Last night we pointed you to DEBKAfile, they monitor the chatter on al-Qaeda websites and the picked up a specific threat: (Via memeorandum)
The threat was picked up by DEBKAfile’s monitors from a rush of electronic chatter on al Qaeda sites Thursday, Aug. 8.
The al Qaeda communications accuse the Americans of the grave error of failing to take seriously the videotape released by the American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gaddahn last week. “They will soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations,” said one message.
Another said the attacks would be carried out “by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center.”
A third message mentioned New York, Los Angeles and Miami as targets. It drew the answer: “The attack, with Allah’s help, will cause an economic meltdown, many dead, and a financial crisis on a scale that compels the United States to pull its military forces out of many parts of the world, including Iraq, for lack of any other way of cutting down costs.”
Messages like this could or could not be the reason our government recently heighten security on the Capitol, after obtaining intelligence regarding an al-Qaeda attack on Congress.
From Roll Call:
Capitol Police officials have stepped up the department’s security presence on Capitol Hill in response to intelligence indicating the increased possibility of an al-Qaida terrorist attack on Congress sometime between now and Sept. 11.
From The Raw Story:
An unnamed Capitol Police source told Roll Call that Congressional security officials were recently made aware of the potential threat by federal anti-terrorism authorities.
We already know from a piece we brought to you on August 6, 2007, that e-mail addresses for American individuals were found on the same password-protected e-mail chains used by the United Kingdom plotters to communicate with Qaeda handlers in Europe....
So al-Qaeda operatives are here in America, and if anyone doubts what their intentions are, they simply don't use the brain god gave them and should read this post no farther. For the rest of us, we understand that an al-Qaeda presence, added with specific threats to targeted areas and even a possible method of attack, simply gives us more of an oppotunity to be vigilant and alert as a country.
Police confirmed the increased security was in response to receiving information that a dirty bomb may go off around 34th street in Manhattan on Friday evening.
The Empire State Building, New York City's tallest building, Madison Square Garden and Macy's department store are in the 34th Street neighborhood.
Simple common sense.
NYC is not taking any chances which is a good gauge of the seriousness of such "chatter" on al-Qeada websites, even before they can fully verify them.
Better safe than sorry doesn't seem like such a bad philosophy.
Vehicle checkpoints and other counterterrorism precautions are continuing in New York City Saturday morning. They're a response to what authorities are calling unsubstantiated online threats about a truck packed with radioactive material.
Police have been stopping cars and inspecting trucks in lower Manhattan and various other places around the city. They said they're also deploying extra radiological sensors on street, water and air patrols.
But federal, state and local officials are stressing that the threats haven't been verified. The city's terror alert status hasn't been changed.
Now, could this be a false alarm? Could this be more of al-Qaeda's rhetoric to "terrorize" the U.S.? Sure it can.
There is nothing that says we cannot step up, in a precautionary manner, our security measures, and still go about our business, in effect, not letting them terrorize us, but still taking the threats seriously, especially since al-Qaeda has promised us some "summer fun" recently, and their rhetoric these days has the tint of desperation. Desperation can be a dangerous thing.
Again I will say, better safe than sorry.
We have people, it seems, that would rather we not react nor take any precautions at all when we get intelligence or tips to chatter like the tip DEBKAfile managed to get.
Yawwwwnnn…
It gets old, doesn’t it? Obviously, these… these… “PEOPLE” are rooting for President Bush and his cronies; waving the “Bush-Cheney ‘08″ (via martial law) flag for all it’s worth, aren’t they? What’s wrong: can’t put “two and two” together? Allow me to ‘hep ya’ out a bit on that one…
I would ask those same people, if a tip comes in, and our country did nothing at all, just assumed it was a false alarm, and then a radioactive dirty bombs goes off in a city that WAS specified in the "chatter, would they not be the first people on the bandwagon, screaming at the top of their lungs, "NO ONE DID ANYTHING TO PROTECT US, see how horrible Bush is?"
It seems these people would rather us react after being attack instead of dare do anything to take precautions against a "possible" attack.
Brilliant huh? OH and remember, they think they are good about National Security as a party.
Yup.
New York is handling this wonderfully, taking every precuation, and yet soothing their citizens as best they can by assuring them this is all a precuation.
"Earlier this evening, the NYPD began taking several public precautionary measures visible to New Yorkers to guard against an unverified threat that was found on the Internet," he said.
