CIA warns of new 9/11

[Dover]

CIA warns of new 9/11


Thursday 15 July 2004, 4:02 Makka Time, 1:02 GMT


Acting CIA director says a new 9/11 hangs over the US

Warnings that "terrorists are plotting something big" against the US are based on "very, very solid" information, the CIA's acting director says.


John McLaughlin refrained from giving any details on Wednesday, but likened the threat reports to those that preceded the 11 September 2001 attacks.

In an interview with National Public Radio, the acting director confirmed Washington had no specifics on the timing and targets but a "conviction" as big as the one it had before 9/11.

...cont'd

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B039ED5B-DF67-4197-BD98-E23BAF94BB06.htm

[countmyvote4real]

1. Oh come on. If there was "conviction" prior to 9/11,

then why didn't anybody act on it? The rest of the world knows it, we might as well know it, too. The boogeyman is *.

[Minstrel Boy]

2. "a 'conviction' as big as the one it had before 9/11"

If there had been some big convictions after 9/11, another one wouldn't be hanging over Americans' heads.

[smirkymonkey]

59. Thank you!

And nice graphic!

[koopie57]

3. Instead of getting on tv

and scaring the heck out of us, why don't they just do their job and find out more about it and stop it. It is like if they tell us it will come, then their job is done. And in all probability, they scare us with this stuff so often, at sometime it will appear that they were correct.

[thebigidea]

4. as big as the one before 9/11? Ah...

So then all memos concerning this upcoming strike are merely "historical information" - now, where's my fishin' pole?

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Ah'm a-skeered

Rilly a-skeered. If Mr. Bush's CIA fellas says so, then Ah'm a rilly a-skeered. </sarcasm>

[crossroads]

6. Hate to say it, but seems to me another attack is what they need...

to keep the present administration in power!
I pray this will not be real!
The way we are hated now, it is a likelyhood...
:eyes:

[The_Casual_Observer]

7. The world is safer without Saddam

I sleep well at night:eyes:

[Kinkistyle]

8. AMERICA IS SAFER THANKS TO BUSH!

Thats what he says constantly and endlessly: "America is Safer thanks to Bush's policy" and at the same time Ridge and intelligence are reporting scary terrorist plots around every corner every week.

[gumby]

9. CIA warnings posted on Aljazeera

That's a hoot.

Is this the same CIA that we have all been told is dumber than a doorknob? THAT CIA? From Aljazeera?

Is this all a bad dream?

[Zorra]

34. Yuh. Yuk-yuk. Yawn. Time for bed.

[GoBlue]

10. Duh!?

..."very, very solid" information...John McLaughlin refrained from giving any details on Wednesday, but likened the threat reports to those that preceded the 11 September 2001 attacks.

But Condi swore under oath that we had no solid information pre-9/11.

[JDPriestly]

13. Clinton managed to catch the terrorists in the USA

It has been almost three years since 911. It only took the U.S. and its allies between four and five years to win World War II, although that war involved far more of the world, technology was more primitive and the logistics of fighting the war far more difficult.

By this time, the Bush administration ought to be able to be at least a little more specific about the nature of alleged terrorist threats. They are either incompetent losers or playing a game with the American people.

[SammyWinstonJack]

44. I vote for.........

"playing a game with the American people."

[Whoa_Nelly]

26. Not simply "solid" information

but, "very, very" solid...yeah..that makes it really solid.

[Jacobin]

66. very very very very VERY solid information

(but we don't have a clue what, why, where, when or how.)

Oh, its THAT solid. :eyes:

[sofa king]

29. You can listen to the interview.

http://www.wamu.org/dr/

Scroll down to Wednesday's show. I didn't get to pay attention to much of it, but my overall impression is that McLaughlin was being unusually candid for a three-day-old Acting Director. (Official CIA bio).

