[Chefelf]

Material Behind New U.S. alert Is Years Old
Tue Aug 3, 2004 08:35 AM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Much of the information obtained from al Qaeda that led the United States to raise terror alerts in Washington and New York was at least three years old but a top U.S. official said on Tuesday it remained relevant.

Asked in morning television interviews whether material gathered more than three years ago was out of date, White House homeland security adviser, Fran Townsend, said this was not the case.

She said al Qaeda had originally collected information about key financial buildings in the United States in 2000 and 2001 but that this was updated as recently as January of this year.

"What we have learned about the 9/11 attacks, is that they do them (plan for attacks), years in advance and then update them before they launch the attacks," she told ABC's "Good Morning America" show, referring to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against America.

Al Qaeda was behind the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center in New York and struck the Pentagon in Washington.

Last Sunday, the United States raised its terror level to "high" and warned of possible attacks soon, naming the New York Stock Exchange, World Bank, and International Monetary Fund as among potential targets in the New York area and Washington.

Townsend said the U.S. government got its latest intelligence of planning for more attacks as little as 72 hours ago from Pakistan.

"We thought we had to get it to the American people so that they could protect themselves," she said.

Security has been tightened in New York and Washington in response to the new terror alert and Washington police chief Charles Ramsey said new security measures could stay in place at least until after the November presidential election.

Democrats have raised questions over the timing of the alert, saying it could be politically motivated ahead of the election.

"The allegation is outrageous," Townsend said.

http://www.reuters.c...storyID=5858156

Information that was three years old, eh? Hmmmm. What information could they be getting from three years ago?

Oh well. Better late than never.

[Just your average movie goer]

I wonder....

Well now we know there's a little bit more to the terrorism alert levels. I used to think that the terrorism alert levels were determined by someone licking their finger and holding it out the window, going "Hmmm..... a north-easterly breeze, I think today is a 'yellow' alert day."

[SimeSublime]

I always considered them as useful as the fire warning sign near my house. It's divided into low, moderate, high, very high and extreme. Unfortunatly, somebody stole the pointer, rendering it useless.

[jyd]

wrong topic

This post has been edited by jyd: 03 August 2004 - 04:54 PM

[Slade]

Gee, what a surprise. Of course, I'll never believe another word out of the lying mouths of the Bush Administration anyway. After those ethereal WMDs, why should we bothing even reacting to this news?

And if the info is years old, why did they wait until this moment to act on it?

And do you know how much it costs to mobilize an entire police and fire force like that for 3 major cities? All for a 3 year old alert?

[K1NGWARREN]

Keeping 3 major US cities on high alert: $23 million per day
Increased security around financial centers: $9 million per day
Getting your lying ass reelected in November: priceless

[barend]

have you guys seen Farrenheit 9/11 yet?

[SimeSublime]

Not yet, no time, but I really, really want to.

[Slade]

I have, it irritated me, assuming it's all factual. I liked it. It's about freakin' time someone came out and said publicaly that Bush is a lying doublespeaking war monger. Of course, this is all just another lie purpetrated by the left wing media. I'm sure there is a perfectly legitimate reason Bush spent the first 6 months of his "presidency" golfing.

And why didn't any of those senators sign the petition saying that Bush cheated? That's what really makes me suspicious.

[J m HofMarN]

"We thought we had to get it to the American people so that they could protect themselves," she said.

So its OUR job to protect ourselves from terrorism now? It used to be that the armed forces protected the country and the people just lived out their daily lives. Now its the job of the armed forces to rape third world countries and its the job of the people to defend the country.

Well I guess we at L&E should form some sort of anti-terrorism watch group or something. I declare myself inspector general. If you see anyone who has dark skin, carries a copy of the quran, or looks like they might be a muslim or a muslim sympathizer bring their head to me and I'll give you a medal for your bravery, citizen.

I think Bush's policy about protecting people from terrorism is best summed up in this quote that recently made the news.

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we," Bush said. "They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

That's a hell of a freudian slip if you ask me. The funniest part is it was a big line in a speech to some military personnel and they all just stood silent afterwards not sure what to say.

I want Bush to get drunk so he'll suddenly start telling the truth like this more often, possibly in the form of a rap song like in the great film, "Bulworth" In fact, I'd pay to see that.

