The Terror Threat (al-Qaeda Claims Responsibility for Blackout)

There are now reports going around that al-Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the recent massive electrical power outage in Canada and the United States. This is the sort of notion which will appeal to the paranoids of both the right and left, those who see sinister government conspiracies lurking behind ever curtain. However, with nearly absolute certainty I can say this: the Great Blackout of 2003 was an accident and any suggestion that al-Qaeda was behind it is absurd. The members of al-Qaeda could claim responsibility for earthquakes and hurricanes as well, but that wouldn’t make it true.

LINKS OF INTEREST:

BUSH COUNTRY.org - Opinion Corner: "RADICAL ISLAMIC GROUP: 'LAST WEEK'S ELECTRIC GRID FAILURE AL-QAEDA RELATED'" -by Jeremy Reynalds (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "While the legitimacy of the Al-Muhajiroun claim of Al-Qaeda activity is open to question, the group's hatred of America is widely known. The same release also claimed that as the second anniversary of 9/11 approaches, "Many Muslims worldwide will be celebrating the comeuppance of the USA in what they see as retribution for the atrocities that the US has committed, and indeed continues to commit, against Muslims." According to the statement, on September 11 2003, "Muslims worldwide will again be watching replays of the collapse of the Twin Towers, praying to Allah ... to grant those magnificent 19 (terrorists) Paradise. They will also be praying for the reverberations to continue until the eradication of all man-made law and the implementation of divine law in the form of the Khilafah - carrying the message of Islam to the world and striving for Izhar ud-Deen i.e. the total domination of the world by Islam." More and more Muslims, according to Al- Muhajiroum, are getting ready for jihad (holy war). "They are willing to die to see the domination of divine law over man made law. The willingness to die can be seen in the face of those like Imam Samudra, who was recently given the death penalty for his involvement in the Bali bombings, and yet, when the verdict was handed out, he celebrated his upcoming martyrdom … in the way of Allah."") (August 19, 2003) (Read More...)

www.obm.clara.net/i/preview.jpg: ISLAMIC CONFERENCE - SEPT 11TH 2003 - www.almuhjiroun.com: "THE MAGNIFICENT 19"

YAHOO! Groups - ALMUHAJIROUN_UK: " BUSH & BLAIR CHOKE ON THE FALLOUT AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH" (August 17, 2003)

MEMRI.org - MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE Special Dispatch Series - No.553: "AL-QA'IDA CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR LAST WEEK'S BLACKOUT": "Al-Qa'ida's Abu Hafs Brigades has claimed responsibility for "Operation Quick Lightning in the Land of the Tyrant of this Generation," referring to the blackout last week in the Northeast and Midwest United States. A communique by the Abu Hafs Brigades was published at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/abubanan2/message/330. This is the third communiqué by the "Brigades" that is being published by the same web-group; in the first, they accepted responsibility for the downing of an airplane in Kenya. The second accepted responsibility for the Jakarta bombing of the Marriott hotel on August 5, 2003. The new communique says that in compliance with the orders of Osama bin Laden to strike at the American economy, the Brigades struck two important electricity supply targets on the East coast. The Brigades say that they cannot reveal how they did it, because they will probably have to use the same method again soon. The communique also claimed that the operation was meant as a present for the Iraqi people.") (August 19, 2003) (Read More...)

ISLAMICAWAKENING.com Discussion Board: Jihaad: "PERISH IN YOUR RAGE" (TMQ 3:119) Posted by "Allahu Akbar" (NOTE: This "Communique No. 3" is a statement regarding the US-CANADA Power Outage.) (August 18, 2003) (Read More...)

FOX NEWS.com (AP): "MOROCCAN COURT SENTENCES FOUR BOMB PLOTTERS TO DEATH" (August 19, 2003) (Read More...)

FOX NEWS.com: "EXPLOSION ROCKS U.N. MISSION IN BAGHDAD" (August 19, 2003) (Read More...)

MEMRI.org - MIDDLE EAST MEDIA RESEARCH INSTITUTE Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 145: "LEADING EGYPTIAN ISLAMIC CLERICS ON JIHAD AGAINST U.S. TROOPS IN IRAQ: March - August 2003" by Steven Stalinsky (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Prominent Egyptian Islamic scholars have issued Fatwas and religious opinions on the subject of Jihad against the U.S. before, during, and following the war in Iraq. These include the most prominent religious figures appointed by the Egyptian government to the highest religious positions, such as the Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ahmad Al-Tayyeb, and the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Dr. Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi. Other prominent Egyptian Islamic authorities who have come out in support of Jihad against U.S. troops include scholars from leading Egyptian universities, such as Cairo University and Al-Azhar University. From the Islamist camp, Islamist leaders such as Egyptian-born Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradhawi, one of the most prominent figures in the Muslim Brotherhood movement, have issued similar rulings. The following highlights the opinions of leading Egyptian Islamic scholars on Jihad against U.S. troops in Iraq from March to August of 2003:") (August 14, 2003) (Read More...)

