Al Qaeda planning attacks in most well known Gun Free Cities

[TexasRifleman]

I find this VERY much gun related in that the 2 cities chosen are probably the most well known anti gun cities in the country. You think Al Qaeda will honor the "Gun Free Zones"?

What are the chances that these cities were randomly chosen rather than selected precisely because armed resistance is guaranteed to be lower?

Illinois and California, take note: You have made yourselves a target.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,309657,00.html

The FBI confirmed it has issued an "intelligence information report" warning of possible Al Qaeda attacks on Los Angeles and Chicago shopping malls over the holiday season.

The warning states Al Qaeda has been planning the attack for the past two years with the intension to disrupt the U.S. economy, but it notes the latest threats fit a pattern that has emerged every holiday season since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks.

FBI officials say details of the threat have come from a reliable source, but said much of the information is second- and third-hand, leaving FBI officials uncertain about the reliability of the intelligence received.

"This information was obtained through a lengthy chain of acquisition, and was provided to the source by a sub-source who spoke in confidence. The veracity of the information is uncertain but the threat is being reported due to the nature of the information," the FBI said in a statement.

"In the post 9/11 era, sharing information is our top priority. Al Qaeda messaging has clearly stated they intend to attack the U.S. or its interests; however, there is no information to state this is a credible threat. We remind people to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to authorities," added FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko.


Unclassified threat information was circulated by the FBI on Nov. 7, and is based on intelligence received in late September, according to ABC, which was first to report the story Thursday. The threat states that Al Qaeda has "been planning the attack for the past two years."

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I find this VERY much gun related in that the 2 cities chosen are probably the most well known anti gun cities in the country. You think Al Qaeda will honor the "Gun Free Zones"?

Will Al Queda honor the gun free zones? Probably. The reason is that they will likely use bombs. Every city in the US is a bomb-free zone and that they will not honor.

What are the chances that these cities were randomly chosen rather than selected precisely because armed resistance is guaranteed to be lower?

There is almost zero chance the cities were chosen randomly, but you have set up a false dichotomy here. You are contrastring the chances of random selection versus a lack of armed resistance. We already know that Al Queda operates in a very methodical way, often with considerable planning involved. So there is no way in hell the cities were chosen at random. However, that does not mean they were chosen for the lack of armed resistance. You have simply inferred that is the reason or more likely reason, apparently because that is the only connection you understand to exist between the two cities and their supposed selection by Al Queda..

Illinois and California, take note: You have made yourselves a target.

What about all the other warnings that come up on a seasonal basis now that are for other major cities in the US where guns are present? What did Dallas, Houston, and Miami do to make themselves a target being as they are all in gun toting states? What about Atlanta? These are all locations where US intel. has indicated there might be a terrorist attack at various times in the last few years.

Sorry, but your logical and conclusion are spurious based a lack of any sort of data to justify them and the logic applied fails to account for which US cities with guns have been targeted in the past.

Just for the record, if you go back and check every September, November, and December since 9/11, you will find terrorist warning for a variety of major cities in the US. We will have several more before the end of the year. It is almost like clockwork now.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Eh, you take all the fun out of everything with your damned logic

Although I'm not convinced it will be bombs if it happens. The idea of terror is fear, not body count.

It's been talked about for years that a small cadre of well armed terrorists could make quite an impact with small arms.

The fear return on the money is probably greater with small arms than a bomb.

To plant the seed in the general populations mind that behind every parked car is an AQ guy with a machinegun is a powerful thing.

 

[Seancass]

Its a LOT more likely that they just chose two very large cities. and they already hit new york.

 

[TexasRifleman]

and they already hit new york.

One more gun free city..... hey, it may not be directly connected but it is an interesting pattern even if just a coincidence.

 

[devilc]

California (think Hollywood) has long been an AQ target, so has Chicago specifically since it is the major midwest hub.
They do not think along the same logical lines you and I do.
Firearm ownership does not play into their calculus.
The senior AQ planners have very little understanding of American civil society in general - we might as well be martians to UBL and his inner circle.

