Drudge is reporting that ABC has a video warning of an impending attack on the US:
In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
The contents are predictable:
The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. "The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead.And of course it is an attempt to influence the election:
Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.
We'll see how this story plays out and if the tape does exist. It's not clear to me which candidate would benefit more from such a tape being aired, although, given the closeness to the election date, it might favor Bush a bit.
US intelligence officials believe the man on tape may be Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman, a California native who was highlighted by the FBI in May as an individual most likely to be involved in or have knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator.
The disturbing tape runs an hour -- the man simply identifies himself as 'Assam the American.
An hour of this stuff?
"Assam the American"?!?
Does it end with the immortal words "Assam CHOP!!!" (if you don't get that one, you don't watch enough Daffy Duck)?
In fact, they should intersperse that throughout the tape at appropriate moments. At least that would be entertaining.
Odd, the things the mainstream media don't want shown before the election. Odd, too, the things they do report.
Little Green Footballs seems to recognize the name as someone that picked up his religious, and possibly political beliefs right here in sunny California.
good thing rice is hot on the trail! Campaign trail, that is.
O to the pitiless, violent Salafist
your leaders betray you
rivers of blood will course through
your poorly maintained thoroughfares
A battle with no end is upon you
The Coalition, may peace be upon Her...
will restore Arab magnificence
the crushed bodies of your martyrs sully your soil
their is an offensive stink to your dead
Democracy will liberate your women
they shall bare their heads and their breasts
in jubilation
you are powerless and pitiless and will get devilish scourges
Lay down your insignificant weapons
bury your dead so the odious stench does not blight
the new land of the free
get a small business loan at a low interest APR
endeavour to submit to your occupiers
get a convertible with your profits
live a little
Oh for goodness' sake, j. If the tape is correct, then the CIA has been on the case already. What is Dr. Rice going to do - patrol the waterways herself in a rowboat looking for strange vessels?
I'm quite confident Rice will convene the NSC if and when that is important to do. But the idea that there might be an attack aimed at influencing the election here isn't exactly a big surprise and the NSC hasn't exactly ignored that possibility. Moreover, Rice does not manage the actual operations that will have been put into place. Her job is to convene and coordinate the council at a policy level and to advise the President.
Whatever criticism you want to make of preparations or decisions, snarking at Rice's talking tour is a pretty lame one.
That should have been "FBI" rather than "CIA". Although I imagine the CIA has been active as well, once the tape was available for review.
Considering that NSAs don't traditionally campaign, I imagine that if there is an attack, the fact that she was on the campaign trail will not be looked upon favorably by those who will lose loved ones in an attack. Regardless of whether she is doing everything she can, the mere image of her campaigning will be enough to make a lot of people question her ability to do her job.
No doubt there indeed are those who would judge this situation on a fairly superficial basis.
Obelus, that was brilliant! Can we publish that under your byline?
This is the kind of story that makes people go all cynical. Just when Dick Cheney needed a backstop for his dour warnings, along comes Assam the American.
Is it me, or does Assam look like he should be running a comic book shop?
FYI
Michele Malkin is staying on top of this and has a good summary and info on the guy from So Cal mentioned in the Drudge release.
Link Here
Ron Wright, Moderator
HSPIG Forums Site
www.hspig.org
He was a comic shop owner, until he attended a Star Trek convention one day and had a party of Klingons kick his ass... thus began his descent into darkness and jihad :-)
Actually, Dan has spoken of this guy before in private phone calls, and thinks he's genuinely dangerous. Personally, I'd like to see the little traitor dead by firing squad, but until he is mockery will have to do.
As for timing, Dingo, wake up and smell the coffee. These guys really are out to get people (9/11, 3/11, Bali, Taba, Turkey, et. al.), and they kind of like these videos (esp. the beheading ones, but also threats) - which means confirmation of warnings is a "when" question not an "if".
Or do you have the courage to take your implication and say it openly, in the manner of men: You think Assam is a staged Republican vid - or that W & Cheney know an attack is imminent, just like 9/11, and see it as a boost to their fortunes.
I'd rather have my conspiracy moonbat stuff out front, thanks, because when you say it by implication it sounds dishonest and craven.
Look at the Madrid pattern, and anyone could see this coming from miles away. Right down to the timing, which fits. Cheney doesn't have to be Karnak to predict this stuff, just awake.
A little cynicism can make one smart, but too much makes one stupid.
So, back to the bottom line... more video bloviating, or the traditional warning al-Qaeda gives before an attack? We'll know soon enough, I guess, as American intel and police agencies hunt for this guy's cells and the clock ticks on to the election.
Assuming it is Gadhan/Pearlman, he's an interesting choice for this video. Is it due to his American accent? And why aren't we hearing of any more senior al Qaeda leaders appearing in the tape?
