Need to clean up my monitor now. FOFL.
Thanks to Nw Arizona Granny for this info:
The terror threat at sea
All of a sudden, there is lots of discussion online about terrorist threats to U.S. warships in the Middle East. Galrahn has an excellent post today about a new warning for ships, including this money quote: “We assess a direct, grave threat, by Al Qaeda, against U.S. Navy warships and U.S.-flagged vessels. Moreover, if U.S.-flagged merchantmen are still steaming anywhere in the U.S. 5 Fleet area of responsibility without armed security, they do so now at a considerably elevated risk.”
There’s more: Richard Wachtel, a spokesman for the Middle East Media Research Institute, tells Scoop Deck that a post on a jihadist Web site Wednesday called for people to “gather intelligence” about the U.S. and international warships that patrol the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and the Persian Gulf. Here’s the whole post, provided by Wachtel:
“The affair with the U.S. Navy began several years ago, when the lions of Al-Qaeda struck the destroyer U.S.S. Cole, in Yemen; now, with Allah’s help, all the American vessels in the seas and oceans, including aircraft carriers, submarines, and all naval military equipment deployed here and there that is within range of Al-Qaeda’s fire, will be destroyed…
“To this end, information on every U.S. naval unit – and only U.S. [units]!! – should be quietly gathered [as follows:] [the vessel’s] name, the missions it is assigned; its current location, including notation of the spot in accordance with international maritime standards; the advantages of this naval unit; the number of U.S. troops on board, including if possible their ranks, and what state they are from, their family situation, and where their family members (wife and children) live; (snip)
http://militarytimes.com/blogs/scoopdeck/2009/12/31/the-terror-threat-at-sea/