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Propaganda gets results: Congressional leaders agree on drastic response to phony al-Qaeda terrorist threat

David Sherfinski
The Washington Times
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 04:58 UTC
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Key Democratic and Republican members of Congress said Sunday that the terrorism threat reportedly triggered by an intercepted message between senior al Qaeda operatives is the most serious threat in years, with some warning that the threat is an indication the terrorist group responsible for the 9/11 attacks still poses a significant danger to the U.S.

The threat forced the closings of more than 20 U.S. embassies and consulates this weekend. A travel alert was issued for Americans planning to travel overseas, particularly in the Middle East, and will remain in effect for the rest of August. The closures of the embassies and consulates and the travel alert were triggered by an intercepted message between senior al Qaeda operatives, CNN reported Sunday.

The State Department announced Sunday afternoon that 19 diplomatic posts will remain shuttered through Saturday, underscoring the level of concern by U.S. security officials about the potential danger. Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the extension was ordered in part because of the looming celebrations marking the end of the Ramadan period of fasting for Muslims and in part out of "an abundance of caution."

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Eye 1

Propaganda Alert! Unprecedented 'worldwide travel warning' encourages Americans to stay home forever - Feds cement paranoia by ramping up security presence across The Homeland

Mike Levine
ABC News
Mon, 05 Aug 2013 04:32 UTC
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© Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers walk through John F. Kennedy Airport in this February 28, 2013 file photo taken in New York City. The State Department has issued a worldwide travel warning and the Department of Homeland Security is ramping up security measures to monitor any potential threats.
Federal authorities are boosting security in the United States after intelligence agencies detected a credible threat to Western interests overseas and the government began closing diplomatic posts in some Muslim countries, according to homeland security officials.

The Department of Homeland Security is increasing security measures at airports, train stations and other transportation hubs, and expanding scrutiny of visitors coming into the United States, two officials told ABC News.

The FBI, meanwhile, is "working sources" and taking other "logical steps" to monitor any potential threat, an FBI official said.
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Megaphone

Catapulting the Propaganda: Senior U.S. official claims intercepted al-Qaeda communications indicate 'big, strategically significant attack imminent'

Martha Raddatz & Jonathan Karl
ABC News
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 04:10 UTC
On the day that almost two dozen U.S. embassies and consulates across North Africa and the Middle East are closed following the identification of a significant threat from an al-Qaeda affiliate, a senior U.S. official is providing new details about the communications intercepted from the terrorists, telling ABC News that al-Qaeda operatives could be heard talking about an upcoming attack. The official described the terrorists as saying the planned attack is "going to be big" and "strategically significant."

"The part that is alarming is the confidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty," the official said, adding that the group - Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula - appeared to have a media plan for after the attack.

Authorities do not know the exact target of the planned attack, according to the official.

"We do not know whether they mean an embassy, an airbase, an aircraft, trains," the official said.

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© Muham
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Passport

Canada introducing baggage checks, sniffer dogs and background traces in wake of 'foiled' joint RCMP-FBI terror plot

Jim Bronskill
Yahoo! News
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 00:00 UTC
Via Rail
© Unknown
Ottawa - Taking a train in Canada could soon become more like boarding an airplane as Via Rail considers greater scrutiny of checked baggage, more inspections by sniffer dogs and security checks on passengers.

The measures - outlined in documents released under the Access to Information Act - are being considered in direct response to the alleged terrorist plot to derail a train that led to arrests in April, said Jacques Gagnon, a Via Rail spokesman.


Comment: People might remember these two so called alleged Al Qaeda dudes from Montreal and Toronto, arrested by the RCMP, of course with the assistance of the "F.B.I. and other American law enforcement and intelligence agencies who were involved in the investigation."

This 'foiled plot' was yet another FBI sting operation with undercover informants:



"We were already doing a lot, we are doing more now, and we could do even more," Gagnon said in an interview.

Raed Jaser, 35, of Toronto, and Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, of Montreal, face terrorism-related charges for allegedly plotting to derail a Via passenger train. A third man, Ahmed Abassi, was arrested in the United States in connection with the purported scheme.
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Chess

West acts like 'bull in China shop' in Middle East - Russian PM


RIA Novosti
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 14:39 UTC
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© RIA Novosti. Yekaterina Shtukina
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a Sunday interview with Russia Today
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticized on Sunday the West's interference in the Middle East, describing it as a "bull in a china shop."

In an interview with Russia Today international news TV channel, Medvedev said he agreed with the interviewer that the West often purposefully pushed whole nations to the point of no return, beyond which it was very difficult to convince the warring sides to attempt negotiations.

"Our Western partners sometimes behave like a bull in a china shop - they squeeze in, crush everything and then don't know what to do next. I often find myself astonished at their analysts and how inconsistent their projects are that they push through by their superiors and at the outcomes they get," Medvedev told Russia Today.

