There saying it is probable to rival or be larger scale than 9/11. There saying Its gonna be in a high population area and targets could be shopping malls or maybe a sporting event. Airplanes could be used. Some shoulder launched rockets are also missing from Russia and I saw that these such rockets could be used to troject a "dirty Bomb".

Who knows, but it looks like the threat is seriouse this time.

FORKS?

FORKS???

And during the height of the clamming season too! These guys dont miss a thing do they!

What heat is GW under now to raise the alert level again? I wonder if it's the recent losses in the courts or something bigger?

Ah, nothing like conspiracy theories... I have it on good record that Bin Laden has been found but Bush is just waiting for a dip in his ratings before he actually authorizes the troops to take him in. My source is Jim McDermott. Honest.

Seriously, whether you want to believe it or not this country is at war. And the scary thing is the things people who have no desire to live can do is staggering. We never saw this bipartisanism with WW2. I think it's sad we can't come together on something as basic as our civil defense.

To compare the war in Iraq to WWII is like saying skin rash is as serious as AIDS. Remember, not all wars were necessary or justified. By some people's logic, if we're in a war with Canada, then we should all fall in line and support the CIC no matter what justification he/she used to start the war. Thank god not all presidents were so desperate, else they'd all be two term presidents.

War is always going to happen and has since the beginning of man. And it will only get worse down the road, no matter who is at the helm. There will always be people like Hitler, Stalin, Saddam, Osama, and all other people alike, and peace protest or not, war will happen. And no Im not a war monger, just a realist. So what about the fishing, thats what I thought it was about.

Hey Nymph,

To compare the war in Iraq to the war against terrorism is like comparing skin rash to AIDS.

Something to consider…
The war against terrorism was precipitated by the destruction of the World Trade Center.
The Second World War was precipitated by the destruction of our base at Pearl Harbor.
Both were vile and unprovoked attacks upon the US on our own soil.

Just for clarification, I never mentioned the war in Iraq. My comments were regarding the war against terrorism.

Unfortunately, this administration has really blurred the line between the war on terrorism and a regional tyrant by invading Iraq and claiming it the center of terrorism.

Iraq had nothing to do with the 911; it was Al Qaeda who attacked us. And it's still the Al Qaeda who are threatening us. If we had focused on Al Qaeda and finished them off, instead of diverting our military to Iraq, we'd be in much safer situation by now. Because we went into Iraq, we have inflamed the Arabs, especially those in Pakistan, we're getting less cooperation to go into the mountains of Pakistan to eradicate the remnants of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. I write this, hoping to clarify who our real enemy is - Al Qaeda; and there is and should be a clear distinction between Al Qaeda and Iraq.

No need to clarify the obvious. I would, however disagree with the 100% certainity of your conviction that Iraq had nothing to do with 911. You seriously think Saddam did nothing to support Al Qaeda? I would argue that our real enemy is not Al Qaeda specifically but terrorism as an institution. And governments that support or harbor terrorists are fair game. Unless you want to wait for them to attack us. BTW, I wouldn't worry about inflamming the arabs. Seems like they've been inflammed for quite some time now.
Here's a partial list of terrorist attacks for you to contemplate this hoilday season:


1968: July 23rd – Three members of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine hijack an El Al plane to Rome

November 22nd – Twelve people were killed at a bombing in the market in Jerusalem

1969-
February 18th An El Al aircraft in Zurich Switzerland was attacked, the copilot was killed

February 21st were killed and eight injured in a bomb blast in Jerusalem

August 29th A TWA 707 was hijacked by Palestinian terrorist to Damascus

September 29th – A TWA plane flying from Rome to Lodi Italy was hijacked to Damascus

November 27th- The El Al office in Athens was attacked. Innnocent bystanders were killed

1970-

February 10th. A bus carrying passengers to an a plane is attacked by Palestinian terrorist at the Munich airport

February 21st- A Swissair plane on a flight to Israel is blown up in mid air by Palestinian terrorists.