"My name's G W Bush and I'm here to say, that my wars were all bullshit and the people paid, I pity the fool who is so daft, to think that my crack ass wont instate the draft, dr dr draft, so if you dont like bombs, than you better get gone, canada is the place to go, til I decide to firebomb ontario. Oldschool style, yeah. I see you rumsfeld, bad boy!"

[Just your average movie goer]

I just saw Farenheit 9/11 today. Pretty disturbing stuff - and once again, another fine documentary by Michael Moore.

I wondered how Bush could cause so much suffering for so many innocent people around the world for his own personal gain.... how does somebody become such a prick? And I wondered if he loses any sleep over it. The scary thing is that I think he doesn't.

And it was also frightening to see how many of the US soldiers in Iraq thought the whole war was some kind of computer game. The guys talking about what's the best music to listen to when you're killing someone? That is unbelievable.

However, and it is to Michael Moore's credit that he gave us a balanced portrayal of the US Marines, it was good to see that they weren't all like that.

But - what a powerful film. I only hope that more people in America see it (i.e the ignorant people who need to see this film and wake up to themselves).

[SimeSublime]

Hmm, I haven't yet seen the film, but I remember hearing something on Triple J. Apparanly, there was another documentary maker(I think he was Australian)who was making a documentry on music and war. From what I remember, Moore used some of his footage of interveiws with the troops, but he cut bits out to push his views. I'm not sure if that was the bit you were talking about or not, but apparantly in the full interview they weren't quite so badly portrayed.

[Just your average movie goer]

Oh, he was using the footage to push a point across, clearly... but I get what you're saying. But I would have to see the original footage and the edited footage side by side to be sure....

But even so, people listen to CDs when they're killing people in a tank?

[SimeSublime]

I haven't seen the film yet, but perhaps by making the war seem like a video game helps them sleep at night.

[SimeSublime]

This text is taken from the game "Planescape: Torment"

The experience ‘horrible regret.’
I stood on the deck of my flagship, the Divine Hammer, as it floated over the continent of Agarheim, held aloft by the winds of magic. The very landscape roiled and shuddered beneath the bombardment of my fleet, one thousand ships’ cannons and bombards hurling their sorcerous fire down like vengeful gods. The shockwaves had begun to hit my ship only minutes ago — a constant vibration that sent shudders through the whole of the ancient craft and moved my very bones — accompanied by a constant, rumbling bass. As the land’s mountains began to sink and the seas that surrounded it begin to boil off into the atmosphere, my first officer came to stand beside me.
“My Lord Admiral… permission to speak freely, sir.”
I nodded my acquiescence, my stomach sinking as I guessed at his question.
“My lord… forgive me, but how? What gives us the right? A billion lives…”
I spoke without turning to him, unable to take my eyes off Rhumos, the nation’s vast capital city, as it vaporized into a cloud of super-heated gasses twelve miles across and growing ever-wider. “If you only knew the full treachery of the Agarites, First Officer Felm, one which is beyond most any man’s comprehension… then you would know. You would speak of our right to annihilate them? We've no right to let them live.”
“But… sir? Traitors, all of them? Surely, among the hundreds of thousands. How many innocents—”
“Silence! Speak of it no more — our king has spoken, His will be done. The task set to us is a horrible one, not fit for contemplation or questioning. There is no room for pity, no room for remorse – only duty.”
The two of us stood silently for a time, watching the last minutes of Agarheim. At long last I sighed… a low, stuttering exhalation that sounded as if something had broken inside me. Beneath the brazen plate that covered the ruined half of my face, my dead eye began to weep…
“Falm… my friend… I would have you understand. I know now, as I look down at what I have wrought here, that were I to think upon what I have done… what I have truly done… I would be struck mad. A deed such as this… the anguish would overwhelm, destroy me. So, First Officer Falm, it must be that there are no innocents in Agarheim… no mothers, no children, no people. Only traitors. Vile, cunning traitors, who deserve no less than the full brunt of our most Holy King’s wrath. Do you understand this?”
“Y-yes, m’lord.”
“Good. Now go… I wish to be alone, here.”
“By your command, Lord Admiral.” Falm bowed his head and returned below deck, leaving me to stand over the end of a civilization.