Saturday, July 08, 2006

As "Marginalized" As Ever....

AP:
The terrorist plot, in the words of one FBI official, involved "martyrdom and explosives": suicide bombers who would attack train tunnels used by tens of thousands of commuters in an effort to bring death and flooding to lower Manhattan.

Eight suspects had hoped to pull off the attack in October or November, federal officials said. But federal investigators working with their counterparts in six other countries intervened before the suspects could travel to the United States and become a more serious threat, officials said Friday.

Initial reports said the suspects — including an al-Qaida loyalist arrested in Lebanon and two others in custody elsewhere — wanted to attack the Holland Tunnel, a major thoroughfare that carries cars beneath the Hudson River and into Manhattan.

But officials said the group, with five suspects still at large, had specifically mentioned only the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation train tunnels, which carry more than 215,000 passengers each weekday between New York and New Jersey.

"This is a plot that involved martyrdom and explosives," said FBI Assistant Director Mark J. Mershon.

Officials cited the arrest of the Lebanese suspect — described as the scheme's mastermind — as a significant break in the investigation. A Lebanese official said the Beirut man confessed to plotting to attack the tunnels later this year, and that he was acting on Osama bin Laden's orders.
Even if the suspect didn't receive specific orders from bin Laden, it's crystal-clear that bin Laden's ability to evade capture and taunt the U.S. is an inspiration to others. Exactly what will it take to make his capture or killing a priority?

8 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Exactly what will it take to make his capture or killing a priority?"

Wellllll.....for one, Bin Laden would actually have to exist. Maybe it's time for a new boogey-man?....

7/08/2006 4:55 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

A new Administration
A new Congress
A new CIA
A new Pentagon
A new State Department

judyo

7/08/2006 7:14 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

First, so much for the flytrap theory.

Second, I agree with TCR. Why is our government forgetting about Bin Laden and has done so from the very beginning of this ordeal? There was never even a halfhearted effort to find him. This would make my grandmother think of conspiracy.

Third, the latest avoided plots still involved the Sears Tower and Lower Manhattan. You will remember that most recently funds were cut for Manhattan, as it doesn't have "national icons" to protect, whereas Omaha, NE and Louisville, KY are receiving more funds. Since when are we protecting national icons over people? The reason for such a policy can only be pork spending.

Fourth, are we going to be inundated with thwarted plots until November? Please.

7/09/2006 7:44 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Isn't lower Manhattan above sea level? If it is, how would this flooding work? This sounds an awful lot like the previous bust of the seven assclowns in Miami, who didn't actually have any, like, explosives, or a car... and they were under the spell of some guy who walked around the neighborhood in his pajamas. Now we have a new bunch of Junior Jihadis with no explosives and a rather dim knowledge of basic physics (water doesn't run uphill...) and they aren't even in the country. That didn't stop the media from touting the latest super scary "plot" like the obedient little whores they are.

7/09/2006 9:51 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Antonie--plots out the yahzoo until the elections. As I remember the summer and fall of 2004 was one alert after another. Until after the election. Tom Ridge left soon thereafter to be rewarded for a job well done.

7/10/2006 8:10 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He's more valuable to the Administration if he's perceived to be alive.

7/10/2006 6:30 PM  
Blogger Bravo 2-1 said...

Zawahiri's footprints are all over London. Watch them show up in India today.

But official intelligence does not admit this. It's still "pending". Why? Because if we acknowledged the command and control that UBL and his goons have, we'd have to accept an incomplete (sinfully incomplete) job in Afghanistan.

While we toppled Iraq and brought it to chaos...

7/11/2006 1:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

best regards, nice info »

1/31/2007 4:32 AM  

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