Al Qaeda training 'Western-looking' fighters: CIA

[sabra]

Source: ABC News AU

CIA head Michael Hayden says Al Qaeda is training fighters who have a 'Western' appearance and would be more likely to be able to penetrate US borders to mount terrorist attacks.

In a rare public interview, General Hayden said the new recruits were being trained on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which he said was a safe haven that presented a "clear and present danger'' to the West.

But he would not comment on media reports that the United States is escalating unilateral strikes against Al Qaeda members operating in Pakistan's tribal areas.

"What I can tell you about is the situation along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, which presents a clear and present danger to Afghanistan, to Pakistan and to the West in general - and to the United States in particular," General Hayden said.

"They are bringing operatives into that region for training, operatives that wouldn't attract your attention if they were going through the customs line at Dallas with you when you're coming back from overseas.



Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/31/2203399.htm

[marmar]

1. I think they've been spotted at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington DC

n/t

[latisha]

30. LMAO!

That's a good one!!!!

[mike_c]

2. now that the danged Commies have been cleared from under the bed...

...there's more room available for the terra'ists. That just stands to reason. I'm looking under my bed daily these days. A terra'ist has to get up pretty early in the morning to pull one over on me, dammit!

[jmowreader]

33. I changed my bedframe so the terrorists couldn't get under there

I made one of those hotel bedframes, the kind that has a platform sitting on a wooden box so guests' cats can't go under the bed and shit on the floor. It keeps those fucking terrorists from doing the same thing.

[DinahMoeHum]

36. Did you look under the toilet bowl rim as well??

:evilgrin:

[jmowreader]

39. No worries

Hormel has started shitting in the toilet. Terrorists don't like cat shit, or so they say.

[Purveyor]

3. Just how many times are they going to 'float' this story. I've read the same fucking press

since 2002...

[sabra]

4. every election cycle?

:shrug:

[zonmoy]

5. every time they need to scare people

or every time they are trying to set us up for a false flag terror attack.

[Middle finga]

6. All the money bush has spent, all of the lives that he's destroyed

and after 7 years in his so called war on terror and his Iraq War, they should be embarrassed to go on television to say that Al Qaeda is still a world wide threat. If Al Qaeda is still such a threat that means Bush has been a lying incompetent failure. And the dopes in the media should call them out on it.

[brindis_desala]

7. Not dopes, pawns.

Saudi Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal holds a reported 5% stake in News Corp. and also has sizable stakes in Time Warner and Disney.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/14/murdoch-teams-up-with-bil_n_91509.html

[napoleon_in_rags]

10. Damn good point.

That's exactly what it is. They screw something up and ask for more power. "We've spent a trillion dollars fighting a threat previous presidents protected us from fine. We need more money and more power." Basically, it works once after an attack, but eventually people will begin to wonder why they need to fund a war out the ass that former presidents didn't have to fight to keep us safe.

[judasdisney]

8. Wonder Why Hayden (a.k.a. "al Qaeda") Didn't Think Of This Sooner n/t

[annabanana]

9. "being trained on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border"

ummm won't that make them pretty easy to spot?
You know.. beardless?, redheaded?

What?:shrug:

[napoleon_in_rags]

12. That's exactly what I thought when I read this on Google news a minute ago.

All these Nordic boys going down to tribal areas in Afghanistan to live in a cave with Jihadists, leaving behind comfortable pubs and discos in Europe to do it. Oh, the temptation to do that must be overwhelming. :sarcasm:

The only question I have is whether its to open up more investigation of more blondies because they want to investigate more American dissidents, or European nationals (now that the EU is the biggest economy). Or if they just can't find an arab for the next false flag attack.

[FatDave]

31. Nah, they don't have to be red-headed.

Just shave 'em and say they can code Java and some US corp will get them an H1B and buy them a ticket.

[Art_from_Ark]

45. They'll all be carrying almanacs

http://extelligence.ringlet.net/roam/archives/2003_12.html

[patrick t. cakes]

11. some may appear as

bike riding vegetarians.

[CANDO]

13. Ah yes, the silly season of an election year!

Scare the hell out of people to help the "national security" party.

[olddad56]

14. If the goal is to penetrate the US border, why not train them to look like Illegal immigrants.

[MADem]

16. That supposedly is a conduit for illegals from other nations.

Fly to Mexico on vacation, and slide over the border.

The UK Telegraph said this, four years ago: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/08/15/wmex15.xml

Arab terrorists 'are getting into the US over Mexican border'
By Julian Coman in Washington
Last Updated: 12:10am BST 15/08/2004

President Bush has launched a drive to halt illegal immigration across America's porous southern border, amid growing fears that terrorists may be using Mexico as a base camp before heading to Arizona, Texas and California.

A string of alarming incidents has convinced Bush administration officials that lax immigration rules, designed to cope with the huge numbers of illegal entrants from Mexico, have become a significant loophole in the war on terror.

Over the past month, border agents from Arizona and Texas have anonymously reported recent encounters with dozens of Arab men, who have made their way across the 2,000-mile Mexican border.


Patrol agents told one Arizona newspaper that 77 males "of Middle Eastern descent" were apprehended in June in two separate incidents. All were trekking through the Chiricahua mountains and are believed to have been part of a larger group of illegal immigrants. Many were released pending immigration hearings. According to Solomon Ortiz, the Congressman for Corpus Christi in Texas, similar incidents are "happening all over the place. It's very, very scary".

