Oh yes! She's got spin down to a science!
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.
So you don't believe that all the America bashing from the left hasn't enboldened our enemies? I think it has.
I've said this in earlier posts going back for some period of time ... the next terrorist attack on the U.S. will be traced back to terrorist cells in Canada. The two most likely Canadian cities harboring (unintentionally) these terrorist cells ... Montreal and Toronto. Canadian security is lax and both these cities have large concentrations of immigrants from the Middle East and southwest Asia.
I expect trouble come late summer prior to the elections, thanks to Spain
Not Ashcroft on Fox&Friends tomorrow. Tom Ridge. Ashcroft is givng a presser sometime tomorrow though
Prairie
Our President can't P*SS straight enough for them!
Our resloved has desolved thanks to those who still wish Bill and Hillary were in charge.
Yep, have seen the map posted on FR from time to time. If they want to try to affect our election, they'd have to try something this summer. I have no doubt they have plenty of potential recruits to draw on here in the U.S., not all of them Arab.
Oh yes! She's got spin down to a science!
May God bless our efforts to stop the terror attacks...May he convey wisdom and strength to those who deter terror...May he bless this nation with victory in Iraq and the reelection of President Bush.
Well, that depends. A gentle summer breeze in the right city that is fairly constant, warm muggy climate and a (here's the key) good delivery system, could see an effective downwind drift that could kill thousands with a SARIN or SOMAN attack. Nerve agent also adhere's to objects and remains lethal. Persistency can be several days unless there's a good rain. Psychologically, there's something pretty horrifying about seeing somebody barfing their lungs up before dying. And of course, it'd be pretty tough to decontaminate a high rise office building with hot soapy water. As I said, the delivery system is going to be the key. A piece of ordnance like an artillery shell that is binary (like the one in Iraq recently) will be much harder to spread. Even a chemical landmine or a group of such mines will have limited impact. But charge up an industrial sized fire extinguisher with SOMAN and open the valves on top of a skyscraper in Houston and it could get rough.....
But a good explosion in a nerve center could do a lot of long term damage to critical infrastructure like the energy grid or telecommunications. I'm not worried about a so called "dirty bomb." OTOH, a real suitcase nuke with a nominal yield of .5 to 5 kilotons could be devastating. Hit Wall Street with one of those and it's adios economy.
Maybe I'm too cynical, but I'm not so sure the American electorate will do the smart thing.
I can't believe it. I thought for sure he was live. But he hasn't said one word. He's going to talk about "black America" next. ~sigh..........
#4 is the most likely scenario - and the one that poses the biggest risk for Bush politically.
I haven't seen a time of day, yet. Perhaps it will be announced later tonight or tomorrow morning.
If they want Bush to win this election...they will strike hard this summer.
And meanwhile Kerry and the malignant narcissists on the left have not come up with ONE idea on how to fight terrorism.
They just KNOW they don't like the Patriot Act. And they don't like fighting or, you know, hard things like war. And they know they don't like Republicans, especially effective Republicans like Bush.
What they DO like is to dumb down America, spin the news, pretend there aren't people out there who want to kill us and destroy the country.
The leftists have moved so far beyond the party of JFK they are unrecognizable.
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