US: Terror threats can be bogus (whodathunk)

[54anickel]

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_1463821,00.html

Washington - A top US lawmaker expressed concern on Sunday that the al-Qaeda may be deliberating spreading false information about security threats in the United States in a bid to wrong-foot US authorities and maximise public panic.

"It's a very inexpensive way for terrorists to do great damage and inflict costs on the United States of America," Represenative Christopher Cox said.

Asked if the elevated terror alert over the Christmas holiday could have been caused by al-Qaeda releasing disinformation, Cox, head of the House of Representatives' Homeland Security Committee, replied: "That concerns me a great deal. That's a very real possibility."

"We have to take that into account. I think that at some level people would expect their government to be taking precautions as if these warnings are real, but they would also like not to be scared to death constantly through an overreaction," he said.


Hmmm, so why is every single threat making the press right now! Do your friggen job! Is this story bogus as well, take the heat off the admin for all of these false alarms based on who knows what intelligence.

[aquart]

1. Or Al Quaida doesn't have to bother because Ridge will do it.

As always, the big Al quaida problem is how do they top themselves?

And if they do manage to top themselves, how do they top themselves after that?

Really, they're victims of their own success.

[DoYouEverWonder]

11. Tom Ridge and his friends in the 'private intel' business

and folks like Jeremy Reynalds aka: daleel almojahid.

daleel almojahid is the supposed author of the numerous letters and Yahoo chat room posts that are spreading like wildfire around the internet. However, I have collected a fair bit of evidence that indicates that daleel almojahid is the creation of Jeremy Reynalds.

Here's some links to more info about the source of some of these bogus threats that I posted before Christmas. Unfortunately, some of the links to the information that I refer to has been changed or deleted.


Code Orange: Is it based on an Internet Hoax? Posted 12-23-03

The Coming Strike? The Anatomy of a Terrorist Hoax Posted 12-23-03

[kalian]

2. OBL, "terrorism" is the 2003 "Emmanuel Goldstein"....

that was our holiday "hate" session.

[slack]

8. sometimes I think

Orwell was an optimist.

[tom_paine]

20. Only the final product of Imperial Amerika will show that to be true

We are still living in a nation which largely still exists under conditions of the Ol;d American Republic.

But that place died in Dec. 2000. Cause of death: Murder by bludgeoning.

When Imperial Amerika is FINISHED transforming from what it was to what it will become, only then can we tell if Orwell was an optimist.
My opinion: Possible but not likely.

"1984" outlines a pretty horrific place that, while it already hold certain similarities to Imperial Amerika, isn't even close to real life in the 2003 Empire.

I could be wrong though, and the odious and pampered descendants of today's Busheviks may institute a regime worse than "1984".

Only time will tell...

[gmoney]

3. That's what terrorism is all about...

Creating the climate of fear... it's not about actual events, but potential events. Why would a real terrorist announce his actions ahead of time. That would be like a bank robber calling ahead...

It's also about crying "wolf" often enough that eventually legitimate warnings will be dismissed...

[Rick Myers]

4. Exactly...

In the late 70's the Rand corp. put out a report that called terrorism "global theatre." The ACT of terrorism is not 9/11, but how the fear spreads thru a population when the word 'terrorism' is envoked.

The 'terrorists' in the US today are GWB, Ashkroft, Cheney, Kindasleezy Rice and the rest...

[joeunderdog]

18. I got a LTE in my local RW rag about this.

That's it. Duct tape and plastic for everyone for Christmas this year. I'm taking the advice of the Dec. 23 Salem News editorial and trading in my green and red for the Code Orange. The only question is: My bunker or yours?

snip

The fact is, our current foreign policy is having the effect of creating new enemies in our war against terror. This increases our risk. We are essentially intensifying some of the hostility that can result in the very threats we are trying to defend ourselves against.

