[Marine Inspector]

The U.S. government has alerted airlines and law enforcement agencies that new intelligence indicates that Islamic terrorists have smuggled shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles into the United States.

In this paragraph it clearly states that the missiles are inside the United States.

The officials said the warning is based on intelligence and not a specific threat that the missiles are in the United States.

And in this paragraph, the missiles may not be in the United States.

So were are the missiles?

[Texasforever]

So were are the missiles?

They must have slipped past you.

[LarryLied]

Maybe they smuggled them in and then smuggled them back out.

[swarthyguy]

CYA; so they can say we warned you. Might account for the unusual landing flight path patterns that seem to have cropped up again around the airport.

[Grampa Dave]

This sounds more like a NY Slimes or DC Compost or an AFP story than one written by Bill Gertz for the Washington Times. In less than six paragraphs we have been told the missiles are here in the states and then not here in the states.

Your observations makes this story look a little shaky!

[UCANSEE2]

Well, they did have some in the U.S.

But, they mostly got used up on TWA800, and some other targets.

[twigs]

The officials said the warning is based on intelligence and not a specific threat that the missiles are in the United States.

I interpret this differently than you did. I don't see a contradiction at all. That the missiles are in the US completes the information about the warning. Another way of saying this is: The officials said the warning that the missiles are in the United States is based on intelligence and not (on) a specific threat.

[maestro]

UR# 2)

'And in this paragraph, the missiles may not be in the United States.'
'So were are the missiles?'

??....Still in "High-Tech" storage in Canada and Cuba???

/sarcasm?

[in the Arena]

"We don't have information that al Qaeda is planning to use these against commercial aircraft in the United States," an FBI official said. "However, we are passing the information along for people to remain alert to the potential use."

I suppose they could have brought the missles into the country for sporting purposes...

Why the hell else would you smuggle a missle into the country ? It's to shoot down an aircraft.

[satan]

and, "we don't know if they'll be used against aircraft." If not aircraft, what?