The holiday season is approaching and, like clockwork, the FBI released yet another unsubstantiated warning that terrorists might attack shopping malls:
The FBI is warning that al Qaeda may be preparing a series of holiday attacks on U.S. shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago, according to an intelligence report distributed to law enforcement authorities across the country this morning. (Click here for full text.)
The alert said al Qaeda “hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and has been planning the attack for the past two years.”
Law enforcement officials tell ABCNews.com that the FBI received the information in late September and declassified it yesterday for wide distribution.
The alert, like similar FBI and Department of Homeland Security terror alerts issued over the past five years at holiday times, raised questions about the credibility of the information.
The bulletin acknowledges that U.S. intelligence officers are uncertain as to whether the information is real, and intelligence officers say there is a concern that it could be “disinformation.”
A few points.
First, even if the report is not confirmed, I can understand the wisdom of releasing it to local law enforcement and security personnel. If there’s a reason to be vigilant, the people in charge of protecting the public need to know about it. What I don’t understand is the purpose of making this information public when it’s clear that it’s based on questionable sources and internet chat room rumors.
Here’s the FBI’s justification:
“Out of abundance of caution, and for any number of other reasons, raw intelligence is regularly shared within the intelligence and law enforcement communities — even when the value of the information is unknown,” said Special Agent Richard Kolko. “In the post-9/11 era, sharing information is our top priority. Al-Qa’ida messaging has clearly stated they intend to attack the U.S. or its interests; however, there is no information to state this is a credible threat. As always, we remind people to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to authorities.”
In other words, we have no real information telling us that something is going to happen, and it probably won’t. But, if it does, at least we’ve covered our bureaucratic asses by putting out this pointless warning.
November 9th, 2007 at 8:20 am
Dont you see, it’s how the authoritarian neocons try to keep the sheep in their place…keep them afraid, beg their “leaders” to protect them.
November 9th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
I wonder why the continued Al Qaeda threats on our Office Supply stores doesn’t get more press? We can’t let them get their hands on our Post-It Notes!
http://www.humblenarrator.com/2007/11/09/fbi-receives-unconfirmed-al-qaeda-threats-against-office-supply-stores/