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
I work very close to the Port of Seattle, in a very tall building, surrounded by very tall buildings, with a view of the Space Needle out my window, and take the commuter train to work past Boeing Field. Since Seattle is a target-rich environment and I have placed myself in the middle of their targets, I'm more watchful of my surroundings than I used to be, which is about all I can do.
I guess I'll go take a shower. No, really, I'm going to take a shower. I don't even own a moose.
Also during these years, communists at their fun-fests were burning effigies of Newt Gingrich, Pete Wilson, and Ward Connerly.
The Democrat election mantra this cyle is: Bush in effigy.
Communists want what they want. They don't want to pay for it. And when they can't get their way, they resort to violence of all types.
I was having some heavy memory flashbacks yesterday. Many years ago, I was "6 degrees close" to an event in Marin County where communists blew the head off a judge. Angela Davis was involved. The Soledad "brothers". Now, the communists have infiltrated the system and continue to "blow the heads off" conservative, constitutional judges by unethical means. Kennedy/Olafi/Elaine Jones -- Memogate, is a good example of it. The blocking of President Bush's judicial nominees is a perfect example of it.
The slow creep of rot from within is being stood up to. And the Lib Left Communists are hysterical. Too many years of "in effigy" has left them with the inability to be smart or clever. They've learned to let their emotions overrule clean-logic. And, because of their "emotion-driven" agenda, terrorists are attacking the US. The left claims terrorists are doing this because the US is "evil, imperialistic". When in fact, the truth is...
These religious cults abroad despise the emotive-based agenda of the communist party. They declare the US as evil because of its disgusting amoral behaviors and practices. These practices, are the practices of the Communists.
The US communists, OTOH, think they are "working" out a deal with the terrorists for some kind of shared power with the terrorists once America is "destroyed".
It's the clash of communism and fascism. The communist party was so sure that terrorists abroad would just love them too; as much as they loved the terrorists.
Point is, terrorists don't love anyone. And they see the US communists as useful tools. This is partly what underlies US Communist hysteria, IME. US Communists thought the terrorists would just let US Communists "run" America. Not so. In abject terror -- this is why US Communists continue to finger and point out Bush -- Hit Him -- Not us!!!! The terrorists only laugh..
XBob -- when the AID epidemic hit SF, I did indeed see it as a vial dropped upon the population.
I do wonder why on Earth they bother to say anything, if they're not gonna give up anything more substantive than this kind of garbage. I understand they can't release information that would tip off the enemy, but why say anything? I imagine it's just to give the impression that they're doing something.
As for "being alert" and such, I'm afraid that too is pretty much worthless. Spot something suspicious, then call the FBI and see how much interest they show. I reported an attempt by some characters with middle-eastern names to get one of my businesses involved in some very shady transactions. (No, NOT these goofy scam spam letters, something much more competent and real.) There was obviously something afoul, and I offered them to the FBI on a silver platter; could've gotten them a U.S. address at which to intercept. No interest whatsoever, the typical "yeah thanks, we'll call you if we need anything else" response. Turned out to be a stolen credit card operation. Never heard another word from the FBI.
MM
131 - good rant, and good observations about the liberal fools today who think 'being nice' will solve everything.
And that's the odd part; the terrorists aren't stating anything like "We would like to thank our supporters such as the CPUSA." They state that they hate America plain and simple. The Lefties just assume that when terrorists say "America" they really mean "Republican America." Which brings up an interesting observation: Lefties do not consider themselves Americans! In their heart, they are Europeans. When Liberal Hollywooders like Alex Baldwin made proclamations like they would leave the US if GWB won the election (oh if only AB did leave!), they are stating that they no longer consider it to be America, basically. They prefer Europe. Commies love Europe. Well, maybe not Europe. Hollywood. You see, Commies love their wicked lifestyles; something not typically tolerated by true Communist governments. American Commies are not particularly enamoured with China. Why? Because the Chinese Commies have pretty rigid moral standards for their citizens. Hollywood Communists seek a land that is best described by John Lennon's song Imagine.
