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Politics : America Under Siege: The End of Innocence -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: John Hunt who wrote (11678)12/12/2001 6:09:31 AM
From: John Hunt  Respond to of 27666
 
Walker: Biological strike on U.S. near

The canary sings, but is it just BS? ... Only the Shadow knows. :-)

[ An American Taliban fighter held captive by Marines in Afghanistan has told American officials that al Qaeda's next attack on the United States will take place in days and involve biological weapons, U.S. intelligence officials told The Washington Times.

John Walker Lindh, the Taliban guerrilla captured near Mazar-e-Sharif, said in intelligence debriefings at the U.S. Marine Corps base near Kandahar that "Phase II" of al Qaeda's war against the United States will occur at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which ends Sunday.

Mr. Lindh told U.S. intelligence officials that the Ramadan attack will involve the use of biological weapons.

A third phase of al Qaeda's war on the United States will result in the destruction of the entire country, the Islamic convert stated.

The officials said they have questioned the credibility of Mr. Lindh's claim because of his relatively low-level position.

Still, the information was among other intelligence reports that led the Bush administration to issue a public warning last week about a possible terrorist attack, the officials said.

No other details were available about Mr. Lindh's debriefing. However, the intelligence about the impending attack is an indication Mr. Lindh may have been part of the al Qaeda network in addition to fighting on behalf of the Taliban militia.

A CIA spokesman declined to comment.

Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that Mr. Lindh was providing information.

"He's been pretty close to the action, and he has provided from the Afghan perspective some useful information," Gen. Myers said on "Fox News Sunday."

"I think the evidence is pretty strong that he was right in the middle of it."

Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz told reporters the American had provided information that has been "very helpful" to the United States, including information on the prisoner uprising at Mazar-e-Sharif that led to the death of CIA officer Johnny "Mike" Spann.

"Obviously the people who really have the information that we really want to get are those top al Qaeda leaders and maybe some of the Taliban leaders and maybe we'll find it in documents in places we are now able to get into," Mr. Wolfowitz said Sunday.

"But I think anyone who knows anything about that organization is a potentially valuable source of information."

The Pentagon has not decided how to handle Mr. Lindh and whether he will be charged with treason.

The U.S. Central Command in Tampa, Fla., said in a statement that Mr. Lindh was being treated as an enemy prisoner of war.

Mr. Lindh, 20, was videotaped as he was interrogated by the CIA officer hours before his death at the hands of rebelling Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at a fortress near Mazar-e-Sharif. He initially gave his name as Abdul Hamid.

The Marines are using a large green metal shipping container to hold Mr. Lindh at their base in southern Afghanistan, according to pool reports from the base.

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Stewart Upton said he had no information about Mr. Lindh being held in the container, which is surrounded by barbed wire and Marine guards.

A second Marine spokesman, Capt. David Romley, said later that the only detainee at the camp was Mr. Lindh.

At the Pentagon, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters that valuable intelligence is being collected as U.S. and Afghan opposition forces take over areas once ruled by the Taliban.

"There's documentation being found and discovered and analyzed and translated, so that each day we learn more and know more," Mr. Rumsfeld said. "As more address books are found and phone books are found and computer hard drives are found as people have left areas, clearly our knowledge base is going up." ]

washingtontimes.com



To: John Hunt who wrote (11678)12/12/2001 7:23:01 AM
From: John Hunt  Read Replies (3) | Respond to of 27666
 
US completes pre-positioning in Kuwait

Abu Dhabi [MENL] -- The United States has completed the pre-positioning of main battle tanks and combat vehicles in Kuwait to prepare for any confrontation with Iraq.

U.S. defense officials said the military resupply in the sheikdom took place over the last month. They said the effort was overseen by the U.S. Army, which maintains about 4,000 soldiers in Kuwait.

The U.S. Army, the officials said, brought an undisclosed number of M1A2 Abrams tanks, M2A2 Bradleys and a range of other combat vehicles. The pre-positioning effort was taken by Task Force 1-34, which is leaving the sheikdom after a four month tour. The task force is composed of 1,500 soldiers and personnel.

The task force also trained Kuwaiti Army troops. Last week, U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki visited Kuwait and inspected the U.S. war stocks.

menewsline.com