[dcmacdaddy]

I was reading tomorrow's news tonight and came across this interesting tidbit about the recent "threat" to US financial centers--I have bolded the relevant sections below.
The surveillance of these financial centers took place in 2001 BEFORE the atacks on 11 September.
So, why is the government elevating the threat level now based on discovery of data that is three years old?

Discuss.







Battening Down in the District
Checkpoints Set Up Near World Bank, IMF and Capitol

By Lyndsey Layton and Manny Fernandez
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, August 3, 2004; Page A01



Police officers carrying automatic weapons began to close a major thoroughfare on Capitol Hill last night and set up 14 checkpoints for cars and trucks, creating a huge security perimeter around some of the nation's most powerful symbols of democracy.


U.S. Capitol Police Chief Terrance W. Gainer said last night that First Street NE between Constitution Avenue and D Street NE -- which runs between the Russell and Dirksen Senate office buildings -- would be closed indefinitely.


In addition, Gainer said Capitol police would set up checkpoints at several key spots around the Capitol and Supreme Court buildings, inspecting vehicles that cross Independence and Constitution avenues near Capitol Hill, as well as several other streets in the area.


D.C. police, meanwhile, said they would set up checkpoints near the World Bank and International Monetary Fund headquarters to scan traffic and pick out cars and trucks for inspection. Those checkpoints will be on 18th Street NW between F and G streets and on 19th Street NW near I Street, police officials said.


Squads of officers from different agencies patrolled the Foggy Bottom headquarters of the IMF and World Bank and the Capitol yesterday and concentrated bomb-sniffing dogs in the subway stations around Foggy Bottom and the White House. Workers tried to go about their business and ignore the threat.


The announcement by Capitol police came as some government officials acknowledged that most, if not all, of the al Qaeda surveillance that led to Sunday's new terror alert occurred about three years ago or possibly longer.


D.C. officials blasted the Capitol Hill action, saying the closure and checkpoints would lead to gridlock and send the wrong message to tourists and residents. Several pointed out that the Capitol and Supreme Court were not mentioned in the announcement Sunday by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge that raised the threat level in the District, New York and Newark. Ridge singled out the financial districts in those locations, including the IMF and World Bank.


But Gainer said the threat level is increased across the city, not just at the financial centers.


"There has been ongoing concern about the Capitol," Gainer said. "The 9/11 Commission report indicated the great likelihood that the Capitol was a target. We see the intelligence that terrorists would like to strike the United States and the Capitol of the United States."


The Capitol Hill closure brought a swift and sharp rebuke from D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), whose spokesman said city officials learned late yesterday that "the nervous nellies in Congress" were closing the street near the Capitol.


The spokesman, Tony Bullock, said the mayor and other D.C. officials would try to persuade security officials to reopen the street. City officials also are concerned that if Congress is permitted to close streets, other federal agencies could follow suit, as has happened in the past. "It scares people," Bullock said, referring to the security zone. "This is not Beirut."


Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) said she was outraged. "The arrogance of it is mind-boggling," said Norton, who has called a news conference this morning to discuss alternatives. "Closing down a main thoroughfare must be the last option, and it has become the first option here."


Gainer said he took the action after reanalyzing data about the effect a car or truck bomb would have on the Capitol, the House and Senate buildings and people in the area. Gainer said that he has also placed his officers on 12-hour shifts and required them to work six days a week. "We feel that a threat to one section of the city is a threat to all of the city," Gainer said.


He said his police force will also be carrying more automatic weapons and shotguns when they patrol the Capitol. He said he understood concerns about road congestion. "We will work with the city to alleviate the traffic as best we can," he said.


"It's tough," he said. "It's discombobulating. But I think the reaction is similar to what it would have been in August 2001 if we said we are going to screen everyone at the airport and there may be two-hour waiting lines."


Gainer's plan requires 300 officers to work six days a week and is expected to cost as much as $3 million a month in overtime. He said it would probably be in place until November and possibly beyond.


D.C. police also plan to ban street parking between F and H streets NW from 18th to 20th streets and from the south side of Pennsylvania Avenue in that area. Officials also are considering ways to limit the routes trucks can take into and through the District. D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey said the precautions probably would be in place through November.


At the World Bank and IMF, iconic financial institutions two blocks from the White House and across from each other on 19th Street NW, thousands who reported to work yesterday were checked by security guards.