As for terrorists, as you so succintly pointed out, they use Communists like we use toilet paper; it exists for a purpose, you use it once, then flush it when done. The Communists just havent' come to realize this yet. And by the time they do, it will be way too late.
I have always thought this is the fairest strategy; I would begin with capitals and then work down the list to other large cities after that.
I specially believe without reservation that the bold part above is not an unreasonable request/expectation.
A conversational straw man. This is the technique of choice, 24/7, on Beavis and Butthead Radio, aka Air America Radio. Kinda categorizes certain posters on FR...
The only thing that can disrupt election is each polling place across the United States being blown up. I don't think that is going to happen.
Or else someone has been reading to much Tom Clancy.
Sad how it works like that? Who would ever confuse "ceteris parabus" for "semper paratus." I am horrified. Teaches one to click "send" without any proofreading whatsoever. Translating Ovid was a bear later on, Caesar was easy early on. The only way to keep the proverbial sword sharp is to clean it and use it.
Unguided "out of the box." here are some problems with the Shkval. It travels at about 200 Knots or so. It's primary target of opportunity would NOT be an enemy submarine or fast-moving destroyer with advanced ASW capabilities. I would argue that, if properly deployed, in a stealthy diesel-electric platform, running at 1-3 knots, this thing could hit a large, comparatively slower moving unspecified vessel(s), without getting into any specifics as to tactics, deployment etc ("loose lips sink ships"). Definite OPSEC issue in this case.
BTW, supposedly the Russians have developed a homing mechanism for this thing, not that it matters at all, if I suspect my primary target(s) is(are) correct. This is an example of a horse that is out of the barn and running. Shutting the barn door is a waste of time at this point. Evasive maneuvers only work if certain scientific calculations hold true in a particular case.
Over the past 40+ years, my lack of the vocabulary has declined markedly. sum, es, est, summus, estis, sunt is all i can remember.
I thoroughly enjoyed those 10 years; aced every course I took.
However, my English benefitted greatly from the experience. And in my business, horticulture, I deal with botanic (Latin) plant names daily.
You're paranoid. America is a well-defended, well-armed nation. At this time, there is no nation or power on this planet that could even hope to invade or conquer us. Even China, with 1.2 billion people and perhaps the world's biggest military, could not conquer this country.
Fun factoid. NYC alone has 40,000 police officers. How many insurgents or guerrillas do you think it would take to defeat the NYPD alone?
Utter nonsense. With such a disdain for America, shouldn't you be over at DU?
. I can't think of any nation besides Isreal that has successfully resisted Islam.
Historically? Spain, Russia, India, China, Bulgaria, Austria, Hungary, Serbia etc. etc.
That type of defeatist talk during WWII would have been labelled as sedition.
He always said that they studied our military history and looked for weaknesses. He said that the islamo-crazies liked the Tet offensive and wanted to replay it here or in London.
There was something like a Tet not too long ago in Iraq as I recall.
That has been my largest concern as well. Water and food. There was something in that thread about Daschle who said "it is different and very sobering" or almost exactly that. I focused on the "it is different". I am not worried about nukes.
No. Seattle is filled with terrorists and their families. We won't be in trouble until complete chaos happens and they are going house-to-house or something. They're not going to do anything major here because this is their own backyard. It's like dogs not pooping in their crates.
Unfortunately Serbia is losing ground daily.
While I don't share your belief in the forgone conclusion, there's no doubt that these Islamic subcultures are for the most part hostile to their host countries. People are waking up to that, though, so I'm not so pessimistic.
Personally, I am all in favor of making life uncomfortable for resistant, hostile, unabsorbing minorities. No country should have to play host to a "community" committed to the destruction of the society. Rather than a healthy, diverse contribution to the cultural pool, they become a self-destruct virus.
How to do this? 1) Use the time-proven instrument of shame. Expose those in the Muslim communities who tacitly or overtly support the Islamofascists. 2) Keep them on the news. Hammer them with klieglights and hard questions. 3) Roust the more suspicious members of the community. 4) Reduce the number of visas available for Muslim countries. Bottom line, they will play nice or they can write off coming to America.
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