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Magazine says Qaeda vows "back-breaking" strike
Reuters ^
| 12/26/03
Posted on 12/26/2003 5:45:14 AM PST by kattracks
DUBAI (Reuters) - A London-based Arab magazine said on Friday that al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has vowed to launch a "back-breaking attack" on the United States by February, confirming an earlier message by the militant network. The weekly al-Majalla said it received an e-mail from Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, a little known al Qaeda member, saying bin Laden would release a video tape in which he affirms his group's determination to fight the United States. "A messenger of bin Laden informed him (Ablaj) that the al Qaeda leader will appear on a televised tape after the execution of an operation which bin Laden described as back-breaking and which would change the order of things," al-Majalla said in a report in its latest edition, a copy of which was sent to Reuters.
"They (Americans) should prepare...their coffins, hospitals and graves. The coming days will be full of surprises and great events which will make them a historic example," the magazine quoted Ablaj as saying.
The report came after U.S. officials ordered their color-coded alert system raised to orange, the second highest level, citing possible year-end attacks.
Air France canceled Christmas flights to Los Angeles on Wednesday after U.S. officials relayed information that extremist groups were planning "near-term simultaneous attacks that would rival September 11."
Al Qaeda is believed responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
In the e-mail, which could not be immediately authenticated, Ablaj echoed his previous statement carried by al-Majalla in November saying the attack would take place before a Muslim feast which is celebrated on the last days of January or the first days of February.
The e-mail did not say what type of weapons would be used in the attack which Ablaj hinted would involve a series of strikes on the United States and other countries, the magazine reported.
TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: alablaj; almajalla; alqaeda; elvisbinladen; jihadinamerica; osamabinladen; terrorism; threat; threats; wot
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To: kattracks
The Islamofascist regimes in Iran and Syria will be in their spider holes on 9-12, and it will do them as much good as it did Saddam.
And after that we just keep rolling.
After all, we already have a lot of good soldiers in the neighborhood.
41
posted on
12/26/2003 7:04:18 AM PST
by
E. Pluribus Unum
(Drug prohibition laws help fund terrorism.)
To: Samurai_Jack
The crescent moon and star is an internationally-recognized symbol of the faith of Islam.aka: Quarter moon over a ten cent town.
42
posted on
12/26/2003 7:06:25 AM PST
by
Quilla
To: BerniesFriend
Japan couldn't break our back in WWII with an entire carrier fleet and complete surprise. We are a whole lot richer now, and our spine is starting to stiffen. IF there is to be a large attack, let it be in March during the Democrat convention, which will throw the election completely towards a Bush landslide. Then the real butt kicking can start.
To: Lazamataz
I'm a coder, so I get your humor, even if no one else does. I once converted a love poem into algebra for a girlfriend to prove a point. She didn't get it, and the door did slap me on the butt as I left.
To: FastCoyote
Um the DNC gathers in Boston in July.
45
posted on
12/26/2003 7:16:55 AM PST
by
xp38
To: FastCoyote
I'm a coder, so I get your humor, even if no one else does. I once converted a love poem into algebra for a girlfriend to prove a point. She didn't get it, and the door did slap me on the butt as I left.Do you have that conversion? I'd love to see it!
46
posted on
12/26/2003 7:19:48 AM PST
by
Lazamataz
(I slam, you slam, we all slam, for Islam!)
To: wayoverontheright
Well, I pray that you are the one who's right here.
The things that worry me, though, are:
- The missing Russian suitcase nukes. (Assume OBL has at least a couple, as they reportedly were not very costly to acquire and the guy's a billionaire).
- Chem/Bio. I keep hearing about how these are "so difficult" to disperse and think that's a red herring put out by our gov't to calm the sheeples. Seems like all they'd have to do is let some highly contagious germ spores out of the bag (smallpox or worse) and have one helluva epidemic on our hands.
But it is the suitcase nukes, targeting maybe DC, NYC, etc that I'm most concerned about.
On the other hand, the incidents with the airplanes (Air France) seems so..low tech, that it makes me think that they don't have the "big toys".
All in all..this time feels different, for whatever reason. But I pray that we hit mid-Feb with nothing happening, and I'm gonna write these guys off once and for all as a bunch of big talkers.
47
posted on
12/26/2003 7:20:52 AM PST
by
jstolzen
To: kattracks
48
posted on
12/26/2003 7:21:27 AM PST
by
PokeyJoe
(Go ahead Al Queda. Make my day - punk.)
To: Lazamataz
LOL! Let's hope for an infinite loop!
49
posted on
12/26/2003 7:21:29 AM PST
by
COBOL2Java
(If you can read this, thank a teacher. If you are reading this in English, thank a soldier.)
To: jstolzen
if nothing happens by Feb 1, I am going to write these guys off once and for all as a bunch of loudmouthed whacko crackpots
Those that ignore history are bound to repeat it .... or something like that. It was 8 years between twin towers attacks, I don't believe AQ feels compelled to be on the schedule of the compulsive
I believe that writing these guys off as "loud mouthed, whacko crackpots" would be ill-advised. Since the early '90s they have blown up a lot of stuff and killed a lot of people.