Damian Milverton, a spokesman for the World Bank, said more than 1,200 employees attended a staff meeting at which World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn said they could expect increased security measures.


Milverton said Wolfensohn told employees that "the information that the U.S. authorities picked up was from 2001 and there was no evidence to suggest an imminent threat to the bank."


Cars trying to enter the underground parking garages at either high-rise building were lined up along G Street and searched by guards who inspected their trunks and used mirrors to check their undercarriages. One IMF worker who bicycled to work hopped off to let a guard peer into the bag on the back of her bike. D.C. police officers, some with bomb-sniffing dogs, patrolled virtually every corner.


Metro Transit Police focused on the three stations close to the World Bank and the IMF: Farragut West and Foggy Bottom on the Blue and Orange lines and Farragut North on the Red Line. A special unit of transit officers with automatic weapons was dispatched to the area, and police dogs roamed the stations.


Still, the streets surrounding the World Bank and IMF appeared just as busy with vehicle and pedestrian traffic as on any other August workday. Employees at a few shops near the IMF and World Bank said business was booming. A bank spokesman said that employee turnout was typical, although no official tally was available. And office and blue-collar workers in and around the Foggy Bottom buildings said they were not afraid, in part because of a heavy police presence and nerves hardened by three years of terror warnings.


The terror threat did not stop office workers from enjoying lunch on benches in a small park across Pennsylvania Avenue and H Street from the World Bank. "I was actually more worried about traffic than anything," said Patrick McDonough, 31, who works at a nearby medical services provider and was eating with a colleague in the park.


Arthur Foy didn't think twice about making a delivery just a few dozen paces from a potential terrorist target. Duty -- and a truck full of pre-cut french fries -- beckoned.


"I'm more concerned about the weather than the terrorists, to be honest," said Foy, 53, a shorts-clad, sweat-drenched worker for U.S. Foodservice, as he unloaded boxes from a truck parked at 18th and H streets.


Staff writers Michael Barbaro, Karin Brulliard, Cameron W. Barr, Sari Horwitz, Theola Labb�, Allan Lengel, Lori Montgomery, Matthew Mosk, Monte Reel, Ian Shapira, Michael D. Shear, David Snyder and Del Quentin Wilber contributed to this report.


� 2004 The Washington Post Company

[Face Ache]

I'm sure with all of this "chatter" being picked up that arrests must be around the corner.

<waits>

[perryp16]

More on the Orange Alert Hoax:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3530358.stm

US terror plot intelligence 'old'

Security has been stepped up in New York and other cities

There are claims that new warnings of al-Qaeda attacks on US cities are based on old intelligence.

Security has been tightened around financial institutions in three cities, following the discovery of detailed information about them.

President George W Bush described the US as a "nation in danger".

But US newspapers say officials investigating the information believe much of it was compiled by al-Qaeda before the 11 September 2001 attacks.

The sources reportedly told the New York Times and Washington Post that they were unsure if Osama Bin Laden's network was still conducting surveillance on the sites.

The Post said officials believed much of the information was gathered by al-Qaeda from public sources like the internet.

Employees turned up for work this week despite the specific warnings against the New York Stock Exchange, the Citigroup Center building in New York, the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington DC, and Prudential Financial's headquarters in Newark, New Jersey.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described the intelligence behind the warnings as being extraordinarily detailed and "unlike anything that I have seen".

[dcolton]

I wonder how old the 9/11 data would have been if we had the same system in place pre 9/11. Do you think it would have been 2 weeks old? Do ou think the killer muslims would have done their recon work in less than a year?

[boots]

Originally posted by dcolton:
I wonder how old the 9/11 data would have been if we had the same system in place pre 9/11. Do you think it would have been 2 weeks old? Do ou think the killer muslims would have done their recon work in less than a year?

I agree. The question, then, is do we live in a constant state of high alert? How long should the alert be "valid."

I think part of this has to be seen in the context of the high levels of "chatter" we are told we had earlier. Had we not had the earlier vague warnings, I wonder if we would be at orange for certain districts or if it would have just been "keep you eyes and ears open, but we won't need to change the level yet."

Just questions. I have no answers.

[Y3a]

the attacks on the towers was planned as far back as 1992. Remember they ALSO tried to bring them down with a truck bomb in 1993, so it's been a target for at least THAT LONG!

