Ridge to raise Terror Alert, news conf. 1:30 pm Eastern

Fox News-TV

[putupon]

announcement, nothing furthur

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yeah, Ridge speaking of AQ still wanting to use planes as a weapon makes me wonder if they are thinking more of using planes as a dilevery system(anthrax?) rather than a projectile.

[oceanperch]

We are going to midnight Mass and my best bud is series thinking of joining us...she has not gone in years...also another friend may attend...it seems that the Priest who came here about 8yrs ago was finally asked to leave as his mental illness alchohol induced got so bad he was put in a sanitarium and continued to drink after he got out so we now have a new Priest as of last Easter and those who left or chose to travel a distance to other Catholic churches are deciding to come back.

We are fortunate being partially homebound to have Freeper Salvation post the daily Mass here.

[JustPiper]

Have you seen FNC today? On the trail of Osama? He saw a plane fly overhead and scrambled into his hole. Alot of news out about him today also.

[Maringa]

I hope you are right, however we heard for ages how they might use aircraft to hit targets withing the US. They finally did on 9/11. These guys are plain determined to destroy us...They also have friends in areas we fear the most...North Korea, Iran, used to with Saddam, and Pakistan has nukes in hand, with pro Al-Quaeda types within the military. If they happen to have nukes, hopefully it's from these nations mentioned above (small kiloton range). If they were able to buy some dismantled 1 - 10 megaton warheads from the old Soviet Union, God help us! True...these things need maintenance and refueling, etc...but these terrorist don't surprise me anymore with their improvisation, determination, and abilities. We have written them off in the past, and we continue to poke fun of some of stupid things they have done in the past.

[Peach]

Thanks. Going to pay some attention to Mr. Peach, who is feeling like the onset of a cold.

[JustPiper]

I read 'today's warning 'supercedes' the prior warning from the State Dept.

[hummingbird]

...but I find it strange how Libya is disclosing it's WMD program and is cooperating with its dismantling. Perhaps they have shared info with the US/UK and hence knows what's coming up. I think part of this is why there's an orange alert. Libya know what's coming up,

...and they may be getting something out of Hussein as well...arghhh...seeing as he has a tendency to want to "negotiate" now...

[At _War_With_Liberals]

"Who gives a flying fig about the politics of this? "

The RNC?

[JIM O]

I saw that and question it's accuracy,how would we know that?

[JustPiper]

In the Know

[Recovering_Democrat]

Right, Miss Marple...I think the people making fun of this are wrong. We should just be prepared. Every American is a soldier in this war.

[Indie]

For someone with a handle like "Miss Marple" you should, perhaps, but a clue about how often police take fingerprints at a burglary. Care to take a guess at the percentage

You are totally ignorant eno. As a veteran Dallas PD officer retired, you don't have a freeking clue. The answer to your question in Dallas is 100%. CCS is called on very one of them. I've put my life on the line and would take a bullet for the likes of you. I've lost buddies in the war, and that's what it is. I patrolled constantly and never sat around in 7-11's like so many do. I beat the bushes looking for felonies in progress, not speeding tickets. I used my discretion and have let many go who just had pot. I was one of the good ones. I resent everything you say. I think you're a scumbag who has been arrested one too many times and that's why you hate the police. Get a life lizard and get out of jail.

[CWOJackson]

I'm not that concerned over the non-conventional weapons as some appear to be.

Look at the caliber of terrorists that have been sent to this country before. We had the World Trade Center people who used a simple but effective bomb (ineffectively placed) then went back to the rental dealership to get their refund.

We had the terrorist who tried to smuggle a car full of explosives into the U.S. from Canada and was so nervous he tipped his hand to a Customs Agent...again, bringing in relatively simple to use (not necessarily effectively) explosives.

The hijacks used box knives and had just enough flight ability to steer three of the four planes into their targets. Only one of those hijackers appeared to have the ability to coordinate this type of operation AND be a willing martyr.

With very few exceptions, the caliber of individuals used in these kind of attacks are such that they have the greatest potential for success with realitively simple weapons.

Biological, chemical and radiological weapons require a higher degree of training and ability to deploy, regardless of whether the terrorist is willing to kill themselves at the same time of not. These types of weapons often leave trace elements that make them easier to detect as well...particularly when dealing with the radiological.

Have any such weapons ever been used in Israel?

My guess, as suggested on other threads, is something not that far different then the original 9/11 attack. We know that at the same time those terrorists were learning how to steer a plane into a building, there were other's from the middle east learning how to drive semi trucks...and unlike airplanes, buying and concealing a truck isn't that difficult.

I am far more concerned with a tanker carrying 20,000 lbs (whatever the payload) of material...simple, easy for the typical martyr level person to operate, easy to hide within the hundreds of thousands of other semi's on the highway.

Imagine a tanker of gasoline exploded in a downtown interstate underpass beneath a city block. Or a tanker of material that releases toxic fumes.

I'm more of the opinion that this is where the threat lies.

[relee]

Thanks for the correction. I was just posting what I heard on the CBS radio news.

Here's the State Department Travel Warning, first paragraph.

This supersedes the Worldwide Caution dated November 21, 2003. The text of that Caution is being reiterated below to remind U.S. citizens of the continuing threat that they may be targets of terrorist actions and to alert them to the raising of the Homeland Security threat level from Yellow (Elevated) to Orange (High). This Worldwide Caution expires on June 21, 2004.

[Trust but Verify]

Off topic, but I picked this up off your personal page and liked it so much, I thought it worth posting here. I know I've seen it somewhere before, but it bears repeating.

"War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." John Stuart Mill

It sooo describes most of today's Left, doesn't it??

[JustPiper]

And a newbie at that ;)

[Merdoug]

Something that you just wrote made me think: if any of these kooks have nukes, nukes have a shelf-life? They must have fresh radioactive material or they won't blow up? In a way, that's good: the nukes that the soviets had will be going "bad" as time goes by. On the down side, the kooks may think they had better use them before they go bad.

[JustPiper]

I have a gut feeling the next attack is multiple/simultaneous small nukes in various population centers, followed by the release of chemical/bio weapons.

I think your right Maringa and one big nuke in Saudi

[Peach]

Yes, it perfectly describes the left and those who think war is the WORST thing possible. Sometimes it's necessary. Always ugly, but necessary nontheless.

[JustPiper]

I have a gut feeling the next attack is multiple/simultaneous small nukes in various population centers, followed by the release of chemical/bio weapons.

I lost my Mom six years ago on my anniversary and also think of her daily. She was a renegade conservative fighting the Daley machine, first leader of women in her ward, invited to Nixon's inaugural. Your right I know at my age now I'll never accomplish what she did. It's the women of their generation -smiles-