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score one for the big boys; terrorist plot foiled
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| josh4 |
| quote: | FBI Disrupts New York Transportation Plot
By PAT MILTON , 07.07.2006, 05:37 PM
A terrorist plot to inflict death and destruction by attacking train tunnels used by tens of thousands of commuters each day was thwarted before the men could travel to the United States, authorities said Friday.
Eight suspects - including an al-Qaida loyalist arrested in Lebanon and two others in custody elsewhere - had hoped to pull off the attack in October or November, federal officials said. But federal investigators working with their counterparts in six other countries intervened.
"It was never a concern that this would actually be executed," said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. "We were, as I say, all over this."
Initial reports said that the terrorists wanted to attack the Holland Tunnel, a major thoroughfare for cars entering Manhattan. But officials said the group had specifically mentioned only the PATH train tunnels that commuters travel through on their way to New York and New Jersey.
"This is a plot that involved martyrdom and explosives" and focused on the "tubes that connect Jersey and lower Manhattan," said FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon.
A federal law enforcement official said the suspects hoped to inflict damage on the U.S. economy.
The men believed that by bombing the train tunnels, they could unleash a severe flood on lower Manhattan, including Wall Street, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The official said investigators believe that an attack on a PATH tunnel, unlike the Holland Tunnel, could have achieved that goal.
Investigators decided in recent weeks that the "plotting for this attack had matured to a point where it appeared that the individuals were about to move forward," Mershon said. "They were about to go to a phase where they would attempt to surveil targets, establish a regimen of attack and acquire the resources necessary to effectuate the attacks."
"At that point it's entirely appropriate to take it down."
Details of the plot - first reported by the Daily News - emerged on the one-year anniversary of the attacks on the London transportation system that killed 52 people. Officials said the timing of Friday's report in relation to the anniversary was coincidental.
New York's transportation system has emerged as a potential terrorist threat several times over the years. A June book by journalist Ron Suskind highlighted a reported plot by al-Qaida terrorists to kill thousands of New Yorkers by spreading cyanide gas in the subway. In May, a man was convicted of plotting to blow up a bustling subway station.
In 1993, the FBI rounded up more than a dozen men who allegedly conspired to blow up five New York City landmarks including the Lincoln and Holland tunnels. The prosecution resulted in more than a dozen convictions.
In the latest case, a federal official said FBI agents monitoring Internet chat rooms used by extremists learned of the plot in recent months and determined that tunnels were possibly being targeted after investigators pieced together code words from their conversations.
Another U.S. official also speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing called the plot "largely aspirational" and described the Internet conversations as mostly extremists discussing and conceptualizing the plot. The official said no money had been transferred, nor had other similar operational steps been taken.
Officials cited the arrest of the Lebanese suspect - described as the scheme's mastermind - as a significant break in the investigation. A Lebanese official said the Beirut man confessed to plotting to attack New York City tunnels later this year, and that he was acting on Osama bin Laden's orders.
Police arrested the man on April 27, acting on information from the FBI, said a senior security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. The suspect uses the alias Amir Andalousli, but his real name is Assem Hammoud.
The 31-year-old suspect told investigators he was acting "on a religious order from bin Laden and said 'I am proud to carry out his orders'," the official said.
The suspect's family denied any al-Qaida links and his mother, Nabila Qotob, said Hammoud taught economics at a local university.
"His morale is high because he is confident he is innocent," she said of her son, who turned 31 on Thursday.
A U.S. law enforcement official said one of the others accused in the plot is believed to be Canadian, but said there were no apparent links to the 17 people arrested last month in a plot to bomb buildings around Toronto.
The Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation, or PATH, serves as the primary transit link between Manhattan and neighboring New Jersey urban communities and suburban railroads. PATH presently carries 215,115 passengers each weekday.
PATH train riders took the news of the plot in stride.
"It bothers us, it scares us, but you gotta keep living, you know?" said Dudley Nosy, 21, a security guard from Brooklyn who regularly takes the train to Jersey City to see his girlfriend. "You can't stay in the house all day long, you gotta do what you gotta do." |
http://www.forbes.com/business/busi.../ap2865050.html |
"all over this"
"take it down"
I love it when they talk tough. U-S-A! U-S-A! |
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| Fir3start3r |
no worries, I'm sure the libs out there will find some way to down-play this. ;):p
OK USA! |
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| Temperate |
| I don't understand you Josh4. Sometimes I think I do, but then you throw a curveball. |
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| Renegade |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
no worries, I'm sure the libs out there will find some way to down-play this. ;):p |
Gladly. ;)
| quote: | "There's no evidence that anything was ever done, no purchase of explosives or even the sending of money," he said.
The F.B.I. said in a brief statement that "at this time, we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system or anywhere else in the United States."
An F.B.I. official in New York declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman for the New York City Police Department said that there had been no recent change in security levels at the tunnel but otherwise declined to comment.
As far as the hope of flooding Manhattan, Mr. Schumer noted that the plot could not have worked because the tunnels lie well below ground level. "It makes no sense whatsoever," he said. "They don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the terrorist lot."
The News also quoted security experts who said it was unlikely that even a large bomb could flood the Holland Tunnel, which burrows through bedrock below the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City. |
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/07/n...artner=homepage
Sounds about as well developed and thought out as the "aspirational" Sears Tower plot, actually.
