Spy Chief: Qaeda Taps Europe For Recruits

National Intelligence Director Says Reason Is Europeans Can More Easily Enter U.S. Without Visa

(AP)  Al Qaeda continues to recruit Europeans for explosives training in Pakistan because Europeans can more easily enter the United States without a visa, the nation's top intelligence officer said Tuesday.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell said European al Qaeda recruits in the border region of Pakistan are being trained to use commercially available substances to make explosives, and they may be able to carry out an attack on U.S. territory.

McConnell also said he worried that Osama bin Laden's recent video and audio releases may be a signal to terrorist cells to carry out operations, he told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"That's unusual. He had been absent from airwaves over the last year. Our concern is that's a signal," McConnell said. "It just causes us to be concerned and vigilant."

Europeans are being recruited specifically because they generally do not need visas to enter the United States, he said.

"Purposely recruiting an operative from Europe gives them an extra edge into getting an operative, or two or three, into the country with the ability to carry out an attack that might be reminiscent of 9/11," he said.

McConnell's threat warning echoed what he told Congress in July at a time when he and the Bush administration were pressing Congress for swift passage of a new law designed to ease warrantless eavesdropping on overseas calls and e-mails.

McConnell warned then that the existing law which dictated when the government must obtain warrants from a secret intelligence court to eavesdrop had become a dangerous blockade to spying on terrorists overseas.

McConnell told the Senate panel Tuesday that half of "what we know" comes from electronic surveillance, and the outdated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act had degraded those intercepts by two-thirds.

Under the new law, the government can eavesdrop without a court order on communications conducted by a person reasonably believed to be outside the United States, even if an American is on one end of the conversation - so long as that American is not the intended focus or target of the surveillance.

Because of changes in technology, many more foreign communications now flow through the United States. The new law, called the Protect America Act, allows communications initiated outside the United States to be tapped without a court order when they pass through electronic channels on U.S. soil. That law expires in January.

The FISA law generally prohibited eavesdropping conducted inside the United States, unless a court approved it.

In requesting the change, the Bush administration said technological advances in communications had created a dire gap in the ability to collect intelligence on terrorists, even those overseas.

[getloud1]

**** TAKE AMERICA BACK ****
**** STOP THE WAR & Corporate Corruption****

He has NEVER voted:
* to raise taxes
* for an unbalanced budget
* to raise congressional pay
* for a federal restriction on gun ownership
* to increase the power of the executive branch

He HAS voted:
* against the Iraq war
* against the inappropriately named USA PATRIOT act
* against regulating the internet
* against the Military Commissions Act

He will eliminate the IRS, Wasteful Government Spending & Stop The Iraq War Immediately!

Most importantly, he voted NO on anything in Congress that is not allowed by the Constitution.

He is the only candidate not a member of the CFR!

Shouldn''t ALL members of Congress uphold the Constitution? Aren''t they SWORN to uphold it? You can bet Paul WON''T call the Constitution "just a G**D***ed piece of paper" like George Bush is reported to have.

If you want a candidate you can TRUST due to a proven track record, visit www.ronpaul2008.com and get busy spreading the word. The Mainstream Media is Blacking Out The Truth Spoke By Ron Paul!

Join The ReVoLuTiOn In Your City Stand Up America:
http://ronpaul.meetup.com/cities/

Also checkout http://www.youtube.com search for: RON PAUL

[feelfree1]

gkc99,

Re: "The tactic this jihadi troll is using is to mock any stories that don''t fit his agenda. He wants people to disbelieve the Muslim intent to attack non-Muslims, as demanded by their holy book. It''s all too real though--there is not a single Muslim state that allows anything like dissent or freedom of religion."

I am surprised to see you writing unsupported nonsense like this. It looks like ''singinrick'' and ''arse008'' have infected you with their paranoia.

[lorinkundert]

I would be more concerned about Al Qaeda recruiting Mexicans since they seem to make it across the border without any problem.

[prinzowhales]

Its good to the see the Neo-scum rabble turning on Bush...soon they will be changing their handles and jumping on the Hillary bandwagon to ''ell with FOX''s Rupert Murdoch.

