UK terror plot aimed British landmarks, shopping

It appears the focus on more than one front of the terror war has shifted to smaller targets. The purpose of course is to induce widespread panic.

A large-scale terror attack was aimed at British landmarks and public spaces, security officials said Tuesday as more details emerged and police searched the homes of 12 British suspects being held for questioning.

The men — whose ages range from 17 to 28 — were arrested Monday in the largest counterterrorism raid in nearly two years. At least five were of Bangladeshi origin.

Read more: here

U.S. buffets and salad bars 'threatened with poison attacks’

There is probably a joke here as well if it weren't so deadly serious. Interesting thing here is that if credible, and it appears to be so, it would seem to signal a change in tactics. From large scale attacks to more local, small scale, "upsetting the apple cart" kind of attacks to disrupt the economy.

Al Qaeda terrorists are plotting to put deadly poison in the salad bars and buffets of hotels and restaurants, according to U.S. intelligence sources.

They would hide either ricin or cyanide in the food at a number of locations during one weekend to cause panic.

Those who ate the poisoned meals would fall ill and die within days. It takes only tiny quantities of either ricin or cyanide to kill.

Read more: here

North Korea Blinks-N Korea won't retaliate over live-fire drill

North Korea raises alert for artillery units along its west coast

Reuters:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session on Sunday to try to cool tensions on the Korean Peninsula, but the five big powers were split on whether to publicly blame North Korea for the crisis.

Pyongyang raised an alert for artillery units along its west coast in what appeared to be its latest move in a growing crisis between the two Koreas, Yonhap news agency said, quoting a South Korean government source. The report was issued ahead of a planned live-fire drill by South Korea.... More here

UPDATE: South Korea Holds Off On Exercise In Light of Threats

One gets the feeling here that U.S. envoy has found that the situation is as dire as China and Russia have been warning. That far from empty threats, North Korea fully intends to retaliate should the ROK go forward with its military exercise. Halting an exercise because of  "an adverse weather forecast", i.e. "cloudy with a chance of rain" is obviously not a real reason. Something else is going on. I just wonder what the payoff is/was.

US envoy visiting North Korea has warned that the situation on the peninsula is a "tinderbox". more from BBC

From Business Week...China said it’s “deeply concerned” about the “extremely precarious” situation on the peninsula, Xinhua News Agency reported today, citing Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun.

Igor Morgulov, a director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Asian department, expressed “extreme concern” over North Korea’s readiness to use military force in a phone call yesterday with North Korean Ambassador Kim Yong-Jae.... More

N. Korea-" it is not about war or peace ... but when the war will break out,"

Reuters Africa

North says to hit South harder if firing drill proceeds

* Seoul says firing drill on disputed island to go ahead

* China urges U.S. cooperation over North Korea

Daily Mail

An unnamed senior North Korean military official told the Korean Central News Agency that if the south carried out more drills 'despite our military's prior warnings, second and third unpredictable self-defensive strikes will be made'.

A notice sent to the South Korean military today added that the retaliation would be made 'to safeguard our republic's sacred territorial waters' and that the 'intensity and scope of the strike will be more serious than the November 23 shelling'.

Read more: 

Just Thinkin'

My son son showed me a video  of a back story for a video game called Homefront. The premise is that over the coming years a resurgent North Korea, under the leadership of "dear leader's son" "reunifies" the Korean peninsula, annexes much of Southeast Asia, and them marches across the Pacific to eventually take over the U.S. Clever video if not a particularly realistic scenario but it got me to thinking.....here's a "scary ghost story" for Christmas:

Sometime in the future...
North Korea decides to "reunify" Korea threatening and then using (if necessary) nuclear weapons against Japan.

China decides to "reunify" China by attacking Taiwan. Its new technology cripples the Pacific fleet.

At the same time Iran launches attacks on Israel with the aid of Hezbollah and Hamas (with possible/probable nuclear and conventional missiles and overthrows the Iraq government.

Mexico (becomes) a failed state and rebels supported by Venezuela overthrow the government. Venezuela launches medium range missiles into U.S.

A resurgent Russia (aiding Iran) also seeks reunification of former territory such as the Ukraine, Belarus etc and threatens Germany and other European powers with dire consequences if they interfere.

The U.K. is racked with internal strife and unable to assist, as the Muslim population rises up.


Whew! the paranoia thing is really going huh?
This is why I don't play video games.

Russia delivered 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009

WaPo

Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez's stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons.

The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia's pro-American government or Mexican drug cartels, concerns expressed in U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and first reported in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

... the American commander for military forces in Latin America, Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, publicly expressed concern this year that Venezuela was purchasing as many as 2,400 of the missiles, also called the IGLA-S.

Matt Schroeder, a missile expert at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said the missiles are among the most sophisticated in the world and can down aircraft from 19,000 feet.

Stuxneted

Choice!

Iran's nuclear program is still in chaos despite its leaders' adamant claim that they have 

contained the computer worm that attacked their facilities, cybersecurity experts in the United 

States and Europe say.

