NYC Metro Bomb Threat

MrBishop

MrBishop

Well-Known Member
By TOM HAYS, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago



Commuters headed to work Friday under the watchful eyes of police after a newly disclosed terror threat against the New York subway system raised the specter of an attack with explosives concealed in a baby stroller.

"Hopefully, God's with me and I'll be OK," said Vinnie Stella, clutching newspapers under his arm as he entered the subway at Penn Station.

Rob Johnson, 30, said he wasn't worried. "The cops have it under control."

Officials in New York revealed the threat Thursday, saying an FBI source warned that terrorists had plotted to bomb the subway in coming days. But Homeland Security officials in Washington downplayed the threat, saying it's of "doubtful credibility."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called it the most specific terrorist threat that New York officials had received to date, and promised to flood the subway system with uniformed and undercover officers.

"We have done and will continue to do everything we can to protect this city," Bloomberg said at a nationally televised news conference. "We will spare no resource, we will spare no expense."

At the Port Authority Bus Terminal, more officers were visible on the streets, and one lane of traffic on Ninth Avenue was reserved for emergency vehicles. But at Penn Station during the start of morning rush hour, some subway riders commented on a lack of visible police presence and said no one had searched their bags.

Margarita Morcillo, 60, said she was not concerned about the new threat as she emerged from the subway at the Port Authority.

"We have to press forward. What can you do about it?"

The New York Police Department boosted existing measures to search for bombs in commuters' bags, brief cases and luggage. The threat also involved the possibility that terrorists would pack a baby stroller with a bomb, a law enforcement official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The official said the threat was "specific to place," and that the window for the attack was anywhere from Friday through at least the weekend.

In Washington, Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke said "the intelligence community has concluded this information to be of doubtful credibility. We shared this information early on with state and local authorities in New York." Knocke did not elaborate.

A counterterror official, who was briefed about the threat by Homeland Security authorities and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the intelligence did not reflect "on-the-ground, detailed, pre-surveillance" methods consistent with credible information. Rather, the official said, the intelligence was similar to "what can be found on the Internet and a map of New York City."

The law enforcement official in New York said that city officials had known about the threat at least since Monday, but held the information until two or three al-Qaida operatives were arrested in Iraq within the past 24 hours. Once the arrests were made, officials felt they could go public, the official said.

Those arrested had received explosives training in Afghanistan, the same official said Friday. They had planned to travel through Syria to New York, and then meet with an unspecified number of operatives to carry out the bombings.

The U.S. military spokesman's office in Baghdad had no information on the arrests. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said he had seen no indication of a U.S. military operation to round up al-Qaida operatives.

On Thursday, a television station said it held off on reporting about the subway threat for two days because officials in New York and Washington voiced concerns that public safety could be affected and ongoing operations jeopardized.



WNBC reporter Jonathan Dienst, who covers security and terrorism issues, said he started making calls about the threat on Tuesday. Local and federal officials then got in touch, expressing concern that airing the story would do damage.

The station decided to hold off, citing "the intensity of the level of the request," said Dan Forman, vice president of news.

An estimated 4.5 million passengers ride the New York subway on an average weekday. The system has more than 468 subway stations. In July, the city began random subway searches following the London train bombings.

Gov. George Pataki said Thursday the state would call up hundreds of National Guard troops and ask Connecticut and New Jersey to patrol commuter trains. New York's security level remained at orange, the same level it has stayed at since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Bloomberg said there was no indication that the threat was linked to this month's Jewish holidays.
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Source

Surprised that this didn't make the RW yesterday.

So....New yorkers. How'd you feel about this one?
 
I heard about it last night from a Montreal News/Talk radio station and they had it come across the wire-service as a 'highly credible source'.

The responce certainly gives the impression that it's more credible than the feds are giving it public justice for.
 
NYC has no choice but to see it as credible. If they fail to act it's their city. Worst part about terrorism...it has us jumping at shadows.
 
It's been all over the news here for days. I'm just really glad I don't have to travel in there for any reason anytime soon. We were in there a few weeks ago and although there were guys in fatigues and semi-automatic weapons in Penn Station, we saw no one of authority in the actual subway system.

You know what I worry about? That they plant this threat about the subway system, and then they hit the Port Authority bus terminal, the UN, or the Empire State Building.

I just overheard my coworker saying he's taking his son into the city this weekend, despite the threat. I know you can't live your life in fear but hell, wouldn't you choose another weekend besides this one? They don't have a show to see or appointments or anything. And it's going to be raining, to boot. That I just don't understand.

Then again, it was creepy lurking breast starer, that I've mentioned here before numerous times. He's probably lying anyway.
 
According to sources in intelligence, emergency services and police headquarters, the intelligence community developed information that the threat may have involved pharmacists from Iraq coming to New York for some kind of chemical attack targeting the subways.

Three insurgents, one or more of whom are pharmacists, were arrested during a raid by a U.S. military and intelligence community team, sources said, and one of those caught disclosed the threat. Because it slipped out during the arrest, the plot was deemed credible.

The 19 operatives were to place improvised explosive devices in the subways using briefcases, according to two sources. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said officers will continue to check bags, briefcases, luggage and strollers, and additional uniformed and undercover officers will be riding in individual subway cars.
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The ACLU will be in court this afternoon to get an injunction against this outrageous affront to civil liberties and will file suit based on the effect it will have on Muslims and others who want to carry plastique on the subways as part of their freedom of religion.

They will demand to know if the source of information in Iraq ever had a hood over his head or was deprived of even an hour of sleep during his interrogation--and if a woman and a snarling guard dog were in the room at the time this information was dragged out of him!
 
MrBishop said:
Yup...but then again, that's human rights for you, eh?
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Damned if you do & damned if you don't.

I guarantee you, had Bush come before teh public on 09/10/01 & told us that they'd stopped an attack on NYC & arrested 19 Muslims, the ACLU & Bish (representing libs in general) would have been there to tell them what cretins they were.
 
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