I, and everyone else here, have no idea if these guys are capable, using diversion, testing responses, popping off, or anything else. Just a bunch of people guessing, some with a large dose of wishful thinking influencing their thinking.
Personally, I plan on being alert, watchful, and living my life normally AND with one eye open. But I certainly won't "write these guys off", too much proof exists to the contrary.
50
posted on
12/26/2003 7:24:50 AM PST
by
gnawbone
To: kattracks
I guess they got so much mileage out of 9/11 that they can't wait to do it again.
To: FastCoyote
"I once converted a love poem into algebra for a girlfriend to prove a point. She didn't get it, and the door did slap me on the butt as I left." "I see the eigenvalue in thine eye;
I hear the tender tensor of thy sigh.
Bernoulli would have been content to die
Had he but known such a-squared-cosine-2 phi."
--Stanislaw Lem, The Cyberiad, excerpt.
52
posted on
12/26/2003 7:33:36 AM PST
by
boris
(The deadliest Weapon of Mass Destruction in History is a Leftist With a Word Processor)
To: jstolzen
Soviet suitcase nukes require nuclear triggers. These triggers have a limited shelflife before decaying into Americanium. They must be regularly serviced (disassembled, recooked) in order to work - some reports suggestion replacement every 42 days.
The Soviet government thought that regular maintenance was cheaper and easier than producing high grade "pure" plutonium triggers with longer shelflife.
53
posted on
12/26/2003 7:34:35 AM PST
by
PokeyJoe
(Go ahead Al Queda. Make my day - punk.)
To: The Toad
Not if they have nukes.
Let's say they whack the middle of the city of Cleveland, for example.
Not back breaking, but you better believe it would be economically and socially devastating.
Add one more city to Clevland. Let's say Charlotte, NC. Big enough to do the job, small enough that security won't concentrate on it.
Now pick San Diego, with all of its military presence.
We'd recover, but it would be a far different place than before.
54
posted on
12/26/2003 7:36:02 AM PST
by
RinaseaofDs
(Only those who dare truly live - CGA 88 Class Motto)
To: kattracks
Al Qaeda is believed responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. cities.
Just as the Japanese are BELIEVED TO BE responsible for Pearl Harbor. Reuters is a joke on the order of Saturday Night Live.
55
posted on
12/26/2003 7:41:48 AM PST
by
Vinomori
To: RinaseaofDs; everyone
Right..IF they have nukes (possible, given the collapse of the USSR), ANYTHING is possible.
The thing that has me most worried is the bravdo of the claims. You don't (no matter how psychotic and twisted you might be) claim that the attack will "change the order of things".
This sounds to me like a nuclear strike. That is the ONLY thing that could be this huge to "change the order of things".
Add in all of the other supposed letters from AQ talking about "weaping from your underground bunkers" and they are CLEARLY threatening a nuclear hit.
I for one don't put it beyond the realm of possibility, but pray to God that I am wrong on this.
I guess we will see. In the meantime, I am going to do everything possible to be prepared for such a nightmare scenario. Because if they DO hit us..we are looking at huge nuclear retaliation from the US against ME countries. And from there..all bets are off.
56
posted on
12/26/2003 7:43:58 AM PST
by
jstolzen
To: CWOJackson
I think there is something big in the works, and all the 'prepare your coffins' bluster has a ring of sincerity to it this time.
However if they think a catastrophic attack here would break our will and 'change the order of things', they are sadly mistaken. Thousands more dead Americans would only ensure that the brave men and women in the US military would make it their all-consuming passion to hunt these people down with extreme prejudice. The terrorists have no idea yet what we are capable of when we are endangered.
57
posted on
12/26/2003 7:48:36 AM PST
by
Sender
(We are now at Code Ernie - stock up on barbecue, beer, duct tape, ammo, batteries)
To: Sender
Thousands more dead Americans would only ensure that the brave men and women in the US military would make it their all-consuming passion to hunt these people down with extreme prejudice. The terrorists have no idea yet what we are capable of when we are endangered.
To strike us would be their greatest mistake. They only see, right now, 1% of our retaliatory capacity. They see us tiptoeing through politically correct international waters. Even Iraq was careful, surgical and minimalist. They do not see us yet.
58
posted on
12/26/2003 7:54:57 AM PST
by
Vinomori
To: kattracks
Keep reminding these impotent clowns that if they try something funny, we have something bad pointed at Mecca and Medina.
59
posted on
12/26/2003 7:56:27 AM PST
by
joyful1
To: Vinomori
......the bluster is recruiting bluster BUT the intercepts are real....and were not meant to be intercepted. We will win for two reasons: 1) we have Bush who will not be swayed by the left media or left voters and 2) we have the technology skills (any of our children could use a computer to unravel their entire communication net) to eliminate all of their clandestine communication....what we DIDN'T have was Arabic linguists, or a strong CIA. Every day they don't strike us we get stronger in those areas. They better hurry.
60
posted on
12/26/2003 8:00:21 AM PST
by
Vinomori
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