One part in particular interested me. Prior to taking the deputy slot within the overall CIA, McLaughlin was Deputy Director for Intelligence, the analysis wing of the CIA. In yesterday's interview, he flat out stated that the Operations wing--human intelligence--of the CIA was and has been woefully understaffed.

Let's skip the parts about how people have been bitching about inadequate humint for decades and how McLaughlin artfully shifted most of the blame to the previous Administration (probably rightly--it takes a long time to train spies, but it doesn't take eight years to train 'em).

That's a very interesting comment to me, because it raises so many questions. Could that be a reason why the DDO, James Pavitt, announced his departure at roughly the same time that George Tenet did? Coming from an analysis guy, what does this say about the competition for resources which reputedly exists between Operations and Intelligence?* Doesn't this reinforce the stories that the CIA railed against approving Dr. Chalabi's (bogus) information because they couldn't corroborate it? And that's all just from one statement.

And more generally, what's this 72-hour old Acting Director doing speaking in declarative sentences on "liberally biased" National Public Radio instead of Rush Limbaugh's show or Fox News? That sure as hell doesn't seem to be in keeping with other administration officials, like the Vice President, for example.

Are we maybe looking at a bold CIA shot across the White House bow, or is it an artful Rove-ian orchestrated accelerando of disinformation?

One thing I can say with utter conviction is that we'll never know for sure while the White House retains its current occupants. I hope our pal Josh Marshall listens to this interview before it... disappears... or something.

*I'm trying hard not to fall into the false dilemma of "are CIA analysts overworked because they have too much information to sift, or are they sitting on their arses twiddling their thumbs?" That would ignore the fact that information has quality in addition to volume.

Edit: Oops. This isn't supposed to be a direct reply to you, Angel. It's a general observation. I completed the asterisk, too.

Also, I haven't checked the NPR link myself because I don't want RealPlayer spying out my computer. And yes, I realize that's a silly statement to make when this entire thread has probably been flagged by Carnivore, the TIA office, and the NSA.

[hatrack]

57. Not just solid - "very, very solid"!!

Isn't that "solid" enough for you, Mr. Smarty-pants? Now get out there and SHOP, but be scared while you're doing it!!

[VaLabor]

11. Gary Hart

Gary Hart was on CNN's Newsnight this evening.

He said that he does believe Al Qaeda is planning a massive attack.

He's one guy I trust.

Unfortunately, the Bushies have lost all credibility when it comes to...well, just about anything. So it's tragic that, when an Administration official claims there will be an attack, so many people find it hard to believe.

[nodehopper]

18. The CIA is no longer really the Administration.

as in, major rift between CIA and OSP and that whole side of things.
I'm inclined to listen to CIA more.

[PaDUer]

21. Yes...and it's going to be bad..

bio-chem? I wouldn't be surprised if the people who are sick w/ autoimmune illnesses and other health problems wouldn't survive..We're in deep trouble..I can't take tnose meds that they're pushing.

[True_Blue]

12. So what are they going to do about it?

Let me guess...the same thing they did last time they received warnings about a terrorist attack...ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

I guess I'd better stock up on duct tape and plastic.

Can someone explain to me why we pay 50 billion a year for intelligence?

[gumby]

16. Absolutely nothing

is how you "postpone" the next selection.

[jobycom]

14. Like, I could have told them that. What the hell do we need a CIA for?

If all they can do is tell us that Al-Quieda is plotting something big, they could just hire me, and I'll tell everyone the same thing for about half what we pay the CIA. Maybe less.

Now let's see the CIA DO SOMETHING to stop it. That's when I'll be impressed.

[DoYouEverWonder]

37. We spend unaccountable billions on Intel

and we end up with little or nothing to show for it.

As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for black ops and covert ops, the world would be a much safer place.

Congress should cut the budgets of all of these bloated, so called Intel agencies, and spend the money on doing good things for society. Then we wouldn't have to worry so much about terrorism.

[RobinA]

40. Second This Notion

of rationality. What "massive" attack could they even carry off? If this kind of attack were so easy it would have been done by now.

