Al Qaeda Planning An October Surprise?
An attack around election time would fit in with al Qaeda’s modus operandi. The Madrid attack took place just days before an election. The London attacks took place shortly after Prime Minister Brown was put into office. They killed Benazir Bhutto as she made a move to become Prime Minister of Pakistan, and have just recently executed an attack on a hotel in Pakistan that might have been aimed at newly-elected President Zardari.
There was also intelligence suggesting communications about an attack right before the Bush/Kerry elections in 2004.
In the aftermath of two major terrorist attacks on Western targets, America’s counterterrorism community is warning that Al Qaeda may launch more overseas operations to influence the presidential elections in November.
Call it Osama bin Laden’s “October surprise.” In late August, during the weekend between the Democratic and Republican conventions, America’s military and intelligence agencies intercepted a series of messages from Al Qaeda’s leadership to intermediate members of the organization asking local cells to be prepared for imminent instructions.
An official familiar with the new intelligence said the message was picked up in multiple settings, from couriers to encrypted electronic communications to other means. “These are generic orders,” the source said — a distinction from the more specific intelligence about the location, time, and method of an attack. “It was, ‘Be on notice. We may call upon you soon.’ It was sent out on many channels.”
It just goes to show that while most of the left/media - who have been exposed as being terribly, horribly wrong about Iraq and the war on terror in general over the past year - don’t want to talk about the war on terror any more, it’s still with us. And requires our attention and vigilance.
Discussion question: How long until certain elements on the left are questioning the timing of intelligence reports like these, suggesting that they’re little more than propaganda campaigns orchestrated by President Bush to help his party win an election? Also, do you think that maybe sometimes our anti-terror officials release information like this as a way to deter an attack? To let the terrorists know that we’re listening and that we know what they’re up to?













