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
Re: Your Post # 114 - good practical advice!
"You know - it could be that we ARE in different times now. This will be the norm so we will have to get used to it.
You know - Have you ever heard of the story of "The Boy who Cried Wolf?"
"Many of us lived through the cold war nuclear threat and have plenty of practice in living under a threat"
Yeah son, many of us did.
Dear Fatima, If/when I get data, I shall ping you! ...Alia
They are going to set off all 20 of the suitcase nukes at once, right?
Perhaps Tom just feels paranoia at his total deriliction of duty in enforcing the borders against an enemy that only sneak attacks, simply because his political party asks him to keep the cheap labor flowing. Yeah, lotta sleepless nights for Tommy.
Iran is more likely to have a civil war than an external one. The final act for the mullahs will involve a short rope and a long drop at the hands of their own citizenry.
Iran is a strange country. Despite 20+ years of government propaganda calling America "The Great Satan," the Iranian people harbor very little Anti-Americanism.
I have no doubt that the Islamonazis would like to do something big, but I would like to have a dollar for every thread predicting something big that's been posted since 911.
Whatever became of "The Big Meal"? What about the birds of the air that were going to destroy us?
My personal paranoia revolves around fuel trucks. Individually they are not much, but a coordinated strike with a lot of hazmat thrown in would be very disruptive.
Of course that would require a lot of people to pull off, and the Muslim communities could look forward to a lot of distrust for the next 50 years.
The Saudi government could shut off the flow of funds to terrorists tomorrow, if it wanted to.
The Saudi monarchy wants to remain in power, so they have attempted to placate the fundamentalists in the hopes that they will not attempt to overthrow that corrupt monarchy. The Saudis are starting to just figure out that it's one thing to ride a tiger, it's quite another to get off the beast.
Yes, of course we are safer without Saddam in power. Are we totally safe? No, but it is hard to argue that it would be worse with Saddam in power.
No, but a President Kerry could manage to lose it.
Unless you're flying on a plane with 14 Syrian musicians who are constantly running to the bathroom and passing things around to each other and winking and nodding and reading the Koran. In that case, just shut up and sit down because we can't do anything about it until the bomb actually goes off. Then we will have proof that a crime has been committed and THEN we can arrest them...
Something is coming, you don't have to hear it in the "chatter" you can feel it in your gut.
You got that right. You want to see a future map of Islamic America? Whip out the famous "Red" map of the 2000 election. All the blue spots on the map, the spots that voted for Gore, that's future Islamic land. The Red areas, where Bush carried the day, that will be the last hope of our great Republic. Should our nation fall, and I pray it does not, I know in my heart that those good people out there who represent the fiber of our nation, those same folks will redefine "insurgents". Our nation was born on the backs of men and women who worked as farmers, as cobblers, as bakers; all of whom were willing to fight to the death in the name of freedom. We may indeed see that day return
As for where I live, in Alaska, I can assure you, although we have a fair number of eco-whiners up here, we probably have the most heavily armed population per-capita, and many excellent hunters who can take down a moose from far far away. Any invading army will find itself being sniped at. We will not go down quietly, I can assure you of that.
Tell me you have a better source for this than NEIN, who mistook a brushcutter for a radiation detector...
Your tin foil hat is on too tight. How, exactly, are the invading Muslim armies going to get here?
I would never shoot
a moose. Not even a moose
who bit my sister . . .
This is one of those fundamental truths that so many people forget. Anybody who has been bullied in school can tell you that handing over your lunch money today will result in your handing it over tomorrow, too.
And what do we have? A world where in places like Israel, it's a good week if a murder-bomer doesn't strike again. And where the world watches and accuses Israel of being the bully!
That's where I feel our nation's rules of engagement have held back the hand of the warfighter. We collectively have been duped into buying the "Nyah nyah, you can't come here, this is the holy city of..."
You ask me, here are the new rules: We'll try to avoid blowing your mosques off the map, but if some dude therein so much as flips us the bird, let alone raises a fist or shows anything remotely resembling a gun, we'll MOAB that thing right off the map. You want to treat your mosque like a war zone? We'll help you!
Now, this may actually be the way it works, but in order to make this work, we need a missing element, the media. If Donald Rumsfeld were to give a press conference, and announced this new doctrine, and say that CNN and Al Jazeera covered it, which news organizaiton would be more anti-American? It might be a dead heat. I've postulated that the major networks pinch their text straight from Al Jazeera.
Summary? Indeed, giving into terrorism assures future terrorism.
People specifically need to STAY on about their business; otherwise, how would they notice what is "amiss" or "out of the ordinary".
Have you seen this post yet?
POLICE OFFICERS EXPOSED TO INFECTIOUS, CONTAGIOUS DISEASE IN OHIO
Very similar to what you were saying.
Becki
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