DTN News - AL-QAEDA PAKISTAN CONNECTION: Feds Watching Possible Terror Plot For NY, D.C.

DTN News - AL-QAEDA PAKISTAN CONNECTION: Feds Watching Possible Terror Plot For NY, D.C.

Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS

(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - September 8, 2011: CBS News has learned that officials Thursday are very concerned about new information that there could be a terror strike on the 10th anniversary of 9/11, and this new potential plot could target New York or Washington, D.C.

According to CBS News correspondent Bob Orr, this threat is "specific and credible but unconfirmed," meaning that intelligence agencies across the government has picked up a threat stream from overseas, and that there is a full court press by the FBI, CIA and others to refute or corroborate the information.

Sources told CBS News that the threat specifically has come from Pakistan, which is home to terror groups, including the Pakistani Taliban, the organization behind the failed Times Square bombing attempt.

A federal law enforcement source told CBS News that operatives are acting on Osama bin Laden's wishes to time an attack to the anniversary.

While the report is unconfirmed, a number of officials say that there are enough elements lined up to have them concerned about this threat stream more so than the others they have seen in recent days.

A Federal source told CBS News that FBI and intelligence authorities are currently tracking two distinct threat streams -- one involving a car bombing threat in New York or Washington and a separate threat against bridges and tunnels in New York. It is unknown if there is a correlation between the two threats.

A White House official told CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller that President Obama was briefed about the threat Thursday morning and had been updated all day. "The United States government has already significantly enhanced its security posture in advance of the 9/11 anniversary to protect the country against possible terrorist threats," said the official. "Nevertheless, the President directed the counterterrorism community to redouble its efforts in response to this credible but unconfirmed information."

White House officials said there were no plans to change Obama's travel schedule on Sunday in light of the threat. The president is scheduled to mark the 9/11 anniversary with stops at New York's ground zero, the Pentagon and Shanksville, Pa. He will also deliver remarks Sunday night at a memorial concert at the Kennedy Center in Washington.

"It's accurate that there is specific, credible but unconfirmed threat information," Homeland Security Department spokesman Matt Chandler said in a statement. "As we always do before important dates like the anniversary of 9/11, we will undoubtedly get more reporting in the coming days."

The U.S. has not raised its official terror threat level.

Earlier, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said there was no information about a specific threat around the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks but there is "a lot of chatter."

Napolitano told reporters Thursday that "in the intel world there is lots of chatter and we are taking it very seriously."

CBS News reports that the secretary said more federal air marshals would be deployed for the anniversary but wouldn't specify other measures being taken by Homeland Security and other agencies other than that they were "preparing accordingly."

Special Section | 9/11: Ten Years Later Special Section: 9/11 Videos Special Section: 9/11 in Photos

Napolitano said Homeland Security would warn the public if a threat arose.

Pentagon Memorial

Asked about the threat of "lone wolves," Napolitano said it is a "key concern" that "more and more Americans in-country are being radicalized to the point of violence" and that Internet recruiting by those like U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Awlaki is having an impact, CBS News reports.

Speaking generally and not in reference to the 9/11 anniversary, Napolitano said a 9/11-style plot would be "much more difficult" to execute now than 10 years ago because of the multiple security layers now in place, better intelligence gathering and better intelligence sharing, among other improvements, CBS News reports.

Defense chief: Threat of 9/11 repeat "very real" Pictures: 9/11 images, before and after A look at United Flight 93, 10 years later

Flight 93 Memorial: Shanksville, Pa.

In New York, despite no specific terrorism threats against the city, thousands of extra police officers will be deployed, officials said Wednesday.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, in remarks at a security conference in midtown Manhattan, cited evidence found in Osama bin Laden's compound after his death suggesting he hoped to strike on the anniversary.

"For that reason alone, we need to take precautions as if an actual plot is under way," Kelly said.

The New York Police Department plans to form a zone around the World Trade Center for a Sunday observance that President Obama and former President George W. Bush plan to attend. Along with extra officers -- the department won't reveal an exact number -- the security also will include hundreds of surveillance cameras trained on the site, Kelly said.

