U.S. Intel: Qaeda Plotting 'Big Bang'

[ECH1969]

U.S. officials tell CBS News that intelligence has picked up reports that al Qaeda in Iraq is planning what one source calls the "Big Bang," a spectacular terrorist attack in Iraq against either a single high-profile target or multiple targets simultaneously.

Last week's mosque bombing in city of Samarra that brought Iraq to the brink of civil war was the work of terrorists, some U.S. officials have theorized. Abu Musab al-Zarqawi seems to be betting that another big bang would push the country over the brink, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin. The bomb in one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims set off violence all across the country that left hundreds dead.

The Iraqi government has banned all private vehicles in Baghdad during daylight hours Friday, the Muslim prayer day, just as it did last week. That kept car bombs, what the military cars vehicle-born improvised explosive devices, off the streets.

But Zarqawi just waited until the ban was lifted. "The day the vehicle ban was lifted, all these VBIEDS that he had staged he deployed in Iraq and detonated over the last three days," said Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a U.S. military spokesman.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/03/02/iraq/main1364828.shtml

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

1. Holy Shit! I'd better go hide now and vote for a Republican!

Katrinagate=New Terror Threat

[Catchawave]

2. first thing that came to my mind too....!

:patriot:

[ECH1969]

4. Any Violence or threat of violence that occurs in Iraq hurts Bush

It doesn't matter who does the violence to the public.

Sure al-Qaeda probably blew up the Shia holy shrine it still shaved 10 points off Bush approval on Iraq.

As long as the terror isn't directed inside the US, people aren't afraid, and it doesn't help Bush.

[peacebird]

5. LOL!

:toast:

[brooklynite]

38. I guess the new campaign phrase will be:

"Better to have them blow up things over there, so they can't blow up things over here..."

[bluestateguy]

3. Boy these approval numbers being in the 30's is causing some real panic

Have spring training baseball games started yet?

[rzemanfl]

6. Tomorrow in Florida. n/t

[AlCzervik]

7. oh boy, poll numbers dropping--TERRAH!!!!!

[Gman]

8. Sounds like they're getting ready to catch #3 again

that guy just keeps getting captured.

[goclark]

22. Is that that Deck of Cards Trick?

They are headed for Civil War and no body in the Deck is anywhere near it IMO.

These are some dangeroius times with dangerous men "in charge."

[buddysmellgood]

9. Wow! CBS got an exclusive on information that something might blow up in

Iraq. Shocking.

[geopol]

10. Speculation About Al-Qaeda

I believe that all of this talk is speculation, extrapolation of probable scenarios from past events. This is an example of hyping up daily news so that a story or analytical piece may appear in today's issue of one of the major newspapers, in other words, feed for news junkies.

Various organizations affiliated with Al-Qaeda have repeatedly attempted big terrorist bangs as well as little bangs. There is nothing new here. There is no piece of verifiable information in this report that would justify either a big bang or little bang prediction. This is an example of superficial analysis for the sake of having another piece of junk news.

I was hoping that this forum would allow members with years of knowledge and expertise to intelligently discuss Iraq and other foreign policy issues, but whenever one tries to post something meaningful one gets a message saying that one must answer a number of these threads before being allowed to post.

The round about process for being able to post information to these forums, may make sense in some cases, but may inhibit valuable contributions from people who have something real to offer these discussions.


Alan Fogelquist, Ph. D.
Eurasia Research Center

I have a good working knowledge of Farsi, Dari, ARabic, Balkan Slavic languages, French, Italian and Spanish and years of experience as a researcher, scholar, and analyst of world affairs.

Is there a shorter way to become a bona fide "poster" to any of these forums?



If you give me a chance, I may post something serious about these matters in the future

http://globalgeopolitics.net

[karlrschneider]

11. Just participate, you will become eligible before you know it!

If you have a particular subject you want to discuss, tell me and I will start one for you...and welcome to DU.

[Old and In the Way]

12. Welcome aboard Doctor!

Look forward to reading your thoughts about the spiraling disaster that appears to be inevitable. Most here were against this war. Not only because there was no compelling reason for us to go into Iraq, but because we realized that taking out Hussein would lead to the very civil war that is underway now.

The limitation to post your own new threads is a sad consequence of too many idiots who come on the board to show us how ignorant they are. The Bushbots usually out themselves well before they can get their buffonery printed as an opening post. I think you need to have 20 posts before you reach the minimum threshold to start your own threads. You could probably get there with 10 minutes of posting on a variety of topics here.

[Blackthorn]

17. More than that. I heard 250. At any rate, I have ^ that many...

...and I can't start threads here yet.

[Old and In the Way]

44. Really?

I didn't know that. Sounds like the ante has gone up considerably.

[meganmonkey]

50. Yes you can

It doesn't take that many. Just click 'post' at the top of a forum and you should have no trouble. I have seen someone with 35 posts and no star start new threads within the last couple weeks.

:shrug:

[Media_Lies_Daily]

18. If you post solid information, the rest will fall in place.

[BeHereNow]

20. Welcome to DU and GREAT web site!

I sincerely look forward to your contributions
here on DU. We need more people of
your ilk offering serious analysis of the
geopolitical climate and changes as they
impact us collectively.
IMHO,
BHN

[wordpix]

24. post away---there are a lot of threads about the Mideast and we need your

expertise. Thanks!

[Lochloosa]

37. You might try contacting Skinner, the owner of the web site.

He may bend the rules for you. It's worth a try.

