Duuuh.wonder if he's ever heard of "Operation Bojinka"? Same plot over the Pacific? -Bruce http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-terror-plot,0,3229019.stor y?coll=hc-headlines-home http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/sns-ap-us-terror-plot,0,3229019.stor y?coll=hc-headlines-home
Chertoff: Plot 'Suggestive' of al-Qaida By LARA JAKES JORDAN Associated Press Writer August 10 2006, 8:36 AM EDT WASHINGTON -- The terror scheme disrupted in London is "suggestive of an al-Qaida plot," the Bush administration said Thursday as it issued its highest terrorism alert ever for commercial flights from Britain to the United States and raised the threat level for all domestic and international flights. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said there was no indication of plotting in the United States but said officials cannot assume that the terror operation in Britain had been completely thwarted. The administration raised the threat level for flights from Britain to "red," designating a severe risk of terrorist attacks. All other flights, including all domestic flights in the United States, were put under an "orange," alert -- one step below the highest level. The U.S. government banned all liquids and gels from flights, including toothpaste, makeup, suntan lotion. Baby formula and medicines were exempted. Hastily printed signs were posted at major airports warning passengers in red capital letters, "No liquid or gels permitted beyond security." Chertoff said the alleged plot appeared to be engineered by al-Qaida, the terrorist group that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attack against the United States. "It was sophisticated, it had a lot of members and it was international in scope," said Chertoff. "It was in some respects suggestive of an al-Qaida plot." He added, however, that "because the investigation is still underway we cannot yet form a definitive conclusion." Chertoff said the plotters were in the final stages of planning before execution. "We were really getting quite close to the execution phase," he said. He said it was unclear whether the alleged plot was linked to the upcoming fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 strikes. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said the operation could "potentially kill hundreds of innocent people." Britain said 21 people had been arrested, including the alleged "main players" in the plot. FBI Director Robert Mueller also pointed at al-Qaida. "This had the earmarks of an al-Qaida plot," he said. Chertoff said it envisioned multiple explosions in multiple aircraft. Terrorists had targeted United, American and Continental airlines, two U.S. counterterrorism officials said. "The plot was to board international flights, potentially headed to the U.S., with bombs fashioned in a way that they would be in carry-ons, and blow them up in midair," one intelligence official said. This official said the terrorists had hoped to target flights to major airports in New York, Washington and California, all major summer tourist destinations. Multiple flights to multiple American cities were put on alert. Specifically, these airlines included United Airlines, American Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., the two counterterrorism officials said. American and United flights were turned into terrorist weapons on Sept. 11, 2001, when they were hijacked and crashed. It is the first time the red alert level in the Homeland Security warning system has been invoked, although there have been brief periods in the past when the orange level was applied. Homeland Security defines the red alert as designating a "severe risk of terrorist attacks." One intelligence official said the first-ever red alert signaled extreme concern within the government. "We are concerned enough to put the highest wall up we can," this official said. Officials said the government has been aware of the nature of the threat for several days, and President Bush was fully briefed. A U.S. law enforcement official said there have been no arrests in the United States connected to the plot. The plan involved airline passengers hiding masked explosives in carry-on luggage, the official said. "They were not yet sitting on an airplane," but were very close to traveling, the official said, calling the plot "the real deal." U.S. intelligence has been working closely with the British on the investigation, which has been ongoing for months, the second official said. The metal detector and X-ray machines at airport security checkpoints cannot detect explosives. At many, but not all airport checkpoints, the TSA has deployed walkthrough "sniffer" or "puffer" machines that can detect explosives residue. As part of the foiled Bojinka Plot to blow up 12 Western airliners simultaneously over the Pacific Ocean in the mid-1990s, terrorist mastermind Ramzi Youssef planned to put together an improvised bomb using liquid in a contact lens solution container. At U.S. Northern Command, the military headquarters established in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to improve coordination of the defense of U.S. territory, spokesman Sean Kelly said it would be inappropriate to discuss military operations. Prime Minister Tony Blair's office said in London that the prime minister, vacationing in the Caribbean, had briefed Bush on the situation overnight. The Homeland Security Department devised the alert system after the Sept. 11 attacks. The last time the U.S. government raised the terrorist risk here to orange, or high, was in July 2005 after the subway bombings in London. It was lowered to yellow a month later, the elevated risk status that has been the norm since the system was created. In London, Britain's Home Secretary John Reid said the alleged plot was "significant" and that terrorists aimed to "bring down a number of aircraft through mid-flight explosions, causing a considerable loss of life." Police arrested a number of people overnight in London after a major covert counterterrorism operation that had lasted several months, but did not immediately say how many. Heathrow airport in London was closed for most European flights. * __ Associated Press writers Katherine Shrader, Mark Sherman, Leslie Miller and Robert Burns contributed to this report. Copyright 2006 Associated Press [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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