NY Times: Intelligence that Led to Terror Warnings Is Several Years Old

[MonstaThrilla]

Oh

Much of the information that led the authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was three or four years old, intelligence and law enforcement officials said on Monday. They reported that they had not yet found concrete evidence that a terrorist plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way.

But the officials continued to regard the information as significant and troubling because the reconnaissance already conducted has provided Al Qaeda with the knowledge necessary to carry out attacks against the sites in Manhattan, Washington and Newark. They said Al Qaeda had often struck years after its operatives began surveillance of an intended target.

Taken together with a separate, more general stream of intelligence, which indicates that Al Qaeda intends to strike in the United States this year, possibly in New York or Washington, the officials said even the dated but highly detailed evidence of surveillance was sufficient to prompt the authorities to undertake a global effort to track down the unidentified suspects involved in the surveillance operations.

"You could say that the bulk of this information is old, but we know that Al Qaeda collects, collects, collects until they're comfortable,'' said one senior government official. "Only then do they carry out an operation. And there are signs that some of this may have been updated or may be more recent.''

I just don't know how any intellectually honest person can be anything less than outraged at the ridiculousness of this Administration. The spin, the fear-mongering, and the shrewd political calculations do nothing to protect our country.

 

[Zephyr106]

I heard this tidbit on the BBC today. I don't know what to think.... why is it suddenly imperative that millions extra be spent per day (or at least per week) securing these sites, when a few weeks ago the the situation was presumably exactly the same.

Zephyr

 

[KevinH]

TTT. Absurd. This administration makes me want to fvcken puke. I can't wait for monke-boy's apologists to come in and spin this a little more. Oh, but he had to do something! If he didn't do something, and something happened then what? Blah blah blah.

 

[tallest1]

bump for run-of-the-mill fear mongering

 

[alchemize]

How old was the 9/11 plot when it finally was set off? Three years? Does age somehow mean it was an invalid set of plans?

 

[Ldir]

I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: Ldir
I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

And let's add some theme music for effect.

 

[Ldir]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: Ldir
I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

And let's add some theme music for effect.

Do you have anything of value to contribute? I didn't think so.


---------------------
Bush Apologists of America (BAA): pulling the wool over America's eyes since 1980

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: Ldir

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: Ldir
I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

And let's add some theme music for effect.

Do you have anything of value to contribute? I didn't think so.


---------------------
Bush Apologists of America (BAA): pulling the wool over America's eyes since 1980

Just exposing asshats as they surface. It's much like the gopher game, however.

Edit: Here, I'll add some of just as much value as you did:

I think this was planted by the democrats, timed just after the convention to embarrass the administration. Weapons of Misguided Democrats :roll:

 

[Ldir]

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: Ldir

Originally posted by: alchemize

Originally posted by: Ldir
I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

And let's add some theme music for effect.

Do you have anything of value to contribute? I didn't think so.


---------------------
Bush Apologists of America (BAA): pulling the wool over America's eyes since 1980

Just exposing asshats as they surface. It's much like the gopher game, however.

Edit: Here, I'll add some of just as much value as you did:

I think this was planted by the democrats, timed just after the convention to embarrass the administration. Weapons of Misguided Democrats :roll:

Once again, grow up. It is not my fault you embarassed yourself last week.

 

[alchemize]

Once again, grow up. It is not my fault you embarassed yourself last week.

I say again, please link me to this embarrassment you keep jabbering about. Or are you just jawing on and on again with nothing to back yourself up, as usual.

 

[Fingolfin269]

This is an honest question. Go back a few years and let's say that it is September 10th and you have information that is about 3 years old that someone is going to ram an airplane into a building.

Also, did this really need its own thread or could you not have posted it in the one regarding the terror level increase?

 

[CaptnKirk]

What burns me up is the fact that they knew this - and sat on it until it was to their advantage
as a distraction to the atmosphere after the Democratic Convention, and that is so disingenueous.

IF it was really considered to be a real threat they should have put it out as soon as it was known,
they should have had it in place before and durring the feding frenzy in Boston.

Instead they sat on it until the weekend of the conclusion of the Demo's show and tell,
and then launched it - complete with the Big Show of Strength, Gestapo Style, to
change the focus off of what was a political threat to their agenda.

I hope to God the American Public wakes the hell up and faces what Bush & Co. are doing.
They have installed themselves as infallible Monarchs, and don't really care about the
good of the country and it's people, all they want is the Power and Wealth that they steal.

In my perception, there is a large segment of the population of this country that knows
that they backed the wrong candidate in voteing the Bushies into power, but they are
too thick headed to admit their mistake, and keep supporting him because they themselves
don't want to - or are unwilling to face their own error - they have a guilt and ego problem.

Just like the Bush Administration has a severe Guilt and Ego problem.
No other President in history has been so damn irresponsible, arrogant, and blame-shifting.

 

[TheGameIs21]

A few points here...

1. Does anyone know the exact contents of what they found? Could there actually be dates included that would cause the alerts to happen now?