"If we're being completely honest, what good did the Arab Spring bring to the Arab world? Did it bring freedom? A little, at best. In most countries it led to endless bloodshed, regime change, and continuous unrest. I have no illusions about that either. As for the pushing you mentioned, yes, unfortunately, that's true," Medvedev said.
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Camera

Apocalyptic images reveal shocking scale of U.S.-led devastation in Syria: Al-Qaeda outpost of Homs retaken by Syrian government, historic city left in ruins


The Independent, UK
Sun, 04 Aug 2013 06:24 UTC
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© Getty Images
An aerial view of destruction in the al-Khalidiyah neighbourhood of the central Syrian city of Homs
Syrian troops drove insurgents from central Homs on Monday, tightening their siege on remaining rebel bastions in the strategically important city, which links Damascus to the Mediterranean heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect. The fighting has devastated the city, leaving buildings in ruins.
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Display

FBI Taps hacker tactics to spy on suspects

Jennifer Valentino-DeVries and Danny Yadron
The Wall Street Journal
Thu, 01 Aug 2013 07:30 UTC
Law-Enforcement officials expand use of tools such as spyware as people under investigation 'go dark,' evading wiretaps

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© Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
A view of the J. Edgar Hoover Building, the headquarters for the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Washington, DC.
Law-enforcement officials in the U.S. are expanding the use of tools routinely used by computer hackers to gather information on suspects, bringing the criminal wiretap into the cyber age.

Federal agencies have largely kept quiet about these capabilities, but court documents and interviews with people involved in the programs provide new details about the hacking tools, including spyware delivered to computers and phones through email or Web links - techniques more commonly associated with attacks by criminals.

People familiar with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's programs say that the use of hacking tools under court orders has grown as agents seek to keep up with suspects who use new communications technology, including some types of online chat and encryption tools. The use of such communications, which can't be wiretapped like a phone, is called "going dark" among law enforcement.
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USA

51st state of USA (UK) follows suit by ordering British subjects to leave Yemen


The Guardian
Fri, 02 Aug 2013 09:19 UTC
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Foreign Office say any Britons who stay in Yemen are unlikely to be able to be evacuated if unrest gets worse

British nationals have been warned to leave the Middle Eastern state of Yemen immediately, amid fears of escalating violence in the country.

The Foreign Office issued new advice warning against all travel to the country, and said that any Britons who stay in Yemen are unlikely to be able to be evacuated if unrest gets worse. The British embassy in the capital Sana'a will be closed on Sunday and Monday as a "precautionary measure".

The advice came as the US state department issued a global travel alert because of a threat of possible al-Qaida terrorist attacks during August, particularly in the Middle East. Twenty one American embassies in the region - including Yemen - will close on Sunday. There was no immediate indication of any link between the British and US actions.


Comment: Puh-leeze don't insult us with that horse hockey! The actions are blatantly the result of joint policy.

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War Whore

U.S. general reveals plans for Air Force expansion in Asia

Peter Symonds
World Socialist Web Site
Fri, 02 Aug 2013 22:06 UTC
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American officials routinely deny that Obama's "pivot to Asia" is aimed at preparing for war against China. However, in comments this week reported on the Foreign Policy web site, General Herbert Carlisle, chief of US Air Force operations in the Pacific, outlined a far-reaching build-up of American war planes and personnel throughout Asia.

The four-star general told reporters in Washington on July 29 that the US Air Force would dispatch "fighters, tankers, and at some point in the future, maybe bombers on a rotational basis" to bases in northern Australia. He indicated that the "rotations" would begin next year to Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Base Darwin before moving to RAAF Base Tindal, several hundred kilometres south.

The US Air Force has already flown training missions into RAAF Base Darwin, with a B-52 arriving from Guam last August. Longer stays are now being prepared, in line with the US Marine "rotational presence" in Darwin that will reach 1,150 next year. By 2016, a fully-equipped 2,500-strong Marine Air Ground Task Force will operate from Darwin on six-month rotations.
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Bomb

Florida law enforcement agencies refuse to probe killing of Boston Marathon bombing witness

Nick Barrickman
World Socialist Web Site
Fri, 02 Aug 2013 21:57 UTC
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Ibragim Todashev
Attempts made by the American Civil Liberties Union to obtain an independent probe into the killing of Ibragim Todashev have been rebuffed by representatives of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE). Todashev, the 27-year-old Chechen and associate of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was killed by Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents during an interrogation on May 22.

A letter sent Tuesday by FDLE Commissioner Gerald M. Bailey to the ACLU stated, "This is an active federal investigation; it would be inappropriate for [the state] to intervene" in the probe currently being carried out by the FBI into the circumstances surrounding the killing. Referring any subsequent questions to the FBI, the FDLE commissioner refused to make any additional comments.

The stonewalling prompted the ACLU of Florida's Executive Director Howard Simon to comment, "Secrecy fosters suspicion and the people of Florida deserve better than to be left without an explanation from their government about what led to a person being shot to death."
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