 

[dhoomonyou]

Does anyone remember the movie INVASION USA, with Chuck Norris.

 

[TexasRifleman]

Does anyone remember the movie INVASION USA, with Chuck Norris.

Remember it? Some of us on here been planning for it for years LOL

(just kidding)

 

[Justin]

After offing my first terrorist and relieving him of his AK47, I look forward to using a sharpie to scrawl "HO HO HO Now I have a machine gun" on his t-shirt.

 

[scout26]

AQ choose big cities because, well, they're big cities. Better chance of a large body count then if they hit the Dollar Store in East Bumblebuck.

Also easier for them to operate in. Achmed will be ignored as just another taxidriver in Chicago, however in East Bumblebuck, he'll be under 24/7/365 surveillance by every Gladys Kravitz (meaning the entire population) of the town.

I don't think Gun-Free enters into their planning calculus, or if does then it's way down list past Large Population, High Impact/Value Targets, Easy to Blend In, Base to Recruit/Receive Support/Help From, etc.

 

[ilbob]

The obvious targets are schools and shopping malls. Lots of defenseless people shoehorned into confined spaces.

But think about all the other targets that could come into play that are similar in nature - hospitals, nursing homes, sporting events (think high school football), etc., etc.

Personally, I think the calculus is this. Does AQ think that attacks on US soil will help or hurt the chances of a Democrat winning the presidency? If Hillary or Obama is elected, they will get almost everything they want on a silver platter, so why would they mess that up?

I suspect the real answer is that they will wait until after the election to do anything serious, as the result of attacks on US soil is so unpredictable. In Spain, they were able to cow the Spanish voters with a single bomb, and got their guy elected. Its not clear how that would fly here.

 

[TexasRifleman]

After offing my first terrorist and relieving him of his AK47, I look forward to using a sharpie to scrawl "HO HO HO Now I have a machine gun" on his t-shirt.

See, at least one of you get it

 

[RoadkingLarry]

let's see.
Los Angelses, check
Chicago, check
Shopping Mall, check
I'm good, won't find me any of those places anyway.
Let it snow
let it snow
let it snow...

 

[wideym]

I more concerned about the AQ wannabes. Even though the media says fullauto AK47s are on every street corner, getting ahold of one would be next to impossible for a foreigner. He would need the help of citizens to buy the semiauto AK and ammo.

 

[30 cal slob]

pffft. won't be much of a holiday shopping season when gasoline hits $4-$5 per gallon.

solution: order gifts online.

 

[6_gunner]

I don't think they would choose them because armed resistance is less likely. Their modus operandi seems generally to be launching surprise attacks, using explosives other weapons designed to target large numbers of people. Armed resistence wouldn't be much of an issue.

Probably, they just picked the biggest cities, where they would do the most damage because of the denser population. Big cities tend to support stricter gun control. I think it's just a coincidence.

 

[Erebus]

It appears to me that those cities were chosen to effect/scare the largest number of people. Saying they will hit LA brings it to the people on the left coast, Chicago brings it to "fly over" country. I am kinda surprised there isn't an east coast city on the list such as Boston, Miami, NYC, DC, etc. Or perhaps a "Southern" city.

If they were going to hit places that they wouldn't face armed civilian resistance I would expect places like DC & Milwaukee to be listed with Chicago. Maybe they weren't far enough apart to scare as many people. It looks to me like they picked large well known population centers that they knew everyone would recognize but were spread out enough to have a target "close" to the largest geographical area possible.

It's more than likely just a scare tactic and not a real threat. Doubt it will work. We have grown comfortably numb to their threats. Not that it's a good thing. Another reminder to be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. Heck if nothing else know where the exits are anywhere you go. It doesn't take something as grandiose as terror attack to need an exit quick.

 

[gopguy]

After offing my first terrorist and relieving him of his AK47, I look forward to using a sharpie to scrawl "HO HO HO Now I have a machine gun" on his t-shirt.

Justin don't forget to send in the paperwork and $200 to the BATFE in Atlanta..wouldn't want you to get in trouble for running around with a unregistered AK.

