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 a very miserable person. I'm glad I'm not you; it must take up a great deal of life force to hate everybody except people exactly like you.
You'd make a bet on the next attack on this country?
And you call ME hateful?
You really are ill.
So where can I buy tickets?
Bump
so you think such a reaction would be good thing?
BTTT!!!!!
I believe you compared it to being in a "prison". Do you lock the doors of your home at night? If so, why on earth would you ever do that? Why do you even have locks on your doors? Why do you have doors, period? Are you a prisoner, in jail? If you lock your door, then i guess you're a prisoner, with no freedom! (/sarcasm).
Now take a gander at the following article and multiply this suspect by the hundreds or thousands.
"oh, but gee wiz. Borders have absolutely NOTHING to do with our nations security! Why, if we have pesky borders, we are becoming like red china and the soviet union!" Do I follow your arguement so far? good grief. Anyway.. here is the article. I suggest, I plead, with all the mesmerized Bush loyalists to print it out and maybe tape it to the mirror. Any politician who purposely neglects their CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY to protect our borders, is RESPONSIBLE for terrorists sneaking into this country. Joe Hadenuf is 1000% RIGHT. End of story.
Pass it on to friends! [it IS from FOX NEWS, after all!;-) ]http://216.239.57.104/search?q=cache:aPRP0hGbpxQJ:www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108535,00.html+fox+news+michigan+terrorist+mexico&hl=en&ie=UTF-8
Michigan Man Accused of Hezbollah Membership
Thursday, January 15, 2004
DETROIT — A Lebanese man living in Dearborn was charged in an indictment unsealed Thursday with fighting, recruiting and raising money for the Islamic militant group Hezbollah (search), listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.
The indictment accuses Mahmoud Youssef Kourani (search) of working in Lebanon (search) and later within the United States for Hezbollah, which led a guerrilla war against Israel's 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon.
Federal prosecutors said Kourani conspired with his brother, who they said is Hezbollah's chief of military security for southern Lebanon.
Kourani, 32, pleaded innocent Thursday, and a bail hearing was set for Tuesday. He could get 15 years in prison. "The charges are outrageous, absurd and I believe they are malicious," said his attorney, Nabih Ayad.
According to the indictment, Kourani entered the United States illegally through Mexico in 2001, took up residence in the Detroit area and hid his Muslim identity by not shaving his beard and not attending a mosque.
U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Collins said Kourani raised "a substantial sum" and offered other support to Hezbollah.
He has been in custody since his conviction last year in a separate case for harboring an illegal alien, authorities said. He completed a six-month sentence last week and had been awaiting deportation. This is Google's cache of http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,108535,00.html
In case anyone missed it, or doesn't "get" the point of this article; here it is again:
Shermy.....do you remember a woman doctor with terror ties??
I remember a woman doctor..
We thought the same thing in the first few hours that morning...amazing.
See post 531..
She made the news down here in the Baltimore region.
Hold me.
Actually, we can blame Spain.
It wouldn't surprise me one bit. America takes in ALL, you know. But look where that got us. :(
--Boot Hill
I'm not sure if Detroit has the LARGEST, however, I heard on the news awhile back that the Muslim women fly over to Detroit when they are due to deliver a baby. They stay with "friends and/or relatives" in that area until they go into labor.
They go to the Detroit hospital and have their baby. Shortly after that, they fly back home, without paying a red cent for any of it. The Michigan taxpayers flip the bill. The lawmakers in Detroit said "They do not know how to stop it." ~sigh...........
It's close.....they fought the border war overnight....:-)
Dearborn, just outside of Detroit, does indeed have the largest concentration of Muslims in the US.
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