Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Say
 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/po...3intel.html?hp

By DOUGLAS JEHL and DAVID JOHNSTON

Published: August 3, 2004

ASHINGTON, Aug. 2 -Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terror plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

But the officials continued to regard the information as significant and troubling because the reconnaissance already conducted has provided Al Qaeda with the knowledge necessary to carry out attacks against the sites in Manhattan, Washington and Newark. They said Al Qaeda had often struck years after its operatives began surveillance of an intended target.

Taken together with a separate, more general stream of intelligence, which indicates that Al Qaeda intends to strike in the United States this year, possibly in New York or Washington, the officials said even the dated but highly detailed evidence of surveillance was sufficient to prompt the authorities to undertake a global effort to track down the unidentified suspects involved in the surveillance operations.

"You could say that the bulk of this information is old, but we know that Al Qaeda collects, collects, collects until they're comfortable,'' said one senior government official. "Only then do they carry out an operation. And there are signs that some of this may have been updated or may be more recent.''

Frances Fragos Townsend, the White House homeland security adviser, said on Monday in an interview on PBS that surveillance reports, apparently collected by Qaeda operatives had been "gathered in 2000 and 2001.'' But she added that information may have been updated as recently as January.

Click the link for the full article.

I was watching...
 

the Faux News this afternoon when the female newscaster announced the following:

"The terrorists are rumored to be in possession of BONGS"...(I kid you not, She said "Bong" instead of "Bomb")

Is it just me, But if a terrorist organization exploded a "bong" in a large city wouldnt there be a lotta happy souls? At the same time wouldnt the local eateries see an increase in consumers? I'm sure the fallout from the "bong" cloud would make a lotta people feel really good, and "laidback"... :lol:

Ah, the possibilities...And just think, My home state of Oklahoma #1 cash crop (Legal crop or not) is Marijuana.

It must've been Laurie Dhue. :laugh: Reminds me of that old joke:

Why does Laurie Dhue stick her head out of car window?

To get a refill. :laugh:

The terror alert is just crap. It's a means to scare the American people and to hammer home fear so that Bushie can get re-elected. If we want to be safe, we need something other than a Sherwin Williams paint chart to do the trick. We need a government that isn't going to beat us into submission with bull**** terror alerts and fear. This is an abomination.

If this kind of thing didn't have so much potential for cry-wolf danger, it would be funny. It really ain't that funny when your train ride goes from 60 minutes to 90 because these morons are playing political games.

Government and politics in this country have hit a new low.

http://www.mywisecounty.com/listing/jump.cgi?ID=1219

Intelligence officers told the New York Times and the Washington Post there was "no concrete evidence" of a terrorist plot or proof that terror surveillance operations were still being carried out. "There is nothing right now that we're hearing that is new," one intelligence officer told the Washington Post.

"Why did we go to this level? I still don't know," the intelligence officer said.

First Lady Laura Bush along with her twin daughters Barbara and Jenna, appeared Monday afternoon at Citigroup Center, one of the targeted buildings, at a staged event at the 59-story tower to demonstrate the First Family's lack of fear in the wake of the latest terror attack warnings from the White House. The First Family event event sent mixed signals as to the level of seriousness of the terror alert with the President's immediate family at the epicenter of the alleged terror target.

I saw that Laura, Jenna and Barbara were at Citigroup on the news last night. It sure seemed to me, then, that was a rather "phony" terror alert. It's all just strange. My first thought on Sunday was that it was all staged to help Dubya in his re-election bid. Ugh.

"Here now with a special report is Emily Litella." :laugh:

- Jake

Well, I look at it this way...if it didn't come now, it more than likely would have come during the RNC, IMO

Well, don't these terra lerts fly in the face of Shrub's re-election platform? He's telling us that America is safer, yet warns of impending attacks on three US sites and claims that they already have bombs smuggled into the country. This administration is as incompetent as it is stupid. It's sort of like how they claim to have broken up al-Qaeda but in reality, al-Qaeda is stronger than ever and has close to a million members. :laugh:

Because Bushie needed to push Kerry/Edwards off the front pages???

That right there tells you nothing was going to happen. As soon as I saw her drinking coffee with the Wall Streeters yesterday I knew this was a bunch of crap.
I am just wondering if this is some kind of drill for the RNC.

A drill for the RNC. :lol: I love it!

:rolleyes: Why am I not surprised??? Sheesh. These Republithugs will put the fear of God in the people of America-- whatever they have to do to stay in power.

I hope more people see this article. You're preaching to the choir here, but this story needs to be on every national news channel (except Faux news, of course, because they are soooo "fair and balanced") so everyone will know that this raising of the terror alert was a HOAX to get the Johns off the front pages... it's an absolute disgrace

Have you seen Outfoxed yet? That is one entertaining and well-made documentary about Faux News, Merfy. :xoxo:

In my opinion, another Chicken Little: The sky is falling!! Do it enough and no one will believe when the real thing happens...