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.
Just fyi ..... FOX News just said something about Pat Tillman was killed by friendly fire. First I'd heard of that.
Please read this thread:
It was posted a couple of years ago here on FR and is an excerpt from my second Volume of Dragon's Fury Series of Novels, a techno-thriller series about how current events lead to all out WW III with heavy asymetric warfare conducted here in the CONUS.
"those folks are monsters."
That about sums it up. That's why we need to eradicate every one. Rumsfeld and Bush understand that.
He made that point in a speech he just gave:
"Rumsfeld said terrorists have a powerful advantage. "A terrorist needs to succeed only occasionally, but as defenders, we need to be successful always," the secretary said.
It is impossible to build a perfect defense, he said. "The only way to prevail in this struggle is to root out the terrorists before they develop still more powerful means to inflict damage on still greater numbers of innocent people," Rumsfeld said. "
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1144418/posts
"Withdraw from the fight? How would we do that?"
Withdraw? Nope. Not me. This is my country! I'll take my stand on my little farm. I raised my children here and I'm watching my grandchild grow. Leave my beloved nation? Turn it over to terrorists and thugs? No Way! This is one Grandma who will fight to the death. I mean that with all my heart and soul. God Bless America.
'Black wind of death' will hit the US
THE group which claimed responsibility for the Madrid train massacre threatened that America was on the verge of another deadly terror attack.
The group, speaking in the name of al Qaida, said plans to strike America with a "black wind of death" were at their final stage.
The warning was sent to the London-based Arabic newspaper, Al Quds, by The Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri.
It said: "We announce the good news for the Muslims in the world that the strike of the black wind of death, the expected strike against America, is 90% ready and it is coming soon."
The editor of Al Quds, Abdel Bari Atwan, said he believed the claim of responsibility was genuine.
He said: "In the past, the same organisation sent us similar letters. They claimed responsibility for the attacks against Italian troops in Iraq and in Istanbul against the British consulate."
"It is the routine of this kind of organisation to send these kind of e-mails."
In claiming responsibility for the Madrid attacks, the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri said its "death squad" had penetrated "one of the pillars of the crusader alliance".
"This is part of settling old accounts with Spain, the crusader, and America's ally in its war against Islam," it said.
The suicide attacks in Istanbul killed 62 people during attacks on two synagogues on November 15 and two other simultaneous explosions at the British consulate and the HSBC bank five days later.
Terrorist experts believe the group could be behind the atrocities in Spain rather than ETA as it follows the pattern of other al Qaida attacks.
Mike Yardley, a psychologist and historian of terrorism, said the al Qaida method of attack was low-tech. He said: "The scale of the attacks fits al Qaida."
The date, time, number and location of attacks on 9/11/01 was all symbolic to them, I can't explain it right now, I'd have to research the articles done around that time.
Isn't that refinery that burned early this year going to be out of business for years?
I understand your point, but there is more to the logging roads than meets the eye.
First, as you give credit, they do serve as sufficient firebreaks for lots of small, natural fires.
But second, they allow us to bring in heavy equipment into remote areas. It's one thing to send in some jumpers, quite another altogether to be able to drive in bulldozers. The new logging roads give us more areas into which we can readily bring in the heavy equipment. That stuff usually can't be airlifted in. You've got to have a road there first. The more logging roads, the more equipment that we can bring into more remote areas.
Third, the logging roads provide a quick starting point for setting backfires (or expanded firebreaks).
Don't get me wrong, we'll still see lots of new fires this year (some set deliberately)...they just won't be as big as last year, in my opinion (due to the new logging roads that have been built because GWB cancelled the enviro-nonsense that was stopping them).
I didn't say they don't want to kill people, I said they don't "just" want to kill people.
They want to kill as many people as they can, but are also using cold calculations about targeting economic targets, which could destroy or seriously hurt the economy. They want us to go back to the stoneage, so the Islamic extremists can take over the world. That really is their objective.
There is an air of "restraint" (so far) by those subscribing to globalism in adopting such measures as a general response. Probably comes from the fact that if they ever REALLY pi$$ off the conservative general American population the Americans will head for their closets and the "game will be up." Like I said before, there is enough firepower stacked in closets just in Texas to outclass several third world nations . . . combined.
Consider what it would be like if that occured across the entire nation. Somthing on the order of 20 - 30 million armed appearing from thin air that do not require a chain of supply.
- And there ain't no law on the planet that will cause Texans or Americans in general to give `em up. It would be Holocaust if any sort of anti-American organization tried to go up against it.
Holocaust squared and cubed.
Terrorists set super-fire in the American West
It is an excerpt from the 2nd Volume of my Dragon's Fury Series of Novels, about how current conditions lead to World War III and significant asymetrical warfare conducted against us here in the CONUS.
The interesting thing about this is that tankers do go missing. Heavy weather and piracy take their toll. What would we do if a supertanker showed up and proceeded into one of our ports.
Do you think the Coast Guard or Navy would sink it before it got close? I think a conflageration involving a full tanker plus some scrap radiological materials would make for a real mess. I think we might have to write-off a San Francisco or Los Angeles.
On one hand we'd be daunted by the full cargo which the terrorists would probably start pumping overboard anyway. The oil wouldn't be the big problem, the radiological contamination spread by the plume from the fire would be.
Zackley !! Bump !
Thanks for the ping bro. I responded at 222 and 233.
And in so doing, he has (IMHO) blatantly invited an attack by Al Queda of the sort that was effective in Spain earlier this year to help him accomplish the goal.
This is so blatant, all but an open invitation, and I am seething over it. They are nothing but political opportuniists with ideology more similar to our enemies' than to the founding principles and constitution of this land.
Bill Cosby said much the same thing last week for which he's been vilified. The Republicans should be courting him to run for office.
He's a conservative, whether he knows it or not.
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