U.S. lobbies a hurdle in Mexico drug war: Calderon
March 28, 2010
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Powerful groups in the United States appear to be blocking efforts to stem the flow of assault weapons fueling Mexico's drug war, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said in an interview broadcast on Sunday.
Calderon, who has deployed tens of thousands of soldiers and police to fight drug cartels, told Fareed Zakaria's "GPS" program on CNN that there was resistance in Washington to Mexico's demands that sales of such weapons be stopped.
"They (U.S. officials) say that they are facing strong opposition and there is powerful lobbies in the Congress in order to change that situation," Calderon said in a pre-taped interview in Mexico City.
[...]
Interesting. All those lobbyists still in DC. We need to do a good cleansing. The fact any American Congressman or White House does not step in to salvage the relationship between the US and Mexico and instead allows and permits these weapons of death to take not only Mexican lives, but also American is ... immoral.
Mexico
Showing posts with label biological weapons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label biological weapons. Show all posts
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
WMDs - Perhaps it will be carried out by a 'Nigerian student' - by 2013.
The problem for us is Obama. He does not believe this can happen. It is not in his worldview. islam is peaceful, the bad guys are a few disgruntled students who would change, if only the US hugged them, and gave them coffee and tea rather than bombs and death. When this happens, as it will, if he is still the president, I cannot imagine the mayhem. We will be told not to jump to conclusions, that his administration will find those responsible and bring them to justice.
The problem - tens of thousands of Americans will be dead, and he will want to bring someone to justice.
Of course the Bush administration is not free of responsibility - had they simply ignored the Democrats for the last several years and plowed ahead with intelligence gathering methods, perhaps we would know more. Had Bush ignored the rights of killers, and used whatever methods necessary to extract inform ation when possible, perhaps we would have known more. Had Bush spent more time pushing for the rapid response teams, more satellite coverage of our cities and coasts to analyze whatever we can detect from those tools, perhaps we could have found them while they were planning their evil deeds. I am sure there are other tools we could have been using and should have, rather than to be tied down to hearings and investigations into intelligence gathering methods.
Instead, Americans will die for their failures; and then many innocent Muslims will die as a result of the response to their failures. It never ends.
Al-Qaeda seeks WMD, US unprepared: reports
Jan 26 11:27 PM US/Eastern
Agence France Presse
The United States has not done enough to protect the country against the threat of weapons of mass destruction even as Al-Qaeda appears intent on staging a large-scale attack, reports said.
A bipartisan panel warned that the government had failed to adopt measures to counter the danger posed by extremists using WMD, saying the administration lacked plans for a rapid response to a possible biological attack.
"Nearly a decade after September 11, 2001, one year after our original report, and one month after the Christmas Day bombing attempt, the United States is failing to address several urgent threats, especially bioterrorism," said former senator Bob Graham, chair of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
He said that Washington no longer had "the luxury of a slow learning curve, when we know Al-Qaeda is interested in bioweapons."
In its "report card," the commission also gave the federal government low marks for failing to recruit a new generation of national security experts and for failing to improve congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security agencies.
The findings came as a former CIA officer wrote in a report that Al-Qaeda's leaders have been working methodically since the 1990s to secure weapons that could inflict massive bloodshed.
Although other extremists had looked into obtaining such weapons, Al-Qaeda "is the only group known to be pursuing a long-term, persistent and systematic approach to developing weapons to be used in mass casualty attacks," wrote Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who led the CIA's WMD department.
He acknowledged that the failure to find WMD in Iraq had damaged the US government's credibility and had spread skepticism about the threat posed by Al-Qaeda getting its hands on nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
"That said, WMD terrorism is not Iraqi WMD," he wrote in the report released by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
He argued that intelligence on Al-Qaeda's activities was much more extensive and reliable than the information about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs.
His report said Al-Qaeda's efforts to develop biological and nuclear weapons were not "empty rhetoric" and that the group's leaders appeared to have ruled out smaller-scale attacks with simpler devices.
"If Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants had been interested in employing crude chemical, biological and radiological materials in small-scale attacks, there is little doubt they could have done so by now," he wrote.
In a "highly compartmentalized" operation, Al-Qaeda had pursued parallel tracks to try to secure the destructive weapons, building a biological lab and separately acquiring strains of anthrax bacteria before the attacks of September 11, 2001, the report said.
The anthrax was apparently never successfully placed in a weapon and scientists working at a lab in Afghanistan had to flee when US-led forces invaded after the 9/11 attacks, it said.
