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Author Topic:   Bin Laden Is Said to Be Organizing for a U.S. Attack
ozonefiller
Newflake

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From:
Registered: Aug 2009

posted July 09, 2004 05:52 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozonefiller     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
By DAVID JOHNSTON and DAVID STOUT

Published: July 9, 2004

WASHINGTON, July 8 - Osama bin Laden and his chief lieutenants, operating from hideouts suspected to be along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, are directing a Qaeda effort to launch an attack in the United States sometime this year, senior Bush administration officials said on Thursday.

"What we know about this most recent information is that it is being directed from the seniormost levels of the Al Qaeda organization," said a senior official at a briefing for reporters. He added, "We know that this leadership continues to operate along the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan."

Counterterrorism officials have said for weeks that they are increasingly worried by a continuing stream of intelligence suggesting that Al Qaeda wanted to carry out a significant terror attack on United States soil this year. But until the comments of the senior administration officials on Thursday, it was not clear that Mr. bin Laden and top deputies like Ayman Zawahiri were responsible for the concern.

Another senior administration official said on Thursday that the intelligence reports - apparently drawn partly from interviews with captured Qaeda members and partly from other intelligence - referred to efforts "to inflict catastrophic effects" before the election.

This official said that the reports did not refer specifically to Mr. bin Laden's instructions or desires, but did make clear that instructions were coming from Qaeda leaders. "It sounds like a corporate effort," the official said.

The new information about Al Qaeda came as Congressional Republicans barely managed to block an effort by Democrats to ban the government from demanding records from libraries and book sellers in some terrorism investigations. Although the Democrats' effort failed by a single vote, it reflected the deep divisions over President Bush's signature antiterrorism legislation, the U.S.A. Patriot Act, which allowed the government access to such records.

In discussing the latest threat information, one of the officials said the intelligence was "cryptic," about both timing and location. There is a widespread assumption in the intelligence community that past targets - New York, Washington, the Los Angeles airport - all still have symbolic value to Al Qaeda. There is no specific reference to the coming political conventions, the official said, but that remains an immediate focus of concern.

Mr. bin Laden's precise role remains somewhat uncertain. It does not appear that he is trying to take an active leadership role in formulating a specific plan, as he did in preparations for the September 2001 attacks, an administration official said. There is evidence, the official said, that he is able to communicate with his followers, urging them to carry out operations in the name of the terror network.

In the past, Mr. bin Laden has used a variety of methods to carry his messages, and he is acutely aware of American efforts to monitor his conversations. He has used couriers to carry private instructions and issued public statements that contained threats and exhortations. In addition, his followers have used cellphones and computer messages to disseminate his directives.

At a news conference on Thursday, Tom Ridge, the homeland security secretary, said the intelligence about Al Qaeda's intentions was credible, even if it lacked specifics. He said that the chances of heading off an attack were better than ever, and that there was no reason to raise the terrorist threat level for now.

Mr. Ridge said reliable information pointed to an attack in which terrorists would try to "disrupt our democratic process," suggesting an attack designed to disrupt the national political conventions or the elections in November. He added that extra protective measures would be in place at the conventions, even though there was no specific indication that they were targets.

"We lack precise knowledge about time, place and method of attack, but along with the C.I.A., F.B.I. and other agencies, we are actively working to gain that knowledge," Mr. Ridge said. But several other officials said there were "strong indications" that Al Qaeda might strike at targets it had attacked before, "including those that they were able to attack, as well as those that they were unable to attack."

That suggested possible targets would include New York and the Los Angeles airport, which was a target in a millennium-related plot that was foiled by the authorities in December 1999.

Mr. Ridge brushed aside any suggestion that the administration was trying to create a widespread sense of unease that might work to President Bush's advantage less than four months before the election.

"It's a wrong interpretation," he said. "We are basically laying out before the general public the kind of information that we're received." And despite the dearth of hard, specific intelligence, Mr. Ridge said, "These are not conjectures or statements we are making, these are pieces of information that we can trace comfortably to sources that we deem to be credible."

Mr. Ridge said he and others in the intelligence field were evaluating information daily, that security had been enhanced at every level in recent months, and that he would personally inspect the sites of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions, where the Secret Service will be the lead agency overseeing security measures. (The Democratic National Convention will be held in Boston at the Fleet Center from July 26 to 29. The Republican National Convention will be held in New York at Madison Square Garden from Aug. 30 to Sept. 2.)

In New York, Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said that the city had long ago heightened security, first after 9/11 and again with the American-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

"The notion that terrorists may attack during convention has been part of our planning from the very beginning," Mr. Kelly said in a televised briefing. "Nothing in today's announcement from Homeland Security causes us to change our posture."

Mr. Ridge declined to discuss in detail what circumstance might cause the administration to raise the country's color-coded terror alert level from its current yellow, which indicates a heightened threat, to orange, which would warn of an imminent threat of attack. "We wouldn't want to necessarily broadcast to the terrorists what it would take for us to raise it to orange," he said. "But we know internally that there are a couple of tripwires that might cause us to pull everybody together to begin that whole process."

Before his public briefing for reporters, Mr. Ridge and the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, privately briefed senators. Afterward, Senator Bill Frist, Republican of Tennessee, the majority leader, said he had heard no startling information in the closed session.

"The essence of the briefing is that during this period of elections, this campaign season, that there is increased risk of a terrorist attack in the United States of America," Mr. Frist said. "The nature of that risk is very nonspecific."

--------------------------------------------

Roll over...

Play dead...

Good Boy!

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Rainbow~
unregistered
posted July 09, 2004 12:38 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Not surprising!

Just the other day, I had a friend telll me:
"I'd be willing to bet that we won't have any elections at all this November....

