Posted on 06/17/2006 2:35:12 PM PDT by MamaDearest
Exclusive Book Excerpt: How an Al-Qaeda Cell Planned a Poison-gas Attack on the N.Y. Subway The plot was called off by Bin Laden's No. 2 only 45 days from zero hour, according to a new book by Ron Suskind SUBSCRIBE TO TIMEPRINTE-MAILMORE BY AUTHORRelated Blogs: Click here for blog postings from around the web that are related to the topic of this article.
Posted Saturday, Jun. 17, 2006 Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence breakthrough, but by an order from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Zawahiri. And the U.S. learned of the plot from a CIA mole inside al-Qaeda. These are some of the more startling revelations by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, whose new book The One Percent Doctrine is excerpted in the forthcoming issue of TIME. It will appear on Time.com early Sunday morning.
U Al-Qaeda terrorists came within 45 days of attacking the New York subway system with a lethal gas similar to that used in Nazi death camps. They were stopped not by any intelligence breakthrough, but by an order from Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman Zawahiri. And the U.S. learned of the plot from a CIA mole inside al-Qaeda. These are some of the more startling revelations by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, whose new book The One Percent Doctrine is excerpted in the forthcoming issue of TIME. It will appear on Time.com early Sunday morning.
U.S. intelligence got its first inkling of the plot from the contents of a laptop computer belonging to a Bahraini jihadist captured in Saudi Arabia early in 2003. It contained plans for a gas-dispersal system dubbed "the mubtakkar" (Arabic for inventive). Fearing that al-Qaeda's engineers had achieved the holy grail of terror R&D — a device to effectively distribute hydrogen-cyanide gas, which is deadly when inhaled — the CIA immediately set about building a prototype based on the captured design, which comprised two separate chambers for sodium cyanide and a stable source of hydrogen, such as hydrochloric acid. A seal between the two could be broken by a remote trigger, producing the gas for dispersal. The prototype confirmed their worst fears: "In the world of terrorist weaponry," writes Suskind, "this was the equivalent of splitting the atom. Obtain a few widely available chemicals, and you could construct it with a trip to Home Depot – and then kill everyone in the store."
The device was shown to President Bush and Vice President Cheney the following morning, prompting the President to order that alerts be sent through all levels of the U.S. government. Easily constructed and concealed, mass casualties were inevitable if it could be triggered in any enclosed public space.
Having discovered the device, exposing the plot in which it might be used became a matter of extreme urgency. Although the Saudis were cooperating more than ever before in efforts to track down al-Qaeda operatives in the kingdom, the interrogations of suspects connected with the Bahraini on whose computer the Mubtakkar was discovered were going nowhere. The U.S. would have to look elsewhere.
Conventional wisdom has long held that the U.S. has no human intelligence assets inside al Qaeda. "That is not true," writes Suskind. Over the previous six months, U.S. agents had been receiving accurate tips from a man the writer identifies simply as "Ali," a management-level al-Qaeda operative who believed his leaders had erred in attacking the U.S. directly. "The group was now dispersed," writes Suskind. "A few of its leaders and many foot soldiers were captured or dead. As with any organization, time passed and second-guessing began."
And when asked about the Mubtakkar and the names of the men arrested in Saudi Arabia, Ali was aware of the plot. He identified the key man as Bin Laden's top operative on the Arabian Peninsula, Yusuf al Ayeri, a.k.a. "Swift Sword," who had been released days earlier by Saudi authorities, unaware that al-Ayeri was bin Laden's point man in the kingdom.
Ali revealed that Ayeri had visited Ayman Zawahiri in January 2003, to inform him of a plot to attack the New York City subway system using cyanide gas. Several mubtakkars were to be placed in subway cars and other strategic locations. This was not simply a proposal; the plot was well under way. In fact, zero-hour was only 45 days away. But then, for reasons still debated by U.S. intelligence officials, Zawahiri called off the attack. "Ali did not know the precise explanation why. He just knew that Zawahiri had called them off."
The news left administration officials gathered in the White House with more questions than answers. Why was Ali cooperating? Why had Zawahiri called off the strike? Were the operatives planning to carry out the attack still in New York? "The CIA analysts attempted answers. Many of the questions were simply unanswerable."