April 21st- A bomb explodes aboard a Philippines airliners. All 36 aboard are killed

May 22nd Eight Israeli schoolchildren are killed by Arab terrorist.


September 6th- An attempt is made to hijack four planes. The attempt to hijack an El Al plane fails, while three other succeed. The planes all end up in the Jordanian desert.


1972

January 26th A bomb explodes on a Yugoslav plane killing all but one passenger


May 30th- 24 people are killed at Lod airport by Japanese terrorist recruited by Palestininians


July 21st twenty two bombs go off in downtown Belfas killing 11 people

September 5th – Eleven members of the Israeli Olympic team are killed by Black semtember an arm of the PLO led by Yasir Arafat at the Olympic games in Munich

1973-February 23rd- Israel shoots down a Libyan plane over the Sinai desert fearing it was a flying bomb

March 8th- Two IRA bombs explode in London killing one person and injuring 200

1973- August 5th Five people are killed when a Libyan terrorist group attacks a TWA plane

1974- September 8th Libyan terrorist plant a bomb on board a TWA plane flying from Athens to Rome, all 85 passengers are killed.

November 21st The IRA explodes a series of bombs in Birmingham England- 21 people are killed

1975- September 30th A Hungarian airplane explodes killing all 64 persons on board

1976- January 1st-Eighty-two people are killed aboard a Lebanese plane

June 24th- An Air France plane is hijacked to Uganda. Israeli later stages a daring rescue mission to free the hostages.


1978 –March 12th Thirty seven Israelis are killed on a bus by Palestinian terrorists.

1981- April 19th -Thirteen people were killed and 177 injured in a terrorist attack in Davao Philippines.

1982- August 6th- A kosher restaurant is attacked in Paris killing eight.

1983- April 18th Eighty-three people are killed at the US Embassy in Beirut.

Septermber 29th- A Gulf Air plane explodes killing all 166 people aboard.
October 29th- 241 US Marines are killed in a truck bombing in Beirut by the Islamic Jihad ( controled by Syria)

1984-September 20th- The US embassy in the Beirut is bombed- 15 are killed

1985 June 23rd 345 people are killed when Sikh terrorist explode a bomb aboard an Air India 747

October 7th- The Cruise ship the Achillo Laura was hijacked by Palestinian terrorists


1986- September 5th A Pan Am aircraft is hijacked by Palestinain terrorists. Twenty passengers are killed.

1988- Pan Am flight 103 is blown up over Lockerbie Scotland. All 259 passengers and crew are killed.

1992-
The Israeli embassy in Buenes Aires is bombed and 14 die

1993- February 26th- A bomb explodes in the basement of the World Trade Center in New York- Six die 1,000 are injured.


July 27th- Five are killed in a car bombing in Milan Italy

1995- March 20th 12 people are killed when nerve gas is released in a Tokyo subway.

1998- August 7th – The US embassies in mairobi Kenya and Dar es Salamm Tanzania are bombed.

2000
Oct. 12, Aden, Yemen: U.S. Navy destroyer USS Cole was heavily damaged when a small boat loaded with explosives blew up alongside it. Seventeen sailors were killed in a deliberate terrorist attack. Osama bin Laden, or members of his al-Qaeda terrorist network suspected.
2001
Sept. 11, New York City, Arlington, Va., and Shanksville, Pa.: hijackers crashed two commercial jets into twin towers of World Trade Center; two more hijacked jets were crashed into the Pentagon and a field in rural Pa. Total dead and missing numbered 2,9951: 2,752 in New York City, 184 at the Pentagon, 40 in Pa., and 19 hijackers. Islamic al-Qaeda terrorist group blamed. (See September 11, 2001: Timeline of Terrorism.)
2003
May 12, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: suicide bombers killed 34, including eight Americans, at housing compounds for Westerners. Al-Qaeda suspected.