They will stop them from happening at all....just to 'keep us safe'"
____________________________________________________
From buzzflash

WASHINGTON -- The government needs to establish guidelines for canceling or rescheduling elections if terrorists strike the United States again, says the chairman of a new federal voting commission.

Such guidelines do not currently exist, said DeForest B. Soaries, head of the voting panel.

Soaries was appointed to the federal Election Assistance Commission last year by President Bush. Soaries said he wrote to National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge in April to raise the concerns
______________________________________

*sigh*

I can just see it now...ELECTIONS CANCLED DUE TO TERRORISM


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ozonefiller
Newflake

Posts: 0
From:
Registered: Aug 2009

posted July 09, 2004 01:12 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozonefiller     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Of Course! Did anybody ever wonder about it, everytime that Bush needs to gain support, all of a sudden Al quaida is made another strike or plans on making one, not too far away from the people that Bush is influencing?

...or trying to influence?

Remember,Daddy is still "tight" with the Bin Laden Family,right?

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26taurus
unregistered
posted July 09, 2004 01:32 PM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote

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Rainbow~
unregistered
posted July 13, 2004 12:56 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
I supposed everyone knows about this by now, but it doesn't surprise a lot of us...*sigh*


*******************

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials have discussed the idea of POSTPONING ELECTION DAY in the event of a terrorist attack on or about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said Sunday.

The department has referred questions about the matter to the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said.

The department wants to know about the possibility of granting emergency power to the newly created U.S. Election Assistance Commission, authority that Roehrkasse said was requested by DeForest B. Soaries Jr., the commission's chairman.

SOARIES WHO WAS APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT BUSH is a former New Jersey secretary of state AND SENIOR PASTOR OF 7,000 - MEMBER FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH OF LINCOLN GARDENS in Somerset, New Jersey.

He wrote in April to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice asking them to seek such legislation from Congress, Roehrkasse said.

Roehrkasse said the recent discussions were sparked by intelligence indicating al Qaeda wants to "disrupt our democratic process."

Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned of such an attack in a news conference last week, saying it was based on intercepted "chatter" among al Qaeda operatives.

Roehrkasse noted, however, that there was no specific information suggesting such an attack would be aimed at the political conventions or Election Day.

Democratic Rep. Jane Harman of California, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, took issue with Ridge's comments Sunday.

"Six days ago, the leadership of the House and Senate intelligence committees and leadership of the House and Senate were briefed on these so-called new threats," Harman said on CNN's "Late Edition."

"They are more chatter about old threats, which were the subject of a press conference by Attorney General [John] Ashcroft and [FBI] Director [Robert] Mueller six weeks ago.

"[Ridge] sounded more like an interior decorator talking about what more we can do under the shade of yellow," she said.

What has Homeland Security officials worried is that terrorists could attempt to disrupt the election in same way that March 11 train bombings in Madrid created unrest three days before the Spanish general election, Roehrkasse said.

Although there is no evidence that the bombings influenced the Spanish election, Socialist Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero unseated Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose government supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

*******************

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pidaua
Knowflake

Posts: 67
From: Back in AZ with Bear the Leo
Registered: Apr 2009

posted July 13, 2004 03:31 PM     Click Here to See the Profile for pidaua     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
By ERICA WERNER


WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of a new federal voting commission suggested to congressional leaders that there should be a process for canceling or rescheduling an election interrupted by terrorism, but national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said no such plan is being considered by the administration.

Federal officials warned last week that intelligence indicates al-Qaida wants to attack the United States to disrupt the upcoming elections.

"There does not appear to be a clear process in place to suspend or reschedule voting during an election if there is a major terrorist attack," DeForest B. Soaries, chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, wrote in a letter Monday to Republican and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the one-page letter.

Rice said the Bush administration, while concerned about the impact of terrorism, is not thinking of postponing the elections.

"We've had elections in this country when we were at war, even when we were in civil war. And we should have the elections on time. That's the view of the president, that's the view of the administration," Rice told CNN on Monday.

Soaries also sent lawmakers copies of an earlier letter he wrote to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. In that letter, dated June 25, Soaries noted that Sept. 11, 2001, fell on Election Day in New York and state officials delayed voting until later that month. He wrote that no federal agency has the statutory authority to cancel or reschedule a federal election.

Soaries also expressed concern in the earlier letter that increased Election Day security could intimidate some voters, highlighting the need for communication between security officials and election administrators. He raised that issue again in his letter to lawmakers.

Soaries said Monday he was scheduled to meet early next week with Homeland Security officials to discuss the issues.

The Help America Vote Act of 2002 created the Election Assistance Commission.

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LibraSparkle
unregistered
posted July 15, 2004 12:38 AM           Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
*OFF TOPIC*

Hey Ozone... someone in Astrology has questions for a Scorp male.

I don't see your other places in LL... do you just stick to GU?

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ozonefiller
Newflake

Posts: 0
From:
Registered: Aug 2009

posted July 15, 2004 10:41 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozonefiller     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
Well, to be quite frank with you LibraSparkle, I think that I have mention this in a post(like maybe two months ago) that I don't really go on the other forums that much,it's nothing personal about it really, it's just that I sometimes enjoy the wacky excitment that comes from this forum more! I think that I have stated this forum is the "moshpit of knowledge"! The other forums are a little too "lovey dovey,mushy" for me, I sometimes like the good thrill of being here instead!

But lately, I've been so busy with myself,that I don't have much of the time to be on this site,all in general.

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ozonefiller
Newflake

Posts: 0
From:
Registered: Aug 2009

posted July 15, 2004 10:48 AM     Click Here to See the Profile for ozonefiller     Edit/Delete Message   Reply w/Quote
So,what is the question or better yet, link me to the page address and I'll see if I can answer the question for that person.

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