Iraqis targeted W ranch - Terror team tried to sneak into Texas through Mexico

New York Daily News ^ | 3/29/03 | JAMES GORDON MEEK

[kattracks]

WASHINGTON - An Iraqi terror team armed with millions of dollars tried to get smuggled into the U.S. through Mexico to Crawford, Tex. - the site of President Bush's ranch, a law enforcement source said yesterday. The alarming attempt to infiltrate the country occurred this month, the source said.

It is not known what the Iraqis planned to do in Crawford, but Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein tried to assassinate Bush's father, the former President George Bush, in 1993.

The unidentified Iraqis wanted to hire smugglers to sneak them into the U.S. because they "wanted to get to the Crawford ranch," according to the well-placed law enforcement source. They also asked a Mexican doctor and a lawyer named Claudio to change about $100 million in Iraqi dinars into U.S. currency - about $325 million.

Secret Service officials would not comment yesterday about the possible threat or the suspects' whereabouts.

The President and First Lady Laura Bush spend most of their downtime on the 1,600-acre Prairie Chapel Ranch, nestled in the central Texas scrubland. Bush used the Texas White House to woo world leaders into his "coalition of the willing" against Saddam.

The assassination attempt on Bush's father came as the former President attended ceremonies in Kuwait celebrating the success of the Gulf War, which ousted Saddam's troops from Kuwait. Because of the failed assassination, then-President Bill Clinton ordered a Tomahawk missile barrage on Iraq.

The current President has not forgotten the attempt to kill his father. A red-faced Bush recently reminded a visitor of the 1993 plot by Saddam, and said, "The SOB tried to kill my dad."

Other plots thwarted

Iraq's attempt to infiltrate the U.S. came to light as U.S. officials announced they had thwarted Iraqi-sponsored terrorism in two foreign countries, as well as plots directed at U.S. targets.

"There are two countries where operations have been compromised, and we have information on plots in other countries," State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

Department officials declined to say whether the Mexico report had any connection to those Iraqi terrorist plots.

In both foreign cases, the operatives were arrested, terrorist material was confiscated and the attacks were not carried out, said another State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher.

The U.S. has asked a number of countries to expel suspected Iraqi intelligence officers, based on "the significant threat posed by their presence," Boucher said.

With Thomas M. DeFrank

[demosthenes the elder]

V

[DoughtyOne]

I think it may have been a real eye opener to Bush how his bud El Presidente Fox repayed him for his outreach during the first year of his Presidency. Right now Fox is licking the boots of the French. LOL, sorry George, some of us tried to tell you.

[DoughtyOne]

I hear ya.

[DoughtyOne]

I almost get the impression that our leaders wouldn't even budge then.

[DoughtyOne]

No it's not anything new. And that's the damning part isn't it.

[glock rocks]

i'll bet W doesn't forget.

[DoughtyOne]

I hear ya. This is so frustrating.

[Ole Okie]

A little Judge Roy Bean hanging justice is in order.

Yeah, make sure they're jailed West of the Pecos.

Lilly Langtry wouldn't be likely to visit them, though.

[4Freedom]

"I hear ya."

The question is why doesn't anyone in the White House hear us?

[Ag88]

I turkey hunt not too far from Crawford. If I or my group see any Iraqi-types around, they're coyote food.

[small voice in the wilderness]

LOL!

Turban Cowboys in Crawford. This sounds like a 3 Stooges plot. Moe-hammed, Curly Joe-sama, and Larry hire out as ranch hands for the President of the United States. I haven't decided yet if terrorists actually have a plan... Or a script.

[ohioWfan]

How 'Baptist' is Baylor any more? Many schools with religious roots are not longer Christian, and therefore might welcome non-Christians as students.......even Muslims.

I will pray specifically for the safety of the people of Texas (especially my dear friends there) as I pray for the safety of the nation. We must not let these terrorists succeed in their goals, and live in fear.

[DoughtyOne]

I don't know. I wish I did and could agree with it.

[holyscroller]

Unfortunately it will likely take a major incident involving something coming across the Mexican border before anything is done to stop the seive. We can only hope that if/when that happens, finally sealing the border will be swift and sure. Short of an "incident", nothing will happen. Apparently the many businesses who rely on the cheap labor have more political clout than ordinary Americans. What other excuse can there be?

[El Gato]

Pretty incompetent "terrorists", having that much moneny, in Mexico, and couldn't find a coyote to smuggle them into the US. Folks so poor that calling them dirt poor would be an upgrade from their true status manage to get smuggled in everyday, by the hundreds or thousands.

[El Gato]

I wonder if the coyotes took the $100,000,000 and left the slobs out in the desert as buzzard feed

There are some things even a buzzard or a turkey vulture won't eat.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[whadizit]

"...now maybe Bush will begin to be concerned about our borders..."

Maybe he will also begin to be concerned about Mexican Pres. Fox and his cohorts. Many of those who Bush thought were friends have turned out to be anything but that.

[Brad’s Gramma]

Prayer Pings.

[CIBvet]

I'd like to believe you're right, that W will now recognize our incredibly vulnerable border threat, but the cult/religion of Free Trade/NAFTA/WTO + open borders + Globali$m + Greed seem inextricably embedded with one another, and our President has been raised and educated as a disciple.