"Iraq had nothing to do with the 911; it was Al Qaeda who attacked us. And it's still the Al Qaeda who are threatening us. If we had focused on Al Qaeda and finished them off, instead of diverting our military to Iraq, we'd be in much safer situation by now. "

Very well said, Nymph.

Mike C,

Unfortunately, many are not aware of the obvious or more specifically the facts that are directly related to the 911. Unless you know something that Bush doesn't, he said that Saddam Heussin was not involved in the 911 attacks. The problem with believing something without the facts to support it is...foolish and self-serving. You're a good example of Bush's misleading blunders into an unnecessary war, then having to admit the facts. NO CONNECTION TO 911, NO CONNECTION TO AL QAEDA, NO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION!

You have it dead wrong! Our enemy number #1 specifically is Al Qaeda. Who do you think is planning this attack we're trying to prevent right this moment? Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lybia, Saudia Arabia??? No one is saying that we should wait for the terrorists to attack us, but we need to be sure that the threat is imminent before we have another Iraq-like situation. With your attitude, we'd be in wars with at least a half dozen other countries right now. So unless you are willing to volunteer yourself and your brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and go sign up at the local Army reserves, we just don't have the manpower to carry out your naive proposition.

I think even this present administration disagrees with you about whether to worry about inflamming the Arabs or else they wouldn't be spending $10 million on softening our image by broadcasting pro-USA messages on TV and on radio in their language. We should not only be fighting the terrorists with guns and bombs, but we need to stop the flow of the future terrorists by winning their hearts and minds.

I don't need such an irrelevant list of facts to remind me that terrorism exists in this world. Instead of spreading misinformation, we need to fight the ones responsible for doing harm to us. NOt all Arabs are terrorists.

I love to read the replies from all those who have more information available to them than President Bush has available to him. There are many reliable sources which have come to light which indicate Saddam had definate links to terrorism and Bin Laden. Since we are in a war against terrorism no country which supports or harbors in any way terrorism is immune from this war. Nuff said.

LOL Papaslap! Could be hit during the heart of the steelhead season when their spys know much of Seattle guys will be in that area of the OP.

As for those who've posted our #1 enemy is Al Quieda, I can understand your take on that. But the reality is they are just the tip of the iceberg of our "main enemy". That would be the millions of members of the radical factions of Islam. There are a lot more terrorists groups bent on destruction of America than just Al Quieda. And their numbers and munitions are growing. This IS a war, and we better take care of biz.

It also wouldn't hurt if our government treated foreign countries closer to the same. Far too much hypocracy and self interest involved in how we conduct foreign affairs. Those differences amount to critical disrespect to the countries that get the "shaft". Look at the differences in how the U.S. has dealt with N. Korea and even Iran, let alone Israel.

That being said, I don't know if correcting those things would eliminate or even diminish the terrorism factor for us anytime soon. If that scenario is just simply out of reach of possibility, just as peace between Israel and Palestine (and other Islamic countries) seems impossible, then I agree that we need to get down and dirtier and tougher and just wipe them out with any means possible.

They appear very much bent on this being ultimately an us or them deal, all or nothing, and willing to die as bombing marters at all costs. If so, let's give them the "all costs" option on the menu.

i would have to say Rockport.

Nymph,

Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to try to carry on a conversation with someone that insists on insulting and being condensending? I respect your opinions but am totally turned off by your attitude. There is no faster way to loss a dialog than to treat the person your speaking with as below you. Happy Holidays to you and yours.

Iran should be next!!!!

Thats where Bin Ladin is anyways!!!!

Nothing wrong with pre-emptive war if it keeps us and our way of life safe.

The truth is Al Qaeda is made up from Muslims all over the world. The way I see it every country that isnt doing anything about searching out any terorrists, (not just Al Qaeda), and exterminating them, is our ememy and needs new leadership. Why shouldnt it be us to choose the leadership.

Im not into this touchy feely crap, we need to do whatever it takes to maintain our way of life end of story!!!!!