The World Trade Center gathering also will showcase a new police command of 212 officers dedicated to protecting the site. The officers have received special counterterrorism training, including on how to spot people conducting reconnaissance and how to respond to suicide or truck bombers.

Visiting ground zero & lower Manhattan

The command conducted drills this week on evacuating the National September 11 Memorial & Museum and its adjacent plaza, which opens Monday.

Sunday's observance is one of more than 30 commemorative events scheduled for the week that the department is laboring to protect, Kelly said.

"We don't presume that ground zero alone is a potential target," the commissioner said. "That would be shortsighted."

The department also will deploy so-called quick-strike reaction forces to respond to potential threats outside lower Manhattan, Kelly said. The teams include officers in heavy armor, bomb squad technicians and hostage negotiators who will have highway patrol escorts on standby if needed.

New Yorkers will see more officers in the subways as well. Many will concentrate on busy transportation hubs such as Grand Central Terminal, Pennsylvania Station and the Herald Square subway station.

There are other security concerns: Extra patrols also will be deployed in Queens for Sunday's U.S. Open tennis finale. And the department is gearing up for next week's U.N. General Assembly, working with the Secret Service to protect 130 heads of state and coordinate 220 motorcades, Kelly said.

"In other words, we have a lot on our plate," he said. "But we have the talent and the resources to deal with it."

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS

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Zardari: We Underestimated Taliban Threat

Zardari: We Underestimated Taliban Threat (NSI News Source Info) February 14, 2009: (CBS) Pakistan's new president, Asif Ali Zardari, says his nuclear-armed government is in a battle to survive against the growing threat of the Taliban, which his country failed to take strong action against earlier. Now the Muslim militant group has extended its presence from the tribal borderlands inland to larger cities, Zardari tells 60 Minutes correspondent Steve Kroft in an interview to be broadcast this Sunday, Feb. 15, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. "[The Taliban] do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side. Yes, that is the fact," says Zardari. Once confined to the county's border area with Afghanistan, where they carried out strikes against U.S. troops over the border, the Taliban have extended their influence in Pakistan inland to cities like Peshawar and the Swat Valley. Zardari was elected president after his wife, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated while running for Prime Minister, probably by the Taliban. He says the Taliban have been taken for granted for a long time. "It's been happening over time and it's happened out of denial. Everybody was in denial. '…They're weak and they won't be able to take over…they won't be able to give us a challenge,'" he says many thought. "And our forces weren't increased…we have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness," Zardari tells Kroft. The Pakistani government has put 120,000 soldiers in the fight against the Taliban, who are suspected of harboring al-Qaeda members among them. They have had some success where the enemy can be found in numbers on roads or in the open. In more rural areas their efforts have been temporary. The Taliban can be lethal in small groups. Insurgents have carried out more than 600 terrorist attacks, killing over 2,000, including 60 in a Marriott in the capital, Islamabad. Zardari is also battling public opinion in Pakistan. Most citizens believe the war against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda is America's war their government is fighting by proxy. Not so says Zardari. "We're not doing anybody a favor…We are aware of the fact it's… Taliban…trying to take over the state of Pakistan," he says. "So, we’re fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We’re not fighting for the survival of anybody else." Some observers have questioned how much power Zardari really has and whether he has the full support of the military and the intelligence service. They are behind him he says. "If that wasn't the case, then Islamabad would have fallen because obviously if the army doesn't do its job, these men are not restricted. They've blown up the Marriott Hotel before. They’ve attacked us inland before. They would be all around us, wouldn't they?" he asks. Zardari is determined to prevail; it's more than his duty, it's personal. "I lost my wife to it. My children's mother…It's important to stop them and make sure that it doesn't happen again and they don’t take over our way of life," he tells Kroft. "That's what they want to do." Much of the world has a stake in Zardari's struggle as well. With Pakistan in possession of about 100 nuclear weapons, a Taliban takeover poses a frightening scenario.