Whatever.
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
No, they are the Democrat party.
I care less what your peeve against the Democratic Party is, It is still correct for the author to refer to them by their name, The Democratic Party.
Whatever.
Alia,you said it! That is my biggest fear,a silent single person could wreak havoc on a city.
The 9-11 attack was TV dramatic and was far more successful than planned. I'm sure they didn't know that the towers were going to collaplse.It was a made for television terrorist attack.
It's the silent,stealthy,random attack that I fear.
Well, if terrorists
attack, and I need to take
a shower, and if
a moose were hogging
the shower stall, then I might
get out my moose gun . . .
I can't help it that they don't even know the proper way to refer to themselves. Not surprising of course. ;o)
That is where you are wrong. It is either President Bush or we lose our country. That is how serious this election is.
Alright here are specifics:
The attack will occur on October 11th. They are going to involve multiple aircraft exploding above Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Washington DC, and Las Vegas. The luggage compartments of the airplanes will contain biological agents that will be scattered over the metropolitan areas by the explosions. The attacks will be carried out by approximately 50 people working on the five flights. All the flights are expected to explode between 10:00am and noon.
Now what are you going to do with the info? Evacuate five major cities? Arrest the 50 people? Halt all air traffic on 10/11?
Stop and THINK for a minute. All you can do is watch the suspected terrorists and try to catch them doing anything wrong. You would preferably want to arrest them for something unrelated to their plans so that you disrupt their plans but they don't dismantle their network, which you have breached.
My scenario is obvious fictional, but possible. There is virtually NOTHING they can tell the public about an impending attack that won't cause the terrorists to change their plans. Not only will they change their plans, but they will likely change their methods, which will make them even harder to catch.
My thoughts also. Always need hard, verified and verifiable Intel before making any assertions. Some items are classified, some items make it to the public. Good call
Carolyn
Perhaps this is related to Hillary not being allowed to speak, then staying away in a snit? It might be safer to stay home in a huff than risk being at ground zero.
She and Toon will only be there the first night, which is probably the least likely night for an attack if you figure the terrosists will need a day or two to scope out security. The Toons aren't dumb.
The source is less reputable than NEIN. Steve Quayle made the claim during a radio interview. I searched his site for a published source. Nothing found. It is either BS or he has a classified source leaking information. Take your pick.
Sooooooooo true!
sigh.
That yesterdays progressive lie. The new British report confirms al Qeada and Iraqi collusion. The true fact of the situation is that we dont know if al Qeada got 'operational' WMD components from the Iraqis or were given 'complete instructions' on how to fashion and deploy WMD components from the Iraqis. Collusion however did occur. Absolute fact now, unless you are an Ostrich with your head progressively buried in the sand. In addition to that, some WMD have been found in Iraq. Just not stockpiles yet. Thats the facts jack.
No sense listening to churchillbuff about this matter. He is probably the biggest appeaser on Free Republic today.
What he doesn't understand is that the Senate Intelligence Report, released last week, indicates 78 different sources and reports told Washington that Iraq was training military officers on ways to attack America!
Very few media outlets have reported this matter or the fact that Al Qaeda and Iraq had trained together for over 10 years on ways to attack America. Iraq provided biological, chemical and other weapons training to Al Qaeda. This is detailed in over 66 pages of the Senate Intelligence Report.
And the argument advanced by the mis-named Churchillbuff that our military can't do two things at once (Afghanistan/OBL and Iraq) is to demean the military and to forget our history during WWII where we had a two front war.
"Claim" is the operative word.
You suggest that we've found and disarmed several, if so, why are the jihadis waiting?
Answer: They don't have anything but they'd like us to believe that they do. Nice thing about pretending to have one, they don't risk having it found and disarmed.
Methinks if they had a nuke they'd have detonated it by now, especially if we've found and disarmed them in the past.
Thanks. Take the oil (won't be hard), salt the ag ground, and spread hog innards in the moon god temples.
You can thank Frank Church for the lack of agents doing highly surgical covert operations (if you want to call them assassinations).
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.