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5,000 in U.S. suspected of ties to al Qaeda
Washington Times ^ | 7/11/02 | Bill Gertz

Posted on 07/10/2002 11:39:34 PM PDT by kattracks

Edited on 07/12/2004 3:55:18 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

U.S. intelligence agencies are watching several groups of Middle Eastern men thought to be part of an infrastructure of as many as 5,000 al Qaeda terrorists and their supporters in the United States, The Washington Times has learned.

Small groups of about a half-dozen men in Seattle, Chicago, Detroit and Atlanta are under surveillance by FBI and other intelligence agencies and are thought to be part of Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, said intelligence officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity.


(Excerpt) Read more at washtimes.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; US: Georgia; US: Illinois; US: Michigan; US: Washington
KEYWORDS: alqaeda; atlanta; atlantacell; chicago; chicagocell; cruiseshipplots; detroit; detroitcell; islamakazis; jihadinamerica; leftwingcities; portsecurity; redcross; seattle; seattlecell; terrorwar
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To: kattracks
Er...are we believing the FBI this week? No suspicious thoughts about vague, unprovable warnings and bureaucratic jockeying for position in the race to see who gets the funding for the WOT?
41 posted on 07/11/2002 11:01:04 AM PDT by Grut
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To: Don Myers
That's why the FBI was so PC circumspect about the LAX shooter: there may be a million more "unconnected" muslims like him with the same motive for murder also ticking down to detonation.
42 posted on 07/11/2002 11:13:14 AM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: dennisw; Grampa Dave
The FBI could not surveil 500 suspected terrorists 24/7 much less 5,000 of them.

It takes about 20 agents minimum (working in shifts) to watch one guy 24/7, that would mean 100,000 "street agents" alone just to watch all the suspects. There are about 12,000 FBI agents in total for all missions.

IOW, fatalistic Islamicazis who plan to die anyway are basically free to roam and plan and conduct ops just as they were prior to 9-11.

43 posted on 07/11/2002 11:19:13 AM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: elfman2
Devoted muslim jihadist fanatics are never "scared and lost". That is a Western delusion projecting how an American spy might feel "lost" in Iran, and in no way covers how a five-times-a-day-praying muslim radical feels in the USA. With his Koran and prayer rug he is NEVER "lost".

These guys are prepared to get killed (like the LAX shooter), what the heck do they care about the 1% chance the FBI is tailing them? Compared to a planned suicide mass murder, what makes you think they are "scared and lost" by the minimal threat of being watched by a totally undermanned and overwhelmed FBI?

Do you think they worry about deportation or a Gitmo vacation when they are already planning suicide murder?

44 posted on 07/11/2002 11:25:33 AM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: Travis McGee
Plus the few good agents of the FBI are not getting any help from the local cops in Seattle, Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, Portland,Miami, St Louis, Houston, Dallas, Denver ________________(you fill in the blank).
45 posted on 07/11/2002 11:25:38 AM PDT by Grampa Dave
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To: kattracks
One [intelligence] estimate is that there are up to 5,000 people in the United States connected to al Qaeda," one U.S. intelligence official said.

Probably way too low an estimate. If the government admits to 5000, the real number is probably closer to 100,000. When's the last time anyone's been in a gas station that was NOT operated by middle easterners??

46 posted on 07/11/2002 11:33:25 AM PDT by kimosabe31
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To: Travis McGee
"...there may be a million more "unconnected" muslims like him with the same motive for murder also ticking down to detonation."

And what should be alarming people is the fact that these sleepers don't even show up on the radar screen.

47 posted on 07/11/2002 11:38:14 AM PDT by Don Myers
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To: kattracks
Officials said such surveillance activity is an integral part of terrorist planning, although they did not rule out that the men may have had another purpose in being there.

uh-huh, they're going to carpet the pier...

48 posted on 07/11/2002 11:49:55 AM PDT by fivecatsandadog
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To: Don Myers; Grampa Dave
Here is the most pressing security issue of the era:

How do you (or the FBI) tell the "good moderate muslims" from the covert Attas and Hadayefs?

Answer: you can't. You just have to wait for each explosion.

49 posted on 07/11/2002 11:50:42 AM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: Don Myers
BTW, FOX Channel has a new Newsmagazine beginning today called The Pulse. It is on at 9 Eastern. They are supposed to talk about the Mexican/American border sitution. It might be interesting.
50 posted on 07/11/2002 11:51:53 AM PDT by Don Myers
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To: fivecatsandadog
Maybe they were going to open a kiosk in the middle of the pier selling prayer rugs and cheap sunglasses?
51 posted on 07/11/2002 11:52:01 AM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: Travis McGee
"Answer: you can't. You just have to wait for each explosion."

Have you ever heard the story about the two buzzards sitting on the tree limb? One buzzard turns to the other one, and tells him, "patience, hell, I am going to go out and kill something."

I just have this feeling that if those explosions begin, there will be quite a few impatient buzzards in this country. We saw incidents of impatient buzzards after the 9/11 incident.

52 posted on 07/11/2002 11:55:18 AM PDT by Don Myers
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To: Travis McGee
ROFLMAO!!!
53 posted on 07/11/2002 11:56:01 AM PDT by fivecatsandadog
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To: Don Myers
That's what the FBI is most afraid of, that's why they went into absurd terrorism denial mode after 9-11.

But honesty is the best policy: if Americans feel that the fedgov is more interested in maintaining a PC fantasy than protecting its citizens, then the citizens will do exactly what they don't want them to do and turn vigilante.

If the govt won't step up and protect the people, the people will do it themselves, and it will get very ugly if muslim terror attacks continue.

Pretending the muslim jihad terror aspect away will only make matters worse.

54 posted on 07/11/2002 12:09:34 PM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: Don Myers
I meant denial mode after LAX, not 9-11.
55 posted on 07/11/2002 12:10:21 PM PDT by Travis McGee
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To: kattracks
"A second U.S. official said it is difficult to determine the exact number of al Qaeda in the United States because of the clandestine nature of the group, which carried out the September 11 attacks that killed more than 3,000 people here and in New York."

No, it is difficult to determine because they keep letting more of the b&st*#Rd$ in the country!

56 posted on 07/11/2002 12:33:50 PM PDT by cmak9
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To: cmak9; kattracks; *JIHAD IN AMERICA; Grampa Dave; Clovis_Skeptic; ladyinred; veronica; ...
Right , see this:

L.A. shooter exploited 'loophole'

JIHAD IN AMERICA:

To find all articles tagged or indexed using JIHAD IN AMERICA, click below:
  click here >>> JIHAD IN AMERICA <<< click here  
(To view all FR Bump Lists, click here)



57 posted on 07/11/2002 12:50:28 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
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Comment #58 Removed by Moderator

Comment #59 Removed by Moderator

To: Travis McGee
It is all the same to me. The same denial is working in both cases.
60 posted on 07/11/2002 1:26:51 PM PDT by Don Myers
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