Terror threat source called into question (Ashcroft's source bogus)

[UpInArms]

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5087301/

WASHINGTON - Earlier this week Attorney General John Ashcroft warned of an attack planned on America for sometime in the coming months. That may happen, but NBC News has learned one of Ashcroft’s sources is highly suspect.

In warning Americans to brace for a possible attack, Ashcroft cited what he called “credible intelligence from multiple sources,” saying that “just after New Year's, al-Qaida announced openly that preparations for an attack on the United States were 70 percent complete.… After the March 11 attack in Madrid, Spain, an al-Qaida spokesman announced that 90 percent of the arrangements for an attack in the United States were complete.”

But terrorism experts tell NBC News there's no evidence a credible al-Qaida spokesman ever said that, and the claims actually were made by a largely discredited group, Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades, known for putting propaganda on the Internet.

“This particular group is not really taken seriously by Western intelligence,” said terrorism expert M.J. Gohel of the Asia-Pacific Foundation, an international policy assessment group. “It does not appear to have any real field operational capability. But it is certainly part of the global jihad movement — part of its propaganda wing, if you like. It likes to weave a web of lies; it likes to put out disinformation so that the truth is deeply buried. So it is a dangerous group in that sense, but it is not taken seriously in terms of its operational capability.”

<snip>

“The only thing they haven't claimed credit for recently is the cicada invasion of Washington,” said expert Roger Cressey, former chief of staff of the critical infrastructure protection board at the White House and now an analyst for NBC News. Cressey also served as deputy to former counterterrorism chief Richard Clarke.

...more...

[goddess40]

1. But they said the source was credible, don't you believe them

It is such a joke.

[Gman]

7. The information came off a web site???

Oh, sure... it has to be credible... (not)!

[maddezmom]

11. do you think they'll tell us on WebSites? Give me a break" link

~snip~
Even some intelligence professionals were confused and suspicious of possible political motives for the announcement because there were no specifics about time, location or method of attack and no new information about the seven terror suspects. They also noted the Homeland Security Department did not raise the national alert level from yellow, midpoint on the five-color scale, to orange.

Al-Qaida's intent to launch a major attack in this country has been no secret for some time, former CIA counterterrorism chief Vince Cannistraro noted Thursday. "The question is their capabilities, and that we don't have."

~snip~
"Nobody is telling us details of an operation except people talking openly on the Internet, who know we are reading it," Cannistraro said. "If al Qaida is planning another 9/11, do you think they'll tell us on Web sites? Give me a break."

Retired FBI field office chief C.I. Smith, who spent most of his 25 years in counterintelligence, said, "I was perplexed by the timing. ... If it was truly credible, you should have also had (Director George) Tenet from CIA and (Secretary Tom) Ridge from Homeland Security, too."

An administration official said Ashcroft's news conference started out as a request for the public to be on the lookout for seven suspects and an announcement of stepped-up security efforts for high-profile events this summer. Instead, it turned into a major news story that the official said included references to new intelligence. The official requested anonymity to avoid causing friction between Homeland Security and Justice.

~snip~
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0528Intelligence28-ON.html

[enough]

2. It is now officially a cold day in hell.

A mainstream media outlet debunking a Bushco lie within three days, instead of waiting three years. Hard to believe.

[UpInArms]

4. I'm sitting by the fire, roasting marshmallows

and popping corn :D

[alittlelark]

8. msnbc - especially the Hardball show

are becoming increasingly brazen. There are still a # of MAJOR WHORES - Scarborough in the lead, but there have been quite a few (gasp) Real...reports and debates coming out of that network.

[Shopaholic]

17. Story first ran on NBC News then was repeated on Countdown on MSNBC

So not only did they debunk it, they actually allowed the story to run twice! There might just be hope yet for the Press after all.

[oldhat]

3. The wheels are falling off!

[kittykitty]

5. Remember Jose Padilla and Ashcroft's announcement?

Ashcroft had to break into TV programming to announce from Moscow that
an al-Qaeda operative had been captured at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, en route to contaminate a U.S. city with a radiological bomb.

[chelaque liberal]

10. And that "capture" happened something like a month before.

Didn't that big announcement deflect attention from another potentially hot story?

[kittykitty]

13. I don't know...it was the week of 6/10/2002

What was happening then?

[liarliartieonfire]

6. Asscroft would do better by getting his

intelligence reports from Democratic Underground Threads.

We have some excellent investigator-sleuths.

We have connections and links that would make any Att Gen look good.

[Jacobin]

9. Maybe a calico cat whispered in his ear and freaked him out

[Virginian]

12. We are blessed with brood X (ten). They are all over the place.

“The only thing they haven't claimed credit for recently is the cicada invasion of Washington,”

Those of you who are not in a cicada area, listen to the outside broadcasts from Washington. There is a background noise that sounds a little like white noise. In person, it sounds a little like alien space craft hovering in the woods.

[dArKeR]

14. Asscroft's source is 100% credible. Satan is directly instructing him.

God bless Mel Carnahan!

[dArKeR]

15. The same source that assassinated Carnahan, Wellstone, Kelly, Baxter,

attempt on Daschle, Leahy is the same source which Asscroft is now using.

[DoYouEverWonder]

16. Why am I not surprised that Jeremy Reynalds

would be one of the ones planting this misinformation on the Internet since March.

Some of you may remember Reynalds pen pal Daleel Almojahid from the December Orange Alert. He was the source of most of the supposed internet postings that set off the alert last time. Now he's back? I am convinced that Daleel Almojahid is little more than a figment of Mr. Reynald's imagination. Someone needs to investigate Mr. Reynalds, he's the real terrorist.


http://www.americandaily.com/item/5142

Jeremy Reynalds, 03/15/04

The Arabic newspaper Al-Quds al-Arabi said it had received a claim of responsibility issued in the name of Al Qaeda. The e-mail claim, signed by a group calling itself the Brigade of Abu Hafs al-Masri, said the brigade's ?death squad' had penetrated ?one of the pillars of the crusade alliance, Spain.'"

In an e-mail titled "Our job is done" and sent to his Yahoo group, self-proclaimed al Qaeda operative Daleel Almojahid bragged that the explosions (killed) "two birds with one stone" and were "a blessed strike into Spain (the death trains)."

The letter sent to Al-Quds also referred to an imminent attack in its final stages of preparation. Reuters reported that a portion of the letter read "We bring the good news to Muslims of the world that the expected ?Winds of Black Death' strike against America is now in its final stage... 90 percent (ready) and God willing near."

Apparently referring to that threatened strike, Almojahid also commented "The rest is coming."

[leftchick]

20. I was hoping you would post this DYEW....

It is a sin that this is still happening. Crap, this will never be investigated. What is painfully obvious to us goes right over the "journalists'" heads. The 24/7 terra alerts on cnn and MSRNC are painful to watch. Sheesh, johnny and bushco* can fool the muricans all of the time it appears.

[pinto]

18. ladies and gents, it has become officially surreal. if that is possible.

[UpInArms]

19. kick

:kick: