Italian Il Giornale: Al Qaeda Threatens to Nuke New York on Feb 2 [Debka]

[truthisfreedom]

ok, this is frightening. i don't know if it's a hoax, or if Debka is really considered a news source in here. anyways, here goes.

http://debka.com/article.php?aid=757

Italian Il Giornale: Al Qaeda Threatens to Nuke New York on February 2
Special Report

December 31, 2003, 12:03 AM (GMT+02:00)

The banner headline spread across the front page of Il Giornale, the respected Milan daily reads:


“Al Qaeda: We will destroy New York within 35 days. Threat on the Internet. Countdown begins.”

The threat was contained in a video clip featured on a web site associated with the fundamentalist terror group. It announced al Qaeda plans to destroy New York in a nuclear blast on February 2. Il Giornale claims the FBI blocked and removed the web site.

The video clip showed three possible scenarios: 1. A bomb or giant fireball from the skies that will cover the metropolis with a radioactive cloud. 2. A storm of radioactive clouds that will topple skyscrapers one by one, along with the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. 3. An explosion on board a charter aircraft that will cause a radioactive cloud to spread over the city.

The video clip was accompanied by large, red-lettered Arabic captions saying: “If God wills it, the end of America is near.”

DEBKAfile’s counter-terrorism sources say they cannot verify the authorship or gauge the seriousness of the threat because the Internet site is no longer accessible.

<snip>

[soothsayer]

1. debka's a pretty dubious source

a shill for the neocons really

[truthisfreedom]

4. if the mods feel this is a poor article for DU, please pull it.

thanks.

[Gman]

20. I wouldn't call them a shill for the neocons

but yes, they have been dubious in the past.

But when I read this I think of the fact that Al-queda didn't publish anything on any website announcing the coming of 9/11 "in 35 days" or anything else. So I just think they think America is jittery right now so they thought they'd pile a little bit more on top of the jitters.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

2. the problem with debka, is that they were right once

and they might be again.
But I doubt it.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Even a broken clock is right

twice a day

[punpirate]

8. How about a clock with no hands? DEBKA.... n/t

[Solly Mack]

3. but but...that's my birthday!...

How can I look for my shadow if the nation is cowering in fear?

[PartyPooper]

6. I'm sure Tom Ridge is on this current threat as we speak.

Code alert will be raised to "red" shortly after he confers with Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, Colin Powell, and the pResident.

:tinfoilhat:

[punpirate]

7. Il Giornale is, I think...

... a Berlusconi paper, and DEBKA leaves a lot to be desired as a news source. The "dirty bomb" scenario is hokum. Scenario #2 would require not a dirty bomb, but a fission weapon at minimum. Scenarios #1 and #3 would require a bomb of rather monstrous proportions, which probably could not be hidden aboard an aircraft.

More bullshit. This is little more than the disinformation campaign in full swing.

[bluestateguy]

9. Al Qaeda can't pull it off

They may have the capability to set off truck bombs or some unsophisticated type of attack that inflicts hundreds, maybe the low thousands, of casualties, but I don't see them having the ability to take out a US city under our radar screen.

[mobuto]

11. Sounds like a dirty bomb

a radioactive cloud is not generally what you think of when you think of a nuke. Most people are generally more worried about the heat and the blast. I suppose this is possible - the hard part for Al Qaeda would be in dispersing the radioactive material far enough with conventional explosives to contaminate a significant area. Lets hope this is simply more banter, and if it isn't, that they're not competent enough to fulfill their desires.

[punpirate]

13. A radioactive cloud is...

... is exactly what I think about when I think of a nuclear weapon, i.e., fallout.

Let's review. Nuclear weapons produce enormous amounts of radioactive fallout. So-called dirty bombs can only spread their radioactive waste as far as the conventional explosives are able to disperse them, in conjunction with prevailing winds.

Highly radioactive fallout can decimate a fairly large percentage of those affected in a matter of days or weeks, because of radioactive concentration. Small amounts of radioactive waste would have much less immediate effects, and would probably result in few deaths in the short term, with more long-term deaths from cancer.

[DCDemo]

17. Creative delivery systems, wind, and multiple locations

Could easily poison NYC enough to cause a major exodus and shut down for months at least until everything was clean.

That's the real problem with Dirty Bombs.....yeah, lots of people don't die like from an explosion, but it pretty much causes a need for major population relocation, whether temporary or permanent.

Can you imagine the economic damage if NYC, or even just Manhattan, was a "hot zone" and off limits for months or years?

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

21. Would that mean they would have time to pave the streets?

That might be a good thing.

[demconfive]

24. It wouldn't have to kill anyone.

Even if it was low level, mildly radioactive, material it would send the U.S. into a hysterical panic, thanks to the priming of BushCo.
The question is:where could they get a bunch of mildly radioactive, poisonous material? Can you say Depleted Uranium?

[madrchsod]

10. don`t think this is real at all

but the il giornale has some nice pics of models from around the world..

[DoYouEverWonder]

12. So what do they plan to use for a delivery system?

Mule drawn carts?

This is just more bogus chatter that is being planted by BCF operatives all over the internet. The real terrorists are the people who are spreading this bullshit around.

[truthisfreedom]

15. you mean me?

8^|

[DoYouEverWonder]

18. Oh no

but it's unsuspecting folks like you, who are helping them to spread this stuff around.

These reports are very scary and on the surface seem credible. When they started popping up here on DU, I started trying to track down where they were coming from. I am finding that the source of a lot of this stuff is not al Qaeda extremists, but rather a group of self-made al Qaeda experts, some of whom are extreme radical fundies who are creating this crap.

[truthisfreedom]

19. so you're saying i am helping terrorists spread stuff around.

i mean, all i am doing at this point is repeating exactly what you said over those two posts... first you said the real terrorists are the people spreading this stuff around, and then you said i am helping them spread this stuff around... so logically, you are saying that i am helping terrorists spread stuff around. correct?

would you like me to remove the original post? is that what you are really saying? would you prefer not to hear about it?

[MidwestTransplant]

14. They aren't predicting anything

they are just reporting a threat. Sounds like something the fundamentalists would threaten.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Funny you should say that. One of the sources of this bs

is a rabid fundie from NM. Here is an article they he published and posted on numerous extremest right wing sights around 12/22/03. Then a week later Tommy Ridge announces that we are going to Orange Alert sighting some of the same info has the basis for his decision.

Is al Qaeda Threatening a Nuclear Attack?

[burrowowl]

22. OMG

I didn't know that assh*** from ABQ spreads manure, not only in ABQ, but all over. I've seen his letters to the editor and he makes me want to puke.

[The_Casual_Observer]

23. When are THRUSH and SPECTRE going to return?

At least when they got ready to nuke us their side wore uniforms and couldn't shoot very well.

You say allkeda .... I say allkida ... lets call the whole thing off.

Debka probably means bullshit in the proper translation.

[mouse7]

25. Fuck Ariel Sharon and his propaganda website DEBKA!

Sorry to be so unclear how I feel on this issue. I really wish I could stop being so wishy-washy.

[truthisfreedom]

26. yeah. i'm with ya there. 8^)

it's hard for me to draw the line between what might be pertinent and what is likely pure propaganda.

[Zhade]

27. Mossad feeds DEBKA "intelligence".

Not completely a Mossad propaganda tool, but dubious, as one poster put it.

Besides, February? That's way too early to help Bush. The cynic in me says "nah".

Hope my inner cynic is right, of course...

[Moderator]

28. Locking...not LBN news

This article is over 12 hours old.

Please feel free to re-post in another appropriate forum.

Thanks!

DU Moderator