Scotland Yard and the FBI have prevented an attack on the New York subway that if successful would have been second in scope only to the attack on 9/11. Reportedly a senior member of al Qaeda gave instructions over the internet to Najibullah Zazi an airport shuttle bus driver. He reportedly used a stolen credit card to buy bomb making paraphernalia. Can we call this one terrorism or will it be classified as identity theft? The Telegraph has the story:The plan, which reportedly would have been the biggest attack on America since 9/11, was uncovered after Scotland Yard intercepted an email.
The force alerted the FBI, who launched an operation which led to airport shuttle bus driver Najibullah Zazi, 24, being charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction.
The Afghan is alleged to have been part of a group who used stolen credit cards to buy components for bombs including nail varnish remover.
The chemicals bought were similar to those used to make the 2005 London Tube and bus explosives which killed 52 people.
Zazi, from Denver, Colorado, is understood to have been given instructions by a senior member of al Qaeda in Pakistan over the internet.
US authorities allegedly found bomb-making instructions on his laptop and his fingerprints on batteries and measuring scales they seized.
A phone containing footage of New York's Grand Central Station, thought to have been made by him during a visit a week before his arrest, was also found along with explosive residue. Zazi was also said by informants to have attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan.
The alleged plot was unmasked after an email address that was being monitored as part of the abortive Operation Pathway was suddenly reactivated. [...]
The British discovery also came at just the right time - the US had threatened to sever intelligence links over the release of Lockerbie bomber Al Megrahi.
I wonder what official in the Obama White House came up with the bright idea to sever ties with Scotland Yard over the release of the Lockerbie bomber. This administration is playing Chicago politics with our national security.
We can be thankful that law enforcement personnel continue to put their lives on the line. In the past they didn't have to worry about being attacked by their own government. But with Eric Holder appointing a prosecutor to investigate the CIA and the President saying that police act 'stupidly' their jobs are made that much more difficult.
It would be a nice morale booster if the President would release a statement praising the FBI and our friends at Scotland Yard for a job well done.
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