Spate of Ominous [Zero Hour] Messages from Al Qaeda Followers

In the last few hours counter terrorism sources report a heightened volume of traffic over the Arabic internet forums frequented by Al Qaeda and its partisans. Most of the last messages end 'The zero hour has come.'

One particular release was aired three times today, all posted by 'ARAMCO boy.' The last one to reach our sources was issued at 12:28 EST, 19:28 EST.

'Today at 16:20 hours there will be a surprise program one of the most beaufiul I have seen over our Qatari channel. Anyone who knows what I mean must tell no one as to keep the surprise whose content everyone will love. Only God knows what I mean. The program forced me to write these lines at great speed and I ask God to forgive me and reserve Paradise and not Hell for you. The zero hour has come.'

According to sources, these messages may be red herrings designed to confuse and mislead outside monitors. However the source who picked up the latest batch was the first to detect and correctly interpret at least two such enigmatic messages in recent months as presaging the re-appearance of Osama Bin Laden and his Lieutanant Ayman Zuwahri after many months out of sight. They were followed by pre-recorded statements over Al Jazerra satellite TV.

Due to their impotence, the radical Islamicists will issue far more false alarms than real attacks. Naturally, Debka is a dubious source for intel, too.

However, there is an odd convergence of Thanksgiving and the start of Hanakuh coming up that times with the end of Ramadan, which is clearly a prime time for an attack...

The war isn't over but if these Islamic scum had anything left, they'd a'shown it by now.
OBL is dead, atomized in a cave Afhanistan. Disembodied voices threatening Armageddon might work with kids but it is not the way you lead an army of followers. If OBL had a body, he'd be preparing videos right now. No one has seen the man for nearly a year; you don't lead an army from the shadows.
And a suicide bomber is a rara avis indeed. They have a very short shelf life. You don't see any armies massing iether, do you? The Islamists can have their sneak attacks but they don't dare show anything substantial that we can attack. If 3000 Malayasians trained with al Qaeda only a hundred or less of them will want to commit suicide. The rest are merely soldiers who have no field on which to take up arms.
We must hunt down every single member of this terrorist network and kill them but they have worlds more to fear from us than we do of them.

Like many Americans, I have read similar reports many times since 911. I have heard dozens of alerts and read hundreds of dire warnings. I no longer listen to any of these things.

As a conservative, I am thoughtful, observant and cautious. That is the best I can do and I find that the endless alerts only sap energy and tire the ability to focus when really needed. When the Islamic radicals do act, I will be as ready as I can ever be without living in hyped-up fear and constant paranoia - which I refuse to do.

At such a time when another attack against America is unleashed and many fellow citizens die, if I am not among the dead, I will do all I can to carry forward the urgent imperative to act with intelligence, resolve and vengence.

At the present time, it seems as though we have reverted to a phony war like the Maginot Line and we look at Islamic Fundamentalism as a distant enemy from the comfort of our well ensconced bunkers. It is my deepest hope that leadership in this country recognizes the threat as I do and is working to defeat it with measures that go beyond the politically correct politics of random searches and loose border control.

Unfortunately, I do not see too much that would indicate a serious response beyond the Afghanistan campaign and the mobilization on behalf of strategic American interests in the gulf. Sad to say, when the next assault occurs, I can only hope that the death toll will serve to drive home a greater purpose by instilling spine and resolve in leaders that ought to know better and lead to action on behalf of the country's best interests instead of balanced political positions.

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