Color me skeptical, but there are reports that an Al Qaeda commander in Afghanistan has warned all Muslims to leave the country — especially New York City and Washington, D.C. — in anticipation of an imminent nuclear attack (or perhaps merely radiological) that’s supposed planned to coincide with Ramadan, which begins on Sunday and lasts through October 23. More here, here and here. (Hat tip: Toni.)
Of course, we’ve heard this all before, from some of the same right-wing websites (specifically Joseph Farah’s WorldNetDaily, a site whose credibility is suspect anyway), and it didn’t pan out then (thank God), so hopefully — and, I’d say very probably — it won’t pan out now. On the other hand, as I wrote then, “hey, just because they’re right-wing nutjobs doesn’t mean they’re necessarily wrong!” But as I also wrote then, I’m highly skeptical of the theory that Al Qaeda already has nukes in this country and is just waiting for some sort of “signal” to set them off. If they had ‘em here, it seems to me they’d “[j]ust blow the damn things up already. Which is precisely why I think Farah is very probably wrong: if Al Qaeda had had nukes in this country since [last] July, we wouldn’t be sitting here having this conversation right now.”
Still, worth noting, methinks. Just in case.
P.S. This post’s alarmist headline, followed by a question mark, makes me think of a recent funny Daily Show bit. Heh.
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Categories: Terrorism & Homeland Security
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September 19th, 2006 at 5:35:21 am
I hope you are right, but is it easier being skeptical in ND than if you lived in either NYC or Washington?
September 19th, 2006 at 8:12:26 am
I think you’re probably right, Brendan. If they had them here, they wouldn’t wait around and give Homeland Security the chance to track them down. And they certainly wouldn’t have let the fifth anniversary of 9/11 pass with nothing more than toothless threat videos from the usual suspects in their caves. If they had them, they’d already have used them.
September 19th, 2006 at 10:19:43 am
As I recall they didn’t give a heads up before 9/11, the Cole, the Embassies, etc. It would be pretty stupid on their part to undermine their own attack by announcing it to the world ahead of time.
September 19th, 2006 at 12:49:22 pm
Just a thought: wasn’t the first Hiroshima technically the American Hiroshima? This would be the Al Qaeda version.
I think the scaries thing about this is that the people that believe this garbage actually think that millions of Muslims with lives and homes in America can suddenly just pick up and go “someplace else”. It’s like the people that think the Jews think and behave en masse.
September 19th, 2006 at 5:11:28 pm
Is it just me, or has Al Qaeda been downgraded to yapping dog? Yeah, they sound scary, but you just have to kick them.
September 19th, 2006 at 6:22:54 pm
Al Qaeda is something to be concerned about, but the right has inflated them to a level of importance far exceeding their cabalities. They shouldn’t be ignored, but they shouldn’t be treated like the second coming of Josef Stalin, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun all roled into one.
September 19th, 2006 at 9:15:18 pm
They shouldn’t be ignored, but they shouldn’t be treated like the second coming of Josef Stalin, Genghis Khan, and Attila the Hun all roled into one.
Funny David, but you’re the one who seems to treat Osama like Stalin, Genghis, and Attila — as if we’re in mortal danger and failing in the GWOT because we haven’t captured or killed him yet.
September 19th, 2006 at 9:28:32 pm
No Andrew, I just think he was a bigger threat to our nation than Sadaam, you know since he ACTUALLY was involved in an attack on America.
September 19th, 2006 at 10:47:46 pm
The difference between Osama and Saddam is we acted against Saddam before he could do the damage that Osama pulled off. That sounds about right to me.
September 20th, 2006 at 12:16:28 am
Yeah cause lil old Sadaam wa slikely to attack America. Meanwhile Osama is still at large, and we have North Korea with nukes and Iran nearing. Oh yeah, glad we went after Iraq now we are much safer.
September 20th, 2006 at 11:55:31 am
Davie,
We are much safer. For instance, did you know you can now buy coca cola and american cigarettes in the Green Zone?
Don’t be greedy.