al-Qaeda May Launch Nuclear Attack Inside U.S. During Ramadan
Personal disclaimer: I'm not posting this information to cause panic. But rather to highlight various press and blogger accounts of al-Qaeda's desire to use WMD as a weapon of terror inside the United States. In my opinion, if such a plot were to be carried out, the retaliatory strikes by the U.S. would be devastating to any hostile nation states harboring Islamic terrorist organizations. The plan would ultimately backfire on those who carried it out.
The Jawa Report has two posts pertaining to al-Qaeda's possible execution of a plot to attack using a nuclear weapon inside the United States. The attack is supposedly going to occur during Ramadan, the muslim holiday which begins this year on September 24th.
A Pakistani journalist says that his sources in al Qaeda and the Taliban are claiming that nuclear material has already been smuggled across the Mexican border into the U.S. and that an operation bigger than 9/11 will be carried out during Ramadan–which begins later this month.
Hamid Mir, who is the only journalist ever to interview both Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri, claims that he learned this information on a recent trip to Afghanistan last month.
Read more: Al Qaeda Will Nuke US in Late September.
Terrorist, Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, May be al-Qaeda's Trigger Man:
Many reports indicate that Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, the cell leader responsible for carrying out the plot, is already in the United States and has been for some time. Furthermore, there is speculation that Adnan smuggled a nuclear device into the U.S. across the Mexican border. He is wanted for questioning by the FBI: details here.
The other Jawa Report post details the account of a reader who may have come into contact with Adnan, in Austin, Texas, earlier this year.
A Jawa Report reader e-mailed us about a possible sighting of Adnan G. El Shukrijumah, a man wanted by the FBI in connection with a plot to detonate a dirty bomb in the United States. A few days ago we ran a story about reports of an imminent attack by Adnan G. El Shukrijumah (aka, Adnan Al-Shukri Jumaa).
The reader, who some of you have met in the comments section before, also commented about it over at Ace of Spades HQ. Ace has those comments reprinted here. She has spoken with the FBI.
Read more: Al Qaeda Dirty Bomber Spotted in Austin, Texas?
Adnan Shukrijumah Past and Present:
- Washington Times, al-Qaeda Seeks Ties to Local Gangs (September 2004)
- The Jamestown Foundation, The Hunt for Shukrijuma (October 2004)
- Michelle Malkin, Where is Adnan Shukrijumah (October 2004)
- WorldNetDaily, Meet al-Qaida's Nuke Trigger Man (August 2005)
- Wikipedia, Adnan Gulshair el Shukrijumah (Updated September 2006)
- Canada Free Press, Next Attack Imminent: Muslims ordered to leave the United States (September 2006)
Muslims Called to Leave the United States:
During a press interview in Pakistan on September 17th, a top al-Qaeda commander, Abu Dawood, based in Pakistan issued a call to all muslims, living in the United States, to leave. Specifically in the New York and Washington, D.C. area.
The new al-Qaida field commander in Afghanistan is calling for Muslims to leave the U.S. – particularly Washington and New York – in anticipation of a major terror attack to rival Sept. 11, according to an interview by a Pakistani journalist.
Abu Dawood told Hamid Mir, a reporter who has covered al-Qaida and met with Osama bin Laden, the attack is being coordinated by Adnan el-Shukrijumah and suggests it may involve some form of weapon of mass destruction smuggled across the Mexican border.
"Our brothers are ready to attack inside America. We will breach their security again," he is quoted as saying. "There is no timeframe for our attack inside America; we can do it any time."
More at WorldNetDaily.
al-Qaeda Authorized to Use Nuclear Weapons Against the United States:
In August CNN's, Christiane Amanpour, wrote about the grave threat Osama bin Laden still posed to the United States:
LONDON, England (CNN) — Nearly five years have passed since the September 11 terrorist attacks, yet Osama bin Laden — the world's most-wanted terrorist — remains a dangerous fugitive, his words and actions inspiring jihadists across the globe.
It's hard to fathom that bin Laden would remain so relevant today, when in the days after the attacks, the Bush administration and much of the world was determined to get him.
In the report, Amanpour quotes Michael Scheuer, the former head of the CIA's bin Laden unit. He had this to say:
Michael Scheuer, who once headed the CIA's bin Laden unit, says bin Laden has been given permission by a young cleric in Saudi Arabia authorizing al Qaeda to "use nuclear weapons against the United States … capping the casualties at 10 million."
"He's had an approval, a religious approval for 10 million deaths?" I asked him.
"Yes," Scheuer responded.
Full text: Amanpour: Bin Laden still deadly relevant.
From Drudge Report via Jihad Watch (November 12th, 2004):
Osama bin Laden now has religious approval to use a nuclear device against Americans, says the former head of the CIA unit charged with tracking down the Saudi terrorist. The former agent, Michael Scheuer, speaks to Steve Kroft in his first television interview without disguise to be broadcast on 60 MINUTES Sunday, Nov. 14 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network….
Even if bin Laden had a nuclear weapon, he probably wouldn't have used it for a lack of proper religious authority - authority he has now. "[Bin Laden] secured from a Saudi sheik…a rather long treatise on the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Americans," says Scheuer. "[The treatise] found that he was perfectly within his rights to use them. Muslims argue that the United States is responsible for millions of dead Muslims around the world, so reciprocity would mean you could kill millions of Americans," Scheuer tells Kroft.
Scheuer says bin Laden was criticized by some Muslims for the 9/11 attack because he killed so many people without enough warning and before offering to help convert them to Islam. But now bin Laden has addressed the American people and given fair warning. "They're intention is to end the war as soon as they can and to ratchet up the pain for the Americans until we get out of their region….If they acquire the weapon, they will use it, whether it's chemical, biological or some sort of nuclear weapon," says Scheuer.
More: Saudi cleric blesses Bin Laden's use of nuke against U.S.A.
