Book: Al Qaeda Called Off NYC Subway Plot

FoxNews.com ^ | 18 June 2006 | AP

[MikefromOhio]

that's what I vaguely remember...

I was on mids at the time. I don't remember things clearly or so my wife says :)

[muawiyah]

We probably ought to do it anyway ~ just in case.

[MikefromOhio]

where would you hit?

Hell we have service members just about everywhere.

I doubt we'd want to take the chance at this point in time.

[muawiyah]

We don't have anyone in Damascus or Mecca.

[MikefromOhio]

we're not nuking mecca you nut.

Beyond that, nuking mecca would ruin any chance we have at EVER stablizing Iraq, where we have something like 130K+ soldiers.

[muawiyah]

In the past I've advocated not nuking Mecca as well. In this instance, these people seem to have an absolute fetish about trashing New York (more than it ordinarily is by its own residents).

However, you stated we have people everywhere. To the degree our having personnel on the ground does serve as a shield for the locals against our use of nukes, but intriguingly Middle Easterners have elected to keep their two most culturally significant cities completely unguarded.

This leaves us few real targets.

No doubt we would need to withdraw our personnel from the area before retaliating for a WMD attack. On the other hand, they've already mounted a WMD attack against us and all our government has done is seek to cast the blame elsewhere.

This means they are probably safe from any meaningful US retaliation ~ even if they wiped out the NYC subway system and all the riders someday.

[MikefromOhio]

we aren't going to nuke a city like Mecca UNLESS the attack came from there.

I know someone will say "well they're islamic so it came from there" but no one will see it that way so it's unrealistic to say so.

Damascus isn't stupid enough to go through with anything like that unless they think they can win.

But they probably ALSO know that anything that gets traced back to them means instant regime change. They aren't THAT stupid, only Saddam was.

We won't go strategic nuke unless someone big (Iran) hits us. If it's AQ, we will use "smaller" nukes.

[muawiyah]

The fact that we are even discussing nukes should dissuade them unless they are as stupid as they make themselves out to be.

[John Locke]

Sorry, but this sounds really bogus. The Al-Qaeda related group is called Jaysh al-Ta'ifa al-Mansura, and has previously made extravagent claims of using chemical weapons against the Coalition forces in Iraq - claims the US military has repeatedly denied as pure self aggrandizement.

Also, there is no such word as "mubtakkar". What might have been intended is a reference to al-Mubtakar al-Farid, which is not a weapon at all, but an anonymous book on how to make chemical weapons. It's supposed to be available online but I haven't found it.

Finally, the claim for some kind of breakthrough in weapons technology is absurd. HCN is liquid below 26C, all you need to carry the stuff around is a thermos flask. Just open, leave under subway seat, and bravely run away.

[MikefromOhio]

we know the terrorists love to embellish their accomplishments...

Maybe they figured out a way to disperse the chemical from a container as you describe.

let's also remember that something we take for granted here (like a humidifier) isn't exactly common over there.

[MikefromOhio]

well the peons aren't on that level, but OBL and Zawahiri are at least street smart in a twisted sort of way.

[The Great RJ]

What the terrorists don't realize is that there is a trigger point in US public opinion. 9-11 came very close to this point and had say the White House or Capital been bombed that day probably the line would have been crossed. Once the US public is generally PO'd by some stunt like this, there will be terrible retribution. Adm. Yamamoto who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor knew this well and hoped with a single knock out blow to force the US into a capitulation in the Pacific, but knew if this failed there would be a terrible price to pay.

Another attack on US soil particularly if it were directed at a school or hospital would cause the US public to demand an annihilation of all of the terrorist elements. Arabs in the US would be rounded up like the Japanese in WW-II and I would expect to see mosques closed or burned. US forces would be rooting out not only terrorists but their sympathizers. Iran and Pakistan would be flattened, the Saudi royal family ousted and a blind eye given toward Israel to do what they need to do with the Palestinians. It wouldn't be pretty, but neither was cleaning out the Nazi's and Japanese.