TOWNHALL.com: "THE BATTLEFIELDS IN IRAQ AND AT HOME" -Column by Diana West (COLUMN SNIPPET:"Speaking on Lebanese television from Norway (where he has political asylum -- thanks, Norway), Kreikar gave his take on the Islamic nature of the war on liberated Iraq. "The resistance is not only a reaction to the American invasion," he explained. "It is part of the continuous Islamic struggle since the collapse of the caliphate." By "caliphate," he was referring to the centuries'-long Islamic rule that dissolved at the end of World War I with the defeat of the Ottoman Empire. "All Islamic struggles since then are part of one organized effort to bring back the caliphate."") (August 19, 2003) (Read More...)

AFTENPOSTEN.no (English): "KREKAR EXPECTS TERRORIST ATTACKS" (ARTICLE SNIPPET: "Mullah Krekar believes the group Ansar al-Islam, which he has led in the past, will retaliate violently to what they see as an unmotivated attack on them, TV 2 reports. The US civil administrator claimed that members of the north Iraq based group had returned to Iraq, planning terrorist actions.") (Read More...) (August 11, 2003)

AFTENPOSTEN.no (English) - Search Term: "KREKAR"

TALIBAN Online - Forum Index (Includes Jihad, Al Qaeda, etc.)

On The Net...AS-SABEEL.com - AS-SABEEL AGENCY - "INTERVIEWS" (PAGE SNIPPET: "In this section, read some interviews with Mujaahideen such as the martyred commander Ibn Al-Khattaab, Usamah Bin Laden, Mullah 'Umar and many more. We will Insha Allah also be adding our own exclusive interviews with brothers who have trained/fought fee sabeelillah from various countries.")

On The Net...JIHAD ONLINE.net NEWS

AS-SAHWAH.com (ISLAMICAWAKENING.com): "JIHAAD" (The Discussion Board)

I don't mean to be dismissive here, but can we please consider the fact that we are talking about electricity going out and not dirty bombs or missiles disguised as 747's?

If we get into a snit and uproar over a several hour blackout and feel it to be a national emergency, just what the eff is with us? Bunch of spoiled pampered brats we are! IMHO we should have mandatory blackout drills on a regular basis. I say we knock the power out in cities and regions on purpose just for practice and conditioning of the populace. If having our power out for 24 hours freaks the country out we deserve to be held hostage by a few third world zealots because we let them.

Here's, in a nutshell, how terrorism by power outage would 'work':
You shut off power once to see how much 'damage' and inconvenience you can produce as well as to see how long it takes for the other guy to fix what you did.
You time it, and see what continues working as well.
Then, you take all that info you generated and create a plan.
What terror boys would do next is this: Shut off power again.
This time have explosives rigged into teh system so that when juice flows through again, it blows at a set time after current is restored. You set up places to attack, where people congregate. (Garbage bin bombs. NYC would have been a slaughterhouse with everyone outside like that.)
Then, you fit an ambulance you stole with explosives.
And when the First responders get to the scene, you have some suicida-kazis drive up pretending to be EMT's and det that too.
The targets would be Police, Firemen, and EMT's.
Think the ambulance is too much?
The Pali's do just that over in Israel.

you know what bothers me, is that America is the most armed country in the world and we still can't seem to protect what is ours...Mainly because we have groups that say we can't it is wrong to defend and get the bad people they don't know any better, I for one am tired of this nonsense, after being in the military I learned you probe your target to find out what they have and can do, capabilities and such..Make no mistake that this COULD be a start to something bigger...so instead of worrying about them attacking we should be hunting.......

I agree with you Darksheare. If you want to terrorize a population that's the way you do it. That or instead of going for a single high profile target, you select totally random "everyday targets" in small towns and large cities. Malls, schools, peoples work places, you may only get a few people each time but if terror is your objective, then this is the way to get the people afraid to go to work, shop, send their kids to school, etc.

The secondary explosion tactic is old, used in WW II. Bomb an area and drop delayed fuze bombs to take out/disrupt rescue and emergency crews, we did it and so did the Germans.

True enough!
Our society is so squishy now that even my CAT had a fit about the power being off.
Even our pets are too used to having power all the time.

If my cat whined about the power being off like that, then definately there's people who outright bawled about it.
And after seeing the pics of all the people in the streets, I was VERY surprised that nothing exploded.
Operationally, that would make it an info gathering trip.
(If there isn't a natural cause explanation for it. If it's terror caused, then it was an info getting action.)

Some of my neighbors are STILL griping about it!

No they still want a body count,but Al-Qaeda are as organized as a military force and have done probes before ie 93 world trade center, first you gather information and then utilize it to get the highest body count...money is not what they want they want the infidels dead the more the better. I garuntee they know how many people were in the streets...easy pickins for bombs, gas, name it they will use it and can get it off the black market easyier than you can buy a pallon of milk.

Really?
And what of the 'scoping' of targets here in the US LONG before 9/11, or the '93 World Trade Center bombing?
You're so sure of that?
Willing to bet your life on it?
If they do it in Israel, they'll do it here too.
That's how terrorists operate.
I can see that you obviously know NOTHING of terrorists or their operational activites.
Do you honestly believe there isn't any planning in their attacks, or 'dry runs' at all?
You honestly think they wouldn't probe us a few times just to see what we'll do?

If you believe they wouldn't, then you deserve the results of your foolish notions.
Unfortunately, others would suffer to.
So thank a soldier for their service as well as thanking those who try to keep one step ahead of the bad guys.

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.