U.S. fears New Year's Eve terror try

NY Daily News ^ | Dec. 27, 2003 | JAMES GORDON MEEK

[FairOpinion]

WASHINGTON - Officials are girding for a possible terrorist act on New Year's Eve, replaying fears of Al Qaeda's unsuccessful millennium plot to blow up Los Angeles Airport. "We're still concerned," a senior U.S. law enforcement official said yesterday. The official cautioned that the passing of Christmas without an attack had not diminished heightened fears of terrorism on U.S. soil.

But ringing in the new year under a terror threat against large public gatherings is only one of the scenarios that have counter.terrorism agents worried.

"There's a lot of little pieces of information that we've been able to obtain, and we're in the process of analyzing that intelligence and ascertaining what it may mean," a senior law enforcement official told the Daily News.

"Some of it was associated with New Year's Day," the source added.

Other U.S. intelligence officials said that the volume of terrorist chatter overheard or intercepted yesterday had changed little since Christmas Eve.

One source said a few days ago that the volume of excited talk among extremists had declined somewhat from its peak last weekend, when the fourth Code Orange alert this year was announced by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Yesterday, Air France resumed service to Los Angeles after six flights set to depart Christmas Eve or Christmas Day were canceled because of U.S. suspicions that terrorists could attempt an attack on a U.S. city.

The first Air France flight to L.A. was delayed for nearly three hours because of extra security checks, officials said.

Meanwhile, the latest issue of Al Qaeda's Internet magazine, The Voice of Jihad, hit the Web Thursday and included praise for a Dec. 19 audiotape by Ayman Al-Zawahiri, the terror network's second in command under Osama Bin Laden.

The site claimed "America is falling [in] just a matter of time."

The message in the magazine - which came a day after Al Qaeda thug Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj E-mailed threats against the U.S. to a Saudi weekly - is worrisome because the group's attacks often follow high-profile communications, said Rita Katz, author of "Terrorist Hunter," who obtained the screed.

"It definitely indicates the latest Zawahiri tape was very important to Al Qaeda members," Katz said. "It appears they were actually waiting for messages like this."

Originally published on December 27, 2003

[FairOpinion]

That's why we are still on Orange Alert.

[Ciexyz]

Letter bombs in Italy, suicide bombers try to assassinate the President of Pakistan....how do we keep the maniacs down?

[CatOwner]

Christmas Eve, Christmas, New Years Eve, New Years, MLK Day, Valentines's Day, President's Day, Easter, 1st Day of Spring, April Fool's Day, Mother's Day, Memorial Day, Father's Day, 1st Day of Summer, July 4th, Labor Day, 9/11, 1st Day of Fall, Columbus Day, Halloween, Veteran's Day, Thanksgiving Day, 1st Day of Winter, yada, yada, yada ...

[cpst12]

First it was fear of a 9/11 repeat in Sept, then the fear of a Thanksgiving attack, of course we moved right on to the fear of the Xmas attack...closely followed by the fear of the New Years attack...whats next? A fear of a Washingtons birthday attack?

If there is going to be another attack, in a likelihood its going to happen on a completely mundane, ordinary day just like 9/11 used to be. The govt not doing us any favours with all these stupid warnings.

[leadhead]

....how do we keep the maniacs down?

Flit guns like other annoying pests.

[FairOpinion]

The purpose of public warnings are as much to the terrorists, as the general public: letting them know that we are even more vigilant, which by itself has a certain measure of deterrence.

And there have been attacks tried, we just foiled them.

[BulletBobCo]

Don't forget Arbor Day

[HardStarboard]

>>>"Some of it was associated with New Year's Day," the source added. <<<

Bowl Games!

[CatOwner]

Might as well also add Groundhog's Day, Flag Day, St. Patrick's Day, Stanley Cup Finals, the World Series, NBA Championship, March Madness, and Super Bowl Sunday to the list.

[FairOpinion]

"Meanwhile, network analysts continue to find elusive communications suggesting attacks on America and within America. The image above is being circulated on a number of terrorist forums (click on image to enlarge). Network Analyst Sean Osborne notes that there are obvious references within this image showing (from top to bottom) Saudi Arabia with the Black Flag of Jihad flying from its center, Iraq with a strange slash/marking in the western desert near the Syrian border, and most disturbing, what appears to be an image in the lower right corner perhaps depicting a stadium with fire or flames coming from its center.

Combined with all intelligence being gathered by network analysts as of this writing, it is evident that al Qaeda intends to execute terror operations within the United States, and also has operatives already in place to assist them (a Jihad "Fifth Column" as previously reported). Continued vigilance is required by everyone in the United States."

From:
Terrorist Internet Communications Continue At Peak Levels

I would add -- look at the top left corner, in the circle, it looks like maybe the US flag being replaced by the Jihadi flag???

[BulletBobCo]

Not to forget everyone's birthday.

[LisaMalia]

Just be afraid 24/7, and avoid the rush like I do! :)

[PoorMuttly]

"Fears"..?...nah...we're just braced for WAR.

The word "Terrorist" is wishful thinking on the part of some two-bit thugs.

May have worked where they live...but it does not hold any weight here.

[what's up]

New Year's Eve is likely a day the terrorists will target. I remember when Clinton was in office, they came real close to succeeding on New Year's Eve (I think it was Times Square?) They were caught coming across the border, I think in Washington State, but I imagine they will pick up the pieces of that plan and try again.

[baltodog]

Calgon.....take me away!

[Born in a Rage]

They targeted LAX last year on New Years Eve but it was foiled.

[BJungNan]

I still don't believe the threat is real. Otherwise they would be doing more to seal the borders and stop the thousands of people that cross into the U.S. illegally everyday.

[Malsua]

I imagine the France flights that were halted, the Venezualian Pilots that were denied visas and the recent "visitors" denied entrance were all part of a larger plot to harm us.

I suspect there are those that got through. I suspect we might see some things here and there. I can't imagine a "death strike" that AQ has intimated at.

In any event, there's one thing to consider. AQ is a one trick pony. They do a coordinated event and it takes them 2 years to do another one. Unless of course there's a nuke involved. You don't nuke a country with several thousands nukes. I can envision appropriate targets(NW pakistan, parts of sympathetic Yemen, etc)

-Mal

[FairOpinion]

If you haven't seen it, you might want to read this about AQ's ambitions:


Analysis: Al-Qaida's second breath (Al Qaeda, Pakistan, Saudi) -- IMPORTANT INFO)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1047422/posts

[dawn53]

Looks like they've been reading Clancy again.