Andy Obermann
Evidence building for another terror attack
By Andy Obermann
With the nation's attention — or lack thereof, based on network ratings — on last week's Democrat National Convention, truly important news was overshadowed.
As you may know, the 9/11 Commission Report was released days before the convention began. In it, members outlined the intelligence breakdown and the events leading up to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centers in New York.
The report is a tremendous piece of work — intricately lacing the 9/11 hijackers with the al Qaeda terror syndicate, financers, and historical framework of the organization. It also makes many sound conclusions and recommendations for a safer future. The recommendations include creating a cabinet level intelligence czar, as well as a complete overhaul of congressional oversight on intelligence matters, but are too numerous to do justice here. They deserve a lengthy and fair hearing from members of Congress, the president and his advisors.
One underlying theme pointed out in the report, however, was truly compelling.
Simply enough, the report indicated American leaders, both military and political, lacked the imagination to piece together the vast amounts of intelligence revealing the 9/11 plot and attack, believing, rather, that something so spectacular just wasn't possible — it just couldn't be pulled off.
Which brings me to my point.
Recent reports indicate a frightening trend in illegal border crossings. In a report from the organization DefenseWatch, an online group dedicated to border security, Arizona border agents have seen a dramatic increase in illegal crossings by men of Middle Eastern decent coming north from Mexico. The report indicates the men are suspected Syrian and Iranian nationals.
J. David Galland, the author of the piece, cites a report from the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a local Arizona newspaper, and border patrol sources that claim that massive apprehensions of Arab nationals have taken place throughout the month of June.
Now, this does not necessarily mean these men are terrorists, but considering the fact the 9/11 hijackers were of Arab decent (primarily Saudi Arabian) and the reality that every terrorist attack on America — with exception of the Oklahoma City bombing — has been at the hands of Arabs, it does raise some suspicion.
Could it be that al Qaeda is funneling operatives across our porous border with Mexico to launch a series of suicide bombings, not unlike those the Israelis face daily? It may be a stretch, but it is something we must consider.
With continued reports from the Department of Homeland Security indicating al Qaeda's determination to strike American interests before the November election and the claims by intelligence experts that "chatter" among terror sources is at its highest point since 9/11 — and even higher by some estimates — Americans must face the reality that soon we may be hit again.
Another possible scenario is a nuclear attack of some kind on American soil. The traditional nightmare plot would be the detonation of a "dirty bomb" in a major American city, potentially killing tens of thousands.
Last week the Associated Press reported the disappearance of four pounds of nuclear fuel rods missing from a power plant in Eureka, CA. Plant officials don't believe this material has ended up in the wrong hands, but can't be certain.
A month earlier, two pounds of nuclear material came up missing from a plant in Montpelier, VT. Two years earlier, the same happened in Connecticut.
The point is it takes only one incident. If terrorists were able to remove five or ten pounds of nuclear fuel rods and construct a weapon to disperse radioactive material across a few city blocks, the damage would be devastating. The death tolls may not even be that large, but economically we enter a recession, even worse than after 9/11.
Could al Qaeda launch such a plot on American soil? Analysts say it is unlikely, but in a post 9/11 world we must be prepared for even the most improbable scenario.
Very few people believed 19 men could hijack four planes and crash them into the two largest symbols of our economic prosperity and the heart of our national defense system. No one believed these 19 men could forever change the course of American history. Before 9/11, that is.
After 9/11, however, no one doubts it.
© Andy Obermann
With the nation's attention — or lack thereof, based on network ratings — on last week's Democrat National Convention, truly important news was overshadowed.
As you may know, the 9/11 Commission Report was released days before the convention began. In it, members outlined the intelligence breakdown and the events leading up to the September 11 attack on the World Trade Centers in New York.
The report is a tremendous piece of work — intricately lacing the 9/11 hijackers with the al Qaeda terror syndicate, financers, and historical framework of the organization. It also makes many sound conclusions and recommendations for a safer future. The recommendations include creating a cabinet level intelligence czar, as well as a complete overhaul of congressional oversight on intelligence matters, but are too numerous to do justice here. They deserve a lengthy and fair hearing from members of Congress, the president and his advisors.
One underlying theme pointed out in the report, however, was truly compelling.
Simply enough, the report indicated American leaders, both military and political, lacked the imagination to piece together the vast amounts of intelligence revealing the 9/11 plot and attack, believing, rather, that something so spectacular just wasn't possible — it just couldn't be pulled off.
Which brings me to my point.
Recent reports indicate a frightening trend in illegal border crossings. In a report from the organization DefenseWatch, an online group dedicated to border security, Arizona border agents have seen a dramatic increase in illegal crossings by men of Middle Eastern decent coming north from Mexico. The report indicates the men are suspected Syrian and Iranian nationals.
J. David Galland, the author of the piece, cites a report from the Tombstone Tumbleweed, a local Arizona newspaper, and border patrol sources that claim that massive apprehensions of Arab nationals have taken place throughout the month of June.
Now, this does not necessarily mean these men are terrorists, but considering the fact the 9/11 hijackers were of Arab decent (primarily Saudi Arabian) and the reality that every terrorist attack on America — with exception of the Oklahoma City bombing — has been at the hands of Arabs, it does raise some suspicion.
Could it be that al Qaeda is funneling operatives across our porous border with Mexico to launch a series of suicide bombings, not unlike those the Israelis face daily? It may be a stretch, but it is something we must consider.
With continued reports from the Department of Homeland Security indicating al Qaeda's determination to strike American interests before the November election and the claims by intelligence experts that "chatter" among terror sources is at its highest point since 9/11 — and even higher by some estimates — Americans must face the reality that soon we may be hit again.
Another possible scenario is a nuclear attack of some kind on American soil. The traditional nightmare plot would be the detonation of a "dirty bomb" in a major American city, potentially killing tens of thousands.
Last week the Associated Press reported the disappearance of four pounds of nuclear fuel rods missing from a power plant in Eureka, CA. Plant officials don't believe this material has ended up in the wrong hands, but can't be certain.
A month earlier, two pounds of nuclear material came up missing from a plant in Montpelier, VT. Two years earlier, the same happened in Connecticut.
The point is it takes only one incident. If terrorists were able to remove five or ten pounds of nuclear fuel rods and construct a weapon to disperse radioactive material across a few city blocks, the damage would be devastating. The death tolls may not even be that large, but economically we enter a recession, even worse than after 9/11.
Could al Qaeda launch such a plot on American soil? Analysts say it is unlikely, but in a post 9/11 world we must be prepared for even the most improbable scenario.
Very few people believed 19 men could hijack four planes and crash them into the two largest symbols of our economic prosperity and the heart of our national defense system. No one believed these 19 men could forever change the course of American history. Before 9/11, that is.
After 9/11, however, no one doubts it.
© Andy Obermann
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