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.

[TexasCowboy]

My friend, that is the best damn bar-b-que on God's green earth!

[lilsparky]

Color scheme for 4th of July Bar-b-ques? Red, white, blue....and probably orange....again.

[adam_az]

Yep - I spent a month in Austin a couple years ago on a business trip, and ate there 4/7 days of the week for either lunch or dinner. ("The Cadillac" was custom made for the Atkins diet!) Their (beef or pork!) ribs and brisket are the best on the planet, no holds barred.

Rudy's BBQ was pretty good, too, but County Line has 'em beat overall.

Do they still deliver "Air Ribs?"

I may have to order that one day. :)

[showme_the_Glory]

BBQ Chicken and Pork at Ardmore, OK. Kill 2 birds with one cook-out. (Texas Dems will probably be out of state for the 4th)

[john316]

Never

[ewing]

Holiday Inn perhaps?

[TexasCowboy]

"Do they still deliver "Air Ribs?"'

As far as I know they still do.
That's my favorite - a full rack of ribs!
And I do.............."get it ALL over me"!

[TexasCowboy]

I jist treat 'em like coyoties, Squantos - cut their ears off and let the buzzards have the rest.

[JustPiper]

HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com |
June 24, 2003, 6:19AM


Terrorists possibly targeting Texas
Internet chat cites attack in July; energy facilities on alert

By MICHAEL HEDGES


WASHINGTON -- U.S. intelligence agencies early this month eavesdropped on two suspected al-Qaida operatives discussing potential terrorism in Texas timed for the July Fourth weekend, raising the specter of an attack on energy facilities in the Houston area, officials here said Monday.

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

"We get these reports on a regular basis," said an official with the Department of Homeland Security. "We are currently in the process of assessing the credibility of the report concerning Texas. We have informed the authorities in Texas of the information we received and told them we were trying to determine its credibility."

With Texas as the target, officials are especially concerned about oil or gas facilities and pipelines because al-Qaida terrorists in the past have talked about attacking the energy sector as a way of damaging America's economy, officials said.

A federal official confirmed an account first published in Newsweek magazine that a possible al-Qaida 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 only waiting for approval from a man dubbed "the Sheik" before striking in early July.

The information was more intriguing to intelligence analysts 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.

"We are aware of this threat, but beyond that we can't comment," said Tela Mange, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Public Safety. "We are going to be checking out different things to see what we can find, but that is all that I can say."

The possibility that al-Qaida terrorists were inside the United States plotting attacks was highlighted last week with the announcement of the arrest of Iyman Faris, an Ohio truck driver who secretly pleaded guilty May 1 to plotting to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge. Faris began cooperating with the FBI after his guilty plea and had been helping authorities gather information on other suspected domestic terrorists.

Soon after the Sept. 11 attacks, the oil refineries and port facilities of East Texas were recognized as vulnerable targets that could be attractive to terrorists. In recent weeks the Homeland Security Department announced about $30 million in grants to upgrade security at port facilities where oil is shipped in Houston and Beaumont.

The intercept from the suspected al-Qaida operative was just the latest in a series of indications that terrorists could strike at Texas oil and port facilities.

In October, the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center sent out two detailed warnings to private oil companies in the Houston area that "recent statements, apparently by al-Qaida leaders" indicated that terrorists were targeting the U.S. economic backbone, including oil and gas industry facilities.

Those warnings followed an al-Qaida attack on an oil tanker in Yemen last fall.

As part of the alert in October, the FBI suggested that private companies increase their security and make security more visible. "Our adversary is trying to portray American influence as based on economic might and therefore seeks to strike an economic target prominent enough that it would have immediate resonance around the world," the FBI alert said.

[Nexus]

For those that are downplaying this threat, please re-read the article. Sakr predicted the Morocco event. He has credibility.

Breaking on Drudge: Feds see ORANGE fourth of July

[Squantos]

I'm pretty much of the opinion that the Al Quedians are getting more mileage out of disinformational terrorism now. Remember the old Happy Days show where the Fonz used to be feared and held in awe and respect. The little Opie guy asked how he garnered such a status in life. His answer was ya have to have hit someone once,.....only once.

I feel the terrorist are going to play the goobermint, nooooooze presstitutes and sheeple in such a manner for as long as possible till they get complacent with the current crop of color coded alerts and intelligence sourced warnings and then and only then will they whack a US asset again.

Of course this doesn't preclude the odd wannabe terrorist from acting alone so thats where a armed and alert citizen with a cell phone comes into play IMHO. If we see such, report it , maintain observation and distance and use force only to save human lives is my plan. Now with a M1A in the truck and my daily carried 1911A1 I can do all the above in a safe manner fairly well and that is my way of dealing with the day to day threats be they Coyotes and Criminals here in Texas.

Stay Safe !!

[archy]

If the jihadists persist, explode crates of pork rinds over Mecca.

Nah. There's another byproduct of pig farming that muslums find equally offensive, and most of those who live around swine feedlots aren't real fond of it either. Here's a chance to kill two birds with one stone; you'll just need some REALLY big cargo planes reconfigured as cropdusters. There are dozens of suitable candidates at the airline desert airport boneyards in Arizona and New Mexico.

-archy-/-

[TexasCowboy]

LOL!
Well, old Fonz didn't go to the same school I did.
In my school you'd better beat his ears down around his shoulders or you'd have to do it again the next day.
That's been my concern during this whole retaliation toward the terrorists.
I don't know whether or not we are tough enough as a society to do what's necessary to keep it from happening again.

[archy]

waiting for approval from a man dubbed 'The Sheik' before striking in early July.

Oops. Wrong sheik.

Hey! You don't suppose that's a typo, do you?

[Squantos]

As a society IMHO we "recover" from attacks very well.......when others disregard our military might. A smart enemy knows better thus finances such stoopid terrorist trash to do their bidding for them. Now for a "fast food society" that demands results yesterday for a event that occured today I can not answer. I'm of the opinion that angry poodles are still poodles IMO. My bet is on the rottweillers of our nation.

Stay Safe !

[texasbluebell]

Pork rinds would do it! Maybe you could wrap them in raw bacon while you're at it. The perps would recoil in terror then...

[FairOpinion]

Thanks for the ping.

The intelligence agencies are also taking the AQ chat seriously -- remember, we had some discussions about things people read in those chatrooms.

"a possible al-Qaida 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 only waiting for approval from a man dubbed "the Sheik" before striking in early July."

AQ refers to Bin Laden as the Sheik, I am surprised the article didn't point this out, this is common knowledge.

Also, AQ does mention their attacks in advance, as this article mentioned as well.

Recently someone posted info from some AQ chatroom about AQ planning attacks between now and July 4th. Then there was that "official" AQ warning about the international media and cutting off the wings of the American eagle, etc.

So, I guess the next month or so will be important. AQ actually planned the Sept. 11th attack for July 2001, but then they postponed it, for some reason.
Stay alert.

[JustPiper]

You brought up all essential points, as i knew you would!
Can you refresh my memory and share with everyone here what the chatter led us to believe what would be attacked?

[JustPiper]

Ping!

[JustPiper]

Yours
First Clue
Arabic language website with terror threats"
ProBush CIA REPORT WARNS AL QAEDA SET TO USE WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Saudi royals targeted for revenge hits"