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| White House warns of election attack | ||
| 2004-07-09 | ||
The Bush administration, reflecting heightened concerns about terrorism in the United States, issued a new warning today that Al Qaeda was working toward a "large scale" attack linked to the U.S. elections. However, Tom Ridge, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, said the department was not raising the color-coded alert level from its "yellow," or mid-range, status. He said that "we have more protective measures in place at yellow today than we did six months or a year ago." His warning appeared to leave FBI officials baffled.
In issuing the warning, Ridge is walking a fine line, seeking to report on the most recent intelligence and concerns it raises, while not issuing such frequent cautions that the public becomes inured to the threat. At the same time, he faces the risk that repeated warnings that heighten public fears could appear to be taking on a political tenor when President Bush is using his conduct of the war on terrorism as an underpinning of his reelection campaign. "We lack precise knowledge about time, place and method of attack, but along with the CIA, FBI and other agencies, we are actively working to gain that knowledge," Ridge said. He said that the government had no specific, credible evidence that terrorists were targeting the Democratic National Convention, which begins two weeks from Monday in Boston, or the Republican National Convention, which takes place during the last week in August in New York City. He said that to make a political connection to his remarks would be "a wrong interpretation." "We are basically laying out before the general public the kind of information that we’ve received," Ridge said. "These are not conjectures or mythical statements we are making. These are pieces of information that we can trace comfortably to sources that we deem to be credible." Asked why he was delivering his briefings today — he had earlier spoken to members of the Senate — the secretary said that in the wake of the Madrid bombing, he thought it important to deliver such information "on a periodic basis," and that he would deliver similar reports in coming weeks and months. The FBI counterterrorism official said that although the FBI remained concerned about a wealth of intelligence about Al Qaeda activity, it had received no specific information about a time, place or method of attack, or even that one or both of the political conventions was a target. "We don’t have anything like that," the FBI official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "The election is a focal point, but to say [intelligence indicates] any time frame before the election, we just don’t have that. We haven’t heard anything as to who they would desire to target to influence the political process," he said.
The FBI official said authorities were still seeking to question six men and one woman identified by Mueller and Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft in their news conference. One of them is Adam Yahiye Gadahn, a Californian who is being sought in connection with possible terrorist threats against the United States. Although the FBI has no information indicating that Gadahn is connected to any specific terrorist activities, FBI officials said he has worked as a translator for Al Qaeda and that he could be helping the organization infiltrate operatives into the United States. "He’s an individual who helped them in translating materials and other logistics, who knows his way around the United States and its culture, and is sympathetic to their cause," the FBI official said today. "He can help them with languages, and he certainly has the ability to lend them technical and logistical support that they wouldn’t otherwise have." The FBI official said Gadahn is not believed to be in the United States, "but you don’t want to assume that, because he could blend in and be almost anywhere. So we don’t know. We are looking for him." | ||
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #4 Two days ago FOX was showing video, released via AlJiz(?), of car bomb explosions. Why? The current rumor has been of carbomb attacks of malls, shopping plazas, or any area that has a decent crowed. It is my thought that the video has been released to show what is going to happen. The propaganda impact must be felt by more than just the victims, as the actual amount of victims is prolly no more then a Labor Day hiway statistic. I'd say, folks, that the cadres of brigades of the religion of political cut-throats, is ready, has been for a few years. I'm saying, stay away from areas that are regularly crowded, use the entrances to malls and such when a crowd isn't easily anticipated. Be aware of people who may be casing such a place. Dark bearded guy, perhaps with a camera, but the targets are prolly set. It will happen like this unless it doesn't. |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-07-09 2:31:58 PM |
| #3 Well, you may think you're going to vote for Groucho, but I'll bet your commitment is Fragilee. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-09 2:04:59 PM |
| #2 Not me, Shipman. As a hard-core Marxist, Groucho is my man! Personally, I don't see America reacting the same way as Spain to terrorist shenanigans around election time. I point to Afghanistan and Iraq as examples of American response. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-07-09 11:15:42 AM |
| #1 That does it! I'm voting for Zapo. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-07-09 10:44:54 AM |