In 2003, US officials feared that Al-Qaeda was on the verge of obtaining atomic weapons after intercepting a message from a Saudi operative referring to plans to secure Russian nuclear devices.
The sensitive intelligence was passed on to Riyadh and the Saudi government then arrested Al-Qaeda suspects in a major crackdown.
But US officials were never sure if the nuclear plot was disrupted or merely pushed underground.
The former CIA officer also said Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2003 had called off plans for a chemical attack on New York's subways "for something better," a cryptic remark that remains a mystery.
The bipartisan commission on the WMD threat, created by Congress, had said in its initial report in December 2008 that it was "more likely than not" that a terror attack using weapons of mass destruction would be carried out somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.
terrorism
The problem - tens of thousands of Americans will be dead, and he will want to bring someone to justice.
Of course the Bush administration is not free of responsibility - had they simply ignored the Democrats for the last several years and plowed ahead with intelligence gathering methods, perhaps we would know more. Had Bush ignored the rights of killers, and used whatever methods necessary to extract inform ation when possible, perhaps we would have known more. Had Bush spent more time pushing for the rapid response teams, more satellite coverage of our cities and coasts to analyze whatever we can detect from those tools, perhaps we could have found them while they were planning their evil deeds. I am sure there are other tools we could have been using and should have, rather than to be tied down to hearings and investigations into intelligence gathering methods.
Instead, Americans will die for their failures; and then many innocent Muslims will die as a result of the response to their failures. It never ends.
Al-Qaeda seeks WMD, US unprepared: reports
Jan 26 11:27 PM US/Eastern
Agence France Presse
The United States has not done enough to protect the country against the threat of weapons of mass destruction even as Al-Qaeda appears intent on staging a large-scale attack, reports said.
A bipartisan panel warned that the government had failed to adopt measures to counter the danger posed by extremists using WMD, saying the administration lacked plans for a rapid response to a possible biological attack.
"Nearly a decade after September 11, 2001, one year after our original report, and one month after the Christmas Day bombing attempt, the United States is failing to address several urgent threats, especially bioterrorism," said former senator Bob Graham, chair of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.
He said that Washington no longer had "the luxury of a slow learning curve, when we know Al-Qaeda is interested in bioweapons."
In its "report card," the commission also gave the federal government low marks for failing to recruit a new generation of national security experts and for failing to improve congressional oversight of intelligence and homeland security agencies.
The findings came as a former CIA officer wrote in a report that Al-Qaeda's leaders have been working methodically since the 1990s to secure weapons that could inflict massive bloodshed.
Although other extremists had looked into obtaining such weapons, Al-Qaeda "is the only group known to be pursuing a long-term, persistent and systematic approach to developing weapons to be used in mass casualty attacks," wrote Rolf Mowatt-Larssen, who led the CIA's WMD department.
He acknowledged that the failure to find WMD in Iraq had damaged the US government's credibility and had spread skepticism about the threat posed by Al-Qaeda getting its hands on nuclear, biological or chemical weapons.
"That said, WMD terrorism is not Iraqi WMD," he wrote in the report released by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
He argued that intelligence on Al-Qaeda's activities was much more extensive and reliable than the information about Saddam Hussein's weapons programs.
His report said Al-Qaeda's efforts to develop biological and nuclear weapons were not "empty rhetoric" and that the group's leaders appeared to have ruled out smaller-scale attacks with simpler devices.
"If Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants had been interested in employing crude chemical, biological and radiological materials in small-scale attacks, there is little doubt they could have done so by now," he wrote.
In a "highly compartmentalized" operation, Al-Qaeda had pursued parallel tracks to try to secure the destructive weapons, building a biological lab and separately acquiring strains of anthrax bacteria before the attacks of September 11, 2001, the report said.
The anthrax was apparently never successfully placed in a weapon and scientists working at a lab in Afghanistan had to flee when US-led forces invaded after the 9/11 attacks, it said.
In 2003, US officials feared that Al-Qaeda was on the verge of obtaining atomic weapons after intercepting a message from a Saudi operative referring to plans to secure Russian nuclear devices.
The sensitive intelligence was passed on to Riyadh and the Saudi government then arrested Al-Qaeda suspects in a major crackdown.
But US officials were never sure if the nuclear plot was disrupted or merely pushed underground.
The former CIA officer also said Al-Qaeda's second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, in 2003 had called off plans for a chemical attack on New York's subways "for something better," a cryptic remark that remains a mystery.
The bipartisan commission on the WMD threat, created by Congress, had said in its initial report in December 2008 that it was "more likely than not" that a terror attack using weapons of mass destruction would be carried out somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.
terrorism
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
US Under BIO Attack Warning?
