A more limited terror story (FBI Investigating Tappahannock, VA area person)

Richmond Times Dispatch ^ | 1-1-04 | MICHAEL MARTZ

[putupon]

The FBI is investigating a person in the Tappahannock area for possible ties to terrorist organizations, but the eastern Virginia town is not considered a target for a terrorist attack, sources said yesterday.

The person under investigation is considered a possible source of financing and other assistance for terrorist groups, according to the sources, who did not want to be identified. They did not identify the person by name or nationality.

[Dog]

The issue became public in a Dec. 23 story by the Los Angeles Times that mentioned Rappahannock as a potential area of concern for a terrorist attack, along with major cities. Attention in news reports then moved to Tappahannock.

Rappahannock IMHO is the target..

[Rutabega]

My folks have a house in Tappahanock, and spent Christmas and New Year's there and I have been chewing my nails over the news last week that it was a target area.

I am so thrilled to see that America seems to have been left unscathed by terrorists last night, and Happy New Year to you all!

[Free Trapper]

Ping!

[Archangelsk]

I am so thrilled to see that America seems to have been left unscathed by terrorists last night, and Happy New Year to you all!

Here's a contrarian point of view. Yes and thank God there were no terrorist incidents last night, however, as one looks at the sea of security that blanketed the big celebrations, has anyone considered the mounting cost of becoming fortress America? Security, for all its good, is and will always be an overhead cost that becomes unsustainable when funding drys up.

Personally, I consider the odds of becoming a victim, shrug it off, and go about my business.

[independentmind]

That sparked national news reports just before Christmas that raised the possibility that either Tappahannock, a small town on the Rappahannock River, or Rappahannock, a rural county in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, might be the target of terrorists intent on showing that Americans are not safe anywhere.

It's hard for me to believe that terrorists could make much of a bang in sleepy, little Rappahannock County. The Town of Little Washinton, though, boasts a five-star restaurant and inn(rooms go for around $500/night) that is frequented by the Washington area elite.

Tappahannock also seems like an unlikely terrorist target, although its proximity to the Chesapeake Bay may be of interest.

[jwalburg]

map of Tappahannock area

[pageonetoo]

...has anyone considered the mounting cost of becoming fortress America?

Yep. As I have previously stated, Osama has already won. His goal was to hurt America. He started it, at the WTC, by killing 3000+. We have done the rest, for him!

Odds are better that lightning may strike me, but the chance of another attack being averted, by the screening of 'little old' ladies, and requiring us to take off our shoes, to get on an airplane, is mighty small...

Plus, the hours of delay, and and all associated costs of lost productivity, must be astounding. Guarding Times Square will not keep a terrorist act from happening. It may give us an opportuinity to catch the perpetrator, but he/she is likely willing to kill himself, with the rest!

We must live, without all this fear, or we will grant him more, toward his goal! We will let him win, again, and again!

[rwfromkansas]

It definitely costs money, but we are America. Just add it to the national debt.

[rwfromkansas]

Why have anybody protect the President then if you are right?

[FreedomCalls]

The USS Tappahannock.

[pageonetoo]

Why have anybody protect the President then if you are right?

Seems that Pres. Reagan may have had that protection, right? He got shot, right? What does that tell you?

I will not live in fear, of what 'may' happen. I prefer to just keep my eyes open, and live as comfortably, as possible. I drive a town Car, and an Explorer. They will keep me safer, if I am in a wreck. I live west of DC, where the air doesn't blow things my way. I am building a house that has dirt on top, sides, and back. It is more energy efficient, quieter, and easier to defend.

I will quote that great American, "What, me worry?" (Alfred E. Newman).

I'm not worried, just prepared.

[putupon]

Thanks. Great pic, great website, bookmarked

[Nix 2]

Tappahannock is the gathering place for *terrorists*. The target is NOT Rappahannock. If you check tour Rand, you will note that there are major terrorist targets in every direction from Tappahannock which are at the farthest point, within a two hour drive on new highways. It is a perfect rural meeting spot for terrorist to LEAVE from, heading for separate targets, not the least of which are West Point, Annapolis, Baltimore, Chesapeak Bay(Norfolk,),Newport News, Richmond itself, D.C., both Dulles and Reagan Airports, Andrews, Camp David, Fort Detrick, Fort Lee, Fort Pickett, Fort Meade, 80th Div. in Richmond, Fort Hill, Fort Meyer, Arlington, Langley, Quantico, Vint Hill Farms Station, (communication center and intel,) Army Corps of Engineers-John Kerr Reservoir, Lexington, VA, but there are many more less obvious ones, including the new highway itself, the bridge over Rappahannock River. Many more still. Any or all could be hit at exactly the same time. That is why Airport Security, especially those in DC or there abouts, have been told to check day planners and Atlases.

