Posted on 05/28/2004 9:03:44 PM PDT by FairOpinion
It is likely that an attack would be intended to kill thousands, though an attack remains conjecture at this point, based on intelligence gathered by our agencies and other nations.
Headlines tell us of government predictions that al Qaeda may intend to mount an attack on the US this summer. Soldiers in Iraq recently found an explosive in Iraq filled with Sarin, a deadly chemical capable of killing many people. The widely expressed doubt that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction should end.
In a recent Washington Times column by John McCaslin, he cited a poll by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, “Because of the ‘current political polarization’ in America today, the United States will suffer another ‘large scale’ terrorist attack within the next year."
McCaslin reported the poll revealed, “that 95 percent of the nation's police commanders and security directors expect a ‘catastrophic’ terrorist incident within the continental United States. "If Americans believe we're not being targeted for terror in the near future, they are fooling themselves," says NACP Vice President Jim Kouri, who predicts the killers, among other dastardly missions, will be attempting to influence this November's presidential election. It worked for them in Spain.”
It is the opinion of many counter-terrorism experts that al Qaeda will attack America again and many believe it will come before the elections in November. Their thinking is that the success it had in Spain can be repeated here and their aim is to elect Senator John F. Kerry. The objective will be to demoralize the resolve of Americans to support the occupation of Iraq until it can establish a democratic form of government.
It is likely that an attack would be intended to kill thousands, though an attack remains conjecture at this point, based on intelligence gathered by our agencies and other nations.
Here are some targets al Qaeda might have in mind.
If Al Qaeda wants to kill a lot of people to ratchet up our level of terror, New York remains a prime target and there are recent reports of empty suitcases showing up in its subways and other locations as a possible test run on the delivery of a WMD.
What other city would be a likely target? One answer is Los Angeles and, in particular, Hollywood. Radical Muslims regard the films and television shows coming out of Hollywood as a direct attack on their sense of moral superiority. A dirty bomb or bioterror in Los Angeles would have the desired effect. Remember, too, that a terrorist was caught in the run-up to Y2K when he crossed the border from Canada with a car full of explosives. His target, we were told, was the LA Airport.
Recently, Jordanians thwarted a plot to attack the US embassy and other targets there with poison gas. The estimated casualties are estimated to have been as many as 20,000. A similar target in the US would reap a similar result. Again, the belief that Iraq did not have WMDs should be put to rest. The belief that it was not cooperating with al Qaeda should have been dispelled by now. Supporters of the deposed Saddam Hussein are continuing their insurgency against our troops and would surely want to strike at the American homeland.
If I were Osama bin Laden, a trained engineer, what might be another likely target in America? One answer is oil refineries. There hasn’t been a new refinery built in the US since the 1970s and the ones we have are strained to capacity. When even one is closed down for routine maintenance, the price of gas spikes. Imagine if two, maybe three, were destroyed? The highways would empty out, followed by the office buildings and just about every other enterprise that depends on workers who drive to work. That includes schools, hospitals; just about everything, everywhere. America would have to declare martial law.
Another likely target would be the disruption of the aging electrical grid that distributes this vital source of energy around the nation. Remember when the grid failed a year or so ago? It shut down the entire East Coast from Ohio to New York. Destroy key components of the grid and people will be cooking dinner over an open fire in the backyard.
The plane that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9-11 had a destination about which we can only speculate. But let’s say it was the Capitol Building and a direct hit could take out a major number of Senators and Representatives? Our Constitution does not make provision for the killing of enough members of Congress to render it unable to function. Congress, however, is debating legislation that would allow for emergency elections in the event that should occur.
While America remains a target, so are Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, England and just about every other nation around the world. We are dealing with people willing to kill anybody for their crazed notion of protecting a failed way of life, a belief that Islam must dominate the world and be practiced in a fashion Osama bin Laden dictates.
