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Terrorist and Predators |
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Recognizing: EVIL, TERRORISTS and PREDATORS!
FBI's Mueller: Al-Qaida Has Intent to Use Nuclear Weapons
Robert S. Mueller, Director of the FBI, spoke this morning at the Global
Initiative Nuclear Terrorism Conference in Miami. His comments confirm
claims made in a new book
"The Day of Islam" detailing al-Qaida's nuclear plans. Read more
Click Here Now
Good morning. It is an honor to be here with all of you today.
My thanks to Governor Crist and Mayor Diaz for joining us this
morning, and to all those who organized this conference.
I also want to welcome Assistant Secretary John Rood and
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak from the Kazakhstan
conference. We appreciate your joining us, especially given
the time difference.
We are here to discuss one of the most dangerous and
deadly threats we face: nuclear terrorism. Few threats
fall into the same class in terms of sheer devastation,
damage, and loss. Few strike such fear in the hearts of
the public. And few threats are so appealing to terrorists
around the world, for the same reasons.
It has been said that the September 11th attacks were
a "failure of imagination." We cannot fail to imagine
the consequences of a nuclear terrorist attack. Nor
can we fail to imagine that there are those for whom
such an event is the end game.
Prevention must be our end game. Should there be a
nuclear attack anywhere in the world, it would
mean in some sense that we have failed in our
mission. That is why we are here this week.
This morning, I want to talk about the threat
of nuclear terrorism. I want to touch on our
collective efforts in the United States to
keep our citizens safe. And I want to discuss
what we in the international community must do
to contain this threat.
Our roadmap is clear. We must start with
the source: we must secure loose nuclear
material. We must share intelligence
about those who wish to buy and sell
such material, and we must stop those
who do. Most importantly, we must stand
strong together, for nuclear terrorism
is a global threat that requires a
global response.
Assessment of the Threat
By some estimates, there is
enough highly enriched uranium
in global stockpiles to
construct thousands of nuclear
weapons. And it is safe to
assume that there are many
individuals who would not think
twice about using such weapons.
The economics of supply and
demand dictate that someone,
somewhere, will provide
nuclear material to the
highest bidder, and that
material will end up in the
hands of terrorists.
Al Qaeda has
demonstrated a clear
intent to acquire
weapons of mass
destruction. In 1993,
Osama bin Laden
attempted to buy uranium
from a source in the
Sudan. He has stated
that it is Al Qaeda's
duty to acquire weapons
of mass destruction. And
he has made repeated
recruiting pitches for
experts in chemistry,
physics, and explosives
to join his terrorist
movement.
Bin Laden is no
small thinker.
Prior to 2001,
Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed the
mastermind of the
September 11th
attacks
suggested flying a
small plane filled
with explosives
into CIA
Headquarters. As
noted by the 9/11
Commission, bin
Laden reportedly
asked him, "Why do
you use an axe
when you can use a
bulldozer?"
If 9/11 was
the
"bulldozer" of
which bin
Laden spoke,
we can only
imagine the
impact of a
full-scale
nuclear
attack.
Unfortunately,
Al Qaeda
central is
not our
only
concern.
We face
threats
from other
terrorist
cells
around the
world, and
from
homegrown
terrorists
who are
not
affiliated
with Al
Qaeda, but
who are
inspired
by its
message of
hatred and
violence.
Several
rogue
nations
and
even
individuals
seek
to
develop
nuclear
capabilities.
Abdul
Khan,
for
example,
was
not
only
the
father
of
Pakistan's
nuclear
bomb,
he
peddled
that
technology
to
North
Korea,
Libya,
and
Iran.
Khan
was
one of
many
to
prove
that
it is
indeed
a
seller's
market
in the
so-called
atomic
bazaar.
We
have
often
said
that
the
next
terrorist
attack
is
not
a
question
of
if,
but
when.
If
we
up
the
ante
to
a
nuclear
terrorist
attack,
we
know
it
is
a
question
of
if,
but
we
cannot
let
it
become
a
question
of
when.
Now
is
the
time
to
act.
Our Collective Efforts to Prevent Nuclear Terrorism
I want to talk for a moment about our collective roles in combatting nuclear terrorism. While the FBI investigates all acts of terrorism in the United States, the prevention of a nuclear attack is a responsibility shared by many. Our investigations are joint efforts in every sense.
In October 2005, for example, a radiation sensor at the Port of Colombo, in Sri Lanka, triggered an alarm for an outbound shipping container. The container was sent to sea before it could be examined.
