Holy Crap!

[Valerie]

A Bin Ladin cell has just been found in Lakawana, New York! FBI are on the scene. I'm just listening to the news now. When I find a link, I'll post it. Or, if someone else finds a link, feel free to post it.

OMG, you guys better be careful up there!

[Ð]

They're posing as an obese bowling team so they'd blend in

[casdhf]

no *****?

[venis2k1]

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaat?

[e-mo4life]

for real?????? holy $&#^%!!!! let us know what else you hear!

[e-mo4life]

i cant find anything on the local tv station web sites....

[NoCtUrNaL]

FOX NEWS made mention of it a minute ago...5 dudes arrested by the FBI...they used the term "cell".

[Valerie]

I swear to you it's true. They interrupted a 7pm TV show with this information. Let me look for a minute and see what I can find.

[ArcticWildMan]

Hmmm...still nothing listed on CNN....I'll have to check FOX....

[Valerie]

I just checked CNN too, AWM. I swear it's true!

[ArcticWildMan]

Hmm...what's the punishment for lying about breaking news stories....

How about revocation of GLOWING USER NAME? :D

[TacklingDummy]

Jaded, They have a link on the other site for it. Its true.

[Valerie]

Here's the story....

The FBI has arrested what appears to be an active al Qaeda cell inside the United States, reports CBS News Correspondent Jim Stewart in an exclusive report. Agents are rounding up five men in a Buffalo, N.Y. surburb - all graduates of Osama Bin Laden's al Qaeda terrorist camps in Afghanistan.

Authorities are also looking for possibly two other men overseas who were the group's handlers. Another member of the cell has been turned over to the United States by a foreign power.

In a separate arrest, Ramzi Binalshibh, a fugitive al Qaeda member who is believed to trained with the 9/11 hijackers, was captured in Pakistan nearly a year after he became one of America's top terror targets, U.S. officials said.

The officials, who spoke only on condition of anonymity, said Binalshibh was captured earlier this week in a joint raid by Pakistani forces and U.S. intelligence officers in southern coastal city of Karachi. The raid ended in a deadly shootout.

Sources tell CBS News the discovery of the New York-based cell and a recent spike in their overseas and internal communications is largely responsible for President Bush deciding to go to alert Condition Orange earlier this week. It is not known whether the cell had identified a specific target in the United States, or how close they were to acting.

All of the Buffalo suspects are U.S. citizens of Yemini descent. All live within a block of each other in a Buffalo surburb known as Lackawanna. And all attended the same mosque. The cell's ringleader, also a U.S. citizen of Yemini background, is believed to be in Yemen and outside of U.S. reach for the moment.

The five Buffalo suspects will apparently be charged with providing material support and resources to terrorists. This apparently follows a debate within the White House itself over whether to treat the men as criminal defendants, or as nonmilitary combatants with no charges and no access to an attorney.

Sources say the men attended Al Qaeda camps prior to 9/11 and then returned to the United States. There is no indication they had any support role in that attack, or even had fore knowledge it would take place.

While few details are known at this point, the real significance of these arrests is that the suspects are not foreign nationals like the 9/11 hijackers -- but U.S. citizens. One was naturalized, but the others, we are told, were born and raised here.

In a separate development, A suspected organizer of the Sept. 11 attacks was captured in Pakistan and in custody, U.S. officials said Friday.

Binalshibh, one of the so-called "20th hijackers" who attempted to take part in the Sept. 11 attacks, worked closely with Mohamed Atta's cell in Hamburg, Germany.

U.S. officials say Binalshibh belonged to a Hamburg-based cell led by Mohammed Atta, an Egyptian suspected of leading the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Earlier this week, a videotape interview with Bin-al-Shibh and a second al Qaeda operative, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, was released by the Arab Al-Jazeera network. U.S. military authorities said they believed the tape was authentic, and that it revealed new details of the Sept. 11, 2001 hijackings.

For example, in the interviews the al Qaeda officials claim that planning for the attack started in "early 1999" and that hijacker ringleader Mohammed Atta was first summoned to Afghanistan for his initial instructions in the summer of 1999.

Officials also claim that Atta corresponded with al Qaeda operative Binalshibh in Germany over the Internet. Writing in German, Atta pretended to be a student writing his girlfriend "Jenny." The used Al Qaeda codewords for the targets it selected: The World Trade Center was the "Faculty of Town Planning." The Pentagon was the "Faculty of Fine Arts" and Congress - the target that escaped - was the "Faculty of Law."

According to the U.S. grand jury indictment of Zacarias Moussaoui, an alleged conspirator in the Sept. 11 attacks, Binalshibh applied four times for a visa to enter the United States from May to October 2000, but was rebuffed each time.

After being denied a visa for the third time, Binalshibh allegedly began funneling money to associates inside the United States. He wired money to Moussaoui, to at least two hijackers and to a Florida flight school at which one of the hijackers was training, the indictment said.

Authorities believe Binalshibh fled Germany for Pakistan before Sept. 11. German authorities had issued an international arrest warrant for Binalshibh, whose whereabouts until now were unknown.

[Valerie]

:tongue: to all of you who didn't believe me!

Thanks TD. :peck: At least you believed me. :)

[ArcticWildMan]

I guess you get to keep your glowing user name after all, Jaded :peace:

[NoCtUrNaL]

Originally posted by Jaded 7
to all of you who didn't believe me!

Thanks TD. :peck: At least you believed me.