[prinzowhales]

gkc99-No one is saying that planes didn''t hit WTC I and II...other than Regime disinformation agents and the butt-licking dogs who repeat their claims and make accusations designed to discredit the 9-11 Truth Movement because they cannot refute the evidence brought forward by gentleman like Professor S. Jones.

[speakinup]

MCVet has been skipping his meds again. Now, be a good boy, MCVet. Take your meds or we''ll have to put you into four point restraints again.

Dang, I didn''t think the mental institution had the sort of funding to let the inmates play on-line.

[gkc99]

Jihadi trolls like feelfree1 and patriotic9 would like you to believe that it wasn''t Muslims who flew into the Twin Towers that brought them down, it was some shadowy conspiracy. Forget the photos of the planes flying into the buildings--that didn''t happen! It''s a plot! Forget the attempt by the Santa Claus Mullah 10 years earlier! That''s didn''t happen! It''s a plot!

These propagandists would love to lull Americans into a sense of complacency, letting down our guards, so the Muslims can kill us again. As their book commands "you shall kill the heathen wherever you find them."

Mohammed started his career as a serial killer, and the tradition is carried on by the Islamic fascists.

Bushit is a fool and a coward. But that doesn''t make the Muslim extemists, and their mouthpieces like Feelfree1 and Patriotic9 any less dangerous. Keep a close eye on these Twin Towers deniers!

[gkc99]

"Re: "Al Qaeda: $100G To Kill Swedish Cartoonist"

I almost forgot about that article, which reported that the known fake ''''al-Qaeda-in-Iraq'''' boogie-man, Agu Omar al-Baghdadi, to have declared a war on cartoons! He should start wth this Uber-Fascistic propaganda ghoul, Mike McConnell."--Posted by FeelFree1


The tactic this jihadi troll is using is to mock any stories that don''t fit his agenda. He wants people to disbelieve the Muslim intent to attack non-Muslims, as demanded by their holy book. It''s all too real though--there is not a single Muslim state that allows anything like dissent or freedom of religion.

No doubt he and the other jihadi trolls will call this "Islamophobia."

It''s like anyone who dared criticize Hitler and Nazis was guilty of "Naziphobia".

Sometimes fear is reasonable, and then it''s not a phobia.

There is a real reason to fear Muslim aggression and murder. Ask Salomon Rushdie! Or was that a myth too, jihadis?

[mcvet]

Your stupid rants get old, but your lies are even worse. Nobody ever said that Al-Qaeda didn''''t matter, they were dead, or anything like that. You''''re worse than what you claim Bush to be because your lies are obvious. Bush''''s so-called lies are things that are found out after the fact and that every nation and every Senator and Congressman "lied" about too.

Posted by s1ckd09 at 10:29 PM : Sep 25, 2007
+ report abuse

ROFLMAO Right! Don''t watch or pay attention. Bush SAID those thing and if you care enought to research you will find the FACTs. You can go on believing his lies all you want but the truth is there. HE, Bush, when asked where Bin Laden was, said he didn''t know and he didn''t matter. IT''s a matter of fact and record. Now grow up and try to be and AMERICAN and not a Bush bootlicker!! GROW a SPINE for God''s sake!! Sieg Heil Bush!!

[mcvet]

Ok, explosives training in Pakistan so let''''s use some old technology called a spy plane to take photos of the area and get the address and drops some smart bombs or whatever. As far as the wiretaps I thought in special cases like this you could listen first and get the court order later but the important thing is to have a record of who is being investagated.

Posted by rationalL7 at 01:00 AM : Sep 26, 2007
+ report abuse

What? Take away the ONLY chance these Fascist have of winning an election in the next 50 years? Ain''t going to happen!! The Fascist, formerly Republican''s, NEED Al Qaeda and Bin Laden, they NEED that fear and they NEED the ability to heard the simple minded in this nation into giving up freedoms. Otherwise, with our ability to talk to each other like we do, they are tossed on the pile of trash. Sieg Heil Bush.

