Major Terror Attack Planned This Summer

[GameMaster]

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/05/25/ter...eat/index.html

(CNN) -- Several U.S. officials said Tuesday that unnamed terrorists, possibly al Qaeda operatives, are in the United States and planning a "major attack" on U.S. soil this summer.

Officials said the attacks might take place before the November presidential election in an attempt to affect the outcome, similar to the way the Madrid train bombings influenced Spanish elections.

The FBI is likely to issue several alerts for several individuals the bureau would like to locate in the coming days, two counterterrorism sources told CNN.

The sources would not describe who those persons are and why they are wanted now. One source said the bureau would be re-issuing alerts for some people already wanted.

Although there is no specific target, time or date for the possible attack, the information on the threat is the culmination of intelligence that has been known and gathered over a period of time -- and it is the assessment that is new, the sources said.

Despite the possible threat of attack, CNN has learned there is no plan to raise the terror threat level, which is at yellow, or elevated.

The FBI is expected to give guidance to its 18,000 state and local law enforcement partners in the regular weekly FBI bulletin Wednesday.

FBI Director Robert Mueller and Attorney General John Ashcroft will hold a news conference Wednesday to discuss their commitment to disrupting potential plots, CNN has learned.

For weeks, security officials have expressed concern about several upcoming high-profile events, including Saturday's dedication of the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

Other potential targets include the G8 economic summit on Sea Island, Georgia, Fourth of July celebrations, the Democratic convention in Boston, the Republican convention in New York, and the Olympics in Greece.

Officials said security will be unprecedented for World War II Memorial dedication. More than 140,000 people, many of them elderly, are expected for the event. (Full story)

More than 35 federal, state and local agencies have been involved in planning for the event for a year now.

Some 1,000 law enforcement officers are expected to be on hand in addition to special support and response teams. The U.S. Park Police is spearheading the security effort.

The national terror threat alert level was raised to orange, or high, over the Christmas and New Year holidays last December and January. It has been at yellow since January 9.

Before that, the United States last raised the domestic terrorism threat level to orange May 20, 2003, after suicide bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco that were blamed on al Qaeda. That alert lasted 10 days before the threat level was returned to yellow.

Other orange alerts were raised in 2002 around the first anniversary of the September 11 attacks and in February 2003, on the eve of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March.

This is kind of scary. But knowing the FBI is out there making the world safe for me makes everything feel better. Anyway, everyone just try to stay calm.