They have been pissed at us since we sided with the Shah of Iran. Probably before.


Whuhabe Wuhabe Baloney...

[chris v]

Originally posted by Face Ache:
I'm sure with all of this "chatter" being picked up that arrests must be around the corner.

<waits>

I've often wondered about that, when they cite "increased chatter." Why don't they just go arrest the chatterers?

CV

[davesimondotcom]

Catch-22:

Release information about possible attacks, get accused of playing politics. Don't say anything, get accused of not "connecting the dots."

[boots]

Originally posted by davesimondotcom:
Catch-22:

Release information about possible attacks, get accused of playing politics. Don't say anything, get accused of not "connecting the dots."

Sort of, yeah. And if you don't publicize but send in the Guard to certain places, the media will blow that out of proportion. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. What a sucky world sometimes.

[Lerkfish]

if the threat was credible, why allow bush's family to tour one of the targeted buildings?

the important issue is not how old the threat is, but the political timing of the announcement, obviously to sweep dem convention good news off the front pages.

even more bizarre -- bush wants us to vote for him because he made america safer, yet also vote for him because only he can save us from the increased danger...wtf?

[MindFad]

[boots]

Originally posted by MindFad:

"To Serve Mankind" It's a cookbook!

[cue Rod Sterling}

[dcolton]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
the important issue is not how old the threat is, but the political timing of the announcement, obviously to sweep dem convention good news off the front pages.

No more warnings...when the terrorists attack, no finger pointing either. God forbid someone tries to keep America safe...

I forgot, terror alerts can only be done in a non-election year. I say we shut down governement until the elections are over...just so I don't have to listen to the left wing WACKOS complain anymore. But then again...President Bush just took too much oxygen while he was breathing...DAMN! We all know the only reason he is breathing is some ploy to get America's mind off the super war hero known as Kerry. It is political. Damn Bush for breathing. It is no fair and just show how he is trying to steal the air away from struggling minorites and that short breath he just took is condemning all gays.
Wait a second, Bush just used the restroom...there goes the environment.

[Lerkfish]

Originally posted by dcolton:
No more warnings...when the terrorists attack, no finger pointing either. God forbid someone tries to keep America safe...

I forgot, terror alerts can only be done in a non-election year. I say we shut down governement until the elections are over...just so I don't have to listen to the left wing WACKOS complain anymore. But then again...President Bush just took too much oxygen while he was breathing...DAMN! We all know the only reason he is breathing is some ploy to get America's mind off the super war hero known as Kerry. It is political. Damn Bush for breathing. It is no fair and just show how he is trying to steal the air away from struggling minorites and that short breath he just took is condemning all gays.
Wait a second, Bush just used the restroom...there goes the environment.

perhaps you should adjust your meds?

[doctorkeyser]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
perhaps you should adjust your meds?

I'd be more concerned with STDs what with him going after Bush in the restroom.

[dcolton]

Originally posted by Lerkfish:
perhaps you should adjust your meds?

Maybe so. Just tired of left wing WACKOS blaming all of the evils of the world on Bush. Somebody pass my medication so I can relax

[chris v]

Well, if the intel goes all the back pre-911, then they should be thanking Richard Clarke and the Clinton administration for all THEIR hard work in the war on terror. It's not a secret that Al Queda was hardly on Bush's radar pre-911.

We do all need to keep in mind that Al Queda is an extremely patient group, with extremely long-range goals and plans. Just because a plan is old, doesn't mean they're no longer considering carrying it out.

The little campaign speech bit I could live without, though.

CV

[rambo47]

I recall hearing that the info was indeed several years old, but also that some of it was updated only a month ago. Anybody else hear that?

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by rambo47:
I recall hearing that the info was indeed several years old, but also that some of it was updated only a month ago. Anybody else hear that?

Yes, the New York Times. Actually, some of the intelligence is more recent than that, according to the Times.

Senior government officials said Tuesday that new intelligence pointing to a current threat of a terrorist attack on financial targets in New York and possibly in Washington - not just information about surveillance on specific buildings over the years - was a major factor in the decision over the weekend to raise the terrorism alert level.

The officials said the separate stream of intelligence, which they had not previously disclosed, reached the White House only late last week and was part of a flow that the officials said had prompted them to act urgently in the last few days.