Of course, feel free to ignore my opinion, I'm still waiting for someone to explain to me what a "weapon of mass destruction" is, other than a gigantic nuclear bomb of the Russia/US, mutually assured destruction variety. Everybody throws "WMD" around, but what the hell ARE they that we're supposed to be quaking in our boots?

[genius]

15. They should do their job and stop it unless they are behind it.

[nodehopper]

17. The thing is, I'm more inclined to listen to CIA than to Tom Ridge

The CIA got f*cked in all of this; they want to prove that they did their job and they are doing it again. So if/when something happens they can be "I told you so." CIA/State Department are squabbling with DoD and OSP. This worries me more than Tom Ridge's raise-the-terror-alert thing.

[PaDUer]

19. I concur...however....

Ridge moved his family out of the Erie, PA area and are in VA now..Wouldn't surprise me if PA is a target..Does anyone know? They're up to something real bad, and don't forget, they've shipped those "med-packs" to Boston and NYC for the convention, and you can bet that all the other states receive theirs also..

[nodehopper]

22. Med-packs? What are those??

I must have missed that.
Erie, PA is almost Ohio. That's the Heartland. Oy.

[PaDUer]

24. CDC Ships "Chem-packs" for Preparation

Made a mistake, the proper terminology is "chem-packs"...
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040713/D83Q5Q480.html

[DoYouEverWonder]

43. Moving closer to DC

is out of the line of fire. LOL

You don't think they moved there because Tommy got a job that required him to relocate?

[tlcandie]

63. And the Tampa area police have their bio-suits which they have

been testing that were recently shipped! VERY cheap looking, poor guys :/ My bet, as I've stated before, is Florida. The scrub list is now too much in the public eye and lawyers are hanging onto it like sharks!

I think jebbie is going along with another surprise from Florida to win this election for his chimp bro! After all, he did initiate the emergency plan where martial law was an option on 9/11 while the residents of the state knew nothing about it!

My bet is Florida so the elections can still be won errr stolen, yet again, for this regime! I don't know of any other state willing to harbor as many criminals with water on all but one side and more stuff than sitting ducks to take pot shots at. :shrug:

Just my 2 cents!

EDIT: typo :/

[Spangle]

20. Can we go back to the "good ole days"

Were James Bond and the other spooks just did their job quietly with out a pat on the back??? Hmmm... PLEASE??

And when they goof up, we watch the trails on TV.. dreaming of hanging the "bad guy."

Seriously, they are suppose to just take care of this stuff. It is on a need to know bases, that sort of thing. Let me know when I need to stay home, or not take a train or plane, that sort of thing.

This is called LOOKING like your doing something when the boss is looking. But not really doing ANYTHING.

[FlemingsGhost]

23. "Bring it on." -- C'mon, cowboy ... "save" us.

Go ahead ... "Thwart" an attack from the bogeyman. You are still going to lose in November.

(on edit: typo)

[PaDUer]

25. Nov? How about elections cancelled

martial law.

[FlemingsGhost]

27. Once again, I say: "Bring it On."

I wish they would try, to be honest. This nation would benefit greatly from revolution ...

[PaDUer]

28. I doubt if there would be

elections if they wipe us out w/ whatever they're going to use..and I think it's going to be in a lot of states if not all.

[FlemingsGhost]

30. You are thinking too much

What's the point of creating fear?

Tomorrow hasn't happened. Yesterday is no more. Your life is now.

[DoYouEverWonder]

38. Let's be rational

Any bio-chem attack or even a dirty bomb would be a localized event. Even if they do 3 or 4 at the same time in different places, it is still a localized event.

The majority of Americans, will not be directly or even indirectly impacted physically by any attack, short of all out nuclear war with China and Russia, which certainly is not going to happen before the election.

Even with an event on the scale of 9-11, I still got my American Express bill on time. Wall Street was up and running in less than a week. The rest of the country, went back to normal in an amazingly short amount of time. As they say, oh bla dee, oh bla daa, life goes on.