I believed you....BTW...I think TD now has cotties.

[Valerie]

Scary stuff, huh?

I'm going back to my TV movie, "Pleasantville." I prefer to live in the unrealistic times than in Buffalo with the al Qaeda.

[Valerie]

Originally posted by NoCtUrNaL I believed you....BTW...I think TD now has cotties.
I missed your post my first time through, Noc. Sorry. TD has cooties because I kissed him?:dizzy: I don't have cooties. lol

[ArcticWildMan]

Originally posted by Jaded 7
Scary stuff, huh?

I'm going back to my TV movie, "Pleasantville." I prefer to live in the unrealistic times than in Buffalo with the al Qaeda.


I hate to burst your bubble, but I bet there are quite a few Al Qaeda cells in your neck of the woods, Jaded. You live near targets that are infinitely more appealing down there....

[Ebenezer]

I am speechless.

[The_Philster]

Me too, Eb.

[NoCtUrNaL]

I'm not surprised in the least. I think it's great the FBI is on the ball and rounding these idiots up.

http://www.billsfanzone.com/images/icons/icon14.gif http://www.billsfanzone.com/images/icons/icon14.gif 's up FBI. :D

[lordofgun]

Yep. I saw it on MSNBC.

[BillC]

I got a report a few years back about terrorist cells in Lackawana from the CIA and Janet Reno.

We pinpointed the exact location they were in and launched a half dozen cruise missles at 'em.

Of course, being Lackawana, a damage assesment was impossible because the place is a dump already.

[BillC]

I think Hillary carried Lackawana in the last Senate race........'nuff said!

[ArcticWildMan]

Originally posted by BillC
I think Hillary carried Lackawana in the last Senate race........'nuff said!


Lackawana :chair: Rest of the nation

[Shiny Chicken]

That's just insane for that to happen in Buffalo of all places.

[Shiny Chicken]

why the hell would they have a cell in Buffalo of all places, they really are ******ed...

[RedEyE]

Originally posted by Benjudah
why the hell would they have a cell in Buffalo of all places, they really are ******ed...

...easy access through Canada..........close to Niagara Falls.........within the same state as the last terrorist attack............inexpensive living..............daily flights to multiple Internantional airports...........large diverse population........:chief:

[NoCtUrNaL]

Originally posted by Benjudah
why the hell would they have a cell in Buffalo of all places, they really are ******ed...

It's was Lackawana, not Buffalo...anyway...maybe the dilapidated housing and infrastructure, high unemployment rate, and bad smell reminded them of home.

[ArcticWildMan]

Originally posted by Benjudah
why the hell would they have a cell in Buffalo of all places, they really are ******ed...


Why NOT?? It's right by the Candian border..easy egress/ingress. There are how many major power plants (nuke/hydro/coal) nearby that make tempting targets? You have a major shipping lane between lake Erie and Ontario right there. The Lakes are a huge source of fresh water for the entire area. A major NFL team is right there. The opportunities for a terrorist cell are endless in/around Buffalo. And since it is Buffalo, they probably thought it was safer than a big city like NY or LA.

[NoCtUrNaL]

There are probably hundreds of "cells" in this country....it's not unique to the Buffalo area.

[Sabre Ally]

This is proof that I moved to a place where something actually happens........they'd never live in Lincoln, Nebraska. :snicker:

[Valerie]

Originally posted by ArcticWildMan I hate to burst your bubble, but I bet there are quite a few Al Qaeda cells in your neck of the woods, Jaded. You live near targets that are infinitely more appealing down there....
Pleasantville, Poolesville, same difference. I'm not worried. If it wasn't for the plaid flannel shirts, I think Poolesville would be in black and white too. lol Al Qaeda would stick out here like a sore thumb.

[Sabre Ally]

Hey, my brother was watching Pleasantville too. I just talked to him on the phone a little bit ago.

[mchurchfie]

Originally posted by RedEyE


...easy access through Canada..........close to Niagara Falls.........within the same state as the last terrorist attack............inexpensive living..............daily flights to multiple Internantional airports...........large diverse population........:chief:

Don't forget, a GREAT football and hockey team also!:D

[TigerJ]

Members of the cell were regular attenders at the local mosque. If there's a mosque in your neighborhood, keep a lookout for suspicious characters. More targets on the Niagara frontier: all canadian/US bridges, federal building. If these guys had notions of hijacking and flying a plane they are in easy range of Chicago, NYCity, Pittsburg, Philadelphia etc.

[Shiny Chicken]

Point taken... I wasn't thinking about the Canadian border issue, that dawned on me soon after I made that comment

[Valerie]

Originally posted by Sabre Ally Hey, my brother was watching Pleasantville too. I just talked to him on the phone a little bit ago.
Cute movie. :up: He's got good taste. :) It's on again right now. TNT runs their movies back to back to back. Why I do not know. But if you're interested and get TNT, it's on as we speak. :)

[TigerJ]

It should be noted that while Al Qaeda types are all Muslims, not all Muslims are terrorists and hate the US. The local news tonight noted that it was Muslims in Lackawanna who tipped off the authorities.

[Halbert]

Originally posted by BigDoug
They're posing as an obese bowling team so they'd blend in

lol.

al Qaeda training camp, July 2001: "C'mon, Abdullah. Another two dozen chicken wings and a pitcher of Labatts and you're done with this lesson. And remember - scratch your ass after every split."

[Halbert]

And stop saying "holy crap".

[Bert102176]

I believed you Jaded 7