One man who could answer them was al-Ayeri — but he was killed in a gun battle between Saudi security forces and al Qaeda militants, who had launched a mini insurrection to coincide with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Suskind quotes a CIA operative as questioning whether it was an accident that the Saudis had killed the kingpin who could expose a cell planning a chemical weapons attack inside the U.S. "The Saudis just shrugged," the source tells Suskind. "They said their people got a little overzealous." .S. intelligence got its first inkling of the plot from the contents of a laptop computer belonging to a Bahraini jihadist captured in Saudi Arabia early in 2003. It contained plans for a gas-dispersal system dubbed "the mubtakkar" (Arabic for inventive). Fearing that al-Qaeda's engineers had achieved the holy grail of terror R&D — a device to effectively distribute hydrogen-cyanide gas, which is deadly when inhaled — the CIA immediately set about building a prototype based on the captured design, which comprised two separate chambers for sodium cyanide and a stable source of hydrogen, such as hydrochloric acid. A seal between the two could be broken by a remote trigger, producing the gas for dispersal. The prototype confirmed their worst fears: "In the world of terrorist weaponry," writes Suskind, "this was the equivalent of splitting the atom. Obtain a few widely available chemicals, and you could construct it with a trip to Home Depot – and then kill everyone in the store."
The device was shown to President Bush and Vice President Cheney the following morning, prompting the President to order that alerts be sent through all levels of the U.S. government. Easily constructed and concealed, mass casualties were inevitable if it could be triggered in any enclosed public space.
Having discovered the device, exposing the plot in which it might be used became a matter of extreme urgency. Although the Saudis were cooperating more than ever before in efforts to track down al-Qaeda operatives in the kingdom, the interrogations of suspects connected with the Bahraini on whose computer the Mubtakkar was discovered were going nowhere. The U.S. would have to look elsewhere.
Conventional wisdom has long held that the U.S. has no human intelligence assets inside al Qaeda. "That is not true," writes Suskind. Over the previous six months, U.S. agents had been receiving accurate tips from a man the writer identifies simply as "Ali," a management-level al-Qaeda operative who believed his leaders had erred in attacking the U.S. directly. "The group was now dispersed," writes Suskind. "A few of its leaders and many foot soldiers were captured or dead. As with any organization, time passed and second-guessing began."
And when asked about the Mubtakkar and the names of the men arrested in Saudi Arabia, Ali was aware of the plot. He identified the key man as Bin Laden's top operative on the Arabian Peninsula, Yusuf al Ayeri, a.k.a. "Swift Sword," who had been released days earlier by Saudi authorities, unaware that al-Ayeri was bin Laden's point man in the kingdom.
Ali revealed that Ayeri had visited Ayman Zawahiri in January 2003, to inform him of a plot to attack the New York City subway system using cyanide gas. Several mubtakkars were to be placed in subway cars and other strategic locations. This was not simply a proposal; the plot was well under way. In fact, zero-hour was only 45 days away. But then, for reasons still debated by U.S. intelligence officials, Zawahiri called off the attack. "Ali did not know the precise explanation why. He just knew that Zawahiri had called them off."
The news left administration officials gathered in the White House with more questions than answers. Why was Ali cooperating? Why had Zawahiri called off the strike? Were the operatives planning to carry out the attack still in New York? "The CIA analysts attempted answers. Many of the questions were simply unanswerable."
One man who could answer them was al-Ayeri — but he was killed in a gun battle between Saudi security forces and al Qaeda militants, who had launched a mini insurrection to coincide with the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Suskind quotes a CIA operative as questioning whether it was an accident that the Saudis had killed the kingpin who could expose a cell planning a chemical weapons attack inside the U.S. "The Saudis just shrugged," the source tells Suskind. "They said their people got a little overzealous."
More on the plot from Newsweak...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13385543/site/newsweek/
The counter-terrorism officials also confirmed Suskind’s reporting that U.S. intelligence indicated that the subway attack was called off personally by Zawahiri. Though the officials said U.S. intelligence was still not certain why the attack had been cancelled, one former official said some feared that Zawahiri had cancelled the subway attack because Al Qaeda was planning something even more deadly and spectacular inside the United States—an event that, if planned, so far has not materialized.
And more from Newsweak...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13385543/site/newsweek/page/2/
On one key point, however, current and former officials familiar with the threat disputed Suskind’s account. The officials said there was no reason to believe that the Al Qaeda team assigned to the attack was still on the loose somewhere inside the United States. In fact, NEWSWEEK sources said, most U.S. officials believe the team had exited U.S. borders. “The notion that the cell is still in the U.S.…is not the case,” said one senior local-law enforcement official familiar with the matter. Suskind reiterated to NEWSWEEK that his sources say there is "no evidence" that the terror team has left the country. He said that anyone who claims otherwise is "not properly sourced." Suskind declined to comment further on the contents of the book.
