Brkg: Alert Causing Al Qaeda Documents 3-5 yrs old

[cygy2k]

DrudgeReport

Much of the information that led authorities to raise the terror alert at several large financial institutions in the New York City and Washington areas was 3 or 4 years old...NYT Tuesday Page One Spalsh Claims: Intelligence and law enforcement officials 'had not yet found concrete evidence that a terror plot or preparatory surveillance operations were still under way'... Developing..

http://www.drudgereport.com/ Headline Flashing


Per Drudge so judge for yourself, siting NYT...

[cygy2k]

1. Hmmmmm.

Shure makes Shrub and Co look a little dumb doesn't it?

[aquart]

41. No, dear. Malicious.

AND stupid.

Think the truck drivers who waited hours at check points are thinking, I have to vote for George?

[tlcandie]

2. Okay .. thanks..

Soon you will get a couple of posts:

1) wanting a link

2) blasting you for YET AGAIN linking to Drudge site..

:hi:

[qanda]

3. How come I heard this yesterday

Is this Back to the Future?

[Jack Rabbit]

4. Hey, some of the information about Saddam's WMDs was older than that

!!

[WLKjr]

5. if your going to post from that pile

Please have a link ready so I can see it for myself. Thank you
:hi:

[Dookus]

18. the link is

www.drudgereport.com

He's citing tomorrow's New York Times. He doesn't have a link to the story yet, just his summary which is posted in its entirety above.

[SOS]

45. New York Times link is up now

Tuesday 8/3/04

Reports That Led to Terror Alert Were Years Old, Officials Say

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/politics/03intel.html?hp

[mohinoaklawnillinois]

6. In another thread in GD, someone posted that the BBC

reported this today.

Anybody have a link? My husband wants to see this and so do I.

[qanda]

7. Welcome to DU

I hope people aren't too rude to you for posting Drudge-- he does have up the flashing light and all.

:hi: :hi: :hi:

[Cha]

8. So Dean was right in what he said to blitzer?

How dare they put Old info out?

[cygy2k]

9. Been here

I have been here for years but didnt ever post much, I work on many democratic campaigns and have for years been a political campaign advisor. Just saw the blinking light twice in two nights first and thought to post it, never know if it is real but it should be posted and then disproved. Not the other way around, that is what news is all about.

[Toby109]

14. If Drudge is what respresents "news" in this country,

then we are in a world of shit.

[lottie244]

35. Sorry, but sometimes Drudge posts shit that he doesn't the meaning of.

One thing they are trying to do is to make it look like Clinton's problem. However, they are making themselves look bad in the process.
Drudge is not the only source of this info. The BBC ran a similar story and I think that is where Drudge got his info.

[jimshoes]

10. Have the DHS said where, when or how they

came into this latest intel and why they felt it was worth going public with.

[Gin]

12. I heard a woman on the news hour tell Lehrer that the info was from 2000

and 2001...but that they also compared it with recent info and came up with the threat.

she had something to do with Homeland security..
Jim asked her where they got it.....it was from pakistan..........so much for the alert.

[Eurobabe]

15. I thought I heard that too, she kind of mumbled it

It was Fran Townsend, the lady in the grey suit bowing her head in the press conference photo, maybe she's embarrassed to work for two A-1 idiots? (Bu$h and DOHRidge)

EDIT to add her comments from the NewHour transcript:

JIM LEHRER: As far as the U.S. Government knows, these people are still here?

FRANCES TOWNSEND: Well, no, it's not clear. This information was gathered in 2000 and 2001.

It appears that some of it may have been updated as recently as January of this year but it's not clear... you can't tell from the intelligence itself whether or not those individuals are still here.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/terrorism/july-dec04/townsend_8-02.html

[jimshoes]

29. So they've had this shit for years,

last reviewed it in January, and trot it out now? Obviously Dean was right.

[tlcandie]

32. Well, remember TERROR was NOT important then and they

didn't report about it then or talk about it or research or study it. So, now they are trying to prove they DID know about it years later. LoL
:+

[buff2]

11. Will the whore media put this out?

Or will they keep going along with the lie? Geesus,this is to ridiculous for words.Look at the money wasted by putting out all the law enforcement....all for political points for Dumbo.:argh:

[Dookus]

16. umm..

yeah. He's citing tomorrow's New York Times.

[LibDemAlways]

13. So they send out some old,

tired, useless intel disguised as fresh new threats -- and what? People aren't supposed to notice or ask questions? What kind of horseshit is this? I know what kind it is, the kind tailor-made to provide NYC with an excuse to shut down all protests during the repuke convention. Can't let people know that hundreds of thousands are willing to take it to the streets in opposition to this band of thugs.

[Eurobabe]

23. Chimpy got his dates wrong

He thinks this is 2001, and this is the warning he was SUPPOSED to deliver!

[LiberalFighter]

44. Oh you mean gw* thought he could go back in time and make

people think he did the right thing at the right time?