The American and European experts say their security websites, which deal with the 

computer worm known as Stuxnet, continue to be swamped with traffic from Tehran and other 

places in the Islamic Republic, an indication that the worm continues to infect the computers 

at Iran's two nuclear sites.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/12/09/despite-iranian-claims-stuxnet-worm-causing-nuclear-havoc/#ixzz17mFEEFca

FA LA LA- FAA Folly

From Judicial Watch:
aviation mechanics that can't read the manuals or speak English, hackers in the ATC system and now:

...Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) actually admit that they fear the “gap” could be exploited by terrorists and drug traffickers. The agency in charge of aviation safety is missing key information on more than one-third of the country’s 357,000 private and commercial planes, even though federal law requires all U.S. aircrafts to be registered with the FAA and carry the registration certificate on board.... More

Iran Placing Medium-Range Missiles in Venezuela; Can Reach the U.S.

From Hudson NY:


Iran is planning to place medium-range missiles on Venezuelan soil, based on western information sources[1], according to an article in the German daily, Die Welt, of November 25, 2010. According to the article, an agreement between the two countries was signed during the last visit o Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Tehran on October19, 2010. The previously undisclosed contract provides for the establishment of a jointly operated military base in Venezuela, and the joint development of ground-to-ground missiles....

According to Die Welt, Venezuela has agreed to allow Iran to establish a military base manned by Iranian missile officers, soldiers of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Venezuelan missile officers. In addition, Iran has given permission for the missiles to be used in case of an "emergency". In return, the agreement states that Venezuela can use these facilities for "national needs" – radically increasing the threat to neighbors like Colombia. The German daily claims that according to the agreement, Iranian Shahab 3 (range 1300-1500 km), Scud-B (285-330 km) and Scud-C (300, 500 and 700 km) will be deployed in the proposed base. It says that Iran also pledged to help Venezuela in rocket technology expertise, including intensive training of officers...

More

one in four terrorists released resumed terrorist activities

From the Washington Times:

Nearly one in four terrorists released from the detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, resumed terrorist activities against the United States and the number is expected to rise, according to a report to Congress by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence(DNI).

The report, made public Tuesday, stated that out of a total of 598 detainees released as of October, 150 were confirmed or suspected of "reengaging in terrorist or insurgent activities after transfer," the two-page unclassified summary said. More

Baltimore terror plot

what he needed was a shark...


The man, identified by ABC News as Antonio Martinez, aka Muhammed Hussain, planned to attack the center "with what he believed to be vehicle bomb," according to the spokesperson, Marcia Murphy. More

WikiLeaks Revenge

From the Guardian-

The website of MasterCard has been hacked and partially paralysed in apparent revenge for the international credit card's decision to cease taking donations to WikiLeaks.

A group of online activists calling themselves Anonymous appear to have orchestrated a DDOS ("distributed denial of service") attack on the site, bringing its service at www.mastercard.com to a halt for many users...More

Lieberman: WikiLeaks.. "most serious violation of the Espionage Act in our history"

Agreed. Story here

Muslim Brotherhood Front Group Trains Airport Screeners

The Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC) has completed training for 2,200 Transportation Safety Officers (TSOs) at the Los Angeles International Airport according to a press release found on the MPAC website.  more from Human Events


previously posted (by Drudge) image of Muslim TSA agent patting down a Nun.

Catch-and-release of Taliban fighters

More than 500 suspected Taliban fighters detained by U.S. forces have been released from custody at the urging of Afghan government officials, angering both American troops and some Afghans who oppose the policy on the grounds that many of those released return to the battlefield to kill NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/news/world/2010/12/catch-and-release-taliban-fighters-afghanistan-angers-troops#ixzz17RXOdRqN

Activating Jihad

The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) is reporting that two extremist groups in the U.S., Revolution Muslim and the Islamic Thinkers Society, are becoming “increasingly operational” and are violently carrying out their faith. Today’s non-violent Islamic extremists are often tomorrow’s terrorists. Groups seeking to replace democracy with Sharia-based governance are using our freedoms to create the Islamist swamp from which terrorists emerge... More from FrontPage

Christmas Tree Bomber Acted Alone- e-mailed Pakistan

No- They're never alone....

From the AP:

 The teenager accused of attempting to bomb a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore., was acting on his own initiative and not at the direction of any foreign terrorist organization, a law enforcement official said Saturday.


Boy that was quick figurin', eh? We're on it! But wait....


Mohamud, a student at Oregon State University, e-mailed a friend living in Pakistan.....(who)  referred him to another associate....


...The friend Mohamud was e-mailing was in Pakistan's northwest frontier province, an area known to harbor terrorists, but the law enforcement official said there is no indication that any foreign terrorist group was behind the plot.


Well, that clears up everything. Don't you feel better?

Wiki Treason

From the WaPo:
U.S. embassies around the world are warning allies thatWikiLeaks might be poised to release classified cables that could harm relations by revealing sensitive assessments and exposing U.S. sources, a State Department spokesman said Thursday. More

International Business Times adds the following while adding a pretty good overview of the whole mess :

The Pentagon has already warned the U.S. Senate and House Armed Services Committees that the leaks will “touch on an enormous range of very sensitive foreign policy issues.” “We anticipate that the release could negatively impact U.S. foreign relations,” Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs Elizabeth King said in an e-mail to the defense committees. More