OMG! ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE!

WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!
PANIC PANIC
PANIC PANIC
PANIC PANIC
PANIC PANIC



...and people wonder why I go fishing. It is to just get away from the hype!

pretty scary what can happen, it's really hard to think about our kids futures.

Osama is working at a 7-11 in Lynnwood...

Actually I heard on the news this morning (12/23) one of suspected target is here in the northwest. That's all I caught. Anyone have additionally info?

And Forks aint even mentioned on here!!!!

Al-Qaida may target both major cities, remote areas


Los Angeles Times
Dec. 22, 2003 10:05 PM


WASHINGTON -- Al-Qaida operatives may be plotting several unrelated attacks in the United States, targeting not only major cities but also remote bulwarks of the "critical infrastructure" in an effort to cause mass casualties and major economic damage throughout the nation, U.S. officials said Monday.

Senior U.S. counter-terrorism officials said they have been unable to nail down specifics about a time or place for any potential attacks, despite a mad scramble to do so since receiving an alarming cache of corroborated intelligence beginning last Thursday and Friday.

But the officials say the intelligence they have received -- much of it from intercepted communications among known terrorist operatives overseas -- clearly refers to at least one series of coordinated, simultaneous strikes, like the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as well as isolated plots of varying degrees of sophistication.

"We're concerned that there could potentially be many separate plots," said one U.S. official with knowledge of the recent intelligence. "It's hard to establish a certain theme to all of this because we are getting such a massive volume of reporting."

Much of the recent intelligence makes broad references to large urban areas, including New York, Washington, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, while other pieces of intelligence cite such obscure locales as Rappahannock, a county in Virginia, and Valdez, Alaska, where tankers load oil from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, according to several senior U.S. officials.

According to information received as recently as Monday, authorities remain primarily concerned about al-Qaida operatives plotting to hijack commercial airliners and cargo planes and fly them into U.S. targets, as Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Sunday in announcing the decision to elevate the terror threat level one notch, from "elevated," or yellow, to "high," or orange.

They cite a large amount of corroborated and specific intelligence that refers to efforts to hijack planes not only outside the United States, where security is not as tight, but also at domestic airports by using new and improved techniques that terrorist operatives believe could thwart the nation's vast new homeland security apparatus.

But the FBI, the CIA and other authorities have also picked up troubling intelligence about other plots, and efforts to blow up chemical and hazardous materials facilities, nuclear power plants, dams, power grids, ports and airports.

One senior federal law enforcement official said the FBI and other authorities are alarmed and frustrated because the intelligence varies so widely according to potential targets and methods of attack, as well as by its degree of specificity and corroboration. Of particular concern, he said, are vague references to upcoming attacks on "major metropolitan areas and events that we're looking at ... bowl games, New Year's events, that kind of thing."

"There is no one specific threat here. There is no place or time to tie to this," said the senior federal law enforcement official. "So we have to take all this information and do analysis."

A recent FBI alert alludes to such confusion. Citing unconfirmed intelligence reports, it warned that al-Qaida may be preparing an attack in the United States before the end of the month. But, the alert adds, "We have no information on the possible operatives, target, timing or method of a possible attack."

On Monday morning, Ridge, FBI director Robert S. Mueller III, CIA director George J. Tenet and several other senior counterterrorism advisers spent more than 50 minutes briefing President Bush on the long list of threats, as well as on recent efforts to dispatch thousands of federal, state and local agents to defend potential targets around the country.

As part of that effort, the Department of Homeland Security has asked governors and mayors to specifically protect several hundred individual "critical infrastructure" facilities that, if attacked, "could result in a catastrophic loss of life or a devastating effect on the economy," according to the senior U.S. official.

For instance, authorities in Los Angeles have identified several chemical facilities and dozens of other potential targets throughout Southern California but asked that they not be disclosed in order to better protect them from attack.

