XXX DRUDGE REPORT XXX OCTOBER BULLETIN SAID TERRORISTS THOUGHT TO HAVE 10 KILOTON

DRUDGE REPORT ^ | 3/3/02 | MATT DRUDGE

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2001®

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN MARCH 03, 2002 09:22:37 ET XXXXX

OCTOBER BULLETIN SAID TERRORISTS THOUGHT TO HAVE 10 KILOTON NUCLEAR WEAPON TO BE SMUGGLED INTO NEW YORK CITY
Sun Mar 03 2002 10:40:24 ET
**TIME MAGAZINE**

New York -- In October, an intelligence alert went out to a small number of government agencies, including the Energy Department's top-secret Nuclear Emergency Search Team, based in Nevada. The report said that terrorists were thought to have obtained a 10-kiloton nuclear weapon from the Russian arsenal, and planned to smuggle it into New York City, a special TIME magazine investigation reveals.

Publishing sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT, the next cover story of TIME will headline: "Can We Stop the Next 9/11?"

The report hits newsstands Monday, March 4th.

MORE

The source: a mercurial agent code-named DRAGONFIRE, who intelligence officials believed was of "undetermined" reliability, TIME reports. But DRAGONFIRE'S claim tracked with a report from a Russian general who believed his forces were missing a 10-kiloton device.

That made the DRAGONFIRE report alarming. So did this: detonated in lower Manhattan, a 10-kiloton bomb would kill some 100,000 civilians and irradiate 700,000 more, flattening everything in a half-mile diameter.

Counterterrorist investigators went on their highest state of alert, TIME reports. "It was brutal," a U.S. official told TIME.

It was also highly classified and closely guarded.

MORE

Under the aegis of the White House’s Counterterrorism Security Group, part of the National Security Council, the suspected nuke was kept secret so as not to panic the people of New York. Senior FBI officials were not in the loop. Former mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he was never told about the threat. In the end, the investigators found nothing, and concluded that DRAGONFIRE'S information was false. But few of them slept better.

Counterterrorism experts and government officials interviewed by TIME say that for all the relative calm since Sept. 11, America’s luck will probably run out again, sooner or later. "It's going to be worse, and a lot of people are going to die," warns one U.S. counterterrorism official. "I don't think there's a damn thing we're going to be able to do about it."

The DRUDGE REPORT has been briefed on other revelations coming from TIME's investigation:

• The Coast Guard is arming itself against a possible terrorist attempt to destroy a major U.S. coastal city by detonating a tanker loaded with liquified natural gas.
  
  
• The Administration has recalled old CIA hands with experience in Central Asia. Says an Administration official: "You ended up going back to retirees because the bench was so light on Afghanistan. We’re still trying to get up to speed."
  
  
• This week, Tom Ridge’s office plans to announce a new color-coded alert system to warn local law enforcement and the public about threats within U.S. borders, sources tell TIME.
  
  
• While there is a genuine debate inside the government about whether Osama bin Laden is still alive, there is far less argument about what will happen after Washington is able to confirm that he is dead. A U.S. official told TIME last week that it is widely presumed that al-Qaeda sleeper cells will take retaliatory action once the terrorist leader is killed or proven dead.
  
  
• "We're as vulnerable today as we were on 9/10 or 9/12," says presidential counselor Karen Hughes. "We just know more."
  
  Developing...
  
  -----------------------------------------------------------
  Filed By Matt Drudge
  Reports are moved when circumstances warrant
  http://www.drudgereport.com for updates
  (c)DRUDGE REPORT 2002
  Not for reproduction without permission of the author
  

[wcbtinman]

Gota love this govt. They don't release any information about this possible nuke in NY so as not to "panic" the population.

I guess it's better to die in place than to be "panicked".

[vannrox]

From Yahoo News...
Same day
Sunday, March 3, 2002

Sen. Kerry Chides GOP on War Comments, Bashes Bush

CONCORD, N.H. (Reuters) - U.S. Senator John Kerry, in New Hampshire to support Democratic candidates for Congress, on Saturday accused Republicans of hiding behind a "false cloak of patriotism" as they attacked Democrats for questioning White House plans to expand the war on terrorism.


The Massachusetts liberal was speaking at a party fund- raiser in New Hampshire, whose first-in-the-nation presidential primary will play a key role in choosing the Democrat who will challenge President Bush in 2004.


While Kerry has not declared himself a candidate for the White House, press aides hint that he is using trips to New Hampshire and other states to gauge support for a run.


"He wants to know that if he decides to do that, he can do it in a serious way knowing that resources are there," said David Wade, Kerry's director of communications.


The speech was Kerry's third appearance in the Granite state since the 2000 election and he used his remarks to launch a broadside against Republicans in the aftermath of Democratic questioning of plans to fight the war on terror on new fronts.


"Those who try to stifle the vibrancy of our democracy and shield policies from scrutiny behind a false cloak of patriotism miss the real value of what our troops defend," Kerry said, according to a prepared text of his remarks.


"We will ask questions and we will defend our democracy," he said.


In comments that sounded a lot like a presidential campaign stump speech, Kerry denounced Bush's policies on the economy, education, energy and health care.


Kerry, who is seeking election to a fourth term in the U.S. senate this November, vowed to defend a woman's right to have an abortion, protect workers' ability to unionize and fight Bush's policies that he said undermined civil rights.


"We hear a lot about values from our friends on the other side of the aisle. But values to them are too often just code words for excluding some Americans from fully sharing in rights and opportunities," Kerry said.


"We have to leave here tonight more determined than ever to resist their judicial assault on civil rights and to protect the right to choose -- and we must be determined to be a society that's inclusive and not exclusive," he said.

