Feds Warn Of Possible NYC Terror Plot

FBI: "Plausible But Unsubstantiated" Report Of Al Qaeda Plans To Attack Subway System

(CBS/AP)  Police bolstered security in subways and trains on Wednesday after the government said that al Qaeda suicide bombers were contemplating an attack on New York's mass-transit systems during the holiday season.

An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press says the FBI received a "plausible but unsubstantiated" report that al Qaeda terrorists in late September may have discussed attacking the subway system around the holidays.

A person briefed on the matter, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the intelligence-gathering work, said the threat may also be directed at the passenger rail lines running through New York, such as Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road.

A federal law enforcement official said that there's no indication that anyone involved in the planning is in the United States. That official also spoke on condition of anonymity because it involved intelligence-gathering.

The threat surfaced on one of the busiest travel days of the year and when tens of thousands of tourists are in New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

"The New York City Police Department is aware of an unsubstantiated report indicating that Al Qaeda terrorists discussed targeting mass transit in New York City and vicinity," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul J. Browne said in a statement obtained by CBS News."We have no information indicating that these discussions advanced beyond the aspirational stage, but in an abundance of caution, the NYPD has deployed additional resources in the mass transit system."

He added, "It is not uncommon for the department to receive threat information and to adjust our resources accordingly."

While law enforcement stepped up patrols around subways and trains, many commuters around the city were unfazed by the news and had not even heard of the threat.

"If you get scared that means they win," commuter Omid Sima said on the platform of the subway below Rockefeller Center. "There's always been terror warnings. I can't change my life because of that."

"I could hit by a truck, too, so it doesn't bother me," said commuter Paul Greenwald of Long Island. "To me, it's just fear tactics."

The vulnerability of the city's tightly packed passenger trains and subway cars has long been a source of concern for cops - and target for would-be terrorists. The city has more than 450 subway stations that handle millions of commuters every day.

There is often disagreement as to how seriously authorities should take specific intelligence reports related to threats against mass transit - an issue that took on greater urgency following transit bombings in Madrid and London in 2004 and 2005 that killed a combined 243 people.

A Pakistani immigrant was arrested and convicted in New York for a scheme to blow up the subway station at Herald Square in 2004. There was also a planned cyanide attack on the subways by al Qaeda operatives that authorities say was called off in 2002, and a plot to bomb underwater train tunnels to flood lower Manhattan. That plot was broken up in 2006 by several arrests overseas.

Three years ago, authorities weighed the seriousness of reports that bombers might try to use baby strollers to bring explosives into city trains. Many security officials later concluded that was a false alarm.

Bruce McIndoe, president of iJET Intelligent Risk Systems, which advises companies on travel safety, said transportation is always a "hot" area for terror concerns, but individual warnings don't mean terrorists have the capability to pull off such an attack.

McIndoe said the real message of the federal bulletin to local police is: "We're picking up some chatter. We have nothing to substantiate it, so it's better to be safe and step it up a bit, let's get through the holiday season and get on to the next thing."

While federal agencies regularly issue all sorts of advisory warnings, the language of this one is particularly blunt.

The internal bulletin says al Qaeda terrorists "in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City. These discussions reportedly involved the use of suicide bombers or explosives placed on subway/passenger rail systems," according to the document.

"We have no specific details to confirm that this plot has developed beyond aspirational planning, but we are issuing this warning out of concern that such an attack could possibly be conducted during the forthcoming holiday season," according to the warning dated Tuesday.

A U.S. counterterror official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to do so publicly, said senior government officials have been briefed because the FBI very recently received credible information about possible attacks over the holiday season, and authorities are particularly concerned about this long holiday weekend.

Rep. Peter King, the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said authorities "have very real specifics as to who it is and where the conversation took place and who conducted it."

"It certainly involves suicide bombing attacks on the mass transit system in and around New York and it's plausible, but there's no evidence yet that it's in the process of being carried out," King said.

Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the warning was issued as a routine matter, but added that there may be an increased police presence in New York and other large cities. The increased personnel could include uniformed and plainclothes "behavior detection" officers, federal air marshals, canine teams, and security inspectors, Knocke said.

FBI spokesman Richard Kolko confirmed only that his agency and the Homeland Security Department issued a bulletin Tuesday night to state and local authorities, and the information is being reviewed.

Beth Maderal, 26, learned terrorists might be plotting a holiday attack as she stood on a Brooklyn subway platform with her mother waiting for the train to Manhattan. Maderal said any threat gives her pause, but she is not going to stop riding the subway because she depends on it so much.

"My whole life is riding the subway," the dance and yoga instructor said. "If it's open, I am going to ride it. ... If it's unsafe, they'll close it. The city wouldn't put me in danger."

[ffoulkes-2009]

I don''''t think that FDR was briefed by the 16 intelligence agencies that make up the NIE, at least ten times, over 8 months BEFORE the Pearl Harbor attack.