I can think of a reason why Zawahiri might have called off the attack.
If the New York subway and other targets were attacked with cyanide, essentially chemical warfare, 45 days after "early 2003", we would have been on the eve of, or at war with Iraq. That would have raised the real possibility of mushroom clouds over RGFC divisions.
Al Qaeda obviously retains the technology though.
I wonder how large an attack it would take for pressure on Musharraf to open the Pak border to US troops?
This is unbelievable. Putting "Ali" in harm's way is never a consideration with the MSM.
Except if you consider a packed NYC ruh hour subway car probably has at least 100 passengers on board.
bump
If it succeeded in killing 1 Million Libs in NYC it'd certainly be jake with the NYT, no surprise here Hell if it killed a bunch of NYT employees it'd be jake with the NYT. NO SURPRISE!!!!
Suskind is low life piece of garbage.
RON SUSKIND is a Bush Basher . Bush-Bashing Books Due Out Mimicking the lead-up to the 2004 elections, when publishers flooded bookstores with books bashing President Bush, more anti-Bush books are due out this summer – just before Congressional elections.
Two years ago, "Against All Enemies” by former anti-terrorism chief Richard Clark was highly critical of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism efforts, and "The Price of Loyalty” by RON SUSKIND chronicled former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill’s disillusionment with the Bush White House. Both hit the top of the bestseller list.
Now Suskind has another book about to be published, "The One Percent Doctrine: Deep Inside America's Pursuit of Its Enemies Since 9/11,” which focuses on U.S. intelligence failures, USA Today reports.
Other forthcoming books include:
# "Oath Betrayed” by Stephen Miles, a medical professor who cites "medical complicity" in "the abuse and neglect" of inmates at U.S. prisons in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
# "The End of Iraq” by Peter Galbraith, a fellow at the Center for Arms Control. The book’s subtitle is: "How American Incompetence Created a War Without End.”
# "What Terrorists Want” by Louise Richardson, a Harvard lecturer who insists that Bush's war on terror will fail because of an ignorance of history.
# "Is Iraq Another Vietnam?” by Robert Bingham, a Vassar College professor who maintains that U.S. policymakers haven’t learned the lessons of Vietnam.
Bernadette Malone of Sentinel, a conservative imprint, told USA Today that the wave of anti-war books reflects "the insular, liberal mind-set of most New York publishers. They think we're losing the war, that it's hopeless, a fool's errand . . . I, and a lot of other people, disagree."
That may be so, but the psychological effect of such an attack would be far greater than the actual physical casualties.
Off topic: A terrific new freeper, Ikez78, has uncovered some interesting information; it's fully sourced here:
Big news last night in the Saddam - al Qaeda connection. al Baghdadi is a man leading the insurgency in Iraq currently. He was a Republican Guard officer for Saddam, companion of Zarqawi since the start of the war AND HAS BEEN FRIENDS WITH BIN LADEN SINCE MEETING HIM IN AFGHANISTAN http://markeichenlaub.blogspot.com/2006/06/abu-abdullah-rashid-al-baghdadi-former.html
Off topic: A terrific new freeper, Ikez78, has uncovered some interesting information; it's fully sourced here:
Big news last night in the Saddam - al Qaeda connection. al Baghdadi is a man leading the insurgency in Iraq currently. He was a Republican Guard officer for Saddam, companion of Zarqawi since the start of the war AND HAS BEEN FRIENDS WITH BIN LADEN SINCE MEETING HIM IN AFGHANISTAN http://markeichenlaub.blogspot.com/2006/06/abu-abdullah-rashid-al-baghdadi-former.html
Hi MamaDearest.
Now I see exactly how the phrase "continue on the trained Manhattan" fit into the al qaeda scheme of things. The phrase came up many times in jihadi forum translations. This was both before and after the Madrid bombings.
BTW, nice to run into you off TM!
Gee ... looks like a major connection there
And comments from Chris Matthews on that news?
Only if pigs are flying :-)
Look elsewhere? That would mean we'd have to gather intel, like possibly monitoring phone calls made to terrorists from people in the US. We couldn't possibly do that....(rolling eyes)
I think I probably won't be buying either the book or the issue of Time. It's an interesting story but there are such big credibility issues..
I read Time for free on FR, but wouldn't give anyone ten cents for an issue. They have some of those "fake but accurate" problems.
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