Posted on 04/12/2004 8:58:32 PM PDT by rocklobster11
Here are some interesting articles relating to the Administrations concern about attacks prior to 9-11.
U.S. Forces in Gulf On Highest Alert
Threat scrambles U.S. troops, ships in Mideast
Rumsfeld: 'U.S. vulnerable to emerging threats'
Bin Laden readying to hit US, Israeli interests
Terror, Iran and the U.S.
U.S. Forces in Gulf On Highest Alert Threats Also Prompt Travel Warning
By Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, June 23, 2001; Page A22
http://washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A35929-2001Jun22?language=printer
The Pentagon has put all U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf on the highest state of alert and ordered ships from the 5th Fleet in Bahrain out to sea because of increased terrorist threats linked to Osama bin Laden, U.S. officials said yesterday.
News of the threats, which a senior official called credible but "non-specific," sent stocks tumbling on Wall Street.
The Pentagon ordered all forces in the Persian Gulf on "Threat Condition Delta" late Thursday night after U.S. intelligence agencies detected increased surveillance activity and movement throughout the region by individuals associated with al Qaeda, bin Laden's network of Islamic extremists, the official said.
The signs of a possible terrorist attack are not thought to be related to Thursday's federal indictment of 14 suspects in the 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, the official added.
"We don't have a geographic focus, and we don't have a date" for an attack, the official said. "We just have an angst."
A new bin Laden videotape circulating in the Middle East is reminiscent of propaganda that preceded the bombing of two U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, according to the official.
Bin Laden, an exiled Saudi millionaire who has taken refuge in Afghanistan, appears in the video wearing a traditional Yemeni dagger and reciting a poem in which he refers to the suicide bombing of the destroyer USS Cole in the Yemeni port of Aden in October.
Without claiming credit for the bombing, bin Laden says: "And in Aden, they charged and destroyed a destroyer that fearsome people fear, one that evokes horror when it docks and when it sails."
U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf have gone on heightened alert several times since the Cole bombing, which killed 17 sailors. Most recently, they moved to "Threat Condition Charlie," the second-highest state of alert, on May 29 because of intelligence reports of increased terrorist threats.
Under a Delta alert, access to U.S. military facilities is severely restricted. All vehicles entering bases are stopped, and many are searched; shore leaves and other non-business visits are canceled; packages and supplies are carefully inspected; patrols are increased, and troops are urged to be vigilant.
Retired Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni, who until last year was commander of U.S. forces in the Mideast, said yesterday that "the mood out there isn't good. I've not seen it worse."
The State Department, meanwhile, reissued a worldwide caution for Americans traveling abroad, warning they "may be at increased risk of a terrorist action from extremist groups." The global advisory was last updated May 29 after four al Qaeda operatives were convicted of conspiracy in the embassy bombings, which killed 224 people and wounded 4,600 in Kenya and Tanzania.
State Department security officials also closed the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, early yesterday so that security precautions could be reviewed. The embassy in Manama, Bahrain, will be closed today for a similar review.
At the port in Manama, Navy minesweepers were sent to sea yesterday as a precaution against terrorist attack. The aircraft carrier USS Constellation and its battle group were already at sea.
A contingent of 2,200 Marines also cut short a training exercise yesterday in Jordan and left the country on three ships led by the USS Boxer.
Staff writer Thomas E. Ricks contributed to this report.
----
Threat scrambles U.S. troops, ships in Mideast
06/23/2001
USA Today
The Associated Press.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/june01/2001-06-22-us-persiangulf.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - In response to a threat against Americans in the Middle East, a Marine Corps training exercise in Jordan has been cut short and Navy ships have been ordered out of port in Bahrain, Pentagon officials said Friday. The threat was described by the officials as "non-specific," meaning it was aimed at Americans but not necessarily against members of the military.
At the same time, the State Department said the U.S. government has learned that American citizens and interests abroad may be at risk of a terrorist attack from extremist groups,
A "worldwide caution" urged U.S. citizens to maintain a high level of vigilance and to take appropriate steps to increase security awareness to reduce their vulnerability.
Officials said it was possible the threat against Americans in the Middle East was related to Thursday's announcement by the Justice Department of indictments against 13 Saudis and one Lebanese in connection with the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers apartment complex in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen members of the U.S. Air Force were killed in that attack.
It was not immediately clear whether the source of the new threat was known to U.S. officials.
In response to the threat, several Navy minesweeping ships were ordered out of port in Bahrain, which is headquarters for the U.S. 5th Fleet that patrols the Persian Gulf area. The aircraft carrier USS Constellation and her battle group already were at sea, officials said.
Other additional security measures also were taken, but the officials would not disclose details.
The level of security for U.S. forces in the Middle East - known as the "threatcon" - was raised a notch, the officials said. They would not be more specific.
A contingent of 2,200 Marines operating as an Amphibious Ready Group cut short training in Jordan, the officials said. The Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., were being taken back aboard their three ships, led by the USS Boxer, an amphibious assault ship.
U.S. Embassy officials in Amman were not immediately available for comment. Jordanian government officials confirmed a joint military exercise with U.S. Marines was suspended indefinitely.
