Sparrowhawk
12-21-03, 07:07 PM
The possibility of a crazed Muslim terrorist opering in America is very real. Not all things are reported and that I am thankful for.
The other day, the courts decided we must start putting suspected terrorist on trail. But, they are our enemy, and we remain engaged in war against them and those that support them. As long as we are engaged in war against them, they don't need to be placed on trail.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3750672/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3748660/
We should warn Saudi Arabia, that if we are hit anytime anyplace at home, that Mecca, will be destroyed as well as two or more of their major cities. Something is up, because Americans were warned last week, to get out of Saudi Arabia.
Cook
<HR><HR>
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/031221/n_ridgeterroralert_031221.275w.jpg
U.S. government raises
terrorism threat level
Ridge: Indicators 'perhaps greater now than at any point' since 9/11
MSNBC staff and wire reports
Updated: 7:12 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2003WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Sunday raised the national threat level to high, the second-highest, saying attacks were possible during the holidays and that threat indicators are “perhaps greater now than at any point” since Sept. 11, 2001. The color-coded scale for terrorism alerts is now at orange, raised from the elevated level, or yellow.
“Extensive and considerable protections have been or soon will be in place all across the country,” Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said at a hastily arranged news conference at department headquarters.
“Your government will stand at the ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop terrorism during the holiday season and beyond.”
Orange means a high risk of terrorist attack. Since May, the level had been at yellow, or an elevated risk, and in the middle of the five-color scale.
Ridge cited reports that Osama bin-Laden’s terrorist network is trying find holes in U.S. aviation security.
The government elevated the threat level after U.S. intelligence agencies “received a substantial increase in the volume of threat-related intelligence reports,” Ridge said.
He urged Americans not to disrupt holiday travel plans. “America is a country that will not be bent by terror. America is a country that will not be broken by fear,” Ridge said.
Multiple sources, none specific
The threat information comes from multiple, credible sources but officials are unaware of a specific target or means of attack, added a senior law enforcement official.
Some of the intercepted communications and other intelligence mentions New York, Washington and unspecified West Coast cities.
Some of the intercepted communications and other intelligence mention New York, Washington and unspecified cities on the West Coast, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities also are concerned about dams, bridges, nuclear plants, chemical facilities and other public works.
Thousands of state and local law enforcement agencies have received an FBI advisory urging special notice of sites that could be a conceivable target and potential security upgrades, the official said.
In addition, Ridge said he has contacted his counterparts in Canada and Mexico about increasing border security.
He also said officials did not see a connection between the capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the heightened security alert.
’Holiday season’ attacks possible
“These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holiday season and beyond,” he said. “These strategic indicators, including al-Qaida’s continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland, are perhaps greater now than at any point since Sept. 11.”
RELATED STORY
State officials, agencies react to Ridge statement
A senior intelligence official said last week that analysts were particularly concerned about the threat of Sept. 11-style attacks, in which terrorists would use hijacked airliners as weapons.
Ridge said that “recent reporting reiterates that al-Qaida continues to consider using aircraft as a weapon. They are evaluating procedures both here and abroad to find gaps in our security posture that can be exploited.”
He also sought to reassure Americans about the warning. “We have not raised the threat level in this country for six months, but we have raised it before. And as before, Americans can be assured that we know what we must do and we are doing it,” Ridge said.
Last raised in May
The color-coded system was last raised to orange on May 5. Authorities reported at the time receiving general intelligence that pointed to possible terror attacks in the United States related to bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco that killed dozens of people. The threat level was returned to yellow 11 days later.
'There is so much stuff out there now, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.'
— U.S. official
U.S. officials by the end of last week were telling holiday travelers to be vigilant about the threat of terrorist attacks. The warning was prompted in part by a raised level of ominous intercepted communications that has not quieted for months.
U.S. officials have told NBC News that in the recent “chatter” al-Qaida operatives have used the word “big” and that they have also expressed a wish to hit the US with a “WMD attack”.
However, one official cautioned that “there is so much stuff out there now, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
“[CIA Director George] Tenet has been pushing for this for two weeks,” a third official told NBC News. “But Ridge has been resisting, fearing a ‘cry-wolf’ effect. In the most recent discussion, however, [Attorney General John] Ashcroft went along as well.”
‘Chasing the Americans’
On Friday, the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera broadcast a new statement from Ayman al-Zawahri, the chief deputy of Osama bin Laden. The CIA said Saturday it believes the tape is authentic.
“We are still chasing the Americans and their allies everywhere, even in their homeland,” according to the voice on the tape.
‘There is no doubt ... that they want to do away with our way of life.’
— GEN. RICHARD MYERS
chairman, Joint Chiefs
Some statements from al-Qaida leaders are later regarded as preludes to attacks; others simply propaganda.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday morning that officials were trying to determine whether increased terrorist chatter being detected in recent weeks was an aberration or something more serious.
“There is no doubt, from all the intelligence we pick up from al-Qaida, that they want to do away with our way of life,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
“And if they could use another catastrophic event, a tragedy like 9-11, if they could do that again, if they could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction and make it 10,000 (deaths), not 3,000, they would do that.”
Myers said he and Ridge were to discuss the threat level “in the next 24, 48 hours” and raising the level was under active consideration.
“It’s Secretary Ridge’s business, but the Department of Defense does play a role in supporting federal agencies in this regard, and so we’re discussing this right now,” said Myers, who recently returned from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Associated Press and NBC's Robert Windrem contributed to this report.
