How many Arab-looking folks are gonna get a subway beatdown for this?
Published by punkass marc November 26th, 2008 in Punkass!It’s happening! It’s happening! And on the weekend of our greatest deals on HDTVs, too!
That’s right, Al-Qaeda, the pseudo-fictional loosely organized Arabic cabal of Cobra Commander fanboys is finally attacking America again!
The FBI has warned New York area law enforcement of a “plausible but unsubstantiated” al Qaeda suicide bomb attack against the area’s commuter rail systems over the holiday.
…plausible, but unsubstantiated? Meaning, what, it hasn’t been ruled out in terms of astrophysical possibility, but neither has anyone actually been found (through illegal means, no doubt) of cooking up a for-reals plot?
In a memo, the FBI said the plot was “aspirational” and based on a report that al Qaeda terrorists “in late September may have discussed targeting transit systems in and around New York City” using suicide bombers or explosives.
Aspirational? That’s even sillier-sounding than plausible but unsubstantiated. What’s next, saying that they just heard a few guys talking about it over a glass of chablis?
A US official said the FBI report had been issued “out of an abundance of caution” and that “there is nothing concrete to suggest the plot went beyond the talking stage.”
…oh, so it really was just a couple dudes talking about it. With no single shred of evidence of an actual plan. This now counts as a helpful warning for American citizens?
Painting top headlines all over the web today and print tomorrow about terroristic fairy tales helps precisely no one. Without other information to go on, all this vague threat will do is drive up prejudice and fear on the trains while having no chance of actually stopping someone from setting off a bomb.
You’d almost think top law enforcement officials feel they need to justify their singular focus on stopping non-existent terrorist attacks to avoid getting canned by a new administration.
But I’m sure that’s just nonsense-talk.
I’m still stuck on “plausible but unsubstantiated.” wtf? They got it from a “psychic hotline?”
Well, “plausible” is quite simple: Al Qaeda hate America (or rather, the West), so it is quite plausible that they will sooner or later try their hand in suicide bombing against targets in America. No need for astrophysics here.
And “unsubstantiated” means that they don’t know about any concrete threat and should have shut up instead of scaring everyone.
This warning is probably just another way of saying “Hey, we are still there doing our important job which is to make sure no harm comes America’s way and, while nothing seems to be cooking at the moment, at least nothing we know of, we thought we should demonstrate how watchful we are. Rest assured, all’s well, kind of, and if the baddies try anything funny, you will need us to find out and stop them.” I guess Marc is right, they don’t want to get the boot coming January…