Al Qaeda Planning Attacks on High-Speed Trains in Europe: Newspaper

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Al Qaeda planning attacks on high-speed trains in Europe: newspaper

Mon Aug 19, 2013 9:13am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - Al Qaeda is planning attacks on high-speed trains in Europe and the authorities in Germany have stepped up security on the country's rail system, a German newspaper reported on Monday.

The information about the planned attacks came from the United States' National Security Agency (NSA), which apparently intercepted a call between senior al Qaeda members several weeks ago, the mass-circulation daily said.

But the German Interior Ministry said it regularly received information about such threats and was not planning to increase overall security.

"It is known that Germany, along with other Western states, is a target for jihadist terrorists so we always assess warnings on a case-by-case basis but we already have a high level of protective measures and we do not plan to step these up at the moment," spokesman Jens Teschke said at a routine government news conference.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE97I0IN20130819

[Snake Plissken]

4. I was thinking about the story of the chicken and the egg

I'm wondering which came first, the invention of the High Speed Train, of Al Qaeda planning attacks on High Speed Trains

[denverbill]

6. Or the story of 19 men and 4 airplanes, and a briefing called 'Bin Laden Determined to strike in US'

[PCIntern]

12. Oh that's just ridiculous...never happen..

why, the security around airports is so tight that no one could ever bring a gun through. The best they could hope for is a box-cutter, but what could they do with that?

of course

[Snake Plissken]

2. Wouldn't it be easier to just report what Al Qaeda is not planning attacks on?

I know be are supposed to be in a constant state of terror in order to justify the NSA's spying, but this is a headline from 10 years ago.

[iandhr]

5. Madrid Metro, London Underground

Trains are a terrorist target.

[jakeXT]

7. Love those informants

September 2003-February 2004: Majority of Participants in Deal to Buy Explosives for Madrid Bombings Are Informants


[Source: Spanish Interior Ministry]In September 2003, Emilio Suarez Trashorras, Rafa Zouhier, Antonio Toro, his wife Carmen Toro, Rachid Aglif, Jamal Ahmidan (alias “El Chino”), and Mohammed Oulad Akcha meet at a McDonald’s restaurant in Madrid. The first five people are linked to a mine in the Asturias region of Spain and have no Islamist militant background. Ahmidan and Akcha are members of a group of Islamist militants and are meeting the others to buy explosives stolen from the mine. Ahmidan goes to Asturias at least five times from December 2003 to February 2004 to work out the explosives deal. He, Akcha, and others in their militant group will then use the explosives in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings (see 7:37-7:42 a.m., March 11, 2004). Interestingly, at least four of the five—Trashorras, Zouhier, and both Toros—are government informants at the time. Supposedly, none of them tell their handlers about this explosives deal. [El Mundo (Madrid), 6/10/2004] However, Zouhier will later claim that he repeatedly told his handler about the deal. He will say: “I told them. I mentioned all the suspicions I had regarding the explosives. In 2003 I warned that ‘these people want to sell 150 kilos’. I told them 1,000 times.” [Agence France-Presse, 2/28/2007] His handler, known by the alias Victor, will initially dispute this, but in 2007 he will finally admit that Zouhier did tell him in March 2003 that Trashorras and Antonio Toro were dealing in stolen explosives and had 150 kilograms of explosives ready to sell. Zouhier even passed on that they asked him about using cell phones as detonating devices. Police then began monitoring Trashorras and Toro (see March 2003). Trashorras, Zouhier, and Aglif will eventually be sentenced to various prison terms, while the Toros will be acquitted. Trashorras will get life in prison (see October 31, 2007).

http://www.www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=a061804bombsquad

[snappyturtle]

3. Curious. The senior al Qaeda phone call must have been

a doozy. Embassies closed and NOW (?) threatened rail travel.
I don't remember hearing about that particular threat when the
embassies were closed. Me thinks the NSA is doing its best to
show global citizens how important it is to 'security'. Fear factor
raising its ugly head again. imho

[polynomial]

8. Good reason to make NSA information avaliable to all

From my view the argument is very reasonable plus shows the advantage in transparency to make NSA metadata available to everyone. Actually like a daily weather report. Sound crazy, not at all.

Consider that leadership organization known as Islamic extremist are relentlessly daily in the news running along with that news as disasters or bad storms. Al Qaeda then identified and recognized as an undesirable climate. If the world including America has a daily Al Qaeda weather report every day a warning about life for the unreasonable reasons Al Qaeda wants to be known as a governing entity likely will have to defend openly all-time why they are a better form of government while they blow you up.

Perhaps such an approach will be self-evident where the current free market government profiteers, Booz Allen and Hamilton would be the real people that suffer, losing the most cool way to make money, secretly without accountablity.

[Celefin]

10. ^^THIS^^

Wish I could rec this. Brilliant

[Myrina]

9. What a coinkydink that Al Q plans to strike a country that has criticized NSA uber-surveillance...

jus' sayin' ....

[ocpagu]

11. Yep.

Impressive how every "Al Qaeda" move somehow helps the agenda of authoritarian thugs in US governmental agencies... it seems almost like a coolaboration. I wonder why...

[valerief]

13. Such a handy excuse to not build a high-speed network in the U.S. nt

[ConcernedCanuk]

14. AND - the USA has had plans to attack most nations in the World for decades

.
.
.

including Canada.

There is a good reason why Fort Drum is so close to Ottawa.

We cut off the oil/electricity to the States,

the MIC will kick into high gear in our direction, big time.

I have MUCH more concern about the USA than I do about Al Qaeda.

(sigh)

CC

[jessie04]

15. Does anyone really believe this?

This is nothing but another round of smear the muslim.