[theHandpuppet]

25. Exactly!

Saw an interview with the DC Police Chief this afternoon. He said that no specific time window was associated with the threat, so heightened security measures could go on "indefinitely". Surprise, surprise... NOT! No protests will be allowed in NYC or DC for the duration and there will be further crackdowns on civil liberties, eg, take Ashcrofts edict -- specific and outrageous -- to America's librarians, as noted on other DU threads.

I don't know why the American media likes being continually played for fools by this administration. This latest terra alert was such an obvious political ploy even a child could decipher it.

My partner has likened this to the metaphor of the lobster which doesn't realize its being cooked because the heat is turned up so gradually it doesn't react until its too late. The same thing is happening with our civil liberities in this country -- a Patriot Act here, another terror alert there, one book removed from a library shelf, then another... by the time the American people realize they're living in a neo-fascist state our goose, so to speak, will have already been cooked, and I accuse the American media as willing co-conspirators in this assault on democracy and the Consitution.

[calimary]

50. Bingo. I think they're hedging their bets.

Depending on what polls they cling to (witness CNN, and its precious "he got no bounce! HEE HEE!) CNN/Gallup poll, which Keith Olbermann on MSNBC spoke about, WHILE ALSO MENTIONING TWO, count 'em, 2 other polls, Newsweek/MSNBC, AND CBS News, that showed the opposite. I think the Newsweek poll had Kerry up by as much as a ten point lead. Does CNN mention any of this? Not that I've heard. But then again, I'm reading this stuff about them. I'm now avoiding the actual viewing of CNN, and I'm mostly watching MSNBC.

Anyway - I think because of this poll crap, some news producers and directors, in the back of their minds, are seriously doubtful about which side to take, the Dems or republi-CONS, because it looks too close to call. They don't dare piss off kkkarl rove just yet, because nobody's too sure that Kerry can win. And if bush steals it again and gets back in power, and they'll have sided with Kerry, they will be made to pay dearly for it. Count on that. And they KNOW this. In the last week or so, in all my reading and convention watching, I've seen/heard this come up several times. That some in the media recognize the hardball tactics these people play, and know there will be vengeance if they don't cooperate.

It's sad. If these people stopped capitulating again and again and again, and just REFUSED to be intimidated, the bullying power of this White House would be stopped. If they only had a spine...

[Canuckistanian]

56. Ahh, yes, good catch. It all makes sense now.

Although they've done a masterful job of seelling this this one (it's credible enough to have made the Canadian news), I KNEW there was probably an ulterior motive here. I just couldn't figure it out.

So, this is an "open-ended" terror alert level, eh? I suppose it will be downgraded right after the GOP convention with much back-slapping and huzzahs for the Shrub and Crashcart.

[peaches2003]

28. Unfortunately people won't notice

The truth about what Bush and his band of stooges next to him today is that they are not idiots. They know that when the truth comes out on what they did to make us think this threat was imminent the people won't notice or care. Much like a retraction in a newspaper. No one pays any attention.

Blame the public who has the truth in front of them but don't WANT to see it.

[wurzel]

17. Looks like Howard Dean was right again!!

[goforit]

20. Right on what?

[wurzel]

26. He said something like.

Every time Bush gets into political trouble he raises these alerts. Dean was accused of being "conspiratorial".

[goforit]

36. Hmmmm..........Dean always knew the jig was up!!!

Wish he were still running!!!

[wurzel]

38. Howard Dean is "Thomas Paine" not "George Washington".

He couldn't get elected. But without him nor could Kerry.

[Jacobin]

31. Yep. The Doctor is always about 9 months ahead of conventional

wisdom, which is what IMHO would have made him a remarkable and great president.

[HopeArrival]

19. It should be simple to determine the date of the files

Either by the date of the files or other attributes buried within the hard drive if the computer was set to julian zero.

[stilpist]

21. This was in the NY Times today also

that the information was from before 9/11. here

What I want to know is whether there was info included about the WTC.

All politics all the time from Commander Bunnypants!!

[otohara]

22. So What Happens Tomorrow

and the day after, and the day after that - will NYC & D.C. be in lockup for ever now? They made it sound like today was D-day based on 2 year old information!!!

Political timing for sure!

[xxqqqzme]

24. so R all the talking hairdos

apologizing 2 Howard?.......hmmmmmm......didn't think so!

[Isere]

27. They've had them in the basement

just waiting for the election season!

[Disturbed]

33. Bushit!!!

That little photo op of Stepford wife and sleaze daughters in one of places designated for an attack is blatant crap. Fraudulent terror warining! Can't someone sue these Neo Fascists?

[MisterP]

30. 200M see "ORANGE ALERT TERR'TERR'TERR!!!!"

10M see "Old intel, never mind."

[lottie244]

34. If the media allows this to pass we should all stop buying newspapers and

stop watching all cable and network news. This calls for bombarding the 9/11 Commission with protests about this lates alert and how Bush is still misusing and misleading about intelligence. I am absolutely pissed about this. Just think what this shit is costing our economy?

[leesa]

49. They will and you should stop buying papers and watching mainstream

news anyway. It's bad for you.

[AKing]

37. Depkafile also skeptical

Two Men Held in Pakistan Are Back Numbers

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

August 2, 2004, 5:27 PM (GMT+02:00)



Improbable hideaway for al Qaeda secrets


DEBKAfile’s counter-terror experts are skeptical about the sourcing of the intelligence which prompted the terror alert - declared Sunday at five financial bastions in New York, Washington and New Jersey - to Pakistan’s two newest al Qaeda captives, the Tanzanian Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, caught on July 25, and the Pakistani Muhammed Naeem Noor Khan, apprehended on July 13.

http://www.debka.com/article.php?aid=885

[unfrigginreal]

39. This in a WaPo article

Damian Milverton, a spokesman for the World Bank, said more than 1,200 employees attended a staff meeting at which World Bank President James Wolfensohn said they could expect increased security measures.

Milverton said Wolfensohn told employees that "the information that the U.S. authorities picked up was from 2001 and there was no evidence to suggest an imminent threat to the Bank."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A33730-2004Aug2.html

[54anickel]

40. I just read that in today's local paper, laughed my ass off on the 1st

paragraph.

The federal government raised the terror alert level Sunday to "orange" for the financial services sectors in New York City, Washington and Newark NJ, citing the discovery of remarkably detailed intelligence showing that al-Qaida operatives have been plotting for years to blow up specific buildings with car or truck bombs.

All I could think of was so how old are these plans and wouldn't they be a bit obsolete by now? Are these from before 9/11? What a bunch of maroons.

[REVOLT823]

42. I heard on Hardball that this information was captured in Pakistan

last week, but, that yes, the information found on the laptop was from 2000/2001. My question is, since this was supposedly found on the African guys (sorry, don't remeber his name) laptop, the one implicated in the embassy bombings, why was it not brought to the attention of the intelligence people unitl Thurs or Fri. when claimed. News reports from last week indicated this guy was nabbed by the Pakis last Saturday/Sunday. News of it did not break here unitl Thurs. (conveniently enough), then we don't hear about pics of the buildings being on his laptop until 2-3 days later. If this is such an all-fired emergency, raising terror levels etc. why was it so slow in getting out?

[yellowcanine]

43. Cheneying unbelievable. Bush has hit a new low. This may be

the tipping point. How can anybody believe anything that man says anymore?

[Name removed]

46. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Sterling]

47. Maybe you know?

More imporant is if you take Bushies word for what kind of "chatter" they are picking up. They have a poor track record in that area, one would be wise to use reason rather than take their word for it.

It just flat out makes no sense to alert the polulation if they actually have some specific and potentailly actionable intel. It makes less sense to agrivate the situation by sending Barbara Bush and Pataki to the suposed scene of the threat.

Use your head man.

[Princess Turandot]

48. My first thought, even before this revelation, was that it all sounded..

like the information that would have been gathered by the blind Sheik and his band of merry men, who were convicted of trying to bomb several sites in NYC in the mid-90's. The sheik is also believed to have been behind the truck bombing of the WTC in 1993, which while sadly killing some people,did almost nothing to the building itself. It sounded too conceptually dated in a way.The washington post online is reporting:

"Numerous officials said yesterday, however, that most of the information was compiled prior to the Sept. 11 attacks and that there are serious doubts about the age of other, undated files. One senior counterterrorism official said many of the documents include dates prior to Sept. 11, 2001, but there are no dates after that."

(from:<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35466-2004Aug2_2.html>)

You would think with 2 political conventions AND the Olympics all occuring within weeks of each other, that there might have been some reference to these major events on the guy's computer.

I live in NYC and passed a garage in midtown today where the check-in guy was actually examining the underside of the car of a guy who had pulled up to park in it, with one of those mirrors on a pole contraptions...

[saigon68]

51. WHAT A CROCK OF BULL-SHIT

The sheep are running willy nilly in Circles.

[phasev]

52. more intelligence failures n/t

[rocktivity]

53. The New York Times is getting more like Drudge every day

Speaking of old, here's an article the Times ran YESTERDAY:

Captured Qaeda Figure Led Way to Information Behind Warning

A senior United States official would not confirm or deny that Mr. Khan had been the Qaeda figure whose capture led to the information. But the official said 'documentary evidence' found after the capture had demonstrated in extraordinary detail that Qaeda members had for years conducted sophisticated and extensive reconnaissance of the financial institutions cited in the warnings on Sunday.
And not a minute too late...Well, let's REALLY be safe and cancel the GOP covention, why don't we?

:headbang:
rocknation

[Mighty Undecided]

54. August 6 memo just became "actionable" (Aug 6, 2001) Good for W!

[banana republican]

55. Was one of the targets the WTC?????

[msanthrope]

57. Why are we using this 'historical document' but we ignored

others? I wonder if anyone in the whore press has the balls to ask McClellan and Condi.

[Lorien]

58. "The view" bimbo Elizabeth saying "Bush* was

misled! Thank god he's our President and Not John Kerry"! This in response to other view host Joy who said "I'm sorry-the buck STOPS with the President! If Kerry were president and this happened, I would critisize him"!

The other hosts were saying that it was the CIAs fault, and that BushCo was acting in our best interest. I'm appalled that any (non-Faux) network show has a regular host that declares "Thank God John Kerry isn't President". Sickening!