Free Republic

WASHINGTON — America’s top intelligence official told lawmakers on Tuesday that he was “highly certain” that Al Qaeda or one of its affiliates would attempt a large-scale attack on American soil within the next six months. The assessment by Dennis C. Blair, the director of national intelligence, was much starker than his view last year, when he emphasized the considerable progress in the campaign to debilitate Al Qaeda and said that the global economic meltdown, rather than the prospect of a major terrorist attack, was the “primary near-term security concern of the United States.” Citing a recent wave of terrorist...

Britain is facing a new Al Qaeda terror threat from suicide ‘body bombers’ with explosives surgically inserted inside them. Until now, terrorists have attacked airlines, Underground trains and buses by secreting bombs in bags, shoes or underwear to avoid detection. But an operation by MI5 has uncovered evidence that Al Qaeda is planning a new stage in its terror campaign by inserting ‘surgical bombs’ inside people for the first time.

Here is video of former Nightline Anchor Ted Koppel telling the BBC that the attempted terror attack on Christmas Day has been an "absolute triumph for Al-Qaeda." Koppel believes there has been a terrible "over-reaction" to the attempt, which is exactly what Al-Qaeda wants. Koppel said Obama's initial reaction to low-key it following the attack "was the right one." But Koppel said Obama was pushed into a stronger reaction by media and public expectations. Koppel's comments are clearly his way of trying to defend Obama's initial reaction to the attempted attack and help him to fend off criticism. Somehow I...

Here is a video report from NBC News saying Scotland Yard is carrying out "raids in central London" this morning in connection with the attempted terrorist attack aboard Northwest Airlines Flight 253. The attacker reportedly went to school there, and British authorities are looking for evidence. The report also discusses the attempted attack, and the way passengers acted to subdue the Nigerian attacker. . . .(VIDEO)

Here is video of a passenger on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 telling about the heroic effort of another passenger to stop a terrorist on board to keep him from completing his attempt to blow up the airplane. A young man climbed over passengers to get to the Nigerian terrorist to stop him. Reports indicate the terrorist was burned badly on his legs, where he had strapped the explosive device. The heroic passenger was also burned in subduing the attacker: An attempted terrorist attack on a Christmas Day flight began with a pop and a puff of smoke - sending passengers...

Here is a video report on what the White House has confirmed as an attempted "terrorist attack" aboard a Northwest Airlines flight that was about to land in Detroit. A Nigerian national sought to ignite an explosive device aboard the plane, and was burned in the attempt: A male passenger on an international flight bound for Detroit Friday tried to blow up the plane with an explosive device in an incident that the White House is labeling an attempted act of terrorism. Several people were hurt on the plane, which had Delta markings, but was listed as Northwest Flight 253....

Sgt. Asan Akbar, a Muslim American soldier with the 326th Engineer Battalion, had an "attitude problem." According to his superiors and acquaintances, Akbar's attitude was bitterly anti-American and staunchly pro-Muslim. So how did this devout follower of the so-called Religion of Peace work out his attitudinal problems last weekend? By lobbing hand grenades and aiming his M-4 automatic rifle into three tents filled with sleeping commanding officers at the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Brigade operations center in Kuwait. Naturally, apologists for Islam-gone-awry are hard at work dismissing this traitorous act of murder as an "isolated, individual act and not an...

FORT HOOD, Texas – A U.S. Army hospital spokesman said the man suspected in a deadly shooting spree at Fort Hood is conscious and able to talk. Dewey Mitchell, a spokesman at Brooke Army Medical Center, said Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan remains in stable condition. Mr. Mitchell said Maj. Hasan has been awake and able to talk since he was taken off a ventilator Saturday. Maj. Hasan is at Brooke Medical Center in San Antonio, about 150 miles southwest of Fort Hood. Authorities say the 39-year-old Maj. Hasan opened fire at a processing center Thursday at Fort Hood, the country's...

