AZTOY
Member
Missiles guarding D.C. as CIA warns again of attack threat
Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2003 12:05 PM
WASHINGTON - Air defenses around the nation's capital have been strengthened amid a heightened terrorism alert and a warning from CIA director George Tenet that al-Qaida attacks could occur as early as this week, defense officials said Wednesday.
Avenger anti-aircraft missiles have been stationed around Washington, along with extra radars, and the Air Force has stepped up its combat air patrols over the capital, they said.
In testimony Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee meanwhile, Tenet reiterated that the danger of attack is rising.
If given the choice, al-Qaida terrorists will choose attacks that achieve multiple objectives, striking prominent landmarks, inflicting mass casualties, causing economic disruption and rallying support through shows of strength," the CIA director said. "The bottom line here, Mr. Chairman, is that al-Qaida is living in the expectation of resuming the offensive."
Tenet also said he is worried that the new audio message attributed to Osama bin Laden is a prelude to a strike.
"He's obviously raising the confidence of his people," Tenet said. "What he's said is often followed by an attack."
Meanwhile, House and Senate negotiators have agreed to limit a Pentagon anti-terrorism project that civil libertarians said could probe too deeply into Americans' private affairs. The Pentagon will be barred from monitoring Americans' health, travel and financial data compiled on the Internet, in e-mail and computer databases, a congressional spokesman said.
Limits on the Total Information Awareness program, first proposed in the Senate, will be part of a massive government spending bill now before Congress, said John Scofield, spokesman for House Appropriations Committee chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.
Tenet said on Tuesday that new intelligence information led to last week's raising of the national terror alert level to "orange," the second highest level of five. The information came from "multiple sources with strong al-Qaida ties," Tenet said without providing details.
"The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists and their associates," Tenet said Tuesday. "It is the most specific we have seen, and it is consistent with both our knowledge of al-Qaida's doctrine and our knowledge of plots this network - and particularly its senior leadership - has been working on for years."
The information pointing to imminent attacks was gathered in the United States and overseas, said FBI Director Robert Mueller, who joined Tenet and other intelligence chiefs to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee in an annual public session on threats to national security.
The CIA director said the information suggests the attack may involve a "dirty bomb" - a weapon that spreads radioactive material over a wide area - or chemical or poison weapons. Officials last week worried the attack could be timed to coincide with the hajj, a Muslim holy period this week.
Mueller and Tenet said the U.S. government has no specific information pointing conclusively to where, when or how terrorists would strike. They said raising the national alert level - and taking security measures at government and business centers - makes it more difficult for the terrorists to carry out an attack.
Mueller and Tenet said al-Qaida is damaged but still dangerous. Mueller called it "clearly the most urgent threat to U.S. interests." It has a strong presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is developing a presence in Iran and Iraq, Tenet said.
The FBI suspects there are "several hundred" Muslim extremists in this country who focus mainly on fund raising, recruitment and training, Mueller said. But he said the greatest threat to Americans at home are "al-Qaida cells in the United States that we have not identified."
--- http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0212CongressTerrorism12-ON.html
Associated Press
Feb. 12, 2003 12:05 PM
WASHINGTON - Air defenses around the nation's capital have been strengthened amid a heightened terrorism alert and a warning from CIA director George Tenet that al-Qaida attacks could occur as early as this week, defense officials said Wednesday.
Avenger anti-aircraft missiles have been stationed around Washington, along with extra radars, and the Air Force has stepped up its combat air patrols over the capital, they said.
In testimony Wednesday before the Senate Armed Services Committee meanwhile, Tenet reiterated that the danger of attack is rising.
If given the choice, al-Qaida terrorists will choose attacks that achieve multiple objectives, striking prominent landmarks, inflicting mass casualties, causing economic disruption and rallying support through shows of strength," the CIA director said. "The bottom line here, Mr. Chairman, is that al-Qaida is living in the expectation of resuming the offensive."
Tenet also said he is worried that the new audio message attributed to Osama bin Laden is a prelude to a strike.
"He's obviously raising the confidence of his people," Tenet said. "What he's said is often followed by an attack."
Meanwhile, House and Senate negotiators have agreed to limit a Pentagon anti-terrorism project that civil libertarians said could probe too deeply into Americans' private affairs. The Pentagon will be barred from monitoring Americans' health, travel and financial data compiled on the Internet, in e-mail and computer databases, a congressional spokesman said.
Limits on the Total Information Awareness program, first proposed in the Senate, will be part of a massive government spending bill now before Congress, said John Scofield, spokesman for House Appropriations Committee chairman Bill Young, R-Fla.
Tenet said on Tuesday that new intelligence information led to last week's raising of the national terror alert level to "orange," the second highest level of five. The information came from "multiple sources with strong al-Qaida ties," Tenet said without providing details.
"The intelligence is not idle chatter on the part of terrorists and their associates," Tenet said Tuesday. "It is the most specific we have seen, and it is consistent with both our knowledge of al-Qaida's doctrine and our knowledge of plots this network - and particularly its senior leadership - has been working on for years."
The information pointing to imminent attacks was gathered in the United States and overseas, said FBI Director Robert Mueller, who joined Tenet and other intelligence chiefs to brief the Senate Intelligence Committee in an annual public session on threats to national security.
The CIA director said the information suggests the attack may involve a "dirty bomb" - a weapon that spreads radioactive material over a wide area - or chemical or poison weapons. Officials last week worried the attack could be timed to coincide with the hajj, a Muslim holy period this week.
Mueller and Tenet said the U.S. government has no specific information pointing conclusively to where, when or how terrorists would strike. They said raising the national alert level - and taking security measures at government and business centers - makes it more difficult for the terrorists to carry out an attack.
Mueller and Tenet said al-Qaida is damaged but still dangerous. Mueller called it "clearly the most urgent threat to U.S. interests." It has a strong presence in Pakistan and Afghanistan and is developing a presence in Iran and Iraq, Tenet said.
The FBI suspects there are "several hundred" Muslim extremists in this country who focus mainly on fund raising, recruitment and training, Mueller said. But he said the greatest threat to Americans at home are "al-Qaida cells in the United States that we have not identified."
--- http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0212CongressTerrorism12-ON.html
