Chatter Up?

Before I say this, let me emphasize that my sources for this information are INDIRECT, ie at least two degrees from an actual person in the intelligence community. However, it seems that rumblings are beginning to emerge that officials in the United States government are once again deeply concerned about the possibility of a terrorist attack in the near-term. Specifically, they point to recently uncovered information about planned attacks involving WMD using a variety of creative and unconventional delivery methods. According to these rumors, some of the information has suggested terrorists will seek to use, among other things, small or remote-controlled aircraft. That might help explain the massive reaction to today's Cessna incident. Potential targets include the obvious (New York and DC) and the not-so-obvoius (about two dozen other cities). The sources I rely upon (e.g., the one I linked to) are "private intelligence sources", ie people who monitor Al Qaeda communication but are not employed by the government. Some of them claim to know people within the intel community.

I will say that these sources have predicted past "Orange alerts" and other terror announcements days before they actually happened. Again, however, rumors are rumors. I probably would not have even posted were it not for the fact that the timing is particularly interesting, given today's incident and the recent capture of Al Qaeda's #3 guy, Al-Libbi last week. As the old homeland security paradox goes, "Carry on as normal. But be vigilant."