[Algomas]

31. Was LIHOP-now it's time for MIHOP.

Hopefully they will be true to course and Cheney it up royally. We are living through this nations hardest test. Everything is at stake in these end days. And we have ringside seats!!!

[InvisibleTouch]

32. Ohio. It would just figure.

I feel like I've had every possible warning from the universe to get the hell out of Columbus Ohio. The sniper. The would-be shopping mall bomber. An increasingly unsafe neighborhood. A guy with a knife right outside my front door. Taking my life in my hands every time I venture into traffic. But I'm absolutely trapped and tied down here. So it would just figure, if something were to happen, it would hit here....
Okay, now I'm officially freaked out.

[asthmaticeog]

41. Move up to Cleveland!

Not that our neighborhoods are any safer, but terrorists bombing us would be redundant.

[Obamarama]

33. Damnit, I am NOT some Pavlovian dog.....

I'll be damned if I am going to respond to these weekly alerts in the manner in which the adminstration wishes me to.

Blah, blah, blah....same old bullshit, different day.

[luaneryder]

42. And that is exactly what they want us to do.

I'm going about my life as usual, but no shopping b/o no money.

[dusty64]

35. These idiots need to

put down "My Pet Goat" and start reading "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", this is beyond ridiculous.

[UpInArms]

36. the continuing call for "terra terra terra"

has warped every person within this country.

Since this is yet another "warning" without "specifics", it doesn't matter how "very very solid" the shit has become.

Are we having more of the "success" that has been had by the CIA?

What a fine job they did before 9/11?

Lack of intelligence for finding cause of Iraq invasion?

The WH and the Congress have been so very busy discrediting the CIA that how can anyone believe anything from any of them?

*Co says that our country is safer but the truth is that our country is being destroyed every day by the lies and obsfuscations of the liars and the lying liars that keep spreading the disinformation.

Who knows?

All of us out here know that there can be no truth or trust until we have an entirely new governmental representation that actually represents the average citizen of this country.

Not one where the FDA attorney represents the medical corporations, not one where the FDA refuses to allow testing of all cattle for mad cow, not one where the guy who writes the Medicare law goes to work for the industry - and on and on and on.

When there is a substantial change in the behavior at the seat of our government, then I will listen -

[leesa]

39. Yada...yada...yada...be afraid at all times

Pay no attention to the criminals behind the curtain. Terrorists my ass! The only terrorists we need to be afraid of is BushCo.

[ewagner]

45. Some really good points have been made here......

Once again, the administration is trying to have it both ways:

Dubya has made America safer AND Warning, Warning, the BIG ONE IS COMING!

I think about Molly Ivans favorite term: "Cognitive Dissonance". One audience can't buy BOTH messages and remain sane. I am a skeptic and I am quite cynical but I don't believe that Bush* actually has any control over when, where, or how a terrorist attack will occur. For that reason, he has to have what we used to call "a vote in each pocket".....which was what was done yesterday by the Senate ... Repubs could say they were for the Constitutional Amendment but could safely vote against bringing it to the vote by killing it with a procedural vote....

Since Bush* can't control what the terrorists do, he can claim to have kept us safer and scare the crap out of us at the same time...he has a vote in both pockets.

[struggle4progress]

70. Oh my! we're all gonna die! But without Bush, it would be worse! eom

[bleedingedge]

46. SINCE 9/11, GEORGE BUSH HAS PROTECTED US FROM TERROR!

exceptforterrorinspiredbyvaguewarningsprovidedbyhisofficials.

SINCE 9/11, NO AMERICAN HAS DIED IN A TERROR ATTACK!
pleaseignorethesoldierinthecoffin

AL QUADA IS CRIPPLED
butthey'replanningamassiveattack

WE ARE TAKING THIS THREAT SERIOUSLY
likeweshouldhavedonepriorto9/11

Go back to bed America. -Bill Hicks

[bushisanidiot]

47. AWOL Is a COMPLETE Failure. He has not protected us AT ALL!

THANKS PRESIDENT DUMBASS!!!!

