NEW YEAR 2003/4 AS IT HAPPENS!

Ok folks, We're now into Dec 31st as i write this post (its currently 00:13 in the UK) We have a broad threat level this new year and i'm trying to contain it into one large post, no i'm not point profiteering, i'm the anchorman dammit and this is a special report!

Through this year we've had musings of terrorist attacks all over the country, i've been wrong several times, so have others however, it is our duty to investigate the facts as they come in and check whether they present a threat or not to the world.

NEW YORK:
First i'm going to start off with threats to New York, as we know Times Square is one of the largest new years celebrations in the world and we always see heightened security when it comes to that region at every major celebration, however, recent developments have lead me to question whether or not there is a credible threat.

NEW YORK - Thousands of police will swarm New York's subways, sidewalks and airspace on what officials promised would be the city's most heavily guarded New Year's Eve ever.
Courtesy Yahoo News

Ok then, if theres no threat then why is there a swarm of officers descending upon the city, i'm sure they're being supplemented by national guard people too just in the event that something may happen, when it comes to times square the world is watching, even i turn on the tv at 5am just to watch it all with some rather saccharine BBC commentary, Counter snipers on the roof? Radiation and metal detectors everywhere? isn't that rather alarmist for sketchy info, even security last year wasn't that bad, it was high, but not as high as this.

LAS VEGAS:
Now here comes the sticker, Valhall and i did rather extensive analysis on letters from sites and yahoo groups, and we were wrong to a certain extent, but the question is.. were we wrong or were we just early? Already we've had some rather extreme measures of security in the region, no flights over the city, lots of police and radiation detectors etc, we see this as common for times square but Las Vegas is rather a small target on the threat board, however, it is the epitome of everything a fanatical suicide bomber despises, gambling, whores, alcohol, sex and drugs. It would make a great target, you'd also be slamming into some hotels that hold 4000+ rooms, if you hit it in the right place your going to cause a colossal amount of damage.

LOS ANGELES -- The airspace over the Las Vegas Strip will be restricted New Year's Eve as tens of thousands of people celebrate in the street below, state and federal officials said Monday. Jerry Bussell, Gov. Kenny Guinn's adviser on homeland security, said the temporary flight restriction will be issued for the festivities that could draw some 300,000 revelers to the busy Strip.
www.nbc4.tv...

PASADENA, Calif. Dec. 30 � Security will be extra tight at this year's New Year's celebrations around the country, with military helicopters patrolling over the Rose Parade, Times Square and the Las Vegas Strip.

"I think the level of security this time around within the United States is absolutely unprecedented," Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said on CBS's "The Early Show."
abcnews.go.com...

Las Vegas is sure being given a ton of coverage, i wonder if they know something we don't, which of course is very likely.

Awsome inititive Nerdling!


Very cool quote box usage also.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to Tappahannock VA!

If I were a bad guy, I'd be laughing my azz off right now as I watched the mobilization to protect 'major' targets.

...while a drove a dirty bomb into Tappahannock just hours from DC and MINTUTES from Richmond's secret Ozark Mountain nuclear stash.

I would be scared to death to be in NYC for new years. Hell, I am outside of Philly an even here I have noticed a hell of a lot of extra police.

Why thank you Advisor!

CNN is catching onto my New york thoughts, they're now showing pictures of heavily armed NYPD in times square

A member of the New York City Police Department's Hercules Team patrols Times Square Monday.
www.cnn.com...


Okay, now i don't know what Hercules Team is but i presume it to be a team of elite officers, better than swat too.

Now this is very weird indeed.

www.ny1.com
"Due to heavy web traffic, you have been redirected to this simplified NY1 homepage."

Which is basically the same thing News outlets had to do on 9/11, its strange because this almost never happens during peacetime. Its also AOL owned which means it has the best backbone connections on the web.

Could this be evidence of public paranoia over NY2k3

Please remember that we have eye-witness accounts from Las Vegas of a plane load of FBI agents showing up there last week.

Really no way of knowing if they are still there (could have been in connection with the France flights).

Originally posted by Valhall
Please remember that we have eye-witness accounts from Las Vegas of a plane load of FBI agents showing up there last week.

Really no way of knowing if they are still there (could have been in connection with the France flights).

True Val, and i would be much happier knowing their intentions or sources.

Your statements sound very reasonable and i agree with you on some keynotes. I just think if the terrorists were really smart they'd create those spots as diversions while they slam their planes or whatever they have into a less defended target, still causing catastrophic damage yet without all the security hassles. I mean there has to be some major event going on elsewhere in the US thats not nearly defended as much as Las Vegas and New York, Just my opinion.

Originally posted by thedarkprojekt
Your statements sound very reasonable and i agree with you on some keynotes. I just think if the terrorists were really smart they'd create those spots as diversions while they slam their planes or whatever they have into a less defended target, still causing catastrophic damage yet without all the security hassles. I mean there has to be some major event going on elsewhere in the US thats not nearly defended as much as Las Vegas and New York, Just my opinion.

No time for diversions, anything at all suspicious happens and everyone gets extremely trigger happy. You have to hit within minutes of each other or fighters are in the air very quickly!

Ah yes, but lets say its not a plane attack, rather a biological attack, insurgents would most likely blend in with a massive crowd. Agents couldn't possibly find a needle in a hay stack.

Originally posted by thedarkprojekt
Ah yes, but lets say its not a plane attack, rather a biological attack, insurgents would most likely blend in with a massive crowd. Agents couldn't possibly find a needle in a hay stack.

Its a good theory but an expensive attack, if they were going to do that then they'd likely keep biological as the main prong of the attack, i believe the next attack will be chemical or biological. Probably nerve gas in the subway tomorrow night.

An Arabic-language al-Qaida-style message posted on an Islamic website threatens imminent attacks on the U.S. � attacks described as "the final blows in the crucial battles at hand..."

The threats, authored by Abu Abd Al-Rahman Al-Turkemani, appear on the Global Islamic Media site and were posted in recent days, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.

"This posting is aimed at reinforcing the morale of Islamist activists in their ongoing struggle," reports MEMRI, which translates Arabic media, sermons and messages into English and other Western languages. The message is titled: "The Final Blows in the Decisive Battles Are At Hand."

MEMRI discounts other threats as non-credible, but its analysts determined this warning � due to its style and non-specificity � to be genuine.

www.worldnetdaily.com...

you could be right, im glad i'm far away enough not to feel any major impacts of the attack.. maybe just the tail of a nuclear fallout.

Imminent warning of an attack eh? Well that would go hand in hand with...

"Republican Rep. Christopher Shays, however, said people ought to avoid places like Times Square, calling it irresponsible for officials to make people think they don't need to take precautions."

"Secretary Ridge says just do what you normally do," Shays said. "If normally you go to Times Square, I wouldn't do what you normally do. I wouldn't go into places when you're packed and where if there was panic, a lot of injuries would take place."

apnews.myway.com...