Posted on 07/15/2004 10:28:27 PM PDT by churchillbuff
Washington - Warnings that terrorists are plotting "something big" against the United States are based on "very, very solid" information, the CIA's acting director said on Wednesday, likening the threat reports to those that preceded the September 11, 2001 attacks.
John McLaughlin, the acting CIA director, noted in an interview with National Public Radio that the US had ample warning of an attack before the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington but no specifics on the timing and targets.
"But we did have conviction that something big was coming at us. We have that same conviction now," he said.
"And the reason I say that it is serious is that I think the information I've seen is very, very solid. We have very little doubt about the information we have in terms of its sourcing and its authenticity," he said.
McLaughlin would not comment on the specificity of the intelligence this time, but said the agency has developed much more intelligence on al-Qaeda and its intentions since September 11.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned last week that "credible reports" indicate al-Qaeda plans to carry out a large scale attack in the US to disrupt the elections.
Ridge said precise knowledge of the time, place and method of attack was lacking, but security is being stepped up at the sites of the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions this summer.
The Democratic Party's national convention is to be held in Boston July 26-29, while President George Bush's Republican Party is to hold its convention in New York August 30-September 2, ahead of the November 2 US presidential election.
Asked whether Americans should cancel vacation plans or stay away from Boston and New York during the conventions, McLaughlin said people should go about their business.
"But citizens themselves need to keep their eyes open and be alert," he said
Alia,Thank you for your read of these postings,can you keep me updated as I only post every few days but if I get your ping I will read.If you have time to read many things and do not have time to post freepmail me Alia,Your research is important,thanks,fatima.
the amazing thing is the focus we have on nukes.
my concern is coordinated food borne biological attacks... by the sleeper cells working in our food supply. especially the fast food "mega warehouses" where tons upon tons of hamburger and pinto beans are stored and shipped to every city in america.
I don't think the food supply is as safe as we tell ourselves it is.
My guess would be much closer to election time so that the administration does not have time to recover. If one presumes that the goal is not only to terrorize, but also to affect the outcome of the election, I would expect a multitude of small attacks in predominantly strong republican areas designed to keep people away from the polls on election day. I would also suspect a communication instructing America to bow to UN authority or something more serious would follow.
Just my 2 cents.
Alia,I agree and thank you for your thoughts.
Without a doubt the biggest terrorist target will be GWB himself. He is the one of the few leaders in the world standing up to the beheading barbarians. GWB will also be vulnerable during the campaign. Much more vulnerable then if this was not an election year. If there is an attack on the Dem convention site, I would expect it to be mild and it will be primarily done to motivate sympathy for the Democratic party that believes we were wrong in taking down Saddam. Also, the far left will try to blame GWB for the attack. The terrorists though may not care too much about the convention sites. They will be well guarded and well protected. My guess is that they will try to directly affect the voting itself by making potential Bush voters afraid to venture out and vote. Targeted anthrax attacks and release of small pox would be most affective.
Unfortunately we must also be wary of Michael Moore disciples who actually believe his trash. The far left could also try to camoflauge its attack by making it look like the jihadists were the actual attackers. Unfortunately its going to be a very interesting election year.
well, offhand, I'd say on last day, airport would be a choice target.
A completely baseless assumption. You don't KNOW whether it has not made us safer, since what would have happened had he remained in power never had a chance to happen.
Well, Jewish New Year is September 16th. Ramadan is October 15th.
Arabic jihadi websites claim at least 3 big nukes. Other researchers (Paul Williams) believe the number is closer to 20 devices. None of the agencies has a clue about where the devices are located. It's easy to shout ridiculous. If you can do better than all the U.S. alphabets looking for the devices, come right over and show them how. If not, be prepared for a little fallout between now and November. Ireland is downwind of the purported target areas on the east coast.
BTW, we have found a couple viable nuke weapons already. They were quietly sequestered and disarmed without causing a public panic. The jihadis just have to bide their time and light them off when they can do the most damage. The objective is to put the U.S. back in the stone age in a single big operation.
Another point of interest. The jihadis claim Italy and London are next. The imminent warning has been issued to Italy in the last 24 hours. bin Laden's 90 day "truce" with Europe expired on July 15th.
The unfortunate truth is that the United States never has an "specific intelligence".
America fails horribly at low-tech espionage and has to rely on foreigners and foreign governments to supply us with much needed intelligence information.
Our main source of intelligence in this respect are foreigners who studied in the United States and then returned to their native country.
The general idea here is that they obviously must have "loved" America and therefore will naturally share the same geopolitical goals and objectives that we as a nation have. This is where we make the mistake. In many cases they don't share the same goals that we have because at the end of the day...they are not American and don't wish to be. To further complicate matters their "foreign education" makes them suspect when they return to their native country. And so to demonstrate their devotion, faithfulness and patriotism they end up taking a stand against America.
If we end up with anyone on the payroll overseas, they are almost always foreigners and in many cases end up working as "double agents" who have an intimate knowledge of our country. If not that, we have some fresh college graduate with a 3.8 GPA from some somebigivyleagueuniversity hit the ground in Bangkok, Hong Kong or Prague with his testosterone in overdrive and armed with his Lonely Planet guidebook.
Its all politically correct and stuff but its simply not secure and one day we are going to have to face up to that painful reality.
