Posted on 05/25/2004 4:52:15 PM PDT by Wolfstar
17 minutes ago (at time of posting) The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to a senior federal counterterrorism official who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Tuesday.
Of most concern, the official said, is that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.
"There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit us hard," said the official, who described the intelligence as highly credible.
The official declined to provide any specifics about the sources of the information but said there was an unusually high level of corroboration.
Despite that, the official said there was no immediate plan to raise the nation's terrorism threat level from yellow, or elevated, to orange, or high. The threat level has been at yellow — midpoint on the five-color scale — since January.
Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller plan a news conference Wednesday to outline an intensive effort by law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials to detect and disrupt any potential plots. And the FBI plans to dispatch a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat.
Beginning with Saturday's dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington, the summer presents a number of high-profile targets in the United States. They include the G-8 summit in Georgia next month that will attract top officials from some of America's closest allies, the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July and the Republican National Convention in August in New York.
The FBI and Homeland Security Department also are concerned about so-called soft targets such as shopping malls anywhere in the United States that offer a far less protected environment than a political convention hall.
U.S. authorities repeatedly have said al-Qaida is determined to mount an attack on U.S. soil, in part to announce to the world that it remains capable of doing so despite the money and effort that has gone into homeland security in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.
There also is concern terrorists might try to mount an attack to coincide with the November election. The political fallout from the March 11 train bombings in Spain taught al-Qaida that an attack timed to an election can have a major impact. Spain's former ruling party was ousted in the voting that followed the bombing, which killed 191 and injured more than 2,000.
The official did not say how many suspected al-Qaida or other terrorist operatives are believed in the country, whether they made their way into the United States recently or have been here for some time. The FBI has warned in the past that Islamic extremist groups may attempt to recruit non-Middle Easterners or women for attacks because they would be less likely to arouse suspicion.
Special security attention already is being focused to the nation's rail, subway and bus lines. The FBI last week sent out an intelligence bulletin to law enforcement agencies urging vigilance against suicide bombers, who have been used by terror groups worldwide to devastating effect but not so far in the United States.
Separately, Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Michael Garcia told reporters Tuesday that some 2,300 of its agents are being deployed to assist in security for the high-profile events scheduled this summer in the United States. These include as many as 20 agents each day working with the Secret Service to protect the campaigns of President Bush (news - web sites) and Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), the Democratic presidential candidate.
Garcia said his agency also is working to "tighten the investigative system" to ensure that terrorists do not enter the United States by way of human smuggling operations or through the vast, largely unprotected border with Canada.
You're going to like a lot of things about me. But, first, let's save the world.
Bookmarked to read more fully tomorrow. Thank you so much for the ping...and posting the article.
Get real, what you'll see is mass chaos and panic and a hell of a lot of very angry people that'll be asking why the hell our immigration policies and borders were never secured while we are running through the streets of Iraq trying to make them some kind of democratic society.
Sorry you missed the metaphor!
>>You can't have free speech if you're dead.<<
And who is coming over the border right now to kill you? All illegal immigrants should be ejected from the country and your newphew and other brave fighting men and women should be protecting our borders and coasts. And not getting killed in some worthless mid-east hellhole to satisfy the moronic desires of neo-CON idiots.
They did hire the former ABC News reporter John Miller (I liked that guy....seemed like a real journalist with some brains) to be their counterterrorism expert. What they have done, I do not know.
Amen.
I don't trust that lawyer in Portland who was just released either. The one who was suspect in Madrid bombing. I think they let him go but I hope they are keeping a very close eye on him.
The metaphor is perfect.
Tell me more! :D
You're acting stupid. It's not like our military is a one-trick pony.
FWIW to you, my brother-in-law was murdered two years ago in Pinal County, AZ. And, yes, it was by four illegal immigrants.
But I don't believe you know anything about real life.
Trust me, I'm armed and dangerous when cornered. But not from the little worms such as you.
Take your anti-Bush sentiment somewhere else. We are at WAR here in case you haven't heard.
Well lets protect the borders OK? Get that in shape and then we can discuss other tricks the pony can do.
How sad for you.
Whatever. Keep on worshipping those Neo-CONS you big sheep.
I only worship God, thank you ever so much.
Former NSA chief named to CompuDyne board
Hanover-based CompuDyne has nominated former National Security Agency head Mike McConnell to its board of directors.
Shareholders in the public security technology company will vote on the nomination at the firm's annual meeting Thursday.
McConnell is a vice president and director of Booz Allen Hamilton's Infrastructure Assurance Center of Excellence, where he leads the firm's assignments in information operations and military intelligence in such areas as systems development, advanced analytics and transformation.
McConnell was director of the NSA from 1992 to 1996. He served as the intelligence officer for the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the dissolution of the Soviet Union and Operation Desert Storm.
Get real, what you'll see is mass chaos and panic and a hell of a lot of very angry people that'll be asking why the hell our immigration policies and borders were never secured while we are running through the streets of Iraq trying to make them some kind of democratic society.
Sorry you missed the metaphor!
It's OK not to speak in code. What exactly are you trying to say? Feel free to express yourself. Remember 911? Everyone staring in total shock for days, weeks? What exactly do you think the average folks in America are going to do if all of a sudden the islamos decided to start blowing themselves up while taking out American's?
O'Reilly's show usually is not live. I believe it tapes at 6:30.
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