Heads Up!

[skunk]

Another Qaeda tape from Pakistan says US and Australia next target

WASHINGTON: A videotape televised on Sunday allegedly from a US-member of Al Qaeda threatened to attack Los Angeles and Melbourne on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.

“Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne,” said a masked man in the videotape. “We are Muslims. We love peace, but peace on our terms, peace as laid down by Islam. Not the so-called peace of occupiers and dictators.”

ABC News said the 11-minute video had been sent to its office in Pakistan. The masked speaker in the video appeared to be Adam Yahiye Gadahn from southern California, who threatened attacks on the two cities “Allah willing.” “At this time, don’t count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion,” the speaker added. Gadahn is wanted by the FBI. The CIA said on Sunday that it was aware of the ABC report but had no immediate comment about the tape’s authenticity. The tape was aired on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” The man in the tape, wearing a black turban, called the September 11 attacks four years ago “blessed events.”

As in other recent Al Qaeda tapes, the main threats were made against the US and Britain. “Don’t believe the lies of the liars at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and 10 Downing Street,” the Gadahn said. “They have dispatched your sons and daughters to die lonely deaths in the burning deserts of Iraq and the unforgiving mountains of Afghanistan,” he said. “We love peace, but when the enemy violates that peace or prevents us from achieving it, then we love nothing better than the heat of battle, the echo of explosions, and slitting the throats of infidels,” he says.Hmmm. Perhaps Mr Bin Liner isn't so irrelevant after all.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-9-2005_pg1_5

[mad jew]

Bugger. :(

[solvs]

Well, at least we know we're prepared for anything right? I mean, look at how well the government handled Katrina. Oh...

Yeah, I'm scared too.

[mactastic]

Well it's 8pm on the Best Coast, and I haven't heard of any attacks yet...

[leekohler]

I knew this was coming. Don;t think that whatever they do will be predictable. This is really creepy.

[LethalWolfe]

Well it's 8pm on the Best Coast, and I haven't heard of any attacks yet...

I don't think the "tomorrow LA" was literal.


Lethal

[mactastic]

I don't think the "tomorrow LA" was literal.


Lethal
A videotape televised on Sunday allegedly from a US-member of Al Qaeda threatened to attack Los Angeles and Melbourne on the fourth anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
'Tomorrow L.A.' might not have been literal, but how else would you read this passage?
:confused:

[yellow]

'Tomorrow L.A.' might not have been literal, but how else would you read this passage?


"Yesterday London and Madrid" clearly wasn't a literal "yesterday", so IMO neither should "tomorrow" be taken literally. The speaker simply means "in the future".

[broken_keyboard]

Haha! It's September 12 and there were no attacks. Loser terrorists can't even tell time.

[IJ Reilly]

Haha! It's September 12 and there were no attacks. Loser terrorists can't even tell time.

Good grief. Haven't we learned anything?

[mactastic]

I guess the media added the first part. The quoted terrorist never said anything about the fourth anniversary.

[yellow]

Well, I haven't seen the actual tape, so I don't know anything about the speaker actually SAYING that the attacks were slated to be on 9/11/05. From what I read in the quoted article above, that's a writers extrapolation of what was said, which I tend to not believe to be accurate.. generally it's more for "punch effect" of the article.

[skunk]

Good grief. Haven't we learned anything?It seems not. Anyway, as far as they're concerned, it's Shaban 8 1426.

[Zaid]

It seems not. Anyway, as far as they're concerned, it's Shaban 8 1426.

<Complete aside>
Thanks for the reminder Skunk, my birthday is 20 Sha'aban. I'll be 26 lunar years old.
</complete aside>

Which means Ramadan is just around the corner. May mean things quiet down for 30 days.

[tristan]

Why Melbourne? It's a nice city, but not exactly a global financial center.

[skunk]

Why Melbourne? It's a nice city, but not exactly a global financial center.That way they get a load of Italians as well as Aussies. Fiendishly clever, these Al Qaeda chaps.

[treblah]

[/indent]Hmmm. Perhaps Mr Bin Liner isn't so irrelevant after all.

I hope you are joking by asking this but I fear you are not.

