| Topic: |
Science > Prophecies-Of-Nostradamus |
| User: |
"Marvin The Paranoid Android" |
| Date: |
05 Jul 2004 10:49:41 AM |
| Object: |
Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans |
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
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Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, July 4 ? The federal authorities, concerned about a terror
attack during this summer's national political conventions, have begun a
new effort to identify potential extremists inside the United States,
including conducting interviews in communities where terrorists might seek
refuge, government officials said.
The fears about an incident during the conventions or later in the year have
also led state and local officials to impose extraordinary security
precautions. Persistent if indistinct intelligence reports, based on
electronic intercepts and live sources, indicate that Al Qaeda is
determined to strike in the United States some time this year, the
officials said in interviews last week.
Almost half the budgets in each convention city will be spent on security,
local officials said. The Democratic National Convention will be held in
Boston at the Fleet Center from July 26 to 29. The Republican National
Convention will be held in New York at Madison Square Garden from Aug. 30
to Sept. 2.
New York is regarded as a higher risk than Boston by counterterrorism
officials because President Bush is a Republican and because of consistent
intelligence.
"Al Qaeda has unambiguous plans to hit the homeland again," James L. Pavitt,
the C.I.A.'s outgoing head of clandestine operations, said in a speech in
New York last week, "and New York City, I am certain, remains a prime
target."
Pasquale J. D'Amuro, the head of the New York F.B.I. office, said in an
interview that nearly all of the more than 1,100 agents in the office, the
bureau's largest field division, will be involved in collecting
intelligence and other security tasks before the convention.
Convention planners expanded their security requirements, at the urging of
federal officials, after the March 11 commuter train attacks in Madrid that
killed 191 people.
While the intelligence is not yet clear or specific enough to justify
increasing the country's color-coded alert level, the officials said, there
are signs of rising concern in the government. On Friday, cabinet members
were briefed on the latest intelligence, which, administration officials
said, indicates Al Qaeda's intention to strike in the United States, but
does not suggest when or where an attack might occur or who might be behind
it.
Recent intelligence reports have hinted that an attack might involve
relatively crude materials in an uncomplicated operation, the officials
said, suggesting the possibility of a car or truck bomb rather than a plot
relying on sophisticated weapons or training like the commercial aviation
studies undertaken by the hijackers in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
Some of the information has indicated that potential attackers might not be
young Arab men, but religious extremists from other countries, possibly in
Africa. For that reason investigators have begun to more closely examine
visa holders already in the United States from countries like Somalia,
Kenya and Nigeria.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are also starting to conduct
interviews in communities where potential terrorists might seek to blend in
with local populations. The officials said that the interviews were based
on intelligence about who might pose a threat, but would also be patterned
on the informational interviews conducted in Arab-American neighborhoods
after the Sept. 11 attacks and in Iraqi-American communities at the start
of the American-led invasion in 2003.
At the bureau's headquarters in Washington, officials have organized the '04
Task Force, a team of analysts and investigators at the bureau's strategic
command center there who are seeking out investigative avenues that could
reveal vulnerabilities or signs of preparation for an attack. The team was
formed in response to criticism by the independent commission investigating
the Sept. 11 attacks and from others that the bureau had failed to think
imaginatively about how an attack might be carried out.
In New York, Gov. George E. Pataki, a Republican, has called on a 10-state
consortium of law enforcement agencies, from Maine to Delaware, to share
intelligence about warning signs of terrorist planning.
"We think we know the targets that might have great economic impact or cause
large loss of life," said James K. Kallstrom, a senior terrorism adviser to
Mr. Pataki. "But we know terrorists might not be in proximity to those
targets, so we have put a series of tripwires in place throughout New
England."
In New York, the cost of security is expected to exceed $75 million, of the
total convention cost of about $166 million, as concerns have broadened to
include not only the week of the convention, but also the weeks before and
after it.
The Police Department will increase uniformed and plainclothes patrols in
many parts of the city, focusing on landmarks, tourist sites, sites related
to the convention, bridges and tunnels, airports and simply places where
people gather. Much of the focus will be on the subway system.
For Boston, the security bill is now estimated to reach $50 million, twice
the original estimate and more than half the roughly $95 million overall
convention cost.
The Secret Service has ordered some 40 miles of roads closed around the
Fleet Center, where the Democrats will meet, including Interstate 93, a
section of which runs above ground just 40 feet from the arena. The
shutdown of major roads near the convention site is the central and most
controversial part of a complex security plan. The plan involves multiple
police agencies and includes random checks of handbags and packages on
buses and subways by police and bomb-sniffing dogs, as well as closed
security zones.
