Posted on 08/27/2007 9:09:55 PM PDT by RDTF
Al Qaeda has an active plot to hit the West. The United States knows about it but doesn’t have enough tactical detail to issue a precise warning or raise the threat level, says Vice Admiral (ret.) John Scott Redd, who heads the government’s National Counterterrorism Center.
In an interview at his headquarters near Washington, D.C., Redd told Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Bartholet that the country is better prepared than ever to counter such threats. But he also believes another successful terror attack on the U.S. homeland is inevitable.
-snip-
NEWSWEEK: People in various agencies have said that since Tora Bora in 2001, they at no time have had even 50-percent confidence that they knew where Osama bin Laden was on any particular day, and therefore they have been unable to mount any operations to go get him. Is that wrong?
Redd: What I’ll tell you about bin Laden is if we knew where he was, he’d either be dead or captured. It’s that simple. [He’s] obviously a tough target. That whole area is a tough target. And my standard answer on OBL is: remember [convicted Atlanta Olympics bomber] Eric Rudolph. Nobody likes to hear it but, I mean, here’s a guy [who was on the run] in the United States of America. We had unlimited access—the FBI, local law enforcement—and the guy hid out for an awful long time just by keeping a low profile. One reporter said the other day, “Well, gee, you’ve got all this great overhead stuff and various surveillance things.” I said, “Yeah. I’d trade those for about three great human sources.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...
Al Queda has recruited Fairies?!!!
“D.C., Redd told Newsweek’s Mark Hosenball and Jeffrey Bartholet that the country is better prepared than ever to counter such threats”
After witnessing the cluster$%^& that was the local, state and federal response to Hurricane Katrina, I don’t believe that for a second.
< \Democrat Talking Point>
This cannot be true! If it were true, President Bush would have been working on securing our borders! Stop believing this kind of garbage, because President Bush would never leave our Southern border open if he thought there might be a terrorist attack!!!!!
We've seen exactly what kinds of attacks they'll do ... they do them in Iraq right now.
Car bombs, truck bombs, and stuff like that, in crowded areas.
Oh ... and I think the reason why they've not been attacking here is simple, too: they're recruiting and training locals (i.e., Americans) to do it.
Americans moving among Americans .... they'd be next to impossible to spot.
08:01 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 28, 2007
By Jeff McShan / 11 News
Jeff McShan's 11 News report The Houston Police Department's Criminal Intelligence Division, the FBI and the Harris County Sheriff's Office are all concerned about a large number of school buses that have been stolen in the Houston area over the last several months.
Seventeen large, yellow school buses were stolen recently from various charter schools, business schools and private bus companies. Not one has disappeared from HISD.
Most, if not all, were taken from locations on Houston’s north side. One off west Tidwell, another from the Lopez bus company off Melrose and Berry streets.
Timothy Williams is the superintendent at the High School for Business.
“We were going to park them over there inside the gate. Until we could get a gate around the facility, but we really didn't think that was going to be a problem,” said the charter school’s superintendent.
While it is important to point out that there is no known threat, HPD's Criminal Intelligence Division mentioned in a recent e-mail that these school bus thefts are a homeland security concern.
One detective said a bus may have been stolen and taken across the border to Mexico.
Nevertheless, since the Sept. 11 attacks the thought of terrorists targeting children has certainly been discussed by the Department of Homeland Security. And that is why finding out what happened to these buses is very important.
Published reports in 2004 said that the U.S. military found information in Iraq pertaining to U.S. schools.
Reportedly, there have been hundreds of thefts of school bus radios in the United States.
With all that being said, 11 News was reminded Monday by law enforcement officials that school buses remain one of the safest ways to get to and from school. In fact, nationwide, school buses transport nearly 24 million kids to school daily.
And bus drivers all around the country are being trained regularly to look out for suspicious people and activities.
AQ is better off NOT “hitting” the West, because they are doing a fine job taking over in a relatively peaceful, creeping fashion. Truthfully, if AQ and islamic terrorism fades away, they have won. PC has made us sick and the opportunistic infection will creep in. JMHO.
You might be on to something.
AQ knows that any move means the entire operation is compromised, they know what happened to Flight 93.
AQ likes things that go bang that are jihadist crowd pleasers, that will increase recruiting.
Killing kids won't have the effect of turning a ferry with thousands of passengers into a fireball.
Think about the disruption and future fright to passengers if a ferry got hit. Kids have to take the school bus, business as normal the next day. Ferry riders are highly productive, in the case of the Staten Island ferries, many Jewish passengers, making a ferry attack much more destructive to our economy.
A school bus arriving at the right time would have easy access to a stadium...say, stuffed with ‘band’ equipment, huh?
Once AQ uses the trick, the cover is blown for the entire operation.
So targets are picked for their potential for vast damage, dramatic flair, wide scale, and future economic damage from scared people.
With about the same manpower as 9/11, up to a half dozen ferries from E. Coast to W. Coast could be attacked with potentially greater casualties.
No other target as soft and consequential as loaded ferries, open water, limited life boats, cold water, fog or bad weather, thousands of passengers, thousands of vehicles with gas tanks, minimal vehicle inspection...... I will not ride crowded ferries.
I was thinking they might break into multiple SPCA buildings and kidnap a bunch of kittens and puppies. Those people are ruthless.
I expect the school busses will be used in a situation where you'd expect to see a school bus. And, they have mentioned 'the children/schools.'
The school busses are intended for something other than ferries, IMO.
Pretty good. I am a chemical engineer. What are you?
Still, much easier to drive a U-Haul full of diesel fuel, ignitor and timer, leave the boat by the passenger gang way, and poof!
The whole boat goes up, lifeboats are on the car decks, mass casualties.
AQ has some very bright engineers, etc., they have easily seen all this. Low tech, coordinated, multiple attacks, cell phones, easy escape. Yup, AQ will go for it.
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