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| Al-Qaeda hijacking team deployed in US |
| 2004-02-17 |
| Al Qaeda has deployed operatives to hijack planes and fly them into targets in an echo of the September 11 attacks and is looking at derailing trains possibly carrying hazardous material, according to a top US intelligence official. Robert Hutchings, chairman of the National Intelligence Council which reports to the CIA director, did not give details of the plots but provided the most recent public outline from an intelligence official of the al Qaeda threat. "Soft targets, including the US stock market, banks, major companies, and tall buildings are a primary focus of active al Qaeda planning," he said. Those targets are seen as easier to hit than US government buildings and major infrastructure, which have higher security, Hutchings said. Al Qaeda has looked at derailing trains, perhaps carrying hazardous materials, to attack US interests, he said. Nuclear power plants, water treatment facilities, and other public utilities are high on al Qaeda’s target list, he said. The US government is concerned that al Qaeda will try to take its ability to build truck bombs as demonstrated by past attacks in Kenya, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, and marry it with toxic or radioactive material to increase the damage and psychological impact of an attack. "My biggest worry, however, is how far al Qaeda might have progressed in being able to deploy a chemical, nuclear, or biological weapon against the United States or its allies," he said. US authorities have found several examples of al Qaeda adjusting its tactics to circumvent increased airline security, Hutchings said, without providing details. "Although we have disrupted several airline plots, we have not eliminated the threat to airplanes," he said. "There are still al Qaeda operatives who we believe have been deployed to hijack planes and fly them into key targets." US authorities have succeeded in disrupting the network, Hutchings said. "We have disrupted scores of plots at home and abroad -- plots that were audacious in terms of the numbers of attacks under consideration and their global scope," he said. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 Anon That ties in rather nicely with the fact that the same flight (226 IIRC) has been canceled several times since christmas. |
| Posted by: Evert Visser 2004-2-18 4:51:24 AM |
| #6 Anonymous: By "venerable" I'm assuming you meant 'vulnerable'. We've heard of the possible risk posed by these sources of radioactive material...though I'm not sure that they pose a great risk. I'm unaware of sleeper cells in our universities....other than the 5th Column that poses as faculty in much of these institutions. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2004-2-18 1:14:37 AM |
| #5 The very venerable targets for terrorists are the old radiation machines with radioactive cesium and cobalt sources in many university research facilities. You can not expect more from the paper tigers who feel secured in protecting these machines with policies and procedures on papers only and with the flimsy locks. It will be a stupidity to rule out the presence of militant Islamic sleepeer cells in several of our universities. The question is of prevention and my only hope is that reaching to these highly radioactive sources is not as easy as removing screws on a panel or two. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-2-18 12:18:29 AM |
| #4 dataman -- He's telling us something he's been told, not something he saw. Something that I also heard on the news last week. |
| Posted by: Robert Crawford 2004-2-17 10:12:05 PM |
| #3 Al Qaeda has looked at derailing trains, perhaps carrying hazardous materials, to attack US interests, he said. I already see the railroad police eyeing railfans with obvious suspicion, and these declarations of wanting to derail a train can't be helping much. At some point in time I suspect that I'll be harassed for simply watching a train go by, and it's quite likely that I'll end up being really, really ticked off. Go ahead, Islamofascists. Piss off the American public even more, and watch as more of your comrades-in-arms' nations fall. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-2-17 9:58:42 PM |
| #2 And of course Anon you failed to mention that you of course at least reported this to someone like the flight attendant. I don't buy that you saw it, but it is plausible. |
| Posted by: dataman1 2004-2-17 9:50:36 PM |
| #1 I haven't posted before, but I'd like to add something to this discussion. I know some people who fly for a few airlines, and they've told me about some very suspicious things that have been happening. Most of the instances revolve around a few Arab looking passengers who go to the bathroom during the flight. Later, the crew found a very specific portion of the bathroom wall removed or tampered with. Also, it just so happens that the removal of this section reveals an emergency route to the cargo hold. I've heard of this happening numerous times. Seems like they're trying to work out some scheme where they plant material useful for a hijacking over a series of flights. Then when they actually do an operation, they have all of the tools there waiting for them. Plus, they seem to have done their homework in an effort to find specific weaknesses in certain aircraft, such as knowing which panel in the bathroom to remove. These could all just be some sort of coincidences, but I hope DHS and the FBI are, nevertheless, all over this stuff. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2004-2-17 7:18:39 PM |