What Bin Laden does from now on is less relevant from what he accomplished in the past but to think he's irrelevant is ludicrous. His real legacy will become apparent well after his death when his ideas are sold as a belief system. Not that they aren't already but I predict that Bin-Ladenism will be a pretty popular sect of Islam in twenty years time.

[skunk]

I hope you are joking by asking this but I fear you are not.I was but musing, in reflections tinged with exquisite irony.

[mac-er]

The US goverment appears to not take this seriously.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/alqaeda.tape/index.html

[solvs]

The US government appears to not take this seriously.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/alqaeda.tape/index.html
Why would they? Just because we could be attacked again? Yeah, that'll never happen. :rolleyes: Then Bush can say there were no warning signs and put the blame on the local gov.

And I think they meant the warning was released to coincide with the 4th year anniversary, not the actual act itself. We won't know when that's going to happen. I hope we're prepared (he said, knowing we aren't anywhere close to being prepared).

[pseudobrit]

The US goverment appears to not take this seriously.

Is there any situation where that phrase wouldn't apply?

[yellow]

What is our current threat level, and how low has it ever gotten?

[skunk]

Umm. Has half of LA just been blacked out? Might this be relevant?

[mac-er]

What is our current threat level, and how low has it ever gotten?

It's Yellow, and that is the lowest.

I think that system is no longer being used now since Bush doesn't have to be elected...so there is no need to scare the public anymore. :rolleyes:

[skunk]

It's Yellow, and that is the lowest.

I think that system is no longer being used now since Bush doesn't have to be elected...so there is no need to scare the public anymore. :rolleyes:
http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-09-12T204239Z_01_N12366749_RTRIDST_0_ENERGY-LOSANGELES-UPDATE-2-.XML
Major Power Outage in LA

[zimv20]

Umm. Has half of LA just been blacked out? Might this be relevant?
apparently not! (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/la.power.outage.ap/index.html)

The city was investigating the cause and extent of the outage. But Sgt. Catherine Plows, a police spokeswoman, said terrorism was not suspected.
i'm waiting for them to describe the cause as "a loud bang."

[skunk]

apparently not! (http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/12/la.power.outage.ap/index.html)

i'm waiting for them to describe the cause as "a loud bang."Cynic.

[solvs]

That's really scary. I have a lot of family and friends there. I was planning on visiting them later this year, and maybe even moving back there in a few months. This terrifies me. To think anything could happen, and knowing this President, anything could. He better not screw this up, or I will be first in line to call for his immediate impeachment.

[IJ Reilly]

That's really scary. I have a lot of family and friends there. I was planning on visiting them later this year, and maybe even moving back there in a few months. This terrifies me. To think anything could happen, and knowing this President, anything could. He better not screw this up, or I will be first in line to call for his immediate impeachment.

If blackouts scare you, don't come to California. We came very close to rolling blackouts this summer (once again) due to a major heat wave, and actually had some fairly widespread outages at another time during the summer resulting from some problems with transmission lines. Shades of 2001.

Or were you talking about the terrorist threats? We've known about the terrorist's desires to hit LA for a long time. The ports of LA and Long Beach have to be major targets (they are actually one huge contiguous port) and pretty soft ones too I should think.

[skunk]

OK. That one seems to have been a good, old-fashioned cock-up.

[LethalWolfe]

If blackouts scare you, don't come to California. We came very close to rolling blackouts this summer (once again) due to a major heat wave, and actually had some fairly widespread outages at another time during the summer resulting from some problems with transmission lines. Shades of 2001.

Or were you talking about the terrorist threats? We've known about the terrorist's desires to hit LA for a long time. The ports of LA and Long Beach have to be major targets (they are actually one huge contiguous port) and pretty soft ones too I should think.

IJ,

In your opinion if there is a terrorist attack in LA do you see more of a Rodney King Riot or more of a NYC 9/11 Unification type thing happening in the general population? Obviously this could depend on the kind and extensiveness of the attack, but in the back of my mind I've always worried that an attack would just be the start of the crisis. Much like the hurricane itself was just the start of the crisis on the Gulf Coast.