Fuel for speculation of various sorts ....
Joe:
You make the mistake of assuming that the tape must be either a genuine imminent threat or a republican-created fake. There are, however, many other alternative scenarios.
Could the tape be old? Could Assam be threatening something he has no capability to carry out? Could the tape be merely an attempt to provoke the U.S. into upping the threat level and incurring costs? Could the AQ folks just want to cause a reaction to show that merely the threat of an attack is enough to make Americans go all wobbly? Could the White House have heard about the tape and wanted it released before the CIA has verified it just because they think its going to help them? These are all possibilities, so this isn't an either/or situation.
We don't need tapes to tell us that AQ would like to make a strike in the U.S. It's common sense. Just as insurgents in Iraq no doubt know that when the U.S. finds them, the U.S. is going to bomb them, we know that if AQ can mount an attack here, they will. This is the nature of war.
The tapes are by their nature propaganda, and they should be viewed as such. I'm cynical enough about the administration's use of the WOT in its campaign strategy to think they're not averse to using this kind of stuff to their advantage in this close an election.
And when it comes to Rove and crew, being conspiracy minded- at least on the political front- is perfectly justified. They're very good at the games they play.
Fox is reporting that the CIA cannot authenticate the tape and says the results of their tests are inconclusive.
I suspect this may been made by a junior member of the network, if it wasn't a fake entirely. We don't hear that any of the senior jihadis were in it, which would be rather surprising for an attack of the threatened size.
Umm, Dingo - so are the Dems. But in any case, ABC says they got the tape in Waziristan. Assuming that's true, it's a long way to go to plant a fake.
I know, I know -- if you start with the assumption of a conspiracy, there are all sorts of ways to imagine that happening. But I'm not at all sure this breaks in Bush's favor, for one thing.
Drudge? Drudge? He of the "Kerry and the female journalist" bit?
Don't we all know by now, to read a Drudge story, and if it excites you (negative or positive), relax, take two sleeping pills, go to sleep? Wake up in the morning, and then see if the Drudge story has had any corraboration whatsoever, or as is likely, has been another chapter in "tastes great, less filling".
(I gather my coat, sadly shake my head, and walk off into the night...)
That “multiple government sources” part makes it looks as though the story is legit.
Dingo, the clarification is much more reasonable. When wondering about mischief in areas of national security, it's always best to be specific.
Thanks, Dave. Productive stuff, as always.
Bottom line:
The tape exists. It didn't come from or through the GOP. The guy we're talking about is real, and dangerous, and out there somewhere. But if the tape can't be authenticated, then ABC not running it is a slam-dunk as a perfectly defensible decision. Unless it's authenticated, end of story.
Unless they want to take my suggestions above and turn it into a parody reel...
Thanks for the kind words, Joe. The one quibble I have is that I don't much care for how ABC is handling this. With Reuters, MSNBC, and Fox reporting the existence of the tape verified by government sources there doesn't seem to be any reason for ABC to hold onto the story. They should be saying something. Should they report the contents of the tape as news? No. Not unless they have some verification. But the tape itself is now news and it looks to me like they're trying to manage the news rather than report it.
Robin,
That poem was perfect. It's exactly the type of things the jihadis say in Arabic. (Arabs seems to be heavily into poetic language even in normal speech.)
It should be translated into Arabic by someone and passed around!
then ABC not running it is a slam-dunk as a perfectly defensible decision
<mode=paranoid>Unless they're not running it because they're saving it for just before the election.</mode=paranoid> Of course, if they had such a thing in mind, the story's leaking out will have put the kibish on it.
Jinderella, the credit goes to obelus for that poem.
Oops, sorry - that should have been Kathy rather than JInderella.
The apparition of a tape like this was predictable...If you are a terrorist, you want to make sure the americans feel your presence in Political matters. Oh, it could always be a hoax to frighten people (its easier to control other's mind with fear). You can interprete it many ways. Conspiration...threat?
Will it be aired? Is it really necessary to bring more fear/confusion to the avg citizen?The only purpose of this tape is to scare people off and it is unlikely that an attack will 'dwarf 9/11'. I think its a good choice to keep that tape away from people's TV screen.
When the story first broke on the internet sometime last nite, it said that it was unknown where the tape came from but was thought to be leaked to drudge by the bush team. I can't find that article now, but they are now showing it. The guy looks kind of fay to me and when would the taliban ever say that they have been destroyed by the bush admin? And when has any tape surfaced that it didnt hit aljazeera first? Would al-qaida mention the gay issues in Mass? No, I don;t think it's real. It's a hoax. Perpetuated by Bush admin? I don't know, but also saw info last nite that said Kerry was suppose to get a jab to the jaw with a major newstory that was going to break within 2 days. Look at the tape. The guy is not al-qaida.