[missingamerica]

I don''t have any more problem with the NSA tapping communications that originate outside the U.S. and terminate outside the U.S. "at will, without a warrant" than I do with a private American citizen training his or her telescope on a Chinese satellite overflying the U.S. of A.

Same principle, and if that American citizen happens to see re-entry burns synchronized to the path of that satellite, I''d really appreciate it if he or she tells someone or does something about that, too.

[feelfree1]

Re: "Al Qaeda: $100G To Kill Swedish Cartoonist"

I almost forgot about that article, which reported that the known fake ''al-Qaeda-in-Iraq'' boogie-man, Agu Omar al-Baghdadi, to have declared a war on cartoons! He should start wth this Uber-Fascistic propaganda ghoul, Mike McConnell.


The Bush cabal needs al-CIA''da like never before.

[brianbwb-2009]

"National Intelligence Director Says Reason Is Europeans Can More Easily Enter U.S. Without Visa"

Ain''t it funny, using American racism against America.

Stevie Wonder sang "I don''t even have to do nothing to you, you''ll cause your own country to fall." Y''all still don''t get it.

If Al Qaeda hadn''t been nothing more than a CIA puppet, I would be tempted to call it "poetic justice", but it is actually the CIA that is seeting up the future "events"...

[red164]

SPY, what a crook of stew where the hell is Bin Laden? I''ll tell all you stupid Bush bats he''s dead.

What a bunch of Christian nation BS, spying on people, doesn%u2019t the Almighty know what%u2019s going on; have all you sissy Republicans lost faith in everything.

[rationall7]

Ok, explosives training in Pakistan so let''s use some old technology called a spy plane to take photos of the area and get the address and drops some smart bombs or whatever. As far as the wiretaps I thought in special cases like this you could listen first and get the court order later but the important thing is to have a record of who is being investagated.

[s1ckd09]

Ummm??? Is this the SAME Al Qaeda that Sir Lies-A-Lot told us didn''''t matter? The Same Al Qaeda that he said was dead and couldn''''t harm us anymore, when he went off to his littl war in Iraq? They are recruiting in Europe because Bush is closely related to another famous Fascist in Europe... Hitler. Our Only Ally, England? The citizens of that nation by better than 80% found Bush to be worse than the leader of North Korea. Maybe we need a COMPETENT Leader whom our FRIENDs find more American and a champion of our Values instead of FASCISM? Sieg Heil Bush!!

Posted by MCVet at 09:24 PM : Sep 25, 2007

Your stupid rants get old, but your lies are even worse. Nobody ever said that Al-Qaeda didn''t matter, they were dead, or anything like that. You''re worse than what you claim Bush to be because your lies are obvious. Bush''s so-called lies are things that are found out after the fact and that every nation and every Senator and Congressman "lied" about too.

[tnt1954]

it''s classic negative fusion with the perpetrators
that is being capitalized on by our enemies.
like the family who blames their daughter in-laws
provocative dress for her being raped and almost
murdered. why its not the criminals fault, its
her fault. why its not the dope dealers fault
or the gangsters fault, its the customers fault,
caveat emptor. let the buyer beware. why its
not those who declared war on the u.s.a. its
the u.s.a.''s fault the got war declared on them.
how dare we fight back. stephen decatur who
took a squadron of ships into tripoli during
the early 18th century to destroy them for
declaring war on the united states said thusly
i hope my country is in the right, but my country
right or wrong. the barbary pirates were most
vicious for many years before a counter attack
was finally arranged and done. they left us
alone for some time after that. meanwhile they
regrouped and readied for another assault on us.
in time of peace, they ready for war.

[mcvet]

Ummm??? Is this the SAME Al Qaeda that Sir Lies-A-Lot told us didn''t matter? The Same Al Qaeda that he said was dead and couldn''t harm us anymore, when he went off to his littl war in Iraq? They are recruiting in Europe because Bush is closely related to another famous Fascist in Europe... Hitler. Our Only Ally, England? The citizens of that nation by better than 80% found Bush to be worse than the leader of North Korea. Maybe we need a COMPETENT Leader whom our FRIENDs find more American and a champion of our Values instead of FASCISM? Sieg Heil Bush!!