas Santas banned in French kindergarten
And why? Because the French don't have the courage to say that the threat
they face comes from the Muslim jihadists who want to make France over into
an Islamic state. They don't have the courage to say that Islam.. Full
article: http://www.jihadwatch.org/dhimmiwatch/archives/004285.php

*....so....France's contribution to the war on terror.... build a bridge!
14 Dec 2004: Millau, France: Thundering fighter jets streamed the blue,
white and red of the French tricolor as President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday
dedicated the world's tallest bridge, a skyway span dwarfing the Eiffel
Tower by more than 50 feet. Ahead of its public opening Thursday, the Millau
bridge in southern France has been celebrated as a work of art combining the
strength of cement and steel with the "delicacy of a butterfly." Images of
the bridge, which dominates the Rhone Valley countryside for miles, have
appeared in national media for days. Stretching 1.6 miles through France's
Massif Central mountains, the bridge will enable motorists to take a drive
891 feet above the Tarn River valley. Chirac underscored the national pride
stirred by the bridge by lifting a French flag from its ceremonial plaque,
followed by air force jets trailing the colors of France. "This exceptional
opening will go down in industrial and technological history," Chirac said,
praising the designers and builders for creating "a prodigy of art and
architecture - a new emblem of French civil engineering." The bridge will
serve as a symbol of "a modern and conquering France." (had to clean the
coffee off my computer screen!)
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141506,00.html