New York is considered to be a more likely target, but security planners in
Boston said that area had many potential targets of its own, including a
complex infrastructure, prestigious universities and, perhaps most of all,
symbolic sites.
"This is the seat of liberty," said Carlo A. Boccia, the city's director of
homeland security, gesturing from the window of his City Hall office toward
Faneuil Hall and the Old State House. "You attack that, it's the very heart
of America."
The Boston Police Department estimated that the security measures ordered by
the Secret Service added about $9.5 million in police, firefighter and
medical worker overtime for a total of $32.5 million, the largest portion
of the security cost.
At first, the authorities seemed likely to order closings only during the
evening hours of the convention. But it quickly became apparent that
because of the complex nature of the roads that feed into downtown Boston,
it would take hours to clear the backed-up traffic. So the ban has been
extended from roughly 4 p.m. to midnight.
Some 200,000 vehicles travel on I-93 on a weekday, and 24,000 people use the
commuter rail line from the north. But because of congestion on alternate
routes, the ban is likely to affect tens of thousands more.
The traffic ban has outraged commuters as well as business owners who fear
the city will be nearly deserted except for the 36,000 visitors expected
for the convention. State employees have been encouraged to take the days
of the convention off, and many businesses have told their employees to do
the same.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino bristles at criticism.
"This convention will be good for Boston," Mayor Menino said in an
interview. He added, "Since 9/11, our whole world has changed drastically.
The Secret Service is really dictating the conditions. It's remarkable how
many public safety agencies have been working together."
As in Boston, security concerns in New York will focus on a fairly broad
time frame. Raymond W. Kelly, the city police commissioner, said the
heightened measures would be in place weeks before Aug. 30, when the
Republican National Convention opens, and will continue after the event
ends Sept. 2.
"The lead-up, the run-up to the convention is an area that certainly
requires additional attention," Mr. Kelly said, "because anything that
happens in that period could be just as disruptive as something that
happens during convention week."
The Madrid bombing has also led to stepped-up security plans in New York.
About 10,000 officers will be deployed, up from 6,500, to provide security
at Madison Square Garden, city hotels, bridges and tunnels, demonstration
areas, landmarks and other sites, according to a previously undisclosed May
10 memorandum prepared by the city's Washington lobbying office in an
effort to obtain more federal money for security.
Securing the city's transportation system is a complex task. About seven
million people a day ride the subway system. The Long Island Rail Road
carries about 270,000 riders each day on 730 trains, while the Metro-North
Railroad carries about 250,000 people daily.
In addition to increased subway patrols, the memorandum said, the
department's efforts include deploying officers to Pennsylvania Station,
beneath Madison Square Garden, as well as other transit, and an inspection
plan for each commuter rail line that enters Penn Station.
The security around Madison Square Garden will include shutting down major
Midtown streets for several hours each day, ringing the arena with concrete
barriers and allowing demonstrators to gather only at one corner of the
site, measures that officials acknowledge will disrupt large swaths of
Manhattan.
But Madison Square Garden is not the only concern. Because any attack in the
city would probably cause the disruption sought by extremists, Mr. Kelly
said, the department will also focus on other events that week, including
the U.S. Open tennis tournament and New York Yankees and Mets games.
Mr. D'Amuro, of the F.B.I., also expressed concern about the periods before
and after the convention.
"We know one of the things that Al Qaeda looks at is security measures in
place and whether they think they could be successful in carrying out an
attack," he said. "And if they don't believe they will, they'll postpone
it, they'll put it off to another time."
.
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| User: "Woodswun" |
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| Title: Re: Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans |
05 Jul 2004 05:41:35 PM |
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In article <ccbipu0to3@news1.newsguy.com>, Marvin The Paranoid Android <marv@galaxy.com> wrote:
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, July 4 ? The federal authorities, concerned about a terror
attack during this summer's national political conventions, have begun a
new effort to identify potential extremists inside the United States,
including conducting interviews in communities where terrorists might seek
refuge, government officials said.
Interesting how it's okay to embarrass/inconvenience entire neighborhoods based
on where (unknown) terrorists might, possibly, seek refuge, but it wasn't okay
to do the same to relatives of bin Laden to find out if they knew where he might
be.
Woods
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| User: "R. Foreman" |
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| Title: Bush The Flip-Flopper |
06 Jul 2004 05:04:02 PM |
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(Woodswun) Spat the Words
In article <ccbipu0to3@news1.newsguy.com>, Marvin The Paranoid Android
<marv@galaxy.com> wrote:
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, July 4 ? The federal authorities, concerned about a terror
attack during this summer's national political conventions, have begun
a new effort to identify potential extremists inside the United
States, including conducting interviews in communities where
terrorists might seek refuge, government officials said.