There is a mosque in Richmond that is not officially listed as a mosque, but it is there alright. I think there are a few people from that particular *mosque* who are being more closely investigated because many are Americans who belong to the *white European only* types, avid backers of J Pat, Hitler, and haters of GWB. Becoming Muslim gives them a cover for their real Nazi roots, and still others ARE Wahabist Muslims who back every terrorist faction known to man.

Pay attention, y'all. I know about some of these people. They have threatened to assassinate GWB and Tom Delay among others. They have offered to help and house illegal Muslim terrorists coming into the country from Canada and elsewhere. They have *friends* as moles in the military to go after Americans in their own companies.

If you stick a compass point in Tappahannock, and the pencil in Frederick, MD, and make a cirle, inside this cirle is all the other stuff. From 15 minutes out to TWO hours out is everything imaginable in at least all of VA and MD.
This is no kidding around. Do NOT take it lightly.

[VaNative]

West Point, Virginia? What's the terrorist interest there? Also, Vint Hill has been deactivated and is now being re-developed as a mixed-use development. As for bridges over the Rappahannock, the most significant would be the I-95 bridge at Fredericksburg.

[Nix 2]

West Point, Virginia....?

You've got to be kidding, right? West Point? You don't understand why West Point would be a target? Why Annapolis? They turn out officers, VaNative. They are the elite. Not to mention the symbolic nature of West Point and Annapolis. Many of our most famous Generals and Admirals graduated those Academies since the days before the Civil War. These idiots are big on American Symbols of who and what and why we ARE who and what and why we are. As for VINT, it is but one of the possible targets in all of the area I mentioned. You say it is being refurbished. So someone must still have an interest in it, yes? As for the bridge, that is also not the most important target, but only one of so many more. Why don't you read my entire post again. You will see that the points I listed were only those that were readily up front in my mind. They are by no means all the possibles. And there are many.

[VaNative]

The U.S. Military Academy is at West Point, New York, not West Point, Virginia, my friend.

As for the bridge over the Rappahannock that appears in your post, which bridge did you have in mind?

[Nix 2]

They might not understand that the West Point in VA is historic because of its central traffic location and industry. Just the name, West Point, is an attraction...although the Military West Point is in NY. Illegals might study the history, but I rather doubt it. You being from VA should realize that.
It's what they THINK, not what they want US to think they know.
Sorry 'bout that. Sometimes, I think I'm still talking to someone I have just discussed this stuff with and they already know where I'm coming from. My bad.
At any rate, Tappahanock is ripe, fairly rural, very central, and a wonderful meet-up place for these creatures. They could meet in absolute secrecy if no one was paying attention. So all I was saying is PAY ATTENTION!

[Nix 2]

Sorry, I tried to get the reply up before you saw the previous post. I realized after I wrote it you wouldn't understand that to analyze chatter get into the mind of a terrorist, you have to think like one. They think in symbols and specific dates that are meaningful both to us and them. Access is everything. As for bridges, it doesn't really matter what bridge, but if I had to pick the most important one, you are right, it would be I-95 at Fredericksburg. However, picking one simply to terrorize, it would be the one closest to Tappahannock (360,) Thomas J. Downing Bridge.

BTW, where in VA are you from?

[VaNative]

They might target West Point, Virginia, because it shares the same name as the site of the USMA in NY? Maybe I'm misunderstanding your reasoning on that one. I just thought that you had a particular target in that community in mind.

I agree with your basic point that we should pay attention: we all should. The run-up to 9/11 should have proved that to us, with all of the seemingly innocuous contacts that various folks had with the hijackers before that fateful Tuesday.

The lingering mystery here is what is the source of concern of our gov't regarding Tappahannock (or perhaps Rappahannock). There have been conflicting accounts in the media, and none of them are particularly satisfactory. The references could mean almost anything - or perhaps nothing at all. And while a cell could use a place like Tappahannock as a rendezvous, a small town might not be the easiest place for would-be terrorists to blend into the woodwork.