Jul 07 2006

Another Terror Plot Foiled: How Many More?

Published by at 8:33 am under All General Discussions,Bin Laden/GWOT

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Reports are out this morning that the FBI has foiled a terrorist plot to bomb the Holland Tunnel in NY City and send a deluge of water into parts of Manhatten.

he FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the Daily News has learned.

The terrorists sought to drown the Financial District as New Orleans was by Hurricane Katrina, sources said. They also wanted to attack subways and other tunnels.

Most disturbing is this terrorist action here in the US has all the characteristics of having been stopped using the very same programs the NY Times has crippled in its mindless attacks on the Bush administration. Monitoring communications includes monitoring the overseas access to internet chat rooms. One can see the now exposed monitoring of the terrorists’ finances and NSA monitoring of overseas terrorists in the information being provided – meaning they may have had to act now because the terrorists were adjusting their tactics:

Counterterrorism officials are alarmed by the “lone wolf” terror plot because they allegedly got a pledge of financial and tactical support from Jordanian associates of top terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi before he was killed in Iraq, a counterterrorism source told The News.

Emphasis mine. The tactical support is going to come through communications. The plot could have easily been initially detected when this “lone wolf” made contact with the Jordanian terrorists who could have been under NSA surveillance. Since the FBI is involved, the next logical sequence of events would be the NSA providing the lead to the FBI who then took it to the FISA court to make the person the target of surveillance here in the US once they decided it was a serious enough of a threat. It seems clear the authorities had to move before they wanted to for some reason or another:

The News has learned that at the request of U.S. officials, authorities in Beirut arrested one of the alleged conspirators, identified as Amir Andalousli, in recent months. Agents were scrambling yesterday to try to nab other suspects, sources said.

They didn’t indicate how many people were the target of the international dragnet but said they were scattered all over the world.

“This is an ongoing operation,” one source said.

U.S. agents were allowed to take part in the interrogation of Andalousli, a source said.

There were three ongoing investigations that were impacted by the NY Times’ despicable exposure of the SWIFT program which was used to track terrorists cells around the world (not here in the US). It is highly possible the terrorists were adapting and disappearing from the radar screens of the international law enforcement agencies, so action now was required. The word ‘scrambling’ is not something we want to see when dealing with terrorist threats.

Is the NY Times a danger to Americans in its lust for money and partisan payback on Bush? I’ll let the good people of America decide whether they think so based on the plans of these terrorists:

The plotters wanted to detonate a massive amount of explosives inside the Holland Tunnel to blast a hole that would destroy the tunnel, everyone in it, and send a devastating flood shooting through the streets of lower Manhattan.

It is assumed by officials the thugs would try to use vehicles packed with explosives.

Sources said that New York City officials believed the plan could conceivably work with enough explosives placed in the middle of the tunnel, which runs underneath the river bed, a source said.

But others doubted the plot was feasible.

“You are talking major, major explosives and knowledge of blast effect to make this happen,” said another senior counterterrorism source.

The efforts to try and play this down by anyone, but especially by the left, is abhorent. Picture you and your family driving through a tunnel or under a bridge when terrorists try this kind of action. Even localized death and destruction is unacceptable losses. If NY City needed a reminder of the stakes the NY Times is playing with (their Pulitzers vs NYC lives) there is no better example. Just imaging if this had slipped by because we had been blinded to the terrorist’s actions.

Update: Well, now we know why NY Rep Peter King was so angry at the NY Times when the published the SWIFT story. And we have more proof that authorities may have had to move quicker than they wanted to (losing leads to other terrorist support chains) due to the NY Times:

Rep. Peter King (news, bio, voting record), R-N.Y., said that federal law enforcement and New York police have been monitoring a plot to attack New York’s mass transit system for at least eight months.

“There was nothing imminent, but it was being monitored for long period time,” said King, who said he has received regular intelligence briefings on the alleged plot as chairman of the House
Homeland Security Committee.

King said he had been unable to publicly disclose the plot because to do so would risk the investigation.

“This is ongoing, that’s why I’ve said nothing about it until now,” King said. “It would have been better if this had not been disclosed.”

We can all thank the egomaniacs at the NY Times for this mess.

Update: CNN is reporting this group of international terrorists had been under investigation for a year or more, meaning this definitely predates the NY Times SWIFT and NSA stories.

CNN security analyst Pat D’Amuro characterized the plot as “a real threat” that “was in the early stages.”

A former high-ranking FBI official, D’Amuro said an FBI-Lebanese investigation “that goes back over a year” first revealed the plan.

The news comes on the first anniversary of the London bombings in which four suicide bombers targeted the city’s transportation system and killed 52 people.

