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| Credible Threats to American Cities |
| 2003-12-19 |
| In the past 48 hours, there has been an increase in terrorist threats to a number of cities in the U.S., including New York City, Los Angeles and Washington D.C., ABCNEWS has learned. Threat information is coming from intelligence intercerpts, interrogation of recent detainees and other methods intelligence sources say. Sources say the threat to New York City involves a suicide bomber, possibly a female, but no specific target has been identified. In the threats received for other cities, including Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., no mode of attack has been identified and no location or specific cells were named. Discussions between local and federal law enforcement officials are currently under way to develop a response. Officials around the nation were already actively engaged in serious discussions with the Department of Homeland Security about whether events, chatter, and the time of year warrant elevating the threat level inside the United States to orange for the upcoming holiday season that starts tonight at sunset. "upcoming holiday season." They can’t bring themselves to say "Hanukkah," which starts tonight. Pray for us here in NYC. |
| Posted by:growler |
| #12 "...information gleaned from online chat rooms..." Indymedia and Democratic Underground? |
| Posted by: Ptah 2003-12-19 3:17:36 PM |
| #11 I work in midtown Manhattan, and there have been lots of low-flying helicopters hovering over the city for the past month or two. I watched one this morning hover at about 1500 ft. over 5th Avenue for at least 15-20 minutes. Others seem to be circling around the island slowly. I guess they could be news or traffic choppers, but my guess is that they have radiation detectors or some other similar equipment. One can hope. On a related note, I am on the 41st floor of my building, and my office faces east. Before 9/11, I never noticed the planes going by on their way to and from La Guardia and Kennedy. Now I hear every plane that goes by. Any time I hear one that is particularly loud, I immediately look up. I thought my sensitivity to this would diminish as 9/11 became more distant, but it hasn't. It's unsettling, but I do think it helps me to remember why we're at war and who we're fighting, and also that they brought this on themselves, the miserable pricks. Sorry for the rant. |
| Posted by: Tibor 2003-12-19 2:24:14 PM |
| #10 Pardon a stranger for buttin in, but we are leaving for NY in the morning....and I do not for one minute intend to let this disrupt my Holidays. You folks in NY be safe and careful and always diligent and if you see me walking down Broadway, give us a shout out. No place I would rather be if I'm not here in Texas....Holiday Greetings Ya'll |
| Posted by: Texas biker 2003-12-19 2:23:33 PM |
| #9 Update from ABC's page: "We have remained concerned about the volume of reporting of threats and that is why the Department of Homeland Security has sent out several bulletins over the past few weeks to homeland security officials and law enforcement personnel, urging all to continue be on heightened state of alert especially, as we enter the busy holiday season," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said today at a news conference. [...] Considerations underpinning the discussions include the capture of Saddam Hussein, information gleaned from online chat rooms, classified information arising from one of the former Soviet republics and increased concerns of authorities in Italy, the United Kingdom and Poland, sources say. The discussions are part of an intense series of conference calls and personal meetings between officials that have been ongoing since at least Wednesday, as the nation enters the holiday rush. An estimated 500,000 people are expected to flood into New York City for this year's Times Square New Year Eve's bash. [...] Mitigating against raising the level to orange are fiscal considerations. State officials say the cost of raising the threat level is too high unless there is a specific threat. Today in New York City, law enforcement officials began finalizing their plans for the New Year's security package, which will include the welding shut of manhole covers, the removal of post office boxes, and the preparation of a rodeo-like series of pens and gates that funnel backpack-less revelers into the area along Broadway. Heavy weapons teams, bomb squads, city, state and federal weapons of mass destruction units, bioterror sensors, undercover agents, thousands of uniformed officers and so-called Arch Angel convoys — units trained to remove dignitaries in case of an incident — are all part of the plan. Sources said there is only a "slight chance" the nation could go to orange and it is much more likely that additional alerts will go out and local officials can then choose how to respond on their own. |
| Posted by: growler 2003-12-19 2:20:52 PM |
| #8 Dar -- The threat level never moves until AFTER something has happened or been stopped. I suspect it has been abandoned. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2003-12-19 2:05:53 PM |
| #7 I used to work in administration for a law enforcement agency (DOC) in NYC and I still have a few contacts there. I have not heard anything regarding an increase in threat level here, but I will ask again. I haven't really noticed a bigger police presence lately, but then again I live and work in Queens. I live in a predominantly Muslim neighborhood too and I have not noticed an exodus of people. A few weeks ago, however, people I knew were worried because they thought something might be down around the end of Ramadan. Not sure if any of you living here noticed, but there were fighter jets circling the city, especially a few days after the Eid festival. You probably would have noticed them more in the evening or at night. That got me a bit freaked out, but I have not noticed fighters lately. |
| Posted by: LJ 2003-12-19 1:50:09 PM |
| #6 NO official word yet. Anecdotal evidence, though: lots more sirens than usual today; larger police presence. |
| Posted by: growler 2003-12-19 1:10:07 PM |
| #5 The last bit of the story says they're deciding if they should. Here in NY we've been on orange constantly since 9/11. |
| Posted by: growler 2003-12-19 1:08:25 PM |
| #4 Anything OFFICIAL about this. I mean come-on this is ABC |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2003-12-19 1:07:08 PM |
| #3 Strange--the terror alert remains at "Elevated"/Yellow. Hard to believe that they have anything substantial and haven't raised the level. |
| Posted by: Dar 2003-12-19 12:48:11 PM |
| #2 Nuke Malibu. |
| Posted by: mojo 2003-12-19 12:41:36 PM |
| #1 Will do. Our daughter's in the city ... she was about 1 mile from the Twin Towers on 9/11, too. Sigh. |
| Posted by: rkb 2003-12-19 12:33:47 PM |