Speaking of which:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8a4z9N3eYc |
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| Fir3start3r |
I understand the libs arguement and the MSM does do a great job of making the CIA look like a bunch of idiots however at what point are they supposed to arrest them?
Are they supposed to wait until 'Jihad-lite' (don't know what else to call them :p) are there with their hands on the triggering device(s)?
My arguement here is no different than the recent Florida arrests.
Why don't we wait until we hear ALL the reasons why they were arrested.
Let's not expect the MSM to lay that out for us though...
LMAO!
CNN...World leaders in, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!" :haha:
Awesome. |
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| josh4 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Temperate
I don't understand you Josh4. Sometimes I think I do, but then you throw a curveball. |
unfortunately sarcasm and irony are some of the hardest things to convey through text and they make up the majority of my personality. no wait, they pretty much make up all of it.
duuuddee, you're going to give occrider an aneurysm if you keep sourcing comedy central like that |
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| skot_e |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
I understand the libs arguement and the MSM does do a great job of making the CIA look like a bunch of idiots however at what point are they supposed to arrest them? |
Its a bit of a fine line, but perhaps the purchase of elements of a bomb or a detonator (a phone makes it hard tho), afterall weren't most of them not even in the US? Maybe they could have waited untill they arrived and watched them closely. I'd hate to think I could be arrested for venting frustration and saying I should just blow up the Sydney harbour bridge coz I don't like the way our govt is running the country. There needs to be some sort of obvious intent other than text / talk. |
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| MisterOpus1 |
I'm curious, someone in this Administration leaked out this story to the Daily News about this talked about plot, the FBI claims the following:
| quote: | Disclosure of the bomb plot coincided with the one-year anniversary of a terrorist bomb attack on London subways and a bus that killed 52 and injured about 700. Authorities said they hadn't intended to release details about the plot this early and that whoever leaked the information had compromised the FBI's relationship with some foreign intelligence services.
The person who leaked the details is clearly someone who doesn't understand the fragility of international relations,'' Mershon said. "We've had a number of uncomfortable questions and some upsetment (sic) with these foreign intelligence services that had been working with us on a daily basis.''
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?...KZHEiM&refer=us |
Which in case you Bush-lovin/NYTimes-hatin folks, this leak ing compromised our National Security by ing up "foreign intelligence services".
That's kind of a big deal.
So the NYTimes supposedly "leaked" out info that I mentioned previously was not much of a leak considering this Administration outlined in similar if not greater detail about SWIFT and the money tracking of terrorist groups and this was BAD, BAD, BAD.....
but leaking out this intelligence about a terrorist plot foiled that actually compromised our national security in a big ing way is just all hunky dory to the Bush supporters, right?
Hmmm, so leaking out info. that is already on public record by this Administration is bad, but leaking out info. that actually compromises our national security is good.
I guess if it's okay to out a covert CIA agent who's job was WMD proliferation and who was actually working on Iran's WMD nuke capabilities prior to being outed, then anything is just fine with this Administration in compromising our national security.
Sorry for my confusion there. Silly me. |
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| DJ Shibby |
You don't need to have a masters in quantum hydrodynamics to know that a flooded tunnel will NOT flood above the waterline.
This is why the plot never took out -- yes, it would be SO EASY to do, but it really wouldn't do much except create traffic... |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by skot_e
Its a bit of a fine line, but perhaps the purchase of elements of a bomb or a detonator (a phone makes it hard tho), afterall weren't most of them not even in the US? Maybe they could have waited untill they arrived and watched them closely. I'd hate to think I could be arrested for venting frustration and saying I should just blow up the Sydney harbour bridge coz I don't like the way our govt is running the country. There needs to be some sort of obvious intent other than text / talk. |
I agree.
There's got to be a lot more to this that we're not hearing.
Why waste everyone's time with arresting crackheads (no I'm not calling you a crackhead ;)) and trying to pull a fast one when they're already behind the 8 ball with the public?
I don't believe they'd be that dumb to try it...but who knows? :p
Dun, dun, duunnnnnnn...
queue the tin-foil hats... |
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| MisterOpus1 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Fir3start3r
I agree.
There's got to be a lot more to this that we're not hearing.
Why waste everyone's time with arresting crackheads (no I'm not calling you a crackhead ;)) and trying to pull a fast one when they're already behind the 8 ball with the public?
I don't believe they'd be that dumb to try it...but who knows? :p
Dun, dun, duunnnnnnn...
queue the tin-foil hats... |
Well you know my hat's stapled on my head from here to November, but let me pose you a real simple alternative to exposing this story and undermining this investigation that was implicitly demonstrated to hurt our national security:
election year
Not that this Administration has ever politicized terrorism or deliberately exposed national security for its own political gain or anything........ |
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| Fir3start3r |
| quote: | Originally posted by MisterOpus1
Well you know my hat's stapled on my head from here to November, but let me pose you a real simple alternative to exposing this story and undermining this investigation that was implicitly demonstrated to hurt our national security:
election year
Not that this Administration has ever politicized terrorism or deliberately exposed national security for its own political gain or anything........ |
You forgot to mention that it worked last time! ;)
You really think the boogie-man has that much pull?
I believe if the GOP is going to loose on any front this round, it'll be because of their penchant for spending and for more government; an ironic situation for them but one that can't be overlooked.
As for exposing national security, the government doesn't have to worry about that.
That's the NY Times bread and butter... |
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