Our intelligence services are aware, as is Obama - not like before 9/11 warnings - this one is very clear and explicit.
Several media stories about the threat:
Report: Al-Qaida anthrax threat to U.S. is authentic
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Thursday, June 4, 2009
U.S. counterterrorism officials say a video of an al-Qaida recruiter threatening to smuggle anthrax across the Mexican border and into the U.S. via an underground tunnel is authentic, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday.
The video aired in February on Al Jazeera and has since appeared on militant Web sites, the paper said, calling it the latest sign that the terror group is determined to carry out another major attack on U.S. soil.
The video shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling supporters in Bahrain that al-Qaida is seeking to commit another attack and is even willing to align itself with white extremist groups in the United States.
"Four pounds of anthrax — in a suitcase this big — carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter reportedly said, according to a translation.
"What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then we’ll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
Al-Nafisi "is a significant ideological player in terrorist circles, and that makes him dangerous because he can inspire his followers to do extremely bad things," a U.S. counterterrorism official told the Times on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the U.S. takes such threats seriously, the paper reported.
**************************************
Video Suggests Al-Qaeda Seeks to Breach U.S. Border with Biological Weapon
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
An al-Qaeda recruiting video indicates that the terrorist organization hopes to sneak a biological weapon into the United States through its border with Mexico, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 4).
U.S. officials have verified the authenticity of the video, which was first televised earlier this year and shows Kuwaiti dissident and al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi discussing the possibility of carrying out a massive biological attack in the United States.
"Four pounds of anthrax ... carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," al-Nafisi says in the video, which was acquired and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
"What a horrifying idea," he continues, "9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
Al-Qaeda is widely believed to have sought to develop unconventional weapons capabilities; al-Nafisi says in the video that the organization has chemists and other scientists in its employ.
However, U.S. counterterrorism officials told the Times that there is no plausible proof that the group could actually conduct a large-scale act of terrorism.
Al-Nafisi also suggests in the video that al-Qaeda would be willing to collaborate with homegrown U.S. extremists -- including white supremacist groups -- to carry out a strike.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Sean Smith said the department was committed to preventing terrorists from breaching U.S. borders.
"We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people," he said. "We continue to step up our efforts with additional personnel and better technology along the northern and southern borders and continue to strengthen our sea, land and air points of entry"
****************************************
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico
Sara A. Carter
Washington Times
EXCLUSIVE:
U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group's determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland.
The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times.
The officials, who spoke only on the condition they not be named because of the sensitive nature of their work, stressed that there is no credible information that al Qaeda has acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members have clearly sought the expertise.
The video first aired by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and later posted to several Web sites shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that al Qaeda is casing the U.S. border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the U.S.
"Four pounds of anthrax -- in a suitcase this big -- carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter said. "What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
In the video, obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Nafisi also suggests that al Qaeda might want to collaborate with members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government.
Sean Smith, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the U.S. takes such threats seriously.
"We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people," he said. "We continue to step up our efforts with additional personnel and better technology along the northern and southern borders and continue to strengthen our sea, land and air ports of entry."
A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said al-Nafisi is a "person of interest" and a veteran recruiter for al Qaeda. Misidentified on some blog sites as a professor, he is a Kuwaiti dissident and al Qaeda associate who is thought to have communicated with senior al Qaeda leaders in recent years, the counterterrorism official said. The recruiter is also said to have close ties to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the senior Afghan Taliban leader now thought to be in Pakistan.
Al-Nafisi "is a significant ideological player in terrorist circles, and that makes him dangerous because he can inspire his followers to do extremely bad things," the official said.
Drug Enforcement Administration and Defense Department officials have been paying close attention to links between various terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, and drug cartels in South America, Central America and Mexico.
"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that terrorist organizations would utilize the border to enter the U.S.," said a DEA official who also asked not to be named because of his involvement in ongoing intelligence operations. "We can't ignore any threat or detail when it comes to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations bent on attacking the U.S."
The Times first reported in March that Hezbollah -- an Iran-backed group based in Lebanon -- is using routes that Mexican drug lords control to smuggle contraband and people into the United States to finance operations.
While Hezbollah appears to view the U.S. primarily as a cash cow to finance its operations elsewhere, "it should not be viewed lightly, as the money raised can be used against the U.S. or assets in future operations," another counterterrorism official said.
No confirmed attacks in the U.S. have been linked to Hezbollah.
