FBI to get help on Election Day plots

[Khephra]

FBI to get help on Election Day plots

By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Attorney General John Ashcroft quietly has issued a sweeping directive that authorizes the FBI to use hundreds of law enforcement agents from other federal agencies to help investigate any terrorist plots that target the Nov. 2 elections. (Related story: Election warning causes anxiety)


The directive — the first of its kind since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — allows the FBI to tap agents from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of a nationwide effort by FBI-led counterterrorism units to seek out and stop any plots against the elections.

U.S. law enforcement officials continue to say that beyond intelligence reports indicating that al-Qaeda wants to disrupt the elections, they have no specific information about an existing plot, method or target of a potential attack.

The directive was issued without fanfare at a time when the Bush administration is being accused by Democrats and civil-rights activists of using terrorism alerts to discourage people from voting. But it offers insight into the government's ongoing concern about an attack similar to the deadly train bombings in Madrid last March, just before the Spanish elections.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-07-fbi-help_x.htm

[Torgo Johnson]

1. The question is ....

is the FBI getting help stopping the plots or gettting help enabling the plots? I'm no tinfoiler, but Bush does seem desperate to stay in the White House.

[Dem2theMax]

3. I'm thinking along the same lines.

Are they helping to stop 'terrorist' terrorists, or helping out 'repuke' terrorists? It's the second bunch that scares me. :scared:

[Carolab]

2. If it's such a quiet directive

how come it's on the pages of USA Today? HUH???

[Judi Lynn]

4. I'm 100% convinced the ONLY people interested in disrupting

our chances of a clean election are the Republicans. Al-Qaeda, yeah, right.

[teryang]

5. The deadly train bombings in Madrid

...showed signs of covert government involvement.

[colonel odis]

6. many of those plots may involve polling places in

traditionally democratic areas, i imagine.

watch out for them to shut down altogether or make lines move so slowly that people will still be in line when the polls close.

they'll probably focus on college campuses, poor neighborhoods, and working class neighborhoods.

[John_H]

7. I bet this is the most unintentionally true headline of the Chimp Admin!!!

Lord knows the FBI is going to need all the help it can get to disrupt this election.