Working with their Sri Lankan counterparts, personnel from the Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy determined that the suspect container could be on one of six ships, three of which were bound for New York. Officials around the world, from Italy to India, screened various containers on these ships as they moved from port to port. Scientists from Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Laboratory worked with FBI experts to analyze why the sensor may have been triggered, and whether any of the containers held weapons-grade nuclear material. FBI agents and analysts searched computer databases for criminal or terrorist ties to the ships in question.
We worked with our state and local counterparts in New York and New Jersey to put response plans into place. As three of the ships pulled into the Port of Newark, FBI personnel and officials from the United States Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection, screened and secured several containers.
Although this investigation turned out to be nothing more than the disposal of scrap metal mixed with radioactive material, it illustrates the need for a quick and a coordinated response.
That coordination begins with training. We need to know how best to respond to a pending threat before a real need arises. To that end, we routinely train with federal, state, and local agencies and first responders.
The FBI's Hazardous Devices School, for instance, provides bomb disposal training, using state-of-the-art equipment. In the past 36 years, we have trained more than 20,000 first responders, and nearly 3,000 bomb technicians stand ready to respond if we are threatened with a nuclear terrorist attack.
We also train our law enforcement counterparts across the country and around the world to detect, deter, and disrupt weapons of mass destruction. Field exercises include the smuggling, sale, transport, and use of hazardous material.
The International Counterproliferation Program, for example, is a partnership of the FBI, the Department of Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Together, we are training our foreign partners in WMD detection, border security, undercover investigations, nuclear forensics, and crisis management. To date, we have trained more than 5,000 participants from more than 23 countries.
This September, for example, four of our partners in this Global Initiative Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, and Georgia will participate in an integrated exercise. We will run a hypothetical threat of a radiological dispersal device from start to finish, to see whether we are solid, and where we need to improve.
By training together, we can better work together. In recent years, we have worked with many of you on highly sensitive matters related to the trafficking and threatened use of nuclear material. I am not able to discuss those cases today, because the details remain classified.
The mere existence of these cases, however, with buyers seeking to obtain nuclear materials and willing sellers peddling samples, illustrates the size and the seriousness of the threats we face. These cases also illustrate the continued need for information sharing and collaboration.
Containing the Threat of Nuclear Terrorism
Let me spend a moment discussing how best to contain the threat of nuclear terrorism.
We all face the prospect that at some point in the near future, a terrorist will steal, smuggle, buy, or build a nuclear weapon. We must focus on prevention; we cannot afford to wait for a calling card to announce an attack.
Strong intelligence is our primary asset. We must collect intelligence from those closest to the threat, from port security and border control to state and local law enforcement. And we must share that intelligence with those who need it.
But intelligence alone is not enough. If we uncover information about potential nuclear trafficking or a pending plot, we must be able to move at a moment's notice.
We cannot sit back and wait for others to act. To do so is to continue to feed the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last, as Winston Churchill once said. Our safety lies in protecting not just our own interests, but our collective interests.
We cannot simply hope that stockpiles will be secure, that smugglers will somehow be stopped, that devices will fail to detonate. Hope alone will not suffice.
Each and every country must safeguard its nuclear material. Those who run the black market must be locked up and shut down. Possessing, peddling, and purchasing nuclear material must be prosecuted. And terrorists must be cut off at the source.
Our greatest weapon is unity. That unity is built on intelligence and interagency cooperation. It is built on the idea that, together, we are smarter and stronger than we are standing alone.
No person, no police officer, no agency, and no country can prevent a nuclear terrorist attack on its own. There are too many unlocked doors and unknown players, too many ports and porous borders.
Yet together, we can stop the smuggling of nuclear material. We can stop those who seek to buy such material on the black market. And we can stop terrorists from using this technology to threaten our citizens. We can, and we must.
Throughout the Cold War, the threat of nuclear attack loomed large. In 1962, at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President Kennedy addressed the American people, saying, "My fellow citizens, let no one doubt that this is a difficult and dangerous effort on which we have set out ... Many months of sacrifice and self-discipline lie ahead ... months in which many threats and denunciations will keep us aware of our dangers. But the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing."
The dark days of the Cold War have been relegated to the history books. The United States and Russia ultimately resolved many of their differences through deft diplomacy. But terrorists do not want a seat at the diplomatic table. They do not respond to reason or rationale, nor do they share any desire for peace and prosperity. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Indeed, the greatest danger for each of us here today would be to do nothing. We must take action. And we must do so together. Our safety can only be secured with the help of the international community.