In the video, al-Nafisi emphasized that al Qaeda had chemical laboratories in Afghanistan prior to the U.S. invasion. He described his admiration for Hezbollah and said that al Qaeda continues to have scientists and resources at its disposal.
"The Americans are afraid that the [weapons of mass destruction] might fall into the hands of 'terrorist' organizations like al Qaeda and others," he told followers. "There is good reason for the Americans' fears. ... [Al Qaeda] had laboratories in north Afghanistan. They have scientists, chemists and nuclear physicists. They are nothing like they are portrayed by these mercenary journalists - backward Bedouins living in caves. No, no, by no means. This kind of talk can fool only naive people. People who follow such things know that al Qaeda has laboratories, just like Hezbollah."
Intelligence officials said the video provides important insights into al Qaeda recruitment methods and views of the West.
In the 10-minute clip, al-Nafisi suggested that al Qaeda might want to make common cause with what he claimed are "300,000" members of white supremacist and other militias in the U.S.
"These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the U.S.," he said. "May God grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. ... May God grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him."
**************************
from Pakistan:
‘Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico’
LAHORE: US counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an Al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexican border, the latest sign of the terrorist group’s determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the US homeland, a report the Washington Times has said. “The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that Al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in US border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States,” according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times. The officials stressed that there was no credible information that Al Qaeda had acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members had clearly sought the expertise, the paper said. The video shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that Al Qaeda was casing the US border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the US. daily times monitor
terror
Several media stories about the threat:
Report: Al-Qaida anthrax threat to U.S. is authentic
Stars and Stripes Mideast edition, Thursday, June 4, 2009
U.S. counterterrorism officials say a video of an al-Qaida recruiter threatening to smuggle anthrax across the Mexican border and into the U.S. via an underground tunnel is authentic, The Washington Times reported on Wednesday.
The video aired in February on Al Jazeera and has since appeared on militant Web sites, the paper said, calling it the latest sign that the terror group is determined to carry out another major attack on U.S. soil.
The video shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling supporters in Bahrain that al-Qaida is seeking to commit another attack and is even willing to align itself with white extremist groups in the United States.
"Four pounds of anthrax — in a suitcase this big — carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter reportedly said, according to a translation.
"What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this ‘confetti’ all over them, and then we’ll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
Al-Nafisi "is a significant ideological player in terrorist circles, and that makes him dangerous because he can inspire his followers to do extremely bad things," a U.S. counterterrorism official told the Times on condition of anonymity.
A spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said the U.S. takes such threats seriously, the paper reported.
**************************************
Video Suggests Al-Qaeda Seeks to Breach U.S. Border with Biological Weapon
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
An al-Qaeda recruiting video indicates that the terrorist organization hopes to sneak a biological weapon into the United States through its border with Mexico, the Washington Times reported today (see GSN, Feb. 4).
U.S. officials have verified the authenticity of the video, which was first televised earlier this year and shows Kuwaiti dissident and al-Qaeda recruiter Abdullah al-Nafisi discussing the possibility of carrying out a massive biological attack in the United States.
"Four pounds of anthrax ... carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," al-Nafisi says in the video, which was acquired and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.
"What a horrifying idea," he continues, "9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
Al-Qaeda is widely believed to have sought to develop unconventional weapons capabilities; al-Nafisi says in the video that the organization has chemists and other scientists in its employ.
However, U.S. counterterrorism officials told the Times that there is no plausible proof that the group could actually conduct a large-scale act of terrorism.
Al-Nafisi also suggests in the video that al-Qaeda would be willing to collaborate with homegrown U.S. extremists -- including white supremacist groups -- to carry out a strike.
Homeland Security Department spokesman Sean Smith said the department was committed to preventing terrorists from breaching U.S. borders.
"We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people," he said. "We continue to step up our efforts with additional personnel and better technology along the northern and southern borders and continue to strengthen our sea, land and air points of entry"
****************************************
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
EXCLUSIVE: Al Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico
Sara A. Carter
Washington Times
EXCLUSIVE:
U.S. counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexico border, the latest sign of the terrorist group's determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the U.S. homeland.
The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in U.S. border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States, according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times.
The officials, who spoke only on the condition they not be named because of the sensitive nature of their work, stressed that there is no credible information that al Qaeda has acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members have clearly sought the expertise.
The video first aired by the Arabic news network Al Jazeera in February and later posted to several Web sites shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that al Qaeda is casing the U.S. border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the U.S.