Extra security precautions for U.S. forces in the Middle East have been ordered several times since the bombing last October of the USS Cole in Yemen.
------
Rumsfeld: 'U.S. vulnerable to emerging threats'
06/22/2001
USA TODAY
http://usatoday.com/news/washdc/2001-06-22-rumsfeld.htm
WASHINGTON (AP) - The "two war" strategy that has underpinned U.S. military planning for the past decade has outlived its usefulness, leaving the United States increasingly vulnerable to emerging threats like ballistic missiles and cyberattack, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told Congress.
"The current strategy is not working, so we owe it to ourselves to ask: What might be better?" Rumsfeld said.
He spoke before the Senate Armed Services Committee and later the House Armed Services Committee. It marked Rumsfeld's first public congressional testimony since he took office in January. Some in Congress have complained that Rumsfeld was keeping them in the dark, although several committee members applauded him Thursday for undertaking an in-depth review of defense needs.
The U.S. defense strategy, fashioned in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, is based on a capability to win two "major theater wars" - on the scale of the 1991 Gulf War - at nearly the same time. The idea is to have enough combat forces to sustain a conflict in the Persian Gulf, with enough in reserve to dissuade North Korea, for example, from starting a conflict with South Korea.
Rumsfeld said this approach worked well during the 1990s but has been undermined by a lack of investment in the advanced military technologies needed to meet emerging threats. He also said the Pentagon had "skimped on our people, doing harm to their trust and confidence."
Rumsfeld said the Defense Department has sketched the general outlines of a new defense strategy and hopes to present it to the White House for President Bush's approval by late summer. It is being closely examined now by a civilian-military team of experts as part of a broad defense review, he said.
Rumsfeld also told the committees that the administration hopes to have an amended 2002 defense budget request ready for Congress by Wednesday. He provided no figures.
He described the emerging new defense strategy in broad terms, with the barest of detail. He said it would emphasize being prepared for future threats while defending the United States against current threats like terrorism and nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.
It also would enable the United States to maintain forces abroad capable of defeating any adversary, repelling attacks in "a number of critical areas," and conducting a limited number of smaller-scale military missions.
He said the new strategy could require modifications in war plans, but did not elaborate.
Underlying the Bush administration's push for a new defense strategy is the president's belief - shared by Rumsfeld - that the existing approach has put too much strain on the troops and emphasized near-term threats like war on the Korean peninsula at the expense of emerging threats like cyberwar.
Evidence of the difficulties in finding an alternative emerged in Thursday's exchange with members of the House Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Floyd Spence, R-S.C., told Rumsfeld he thought it was premature to drop the current approach because it serves an important purpose in dissuading potentially hostile nations from thinking that they could catch the United States short if it became involved in a war in the Gulf.
"If we change it we confuse a lot of people - friends and allies," Spence said.
Rumsfeld said he fears the United States has become complacent about defense, since the Cold War is over, the U.S. economy is strong and the country faces no immediate threat to its existence.
To illustrate his point he told the story of a Union general who surveyed his Confederate adversary across the battlefield and, confident in his superior position, turned to an aide and said, "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance." A moment later a sharpshooter's bullet struck him under his left eye, killing him instantly.
"Complacency can kill," Rumsfeld said.
-------- terrorism
Bin Laden readying to hit US, Israeli interests: TV
June 23
AFP
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/010623/1/15d48.html
DUBAI, Fighters Saudi-born extremist Osama bin Laden are preparing to hit US and Israeli interests around the world, the Arab television channel, the Middle East Broadcasting Centre (MBC) said Saturday.
"I met with bin Laden near Kandahar (Afghanistan) over the last few days and his main supporters said in front of him that there will be a big surprise over the next two weeks," the MBC correspondent said.
Among the bin Laden supporters quoted were Abu Hafs, considered as bin Laden's right-hand man, and Ayman al-Zawahirit, the leader of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad.
The United States on Friday ordered its war fleet in the Gulf to put to sea because of credible threats of terrorist actions, and published a worldwide warning for US citizens travelling abroad.
Washington holds Bin Laden responsible for the 1998 bombings of its embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, which killed more than 200 people.
----
Terror, Iran and the U.S.
New York Times
June 23, 2001
By JAMES RISEN and JANE PERLEZ
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/23/world/23TERR.html?searchpv=nytToday
WASHINGTON, June 22 - The United States has never known quite what to do about Iran's role in anti- American terrorism. From the embassy bombings and hostage taking in Lebanon during the early 1980's to the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia in 1996, Washington's response to evidence that Tehran was sponsoring violence against American interests has been marked by deep ambivalence and contorted internal debates among several generations of policy makers.
To critics who advocate a harder line toward Iran, the government's indictment of 13 Saudis and a Lebanese in the Khobar Towers bombing, handed down Thursday, just short of Monday's five-year anniversary of the attack, once again revealed an American reluctance to tackle Tehran head-on on state-sponsored terrorism. United States officials have said they have evidence of Iranian involvement, and at a news conference announcing the indictment, Attorney General John Ashcroft charged that Iranian officials "inspired, supported and supervised members of Saudi Hezbollah" in the attack. But prosecutors stopped short of bringing charges against any individual Iranian officials.