BTW, at least Kerry (who has been briefed on the intelligence) distanced himself from Dean and his stupid and typically irresponsible remarks.

Kerry was campaigning Monday in Grand Rapids, Mich., where he dismissed suggestions that a decision to raise the terror alert level was politically motivated.

"You take any threat seriously," said Kerry, who was briefed on Sunday about the latest threats against financial institutions in New York City, Washington and New Jersey.

CBS

[Zimphire]

But she said some may have been updated "as recently as January of this year."

[Face Ache]

On Oz TV last night (The Panel):

"US warned Japanese may be about to attack Pearl Harbour."

"Troy warned to be on the lookout for large wooden horses!"



So the increased security is there to stay is it? When will the threat pass?

[greenamp]

Geez guys get your heads out from your partisan arses and think for a second. How much planning do you think went into 911? Do you think UBL and CO. just had a spontaneous idea one night and flew some guys in the next day?

Terrorists like UBL plan their attacks for several years. Not only that, but the years old info was only recently attained. I just don't see where the big conspiracy is here.

[chris v]

Originally posted by Face Ache:

So the increased security is there to stay is it? When will the threat pass?

This remains a valid question.

CV

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by perryp16:

The sources reportedly told the New York Times and Washington Post that they were unsure if Osama Bin Laden's network was still conducting surveillance on the sites.

The Post said officials believed much of the information was gathered by al-Qaeda from public sources like the internet.

National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice described the intelligence behind the warnings as being extraordinarily detailed and "unlike anything that I have seen".

Gee, maybe if we looked in places the terrorists are we might find more. Funny how the real lesson of this find goes unmentioned.

Do we need to ask again why our priorities had to be diverted to Iraq from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region?

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
Gee, maybe if we looked in places the terrorists are we might find more. Funny how the real lesson of this find goes unmentioned.

Er we did and are.

Do we need to ask again why our priorities had to be diverted to Iraq from the Afghanistan-Pakistan region?

Diverted? Both are being taken care of. Terrorists were in both countries.

[ebuddy]

2/3rds of Al Queda leadership gone. While everyone's fear post 9/11 was that we looked just vulnerable enough to allow multiple attacks we've not had one. Not one. This is success. Before you ask me how many terrorist attacks we've had before, please remember ; SS Cole under Clinton, WTC the first time...though since the biggest attack in our nation's history, not one additional attack. For those that might say this is not proof of an effective and successful administration, would you say another large attack would be proof that this administration is weak and ineffective? I'm sure many would.

[vmpaul]

Originally posted by Zimphire:

Er we did and are.


Diverted? Both are being taken care of. Terrorists were in both countries. [/B]

We are? 90% of our ground troops are in Iraq. Iraq didn't have anything to do with the 9/11 attacks.

The terrorists that attacked this country were located in Afghanistan-Pakistan region. I think those would be a priority, wouldn't you? Especially since we just found information that prompted us to put guards around specific targets. Now, call me crazy, but I would think the sooner we found that info the better. Finding it 4 years after the fact seems sloppy as well as highlighting this governments misplaced priorities.

[tie]

Originally posted by vmpaul:
We are? 90% of our ground troops are in Iraq. Iraq didn't have anything to do with the 9/11 attacks.

The terrorists that attacked this country were located in Afghanistan-Pakistan region. I think those would be a priority, wouldn't you? Especially since we just found information that prompted us to put guards around specific targets. Now, call me crazy, but I would think the sooner we found that info the better. Finding it 4 years after the fact seems sloppy as well as highlighting this governments misplaced priorities.

Very sloppy. Bush has been ignoring the war on terror for Iraq, and now Iraq is becoming a breeding ground for terrorists. Pakistan and Afghanistan are major terrorism threats. Iran has a serious nuclear program, as does North Korea. We are all tied up in Iraq, which has nothing. Ridge, who should be concentrating on preventing terrorism, is a mouthpiece for the Bush campaign, and is spouting off confusing warnings.

[medicineman]

I'm very surprised at some of the remarks here. Isn't it time to put away your political ties and think about what is really happening in the world? The middle east countries are not peacefull independent states. News and history show Iran, Iraq, Lybia and Syria to be the nests were terrorism grows. You can argue to what extent each country is involved, but the simple truth is that they are all guilty. When the government gathers information about a possible threat, whether old or new, there is probably much more they do not share. Most likely because it would reveal sources. What really are you criticizing here?

