The plan, which the French DGSE foreign intelligence service became aware of earlier this year, is revealed in a secret report to the French government on threat levels. The report, dated December 19, indicates that the tip-off came from the American CIA. British and French intelligence agencies have run a series of checks of the security system protecting the 31-mile tunnel but the threat level, the DGSE warns, remains high. British security services remain on high alert throughout the holiday period.
Our intelligence agency provided this tip. This is a good thing. "Some" people are always SO fast to criticize Bush for the things he has done wrong, do they ever have the class or the good sense to be able to admit, we have NOT been attacked since 9/11, and that is in large part because of the tools Bush has implemented. (which the Dems fought tooth and nail to deny him)
No. They do not have the good sense OR the class to ever acknowledge anything that this administration has done right.
According to the French sources, the plan was put together in Pakistan and is being directed from there. The plotters are believed to be Western Europeans, possibly Britons of Pakistani descent. The DGSE say that levels of 'chatter', the constant communication that takes place between militants, has not been so high since 2001. Last week Sir Ian Blair, the head of the Metropolitan Police, described 'the threat of another terrorist attempt' as 'ever present' adding that 'Christmas is a period when that might happen'.
'It is a far graver threat in terms of civilians than either the Cold War or the Second World War,' he said. 'It's a much graver threat than that posed by Irish Republican terrorism.'
American security sources told The Observer that the threat was 'sky high'.
The news of the threat to the Channel Tunnel comes as Eurostar trains transport record numbers of passengers heading home for Christmas and as fog continues to affect flights to and from the continent.
More than 8 million passengers travelled on Eurostar trains last year. Staff on the line went on strike earlier this year in protest at what they said were lax security arrangements.
'A successful attack on such an installation would be almost as spectacular as September 11', said one terrorist expert. 'Al-Qaeda and those they inspire are trying everything from low-level strikes to major attacks on critical infrastructure.'
al-Qaeda is looking for a big statement, something huge as they accomplished with 9/11 and they will not be happy with anything less. They failed in their last attempt with the London Airline plot to commit mass murder on a scale the size or even bigger than the 9/11 attacks and they are committed to killing as many innocent people as possible to "make a statement".
The DGSE report also mentions an al-Qaeda project for a 'wave of attacks in an unidentified European country planned and run from Syria and Iraq'. The period of highest risk is said to be from September 2006 to April 2007.
[...]
Last week news reports in America detailed a squad of a dozen English-speaking militants, nine of whom are said to be British who, having sought out the al-Qaeda bases, have now been trained to a high level in terrorist tactics. The group is known as the English Brothers because of their shared language. Apart from the nine Britons, the squad is made up of an Australian and two Norwegians. It was reported that Bin Laden and other militant leaders hope they will lead a new wave of terror attacks on the continent.
Goes to show, we cannot let our guards down....terror does not take time off for the holidays.
Others discussing this:
Gates of Vienna.
Gateway Pundit.
The Astute Bloggers.
Tracked back by:
The Channel Tunnel Targeted for Holiday Terror Attack - France and UK on Alert from Blogs of War...
The Chunnel has become the next terror target from Tel-Chai Nation...
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