Trish Bessette
<font color=green>Not a nerd<br><font color=blue>D
- Joined
- Jul 16, 2002
- Messages
- 3,338
I worry every time I hear this on the news. When it comes to chemical and biological weapons I can't even imagine the devestation it will cause. This is some of what MSNBC says:
WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that new information on a terrorist threat against the United States talks about an attack but said there is no need to raise the national alert level.
Appearing in advance of a news conference scheduled later Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, Ridge said that some potential terrorists may already be on U.S. soil.
U.S. counterterrorism and law enforcement officials had said Tuesday that new intelligence indicates that a group of terrorists already deployed inside the United States is preparing to launch a major attack this summer. This information was described by a senior counterterrorism official, who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, as extremely credible and backed by an unusually high level of corroboration.
The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the senior counterterrorism official said.
A steady drumbeat of information
There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit us hard, the official said.
At Wednesdays 2 p.m. ET news conference, Ashcroft and Mueller were to outline an intensive effort by law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials to detect and disrupt any potential plots. And the FBI was dispatching a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat.
Beginning with Saturdays dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington, the summer presents a number of high-profile targets in the United States. They include the G-8 summit in Georgia next month, which will attract top officials from some of Americas closest allies, the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July and the Republican National Convention in August in New York City.
The FBI and Homeland Security Department also are concerned about so-called soft targets such as shopping malls anywhere in the United States that offer a far less protected environment than a political convention hall.
Of special concern, the counterterrorism official said, is the possibility that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.
WASHINGTON - Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday that new information on a terrorist threat against the United States talks about an attack but said there is no need to raise the national alert level.
Appearing in advance of a news conference scheduled later Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller, Ridge said that some potential terrorists may already be on U.S. soil.
U.S. counterterrorism and law enforcement officials had said Tuesday that new intelligence indicates that a group of terrorists already deployed inside the United States is preparing to launch a major attack this summer. This information was described by a senior counterterrorism official, who spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity, as extremely credible and backed by an unusually high level of corroboration.
The intelligence does not include a time, place or method of attack but is among the most disturbing received by the government since the al-Qaida attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the senior counterterrorism official said.
A steady drumbeat of information
There is clearly a steady drumbeat of information that they are going to attack and hit us hard, the official said.
At Wednesdays 2 p.m. ET news conference, Ashcroft and Mueller were to outline an intensive effort by law enforcement, intelligence and homeland security officials to detect and disrupt any potential plots. And the FBI was dispatching a bulletin to some 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies warning of the threat.
Beginning with Saturdays dedication of the new World War II Memorial in Washington, the summer presents a number of high-profile targets in the United States. They include the G-8 summit in Georgia next month, which will attract top officials from some of Americas closest allies, the Democratic National Convention in Boston in July and the Republican National Convention in August in New York City.
The FBI and Homeland Security Department also are concerned about so-called soft targets such as shopping malls anywhere in the United States that offer a far less protected environment than a political convention hall.
Of special concern, the counterterrorism official said, is the possibility that terrorists may possess and use a chemical, biological or radiological weapon that could cause much more damage and casualties than a conventional bomb.