THAT is the difference.

Posted by IwasHungry68 at 06:17 PM : Nov 26, 2008
__________
Actually, Truman was being briefed almost daily by intelligence agencies on the War going on in Europe and the South Pacific. This was especially true after American ships started to be sunk in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans in the months leading up to the attack.

You really do try hard to show hatred toward all things not liberal. You might do yourself a service by accepting the fact that you will not be right all the time and learning to live with that.

[ffoulkes-2009]

sounds like the conversation will be the conviction.

Posted by neoconRcrazy at 12:52 PM : Nov 26, 2008
____________
Or just perhaps the comversation will be the PREVENTION. Has it occurred to any of you Bush haters out there that part of the reason there have been no more attacks at home since the 9/11 is BECAUSE of these warnings? If a terrorist is planning a hit, they are NOT going to follow through if everyone in the nation is expecting it and on the lookout.

I guess you nutz would rather just not know and not advise anyone so the terrorists can take out whomever they want without anyone being the wiser.

[fush2]

may the lord be with us... well someone better get on and protect us i mean thats y we pay taxes...people are evil what can we expect...can we really be prepared for an attack?

[Renegade.Rivers]

i am thankful this thanksgiving that i am not related to whitemale08.....what a loser

Posted by jamesm12341

I saw nothing in whitemale08''s comment that would show him to be a loser, in fact other that his misspelling of global (gloval), everything that he said is being said by other men and women who are willing to speak the truth.

America is in a very volatile situation, people on all sides are angry, and scared. A large majority feels that they are indeed being backed into a corner due to the present political climate in Washington. They see trillions of dollars going to the banks and others for bailouts, but nothing is coming their way to help them alleviate there surmounting difficulties they are having.

The blame for these problems has everyone in it''s sights. No group is exempt of being blamed. Even worse because of all the blaming, our society is becoming segmented. Under such conditions violence could be triggered very easily.

If Obama were to be assassinated, it could very well ignite a conflict in this country, that would destroy it. Give thanks for the peace we have today, because it could very easily be gone tomorrow, if an assassination, or some other incident of that magnitude was to take place.

[impeach___w]

"Holiday Season" - In the exact words of the alleged Al-Queda intercept.

[kittykatty2]

What a bunch of horseshyte. The terrorists behind this and the Mumbai debacle are all old, rich, white males who are on their way out of the White House. If you believe anything else you''re a fool.

[xraytwonine]

the trend appears to be simultaneous attacks in multiple location; so if one spot get hits one can expect other places to get hit at the same time, creating confusion and fear... increasingly the real question is not if it will happen but what to do when it does happen; NYC''s infrastructures need some major change, especially in its subway where some stations seem uncomfortably an easy target ...

[pirmin3]

The usual GOP Crimson Alert - Terror, Terror. Terror... Yawn

[whitemale08]

These made-up reports are nothing more then ''rumors'' to distract the CIA and the government from what the British have been saying in their newspapers since the election:

"Obama might not make it to the White House because of assasination"...Daily Telegraph.

Folks, we have to be vigilent and be aware that British Gloval Financial Empire is dead and if Obama cannot deliver on plans of a new ''gloval dictatorship'' then the British might feel justified and take him out.

Don''t worry about this report, worry more about another assasination of a President-elect like McKinnley or of President Obama like JFK.

It would rip the United States apart and make it un-governeable and the public will demand overwhelming military security to usher in a New Dark Age of chaos, fueldalims and serfdom.

Mark My Words.

[gorgeousm]

ASSURING MASSIVE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION,
RELIGIOUS FANATICS PLEDGE TO MAKE 9/11 LOOK LIKE A SUNDAY PICNIC IN COMPARISON

VOICE YOUR DEMANDS TO REMOVE THOSE WHO ARE CURRENTLY PLANNING ACTS OF MASS MURDER AGAINST AMERICA IMMEDIATELY!!!

We MUST take preventative action before - BEFORE - the planned, MULTI-CITY NUCLEAR, CHEM AND/OR BIO ''devices'' are activated in The United States.

Buying umbrellas BEFORE a storm is considered the correct approach, unless of course dealing with the respective cataclysmic results is our preference.
Reference is made to not just thousands of dead and injured. The toll for refusing to act accordingly,
will likely be MILLIONS DEAD AND TENS OF MILLIONS OF SEVERELY INCAPACITATED AND DYING.

CONCLUSION:
Treating INTERNAL enemies - who have ALREADY INFILTRATED America - with kindness, and by providing them with rights, is no way to go! After all, we are forced to deal with an extremely evil enemy who plans and plots to inflict acts of MAXIMUM AND MASSIVE DEATH, PAIN, SUFFERING AND DESTRUCTION against us!
Our failure to take PREVENTATIVE measures will reduce us to inconceivable depths of ...
... THE WORST HELL EVER!!!