Posted on 08/15/2006 9:00:23 AM PDT by Fawn
Terror kingpin said preparing bigger strike on U.S. 'ground'
Homeland security officials doubt the terror plot to blow up U.S.-bound planes over the Atlantic was Osama bin Laden's encore to 9-11.
The White House has described the foiled plot as "a second September 11."
But officials say bin Laden is preparing a larger strike on U.S. soil targeting major U.S. cities. They cite the terror kingpin's message in January in which he warned Americans that sleeper cells were preparing a major new attack "on your own ground."
"Operations are under preparation, and you will see them on your own ground once they are finished, Allah willing," bin Laden said in Arabic.
Some translations have him saying "in the heart of your land" or "in your houses."
The London plot, which may have rivaled 9-11 casualties, still did not involve ground targets.
"While impressive in scale, the damage on the ground would have been limited if anything," a U.S. official said. "It's not the spectacular attack he (bin Laden) is looking for to do maximum damage to our economy."
Terror experts agree.
"There may have been money or a blessing from al-Qaida, but I doubt that this was an operation run by al-Qaida central, by bin Laden himself," says Michael Scheuer, former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit. "It simply wasn't a big enough operation for what they intend, and it didn't occur inside the United States."
Experts say the London plot appears too ad hoc. Planning began only a year ago on the heels of the London subway bombings. Bin Laden's major attacks in the past have involved several years of planning. They've also been led by the A-team of al-Qaida's Martyrdom Brigade, who coordinated with seasoned lieutenants in the network to finance and refine the mission as it developed. The London bomber cells, in contrast, appear to have been composed of fresh recruits who were less disciplined, which may explain why they were caught.
"They're second-stringers," the official said. "He's holding his top operatives in reserve for a bigger operation."
The FBI says there's no evidence al-Qaida has sleeper cells in the U.S.
Of course, that's what the bureau said before 9-11. Former senior DHS official Clark Kent Ervin says the bureau knows of at least 1,000 al-Qaida sympathizers in the U.S. today – a figure he calls "low." And the CIA has presented the FBI director with a list of possible sleeper cell candidates, but he has rejected going after them, arguing they had not yet committed a crime.
Scheuer says bin Laden is lining up his ducks for a massive attack possibly using radiological weapons. The first step, he says, was getting a green light from Saudi clerics to kill possibly millions of Americans with such weapons. Then he offered the U.S. a truce and even recently invited President Bush to convert to Islam – all in keeping with jihadi military doctrine. And he has directly warned the America people on at least two occasions.
As absurd as such moves sound, they are necessary to satisfy any theological concerns among Muslim clerics, Scheuer says. It's more about "preparing Muslims" for the doomsday attacks than Americans.
Experts agree a plausible nightmare scenario involves al-Qaida shipping dirty nukes in uninspected cargo containers bound for ports in New York, New Jersey, Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and near Washington, and then detonating them once they are in position. The technology used could be as simple as GPS transmitters and cell phones. The radiological fallout from the blasts could render the cities uninhabitable for years, crippling the economy.
Experts say that while the disrupted airliner plot is good news, it's not exactly comforting. In 1995, authorities disrupted al-Qaida's so-called Bojinka operation to down planes over the Pacific. Al-Qaida came back six years later with a more spectacular attack targeting New York and Washington.
hey osama,
May a mass grave find you and your islamatards soon.
- BG&R99
These would be the same experts that let us down before September 11?
"Bin Laden gets his @$$ handed to him in a stunning defeat". Enjoy it for what it is, rather than try to paint him as a Karl Rovian uber-conspirator, who somehow wins even in defeat.
HUH? Could of sworn I saw a map of camps here in the USA.
Yeah, these are the same people who did nothing in the 90's.
"They're second-stringers," the official said. "He's holding his top operatives in reserve for a bigger operation."
When that happens the first action should be to account with the politically correct politicians and globalist traitors who allowed this to happen despite so many warnings.
My thoughts exactly. Amazing how these Clintonistas (if that's indeed who these "experts" are) are all over the networks giving us their advice...
Why is it our guys seem so blase about this whole thing?
Funny though how the big cities like Miami and NYc are mentioned as targets.....where most of the Liberals and illegals reside.
He's alive isn't he? And to ignore the fact that he is planning another 9/11 on a radiological scale is to our peril. He is patient in his cave. And put that together with the other fascists... Amad, Assad, Nasrallah and the countless other like-minded demons... and you have the makings of Armageddon. It's just a matter of time.
I agree with you......I'm sure Osama didn't take up kickboxing or is in his cave downloading DVDs......he is working on something bigger and better.....while we take kickboxing and download movies.
Yes and the FBI decided that the three moslims found with a thousand cell phones and pictures of the Macinac Bridge were just a your everyday business people in the phone parts business.
Thanks to our PC government and our chickensh*t politicians, I am afraid we are we will get hit and hit hard.
I disagree as I believe that they intended to create terror not by just blowing up planes over the Atlantic, but by blowing them up over American cities so the planes parts and luggage and dead bodies would rain over our cities. That would be real psychological terror.
Could a major attack in a city where Liberals hang out actually wake them up? With their mental disorders, I doubt it.
I wonder what the trade winds are in the Middle East?
I'd hate for the fallout to hit us here in California.
I think everything blows east!
We have no proof "our guys" are blase or not.
This World Nut Daily report claims "Homeland security officials" said it.
With out verifiable names of those "officials" you can assume it's a made up story.
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.