"Four pounds of anthrax -- in a suitcase this big -- carried by a fighter through tunnels from Mexico into the U.S. are guaranteed to kill 330,000 Americans within a single hour if it is properly spread in population centers there," the recruiter said. "What a horrifying idea; 9/11 will be small change in comparison. Am I right? There is no need for airplanes, conspiracies, timings and so on. One person, with the courage to carry 4 pounds of anthrax, will go to the White House lawn, and will spread this 'confetti' all over them, and then we'll do these cries of joy. It will turn into a real celebration."
In the video, obtained and translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute, al-Nafisi also suggests that al Qaeda might want to collaborate with members of native U.S. white supremacist militias who hate the federal government.
Sean Smith, a spokesman for Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, said the U.S. takes such threats seriously.
"We can never stop being vigilant while there are individuals who seek to do harm on the American people," he said. "We continue to step up our efforts with additional personnel and better technology along the northern and southern borders and continue to strengthen our sea, land and air ports of entry."
A U.S. counterterrorism official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said al-Nafisi is a "person of interest" and a veteran recruiter for al Qaeda. Misidentified on some blog sites as a professor, he is a Kuwaiti dissident and al Qaeda associate who is thought to have communicated with senior al Qaeda leaders in recent years, the counterterrorism official said. The recruiter is also said to have close ties to Mullah Mohammed Omar, the senior Afghan Taliban leader now thought to be in Pakistan.
Al-Nafisi "is a significant ideological player in terrorist circles, and that makes him dangerous because he can inspire his followers to do extremely bad things," the official said.
Drug Enforcement Administration and Defense Department officials have been paying close attention to links between various terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah, and drug cartels in South America, Central America and Mexico.
"It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone that terrorist organizations would utilize the border to enter the U.S.," said a DEA official who also asked not to be named because of his involvement in ongoing intelligence operations. "We can't ignore any threat or detail when it comes to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations bent on attacking the U.S."
The Times first reported in March that Hezbollah -- an Iran-backed group based in Lebanon -- is using routes that Mexican drug lords control to smuggle contraband and people into the United States to finance operations.
While Hezbollah appears to view the U.S. primarily as a cash cow to finance its operations elsewhere, "it should not be viewed lightly, as the money raised can be used against the U.S. or assets in future operations," another counterterrorism official said.
No confirmed attacks in the U.S. have been linked to Hezbollah.
In the video, al-Nafisi emphasized that al Qaeda had chemical laboratories in Afghanistan prior to the U.S. invasion. He described his admiration for Hezbollah and said that al Qaeda continues to have scientists and resources at its disposal.
"The Americans are afraid that the [weapons of mass destruction] might fall into the hands of 'terrorist' organizations like al Qaeda and others," he told followers. "There is good reason for the Americans' fears. ... [Al Qaeda] had laboratories in north Afghanistan. They have scientists, chemists and nuclear physicists. They are nothing like they are portrayed by these mercenary journalists - backward Bedouins living in caves. No, no, by no means. This kind of talk can fool only naive people. People who follow such things know that al Qaeda has laboratories, just like Hezbollah."
Intelligence officials said the video provides important insights into al Qaeda recruitment methods and views of the West.
In the 10-minute clip, al-Nafisi suggested that al Qaeda might want to make common cause with what he claimed are "300,000" members of white supremacist and other militias in the U.S.
"These militias even think about bombing nuclear plants within the U.S.," he said. "May God grant them success, even though we are not white, or even close to it, right? They have plans to bomb the nuclear plant at Lake Michigan. This plant is very important. ... May God grant success to one of these militia leaders, who is thinking about bombing this plant. I believe that we should devote part of our prayers to him."
**************************
from Pakistan:
‘Qaeda eyes bio attack from Mexico’
LAHORE: US counterterrorism officials have authenticated a video by an Al Qaeda recruiter threatening to smuggle a biological weapon into the United States via tunnels under the Mexican border, the latest sign of the terrorist group’s determination to stage another mass-casualty attack on the US homeland, a report the Washington Times has said. “The video aired earlier this year as a recruitment tool makes clear that Al Qaeda is looking to exploit weaknesses in US border security and also is willing to ally itself with white militia groups or other anti-government entities interested in carrying out an attack inside the United States,” according to counterterrorism officials interviewed by The Washington Times. The officials stressed that there was no credible information that Al Qaeda had acquired the capabilities to carry out a mass biological attack although its members had clearly sought the expertise, the paper said. The video shows Kuwaiti dissident Abdullah al-Nafisi telling a room full of supporters in Bahrain that Al Qaeda was casing the US border with Mexico to assess how to send terrorists and weapons into the US. daily times monitor
terror
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