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Getting back on topic. End of Muslim year is February 21, 2004. (I think that is 1421, but don't quote me.)

My understanding from following this thread is we still have grave concern about an attack at or before this date. Have we heard any chatter?

One thought I had today, was that any type of large strike to a City would not make much sense on a the 21st, as this is a Saturday. A terror attack, frankly, would make more sense before evening rush on a busy, busy day -- to trap more victims and create more problems.

In fact, while I have been openly skeptical about the use of WMD, such as radiological or nuclear, one would think rush hour, mid week, bad weather. This would prevent large and successful exodus from the strike zone.

Anyway, with one of the proffered dates upon us, I am just wondering if others have thoughts or have pieced together useful raw intelligence. (And who said I could not be constructive!?)

Article by Mansoor Ijaz regarding Bin Laden (2 page article)

Al Qaeda's Nightmare Scenario Emerges

Does Osama bin Laden plan to become the ultimate suicide bomber?

by Mansoor Ijaz

02/19/2003 12:00:00 AM

OSAMA BIN LADEN, or some good likeness of him, spoke from the ether again on two occasions last week, releasing two undated audiotapes as Muslims completed their pilgrimages to Mecca. His call to Jihad did not stop at tying himself to Iraq's people, by which he had clearly hoped to provoke Washington into immediate unilateral military action against Saddam Hussein. Nor did it end with his messianic recitation of verses in the Koran that clearly demonstrated he knows the end game is near. Predicting his martyrdom this year, he vowed to die in "the belly of the Eagle," an Islamist reference to ending his life in a final act of terror against the United States on our soil. The man, put simply, is on the run.

Bin Laden's cowardice shines through his rhetoric. For the first time since the September 11 attacks against the United States, bin Laden demonstrated fear through his choice of words. In setting forth plans for his suicide, he probably came to the conclusion that al Qaeda's retaliation infrastructure around the world had been so effectively and systematically dismantled by western intelligence that his terrorists may not be able to mount a credible response to any planned U.S. military action in Iraq in the near future. Like many Mafia bosses before him, he appears to have decided that when the going looks tough--the poison network in Europe, for example, has been decimated by defections and confessions--it's better to exit stage left.

While bin Laden's vision of dividing the West
and driving a wedge between the United States and her.....(snipped, 2 page article)

http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/002/263corhl.asp