Jordan says major al Qaeda plot disrupted

[demdave]

Authorities: Chemical cloud would have been released in Amman



AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- Jordanian authorities said Monday they have broken up an alleged al Qaeda plot that would have unleashed a deadly cloud of chemicals in the heart of Jordan's capital, Amman.

The plot would have been more deadly than anything al Qaeda has done before, including the September 11 attacks, according to the Jordanian government.

Among the alleged targets were the U.S. Embassy, the Jordanian prime minister's office and the headquarters of Jordanian intelligence.

U.S. intelligence officials expressed caution about whether the chemicals captured by Jordanian authorities were intended to create a "toxic cloud" chemical weapon, but they said the large quantities involved were at a minimum intended to create "massive explosions."

Officials said there is debate within the CIA and other U.S. agencies over whether the plotters were planning to kill innocent people using toxic chemicals.

At issue is the presence of a large quantity of sulfuric acid among the tons of chemicals seized by Jordanian authorities. Sulfuric acid can be used as a blister agent, but it more commonly can increase the size of conventional explosions, according to U.S. officials.


http://cnn.worldnews.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=CNN.com+-+Jordan+says+major+al+Qaeda+plot+disrupted+-+Apr+26%2C+2004&expire=&urlID=10041427&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2004%2FWORLD%2Fmeast%2F04%2F26%2Fjordan.terror%2Findex.html&partnerID=2006

[leftyandproud]

1. heard on the radio that..

would have killed 80k

[jtb33]

2. Wow!

I *wonder* what would have happened... and when...

[leftyandproud]

3. double wow!

I wonder why nobody else replied to this post...is it because Jordan is one of the "coalition of the willing"? Can't the left ever say "yay, good news!", even if it doesn't benefit us politically? This is a trend I've noticed here..shameful really.

[makhno]

5. Maybe

But maybe it is because it's a little bit hard to take the single-sourced chain of "allegeds", "might haves" and "plannings" at face value given the flow of disinformation being released by various interested parties. Caveat emptor.

[stevedeshazer]

6. Yay, good news

There ya have it. I really mean it, too.

I notice Jordan didn't have to illegally invade any nations to stop the attack, either. Good work by the Jordanians. It really is good news.

[EV1Ltimm]

4. this is huge!

hopefully this isn't a sign of things to come...