[iwar] [fc:Eavesdropping,.U.S..Allies.See.New.Terror.Attack]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-22 06:41:37
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:'USS.Clueless'.sailing.to.nowhere]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Saddam.Hussein:1.5.million.Iraqis.killed.by.USA]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
Message-Id: <200110221341.f9MDfbc03424@red.all.net>
To: iwar@onelist.com (Information Warfare Mailing List)
Organization: I'm not allowed to say
From: Fred Cohen <fc@all.net>
Mailing-List: list iwar@yahoogroups.com; contact iwar-owner@yahoogroups.com
Precedence: bulk
Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2001 06:41:37 -0700 (PDT)
Reply-To: iwar@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [iwar] [fc:Eavesdropping,.U.S..Allies.See.New.Terror.Attack]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

October 21, 2001

Eavesdropping, U.S. Allies See New Terror Attack

By RAYMOND BONNER with JOHN TAGLIABUE

LONDON, Oct.  20 - More than a month after the September terror attacks,
the United States and its close allies are still intercepting
communications among Osama bin Laden's associates and are convinced more
attacks are coming, intelligence officials in several countries say. 

While American officials have been warning of another attack, the
foreign intelligence officials stress that they base their analysis and
conclusions on what their own agencies have gathered and not on
intelligence they are getting from the United States. 

In interviews over the past week, intelligence officials in six
countries in the Middle East and Europe said they were unsure where to
expect the attacks or whether they would be with explosives or with
chemical or biological weapons.  But they said their intercepts and
other tools convinced them that a second and possibly a third wave of
attacks were planned. 

There is no evidence yet linking the recent anthrax-tainted letters to
Osama bin Laden, said intelligence officials from two European countries
that have been working closely with the United States.  But if the
letters are Mr.  bin Laden's work, they are likely only the beginning of
more attacks, they said. 

Still, arrests in the United States and the disruption of suspected
terrorist plots abroad may have bought some time in the battle against
terrorism, American officials said. 

Since Sept.  11, foreign intelligence services have arrested and
interrogated hundreds of suspects, and they claim to have disrupted at
least four separate plans to attack American and allied institutions in
France, Belgium, Jordan and Turkey. 

Interpreting intercepted communications, which are cryptic and in code,
and sorting through all the rumors present a formidable challenge.  One
intercept before the Sept.  11 attack was, according to two senior
intelligence officials, the first early warning of the assault and it
set off a scramble by American and other intelligence agencies. 

In that call, Mr.  bin Laden advised his wife in Syria to come back to
Afghanistan.  That message, which was intercepted by the intelligence
services of more than one country, was passed on to the United States,
officials from three countries said. 

"The question mark was when and where, mainly where because we assumed
it would be soon," a senior intelligence official said.  The United
States and allied governments began looking hard at possible targets
outside the United States, in the Persian Gulf, in Europe "and in other
corners of the world," he said. 

Now the United States and its allies find themselves in a similar
quandary.  They know something is coming but not when or where. 

In the past, officials noted, there had been many months between attacks
- two years between the 1998 embassy bombings in East Africa and the
attack on the destroyer Cole last year in Yemen, for example. 

But this time the follow-up attacks are likely to come much sooner
because Mr.  bin Laden had probably set them in motion before Sept.  11,
the officials add.  They said that they were confident Mr.  bin Laden
had anticipated the United States would respond with a war, and that he
was ready with counterattacks. 

Intelligence agencies in Europe and the Middle East say they continue to
monitor some communications between bin Laden associates despite the
fact that they are aware of the intercepts. 

On the day of the attack, Sen.  Orrin G.  Hatch, Republican of Utah,
revealed that conversations among bin Laden followers had been
intercepted.  He was relying on evidence he had received at a White
House briefing, which in turn was passing on what it had learned from
the German government. 

The divergent views on the nature of future attacks can be explained in
part because there is no central repository of intelligence information
from which all countries can draw.  Most countries pass what they get to
Washington, but American intelligence agencies do not reciprocate as
fully.  Allied governments share their intelligence with each other even
less. 

An Israeli expert said that based on the intelligence he had seen, both
before and since Sept.  11, he expected that Mr.  bin Laden would now
turn to chemical and biological weapons, and that American interests in
Western Europe were the likely targets. 

"We have some basic signs that the people of bin Laden have been
interested in chemical and biological materials," he said. 

He said investigators were looking into reports that a couple of the
hijackers involved in the Sept.  11 attacks had sought training in
Europe to fly crop-dusting planes. 

The officials agreed that further attacks against the United States had
been planned by Mr.  bin Laden before Sept.  11. 

"The aims and behavior of Osama bin Laden, and the expectations of his
followers and supporters, is that he will answer the attacks on
Afghanistan and the Taliban," said one European official. 

The roundups of terror suspects in the United States and Europe
apparently have not completely interrupted Mr.  bin Laden's ability to
launch further attacks against the United States. 

"When Osama bin Laden launches the next attack, we'll find the next
surprise," the Israeli expert said. 

Source: <a
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/international/21INTE.html?todaysheadli">http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/21/international/21INTE.html?todaysheadli>
nes=&amp;pagewanted=print

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Pinpoint the right security solution for your company- Learn how to add 128- bit encryption and to authenticate your web site with VeriSign's FREE guide!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/yQix2C/33_CAA/yigFAA/kgFolB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

------------------
http://all.net/ 

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Next message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:'USS.Clueless'.sailing.to.nowhere]"
Previous message: Fred Cohen: "[iwar] [fc:Saddam.Hussein:1.5.million.Iraqis.killed.by.USA]"
Messages sorted by: [ date ] [ thread ] [ subject ] [ author ] [ attachment ]
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : 2001-12-31 20:59:56 PST