12.3.2005

WW4

CIA Kills Al-Qaeda Operations Leader >>> This is currently receiving nowhere near the news coverage it should. Sure, good news is usually boring, but what's boring about a Predator UAV carrying out a covert missile strike on a terrorist leader? I'm enthralled! And another al-Qaeda leader blows himself up in Dagestan. Take a look at the chart of 'Foreign Mujahideen of the Caucasus' (PDF file) to see the big picture.

MANPAD At LAX? >>> Possible connection here? Also, check out the incident at Tinker Air Force base in July 2005, with supporting information here. And to top it all off, the TWA Flight 800 Conspiracy. Usually when I smell a conspiracy theory I quickly run in the opposite direction, but literally every time I go to an airport I am struck by the ease at which anybody with a basic SAM could down a passenger jet and escape undetected. The tactical vulnerabilities are just far too great. I'll be flying out of LAX in the next several weeks, and I have no allusions concerning my safety. My point is this: Just like a terrorist nuclear detonation in a major American city or a chemical/biological attack in a crowded location, this kind of attack will happen eventually.

International Terrorist Reveals All >>> An EXCELLENT article with information on everything from 'enhanced interrogation techniques' to another crack in the 'all terrorists are poor' argument. (Hat tip: DV)
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OIF

ISF AT 225,000 For Election >>> As I've mentioned before, given the current rate of increase, we are ahead of schedule for the goal of 270,000 by July/August 2006. I'm going to go ahead and predict that we reach the 270K mark around May/June.
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DOMESTIC

Jamaat ul-Fuqra, Part III >>> Baron Bodissey and the Open Source Intelligence Network of the blogosphere have provided another look into JF. This time, we travel back to the one that started it all--the compound in Red House, VA.
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