May 20, 2004
WINNING THE W.O.T.:
CIA tipped off Turkey over al-Qaeda plan to attack NATO (jang.com, 5/20/04)
Turkey received a tip-off from the CIA over an alleged al-Qaeda plan to attack the June 28-29 NATO summit in Istanbul, to be attended by US President George W Bush, ahead of the arrest of suspected militants this month, the Milliyet newspaper reported Wednesday.Posted by Orrin Judd at May 20, 2004 5:32 PMThe CIA reportedly told Turkish authorities that the al-Qaeda network was planning a "large-scale" attack during the summit and that explosives were dispatched to Istanbul from northern Iraq, Milliyet said, without citing a source. A police spokesman contacted by AFP declined to comment.
The tip-off was received prior to April 30 when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a security meeting with senior officials, Milliyet said. Shortly afterwards, Turkish police rounded up 25 people in Istanbul and nearby Bursa, thought to belong to the northern Iraq-based radical group Ansar al-Islam, an alleged ally of al-Qaeda, on suspision that they were plotting a bomb attack on the NATO summit. A search at the suspects’ homes and offices in Bursa netted home-made pipe bombs, materials used for making explosives, CDs featuring Osama Bin Laden and al-Qaeda militants in training and subversive documents.
The newspaper did not specify whether the May 3 crackdown was directly linked to the intelligence received from the CIA.
Could we had gotten access to information like this monitoring these groups by satellite, from the space shuttle, or talking among each others at Langley? Ditto for information that led to the capturing of terrorists allegedly planning to detonate tons of chemical agents in Jordan? Etc. Could having our foot squarely stomped on their homeland (the Middle East at large) not been a bit helpful?
Of course, I am sure it would take God's testimony to that effect (making a special appearence on Ted Koppel) to convince some. I don't know, and we certainly are not going to hear it from official sources. Official sources are only expected (and credible) when they tally losses. Never when they tally lives saved.
Posted by: MG at May 20, 2004 6:20 PM