Years ago, we stood across from one another, divided by walls and different ways of life. Today, we stand together in this Global Initiative. We are united in a common cause. It is my sincere hope that in the years to come, we will have no need to meet to address this threat. Let us begin to make that hope a reality.
Thank you and God bless.
Get the bestselling book by former FBI consultant Paul Williams that details al-Qaida's incredible nuclear plan - Click Here Now.
Editor's note:
Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:
Al-Qaeda
WMD
War on Terrorism
................... ........................... fish rap..... http://video1.washingtontimes.com/fishwrap/
Monday, May 21, 2007
How terrorists are stopped Posted: May 21,
2007 By Joseph Farah © 2007
Who should the Islamo-fascist terrorists should fear most in their
determined efforts to attack the USA?
It's not the FBI.
It's not the bumbling, bloated bureaucracy of the Homeland
Security Department.
It's not the CIA.
It's not the collective police forces of the U.S.
It's you and me.
Those who are most likely to foil the murderous plots
to kill American citizens, blow up buildings, attack
infrastructure and even kill U.S. troops in training
are vigilant American citizens with open eyes and a
commitment to national security.
That is precisely what happened in the Fort Dix
conspiracy to kill soldiers at the New Jersey
military installation.
The Islamic radicals from the former Yugoslavia,
long-time illegal aliens who were radicalized into
their jihadist beliefs right here in America, were
planning to attack the fort with automatic rifles
and other arms to kill as many soldiers as they
could manage.
How were they caught?
The terrorists attempted to convert a video to
a DVD at a Circuit City store in Cherry Hill,
N.J. The video depicted 10 young men in their
20s shooting automatic weapons at a firing
range, calling for jihad and shouting in
Arabic, "Allah Akbar."
It was the suspicious storeowner who alerted
authorities, triggering the FBI
investigation that led to the arrests.
He should be rewarded by the government
for his action. But don't count on it.
From President Bush on down, our federal
officials don't really have much faith
in you and me.
They think we're dumb, helpless
creatures who can't find our way to
the lavatory without pages of
directions from bureaucrats in
Washington.
But the citizen action in New Jersey
is not really unusual. It was
citizen action that led directly to
the arrests of the Beltway Snipers a
few years ago. These were dangerous
terrorists who had eluded one of the
largest police manhunts in the
history of the country. Yet within
hours of getting a description of a
suspect vehicle out to the public,
the public found John Muhammad and
his teenage accomplice, Lee Boyd
Malvo.
It happens all the time. And in
times like these, U.S. citizens
should be empowered and encouraged
to be alert.
I've said it before and I'll say
it again. I do not believe the
government can be counted on to
rescue you in a major emergency.
How many towns do we need to see
flattened before we figure this
out? Most government officials
are more interested in
protecting their own backside
than they are in protecting you
and your family.
So be vigilant. Be prepared.
Think about what is coming.
There will be more attacks.
They will not all be foiled by
citizens. You have a
responsibility to yourself,
your family and your loved
ones to protect yourself and
others by using your head and
thinking in advance.
I also encourage every
responsible person reading
this column to include in
their civil defense game
plan the acquisition of and
training with firearms.
It is your sovereign
birthright. It is your
duty.
No one knows the nature
of the next attack. So
we should prepare with
our imaginations. We
should think like the
people who want to kill
us. We should get inside
their minds so we can
get the drop on them.
As I write this
column, a man who
faced down terrorists
in his Sunday church
service is touring the
U.S. promoting his
book,
"Shooting Back."
Did he expect
terrorists to attack
his church in 1993?
No.
Did he expect to
fire that handgun
that Sunday
morning? No.
Did he expect to
stop the
slaughter of
innocent people
by automatic
gunfire? No.
But the
unexpected
happened. And
he was
prepared. Live
like Charl Van
Wyk.
HOMELAND
INSECURITY
Posted:
May
21,
2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Al-Qaida is aggressively recruiting black Americans for suicide operations against the homeland, say FBI analysts who have reviewed recent videotaped messages from the terror group's leaders.
A speech released May 5 by Osama bin Laden's deputy confirms earlier fears that African-Americans are the No. 1 recruiting target for the next generation of attacks. Al-Qaida has been trying to lower its Arab profile to reduce the odds that its terror cells will be subjected to security scrutiny.
