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.

[ewing]

These guys are obsessed with the July 4 weekend..

[Principled]

Find them.

Kill them.

Restore our liberties.

[Marcus_Vipsanius_Agrippa]

Of course. It celebrates the birth of an enormously successful country.


Also, it celebrates a document whose language is enormously threatening to the small-minded fools who make up what's left of 'al-quaeda.'

[freeperfromnj]

http://www.msnbc.com/news/929752.asp?cp1=1

[commandante_zero]

All your bar-b-que is belong to us. Please to no pork, however.

[ewing]

I was going to say bury them in pigskin, but you got the general idea first..

[theDentist]

You know, just having 1 or 2 suspected terrorists mention an attack and a holiday, even if there is no such "plan", and the gov't and people start altering plans, increasing security, costs increase, and fewer people attend celebrations out of fear (misplaced or not). And with just a few words, they win another small victory.

I want to read the FBI have grabbed these guys up, transferred them to guantanamo, and are vigorously interrogating these b@st@rds. I know cometimes it's best to leave them in place, but I'm sick of reading that we know where some are and are leaving them in play. {/vent}

[dd5339]

Aw freaking great! I'm flying into Dallas the evening of the 4th!

I hope there are no idiots on my flight, I might be apt to "over-react" a little bit.

Semper Fi

[xsmommy]

get some batteries...

[Principled]

Wasn't it Pershing or someone who stopped the islamikazes cold by killing a few and burying them in pig blood while a few captured islamikazes watched - to be released later to spread the word?

[ewing]

Better add some extra bacon to the Fourth of July shopping list..

[ewing]

Russian troops have started buying the Islamokazis in pigskin ..

[Constitution Day]

2/20/2002: Terrorist's Body Wrapped In Pigskin

[texasbluebell]

Aw freaking great! I'm flying into Dallas the evening of the 4th! I hope there are no idiots on my flight, I might be apt to "over-react" a little bit.

Be sure to take a large amount of sliced ham with you to use as a weapon if need be. Might just stop them in their tracks.

[rrrod]

yep!!!! attaboy

[archy]

Terrorists Possibly Targeting Texas...

Nothing new about that.

We have Nicaragua, soon we will have El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Mexico. One day, tomorrow or five years or fifteen years from now, we're going to take 5 to 10 million Mexicans and they are going into Dallas, into El Paso, into Houston, into New Mexico, into San Diego, and each one will have embedded in his mind the idea of killing ten Americans."

--Thomas Borge, Nicaragua Interior Minister as quoted in the Washington Times, March 27, 1985

-archy-/-

[TexasCowboy]

Thanks for the heads up, Linda!
There are several areas around Houston which would make logical terrorist attack sites.
If I were living in the Pasadena or Texas City areas, I'd make sure I had plenty of ammo.

[whereasandsoforth]

Don't worry, Semp. Dallas is Mecca-west. The TV show is still top-rated in a lot of Muslim countries.

[areafiftyone]

I am not saying this is not credible information but Ummmm - I am still waiting for the Memorial day attack, the Veterans day attack, the Christmas attack, The Thanksgiving attack, the Labor day attack! I am getting tired of these people threatening every holiday we have so we can squirm on that day.