Terrorists Possibly Targeting Texas, Chat Cites Attack in July; Energy Facilities on Alert

Houston Chronicle ^ | June 24, 2003 6:19 AM | Mike Hedges

[ewing]

United States Intelligence Agencies early this month eavesdropped on two suspected Al Qaeda operatives discussing potential terrorism in Texas timed for the Fourth of July Weekend raising the spectre of an attack on Energy Facilities in the Houston area, officals said Monday.

That information which did not specify a target, an exact time or type of terrorist attack, was passed along to state officials.

With Texas as the target, officials are especially concerned about oil, gas facilites and pipelines because Al Qaeda terrorists in the past have talked about attacking the energy sector as a way of damaging Americas economy, officials said.

A Federal official confirmed an account first published in Newsweek Magazine that a possible Al Qaeda operative known as 'Sakr' told another person during an Internet Chat Room conversation that an attack had been planned for a long time, and that terrorists inside the United States were waiting for approval from a man dubbed 'The Sheik' before striking in early July.

The information was much more intriguing to intelligence analyists than much of the avalanche of vaguely suspicious electronic intercepts, because Sakr had sent a message predicting 'good news' coming from Morocco shortly before a successful terrorist strike in that country.

[FairOpinion]

Those previous things tie in with the current concerns of attacks on power plants, energy facilities.

[maestro]

UR# 99...........Deep In The Heart of 'TeQxas'

:-(

[PatrioticAmerican]

Got one right by the house. A favorite, "I ain't cookin'" kinda place!

[Imal]

Mjrl3 l@m3, d00d. ;^)

[maestro]

Thanks for being 'there'......!!

:-)

[Dog Gone]

The only reason I'm paying any attention to this at all is because the terrorists are already trying this out in Iraq now.

[Johnny Crab]

Depends on the wind and the target in that area.

All your Isosat(potassium iodide) are belong to us!

[philman_36]

(Have *you* taunted a liberal today?)
Not today...

[adam_az]

I am so jealous!

I ate at the one on 2222 in Austin about 20 times over a month...

[PatrioticAmerican]

1-800-AIR-RIBS!

[Imal]

Hehehe. ;^)

[JustPiper]

Whats up with the code and bad link? -g-

[Imal]

You have no chance to survive make your time.

[Imal]

A little memetic hackage for your enjoyment. The link is an automatic one, but that only makes it that much more 733t. :^)

[TexasCowboy]

"The only reason I'm paying any attention to this at all is because the terrorists are already trying this out in Iraq now."

The sabotaging of the oil facilities and the carrier lines in Iraq achieves the same result for the terrorists as the destruction of refineries and storage facilities in the US.
The price of energy stays high and our economy stays in a slump.
When we get all the wells in Iraq into production, much to the chagrin of the French, Germans and Russians, the price of oil will begin to decline and our economy will turn around.
This is the phantom horse the GOP and George Bush intend to ride to victory in the 2004 elections.
The terrorists would much rather have a weakened America and a Democratic President in 2004.

[potlatch]

I grew up in Texas City, surrounded by Chemical Plants!!

[potlatch]

Do you mean the 1947 Texas City blast by Monsanto Chemical Company?

[TexasCowboy]

LOL!
At this point in your life, can you smell?

[potlatch]

Ha!! I never knew how bad it was till we left there, then went back to visit!!