Al Qaeda in Iraq Terror Threat to U.S.

January 23, 2007 -- U.S.

Details Emerge About Possible Terror Threat

Mimicking the hijackers who executed the Sept. 11 attacks, insurgents reportedly tied to al Qaeda in Iraq considered using student visas to slip terrorists into the United States to orchestrate a new attack on American soil. (ABC News)

IRAQ NEWS

Black Hawk Likely Shot Down in Iraq

In a troubling development that may signify a new vulnerability for U.S. troops, the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed northeast of Baghdad Saturday appears to have been brought down by a shoulder-fired surface-to-air missile, a senior military official tells ABC News. (ABC News)

Bomb Kills 5 in Separate Baghdad Attacks

Five people were killed when two bombs struck separate Shiite targets in Baghdad on Tuesday, a day after a double car bombing tore through the stalls of a market crowded with Shiites elsewhere in the capital leaving 88 dead -- the bloodiest attack in two months. The U.S. military also said it is investigating what appears to be the crash of a civilian aircraft. (AP)

In the Vortex of Baghdad, Staying Put This Time

Two blocks from the new American outpost in Ghazaliya, one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods, a fight was raging. Shiites were battling Sunnis, the latest skirmish in a sectarian war that has left this area a wasteland. (NY Times)

IRAN-IRAQ ARMS

Scant Evidence Found of Iran-Iraq Arms Link

There is anywhere Iran could easily stir up trouble in Iraq, it would be in Diyala, a rugged province along the border between the two nations. (LA Times)

CHINA

China Confirms Test of Anti-Satellite Weapon

The Chinese government confirmed today that it had conducted a successful test of a new anti-satellite weapon, but said it had no intention of participating in a "space race." (NY Times)

IRAN

Iran Bars 38 IAEA Nuclear Inspectors

Iran has barred 38 nuclear inspectors on a United Nations list from entering the country, the foreign minister said Monday in what appeared to be retaliation for the U.N. sanctions imposed last month. (AP)

AFGHANISTAN

Blast Near Afghan NATO Base Kills 10

A bomber blew himself up amid a crowd of workers outside a U.S. military base in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing as many as 10 and wounding more than a dozen others in the deadliest suicide attack in four months, officials said. (AP)

AL QAEDA VIDEO

New Zawahri Videotape Criticizes Bush's Plan for Iraq

A new videotape message by al Qaeda's No. 2, Ayman al Zawahri, in which he reacts to Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq, has been distributed for release on the Internet. (ABC News)

SOMALIA

Ethiopia Troops Begin Somalia Exit, General Says

Ethiopian forces who helped Somalia's interim government rout rival Islamists in a war over the New Year will begin leaving the chaotic Horn of Africa nation's capital on Tuesday, an Ethiopian general said. (Reuters)

Somalia Islamists' No. 2 Leader Surrenders in Kenyan Capital

The second in command of Somalia's defeated Islamist forces have surrendered to the Kenyan authorities and is staying at a hotel in Nairobi, Western diplomats and Somali officials said Monday. (NY Times)

MARK FOLEY INVESTIGATION

FBI: We Flubbed Foley E-mails

The FBI should have done more to investigate the Mark Foley e-mails or, alternatively, notified House authorities in charge of the congressional page program, the FBI's inspector general, Glenn A. Fine, said in a report today. (ABC News)

KOREA

Sanctions Under the Shadow of War

The risk of war on the Korean Peninsula remains high, and the US government is raising it higher by opening an economic front. (Asia Times)

CANADA

Grisly Details Bared as Serial Killing Trial begins in Canada

The murder trial of the man accused of the largest number of serial killings recorded in Canada began here on Monday with grisly details of how the police found the dismembered hands and feet and severed heads of women on his pig farm. (NY Times)

ON THE WEB

ABC News Extremist Website Monitoring

This is a daily update of some of what can be found on militant Islamist websites that are often used by al Qaeda and its sympathizers, insurgent groups in Iraq and other groups for propaganda, recruiting and communication purposes. (ABC News)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

U.S. Counters 'Homegrown' Terror

By Shaun Waterman

U.S. law enforcement and intelligence officials say they are taking steps to monitor and combat the possible spread of Islamic extremism and support for a violent holy war against the West among a "Pepsi jihad" generation of young Muslims in the United States. (UPI)

From Pakistan, With Jihad

To learn why a resurgent Taliban is fighting American and NATO troops to a military draw in Afghanistan, you have to go to the frontier region on both sides of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. (NY Times)

China's Missile Tests the US

It took a while for the news to come out, but on Thursday last week the Chinese military showed its true colors and fired a missile into space, destroying an obsolete Chinese weather satellite. (Taipei Times)

Note From America

By Curtis F J Doebbler

When the world is silent amidst American aggression -- Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia -- it indicates assent. (Al Ahram Weekly)

Why the 'Big Push' Sounds Horribly Familiar

By Adam Hochschild

If we needed more evidence that those surrounding US President George W Bush have a tin ear for the lessons of history, it came this month when National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley referred to increasing the number of US troops in Iraq as "the big push" that would bring victory closer. (Asia Times)

Armenia Haunts the Turks Again

By Hug Pope

Is there a curse hanging over Turkey? Each time the country achieves sustained development, something trips it up. This time it was the assassination on Friday of Hrant Dink, a newspaper editor, peacemaker and one of Turkey's most prominent Armenians. (LA Times)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham, Hoda Osman and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.