Interesting how it's okay to embarrass/inconvenience entire
neighborhoods based on where (unknown) terrorists might, possibly,
seek refuge, but it wasn't okay to do the same to relatives of bin
Laden to find out if they knew where he might be.
That is interesting. I'd say there's a double standard at
work here. Could it be, Bush Flip-Flopping? Bush is a flip-
flopper, no doubt. He accused Clinton of 'foreign adventurism'
and 'nation building', then turns around and launches a
completely unnecessary war of naked agression in Iraq.
Bush is embodiment of everything we don't want in a leader.
He's greedy. He let's his personal agendas (did somebody say
Iraq?) enter into his professional life. Bush is a flip-flopper.
Bush has cut programs and benefits across the board, from VA
benefits to schools, then gives welfare to his rich cronies.
What's the word when a leader doesn't have popular support?
Facist. Bush is a facist.
Woods
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| User: "Marvin The Paranoid Android" |
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| Title: Re: Bush The Flip-Flopper |
06 Jul 2004 09:26:27 PM |
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R. Foreman wrote:
woodswun@tepidmail.com (Woodswun) Spat the Words
In article <ccbipu0to3@news1.newsguy.com>, Marvin The Paranoid Android
<marv@galaxy.com> wrote:
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, July 4 ? The federal authorities, concerned about a terror
attack during this summer's national political conventions, have begun
a new effort to identify potential extremists inside the United
States, including conducting interviews in communities where
terrorists might seek refuge, government officials said.
Interesting how it's okay to embarrass/inconvenience entire
neighborhoods based on where (unknown) terrorists might, possibly,
seek refuge, but it wasn't okay to do the same to relatives of bin
Laden to find out if they knew where he might be.
That is interesting. I'd say there's a double standard at
work here. Could it be, Bush Flip-Flopping? Bush is a flip-
flopper, no doubt. He accused Clinton of 'foreign adventurism'
and 'nation building', then turns around and launches a
completely unnecessary war of naked agression in Iraq.
Bush is embodiment of everything we don't want in a leader.
He's greedy. He let's his personal agendas (did somebody say
Iraq?) enter into his professional life. Bush is a flip-flopper.
Bush has cut programs and benefits across the board, from VA
benefits to schools, then gives welfare to his rich cronies.
What's the word when a leader doesn't have popular support?
Facist. Bush is a facist.
Tony Al Wassabbi is all for Facism.
McDonald is still reading up on it.
.
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| User: "R. Foreman" |
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| Title: Re: Bush The Flip-Flopper |
07 Jul 2004 01:09:14 PM |
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Marvin The Paranoid Android <marv@galaxy.com> Spat the Words
R. Foreman wrote:
woodswun@tepidmail.com (Woodswun) Spat the Words
In article <ccbipu0to3@news1.newsguy.com>, Marvin The Paranoid
Android
<marv@galaxy.com> wrote:
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
--
--
Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans
By DAVID JOHNSTON
WASHINGTON, July 4 ? The federal authorities, concerned about a
terror
attack during this summer's national political conventions, have
begun
a new effort to identify potential extremists inside the United
States, including conducting interviews in communities where
terrorists might seek refuge, government officials said.
Interesting how it's okay to embarrass/inconvenience entire
neighborhoods based on where (unknown) terrorists might, possibly,
seek refuge, but it wasn't okay to do the same to relatives of bin
Laden to find out if they knew where he might be.
That is interesting. I'd say there's a double standard at
work here. Could it be, Bush Flip-Flopping? Bush is a flip-
flopper, no doubt. He accused Clinton of 'foreign adventurism'
and 'nation building', then turns around and launches a
completely unnecessary war of naked agression in Iraq.
Bush is embodiment of everything we don't want in a leader.
He's greedy. He let's his personal agendas (did somebody say
Iraq?) enter into his professional life. Bush is a flip-flopper.
Bush has cut programs and benefits across the board, from VA
benefits to schools, then gives welfare to his rich cronies.
What's the word when a leader doesn't have popular support?
Facist. Bush is a facist.
Tony Al Wassabbi is all for Facism.
McDonald is still reading up on it.
They might be trying to figure out why jack-boot politics
didn't work in the 1940's Germany.
.
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| User: "Absolute Zero" |
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| Title: Re: Fears of Attack at Conventions Drive New Plans |
05 Jul 2004 03:07:01 PM |
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Marvin The Paranoid Android wrote:
Al Qaeda is alive and well three years later.
Tony Al Wassabi couldn't be happier.
;)
Double "b" bbut close enough. You could incorporate one of his pantyhose
handles to give.. Tariq Al Wassabbi
Atta was rather fond of strip joints.. separated at birth?
-A
But thankfully authorities will be on the lookout for him.
[...]
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