OVERREACTION

Earlier this week, Democratic leaders in Congress began openly questioning the White House's plans to expand the campaign against terrorism to countries besides Afghanistan. They criticized the Bush administration for failing to consult with Congress and accused it of having no clear view on how the war should be conducted.


Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle sparked the biggest storm of Republican criticism on Thursday after he said he thought the war had been successful so far but expressed concern that it was expanding "without at least a clear direction to date."


He said Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden must be found if the war was to be considered a success. Washington blames bin Laden and his al Qaeda network for the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.


After the comments, Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott accused Daschle of trying to divide the nation and House Republican whip Tom Delay called the remarks "disgusting".


But Kerry, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, said the Republican response was a partisan political attack.


"Their contrived, planned political response was one of the greatest overreactions of all time, because no one in our nation has done anything except express support for our troops and honor their service," Kerry said.

[vannrox]

[hchutch]

The Russians have a good phrase for nasty surprises like this:

Yob tvoyu mat!!

[Ciexyz]

Senator Kerry and the Dems are testing the water, to see what they can get away with. They make me puke.

[ExSoldier]

10 KT = 10,000 TONS of TNT or about half the size of the Hiroshima bomb. Still a pretty good sized "POP" in anybody's book, especially if you live at ground zero. But why New York...even if it has been shown that these bozos like to re-visit their previous carnage?

It would seem to me that wiping New York off the map, besides the obvious impact on Wall Street, etc would serve little. Of course a more juicy target is inside the Beltway. But, I would say that if the idea is to indeed strike terror into the hearts of Americans, then NY is not the best target. ANYWHERE else is therefore instantly more vulnerable. Of course, lacking a means of delivery other than a ship it limits the target list to major seaports.

Right after 9-11 I was told by an active duty SpecOps officer that my neck of the woods was "safe" because the bin laden network was using the South American drug cartels to get their money. Therefore, the logic went, the terrorists would be reluctant to hit south Florida and risk killing a relative of one of those cartel members. Because not only would that choke off the supply of money, but those guys would seriously HUNT you down and administer the proverbial "Columbian Necktie." NOW....there has been such a crimp put into those networks that it no longer matters if the terrorists P*** OFF the cartels. That leaves south Florida on the target list.

It is my personal opinion that south Florida is at more risk for a chemical attack, rather than a nuke. If I was choosing the target for a nuke, I'd pick San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge.

[GOPJ]

Great info bump

[Young Rhino]

Kerry married Sen. Heinz's widow a couple of years ago. He wants to run in '04 for the Dem. prez nomination using the catsup fortune...at least he would look better in a tank than Dukakis or Daschle.

[Stefan Stackhouse]

While there is a genuine debate inside the government about whether Osama bin Laden is still alive, there is far less argument about what will happen after Washington is able to confirm that he is dead. A U.S. official told TIME last week that it is widely presumed that al-Qaeda sleeper cells will take retaliatory action once the terrorist leader is killed or proven dead.

It doesn't take a special security clearance to figure out that this is likely to happen. The fact that we have sustained another big hit yet is probably the best evidence that Bin Laden is still alive.

[brat]

Yet I've no doubt it will happen. When I read the headline a scripture came immediately to mind: Rev. 18 "Babylon, Babylon the Great has fallen!"

If this prediction isn't NYC, I'll eat my hat!

"allthe fancy things you loved so much are gone,"they cry. "thedainty luxuries and splendor that you prized so much will never be yours again. They are gone forever.'

And so the merchants who have become wealthy by selling her these things shall stand at a distance, fearing danger to themselves, weeping and crying, "Alas, that great city, so beautiful-like a woman clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens, decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls! In one moment, all the wealth of the city is gone!"And all the shipowners and captains of the merchant ships and crews will stand a long way off, crying as they watch the smoke ascend and saying, "Where in all the world is there another city such as this?" And they will throw dust on their heads in their sorrow and say, "Alas, alas, for that great city! She made us all rich from her great wealth. And now in a single hour, all is gone...."

[GeronL]

Maybe they'll make it warmer in Hollywood??

Maybe NYC is a feint, a distraction?

[powderhorn]

The fact that we have sustained another big hit yet is probably the best evidence that Bin Laden is still alive.

....or that there never will be any evidence of his death. The idea of him running from hiding place to hiding place and dodging responsibility for his actions is a much better image to broadcast to the arab world than allowing him the status of a martyr.

[snippy_about_it]

Not to worry about double posting, if it was posted I missed it but thankfully ran across yours.

[DB]

I agree. LA or San Francisco is next.

[samtheman]

"We're as vulnerable today as we were on 9/10 or 9/12," says presidential counselor Karen Hughes. "We just know more."

[DB]

Evacuate a city every other week eh...

The threat of a nuclear detonation would be more effective than actually doing it then. What part of New York do you evacuate??? The whole state? If you knew there was a hidden nuke in a particular area of New York then yes, evacuate. Otherwise, it is useless information to the New York population.

If the terrorists know an area is evacuated, do you think they would use their only nuke anyway? No, they would use it somewhere else…

How many times are you going to evacuate before everyone ignores it?

[sakic]

I think it's funny that you think Osama's guys fear the drug cartel. Insane criminals fear no one.

[sakic]

Agree. A nuke going off in Kansas City or Peoria or some "heartland city" is far more terrorizing.

I gues it depends on where you live. Here in New York I would find it more terrorizing for a nuke to go off here.

[Prodigal Daughter]

They don't fear the drug cartel. They live off the drug cartel. Osama's probably staying in one of Castro's mansions in Havana right now, or else he's in the mountains of Venezuela or Colombia. I hope he decides to hide out around Medellin. They're having a Sephardic Jewish awakening in Antioquia, might not make the people around there too friendly to Jew haters.