Book by Ron Suskind: al-Qaida planned gas attack on NYC in 2003

[Kadie]

Book: al-Qaida planned gas attack on NYC
16 minutes ago



NEW YORK - U.S. officials received intelligence that al-Qaida operatives had been 45 days away from releasing a deadly gas into the city's subways when the plan was called off by Osama bin Laden's deputy in 2003, according to a book excerpt released Sunday on Time magazine's Web site.

According to the investigative report by Ron Suskind, an informant close to al-Qaida leaders told U.S. officials that Ayman al-Zawahri had canceled the plan in January 2003, despite the likelihood that the strike would have killed as many people as the Sept. 11 attacks.

The informant said the operatives had planned to use a small, easily concealed device to release hydrogen cyanide into multiple subway cars. U.S. officials had already discovered plans for the device on the hard drive of a computer of a Bahraini jihadist arrested in February 2003, and they had been able to construct a working model from the plans.

The easy-to-make device, called "the mubtakkar," meaning "invention" in Arabic or "initiative" in Farsi, represented a breakthrough in weapons technology that "was the equivalent of splitting the atom," Suskind writes in his book. All previous attempts to use the deadly gas, similar to that used in Holocaust-era gas chambers, in mass attacks had failed.

The FBI declined to confirm the details of Suskind's account. Spokesman Bill Carter in Washington said Saturday the bureau would have no comment on the excerpted material.

more...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060618/ap_on_re_us/subway_plot_book_2

[JDPriestly]

1. Why publish information about this weapon?

If Al Qaeda can invent this weapon who else can? How stupid to print the information on this weapon in a book for who knows how many kooks to read. This is irresponsible. I don't believe in censorship, but can't we expect authors to show a little common sense.

[KoKo]

2. Who knows?But maybe it will stir enough interest that NYC will get funds

that were cut by DHS. I thought the book coming out now will just keep Rove's Terra Strategy for November election in play.

But, didn't Ron Susskind write an article critical of the Bushies way back before anyone was speaking out? Wasn't it the article about Ron DeUlio (sp) who called the Bush's "Mayberry Machiavelli's" or am I thinking of the wrong person.

[JDPriestly]

4. He also wrote The Price of Loyalty

[Newsjock]

3. To scare us, of course

Booga booga. Osama's under your bed.

[Roland99]

5. Sounds a LOT like Zubaydah's falsification of claims of Al Qaeda targets

he got from having seen the movie Godzilla!

And some device he completely made up that could spray radiation.

[dogday]

6. Terra Terra Terra nt