Posted on 05/20/2002 7:26:55 PM PDT by TomGuy
Other Groups, with Al Qaeda, Said to Threaten U.S.
Mon May 20,10:44 AM ET
By Niala Boodhoo
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Islamic groups like Hizbollah and Egypt's Islamic Jihad could be planning to attack the United States and may be more able to do so than the al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden (news - web sites), the Senate Intelligence Committee chairman said on Monday.
"Our enemy is not al Qaeda alone," Sen. Bob Graham said on NBC's "Today" show, referring to the movement believed behind the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States that killed more than 3,000 people.
"There are several international terrorist groups which have abilities, in some cases greater abilities than al Qaeda and a similar desire to attack the United States."
"Groups like Hizbollah, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad" were two organizations with the capability and desire to attack the United States, said the Florida Democrat.
Neither group has been linked directly to activities on U.S. soil, and such an attack would represent a major change in their tactics.
Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) on Sunday said a new attack on the United States was "almost certain" as U.S. intelligence officials picked up signals that a fresh al Qaeda strike could be in the works.
The FBI (news - web sites) also warned of a possible plot by al Qaeda network to detonate bombs in U.S. apartment buildings.
Graham said in a separate CNN interview that he was "almost certain" another attack would take place within three to five years.
He said he was especially concerned about security at the nation's seaports and mentioned a recent instance of 25 "extremists" who had entered the United States.
"(They) jumped on ships outside the United States, hid in the container cargoes until they got to the United States and then disembarked and they've been lost in the American population," he said.
Defense Department spokeswoman Victoria Clarke stressed that despite major successes against al Qaeda in Afghanistan (news - web sites), where a U.S.-led military campaign has destroyed the group's main camps, it and other groups remained a threat.
"We have always said this is about more than one person, one network and certainly is about more than Afghanistan," Clarke told a news briefing.
Lebanon's Hizbollah, largely seen as a resistance group to Israeli occupation, has traditionally carried out suicide and other attacks against targets in Israel and Lebanon. The Shi'ite Muslim group is backed by Iran.
Egypt's al-Jihad, which has links with al-Qaeda, is the country's second-largest Islamic militant group. The United States has blamed the group for bombing the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad in 1995 and planning to attack the U.S. embassy in Albania in 1998.
A 1999 report for the CIA (news - web sites) that envisioned bin Laden's network might attack the United States by crash-landing an aircraft into the Pentagon (news - web sites), the CIA or the White House also named Lebanon's Hizbollah as a possible group that could carry out an attack on the United States.
But whatever we do, let's NOT arm our airline pilots.
end sarcasm.
I saw on Fox News tonight that they are thinking about installing the equivalent of "911" phones on planes so people can call if they are hijacked. And they are still denying pilots and passengers their Right to bear arms. Unbelievable.
At best, this shows just how stupid and out of touch with reality our "leaders" are. At worst, it shows something much more sinister at work.
Sadly, I believe the latter scenario may be the correct one.
Well, the President has promised world terrorist #1 that the US will rebuild what terror capacity he has lost, and give them more CIA training.
Maybe it's a package deal for not having suicide bombings on American soil. After the last month or so of shameful kowtowing to Arafat and the Saudis, I'm about ready to believe anything.
Unfortuantely, there's not a lot that can be done for an airliner in danger from an internal threat. The captain and crew are almost entirely on their own.
D
on the other hand we need to make islam the only exaption of a religion whom we should inform our public about
here is a story from the holy quoran you be the judge
Abu Afak, a man of great age (reputedly 120 years) was killed because he lampooned Mohammad. The deed was done by Salem b. 'Omayr at the behest of the Prophet, who had asked, "Who will deal with this rascal for me?" The killing of such an old man moved a poetess, Asma b. Marwan, to compose disrespectful verses about the Prophet, then Umayr is a perfect example is a Muslim man, a friend of Muhammad's, acting upon Muhammad's request and going into a woman's home under the cover of night. He comes upon the women, sleeping in her bed with her child, and murders her by plunging a sword through her body.
Is it possible that domestic enemies (such as left-wingers) were working with our foreign enemies (i.e. Al Qaeda, etc...) by raising the issues of 'Profiling', and making such a big stink in order to make it easier for the foreign enemies to attack? Could the Left actually be a real, live, functioning Fifth Column? Could the whole 'Profiling' flap have been generated specifically for this purpose, rather than it's stated goal of 'equality', etc...????? Makes me wonder...
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