Nahhhhhhhhhh. Will never happen. There are too many of us for them (Islamist) to take out in their lifetime.
Ok, let's say the bag guys get one in. Two main possibilities:
1. Worse than 9/11.
2. Not as bad or equal to 9/11.
We did 9/11 and we came back from it just fine. Don't sweat it, we've been there and done that already.
If it's worse, then try to keep in mind the following.
Multiple nuclear weapons would hurt America, no doubt about it, but the worst resultant effect would be the damage to our economy. The markets respond most to fear and hope, not to real changes in the net worth of the country. 9/11 made us afraid, and that fear disrupted our economy far worse than the actual attacks. We lost three days of air travel, and two buildings. Yes, it was horrible, but compared to the total worth of the United States and all that we have built, it was insignificant.
Even still the Dow lost what, 50%?
This country is too damn big to nuke, except by Russia, and I'm not sure they could get half their birds into the air.
Several things to avoid in the event of a larger than 9/11 attack.
1. No panic. Don't help the bad guys hurt us. Help the people around you maintain their calm as well.
2. Turn off everything you aren't using. If the grid is damaged, it can come back a lot sooner if the load is already shed.
3. Take care of yourself, and don't try to force finding out about others. The normal communications lines will be jammed, you will only make it worse. Trust in your people's ability to take care of themselves.
4. Stay home unless you are directly threatened. Don't waste gas, time and clog the roads. Don't assume that all the attacks have finished.
5. Leave the Democrats alone. They might wake up and realize that they were wrong. We will need their help. If they choose to continue wearing blinders, there will be plenty of time later to poke them for their numerous failures. Key word is calm, cool collected, helping others to stay calm, and helping others to help still others stay calm.
Things you should do now.
1. Water first. Any damage to the grid means the pumps won't work. You have less than 24 hours to find water before the lack of it begins to hurt you. Keep Clorox on hand, and use 8 drops to the gallon to purify water. Let it stand for 8 hours before drinking it to be sure it's clean.
2. Batteries for the portable radio or TV.
3. Gasoline and some extra. No pumps means that the gasoline stays underground unless hand pumped. Handpumps are scarce, and demand for them will be significant. If you do have to move, or find water, or food, or relatives, you will need gasoline to operate.
4. Canned food, and a means to prepare it. Does your oven work if the grid is down? Does your stove work if the grid is down? Check it. My stove runs on propane and works fine when the power is off. My oven requires that the power be on to relight the flame if it goes out, or else the gas is not allowed to flow. If you don't have a working stove, or a camping stove, and fuel, those cans of food aren't going to be very edible. You also can't boil water.
Things to do after an attack:
1. Stay home.
2. Listen to the radio.
3. Stay off the phone. If you have to call and can get through, keep it short. If you are called, keep it short.
4. Stay off the net. Get your news from the radio. Bandwidth is bandwidth, whether analog or digital. Somebody else needs it a lot worse than you.
I guess in short, you need to do as good a job as you are capable of at taking care of yourself, and minimize the need for others to help you, while at the same time, helping others as much as you can without taking up resources which may be in short supply.
There will be PLENTY of people shouting "Nuke Mecca!" One more or less won't make any difference. One more WILL add to the general background confusion. There will be PLENTY of confusion. Let it sort itself out. Don't pay much attention to "breaking news". Breaking news is almost always wrong. Remember 9/11? The media had half a dozen buildings in Washington on fire, the White House evacuated, and when the south tower collapsed, half of them said it was another "explosion". First reports are wrong. Don't listen to first reports, and DO NOT spread first reports, I don't care if you hear it from GOD. When CNN AND NBC AND FOX AND your next door neighbor are ALL telling the SAME STORY, it is safe to repeat it.
One more thing. Don't just calm everyone around you down. Once they are breathing and thinking normally, get them to calm down others. Revenge is a dish best served cold.
We have had many terror alerts, very few of them actually materialize into attacks. Many attacks have been thwarted without much press.Dot the i's, cross the t's, make sure you have your act together and know how to help others get it together, and then get busy living. Get on with your lives and enjoy the things you normally enjoy. If you let the terrorists interfere with that, they win.
If you ignore the terrorists and don't set yourself up to be self sufficient, then any attack will hurt much worse, but after you have done what you need to do, then further worry won't help, it will only hurt.
Hang tough.
Citizens themselves do not give out thousands of visas to enemy aliens.
Citizens themselves do not and cannot patrol our borders.
Citizens themselves cannot keep Arabs off of commercial aircraft.
Citizens themselves cannot round up and detain nationals of Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Morocco and Algeria who are here without visas.
All of these things are functions of the government.
It's perfectly rational. I don't think anybody likes fly-poop in their pepper.
What makes you think it has any chance of success if we do it? No other country has ever "wiped out terrorism".
Terrorism and terrorists have been around since the dawn of time. The difference we are seeing now is that terrorists and terrorist organizations have matured to the point where they are willing and able to think and act globally, and now we too are a target.
It's a terrible new reality that we will have to face.
If other people panic, you never know what they might do and looters,etc. are always a possibility.
Be Armed!
Predictions?!
WRONG!!!
Fred "Beetle Baily" Barnes what do you think?
WRONG!!!
Elen?
WRONG!!!
Let's keep those terror warnings coming.
BUMP
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