Code Orange will only put our budgets further in the red, and it won't really make us any safer. So instead of dumbing-down to a vague system of color-coded terror alerts, we should adopt a sophisticated, cost-effective approach to rebuilding relations with the people and nations we have been angering and alienating. In the end, that will make us safer.



http://www.ecnnews.com/cgi-bin/frame/getpage2.pl?cgi-bin/s/thestoryv2.pl+slug-slettbc

[SheilaT]

5. I used to work at Washington National Airport

during the 1970's. For several years we endured a series of bomb threats. The airport would cease operations, the terminals would be evacuated, and it would be searched, often with bomb-sniffing dogs. NEVER ONCE was a bomb found. We employees quickly concluded that the vast majority of the threats were being phoned in by passengers running a little late for their flights and just wanted to delay things a little. After a while, the airport police would simply quietly notify us that there'd been a bomb threat and we went about business as usual while a search was made.

These supposedly credible threats are, in my opinion, far less credible than those bomb threats thirty years ago.

[Maeve]

6. All they have to do is "increase" the "chatter"

Toss in a few "all is in place" or "the second stage has been accomplished" and watch the fun! :eyes:

Two dents in buses that might have been bullet-related shut down a 20,000 student school district. Panic is easy.

[54anickel]

7. Hi there Maeve. Did they ever find the culprits?

[Maeve]

9. Not yet

They have seven "for sure" cases (bullets matched by forensics) and another eleven "could be relateds" and lots of leads, but..... at least it's easier to get around 270 and if you have car trouble, there'll be a cop along soonest!

[Buns_of_Fire]

10. Mercy. Are you suggesting...

that the lawmaker's comment might be misinformation to deflect criticism from the administration's tourist alert that was probably disinformation to deflect attention from whatever wringer boosh* currently has his willy stuck in? My head hurts. :crazy:

Memo to Tom (Ridge): Either give us peons specifics as to what we can do, or shut the f**k up. And I already have plenty of duct tape and plastic sheeting, thanks.

[truthisfreedom]

12. they've already gone past the point of crying wolf to me.

i don't feel anything excpt outrage at the waste of money for bush's political gain when they make these idiotic terror alert announcements. it's all a bunch of hooey.

[abelenkpe]

15. until

the next attack is manufactured. Is it just me, or did anyone else have the low sinking feeling on 9/11 that we somehow let those attacks happen? I do tend to be skeptical, perhaps cynical. I guess I've been hoping for a while now that someone would illustrate that my feelings were off target. But then there's all this secrecy surrounding the 9/11 investigation. It's not really helping me to be a believer.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

16. You're not the only one that thinks that way.

[snippy]

13. We will have these alerts for the rest of our lives.

And for the rest of our children's lives.

And for the rest of our grandchildren's lives.

And for the rest of our great grandchildren's lives.

And so on and so on.

Someone needs to ask Bush to define victory in the war on terror.

[54anickel]

14. Ah, but that's the beauty of it for Shrub, there is no victory, there is

no end. It goes on and on and on and on.
Perpetual war, constant erosion of civil liberties, a neo-cons wet dream.

[Beetwasher]

17. It Doesn't Take A Genius to Know that they Will Strike When

we LEAST expect it. Around the holidays would be too obvious. 9/11 was a perfect date because there was nothing special about it...The next one will come during some mundane time period when we least expect it...

[peterh]

19. More bogus threats….

NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Cunard Lines, which owns the newly completed luxury
cruise liner Queen Mary 2, said it "hasn't received any specific threats"
against the ship.
The company's statement came in response to a Daily Telegraph report Sunday
saying that Cunard had "confirmed that it had received a terrorist threat
against the liner's maiden voyage in the New Year."
In addition to denying the Telegraph report, Cunard, which is a unit of
Carnival Corp. (CCL), said it maintains a "comprehensive on-board security
program."

The original story below:

http://dailytelegraph.news.com.au/story.jsp?sectionid=1258&storyid=694716



The US, British and Italians are friggin’ eye deep in disinformation….I think that Office of Strategic (dis)Information is in full bloom.

[ProfessorGAC]

21. Well Duh!

Maybe the press should cast a wary eye on the reports of threats as well. The guy in Congress says it, but the media can only report that the guy in Congress said it. Where are they when it comes to asking questions about veracity? Isn't that their job?
The Professor

[moondust]

22. They have three functions.

1. Keep Murcans scared shitless.
2. Monopolize media time/push real news out of the headlines.
3. Give Tom Ridge vast free media exposure to make his a household name that, like Ahhnold, will have a big edge in future political races, i.e. this is political advertising under the guise of gov't business.