"Federal and local law enforcement authorities should be aware that al-Qaida terrorists may not appear Arab," warns a recent Homeland Security intelligence report obtained by WND. "Non-Arab al-Qaida operatives could find it easier to avoid unwanted scrutiny since they may not fit typical profiles."
In the latest message, al-Qaida No. 2 Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri clearly seeks to sow political and racial discontent among African-Americans. He makes frequent references to what he calls the "martyr" Malcolm X, and says "I want blacks in America to know that we are waging jihad to lift oppression from all mankind."
(Story continues below)
Zawahiri encourages African-Americans to follow the example of Malcolm X, a.k.a. al-Hajj Malik al-Shabaaz, who he says was not afraid to sacrifice his life to fight American "oppression."
According to a transcript of the hour-long screed, Zawahiri said this is "the culture which the struggler and martyr Malcom X (may Allah have mercy upon him) fought against when he told his repressed black brothers in America, 'If you're not ready to die for it, take the word "freedom" out of your vocabulary.'"
"Freedom is something that you have to do for yourself," he quotes Malcolm X as as saying. "The price of freedom is death."
Zawahiri, again citing the teachings of Malcolm X, suggests that black Muslims who do not rise up against America are no better than "house slaves."
It's the first time al-Qaida has identified Malcolm X as a fellow Islamic "struggler and martyr," analysts say.
"Zawahiri's focus on race relations may be benefiting from the input of a U.S. citizen named Adam Yahiye Gadahn a.k.a Azaam al-Amriki who is a senior member of al-Qaida's media committee," said former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, now an analyst for the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank specializing in national security.
"Indeed," he added, "the deftness and political timeliness of Zawahiri's statements suggest that al-Qaida may have more than a single American advising it."
Last year, in another nearly hour-long videotaped speech, al-Qaida propaganda chief Gadahn invited blacks to convert to Islam and take revenge against a nation that enslaved their ancestors.
Gadahn, a white convert from California thought to be operating out of al-Qaida's new base in Pakistan, slammed his native America, which he said "shamelessly brought us lynch laws, Jim Crow, and a death row where only convicts of certain races are sent."
In courting African-Americans, he also encouraged them to forsake Christianity, which he claims whites have used as an excuse to abuse blacks.
"Islam rejects the Judeo-Christian doctrines concerning Eve and Ham, which the West has used to justify all manner of abuse and ill treatment of women and blacks," Gadahn said. "Islam is for everyone."
Gadahn, who is wanted by the FBI for treason, also claims that America "enslaved Africa."
Islamic terrorism analysts point out that al-Qaida's racial history lessons conveniently leave out the fact that Arab Muslim slave traders sold Africans into bondage.
"The Arab is the true master of the African," said Bill Warner, director of the Center for Study of Political Islam. "Blacks like to imagine Islam is their counterweight to white power, not that Islam has ruled them for 1,400 years."
Blacks account for the largest share of Muslims in America. A great many of them are converts to Islam. And remarkably, the religion is flourishing among African-Americans since 9/11. Analysts fear the trend plays right into bin Laden's hands.
Black converts say Islam has more in common with their African heritage than Christianity. In fact, black Muslim leaders often refer to such conversions as "reversions," claiming black "reverts" are merely returning to the Islamic faith prominent among their African forebears who were forced into slavery.
"You have African-American men seeking liberation," explained black Muslim leader Eric Erfan Vickers, "and many see Christianity as a white man's religion that continues to oppress."
Vickers, a convert to Islam, does not consider al-Qaida a terrorism group. "They are involved in a resistance movement," he contended.
Prisons have already proven to be a fertile recruiting ground for al-Qaida, spawning the likes of shoebomber Richard Reid and alleged dirty bomber Jose Padilla.
Christian prison chaplains say Islam is so popular with inmates they are having a hard time competing with Muslim chaplains for their souls. Blacks are being converted by the cell block. The FBI worries blacks could be the next face of terror in America.
Since 9/11, the agency has already disrupted several homegrown terror plots involving black Muslim converts, including:
Still, some analysts doubt al-Qaida's pitch will resonate in today's black community beyond a handful of malcontents. They point out that African-Americans are no longer held back by institutional racism, and are growing wealthier as evidenced by the expanding black middle class.
Indeed, Zawahiri does not paint a very enticing picture in describing the sacrifices required along the path of jihad, especially for those used to the material comforts of America.