The intelligence that has prompted such an unprecedented level of concern comes from conversations among known terrorist operatives of both senior and foot-soldier rank, and also from information gleaned from intercepted e-mails, discussions in Internet chat rooms and interrogations of al-Qaida detainees on several continents, several senior U.S. counter-terrorism officials said.

The information, the officials said, comes from intelligence gathered by the CIA and the National Security Agency, as well as from allies such as Britain "and a host of many, many other countries," said the senior U.S. official.

Unlike past elevations of the terror threat level, the decision to raise the alert to orange this time was unanimous and decisive, because it was based on what senior Bush administration officials described as the most alarming, credible and specific information they had ever seen.

"I have never seen the national security leadership as tense and anxious as they are right now," said a second senior federal law enforcement official. He said even the timing of the elevation of the threat level was moved up a day because of rapidly developing concerns over the weekend. Bush administration officials were so concerned, he said, that they sent a plane to Missouri on Saturday to bring Attorney General John Ashcroft back to Washington from vacation.

"In the past, there were disagreements over whether 1/8the elevated alert 3/8 was needed," that senior official said. "This time, everyone said, 'Yeah, let's do it.' It is the most specific and credible information we've had, period."

In Los Angeles, FBI officials quietly reopened their command center last week for the first time since the beginning of the war in Iraq. The move, officials said, was aimed at bringing the FBI's third largest office into an around-the-clock counterterrorism footing in the event the latest threat materialized.

On Monday, the Los Angeles FBI office also convened an unprecedented meeting of about 100 federal, state and local law enforcement officials to outline strategies for safeguarding the region. "Everyone you could think of was there," said FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin.

The meeting, he said, was aimed at coordinating security measures for the five-county region served by the local FBI office and other federal agencies. The area, with a population of more than 18 million, includes a number of high-profile targets like Los Angeles International Airport, the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and various tourist attractions.

"What's new this time is the credibility of the threat," said McLaughlin. "In this case, in addition to do more to safeguard locations, we are taking additional investigative steps to get ahead of this threat in a real aggressive way."

In Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities, counterterrorism agents fanned out Monday for hundreds of interviews with individuals -- including longtime FBI or CIA informants -- who may know about Middle East extremists.

"We have had other alerts," said San Francisco FBI spokeswoman LaRae Quy. "But this time, we are reaching out more to human sources to glean whatever information we can about this threat. We are asking them if anything doesn't feel right or sound right, if they are noticing any unusual travel by persons they have been watching. We are just trying to be more proactive than usual."

Roger Cressey, a former senior Bush administration counter-terrorism official, said the current intercepts have authorities so concerned because they so closely mirror the conversations picked up before the Sept. 11 attacks.

"It is known bad guys talking in that expectant chatter, saying things like we're finally going to respond to Iraq, Afghanistan and strike down the infidels ... that something big is going to happen," he said.

"It's the volume and the quality of the intelligence that is wigging everybody out, and the fact that they just don't know" where or when an attack may occur.

They sound serious this time.

Cry wolf enough and eventually you may be right. Notice every single heightened terror alert has been timed to some un-popular environmental roll back or attack on juniors credibility. I do have to hand it to this administration though. They do succeed in driving the bad news to the back pages of the papers. So far it's been a good tactic. If nothing happens then it's because they are doing a good job of protecting us. If something happens then it's "I told you so" and "our intelligence is on the ball". The only thing you can lose is the peoples trust in the color alert system which isn't much of a system anyway.

Just today, Air France cancelled six flights from Paris to LA because of possible terrorists activities aboard those flights.

What a dilemma. Is it crying wolf or Chicken Little running around again? Or is the threat genuine this time? Sad part is we may not know for sure until it's too late.

One interesting, or disturbing, fact is the administration is basing its threat level on information taken from the very agency it pointed out as being inept and unreliable. The same agency the administration used the information of to justify invasion of a country then publicly criticize for having flawed intel.

For the sake of American lives, I hope their wrong again.