The other day, the courts decided we must start putting suspected terrorist on trail. But, they are our enemy, and we remain engaged in war against them and those that support them. As long as we are engaged in war against them, they don't need to be placed on trail.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3750672/
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3748660/
We should warn Saudi Arabia, that if we are hit anytime anyplace at home, that Mecca, will be destroyed as well as two or more of their major cities. Something is up, because Americans were warned last week, to get out of Saudi Arabia.
Cook
<HR><HR>
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/031221/n_ridgeterroralert_031221.275w.jpg
U.S. government raises
terrorism threat level
Ridge: Indicators 'perhaps greater now than at any point' since 9/11
MSNBC staff and wire reports
Updated: 7:12 p.m. ET Dec. 21, 2003WASHINGTON - The U.S. government on Sunday raised the national threat level to high, the second-highest, saying attacks were possible during the holidays and that threat indicators are “perhaps greater now than at any point” since Sept. 11, 2001. The color-coded scale for terrorism alerts is now at orange, raised from the elevated level, or yellow.
“Extensive and considerable protections have been or soon will be in place all across the country,” Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said at a hastily arranged news conference at department headquarters.
“Your government will stand at the ready 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to stop terrorism during the holiday season and beyond.”
Orange means a high risk of terrorist attack. Since May, the level had been at yellow, or an elevated risk, and in the middle of the five-color scale.
Ridge cited reports that Osama bin-Laden’s terrorist network is trying find holes in U.S. aviation security.
The government elevated the threat level after U.S. intelligence agencies “received a substantial increase in the volume of threat-related intelligence reports,” Ridge said.
He urged Americans not to disrupt holiday travel plans. “America is a country that will not be bent by terror. America is a country that will not be broken by fear,” Ridge said.
Multiple sources, none specific
The threat information comes from multiple, credible sources but officials are unaware of a specific target or means of attack, added a senior law enforcement official.
Some of the intercepted communications and other intelligence mentions New York, Washington and unspecified West Coast cities.
Some of the intercepted communications and other intelligence mention New York, Washington and unspecified cities on the West Coast, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Authorities also are concerned about dams, bridges, nuclear plants, chemical facilities and other public works.
Thousands of state and local law enforcement agencies have received an FBI advisory urging special notice of sites that could be a conceivable target and potential security upgrades, the official said.
In addition, Ridge said he has contacted his counterparts in Canada and Mexico about increasing border security.
He also said officials did not see a connection between the capture of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and the heightened security alert.
’Holiday season’ attacks possible
“These credible sources suggest the possibility of attacks against the homeland around the holiday season and beyond,” he said. “These strategic indicators, including al-Qaida’s continued desire to carry out attacks against our homeland, are perhaps greater now than at any point since Sept. 11.”
RELATED STORY
State officials, agencies react to Ridge statement
A senior intelligence official said last week that analysts were particularly concerned about the threat of Sept. 11-style attacks, in which terrorists would use hijacked airliners as weapons.
Ridge said that “recent reporting reiterates that al-Qaida continues to consider using aircraft as a weapon. They are evaluating procedures both here and abroad to find gaps in our security posture that can be exploited.”
He also sought to reassure Americans about the warning. “We have not raised the threat level in this country for six months, but we have raised it before. And as before, Americans can be assured that we know what we must do and we are doing it,” Ridge said.
Last raised in May
The color-coded system was last raised to orange on May 5. Authorities reported at the time receiving general intelligence that pointed to possible terror attacks in the United States related to bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco that killed dozens of people. The threat level was returned to yellow 11 days later.
'There is so much stuff out there now, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.'
— U.S. official
U.S. officials by the end of last week were telling holiday travelers to be vigilant about the threat of terrorist attacks. The warning was prompted in part by a raised level of ominous intercepted communications that has not quieted for months.
U.S. officials have told NBC News that in the recent “chatter” al-Qaida operatives have used the word “big” and that they have also expressed a wish to hit the US with a “WMD attack”.
However, one official cautioned that “there is so much stuff out there now, it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.”
“[CIA Director George] Tenet has been pushing for this for two weeks,” a third official told NBC News. “But Ridge has been resisting, fearing a ‘cry-wolf’ effect. In the most recent discussion, however, [Attorney General John] Ashcroft went along as well.”
‘Chasing the Americans’
On Friday, the Arabic television network Al-Jazeera broadcast a new statement from Ayman al-Zawahri, the chief deputy of Osama bin Laden. The CIA said Saturday it believes the tape is authentic.
“We are still chasing the Americans and their allies everywhere, even in their homeland,” according to the voice on the tape.
‘There is no doubt ... that they want to do away with our way of life.’
— GEN. RICHARD MYERS
chairman, Joint Chiefs
Some statements from al-Qaida leaders are later regarded as preludes to attacks; others simply propaganda.
Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Sunday morning that officials were trying to determine whether increased terrorist chatter being detected in recent weeks was an aberration or something more serious.
“There is no doubt, from all the intelligence we pick up from al-Qaida, that they want to do away with our way of life,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
“And if they could use another catastrophic event, a tragedy like 9-11, if they could do that again, if they could get their hands on weapons of mass destruction and make it 10,000 (deaths), not 3,000, they would do that.”
Myers said he and Ridge were to discuss the threat level “in the next 24, 48 hours” and raising the level was under active consideration.
“It’s Secretary Ridge’s business, but the Department of Defense does play a role in supporting federal agencies in this regard, and so we’re discussing this right now,” said Myers, who recently returned from a trip to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Associated Press and NBC's Robert Windrem contributed to this report.