The two groups of Arab males were discovered by patrol guards from Willcox, Arizona. "These guys didn't speak Spanish," said one field agent, "and they were speaking to each other in Arabic. It's ridiculous that we don't take this more seriously. We're told not to say a thing to the media." A colleague told the paper: "All the men had brand-new clothing and the exact same cut of moustache." Local ranchers have also reported a rise in the sightings of large groups of young males.

[MADem]

15. What's "western looking?" The right sort of jeans, the right sneakers, the right shirts and

accessories, maybe a jazzy tattoo or piercing to REALLY throw 'em off, and most importantly, the RIGHT HAIRCUT and the elimination of the uni-brow.

"Western" is more an attitude than a physical appearance, nowadays.

If they're looking for green eyed or blue eyed operatives, with light colored hair, they actually do exist in the Arab world. People operate under a false stereotype about how "ALL" Arabs or southwest Asians look, because of the few images they see that tends to reinforce what they think they know.

[Baby Snooks]

17. All they need are some more Saudi students...

The Saudis still have carte blanche with the Department of Homeland Security although some have started carrying little notes from Prince Bandar and Princess Haifa attesting to their being here simply to study. Mainly how to fly 747s for the royal family.

[minnesota_liberal]

18. If this is "news," the CIA is incompetent or highly politicized

Not what one would hope for in an intelligence agency.

[MadMaddie]

19. Expect it to get worse CIA head Michael Hayden is the same

of everything from this administration.

Fear, Fear, Fear

My question is - If Al Queda (who is based in Afghanastan is training these people) then why don't we take out Al Queda in Afghanastan? Oh wait that's right we have our troops bogged down in a war we didn't have to fight and we removed a dictator that was actually keeping some semblance of order in the region. Never mind....:sarcasm:

[coalition_unwilling]

38. 50% turnover among analysts in the past 5 years (post Iraq War) -

What Tenet's shenanigans failed to accomplish, Goss and Hayden (with the connivance of RummyDummy) have subsequently connived to complete - the destruction of a civilian intelligence agency charged with delivering de-politicized intelligence to the nation's civilian leadership.

We are doomed.

[darue]

20. bullshit, if it were so they've had ten years to do it and what's come of it? oh right, Bush! n/t

[lancer78]

21. Gee Wilikers!

Must be obvious day on camp stupid.

Master Shake


Note: The next terrorist attack will not be commited by a person with an arabic background. The most likely person will be SE Asian (Indonesian).

[khaos]

22. CIA = Al Qaeda.. duh

[bjobotts]

23. CIA training Iranian terrorists to act like Iranian citizens.

[bjobotts]

24. Bush training operatives to act like al qaeda to keep us believing in fear.

[bjobotts]

25. I wouldn't believe a damn thing the CIA head says about "al qaeda"..all 80 of them.

That's the high estimate of al qaeda members operating in Iraq. I'm so scared...oooh ooh.

[bjobotts]

26. Why bother to repeat this kind of propaganda???

[krispos42]

27. Probably from the former Yugoslavia

One of the people there are Caucasian, but Muslim.

Larry Bond wrote about this in "The Enemy Within", and the George Clooney/Nicole Kidman movie "The Peacemaker" (or "The Peacekeeper"; I forget which) has as the lead bad guy with a backpack nuke a Caucasian Muslim from the former Yugoslavia.

I'm amazed they haven't done this yet. Or with an Asian Muslim, like from Indonesia.

[khaos]

42. Are you serious? Who is they?

This is all BS propaganda.

[pinniped]

28. I saw a bunch of "western looking" people downtown on Sunday.

These pathetic liars are stealing lines from Hollywood.

a "clear and present danger''

[Xipe Totec]

29. Oh My Gods! The Cylons look like us!

[Warren Stupidity]

32. BE AFRAID OF YOUR NEIGHBOR

Hey did you know that the color coded alert level is still ORANGE?

[Ian David]

34. The monsters are due on Maple Street! n/t

[Hugabear]

35. Homeland Security has released a composite sketch of these would-be terrorists

[coalition_unwilling]

37. Another sign of encroaching fascism - Hayden appeared on

NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday . . . dressed in full military uniform with campaign ribbons. Friggin' unbelievable. Last time I checked, the CIA is (was?) a civilian agency.

I spent the entire hour watching Hayden and thinking, "with this Eichmann in charge, we are absolutely doomed."

[earth mom]

40. Ah yes, the perfect way to cover up another MIHOP or LIHOP aka 911.5. nt

[jayfish]

41. Again?

What happened to the last batch of "western-looking" fighters they trained?

Jay

[Turbineguy]

43. It's a RW Lunatic Fringe plot

to get moderate Democrats to shoot republicans. "Sure, I'm not saying we won't get our hair mussed, but look at how many Democratic voters we can arrest!" (With apologies to General Buck Turgison)

[ohio2007]

44. "Western looking" ? So anybody watching the sunset is to be considered jihadi recruits

lol

SO

[goforit]

46. Yep... and they all work for Blackwater!!!...LOL!!! Tanks Michael Hayden

Whata Putz!! GHWB trains Osama and now Al Qaeda trains our very own CIA...How de-lovely!!

[struggle4progress]

47. Translation: Guatanamo is for political opponents