New Jersey is top terror target, U.S. lawman says
Published in the Home News Tribune 5/28/04
By KEN SERRANO
STAFF WRITER
The FBI has identified the stretch between Port Newark and Newark Liberty International Airport as the most dangerous two miles in the United States when it comes to terrorism, New Jersey's chief federal law-enforcement official said yesterday.
U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie sounded that urgent note at a gathering of law-enforcement officers and others in Monroe.
"If a terrorist were to set off a radiological, nuclear or biological device in those two miles, all rail traffic between the northern part of the United States and the southern part of the United States would stop," Christie said at the annual awards ceremony of the 200 Club of Middlesex County. "The second-largest seaport in America would cease to operate. The third-busiest airport in America would cease to operate. The chemical refineries in that area would be subject to great danger. Not to mention the hundreds of thousands if not millions of people who would be downwind if that were to occur.
"We live in the crosshairs," Christie said. "All of you have to be soldiers in the war on terrorism."
He called the coming months "a summer of great challenge for law enforcement."
Christie echoed comments made this week by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft about the prospects of an attack this summer during which several large-scale events are scheduled, such as the Republican convention in New York City.
The Associated Press reported yesterday, however, that a senior Bush administration official said there is no new information about threats against the United States. That same unnamed official questioned whether Ashcroft's comments were politically motivated, the AP reported.
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NOTE: That last paragraph is exactly what I was talking about last night with the media cr@p. Now Kerry is on Fox talking about the dministration failing with foreign policy blah blah blah. Phooey..(taking a moment to cover ears)
http://www.thnt.com/thnt/story/0,21282,972090,00.html
May 27, 2004 — Police want to know why neighborhood kids have been playing with an anti-tank grenade launcher in the 25-hundred block of North 18th Street in North Philadelphia.
It is the modified grenade launcher, a 1.8 millimeter anti-tank weapon found on a North Philadelphia Street late last night by a child. It's in police hands now but it was apparently a neighborhood play toy and curiosity for several days before the parent of a 12-year-old found it and brought it home.
The so-called bazooka was the talk of the 2500 block of North 18th Street today, but no one is sure where the rocket launcher came from.
A portion of the scope was found this afternoon. One parent says she first discovered the weapon around the corner on Cumberland Avenue several days ago.
Police say this anti-tank weapon had been rendered inoperable. It was probably purchased at a gun show to be kept as a collectible but they are not amused by its presence on a public street in a densely populated neighborhood.
To counter that AP report in my pevious post, here is one reason why the administration is concerned about this summer which is NOT politically motivated.
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The concern among Administration higher-ups about a major attack seems all too real. For weeks, Washington officials have been discussing among themselves the increased level of "chatter" being intercepted by the National Security Agency [NSA]. From a military base outside of Washington and from listening posts all over the world, the NSA uses supercomputers to monitor overseas phone and Internet traffic. The last time the NSA raised the chatter alarm was during the summer of 2001.
The term chatter refers to intercepted conversations, many in Arabic, that seem to be in code, such as "the package is almost ready for delivery," but which refer to planning for an attack, according to intelligence officials. "This disturbing intelligence indicates [that] al Qaeda's specific intention is to hit the U.S. hard," said Ashcroft
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5077762/
Thanks for posting that article. It certainly is true. In that two mile stretch you have Newark Airport running parallel with the Jersey Turnpike and the Elizabeth Shipping ports and the northeast corridor rails.
Their ignorance is showing. How silly to designate a two mile stretch like that. They had better wake up and do their homework, and get the big picture before it is too late. Mentality like that was probably a contributing factor in why the WTC attacks were not averted.
Well, if the terrorists didn't know that before, they do now!