Lethal

[takao]

If blackouts scare you, don't come to California. We came very close to rolling blackouts this summer (once again) due to a major heat wave, and actually had some fairly widespread outages at another time during the summer resulting from some problems with transmission lines. Shades of 2001.

question about transmission lines: are overhead cables still widespread in bigger towns ? i heard with problems in new orleans as well so gotta ask
or are those lines more the bigger highvoltage ones who are making problems ? because that would be more the providers problem

Or were you talking about the terrorist threats? We've known about the terrorist's desires to hit LA for a long time. The ports of LA and Long Beach have to be major targets (they are actually one huge contiguous port) and pretty soft ones too I should think.

i don't know i think LA is lacking some sort of central known target and mass transportation so i don't see what terrorists could hit ...

[LethalWolfe]

i don't know i think LA is lacking some sort of central known target and mass transportation so i don't see what terrorists could hit ...


Hmmm... LA's radical urban sprawl could actually come in handy.


Lethal

[skunk]

i don't know i think LA is lacking some sort of central known target and mass transportation so i don't see what terrorists could hit ...LAX

[pseudobrit]

Hmmm... LA's radical urban sprawl could actually come in handy.


Lethal

If you were planning to airburst a nuclear weapon, you'd be hard pressed to find a juicier target than Los Angeles.

[IJ Reilly]

You could create some god-awful traffic jams in LA with very little effort. It happens pretty regularly already, without anybody making a special effort. But I don't think this is the sort of temporary annoyance the terrorists are after.

We know LAX was a target once already, so I would have to assume it remains so. For some reason, these terrorists seem to like to hit places where people from many countries gather. LAX certainly qualifies on that score.

Contrary to the common image, LA has plenty of big buildings in downtown, and other clusters of highrises in places like Century City, the big theme parks, and so forth. Some of the dams have to be a matter of concern, but in reality it is very, very difficult to blow up a dam.

Of all the places in Southern California, the ports give me the biggest case of the willies. I know the place fairly well. It's huge and sprawling, and the volume of traffic by ship, truck and rail going in and out of there at any moment is just staggering.

The other big risk is fire. October 2003 was the month in Hell for people in Southern California. It seemed like every hillside from the Mexican border to Ventura County was ablaze -- and it very nearly was. I wonder if anybody is thinking about the impact a series of deliberately set brush fires during the Santa Ana wind season (which could start any day now and usually runs through October at least).

[latergator116]

If you were planning to airburst a nuclear weapon, you'd be hard pressed to find a juicier target than Los Angeles.

I heard phoenix is even worse than LA as far as urban sprawl goes. I can't understand how anyone could live in any one of those cities (though tens of millions of people obviously disagree with me.) I cringe at the thought of having to drive everywhere..

[Sun Baked]

I heard phoenix is even worse than LA as far as urban sprawl goes. I can't understand how anyone could live in any one of those cities (though tens of millions of people obviously disagree with me.) I cringe at the thought of having to drive everywhere..Before they put in the freeway, it would take you 20-40 minutes to drive from N. Scottsdale to the strip malls.

They were going nuts in some areas because people wanted to put in offices, gas stations, shopping centers too close to housing. :rolleyes:

Then they complain that there are no gas stations nearby.

At least they are putting in some freeways now, and laying down rubberized asphalt quite rapidly.

Beats the bridges they had built in the middle of nowhere along with the roads leading up to them when I arrived.

Of course they were really smart about it, since the city used to be the biggest slumlord in town with all the houses in the "freeway" path that they owned -- so they sold all the homes for nothing, and ended up buying them back for insane prices not too much later.

---

Watch, New Orleans will go from mixed zoning to urban sprawl zoning when it is rebuilt.

[leekohler]

Before they put in the freeway, it would take you 20-40 minutes to drive from N. Scottsdale to the strip malls.

They were going nuts in some areas because people wanted to put in offices, gas stations, shopping centers too close to housing. :rolleyes:

Then they complain that there are no gas stations nearby.

At least they are putting in some freeways now, and laying down rubberized asphalt quite rapidly.

Beats the bridges they had built in the middle of nowhere along with the roads leading up to them when I arrived.