It should never be forgotten that bin Laden has already issued a fatwa, an Islamic edict, calling for the deaths of all Americans.
As our level of anxiety rises, al Qaeda has already achieved one of its objectives. The question, if an attack occurs, is whether Americans will deepen their resolve to destroy its enemies or seek to withdraw from the fight?
Alan Caruba is the author of Warning Signs, published by Merril Press. His weekly commentaries are posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center.
You have some good arguments, but this isn't one of them. The terrorists have plenty of money from the various people/governments who are backing them; the 9-11 hijackers weren't working at McDonald's or Wal-Mart. They could carry tens of thousands of dollars across the border with them...avoiding bank transfers later that might draw suspicion.
Nice find there on the black wind. More indicators pointing to massive fires.
It's all he can do when he has no argument to make on the substance.
Oh please BACK!
These 'guys' are going to stand out like SORE THUMBS in contrast to the MO/exhibited cultural habits of most of your 'border crossers'!
Geez - simply having dark skin in common with a fellow border crosser does not automatically translate into similar thought and behavior patterns or mannerisms ...
I know.
I read the thread.
"Pathetic" is the proper word.
Logging roads? LOL. You obviously have never been in So. Cal during devil wind season. They eat fire breaks and can jump them like they didn't exist.
Shutting down the borders seems like a good idea to most of us for sure. I am not as sure however, that it would prevent an attack as we are aware there are sleeper cells in this country already, just as there were on 911. Not to mention we have our own Johnny Jihads here who are being inflamed daily by the media.
I think there was also a fairly large forest fire along the French Mediterranean coast last year which was blamed on jihadiists.
That was then, this is now.
Somehow I doubt terrorists consider the best way to enter this country is as illegal wet-backs.
That makes it far more difficult for them to operate in as normal people which is the most common terrorist MO. They prefer to enter legally, under student visas, work visas, with wife and kids etc as cover while they plot their attacks.
The LAST thing terrorist would want is to cross the Mexican border illegally and have no documentation or record showing they were here legally and risk being sent back. That would be stupid. Terrorists are far more sophisticated than than.
The documentary "Black Wind, White Land" and books entitled "Footprint of the Black Wind" and "The Trace of the Black Wind" are all about the same subject matter: the Chernobyl disaster.
Sore thumbs?
HA!
Just how many individuals cross
the border into San Ysidro on any
given day?
Do you have any idea?
We live here.
Oh yeah -
- and they're going to WALK ACROSS THE BORDER with their pockets lined with this cash -
- to have the money WIRED is to leave a trail ... did you ver think about that aspect?
The WHOLE premise presented here by some is - THEY WILL COME IN LOOKING (but not acting like) Mescans (slang, no offense intended to Mexicans real or imagined) ...
But the administration should change tactics and start publicizing the hundreds of obvious but denied near-misses since 9/11. Oil tanker explosions; barges crashing into bridge abutments; roofs collapsing on Russian ice skaters and airports; small planes nose-diving into Jewish apartment buildings; kidnappings; unexplained murders; hijackings to Morocco; little old men flying their planes into Italian skyscrapers; trains derailing and exploding; and dozens of swarthy suspects who disappear.
Yeah, yeah, accidents happen. And so does terrorism.
SEE post #154. This is applicable to you too ...
Been there, done that.
Here's a black and white test to see if I'm right or wrong:
I say that due to the new logging roads serving as default firebreaks, that this year's forest fires will be *smaller* than last year's fires.
Simply bookmark this post and revisit in September.
You would think the President and the keen eye of our Homeland Security would have caught on to that bit of information.
Are you SURE you're not the undistinguished Dr. Chuckleburg?
(LIKE the people are going to CROWD around John F'ing Kerry and and say "Save us JFK - appease our enemeies." Fat chance 'doc' ...)
You do that, because the fire threat level is already predicted to be the worst in the past 100 years this summer, do to the continuing drought in the west. It's real bad.
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