And welcome to DU.

[geopol]

40. Am Still Unable to Post Directly to a Forum

How many posts do you need before you can post directly.

It doesn't make sense to post a section of a news article (with the appropriate bibliographical information and url) under another news article on a similar subject.

How long does it take be for you can post an article excerpt directly to the relevant forum.

I am interested in occasionally posting some good materials I come across in daily research on world politics and the Middle East in the appropriate sections of this forum.

I have access to some important but not widely known sources on these matters and am able to do quick translations and summaries of some material form the foreign language press, but would hesitate to do this if my postings are going to be buried way down in some thread.

Alan Fogelquist

http://globalgeopolitics.net/wp/
http://globalgeopolitics.net

[Just Me]

41. Welcome to DU, Alan.

:hi: Have you tried contacting the administrator? Normally, you are allowed to start posts after posting around 20 or so responses to other threads. However, you should contact the administrator about being allowed to post, particularly since you hold unique knowledge and sources.

Welcome aboard!! I look forward to reading you contributions to our DU!! :hi:

[geopol]

42. How do you get in touch with an administrator?

How do you get in touch with an administrator to work out posting procedures?

Alan F.

[Amonester]

43. Just hoping this link to help answer your questions positively:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/contact.html

Looking forward to read your posts.

Welcome to DU. :hi:

[Bandit]

46. Look forward to your insight

Just post a few more responses and you will gain posting privilege to start threads. You may be surprised though at how many will answer to your responses, especially if they are filled with insightful information..This place isn't perfect but I dare say it is a damn fine site. Much is discussed and usually with very intelligent people.

[ColonelTom]

13. That's big bang THEORY. Didn't those officials get the memo? n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

14. But...but...but...Chimp doesn't believe in the Big Bang!

:rofl:

[The Gunslinger]

15. Sure they are.......Have you see nthe poll numbers? nt

[Rex]

16. War back on for March.

Paging Iran.

[shanti]

23. (late) march

is the date they picked out awhile ago. i read it here on DU. something big is gonna happen, not necessarily in iraq, in late march. :hide:

[NIGHT TRIPPER]

31. MIHOP - great fun for our bird shooting Administration

Ha ha--that's an unintended pun!!
Shooting the bird!]
laughing at myself!

I was just refering to Cheney killing 450 domestic pheasants 2 weeks ago-
Farm raised domestc birds released from their cages for his killing pleasure.

[VegasWolf]

19. So a big spectular attack will happen in Iraq! What a crystal ball!!!

How much do we pay these clowns?

[ConcernedCanuk]

21. "US Intelligence" may soon become the #1 oxymoron

.
.
.

but "Military Intelligence" will hang in there as a close #2 methinks

[wordpix]

25. already is---but "failure of intelligence" describes * perfectly

[Sinistrous]

26. WOLF!!! ...WOLF!!!

(but nobody came......)

Sinistrous

[HuffleClaw]

27. "Pentagon officials are also worried...

...that a terrorist spectacular will undermine administration claims about progress in Iraq and therefore weaken public support for the war here at home"

erm, ya think?

[pinniped]

28. Looky here, another computer rendition of the mega-terra-dude....

international-mastermind of axis powers of evil.

I like how they always talk like it's fact when in fact it's unsubstantiated and utter BS.

Did the .gov hire a medium to channel al-Zarqawi's thoughts????

--But Zarqawi just waited until the ban was lifted. --

[WinkyDink]

29. Wonder if they'll call it " Operation: Shock and Awe"?

I hear Bin-Laden likes irony.

[subterranean]

30. Clearly this comes from a reliable source

Let me see if I've got this straight: CBS News heard from some U.S. officials that they were told that the folks over at "intelligence" have come across reports saying that the word on the street is that terrorists are plotting to blow up one or possibly several buildings in Iraq. Moreover, one source, who requested anonymity, has cleverly dubbed this plan the "Big Bang."

Not only that, but some U.S. government officials think that the mosque bombing in Samarra last week MAY have been committed by --are you ready for this?-- ... terrorists!

Wow, those guys are really thinking outside the box, aren't they?

[BlueIris]

32. Fellas? He's getting impeached. Deal with it.

Propaganda is very expensive and propaganda of this variety is not believable.

[Tin Man]

33. It's a pretty safe bet there'll soon be a big explosion in Iraq

...they usually happen every couple of hours.

[Nickster]

34. I'm still waiting for that "Tet" like offensive to start.

What the heck are they going to say when they launch a massive country-wide assault on our forces and the infrastructure?

[Solly Mack]

35. I thought republicans didn't believe in the "big bang"

(snicker)

or maybe this is just another "intelligence" design

[Massachusetts]

36. Qaeda Plotting 'Big Bang'

Qaeda version of "Shock and Awe", will be a justification to keep raising the stakes. Everyone will lose.

[brainshrub]

39. OMFG111!!! THIS IS HUGH1 SERUSSLY111

Be afraid! Be afraid! Be afraid!

[sarcasmo]

45. Let me guess this will happen in October prior to the elections.

[Roland99]

47. Or perhaps the Intel is a bit lagging and the Shrine *was* the Big Bang

jeez.


These people are PATHETIC!!

[alarcojon]

48. Wow! a day after the CBS poll showing Bush in freefall.

Weren't they also planning a "Big Event" in Israel?

[corporate_mike]

49. That would probably give GW a boost in ratings