Intel and Ops update:

NIE mess.
By Walid Phares
Thus, logically, as a conglomeration of various interests is using the NIE findings as tacit approval for shielding the Iranian regime, Washington naively has trapped itself with the product of the best of the best in its national intelligence apparatus. Every word now used by this writer will be put to the task of demonstrating to my readers that, if anything, this NIE Report has revealed a major systemic problem with United States national security analysis; and that further, America's ability to understand and detect threats against itself has been compromised.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/misestimating_irans_nuclear_st.php

http://tinyurl.com/25q2a8

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By Evan Kohlmann
On December 4, the Izzadeen al-Qassam Brigades (the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement) published the transcript of an English-language question-and-answer session conducted over e-mail with one of its spokesman known as "Abu Obaida." During the public interview, Abu Obaida bluntly dismissed Al-Qaida Deputy Commander Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri's recent criticisms of Hamas as merely a "media" spectacle: "We do not tell Al-Dhawahry [Al-Zawahiri] what to do in Afghanistan since we are not aware of his situation...His judgments and opinions are his; but they are not correct. More importantly, we are not awaiting approval or blessing from anyone except Allah."

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/hamas_distances_itself_from_za.php

http://tinyurl.com/ysrto8

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By Michael Jacobson
Some analysts are arguing that because last week's National Intelligence Estimate concluded that Iran halted its covert nuclear program in 2003, sanctions against Iran are no longer necessary. In fact, the opposite conclusion could be drawn from the report, which suggests that Iran is vulnerable to outside pressure on the nuclear issue - and much more still needs to be done on this front.

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/iran_report_makes_case_for_kee.php

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By Victor Comras

Kosovo’s Albanian community leaders will likely unilaterally declare Kosovo’s secession and independence from Serbia in the next few weeks. This follows the failure of UN sponsored negotiations on Kosovo’s final status. This will not be a smooth separation and is likely to be accompanied by inter-ethnic violence and growing tension along Kosovo’s borders with all its neighbors. The United States and Europe are poised to quickly recognize Kosovo, but Russia and other Slavic countries bordering Kosovo are not. The repercussions are likely to be felt throughout the Balkan region, and especially with regard to Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia. Ambassador Richard Holbrooke’s excellent November 25th Opinion Piece in the Washington Post should serve as a wakeup call to this very dangerous situation. Ambassador Holbrooke wrote:.....

http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/12/keeping_kosovo_from_becoming_a.php

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This is our automated Taliban tracking section.

Currently featuring "Musa Qala".
A quick way to check OSINT
You tube vids
news feeds
our Blog feeds
and below "search top 50 terror blogs.

Gerald

http://paradigmintel.blogspot.com/index.html

http://tinyurl.com/yu4uuj

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Al-Shayi':

In the interview, titled "I Set Out to Seek Jihad - And They Turned Me into a Pawn for Killing Innocents... My Going There Was a Grave Mistake," Al-Shayi' recounted the unfolding of events from the time he left Saudi Arabia for Iraq via Syria to his injury while detonating a truck bomb in Baghdad, his arrest, and his extradition to Saudi Arabia, where he renounced his jihadist views.

"I left for Iraq in order to participate in the jihad, and to fight the occupiers - [at least] that was what I thought at the time. The commander of my group, Abu 'Abd Al-Rahman, asked me to deliver a fuel tanker to a particular place in the Al-Mansour residential neighborhood in Baghdad, and drew me a diagram of the spot. I told him that I didn't know how to drive a heavy vehicle, but he said that [it] was easy.....

http://www.memri.org/bin/opener_latest.cgi?ID=SD178007

http://tinyurl.com/ywfxk9

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Fake Passports ID's and Cash Seized from Illinois Man Now Held On $3 Million Bail

December 4, 2007

Mohammed Afzal Sodagar is facing charges that include identity theft, possession of phony ID and domestic battery. He was arrested after Morton Grove police responded to a call for help from his son and searched the family home.

In court documents, prosecutor Sharon Kanter says police found $59,000 and a dozen different passports from Pakistan, Jamaica and the United States, each with a different name. Kanter says officials also found eleven Illinois ID cards with Sodagar's photo but different names and dozens of credit cards and Social Security cards.

http://www.nationalterroralert.com/updates/2007/12/04/fake-passports-ids-and-cash-seized-from-illinois-man-held-on-3-million-bail/

http://tinyurl.com/26wrb7

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By DANICA KIRKA Associated Press Writer
KABUL, Afghanistan Dec 10, 2007 (AP)
Hundreds of Taliban fighters fled in trucks and motorbikes Monday as Afghan and international troops fought their way into the only important town controlled by the hard-line Islamic movement.

Afghan officers reported some militants, possibly al-Qaida, were still resisting in the center of Musa Qala, and said the attacking force controlled the southern town but was moving slowly toward the center because streets were boobytrapped with improvised bombs.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=3978930

http://tinyurl.com/25ou4c

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Afghan forces detain alleged key Taliban facilitator


KABUL, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have detained a "high value" target during a Dec. 6 operation in Bermel district of southeastern Paktika province, said a statement issued here Saturday by the U.S.-led Coalition forces.

The ANSF raided a compound suspected of housing the militant after receiving credible intelligence provided by a rival facilitator, it said.

The detainee, according to the Coalition statement, is suspected of being a major Taliban Improvised Explosive Device (IED) facilitator and intelligence collector for a terrorist network

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/08/content_7219194.htm

http://tinyurl.com/27ozk6