And then theres this

WASHINGTON: The central nervous system for the next major terrorist attack on the US soil lies in Pakistan, say senior US officials and lawmakers.

NO Duh! I mean cut me some slack and tell us something we don't already know.

Al-Shabaab Threat or no Threat?

According to the Washington Post on 3-11-09 they reported - Snip Al-Shabaab's ranks may also diminish now that an Islamist government has replaced a U.S.-backed Ethiopian occupation in Somalia. "It's very difficult to see how launching an attack using a sleeper cell in the United States would in any way serve their interests," said Kenneth J. Menkhaus, a political scientist at Davidson College who specializes in East Africa - endsnip but if you read the JAWA Report dated 3-10-09 it claims somewhat tounge in cheek i think "Good News: Al Qaeda about to get its first state!" If theres any glimmer of truth in the jawa post will the Somalia under Shabaab really be more like al Qaeda ruling Afghanistan?

Looking elsewhare on the web the Council on Foregin Relations reports that Al-Shabaab has Links to al-Qaeda, which is somewhat in line with multiple other sites. Here is a clip fro m the cofr site, "When the United States placed Shabaab on its list of foreign terrorist organizations in February 2008, it claimed the group has an allegiance with al-Qaeda. Specifically, it said that senior Shabaab leaders trained in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda. Experts say there are links between individual Shabaab leaders and individual members of al-Qaeda, but any organizational linkage between the two groups is weak, if it exists at all (many experts note that al-Qaeda operates in a disaggregated manner--so linking self-proclaimed members of Shabaab to self-proclaimed members of al-Qaeda would not necessarily indicate that the two groups are coordinating with one another in a systemic way). There is evidence that foreign fighters have trained Shabaab members on the use of weapons and how to construct roadside bombs. But Marchal says many of these foreign fighters are not part of al-Qaeda."

So I ask, whos right, and more importantly if AQ takes a good hold in Somalia will they get a state, ad if they do, will the Somalis in Minnesota then have more to worry about, or will we need to watch them more closely for ties?

The Making of a Mumbai Terrorist

By ARYN BAKER / RAWALPINDI AND JYOTI THOTTAM MUMBAI

Rawalpindi is not a city where fortunes are made. It is a refuge for
those seeking relief from the backbreaking labors of rural life and a
home for those fleeing the violence on Pakistan's troubled frontier with
Afghanistan. 'Pindi, as it is known, may be a stifling metropolis where
crime goes unpunished and hard work unrewarded, but it also offers a
chance at the first rung of a very long ladder toward financial
stability. Yet that ladder goes only so high. The greensward of the
Rawalpindi Golf Club teases the poor with dreams of the good life, but
its gates are firmly closed. In Rawalpindi, there are no holes in the
fence that divides the classes.

In full
http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1883334,00.html?iid=tsmoduleSunday,
Mar. 08, 2009

Terrorist group recruits in Midwest

Terrorist group recruits in MidwestFBI reaches out to ethnic
enclavesLolita C. Baldor, ASSOCIATED PRESSThursday, March 5, 2009As
people crowded into the capital for Barack Obama's inaugural
celebration,senior counterterrorism officials huddled in the White House
situation room,frantically trying to unravel intelligence about a
possible attack onWashington.By the afternoon of Jan. 20, as Mr. Obama
took the oath of office, thethreat of a terror plot by the Somalia-based
al-Shabab organization had beendebunked, but the flurry of activity
underscored growing worries about thisIslamic militant group."I think
they are a serious problem, and I don't think that we should beglib and
take it lightly," said Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant secretaryof
defense for African affairs. "Are they the ones that are going to
planthe next major terrorist attack in the United States and carry it
out?Probably not. But could they provide some of the foot soldiers for
it? Yes."The State Department considers al-Shabab a terrorist
organization with linksto al Qaeda, something the group denies.
Al-Shabab, which means "the Youth,"has been gaining ground as Somalia's
Western-backed government crumbles. Thegroup's goal is to establish an
Islamic state in Somalia.U.S. counterterrorism officials say they detect
a disturbing pattern, onethat mirrors al Qaeda methods and could spawn
homegrown insurgents andsuicide bombers in the U.S.Counterterrorism
officials suspect that al-Shabab is recruiting young menfrom Somali
communities in Minnesota and other Midwestern states, luringthem back to
their home country for terror training and creating cells offighters who
could travel to other countries, including the United States,to launch
attacks.Four months ago, a young Somali man left Minneapolis to become a
suicidebomber. He detonated a bomb he was wearing - one step in a series
ofcoordinated attacks targeting a U.N. compound, the Ethiopian Consulate
andthe presidential palace in Somaliland's capital, Hargeisa.It was the
first known time that a U.S. citizen was a suicide bomber.In response,
the FBI stepped up efforts to reach out to community leaders inthe
Minneapolis area, where young Somali-American men have disappeared
andare thought to have traveled to Somalia to fight along with
militants. FBIspokesman E.K. Wilson said that since the disappearances,
the bureau hasworked to expand relationships with community elders,
religious leaders andothers active in the local Somali population, which
numbers about 80,000."We want them to come forward with concerns about
their young people," Mr.Wilson said. "We share the same concerns. We
want to help, and we needpeople with concerns to come forward with
information.

Googles at it again

Google searches online audio for key words

Asking for ammo

Dan Wells, Intelligence Bureau commander at the state Department of Public Safety, listed a series of brazen gunfights just below the border during the past two years:


• In April 2007, 70 paramilitary enforcers known as Los Zetas, working for the Gulf Cartel, attacked a police station in Cananea, leaving 22 dead, including five officers. Afterward, about 40 percent of the local police force resigned.


• In October 2008, a convoy of Los Zetas was intercepted in Nogales by Sonoran state police. Ten gangsters were killed and three officers wounded during the shootout.


• On Nov. 1, 2008, armed gunmen attacked the police station in Nogales. The next day, the state police commander was assassinated by a sniper during an ambush outside a hotel. Then, on Nov. 3, police exchanged fire for three hours with gang members.

"It was such (a) heavy firefight that police were actually calling for reinforcements . . . and asking for ammunition from the American side," said Wells

Mumbai attackers had hit list of 320 world targets

They never plan small, thats something to ponder.



The plotters behind the Mumbai attack, which left more than 170 people dead, had placed India's financial capital on a list of 320 worldwide locations as potential targets for commando-style terror strikes, the Guardian has learned.

It suggests that Lashkar-e-Taiba, the outlawed terror group that planned much of the attack from Pakistan, had ambitions well beyond causing mayhem in India.

Western intelligence agencies have accessed the computer and email account of Lashkar's communications chief, Zarar Shah, and found a list of possible targets, only 20 of which were in India.

Two of the November 2008 attack's key planners – Shah and Lashkar's operations chief, Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi – are now in police custody in Pakistan.