Of course they were really smart about it, since the city used to be the biggest slumlord in town with all the houses in the "freeway" path that they owned -- so they sold all the homes for nothing, and ended up buying them back for insane prices not too much later.

---

Watch, New Orleans will go from mixed zoning to urban sprawl zoning when it is rebuilt.

Hey now- I happen to love LA. It's a great place to visit. I've always had wonderful time there. Let's not bash it so much.

[Ugg]

I heard phoenix is even worse than LA as far as urban sprawl goes. I can't understand how anyone could live in any one of those cities (though tens of millions of people obviously disagree with me.) I cringe at the thought of having to drive everywhere..

Yeah, well welcome to California! I live about 3.5 hours by car from SFO airport. In order to get there via public transportation I need to take a taxi, a shuttle, a bus, Amtrak and BART and spend a night in the city in order to get to the airport to catch my flight to London next month and it will take me 7 hours. I could fly but it would cost twice as much and I would still have to spend a night in San Francisco due to the schedule. There is mass transit in the state but the connections are poor.


LAX and SFO are tempting targets but it would be difficult to do serious damage due to increased security. Like IJ, I agree that Long Beach would do more serious damage, it would be easier and cripple commerce throughout the US. Homeland Security is trying to scan as many containers coming into the US as possible but the task is Herculean and no doubt being overseen by bushco cronies whose last job was directing dog shows.

Disrupting transportation in the west would have a far greater effect on the US than would bombing an airport or financial center. IF bin Laden is still alive, I'm sure that he understands this and I think that the bombings in Madrid and London make this clear. The loss of human life was small in comparison to 9-11 but the impact was enormous. The only way to have a similar impact on the left coast would be to target the import/export infrastructure or to target the highways.

[latergator116]

Yeah, well welcome to California! I live about 3.5 hours by car from SFO airport. In order to get there via public transportation I need to take a taxi, a shuttle, a bus, Amtrak and BART and spend a night in the city in order to get to the airport to catch my flight to London next month and it will take me 7 hours. I could fly but it would cost twice as much and I would still have to spend a night in San Francisco due to the schedule. There is mass transit in the state but the connections are poor.

That really sounds like a trek! I guess living in the densely-populated Northeast, I take for granted how easy it is to get from city to city. It's nice being able to walk to the train station and be in Boston less than an hour.

[LethalWolfe]

OK. That one seems to have been a good, old-fashioned cock-up.

"Hmmm... did Bob say cut the green wire or the blue wire? I think he said blue."
<snip snip>
<darkness>
"Ah, crap."


Lethal

[Xtremehkr]

I heard phoenix is even worse than LA as far as urban sprawl goes. I can't understand how anyone could live in any one of those cities (though tens of millions of people obviously disagree with me.) I cringe at the thought of having to drive everywhere..

I am pleasantly surprised by how much planning is going into the development of the greater Phoenix area. There has been some sprawl, but it is very well planned sprawl. The focus now is on getting businesses back into the center.

Having moved from OC, there are some improvements that still need to be made, as far as what I was used to before. But since greater LA is being used as a model to learn lessons from, I am optimistic about how things are going to turn out. Most importantly, the transportation arteries are very well designed and built into the system. There are still some slowdowns every now and then, but for the most part things flow well.

The sheer number of improvements going on at any one time is a pain though. Driving a short distance to hike Camelback during the week has become an ordeal. Worthwhile though.

[Sun Baked]

Hey now- I happen to love LA. It's a great place to visit. I've always had wonderful time there. Let's not bash it so much.That's Phoenix bashing not LA LA land.

Commute is much better with the freeways, but some of the planning has been aborted and expensive.

[solvs]

If blackouts scare you, don't come to California.
I lived there most of my life. ;) Been through earthquakes, floods, fires... you name it. Not what's scaring me.

Or were you talking about the terrorist threats?
Not the threats, the actual acts themselves that scare me. Since that is one of the next logical targets (believe me, I know) it scares the bejeezus out of me that this guy is the one I'm trusting my family's, and possibly my own, life to. I realize it wasn't a terrorist plot... but if it was, do you feel safe?