US and European officials said Tuesday they have detected a plot to carry out a major, coordinated series of new terror attacks in the United Kingdom, France, Germany and possibly the United States.
A senior US official said that while there is a “credible” threat, no specific time or place is known. President Obama has been briefed about the threat, say senior US officials.
Intelligence and law enforcement authorities in the US and Europe said the threat information is based on the interrogation of a suspected German terrorist allegedly captured on his way to Europe in late summer and now being held at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan.
US law enforcement officials say they have been told the terrorists were planning a series of “Mumbai-style” commando raids on what were termed “economic or soft” targets in the countries.
Ominously, this was being reported in Douglas County Georgia yesterday afternoon:
A team of federal agents has been stopping tractor-trailers on Interstate 20 just west of Atlanta, inspecting each truck as it passed through a weigh station, and Channel 2 has learned its part of a counter-terrorism operation.
Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer reported a flashing sign on the interstate directed the trucks to pull into a state-owned inspection station near Lee Road in Douglas County at the height of the evening commute.
Channel 2 Action News confirmed that agents from several federal agencies, including Homeland Security, the Department of Transportation, and the Transportation Security Administration were involved. The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office was assisting in the exercise.
A TSA spokesman told Channel 2 the event is known as Visible Inter-mobile Prevention and Response, or VIPER, an operation that is conducted with local authorities as a training exercise. The TSA spokesman said the operation is not in response to a specific threat.
However, federal sources told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne the inspections are part of a counter-terrorism operation.
…
Agents used a variety of devices to check the exteriors of the trailers, including a large drive-through machine similar to a security tool used at the Super Bowl, and a tool that measures radiation.
If that wasn’t sobering enough, perhaps you should go and read the following at The Captain’s Journal:
The scenario I am about to describe can be accomplished by simple, direct attacks and without reference to more complicated organizational skills except for weapons, dedicated fighters and effective timing. The scenario I am about to describe would quite literally destroy the economy of the nation for a long time. I am hesitant to describe it in detail; when I do this sort of thing I usually get charged with giving the terrorists ideas.
But the fact of the matter is that the terrorists already know these things, and it is important to educate the American people to the dangers right outside the gate.
Praying for effective counter-measures, diligent awareness and effective leadership and should an attack be carried out, that loss of life is minimal.