No surprise here, as the Muslims of NY based RevolutionMuslim.com, brag about the Islamic terrorist attack at Fort Hood. They do us one favor though, they explain how Islam justifies the Fort Hood attack. Islam is at war with us, it time that we wake up! To view the video....

Homeland Security: Provisions of the law that spared New York another 9/11 are set to expire Dec. 31. So why do Democrats want to gut this law and remove the immunity telecom companies have for helping protect America? To borrow a British expression from World War II, it was a very near thing. The capture, arrest and indictment of 24-year-old Afghan immigrant Najubullah Zazi before he could set off bombs made from store-bought chemicals prevented a tragedy of potentially devastating proportions. It wouldn't have happened if the critics of Patriot Act had their way. The capture of Zazi was made...

DENVER – An Afghan immigrant wanted to carry out a massive New York City terror attack involving hydrogen peroxide bombs on commuter trains to coincide with the Sept. 11 anniversary before federal authorities foiled the plan, a U.S. prosecutor said Friday. U.S. prosecutor Tim Neff told a federal judge in Denver that Najibullah Zazi "was intent on being in New York on 9/11" for a possible terror attack. "The defendant was in the throes of making a bomb and attempting to perfect his formulation," Neff said. He called the evidence a "chilling, disturbing sequence of events." Neff ordered Zazi, a...

A quick-thinking taxi driver and two police officers stopped a bulldozer terrorist from carrying out what he hoped would be a murderous rampage on Jerusalem's Menachem Begin Highway Thursday afternoon. A photo essay follows:

U.S. cities are racing to fix security vulnerabilities revealed by the devastating terror attacks in Mumbai, and many hotels remain “sitting ducks,” experts tell Newsmax.

Nuclear and biological terrorism is the emerging threat the next US President should focus on, the US security chief has told Sky News. In an exclusive interview, homeland security secretary Michael Chertoff said sources of radioactive and biological materials must be properly secured "at all costs". He warned terrorists are actively seeking to acquire such materials. Mr Chertoff said he did not think a weapon of mass destruction, like a biological or nuclear bomb, was a danger that could be just months away. But he warned: "It may be years away and we can't afford to waste this time waiting...

Today's terror attack in Jerusalem--a personal perspective.

The latest audio message from al-Qaeda, reportedly from Osama bin Laden himself, is only the most recent confirmation that the jihadist threat to the West remains real and deadly serious. But the fact that it could take the form of nuclear terrorism should be most worrying to citizens and policy makers alike. Where a nuclear attack once may have been beyond the capacities of stateless terrorists, that is no longer the case. One need only consider Khalid Sheik Mohammed (KSM), mastermind of 9/11 and chief operating officer of al-Qaeda, who revealed under intensive interrogation -- including the much-maligned tactic of...

Security Stepped Up After Terrorist Threat Excerpt In Moscow, which was last hit by terrorist attacks in 2004, officials took the unusual step of ordering cell phone service shut off in the subway system. The measure appeared to be an effort to avert the possibility of explosives being detonated by the phones. Full article: http://www.times.spb.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=20075

Terror threat shuts down Asian summit: Philippine sources CEBU, Philippines (AFP) - The Philippines abruptly called off a high-profile summit of Asian leaders, blaming a looming tropical storm even as foreign ministry sources said terror threats were the reason. The cancellation came a day after six nations including the United States issued a warning for Cebu, the resort island hosting the summit, due to threats of a terrorist strike. Australia said attack plans were in the "final stages." Foreign ministers from across Asia and other top diplomats were racing late Friday to sign a series of planned agreements before leaving...

Al-QAEDA is determined to acquire the technology to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, a senior Foreign Office official warned yesterday.She said that Osama bin Laden's terrorist network was trawling the world for the materials and know-how to mount an attack using nuclear, chemical or biological weapons. The latest warning echoes the remarks last week of the MI5 director-general, Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, that future terror attacks in Britain could involve weapons of mass destruction. Asked if she had any doubt that al-Qaeda wanted to obtain the materials to carry out a nuclear attack on the West, the Foreign...