"If we continue to aspire to nothing more than diplomas, positions, salaries, pensions and the raising of our children, there will be nothing but humiliation in store for us, our children and our grandchildren," he argued. "If, on the other hand, we are happy with killing, captivity, emigration, losing one's spouse, orphanage, and losing one's wealth, homeland and beloved in the path of Allah, then with Allah's help, no power on the face of the earth can defeat us."
Zawahiri in his latest speech also made fresh threats about coming attacks on America.
He warns that a new "squadron of martyrdom-seekers" is lined up behind "hundreds" of new leaders who are following in the footsteps of captured 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
"They shall achieve more than he achieved," Zawahiri vowed. "The Americans shall pay dearly."
He says American voters had a chance to fire Bush in the last presidential election for invading Iraq, but they chose instead to reelect him. He suggests they forfeited their chance for protection from terrorism, and deserve punishment.
"The Americans deserve what they're getting," he said. "They chose this liar two times, so let them pay the price for their choice."
Gadahn has said "the streets of America shall run red with blood," later singling out Los Angeles as a target of attack.
Nuclear terrorism: Coming to a city near you? Posted: May 21, 2007 By Craig R. Smith © 2007
Here we go again. Iran is now in open defiance of the U.N. Security demands to immediately halt the enrichment of Uranium. Thirteen-hundred confirmed centrifuges spin 24/7 producing material to build bombs. Iran hopes to have 3,000 doing the same by June, and what does the world do? Nothing!
This scenario has an all too familiar ring to it, and we best be careful, or else the largest state sponsor of terror may acquire nuclear capabilities.
Saddam Hussein faced 17 Security Council resolutions and did nothing to comply. In fact, he made every effort to ignore and defy the world. Of course, now many critics of the current administration claim Saddam was no threat to the U.S.
Do they now feel the same about Iran? If not what are they willing to do to stop a nation of people whom enjoy killing each other almost as much as they enjoy killing Jews and Americans?
I did a quick search and came up with 34 major terrorist acts suspected of, or inspired by, al-Qaeda since 1993. That is when the first attack on the World Trade Center took six innocent lives. In 1996, the Khobar Towers came down, killing 19 Americans. In 1998, our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed. Two-hundred, twenty-four people, including 12 Americans, were killed.
In 2000, 17 U.S. sailors were murdered in the attack on the U.S.S. Cole. No one will ever forget 2001 when 2,992 innocents were killed on Sept. 11. But the killing has continued.
In 2002, a synagogue bombing in Tunisia left 21 dead, including 11 Germans. Outside a hotel in Karachi, a car exploded and 14 more died, including 11 French tourists. Our consulate in Karachi was also bombed, taking 12 lives. And who can forget the bombing in a Bali nightclub in which 202 lives were lost, mostly Australian citizens?
A suicide attack on a hotel in Kenya killed 16. The year 2002 was rather busy for the radical factions of the "religion of peace."
(Column continues below)
In 2003, suicide bombers killed 34, including eight Americans at a housing compound in Saudi Arabia. Four bombs killed 33 people in Casablanca, Morocco. At a Marriott hotel in Jakarta, a suicide car bomber killed 12 and injured 150. Islamic terrorists hit another Saudi housing compound in November, killing 17. Suicide bombers attacked two synagogues in Istanbul, killing 25 and injuring hundreds. A British bank and consulate in Istanbul received truck bombs, and 26 more died. Those were just the most deadly of 2003. I don't have space to list them all.
Shall I go on? I shall! In 2004, in Madrid 1500 injured, 191 dead. A Saudi Oil company attacked 22 killed. An Australian embassy in Jakarta bombed nine dead. Terrorists entered the U.S. Consulate in Jeddah nine dead.
In 2005, in London, 52 killed and scores injured. Twenty-two killed in Bali suicide attack. Fifty-seven killed at three American Hotels in Jordan.
In 2006, a Muslim student drove a rental car into crowd. Another Muslim entered a Jewish retirement center, shooting and killing a woman. An 18-year-old Bosnian shot up a crowded mall. And on and on and on
.
When are the nut jobs in this country going to get it that there is a war going on in the world; whether we like it or not?
It is a war with an evil that cannot be appeased, cannot be reasoned with and cannot be stopped, short of eliminating the participants. They can talk all they want, but they cannot stop the radicals who have a goal.
These radicals want the destruction of Israel, the destruction of America and control of the oil wealth of the Middle East. They are willing to die in order to meet their goals. Is the world, however, willing to stop them?
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