[MikefromOhio]

I kinda doubt we'd go after the Saudi royal family now that THEY'VE been attacked by AQ (the dog they fed), but I wouldn't want to be in Syria either.

Or, for that matter, any of the -stans south of Russia.

[Loyal Buckeye]

I seem to remember the liberals making fun of the terrorism danger level and how it was moved quite a bit during this time.

For Immediate Release March 17, 2003

National Threat Level Raised

Statement by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge

Fact Sheet

The Department of Homeland Security in consultation with the Homeland Security Council, has made the decision to raise the national threat level from an Elevated to High risk of terrorist attack or Level Orange. The Intelligence Community believes that terrorists will attempt multiple attacks against U.S.and Coalition targets worldwide in the event of a U.S led military campaign against Saddam Hussein.

A large volume of reporting across a range of sources, some of which are highly reliable, indicates that Al-Qaida probably would attempt to launch terrorist attacks against U.S.interests claiming they were defending Muslims or the Iraqi people rather than Saddam Husseins regime.

While the March 1 arrest of senior Al Qaida operative, Khalid Shaykh Muhammad (KSM) has put the Al-Qaida senior leadership on the defensive and will be debilitating in the long term -- the Intelligence Community believes that KSMs capture will not necessarily affect operations that are ready or nearly ready for execution. There are many recent indications that Al-Qaidas planning includes the use of chemical, biological, and/or radiological materials.

Intelligence reporting also indicates that while Al-Qaida and those sympathetic to their cause are a principal threat, Iraqi state agents, Iraqi surrogate groups, other regional extremist organizations, and ad hoc groups or disgruntled individuals not connected to existing organizations or state agencies, may use this time period to conduct terrorist attacks against the U.S., or our interests abroad.

In recent months, there have been reports of suspicious activity in and around military facilities, ports, waterways, general infrastructure (bridges, dams, power generating facilities), and targets that are considered symbolic to U.S.power and influence. The discovery of ricin production in London raises the concern of the Intelligence Community that extremists are planning to follow through on longstanding threats of poison plots against U.S, British and Israeli interests and possibly other targets in Europe.

The Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction with numerous departments of the federal government has begun implementing increased protective measures under a comprehensive national plan to protect the Homeland: Operation Liberty Shield.

Operation Liberty Shield will increase security at our borders, strengthen transportation sector protections, enhance security at our critical infrastructure, increase public health preparedness and make sure all federal response assets can be deployed quickly.

Tonight, I have spoken to the nations Governors and asked them to deploy the National Guard or additional police forces to improve security at critical locations throughout their states. Other state, local and private sector leaders are also being contacted to engage their support to increase the nations security.

These heightened security measures will help deter terrorism and increase protection of America and Americans. In the meantime, as on the other occasions when the national threat level has been increased, we encourage members of the public to continue their daily work, family and leisure activities with a heightened awareness.

[TheCrusader]

"Imagine this, we have a keyboard warrior calling the President a wuss...."

I used to defend Bush in here, but the more I learn about and watch this man's actions the less respect I have for him. I don't know about his personal life, but politically he's another RINO wuss, which is a word I believe befits his political status as a moderate who prides himself on being a "uniter". What does being a political "uniter" really mean if not the compromising of values and the appeasing of political enemies and echoing Rove's advice and council like a trained parrot? So I have no problem whatsover of calling this man a phoney and a political wuss.

---

President Bush, the most powerful man on earth, spoke these empty, hypocritical words the day after Terri Schiavo was starved and dehydrated to death:

"It is the duty of the strong to protect the weak".

Bush: "UAE is a valued and strategic partner, I'm committed to strengthening our relationship with the UAE."

Below, Bush holding hands with a Saudi prince.

Bush: "My view of China is that it is a great nation...."

"Former President Clinton returned to the White House for the first time Monday and listened with delight as President Bush praised him for his knowledge, compassion and "the forward-looking spirit that Americans like in a president."

President Bush: "Family values don't stop at the Rio Grande"

George W. = cheerleader in cheif