Al-Qaeda turns to targeting luxury cruise liners in its jihad against the West.

New.Com.AU ^ | December 29, 2003 | staff writers

[yankeedame]

Al-qaeda blueprint exposed

By Ben English, Ian Gallagher and Jef Sommerfield
December 29, 2003

AL-QAEDA has turned its terror sights to the sea, targeting luxury cruise liners in an expansion of its "jihad" against the West.

Liners like the Queen Mary 2 are under threat

Owners of the recently launched $1.3 billion Queen Mary 2 yesterday confirmed threats of terror hang over its maiden voyage early next year.

The Osama bin-Laden terrorist group is also adopting new tactics to destroy commercial aircraft.

British MP Patrick Mercer has revealed Saudi authorities arrested two Islamic suicide pilots. He said the pilots were preparing to crash two light aircraft into a packed British Airways passenger jet while it was still on the tarmac at the airport in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

Both light planes had been crammed with explosives. And Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had received reliable intelligence of a Christmas Day plan to assassinate the Pope and destroy the Vatican by flying a hijacked plane into it.

News of the terror plots emerged after US authorities upgraded their national terror alert status before Christmas.

US intelligence officials also found evidence Al-Qaeda was planning to attack the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal as it passed through the Gibraltar Straits en route to the Gulf War earlier this year.

Plans for the attack emerged after a US spy plane discovered scores of acoustic sea-mines had disappeared from a naval base in North Korea.

US intelligence services believe the mines could be aboard 28 "terror ships" Osama bin Laden has assembled in the past year. The capture of Al-Qaeda's chief of naval operations, Ahmad Belai al-Neshari, has helped to reveal the extent of the organisation's maritime ambitions.

Al-Neshari was found carrying a 180-page dossier that listed "targets of opportunity". These included large cruise liners sailing from Western ports.

Anti-terrorism expert and former Sydney Olympics security chief Neil Fergus said yesterday that he was not convinced Al-Qaeda could launch sea attacks.

"I don't know where Al-Qaeda would have got the armada. The Tamil Tigers (separatist fighters in Sri Lanka) have a fleet of about a dozen ships but they are in an island enclave and that was a difficult exercise," Mr Fergus said.

"I also don't think anyone would have a clue about sea mines from North Korea regardless of U2 flights or satellites."

An Australian aviation industry official said stealing a light aircraft was "as easy as stealing a car if you know what you are doing".

In Australia there have been two recent examples of light planes being stolen – one at Parafield in Adelaide and one in Alice Springs. A light plane was also hijacked in central Queensland.

However the official said it would be "extra-ordinarily difficult" for a light plane to crash into a large passenger plane due to collision avoidance systems in larger airliners.

A P&O spokesman last night said exactly the same standard of security for the airline industry was applied for cruise ships.

The Courier-Mail

[Kozak]

Well the zodiac suicide bomb that got the Cole is going to be damned hard to defend against. Ditto if Mad Mo's ragbag jihadists start trying to take out airliners with general aviation aircraft when they are on final, or trying to take off ( although that will take some piloting skill). Driving a zodiac, or a cigarette boat full of high explosives at a cruise ship at or near port is childs play in comparison.

We cannot WIN this on defense. There are an infinite number of ways to attack a complex society. Thats why we need to take the fight to THEM. Something the idiot Demon-Rats can't seem to grasp.

[Kozak]

Steering a collision course isn't that hard, all you do is "null the line of sight rate", which is easier than it sounds.

Yup, steer till the object is at a constant spot on the windscreen, and bingo, collision course.

[Consort]

Everything is a potential target. Next thread.

[Alouette]

Does anyone know the logistics of making a huge hole in a liner, if it would sink?

Did you see TITANIC?

[Vinnie]

I think the container ship scenario is the most likely. That could be very devastating.
It's time to have armed guards on cargo and cruise ships. An attack similar to the USS Cole attack could have been thwarted with an M-16. The inflatable 'attack' boat would have been sunk before it reached its target.

We need to use the Russian strategy, Make the terrorists pay with loss of what they treasure so expensive to them ( family, assests, ) that they think twice about attacking us.

Terrorists kidnapped a Russian Diplomat in Beruit yrs. ago. The Russians found out who was behind the deed, kidnapped a relative (brother I think), killed him, stuffed his genitals in his mouth and told the terrorists more was in store.
The terrorists released the diplomat and never kidnapped another Russian.

Unique and effective use of cojones.

[PokeyJoe]

Plans for the attack emerged after a US spy plane discovered scores of acoustic sea-mines had disappeared from a naval base in North Korea.

North Korea.
So that's why are troops are backing up out of the DMZ. They don't wanna get hit by the fallout.

[RayChuang88]

Driving a zodiac, or a cigarette boat full of high explosives at a cruise ship at or near port is childs play in comparison.

This has been a major worry of mine for a number of years. A Cigarette pleasure boat loaded with 400-500 pounds of an ammonium nitrate/motor fuel slurry explosive ramming today's large cruise ships would cause a huge casualty rate and might even split the cruise ship in two, which will definitely cause it to sink. :-(

[jellybean]

Be careful out there...

[~Vor~]

If anybody knows which thread listed a possible 20-30 cities that were most likely to be the subject of terrorist's attacks, would you please ping me?....I don't remember the title of the thread and I now need that information. Thanks in advance.
~Vor~

[metesky]

bttt

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

See #17 for a better tactic.

[greenwolf]

We need to use the Russian strategy, Make the terrorists pay with loss of what they treasure so expensive to them ( family, assests, ) that they think twice about attacking us.

One possibility: Announce to the world a policy of grinding up the remains of anybody doing any sort of islamic terrorist thing along with the body of a pig and dropping same in a barrel from 40,000' straight into that big green monstrosity in Mecca with the loser's name written on it so that Allah would KNOW who had caused his holy place to be profaned.

[PLMerite]

"Does anyone know the logistics of making a huge hole in a liner, if it would sink?"

If they have control of the ship, they can make it sink.

[mewzilla]

They wouldn't even need control of the ship.

[Malsua]

Ford is only 35, too young (legally) for the VP office.

Huh? 35 is the age minimum for being president.

From Encarta:

III Qualifications and Candidacy

The qualifications for the vice presidency are the same as those for the presidency. The vice president must be a native-born American of at least 35 years of age who has resided in the United States for at least 14 years.

[hotpotato]

Ford is too young.

[MoralSense]

OK, I've mixed up two numbers, one, Ford's age, and the other, the required age. I suggested Ford as a candidate in one of my columns and got lots of mail pointing out he was too young. I don't remember his age, but I guess it must be less than 35.

[Tamzee]

We cannot WIN this on defense. There are an infinite number of ways to attack a complex society. Thats why we need to take the fight to THEM.

This needs repeating. The left wants the US to subjugate itself to the terrorists and some even on the right push for an isolationist policy. Neither will work against this type of enemy.

[Uncle Hal]

I agree with the tone of this article. I have thought since 9-11 that cruse ships are vulnerable to a terrorist attack. The owners of these lines have to realize this as well and I assume have taken appropriate measures. The cruse line companies can probably control who gets on the ship but out side attacks are tougher to control. An airplane or another ship crashing into the ship is very hard to counter against. We have a number of friends who used to take regular cruses but now are not doing so anymore.

[VOA]

Or they could attack a ship with a small ship full of explosives like the USS Cole.

I suspect that will be a bit more challenging now.
We now have a Commander-In-Chief and a Secretary of Defense who probably have
instituted rules of engagement to "shoot the h-ll out of them" if a small boat
fails to heed warnings to stand-off.

"There's a new sheriff in town" since January 2001.