Posted on 06/26/2002 3:56:37 PM PDT by Timesink
Edited on 09/03/2002 4:50:41 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Al Qaeda has said that one of its goals is to destroy our economic system. Seems to me that demolishing a large part of our infrastructure -- financial and otherwise -- would go a long way toward acheiving that aim.
It's also possible that the gentleman overheard a conversation by some other means, and the "cellphone" angle is a plausible explanation to get the story out without giving up any more information.
Seems unlikely this guy would make up such a scenario.
"Unsettling signs of al Qaeda's aims and skills in cyberspace have led some government experts to conclude that terrorists are at the thresold of using the Internet as a direct instrument of bloodshed"(from the Washington Post link in the article)
I believe this is the link between China and al Qaeda that identifies the source of the next attack and I expect the attack very soon.
honway
Telecom equipment project by the Chinese for Taliban at Bangalore
(Raju Santhanam)
The Statesman 9 December 2001
Revelations that the Taliban was working on a telecom surveillance equipment with the help of the Chinese in a Bangalore-based project actually cleared by the Government of India has caused red faces in the country’s security establishment.A senior government official in fact said that India did not want to upset the Chinese government but conceded that India might ask 300 Chinese software engineers to leave the country. Official sources said that since all the requisite permission had been obtained there was no question of “deportation”. The official agreed it was a serious security lapse given the developing situation in Afghanistan.The tip-off apparently came from Western Intelligence sources but it was later verified by Indian Intelligence agencies. A final view on how to deal with the situation is yet to be taken.
The Chinese telecom software company had brought in the telecom engineers from China in September on six months’ visa to ensure total secrecy over the project. No Indian apparently is directly involved in the project.
As I've muddled through the murk, with only FR and newspapers for insight, it appears that China is not the bad guy (but could well be a source of info).
After Rupert Murdoch took his second wife, and after reading about various family connections like Connie Chung's father, and after Bush dropped trade restrictions in December, it seems possible that the red army has added bits of white and blue.
If I read your link correctly, the finger still points to Muslim evil-doers, i.e. Chinese Muslims from the western border and POK. "The situation on the ground in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is becoming more convoluted by the day."
Please reference this thread for Chinese ties to post 9-11 Taliban
http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/043002/met_9278005.html
Blacked out Nearly all 355,000 JEA customers left without power
About 4:30 p.m., two large electric lines heading east out of the Brandy Branch Generating Station near Baldwin shut down when circuit breakers tripped on both lines. It's unclear why those trips occurred, but the breakers are designed to shut down portions of the lines to prevent further faults from the actual point of trouble.
When those lines shut down, electric lines heading west out of Brandy Branch picked up the load along with other electricity coming from Georgia and redirected that flow back into the city grid over two other lines. Electricity was still flowing freely and not overloading the grid into the city.
A short time later, there was an unexplained transformer fire at the Kennedy Generating Station north of Talleyrand and the generator at the plant shut down. Electricity generated from Kennedy had been flowing in the two operating transmission lines along with the electricity from the Northside Generating Station and the nearby St. Johns River Power Park.
The devices are called distributed control systems, or DCS, and supervisory control and data acquisition, or SCADA, systems. The simplest ones collect measurements, throw railway switches, close circuit-breakers or adjust valves in the pipes that carry water, oil and gas. More complicated versions sift incoming data, govern multiple devices and cover a broader area.
What is new and dangerous is that most of these devices are now being connected to the Internet -- some of them, according to classified "Red Team" intrusion exercises, in ways that their owners do not suspect
Wolfowitz: Al Qaeda Is an Infectious Disease With No One-Shot Cure
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, June 26, 2002 -- Success in Afghanistan does not mean victory in the war against terrorism, Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul D. Wolfowitz said today.
"Al Qaeda is not a snake that can be killed by lopping off its head," Wolfowitz told members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "It is more analogous to a disease that has infected many parts of a healthy body. AFRTS Radio Report: DepSecDef updates Senate committee on military operations in Afghanistan
"There is no one single solution," he stressed. "You can't simply cut out one infected area and declare victory. But success in one area can lead to success in others."
Overall, Wolfowitz said, the U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan to kill, capture and disrupt terrorists is helping to protect the American people. At the same time, the United States is helping the Afghan people ensure their country does not once again become a terrorist sanctuary.
Noting the highlights of the nation's "extraordinary military success," he said somewhat less than half of al Qaeda's top 30 leaders have been killed or captured. The United States has custody of more than 500 detainees. Law enforcement agencies in more than 90 countries have arrested some 2,400 terrorism suspects.
"Our military success in Afghanistan has contributed to that larger success, both indirectly by encouraging others to cooperate, and also more directly," Wolfowitz said. "Abu Zubaydah, one of bin Laden's key lieutenants, was driven out of his sanctuary in Afghanistan and as a result was captured last March."
Zubaydah's cooperation contributed to the detention of Jose Padilla (aka Abdullah al Muhajir), who allegedly was planning and coordinating terrorist attacks. A Moroccan detainee led law enforcement officials to two Saudi Arabians planning terrorist attacks in Morocco. A videotape discovered in Afghanistan led to the arrest of an al Qaeda cell in Singapore that was planning to attack a U.S. aircraft carrier.
"These developments are encouraging, but it is important to remember that al Qaeda is still dangerous and active," Wolfowitz said. "This network still poses threats that should not be underestimated."
Afghanistan is only one node in the global terrorist network. "A network, by its very nature is based on the idea that should one node be eliminated, the network can still continue to function," he said.
In Arabic, "al Qaeda" means "base," indicating that the entire organization is the base of terrorist operations. "It is spread throughout the world and it needs to be eliminated, root and branch," Wolfowitz said.
Al Qaeda has infected some 60 countries, including the United States, Germany, France, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and the Philippines. It had critical nodes in Hamburg, Germany, and Jacksonville, Fla., as well as in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, the deputy said, U.S. and coalition forces rooted out both the terrorists and the tyrannical Taliban regime that protected them. He said the goal was to deprive the terrorists of a sanctuary where they could safely plan, train and organize. "Not only to capture and kill terrorists, but to drain the swamp in which they breed," he remarked.
Over the past eight months, he said, U.S. and coalition partners have defeated the Taliban regime, killing or capturing many of its ringleaders. Others are on the run. America's men and women in uniform have conducted operations with great bravery and skill.
Military plans were put together with remarkable speed, he said, and operations were swiftly and successfully executed. The campaign was "measured in weeks rather than months, and with relatively few troops on the ground. On Sept. 11, "there simply were no war plans on the shelf for Afghanistan."
Army Gen. Tommy Franks started "from scratch" on Sept. 20, Wolfowitz said, and less than three weeks later began military operations on Oct. 7. Two weeks after that, U.S. troops were operating in Afghanistan with Northern Alliance forces. "In many ways, it was a remarkable feat of logistical and operational utility," he said.
He also pointed out that the United States did not become bogged down in a quagmire in Afghanistan, unlike the British in the 19th century or the Soviets in the 20th century. "Nations that arrive in Afghanistan with massive armies tend to be treated as invaders and they regret it," he said. "Mindful of that history, Gen. Franks has deliberately and carefully kept our footprint small to avoid just such a situation."
"We have always viewed our mission in Afghanistan as one of liberation, not occupation," Wolfowitz said. "Afghans are an independent, proud people. We have worked from the beginning to minimize the number of our troops there and to focus instead on helping the Afghan people to help themselves in their journey to representative self- government."
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