"Why haven't we been more forward leaning on Iran?" asked one former United States official familiar with the long debate in the government over the Khobar Towers case. "The intelligence on Iran is pretty strong, and they could have named names of Iranian officials."
But even Thursday's rather limited indictment has stirred up a hornet's nest in the volatile Persian Gulf region, as Iran denied any role in the bombing and Saudi Arabia disputed American jurisdiction in the case. That underscored the difficult balancing act American policy makers confront whenever dealing with Iran on the issue of terrorism.
For diplomatic and economic reasons, Washington has declined to lean heavily on Saudi Arabia either to extradite suspects it holds in the bombing attack that killed 19 American servicemen and wounded 372 others, or to crack down on the Saudi branch of Hezbollah.
In addition, Pentagon officials said today that American forces in the gulf region had been placed on heightened alert because of the threat of a terrorist attack against United States interests in the region.
As a result of the alert, six Navy ships stationed in Bahrain - four mine sweepers, a supply ship and a destroyer - have been put to sea, joining the Constellation carrier battle group that was already deployed in the region. A Marine exercise in Jordan was cut short, and security has been tightened at bases and ports used by American forces in the region, officials said.
Officials speculated that the threat might be related to the Khobar Towers indictment, and might involve groups related to Osama bin Laden, the Saudi exile who has been charged by the United States with leading the conspiracy to blow up two American embassies in East Africa in 1998.
The Clinton administration was widely criticized for its failure to pursue evidence that Iran was behind the bombing, but now, the Bush administration has shown that same reluctance. Prosecutors did not cite Iranian officials by name despite what some officials said was the hope of Louis J. Freeh, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, that Iranian officials would be charged. Mr. Freeh, who had taken a personal interest in the case, said on Thursday that it would remain open, and Mr. Ashcroft made it clear that the United States would be willing to pursue charges against Iranian officials if more evidence emerged.
One United States official said today that while there was information pointing to Iranian involvement, "that's a long way from being able to make a case in court."
The United States has often been willing to punish lesser nations when they step over the line into support for terrorist acts, often with less evidence of their involvement in specific acts than was the case with the Khobar Towers bombing. The United States bombed Libya in 1986 after it linked it to the bombing of a Berlin nightclub that killed American soldiers. The Clinton administration launched missile strikes against Afghanistan and Sudan in 1998 after the embassy bombings in East Africa. Yet, several administrations have hesitated to retaliate against Iran.
The Khobar Towers case has been complicated by the fact that the attack occurred on the soil of one of America's most important allies in the region, Saudi Arabia, and that most of those suspected of direct involvement are Saudi citizens.
On Friday, Saudi officials complained publicly about the indictment, arguing that the United States had no right to bring a legal case over an incident that occurred in Saudi Arabia. The defense minister, Prince Sultan bin Abdel Aziz, said legal steps in the case "fall within the jurisdiction of Saudi Arabia."
Iran, meanwhile, denied any role in the Khobar bombing. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, Hamid Reza Assei, said today that the "U.S. judiciary has leveled charges against Iran which have no legal and judicial basis," the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Early on, the United States approached the incident almost purely as a law enforcement matter, in contrast to the way the government responded to the East Africa embassy bombings two years later. After those, the United States quickly retaliated with cruise missile strikes against Afghanistan and Sudan, in an effort to punish Mr. bin Laden and his network. Only later did Washington seek indictments against Mr. bin Laden and others in his organization.
"We chose law enforcement retaliation versus military retaliation," the former Clinton administration official said. The Khobar investigation, however, bogged down in turf battles between the F.B.I. and the Saudis. The bureau complained of a lack of cooperation from the Saudi authorities, while the Saudis privately began to complain that the Clinton administration did not seem interested in hearing about evidence that Iran was behind the attack.
Ultimately, American officials said cooperation improved, and the Saudis are believed to have provided much of the evidence that led to the indictments.
By 1999, the evidence linking Iran to the bombing was strong enough so that President Clinton sent a secret letter to Iran's president, Mohammad Khatami, asking for help in solving the Khobar case. The letter was sent after the United States obtained convincing information that Iranian officials were behind the attack. The letter came in the midst of Mr. Clinton's broader efforts to reach out to Mr. Khatami and engage the reformist forces in Iran.
But the Iranians refused to help on the case. Mr. Freeh reportedly concluded that the Clinton administration was not serious about solving the case, and he is said to have waited until Mr. Clinton left office in order to try to bring charges in the matter. The indictment came in Mr. Freeh's last week in office as F.B.I. director.
"I'm disappointed that they didn't name the Iranians," said Fran Heiser, of Palm Coast, Fla., the mother of one of the bombing victims. "There has been so much talk around and around it. I hope they have a reasonable answer."
--------
07/11/01 Ashcroft: U.S. Terrorism a Priority
In the article, Ashcroft says it is the agency's top priority.
BUMP
Many of these informative articles have links that no longer work, but in the face of the "I tried while Bush did nothing" business thought this deserved a bump and some additional research to update.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.