ABC's miniseries on The Path to 9/11 revealed the weaknesses of American intelligence, the indifference of elected officials and the petty infighting of bureaucrats. If we honestly look at the situation we will be forced to admit that America's vulnerability to terrorist attack is due to national psychology. The business of America is business; this means the freedom to buy and sell, the freedom to get rich, the freedom to move about and speak your mind, and the freedom to advance political correctness. Restrictions on trade, on the border, on personal movement, on hostile resident aliens or Muslims would be unthinkable. Already, the government's extra-Constitutional methods (such as they are) have not resulted in the breakup of the main al Qaeda task force hiding in the United States, led by Adnan Shukrijumah. It is this force that has been preparing to carry out an attack "more devastating that 9/11," designed to collapse the U.S. economy.
Five years after 9/11, the U.S. government has not captured Shukrijumah even as reports surface that Osama bin Laden has returned to Afghanistan. NATO commanders in Afghanistan report equipment shortages, anarchy and corruption among local constituencies as democracy has clearly failed in a country that lacks the necessary democratic prerequisites. The situation in Iraq isn't much better, because Muslims have interpreted the coalition mission as an attempt to steal natural resources (i.e., oil) and to help Israel. The American strategy in the War on Terror did not account for Muslim attitudes. One may make martyrs until Judgment Day, or until the Democrats win back the presidency and begin the process of withdrawing from the Middle East altogether. This is how the situation reads at the moment.
Meanwhile, a credible journalist with sources inside al Qaeda, has begun to describe an impending mega-attack on America by offering details. Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir says that al Qaeda has smuggled three nuclear weapons out of Russia. In a recent interview with al-Arabiya television, Mir reported that al Qaeda's "nuclear wizard" (Shukrijumah) has successfully moved radioactive materials across the U.S.-Mexico border. In a recent interview with Ryan Mauro, Mir repeated his claim that al Qaeda has nuclear devices. "I came up with this conclusion after eight years of investigation and research," he explained.
The details given in Mauro's interview are alarming, to be sure. An attack "bigger than 9/11" is being set up, and the attack will involve six nuclear dirty bombs as well as two or three suitcase nukes acquired in Chechnya. Hamid Mir told Mauro that he is almost finished with a book about bin Laden, who remains popular in the Muslim world. "I am going to reveal facts that nobody can deny," said Mir, who touched on the weakness of America's FBI and CIA.
When asked about the timing of a future al Qaeda nuclear attack on America, Mir said: "They want the U.S. to be involved in a mass killing of Muslims, so that they will have some justification. That is what I was told by a top al Qaeda leader in the Kunar Mountains of Afghanistan."
Former FBI and CIA experts think bin Laden's promised strike against America is close at hand. Dan Coleman was the FBI's top expert on bin Laden until his retirement in 2004. He believes the U.S. is vulnerable, even when it comes to airline hijackings. Former CIA counter-terrorism expert Michael Scheuer believes that al Qaeda's Sept. 2 videotape is a red flag. Warning Americans to "convert or die," the video follows the Koran's fair warning policy in advance of a serious attack. In an article published on the Jamestown Foundation's Web site, Scheuer says the Western media has misread al Qaeda's intentions.
There is no doubt at all that the United States remains vulnerable to a massive terrorist assault. Bound by political correctness, the FBI is afraid to offend Muslim sensibilities. Furthermore, recent administration violations of the Constitution are wearing thin. The public is tired of the Republicans and Congress may be about to change hands. All that is required for a devastating result is a little ingenuity on the part of an attacker. Everything may be chalked up to the openness of U.S. society. The free market is the most efficient economy; but it is not the most efficient security state. In the present situation, freedom and security are not compatible. If forced to choose, Americans will choose freedom over security; and that is what they've done. Throw in a willingness to trust old enemies for the sake of peace and commerce, and the outcome is foreordained. The rights of various sub-groups and political dissidents trump national security at every turn. America's self-conception has been supplanted by "multiculturalism" which amounts to the denial of any specific national culture. American dogma now says that all religions and races can live in peace together, that there is nothing to fear from an influx of Muslims into the United States. And so, as one might expect, the FBI has not located al Qaeda's "nuclear wizard."
