Bomb sniffing dogs are out in force. New York City is in a low grade state of war readiness, though clearly on the defensive. Is this any way to fight a war?
Law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation told The AP that more than a half-dozen individuals were being scrutinized in the alleged plot tied to Zazi (the nazi). Considering Obama's banning of interrogation techniques, don't expect these would-be killers to be forthcoming. More of the poisonous fruits of appeasement.
Ray Kelly, NYC City Police Commissioner, is giving a press conference on the current situation. The NYC transit system was targeted in the latest bust of a Muslim cell of jihadis targeting New York City.
The subway, mass transit systems, sporting events, stadiums, hotels, entertainment complexes, are being scoured for bombs as we speak. Self storage lockers are being searched for bomb materials -- they are looking at storage facilities in Queens. New York is in serious lockdown.
Federal counterterrorism officials warned local police to patrol stadiums, hotels and entertainment complexes for suspicious activity after the arrest of a Colorado man suspected of a far-reaching terror plot.
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security also issued joint alerts to police around the country to watch storage centers and public transportation systemsfor any unusual behavior.
The FBI and DHS sent two bulletins Monday to local authorities nationwide, saying they know of no specific plots against such sites. The bulletins say those sites remain attractive targets to groups like Al Qaeda.
The memos do not mention the ongoing high-profile investigation of a possible terrorist plot involving a Colorado man and associates in New York City. Instead, they describe the long-standing interest of terrorists to use homemade backpack bombs, car bombs or even airplanes to attack such crowded public places.
A source told FOX News that one of the federal alerts asks local law enforcement to keep an eye out for "suspicious behavior with regard tostorage facilities" where people can rent space to keep their belongings.
In the upside down world of Obama's America, Obama is in NYC talking about the greatest threat to us and future generations. No, not nuclear holocaust ...... global warming. "President Obama said his administration understands the 'gravity of the climate threat' and is 'determined to act' - even though he said the United States was slow to recognize and respond to the danger of global warming".
At the very same time as the jihad has New York (and the free world- dar al harb) in a controlled panic, Obama is selling "the irreversible catastrophe" of global warming.
I kid you not.
Couple that with the Obama's persecution of CIA agents who kept America safe after 911. Despite the plea from every former CIA director to stop this witch hunt, Obama will pursue prosecution for defending America.
Think about it.
Seven former CIA directors are trying to stop the Obama administration from going after those who have been protecting Americans. On Aug. 24, Attorney General Eric Holder appointed John Durham as a federal prosecutor to investigate CIA officers who might have abused suspected terrorists. But according to the Washington Times, “seven of the 10 living former CIA chiefs [on Sept. 18] urged President [Barack] Obama to overrule his attorney general and not reopen investigations into CIA employees."
The former CIA chiefs say that “further investigations would demoralize current CIA officers and might also lead allied intelligence services to suspend or scale back cooperation with the United States because the judicial probes could disclose joint operations and activities.”
UPDATE: The Weekly Standard has more on the Missing Details On Suspected Terrorists
First, Najibullah Zazi, the Afghan immigrant at the heart of the case, has reportedly admitted that he was trained in an al Qaeda training camp in Northern Pakistan as recently as last year. This is especially important because even though some counterterrorism analysts believe that the Internet alone is sufficient for conspirators to get together to execute a terrorist attack, it is clear that Northern Pakistan has been the hub for the most serious terrorist plots in recent years.
Just ask British authorities. Al Qaeda’s July 7, 2005, bombings in London, a follow-on plot scheduled for later that same month, as well as the summer 2006 plot against as many as ten airliners can all be traced back to northern Pakistan. While most of the terrorists involved had been “westernized” to a large extent, they still needed to connect with their al Qaeda brethren to make their plots go. This was apparently true of Zazi as well. He certainly has transplanted roots on American soil, but in order to acquire vital bomb-making skills and other operational tradecraft he found it necessary to travel to Northern Pakistan.
Second, it is clear that law enforcement authorities still don’t know much about the putative plot(s) Zazi was involved in, even though they are convinced it was major. Three men have been taken into custody, but federal authorities have told the press that perhaps as many as a dozen suspects were involved. The LA Times relays this troubling revelation:
“Authorities said that they did not know the exact number of potential suspects or many of their identities, but that they had been connected through electronic intercepts, surveillance, seized evidence and interviews.”
Now, the FBI and other law enforcement officials have a significant amount of pocket litter, computer hardware, and surveillance reports in their possession. But they are still not sure who Zazi was working with or how various personalities related to each other. This reveals a key aspect of intelligence collection and analysis. Oftentimes, hard evidence is incredibly important, but it can be difficult for authorities to piece together how the various names and telephone numbers that are discovered relate to one another. This is why getting detainees to provide information is crucially important.
When Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) was captured, for example, U.S. authorities also recovered hard drives from his residence. Those hard drives included thousands of names. Without some guidance from KSM and other al Qaeda detainees, it would have been next to impossible to put many of these names into an understandable context.
If the LA Times report and other press accounts are accurate (and I have no reason to doubt that they are), then Zazi has clearly not given up crucial details about what he was doing. Not only are authorities not clear on who he was working with, but they are also not certain what targets he and his alleged co-conspirators planned to strike. Surveillance pictures and video of various landmarks (including stadiums) and public transit nodes (Grand Central Station) were reportedly found in Zazi’s possession. But it is not perfectly clear where he planned to strike.
Various television broadcasts here in the New York area have noted that authorities are also looking for an explosives mill. Investigators reportedly believe that Zazi and others had already gotten their bomb-making operation of the ground. If this is true, and the bomb-making facility exists somewhere, then Zazi has not told authorities where it is located.
Third, there are reports that authorities don’t know more about Zazi’s alleged co-conspirators and intended target(s) because the NYPD moved too quickly in pursuing its own investigation into the matter after being tipped off by the FBI. The NYPD allegedly contacted a would-be informant, who in turn warned Zazi. I don’t know if this is true or not, but taken together with the second point above it means that authorities are missing crucial details about Zazi’s plotting.