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Fri 7 Jul, 2006 07:20 am
July 7, 2006
Tunnel Plot Is Caught in Early Stage, Schumer Says
By JOHN O'NEIL
Authorities in Lebanon have arrested a man in connection with a plot to blow up the Holland Tunnel, officials said today.
Senator Charles E. Schumer of New York and Representative Peter T. King of Long Island confirmed a report in The Daily News today, which said that the man arrested in Lebanon and an unknown number of other people had discussed exploding a bomb within the tunnel, apparently in hopes of flooding Lower Manhattan.
In a televised interview on CNN, Mr. Schumer said the plot "was caught in its early stages," and said that it had not gotten beyond the talking stage.
"There's no evidence that anything was ever done, no purchase of explosives or even the sending of money," he said.
The Associated Press reported that two federal officials confirmed that Lebanese officials had arrested one man, Amir Andalousli, at the request of the United States. The article in The News said that officials were "scrambling" to arrest others in connection with the charges.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a brief statement that "at this time, we have no indication of any imminent threat to the New York transportation system or anywhere else in the United States."
An F.B.I. official in New York declined to comment on the matter. A spokesman for the New York City Police Department said that there had been no recent change in security levels at the tunnel but otherwise declined to comment.
As far as the hope of flooding Manhattan, Mr. Schumer noted that the plot could not have worked because the tunnels lie well below ground level. "It makes no sense whatsoever," he said. "They don't seem to be the brightest bulbs in the terrorist lot."
The News also quoted security experts who said it was unlikely that even a large bomb could flood the Holland Tunnel, which burrows through bedrock below the Hudson River between New York City and Hoboken, N.J.
Still, Mr. King noted that the tunnel has been a target of terrorists before, including a plot uncovered after the World Trade Center bombing in 1993.
Mr. Schumer said the arrest in Lebanon was the result of intercepted Internet conversations. "They were caught by people talking" he said. "In this case, intelligence did its job."
Mr. King, also in a televised interview, said that he had been informed of the investigation's existence nine months ago.
Both Mr. Schumer and Mr. King said that the investigation showed the need for New York City to receive more federal aid, and undermined the argument by Michael Chertoff, the head of the Department of Homeland Security, that federal financing should be directed toward infrastructure improvements and not paying for personnel involved in anti-terrorism efforts.
"This is very draining on New York City's treasury," Mr. King said of the need to protect facilities like the tunnel. "Without going into detail, an extraordinary amount of money has been spent by the New York City Police Department on this particular plot."
New York Times
Another group of guys arrested for talking. Why don't they wait until they at least DO something???
By "DO something" I mean at least make concrete plans to purchase the explosives. There's a very good chance that these guys will walk if they were only talking about it.
NickFun wrote:Another group of guys arrested for talking. Why don't they wait until they at least DO something???
Creepy assed avatar.
Cretentic poster.
Let;s wait to move on the towel-heads until they kill thousands more.
NickFun wrote:Another group of guys arrested for talking. Why don't they wait until they at least DO something???
Probably because many people would die. Specific, real plans to commit murder are a crime.
Does anybody stop and ask themselves why the FBI does not track these guys till they can get some real evidence on them for a conviction in any of these terrorist Cases?
The terrorists may walk, but the risk that these particular dolts will try again will be negligble. The objective is to prevent terrorist attacks. Jailing the plotters is secondary ... unless they actually do carry out their plans. By taking these fellows into custody actually was doing themna favor.
Who hasn't been caught, yet?
NickFun wrote:... Why don't they wait until they at least DO something???
In a town adjacent to mine, a naked man was observed walking through the woods. The cops didn't wait for anything to happen, they began their search for the creep immediately. Do you know why? So, the pervert wouldn't take out any of his degenerate ideas on a group of little boys or girls.
But the man was ALREADY NAKED! It's not like he just TALKED about walking around naked. If the man was fully clothed and walking around I am sure the police would have ignored him. I believe the Bush adminstration is seeking any excuse to justify their illegal harrassment and wiretapping of the American people including arresting any crazy person who talks about doing something heinous. If a person has no means to accomplish a goal then the goal becomes meaningless.
They are perpetuating a war by inflating terrorist threats to manufacture public consent for the war. That is why they don't wait for real evidence. That is why you never see any real evidence only head lines.
Don't people think the FBI, after these guys were under survalence, would let these guy lead them TO OTHER TERRORIST!
Because when they want a desired response out of the public they hit play and the story goes across America just like the story about yellow cake from niger.
Are we supposed to believe terrorist masterminds are planing to blow up New York FROM A CHAT ROOM!
(By the way, I havn't looked into this case)
The whole point is to prevent attacks within the United States, not to fill up the jails. Of course, it would be nice to surveil the plotters until enough evidence is obtained to get a conviction. That isn't always possible. Things can happen that would tip off the target, and you take them down immediately. Once the target cell is identified it may be deemed irresponsible to take a chance that they will act before arrest.
As I understand it members of this plot are self-proclaimed members of Al Quida and were apprehended in Lebanon, one of several logistical points for the terrorist groups. I caught a news report the other evening that a New York newspaper was about to publish a story that would have endangered the investigation. Of course, the newspaper might have held back the story, but recent history now makes that much less of an option.
These are not nice people, they had clear ties to Al Quida an international terrorist organization that has already attacked the U.S., and they were plotting to kill as many New Yorkers as they could. This cell is now broken and no attack occurred, that is a good thing even if the traitors aren't executed, or sent to jail for the rest of their miserable lives.
BTW, Brian Jenkins of RAND is one of the worlds foremost experts on terrorism and terrorist organizations. Mr. Jenkins is privy to much of the classified information we have collected on terrorism, and has been studying the subjects since the 1980s. Recently, he said on national television that since 9/11 there have been 30 successful attacks outside Iraq and Afghanistan by radical Islamic terrorism, and that 40 more were foiled before coming to fruition. He went on to say, if I remember correctly, that in his opinion that Al Quida and other kindred organizations regard Iraq as their first priority. Sounds good to me.
I have been an outspokedn critic of the Bush administration. Shortly after 9/11 my computer was seized by Homeland "Security" because I was friends with and wrote about an Iraqi national who was delivering medical supplies to his homeland. Of course, there was nothing incriminating on my hard drive as I didn't commit any crime. They even had the nerve to ask me for my password to my private diaries! I told them it was "FVCKYOU" in all caps. When I was informed the password was wrong I suggested it could be "FVCKYOUASSHOLE". I thought the persecution had ended as I seldom speak to this man anymore but last week I went to check my cell phone messages and found my password had been reset! The man from Verizon informed me that it COULD be someone investigating me. The only way they could break into my cache of messages without knowing my password would be to reset it. I had to go through the hassle of changing my password again. We live in paranoid times. To quote Walt Kelly in Pogo, "We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us!"
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