2. What would you say if the administration had this information but sat on it because it was so old and then the attacks happened? You would want GWB's head on a pike. (like you don't right now anyway)

3. To whoever questioned the spending of millions... How much is human life worth to you? What do you suggest ANY administration do with this informatoin that you don't know the full content of.

No, I don't think this administration is perfect but I have yet to see in this thread what the administration is doing wrong. This situation is a lose/lose situation when it comes to the Lefts Talking Points. I'm glad that the administration is more concerned about protecting the country than making the left happy.

 

[T2T III]

2. What would you say if the administration had this information but sat on it because it was so old and then the attacks happened? You would want GWB's head on a pike. (like you don't right now anyway)

That's a very good point. The critics who are calling the terror alert level "a waste of time" are not thinking logically at the time of their posting.

 

[T2T III]

Originally posted by: Ldir
I am sure it is just a conincidence they announced this immediately after the Democratic convention. NOT. Dubya continues to use WMDs (Weapons of Mass Distraction) against his opponents.

The Democrats just can't get past conspiracy theories. People who live with such suspicion in their lives need to check with their doctor. There should be some kind of medicine available to help with the paranoia. :roll: :roll:

 

[Fingolfin269]

Why would the NY Times report that and CNN report something different?

A U.S. intelligence official said the previously unannounced arrest of a 25-year-old computer expert July 13 in Pakistan yielded evidence that detailed potential attacks against New York; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington.

 

[seawolf21]

You probably have to view it in the administration's view. I say it's a combination of political and cover-thy-ass motives. If an attach were to occur, some comission would probably uncover that the Administration knew about this.

 

[imported_Cybit]

Aye, I imagine its two birds with one stone, it gets people off of Kerry/distracts them, AND is a way of covering one's arse should something happen.

 

[Zedtom]

The Bush administration uses tactics to instill fear in the public based on uncertain speculation. This is partly to cover their asses if something does happen, but mostly it's a way to manipulate the media and shift the public perception from hope and happiness to fear and uncertainty.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

"it appears the information was updated as late as 2004."

Well, looks as though the you may need to get your knee looked at and then refile your OP with the correct dept.

CkG

 

[MonstaThrilla]

Originally posted by: CADkindaGUY
"it appears the information was updated as late as 2004."

Well, looks as though the you may need to get your knee looked at and then refile your OP with the correct dept.

CkG

Heh?

A second U.S. intelligence official said that although much of the intelligence was gathered several years ago, "it appears the information was updated as late as 2004."

The official said that indicated that sometime this year, information had been added to the computer files containing the surveillance information.

"It was difficult to tell whether it was [information collected by] someone on the ground, someone pasting in photos" or some other method of updating the files, the official said.

The files included details about when and how to attack the buildings to inflict the most casualties.

Several officials said that they had gleaned no hard leads on whether Al Qaeda had operatives in place who could carry out such attacks.

Authorities in Washington, New York and New Jersey said they had not identified any suspects or conducted any raids or searches.

Straight from the don't-quote-out-of-context dept.

 

[NeoV]

Do any of us really know enough to say whether or not there should have been an alert? It might seem questionable, but we really don't know for sure. Are they helping though?

Clearly, most of the detail is pre-9/11. What happened to the thread to California and New Mexico from a week ago? Which is it?

At least this didn't come from an Ashcroft press conference - "the heartland of America has been targeted" - nevermind the fact that the perp has been in jail for 6 months.

To me, the most disturbing thing is that this shows that Al-Q was aware of the holes in the US-Mexico border even prior to 9/11 - and when you read stories about border guards seeing large groups of Arabic-speaking men coming over, the flashing lights go off.

I'm guessing they have operatives here - and we don't know who they are, where they are, or what their plans are. Clearly, Bush OR Kerry would do all they can to protect us - if you believe otherwise you are blinded by your partisan views.

 

[CADsortaGUY]

Originally posted by: MonstaThrilla

Originally posted by: CADkindaGUY
"it appears the information was updated as late as 2004."

Well, looks as though the you may need to get your knee looked at and then refile your OP with the correct dept.

CkG

Heh?

A second U.S. intelligence official said that although much of the intelligence was gathered several years ago, "it appears the information was updated as late as 2004."

The official said that indicated that sometime this year, information had been added to the computer files containing the surveillance information.

"It was difficult to tell whether it was [information collected by] someone on the ground, someone pasting in photos" or some other method of updating the files, the official said.

The files included details about when and how to attack the buildings to inflict the most casualties.

Several officials said that they had gleaned no hard leads on whether Al Qaeda had operatives in place who could carry out such attacks.

Authorities in Washington, New York and New Jersey said they had not identified any suspects or conducted any raids or searches.

Straight from the don't-quote-out-of-context dept.

Yep - seems your post didn't have the full story. My link provided more insight as to the relevance of the data. It does suggest that there was new information on the threat...something that has obviously been out there for a while. How long did it take to plan and carry out 9/11? Thought so... Now let them do their job -it's not all about politics.

CkG

 

[daveshel]

The bigger the lie...