For much of the fall season of 2008 all of us the the Northeast Intelligence Network, and those of you who follow our reports, probably could not help but notice a rather significant increase in the postings coming from jihadist website forums which were seized upon as potential Indications and Warnings (IW) precursors to Islamic terrorist strikes. Just as quickly as those jihadi posts popped up like a crocus in early spring... they stopped cold with a finality and suddenness that was also a cause of significant concern. Not only did the posts cease in this manner, but the primary jihadi websites themselves began disappearing or going offline. Some believe, as I do, that this was due to inter-Islamic fratricide, a cyber war between the Shi'a and Sunni jihadists. We at NEIN were assured by those "in the know" that the United States governments counter-terrorist efforts were not the cause of this.
And so, as it transpired, all of this activity and public interest slowed down, waned and was eventually overtaken by the end-game of the U.S. Presidential election. The tumultuous racket and rhetoric surrounding the apparent election of Barack Hussein Obama to the Office of the President of the United States arrived and continues to be the focus of the major media. In the midst of all that clamor the jihadists came back up a couple of weeks after the election and a fresh wave of I&W occurred which this time resulted in a joint FBI/DHS advisory, and tragically, the unprecedented attacks in Mumbai, India. All of this is documented on the most recent pages of this Northeast Intelligence Network website.
This brings us to December and a new spike of Jihadist web postings. during the first two weeks of the month. As Randy Taylor pointed out there has been an "Alarming Rise Jihad Explosive Training Manual Distribution." That rise in VBIED weapons training specific manuals put out for global circulation was also concurrent with a re-issuance of something the Al Qa'ida As Sahab media gurus first distributed in 2005. That release was known as "Al Qa'ida Jihad Harb ul Mustadhefeen" and included a label which classified the document among the jihadists as "War Vulnerable." It is a videographic record of military operations in Afghanistan. It's intent at this time I believe is to inspire jihadists all over the world. It's as if Al Qa'ida saying to all of them, "Look at what your brothers in Afghanistan are doing! What in the name of the prophet are you waiting for? Where is your jihad?"
Again, these things are IW, they are not location specific, but rather are a cause for global concern and vigilance, from your own rural or suburban street and neighborhood, to our shopping malls, our airports, bridges and other transportation infrastructure, to the North American power grid and the various types of energy plants which it the power you need on a daily basis, to the downtown financial centers of major cities like Mumbai, New York, Washington and Toronto. As the jihadi’s stoke their Qur’anic hatred of us in their brothers hearts, let us each do what we can by being observant and reporting to authorities any extraordinary activities we are witness to. In this season of honoring the miraculous birth of our Lord and Savior, let us truly be our brothers and sisters keepers.
