Right Wing Nut House

This has been “The story that won’t die.” And indeed, the chatter in the blogosphere and on the outskirts of the mainstream media is growing.

The first I saw of it was at Jawa Report in a post that described a Pakistani journalist who interviewed al-Qaeda members in Pakistan. They told him of a plot against targets inside the United States that was ready to go and set for the month of Ramadan (beginning later this month). The plot included “nuclear materials” - probably a dirty bomb or bombs of some kind. The al-Qaedans mentioned Adnan Al-Shukri Jumaa, a man on the FBI Most Wanted list as the main plotter and they referred to the plan as an “American Hiroshima.”

My BS-O-Meter was blinking red at this point. We’ve heard almost since the day after 9/11 that al-Qaeda was going to hit us again only this time with nukes. Congressman Curt Weldon famously walked around the Capitol building in 2004 carrying a suitcase that he said was big enough to contain one of the nuclear weapons al-Qaeda had already stashed inside the United States. And every couple of weeks it seems there’s a story in Newsmax or World Net Daily about someone else predicting nuclear catastrophe for America.

But the story wouldn’t die. One of the commenters at Ace of Spades swears she saw Al-Shukri Jumaa last year when the terrorist was trying to rent a house. Now the sometimes accurate, sometimes not NE Intelligence Network has published the interview between the journalist Hamid Mir and Abu Dawood, the newly appointed commander of the al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan. In it, Dawood claims:

* Final preparations have been made for the American Hiroshima, a major attack on the U. S.

* Muslims living in the United States should leave the country without further warning.

* The attack will be commandeered by Adnan el Shukrijumah (“Jaffer Tayyer” or “Jafer the Pilot”), a naturalized American citizen, who was raised in Brooklyn and educated in southern Florida.

* The al Qaeda operatives who will launch this attack are awaiting final orders. They remain in place in cities throughout the country. Many are masquerading as Christians and have adopted Christian names.

* Al Qaeda and the Taliban will also launch a major strike (known as the “Badar offensive” against the coalition forces in Afghanistan during the holy month of Ramadan.

* The American people will be treated to a final audio message from Osama bin Laden which will be aired within the next two weeks.

The name Abu Dawood is almost certainly fictitious as it refers to a prominent historical figure who is mentioned in the Islamic Sunnah which contains stories of the Prophet’s life. And whether he is in fact the new Commander of al-Qaeda in Afghanistan is something I have been unable to verify.

The reputation of journalist Mir is more intriguing. He appears to be a first class reporter who has twice been fired for writing stories exposing scandals in Pakistan. The reputation of his current employer Geo TV is very good with Mr. Mir’s show Capitol Talk attracting big ratings as well as newsmaking politicians in Pakistan.

What then to make of his story?

Allah’s “worry meter” remains at mid-level on this story which is a sensible place for it to be. After 9/11, we can never quite go back to dismissing these kinds of stories out of hand. However, considering that Washington leaks like a sieve, one would think that any special concerns about an imminent attack that was being monitored by our intelligence agencies would have hit the papers by now.

Remember that during the summer before 9/11, CIA Chief Tenet famously said “The system is blinking red” to describe the threat level. And despite a certain level of dysfunctionality in our intelligence organizations, I can’t believe that they wouldn’t at least get a hint of the kind of massive attack described in Mir’s interview.

So, it is probably a good idea to be aware of the threat while not taking it very seriously. Then again, if we were to get another audio tape from Osama in the next couple of weeks and if the Taliban launches a massive attack in Afghanistan, it may be time to go to the mattresses by stocking up on canned goods to carry you through at least a couple of weeks - perhaps a month. And buy yourself a radio that can run on batteries ( I found after 9/11 I had no such radio or TV).

Let’s hope it’s one more al Qaeda nuke story that never pans out.