That means the NY Times stories exposing our anti-terrorism defences did threaten this ongoing investigation. We have the NSA monitoring the overseas communications (and probably the overseas chat room), and then we have the FBI following the leads to the jihadists here. And there was financial tracking from elements in Jordan. How is the NY Times going to dismiss the fact this investigation was definitely at risk of being lost through their carelessness and cavalier attitudes?

And the next time a liberal or Democrat tries to hammer the NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program, just bring back these words from Chuck Schumer:

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said no evidence existed that “in any way anything was done, either purchase of explosives or sending of money” and it “was caught” when investigators discovered “

We will all remember these words Chuck.

Addendum: I would like to point something out regarding the probable NSA role in all this. If the nexus was an internet chat room, the tracing of the “chat” back to countries overseas would probably be done by the NSA. I won’t go any farther, but you have to connect some dots form the chat room back.

12 responses so far

12 Responses to “Another Terror Plot Foiled: How Many More?”

  1. Islamofascists Foiled Again…

    Because of the United State’s lax immigration policies, Islamofacists are firmly embedded. But hey, what can you do?
    Every now and then, the government works the way it’s supposed to. The New York Daily News reports that the Federal Bu…

  2. Think the War is over?…

    The Islamofascists sure don’t. Read this story at the New York Daily News.
    The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manhattan, the …

  3. Don’t count the Chickens…….

    This site is idiotically hammering Michelle Malkin for somehow being responsible for the act of suicide committed by UC Santa Cruz Chancellor Denice Denton last month. Denton committed suicide because she was about to get hammered for certain “improp….

  4. Terrorist Plot to Bomb Holland Tunnel Uncovered…

    Islamist terrorists planned to bomb NYC’s Holland Tunnel, the NY Daily News reports.
    The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland Tunnel in hopes of causing a torrent of water to deluge lower Manha…

  5. NY Tunnel Terror Plot Disrupted…

    Reports came out this morning that the FBI uncovered and stopped a terror plot bomb the Holland Tunnel in NY City and send a flood of water into Manhatten.
    The FBI has uncovered what officials consider a serious plot by jihadists to bomb the Holland …

  6. Holland Tunnel Bomb Plot Disrupted…

    Both Mrs. Lawhawk and I take the PATH system on a regular basis. I am not amused, and am not surprised. After all, terrorists have repeatedly attacked Port Authority assets. Blowing up the tunnels carrying the PATH trains is far more difficult than b…..

  7. You Mean Listening In On Our Enemies Actually Works?…

    So instead of getting the whole crew who were planning this operation we get one Al-Qaeda agent. It’s rare that any law enforcement agency moves in to get just one guy, take it from a cop. You listen and watch until you identify every player. …

  8. ecj-MAXINE says:

    Score One For The FBI – Zero for the NYT

    The FBI, monitoring internet “chat rooms”, nabs a plot to compromise New York’s underwater tunnels to Manhattan Island.

    Boy, it’s a good thing that the New York Times didn’t get wind of this (given their recent efforts to kill the subscription count of the paper), otherwise they would have been able to shut down the distribution of the newspaper off of the island for a long time! They’re slip’n … they just must be asleep at the wheel.

  9. How Much Damage Has The NYSlimes Really Done?…

    Another Terror Plot Foiled: How Many More?

    Reports are out this morning that the FBI has foiled a terrorist plot to bomb the Holland Tunnel in NY City and send a deluge of water into parts of Manhatten.
    The FBI has uncovered what officials conside…

  10. pull says:

    Well, my feeling was that they were saying it was unlikely to try and throw off people who might be considering this. I would think anyone involved in demolitions or mechanical engineering (ala, “the Engineer” types) would – of course – be able to do this kind of thing.

    Which is a disclosure, but rather obvious… and yet, unsure. Maybe it would be entirely unfeasible.

    What is disgusting is this was yet another leak. Even the Forbes article I read seemed to show a scent of distaste for the leaker.

    In my opinion, it is important to try and control printing of such leaks – the information they give here about how to pull off such a stunt is bad enough – but what is really important and viable is to control government employees.

    It is trivial to sort out leakers. These people are not difficult to find. They probably used their work systems or phones to do these things. Sadly. And if they did not, they would have some massive grudge they are bearing against “the government” which could easily be fingered in an effective interview.

    Everybody who has a grudge wants to talk about it.

    Basic psychology 101 — and we fail at this in every tier of government.

    That is my grudge on these issues. Because it is viable and it is completely fair. Though, I do also want to see the NYTimes prosecuted to the full extent available to the law.

  11. Think The War is Over?…

    munications to identify the perpetrator and any contacts he made.

    The Strata-Sphere says this stor……

  12. No Credit…

    Now that the terrorists have been informed that they’re not safe in chatrooms either, I wonder how they’ll communicate now. And I wonder whether the good guys will be able to figure it out in time with the Enemy Media’s bugle & anvil chorus providin…