Posted on 02/16/2003 2:55:47 PM PST by FairOpinion
The US has credible intelligence that al Qaeda had an attack or multiple attacks set to begin at some point last week and that members of the Congress could have been the terrorist outfit's likely target, a media report said today.
Counter-terrorism officials were today quoted as saying that they had received a phone tip that members of the United States Congress could have beene targets of assassination attempts by Islamic fundamentalists.
Intelligence reports gathered from human and electronic sources around the world suggested what intelligence officials had suspected for weeks- al Qaeda operatives "Are in the execution phase of some of their operations," a senior US offficial was quoted by 'Time' magazine as saying.
Officials said the intelligence specifically mentioned that the likely targets were New York City and Washington on February 12.
Even though the feared attacks failed to materialise, the anxieties did not subside and inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fears of a devastating attack are as high as they had been in months, particularly because of the possibility that "other tools" or biological and chemical weapons could be used, it said.
The Homeland Security has increased the level of alert.
Telephone calls and e-mails exchanged between several suspected terrorists and intercepted by the US and foreign intelligence agencies pointed to a plot inside the US using nerve gas, poisons or radiological devices.
"It was'nt just chatter," said Republican Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "It was a pattern." (more)
A senior Administration official tells the magazine that domestic law-enforcement agencies are investigating a report that Islamic fundamentalists in this country are trying to acquire parts to build an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) abroad-the kind of machine that terrorism experts believe could be deployed to spray chemical agents over populated areas.
The fear is that a UAV assembled overseas could be used against U.S. Assets there, Time says.
The US has credible intelligence that al Qaeda had an attack or multiple attacks set to begin at some point last week and that members of the Congress could have been the terrorist outfit's likely target, a media report said today.
Counter-terrorism officials were today quoted as saying that they had received a phone tip that members of the United States Congress could have been targets of assassination attempts by Islamic fundamentalists.
Intelligence reports gathered from human and electronic sources around the world suggested what intelligence officials had suspected for weeks- al Qaeda operatives "Are in the execution phase of some of their operations," a senior US official was quoted by 'Time' magazine as saying.
Officials said the intelligence specifically mentioned that the likely targets were New York City and Washington on February 12.
Even though the feared attacks failed to materialise, the anxieties did not subside and inside the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) fears of a devastating attack are as high as they had been in months, particularly because of the possibility that "other tools" or biological and chemical weapons could be used, it said.
The Homeland Security has increased the level of alert.
Telephone calls and e-mails exchanged between several suspected terrorists and intercepted by the US and foreign intelligence agencies pointed to a plot inside the US using nerve gas, poisons or radiological devices.
"It wasn't just chatter," said Republican Senator Pat Roberts, chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "It was a pattern."
A senior Administration official tells the magazine that domestic law-enforcement agencies are investigating a report that Islamic fundamentalists in this country are trying to acquire parts to build an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) abroad-the kind of machine that terrorism experts believe could be deployed to spray chemical agents over populated areas.
The fear is that a UAV assembled overseas could be used against U.S. Assets there, Time says.
At a closed-door briefing Thursday a group of Senators grilled Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge about whether they should clear their families out of the capital in anticipation of an attack.
Ridge counseled them against it, but when pressed by the Senators for the odds of an attack on U.S. Targets at home or abroad in the next several weeks, Ridge, according to one source familiar with the meeting, put the probability at "50 per cent or greater."
In private, Time says White House officials sounded almost resigned to the inevitability of catastrophe. "All we can do," Vice President Dick Cheney told a gathering of top administration officials to discuss bioterrorism, "is ask ourselves, Have we done everything we can to prevent an attack?.."
The U.S. Still doesn't have a "credible and comprehensive system" in place to cope with such attacks, the magazine said.
I think there was a very good reason for the orange "high" alert.
when a story says that it is based on something in time magazine, you can be pretty sure that the original report has gained notice here already, doncha suppose?
dep
How long have we been hearing about threats? I hope to God I am wrong, but, what if I am not?
I think it is quite sad I got this gut feeling, but I got it from somewhere...
SR
Kindly show the rest of us all the posts about the Time Magazine expose - in fact, show us the actual Time Magazine article. I'm sure the rest of us would like to see it.
Someone mentioned that they heard it for the first time on the Sunday AM shows today.
I may be wrong but I bet it will be in tomorrow's Time Magazine.
This also explains why Frist abruptly recessed.
"I agree - but now I'm wondering if this is why Frist allowed the Senate to recess instead of insisting on a filibuster from the dems - so they could all get their families out of town. Hmmmm?? Interesting. "
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Might 'splain a thing or two, eh?
FRegards,
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