Keep yelling "bring it on" like the fratboy you are.

idiot..

[SheepyMcSheepster]

48. but....but.... Al Qaeda is on the run.......... that's what W told me

these empty warnings are not warnings at all. "oh we don't know how or where or when, but we have solid information that something terrible is gonna happen" = Boo!

this is the same cia that claimed iraq's WMD stock piles were a slam dunk?

[devinsgram]

49. Let the truth be known,

they are hoping for another attack.

What I don't understand is, if they are going to attack, why would they act the way they did before. After all isn't that making us aware that something is going to happen.

Second, aren't they using human courriers now? If that is the case how would it sound the same?

Third, if they have such solid info they should be able to stop it.

Wow, if this is the intelligence level of the people in charge, well all I can say is we are in deep shit trouble.

[Bandit]

50. "very, very solid" information, the CIA's acting director says

"John McLaughlin refrained from giving any details on Wednesday, but likened the threat reports to those that preceded the 11 September 2001 attacks."

Okay so I guess it is time for Bush* to go on a month long vacation.

[birdbrain]

58. How solid is solid?

That struck me - how can it be "very, very solid information", when at the same time "the acting director confirmed Washington had no specifics on the timing and targets". Very very solid, but no specifics?

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

51. maybe the october surprise won't be an attack

but, rather a spectacular counter-terrorism success, saving ohio from

disaster and therefore the people of ohio will vote for aWol.

of course, the attack will be complete bullshit, but we won't figure

that out until after the election.

[DubyaSux]

52. Sooooo.....

Who is the source of this very, very good intelligence? The same people that had a "slam dunk" case that Saddam had WMD and "links" to Al Qaida?


By the way...how many terrorists have we convicted since 9/11? Just curious...

[elehhhhna]

53. Giuliani now owns an ANthrax clean-up company.

Why? Future growth industry?

Anthrax is the perfect fake-terror-attack solution. Scares the hell out of people. Keeps them in their homes (11/2, anybody?) and can be cured in the vast majority of cases with antibiotics. Voila! Bush & bigpharma win!

[tlcandie]

64. Don't forget that he got the building in Orlando that was valued at

over $1million for nothing after it was declared non-habitable with this anthrax thing!

Now, his BioOne company bought and is occupying it! So, why Florida?

:shrug:

[DoYouEverWonder]

73. The building is in Lantana

and was sold to David Rustine, president of Crown Companies for $40,000.

[DoYouEverWonder]

72. Amazing how fast Guiliani cleaned up the AMI building

The building has been shut down for almost three years. In a sweetheart deal a So FL developer bought the 5 acres of land and the building for $40,000. Then Guiliani makes a deal with the owner. Cleans up the place himself and now he's ready to move in and save the rest of the world from Anthrax contamination. What a deal.

[TrogL]

54. Is this from the summary? Let's see the details

Don't know what I'm talking about? See this thread. (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x687462)

[MrBenchley]

55. Good thing Chimpy McDipstick is getting those daily briefings...

Already teams of White House officials are working day and night to figure out ways to blame this next attack on Bill clinton...

[KansDem]

56. BREAKING! Bush will “connect the dots” this time…

WASHINGTON, DC—In an effort to protect Americans from a second 9/11, President Bush vowed today to “connect the dots” and prevent a second attack on the United States.

“I’m going to put up a kind of protective umbrella to stop these terrorist attacks,” the President said today, “and have ordered Homeland Security to contact the CIA to provide me with the kind of simplified, no-nonsense report that I can understand as opposed to all that messy stuff I got last time.”

An anonymous insider high up in the Bush Administration has confirmed that the President has received this report and will act on it as soon as he finds his "Sharpie."



