Joesoef
15-11-02, 12:30
FBI warns al Qaeda possibly planning 'spectacular' attack
Friday, November 15, 2002 Posted: 5:41 AM EST (1041 GMT)
Homeland security chief Tom Ridge: Recent attacks show al Qaeda "remains a dangerous threat."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Qaeda may be planning a "spectacular" terrorist attack intended to damage the U.S. economy and inflict large-scale casualties, the FBI warns.
The FBI's regular weekly law enforcement bulletin, circulated Thursday to officials nationwide, contains no information about the timing, location or method of a possible attack. Even so, the warning is unusual because of its dire language.
"Sources suggest al Qaeda may favor spectacular attacks that meet several criteria: High symbolic value, mass casualties, severe damage to the U.S. economy and maximum psychological trauma," says the alert, which was posted on the FBI's Web site early Friday after its existence was reported by The New York Times and The Associated Press. It originally had not been released to the public.
The highest priority targets remain within the aviation, petroleum and nuclear sectors, as well as significant national landmarks, it adds.
Federal authorities previously have issued warnings for those specific industries and national landmarks in general. But there is clearly worry that the danger of an attack is growing because of increased "chatter" picked up through intelligence channels, the continuing U.S. showdown with Iraq and the recently revealed audiotaped warnings believed to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Still, the latest warning has not led the Bush administration to raise the terrorist threat level above code yellow, or "elevated," which is the middle of a five-level scale of risk developed after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that although the terrorism risk level remains unchanged, "We are taking additional precautions to meet the threat."
These include unspecified "additional steps to ramp up our protection and prevention measures" within federal agencies, McClellan said. The FBI and other agencies also are communicating possible threats and assessments of risk to state and local law enforcement agencies and specific industries that could be targeted.
In recent weeks, the FBI has issued warnings about possible attacks on U.S. railroads and on the energy industry, as well as a more general warning about heightened risk during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Wednesday and ends December 5.
"We're especially sensitive to time frames which might be thought by the enemy to be a time when they might want to make a statement," Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
The recent nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, the assault on Marines in Kuwait and the attack on a French oil tanker near Yemen -- as well as the U.S. strike on a car carrying suspected terrorists, also in Yemen -- are described by several law enforcement officials as actions that point to an increased threat.
"If there was any doubt in anybody's mind that al Qaeda remains a dangerous threat to America or the world, I suspect it was dispelled with the string of attacks," Tom Ridge, director of the White House homeland security office, said Thursday.
It is up to Ridge and Ashcroft to decide whether a change in threat level is warranted. Ashcroft and Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson are among a few Justice Department officials who see the daily raw intelligence on terrorism gathered by the FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies.
The threat level was elevated from yellow to orange for two weeks in September to coincide with the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It has remained at yellow since then, but the possibility of U.S. military action against Iraq has lawmakers and the Bush administration on guard.
"I think that as we ratchet up toward Iraq, we have to believe that there will be attempts in this country anywhere, perhaps everywhere, to do us harm," Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN.
Ridge and FBI Director Robert Mueller say the nation is far better prepared to detect and stop a terrorist attack than it was prior to September 11, 2001. They say the intelligence sharing among agencies is vastly improved, as well as information about airplane passengers, people who enter through U.S. border crossings and students who lose their status and remain in this country.
Friday, November 15, 2002 Posted: 5:41 AM EST (1041 GMT)
Homeland security chief Tom Ridge: Recent attacks show al Qaeda "remains a dangerous threat."
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Al Qaeda may be planning a "spectacular" terrorist attack intended to damage the U.S. economy and inflict large-scale casualties, the FBI warns.
The FBI's regular weekly law enforcement bulletin, circulated Thursday to officials nationwide, contains no information about the timing, location or method of a possible attack. Even so, the warning is unusual because of its dire language.
"Sources suggest al Qaeda may favor spectacular attacks that meet several criteria: High symbolic value, mass casualties, severe damage to the U.S. economy and maximum psychological trauma," says the alert, which was posted on the FBI's Web site early Friday after its existence was reported by The New York Times and The Associated Press. It originally had not been released to the public.
The highest priority targets remain within the aviation, petroleum and nuclear sectors, as well as significant national landmarks, it adds.
Federal authorities previously have issued warnings for those specific industries and national landmarks in general. But there is clearly worry that the danger of an attack is growing because of increased "chatter" picked up through intelligence channels, the continuing U.S. showdown with Iraq and the recently revealed audiotaped warnings believed to be from al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
Still, the latest warning has not led the Bush administration to raise the terrorist threat level above code yellow, or "elevated," which is the middle of a five-level scale of risk developed after the September 11, 2001, attacks.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said that although the terrorism risk level remains unchanged, "We are taking additional precautions to meet the threat."
These include unspecified "additional steps to ramp up our protection and prevention measures" within federal agencies, McClellan said. The FBI and other agencies also are communicating possible threats and assessments of risk to state and local law enforcement agencies and specific industries that could be targeted.
In recent weeks, the FBI has issued warnings about possible attacks on U.S. railroads and on the energy industry, as well as a more general warning about heightened risk during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started Wednesday and ends December 5.
"We're especially sensitive to time frames which might be thought by the enemy to be a time when they might want to make a statement," Attorney General John Ashcroft said.
The recent nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia, the assault on Marines in Kuwait and the attack on a French oil tanker near Yemen -- as well as the U.S. strike on a car carrying suspected terrorists, also in Yemen -- are described by several law enforcement officials as actions that point to an increased threat.
"If there was any doubt in anybody's mind that al Qaeda remains a dangerous threat to America or the world, I suspect it was dispelled with the string of attacks," Tom Ridge, director of the White House homeland security office, said Thursday.
It is up to Ridge and Ashcroft to decide whether a change in threat level is warranted. Ashcroft and Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson are among a few Justice Department officials who see the daily raw intelligence on terrorism gathered by the FBI, CIA and other intelligence agencies.
The threat level was elevated from yellow to orange for two weeks in September to coincide with the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks. It has remained at yellow since then, but the possibility of U.S. military action against Iraq has lawmakers and the Bush administration on guard.
"I think that as we ratchet up toward Iraq, we have to believe that there will be attempts in this country anywhere, perhaps everywhere, to do us harm," Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, senior Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said on CNN.
Ridge and FBI Director Robert Mueller say the nation is far better prepared to detect and stop a terrorist attack than it was prior to September 11, 2001. They say the intelligence sharing among agencies is vastly improved, as well as information about airplane passengers, people who enter through U.S. border crossings and students who lose their status and remain in this country.