Firearm ownership does not play into their calculus.

I think Chicago and LA CA were mentioned because it is less likely to have some civilian try to stop a bomber with a firearm. They are certainly a softer target than a mall in a state where you have CCW and the malls are not posted No CCW. If some jihadi is having trouble setting something off and it is obvious, then a citizen who is armed, might well pop him. I think they have considered this. But I don't think it is the primary reason in their selecting their targets. It is better from their point of view to strike at the large cities to get the best result. Wide spread fear.

The idea of terror is fear, not body count.

Actually it is to get both if they can acheive it.

 

[Mike128]

Mortars into a stadium is my bet. Fear and mayhem with little risk other than trying to obtain the mortar.
Second bet would be to small arms attack by a group of muslims combined with explosives planted at various points.
A NASCAR event would be perfect since our goverment doesn't seem to car about the South and that demographic is already willing to fight. Hollywood would just blow it off.
Now, attacking CA would turn Hollywood against the terrorists (some not all of Hollywood), thereby turning the sheep. The only thing is that Hollywood is the "Mecca" of everything the terroists dispise.

 

[Tommygunn]

Does anyone remember the movie INVASION USA, with Chuck Norris.

Oh, yea, that classic! How could any of us forget that classic!

While I am a firm believe in RTKBA, I think Al-Qaeda chooses big,populated cities which are very well known by Americans -- and others. If they were to use bombs the chances of an armed citizen doing anything are remote IMHO. What are you going to do, shoot a guy with a bomb? Have you heard of a dead man switch?
It is, however, my belief these threats are in fact not real; they're intended to intimidate us and cause us to avoid malls, and impact us economically through fear.
There are maybe 2000 AQ operatives in America by one estimate. If they really wanted to blow things up they could do so, and not just in big cities ... they may be up to something, but I bet this is just psychological -- or perhaps the FBI is beating it's chest for more funding .......

 

[Rumble]

After offing my first terrorist and relieving him of his AK47, I look forward to using a sharpie to scrawl "HO HO HO Now I have a machine gun" on his t-shirt.

Come out to the coast, we'll get together, have a few laughs...

Anyway, I tend to agree that it's probably coincidence - Chicago and LA are just really big, crowded places.

 

[El Tejon]

I wouldn't read so much into these latest warnings. Remember, a few years ago the feds warned that that Indianapolis (the antithesis of gun free) may be subject to attack.

 

[crazed_ss]

You guys honestly think Los Angeles is a gun free city?

 

[strat81]

What are the chances that these cities were randomly chosen rather than selected precisely because armed resistance is guaranteed to be lower?

If these are bomb attacks (truck, suicide, car, etc) on a school, mall, gov't building, etc., what good will a gun do? Let's go back to 9/11. NYC could have had mandatory gun ownership and it wouldn't have changed a thing.

Unless the attack is of such magnitude that it creates a massive disruption is food, supplies, fuel, electricity, & water (ala katrina), I don't see guns playing a big part of it. How could that tie in with AQ? Maybe if they severed most/all access points to the Island of Manhattan.

 

[Henry Bowman]

It's been talked about for years that a small cadre of well armed terrorists could make quite an impact with small arms.

If they had the discipline to do it, commerce could be crippled for months by a handful of "snipers," rather than in a suicide bombing or spray-fire attack. Look how much grief a couple of crazies known as the "DC Snipers" caused for weeks. If they had not been insane and started to leave intentional clues, Chief Moose would still be looking for them. We had a guy here in Ohio (near Columbus) who was shooting at cars and trucks on the interstate. One person was killed by a "lucky" shot. Truckers were driving hours out of their way to avoid the stretch of road. He, too, was insane and started taking riskier shots which resulted in him being seen which led to clues that allowed his father to figure it out and turn him in.

Fortunately, the crazies we have had here were just that: crazy. If they were stable and disciplined enough in their mission, two or three shooters with single shot, bolt action rifles and modest scopes could both terrorize the masses and cripple commerce for a long time.