[dcolton]

Corroborating evidence to support President Bush's decision to issue a terror alert. Is it still political?

WASHINGTON � The Bush administration learned from a third person, separate from two prisoners identified this week, that Al Qaeda (search) was plotting to attack American financial buildings, officials said.

The information from the third person was "another new stream of intelligence" that supported the White House decision to issue a terror warning on Sunday, the officials said.

The information arrived days before the public alert, as officials were reviewing reams of recently obtained documents and photographs that showed surveillance of five buildings in New York City, New Jersey and Washington carried out years earlier by Al Qaeda.

"Old information isn't irrelevant information � particularly with this kind of enemy," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge (search) said Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

The information corroborating Al Qaeda's intentions to carry out attacks against U.S. financial buildings came from someone other than two men recently captured in Pakistan, said a senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It was unclear whether the person was a prisoner or informant.

Information from the two captives � a young militant familiar with computers and a man indicted for the U.S. embassy bombings in Africa in 1998 � had provided the bulk of the intelligence that led to Sunday's warnings.

The corroborating information did not specify targets in the United States or say when an attack might be planned, the official said. But it so closely tracked the other intelligence that U.S. financial buildings had already been under surveillance by Al Qaeda that it contributed to the decision to issue the public warnings.

"Coupled with general threat reporting, coupled with other pieces of information, then all of the sudden you say to yourself, 'This is a time when we have to talk to America about the threat.' And that's exactly what we did," Ridge said.

A U.S. counterterrorism official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the surveillance information last week was married with "very recent and current activity" from Al Qaeda, blamed for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, indicating the group's interest in attacking this year. This information, which includes debriefings and other means of gathering information, is causing the administration serious concern, the official said.

"A bunch of things came together at the same time," Frances Townsend, the White House Homeland Security adviser, said in an interview Wednesday with National Public Radio. She said the corroborating information came from "a very sensitive ongoing investigation in another part of the world."

The FBI is monitoring Al Qaeda operatives and others associated with Islamic terror groups inside the United States, although these people have not been directly linked to the threat against financial buildings, the Justice Department official said. These people include financiers for Ansar al-Islam (search ), a group linked to Al Qaeda, the official said.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to describe in detail what he called "another new stream of intelligence," saying it might endanger continuing intelligence operations. He criticized as an "irresponsible suggestion" any criticism that the administration had issued a terror warning for political purposes.

"When you connect all these streams of intelligence, it paints an alarming picture," McClellan told reporters aboard Air Force One during a campaign flight to Iowa.

Ridge and other senior administration officials spent parts of Wednesday defending the warnings, which came on the heels of the Democratic National Convention and drew attention from the presidential campaign of nominee John Kerry.

"I categorically state that the none of the terror threats are politically motivated," Ridge said.

In New York, Treasury Secretary John Snow said suggestions that terror alerts were manipulated were "pure, unadulterated nonsense." Snow toured the floor of the New York Stock Exchange and praised traders for their resilience in the face of such warnings.

Also Wednesday, intelligence officials told Congress their organizations have made strides since the 2001 terror attacks and cautioned lawmakers against moving too far or fast in the name of intelligence reform. CIA Deputy Director Jami Miscik and other top CIA, FBI and State Department officials appeared in a rare public hearing, and told Congress any changes should be based on intelligence work today, not on problems that existed before September 2001.

[PacHead]

Originally posted by medicineman:
I'm very surprised at some of the remarks here. Isn't it time to put away your political ties and think about what is really happening in the world? The middle east countries are not peacefull independent states. News and history show Iran, Iraq, Lybia and Syria to be the nests were terrorism grows. You can argue to what extent each country is involved, but the simple truth is that they are all guilty. When the government gathers information about a possible threat, whether old or new, there is probably much more they do not share. Most likely because it would reveal sources. What really are you criticizing here?

They are putting up smokescreens for the terrorists, and doing everything possible to make it seem like we are under no threat, or if we are, it is our fault of course.
Don't be so surprised, because there are indeed terrorist sympathizers who post here.

Regarding this info that is allegedly old - - - - So what ? Muslim terrorists take years to plan out big attacks.