Bush will "connect the dots" this time in an effort to stop terrorist attacks.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

60. If they have all this detailed info,

why don't they tell us when and where, to foil the plan?

[tom_paine]

61. Actually, I think they are CORRECT this time

I mean, it's quite clear to anyone who has studied Totalitarianism that the Busheviks were being truthful (one of the rae ccasions) when they said that we will be hit prior to the elections.

Either they or their Saudi surrogates are planning to do so right now.

I believe CIA. I also believe they are interecpting chatter from the part of al-Qaeda that never stopped serving the Busheviks.

[resist]

62. Bush had better pray it doesn't happen

Another attack will basically kill any argument Bushies have about his success in the 'war on terrorism'.

[JPZenger]

65. Just Like the Burning of the Reichstag (German Parliament Building)

I predict that a couple days before the election, the Republicans will burn the U.S. Capitol and blame it on the liberals. "We need to consolidate power to make you safe."

[JPZenger]

67. a little bit of history

The following is paraphrased from http://www.fff.org/freedom/fd0403a.asp

In early 1933, Hitler convinced the German President to appoint him as Chancellor. However, Hitler still needed to consolidate power.

A month later, a fire broke out in the German Parliament Building. Hitler and Goebbels went to the scene and found Hermann Goering shouting:

"This is the beginning of the Communist revolution! We must not wait a minute. We will show no mercy. Every Communist official must be shot, where he is found. Every Communist deputy must this very day be strung up."

The next day, a supposed Communist publication was found saying:

"Government buildings, museums, mansions and essential plants were to be burned down... . Women and children were to be sent in front of terrorist groups.... The burning of the Reichstag was to be the signal for a bloody insurrection...."

Goering arrested a Communist for starting the fire. Most historians believe the Nazis secretly encouraged him to start the fire.

"Why would Hitler and his associates turn a blind eye to an impending terrorist attack on their national congressional building or actually assist with such a horrific deed? Because they knew what government officials have known throughout history — that during extreme national emergencies, people are most scared and thus much more willing to surrender their liberties in return for “security.” And that’s exactly what happened during the Reichstag terrorist crisis."

The day after the fire, Hitler persuaded the President to issue a decree for “defensive measure against Communist acts of violence endangering the state.” That decree suspended the constitutional guarantees pertaining to freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, the privacy of mail and telephone communitions, and the need for warrants for home searches.

Two weeks after the fire, Hitler requested the Reichstag to temporarily delegate its powers to him so that he could adequately deal with the crisis. The parliament approved the suspension of the German constitution.

Hitler then took over the court system, with special tribunals run by judges chosen by party officials, the S.S. and the Army. No appeals were possible from its decisions, and the press was only allowed to attend minor trials that were held for show. Even when someone was acquited, they could still be taken away by the Gestapo to a concentration camp.

The Nazis also could arrest anyone without charge by claiming they were putting the person in “protective custody.”

[Disturbed]

68. CYA Op

The Admin. is covering their ass. If there is an attack they will say," See, we warned everybody". If there is no attack they will say, "See, we are doing our job of protecting the Bushland.

[Geo55]

69. Don' know when....

don' know where don' know what don' know how.....

I forgot , this helps people in what way ?

[JNelson6563]

76. Same plan working perfectly now

And here I thought these guys were oblivious to history. Turns out they are copying it.

Julie

[dusty64]

71. How fuckin convenient!

After the naked emperor has been strutting around the Country spouting how "safe" we are, "safe" we are, "safe" we are..... Can't everyone see the irony in all this bullshit?

[noonwitch]

74. Didn't they tell us this a few months ago?

And a few months before that? and so on?

Sooner or later, I'd guess they will try to hit us. If we're lucky, we'll have a more competent administration in office by then.

[devinsgram]

75. Now, let me see if I can get this straight,

The CIA says warns of a new 9-11 and * makes a speech where he states we are safer now, over and over. Hmmmmm, who shall I believe? Don't you just want to :puke: :puke: :puke: :puke: