[A-List] US state: strategy of tension

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

Public told to prepare for major city attack
New York named as number on target for al Qaeda

IAN BRUCE and BILLY BRIGGS
The Herald, 12 February 2003

THE US government yesterday warned its citizens to prepare for a major
chemical, biological, or radioactive "dirty bomb" attack on American soil -
probably in New York - and advised people to stockpile enough food, water,
and medicine to last for at least three days.

The warning, issued by the new department of homeland security, also urged
civilians to have tape and plastic sheeting on hand to seal doors and
windows to minimise contamination until rescue services could deal with a
terrorist emergency.

Although the US move coincided with the security alert at Heathrow, CIA and
FBI officials said last night that all intelligence intercepts pointed
towards a "spectacular" against New York, still recovering from the
September 11 attacks on its twin towers.

A source said: "New York keeps popping up on the intelligence radar
monitoring terrorist backchatter.

"It makes ultimate sense from a terrorist perspective in that it would show
the Islamic world that al Qaeda or its proxies could strike here again at
will.

"That's psychologically powerful. It would also strike a crushing blow to
commercial confidence as the US economy teeters on the brink of recession
and share values plunge.

It could prompt the White House into taking its revenge on Iraq in the
absence of any other culprit. That may be the main aim, to inflame the
entire Middle East."

Raymond Kelly, the police commissioner of New York, said that 1000 officers
had been added to counter-terrorism duty.

Uniformed police officers and the national guard will stand guard at key
transportation hubs such as Grand Central and Pennsylvania station.

In New York, San Francisco, and other cities, trucks crossing notoriously
congested bridges endured random checks. US airports, already on higher
alert since September 11, 2001, are taking new measures.

At Miami International airport, a major gateway to and from Latin America
and the Caribbean, each car entering parking areas was being checked, a
spokeswoman said.

Officials say apartment buildings and hotels are a possible target, and
housing complexes across the nation have warned residents to be on guard for
anything suspicious.

Meanwhile, George Tenet, director of the CIA, told the senate intelligence
committee that the al Qaeda network had established a presence in Iraq and
Iran.

US federal officials last week raised the national alert level from code
yellow - elevated alert - to code orange - or high threat - in response to
intelligence that al Qaeda was preparing to carry out a mass casualty attack
in the US, the Gulf, or Southeast Asia.

That has now been refined down to the US mainland, with the "high
likelihood" of such an attack being conducted using nerve gas, germ warfare
such as anthrax or smallpox, or a crude radiological bomb involving nuclear
waste wrapped around conventional explosives.

The FBI has been reporting for weeks that al Qaeda is planning a major
strike or multiple attacks against "soft" targets such as apartment blocks,
sporting venues, or busy public buildings which lack the security of
government installations.

Vincent Cannistraro, a former CIA counter-terrorism expert, said yesterday:
"Osama bin Laden's network has been relatively quiet for a while and would
like to stage a spectacular to announce that it is still in business.

"The timing is clearly related to both the haj pilgrimage, with its upsurge
in world-wide Islamic sentiment, and to the growing US build-up and military
presence in the Gulf close to the Muslim holy places." Neil Livingstone,
another terrorism expert and chairman of GlobalOptions, a crisis management
think tank, added: "This one's for real. Al Qaeda has been licking its
wounds for a long time. Now it wants to hit us where we live."

With the latest warnings, Arab-American communities are braced for another
wave of hostile sentiment.

Imad Hamad, Midwest director for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee, said: "It's just adding to the pressure and adding to the tense
situation that this community has to deal with.

"We've been looked at in a suspicious fashion since September 11."