Monday, August 02, 2004

Hey, this is working so well -- let's kick it up a notch! Fox News obliges:

Sources: More Targets Cited by Al Qaeda

Several more banks and financial institutions were detailed as possible targets on captured terrorists' computers than what's being reported, FOX News has learned.

...The American Stock Exchange and NASDAQ -- the bulk of whose operations are in Times Square, far uptown from the Financial District -- were also named, FOX News has learned.

Very specific details about United Nations headquarters in midtown Manhattan were also found on this computer.

"This is not one, two or three buildings, as was reported yesterday," a senior official said.

...Also, according to a law enforcement bulletin issued by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security on Sunday, there is concern that subways and other modes of public transportation near financial institutions could be targets for terrorists.

The bulletin, obtained by FOX News, also discusses the potential use of airplanes as weapons and about a possible terror plot to conduct computer attacks....


So the target list is so extensive it's almost meaningless -- it means eessentially that the whole borough of Manhattan should be on the lookout (which is already the case), and it means that so many buildings have been scoped out that the scrutiny of any one doesn't mean all that much.

So, er, why were only selected targets named at first? Did someone want to make a multi-day story out of this -- for reasons other than national security?

And read the rest of the story -- Fox says flatly that the key details came from the computer guy arrested in mid-July, not from the more recently arrested high-value target:

Pakistani officials said details were on the computer of Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian arrested July 25 after a gun battle in the eastern city of Gujrat.

But authorities also arrested another top Al Qaeda suspect, a 25-year-old computer engineer, Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, who apparently is cooperating with investigators.

Khan was arrested July 13. Pakistani officials say he used and helped operate a secret Al Qaeda communications system where information was transferred via coded messages, the New York Times reported Monday. FOX News confirmed with U.S. officials that Khan is the second man where information came from.

In fact, Khan is key to the latest security alerts, not so much Ghailani.

U.S. intelligence officials were expressing frustration that news outlets continue to point the finger at Ghailani, with one telling FOX News: "The assumptions are ridiculous. Just because Ghailani's name was the latest to cross everyone's radar screens ... it doesn't automatically mean he's responsible for all this. Even Ridge said 'no' yesterday when asked about the Ghailani connection."


So if Khan is the source, and we got hold of his stuff nearly three weeks ago, why did we hear nothing until the sudden, panicked announcement over the weekend ... just as the good feelings from the Democratic convention were starting to sink in?

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