"These actions are like those that the NYPD takes every day -- precautions against potential but unconfirmed threats that may never materialize," Bloomberg said.
At Herald Square, the heart of the 34th Street area, late on Friday evening, there was no visible sign of increased police security as New Yorkers went about their regular activities.
I guess people like the one quote above, the Gun Toting Liberal, have it easy, they have no responsibility to keep America safe, they have no obligation to take precautions, they can simply sit at their keyboard and puff their chest out and talk big about bringing it on!!!
BRING IT ON, al-Qaeda; at least I can blow your heads off LEGALLY if you follow through on your promises. On the other hand, I’d be tossed into prison for doing the same to those who have, somehow, made it “legal” to overtake our Government in an allegedly “legal” coup with worse intentions even than your own.
The problem with that line of thinking is in that paragraph right there, "if you followed through on your promises", well easy to say you would shoot them if they did, but what about the hundred, perhaps thousands that would be killed or injured if we followed that line of thinking, BEFORE he got a chance to start shooting al-Qaeda?
I don't see that addressed at all.
Brave talk from little men.
In the meantime, the people that DO have the responsibility to keep us safe and DO have the obligation to take precautions against any threats, are doing exactly that, whether it pans out or not, anyone that claims not being prepared is a better option than being prepared obviously needs a dictionary to learn what the word "precaution" means.
[Update] Hat Tip to StormWarning's Counterterrorism on the link to the NYT article stating the police are standing down in NY:
The New York City police pulled back their additional security checkpoints and radiological sensors in Lower Manhattan yesterday after determining that a report of a planned dirty bomb attack was unsubstantiated.
The police learned of the threat report from Debka.com, a Jerusalem-based counterterrorism news site that reported a surge in worrisome electronic chatter on Al Qaeda sites on Thursday. According to Debka.com, the messages detailed planned attacks against New York, Los Angeles and Miami using trucks carrying radioactive bombs.
Paul J. Browne, the city’s chief police spokesman, said the department began tightening security on Friday evening near bridges and tunnels in Lower Manhattan and by sea as a precaution, while checking with intelligence agencies to determine if there was any validity to the threat.
[...]
Mr. Shamis said he posted the article about the dirty bomb threat against New York City after vaguely worded chatter grew increasingly specific on Thursday, between midday and the evening. “We thought it was serious enough, and saw the heavy traffic about it, and we realized we should publish,” he said in a telephone interview from Jerusalem.
Mr. Browne said he did not want to overstate the importance of the site, saying the police monitored intelligence and multiple sources from around the world every day.
Still, the effect of Debka.com’s report was borne out by the relative swiftness of the department’s response on Friday.
I completely agree with Stormwarning here:
So what's the story here? Debka is rumored itself to be populated by Israeli miltary and intelligence sources. I have friends, relatives and business associates in New York City and the surrounding areas. I have to be concerned about any threat of terrorism. I saw the effects of the attack on September 11, 2001, and experienced the wondering of "are they all OK?"
The problem is that Debka, as officials say, "carries reports that are often wrong, but occasionally right." Therefore, officials in New York City and the other cities named in the seemingly now debunked Debka report, were obligated to mobilize and prepare. The problem further is that in the Age of the Internet, "pseudo-information" spreads in seconds, develops a life of its own.
Perhaps an even bigger problem is that the bad guys (al Qaeda etal) have now seen a real life mobilization of resources in response to a threat of a dirty bomb attack. We have no choice but to react...the question may be whether the threat was ever real...perhaps we'll never know. All I care about is that NY City responded, was prepared...and that nothing (at this moment - 4:15 EDT) has happened.
Very glad nothing happened, my family on my mothers side mostly live in NY and I am even more relieved that NY is, indeed, able to respond swiftly to potential threats.
More from Right Truth:
Some are poo-pooing the reports, because the original source was DEBKAfile. This doesn't change the fact that New York "increased deployment of radiological sensors -- including those mounted on vehicles, boats and helicopters as well as those carried by NYPD personnel", added more manpower, more equipment, had new checkpoints around the city last night. Somebody thought something serious might happen.
[End Update]
We will bring you more as it comes out...
Track backed by:
Doubting Debka - NY City Stands Down from Stormwarning's Counterterrorism
AQ and Dirty Bombs on American Soil from Miss Beth's Victory Dance...
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