They say that hindsight is 20/20...well, Richard Clarke and the US intelligence community has that hindsight now...I wouldn't be scared to go out or afraid to ride the subway, but I would keep in mind that ignoring these suggestions of being alert and aware are your choice.

I know, I know..."the bushies are trying to scare us and take away our rights"..."this is just a scare tactic to keep the sheeple in line"... blah blah blah...maybe...maybe not...

The officials have been warning us for a week now. They say an attack is imminent. Then so is a stock market crash, is it not? The market will crash when this 'imminent' attack happens, won't it? Is it time for everyone to sell all their stocks?

Eric, read the story..."It does not mean an attack is necessarily imminent."...And you asked the same questions regarding the stock market in another posting, so I'm not sure what your point is, other than being antagonistic or sarcastic.

The market withstood 9/11...and it was covered in 3k dead bodies and and a bunch of debris...I'm sure remote locations are set up in the event that the exchange itself is destroyed...

And who needs "official warnings"? Don't be naive...you're instinct should have been keeping you on your toes since the winter of 1993...

If something were to happen I would have no problem with President Bush declaring Marshall Law and cancelling the 2008 presidential election.

The next terror attack is a nice story, but I'm not sure I'm worried about it. It seems to be a toss-up between that and the following; social security running out, health insurance rising too fast, global warming and its destruction of our planet, possible civil war in 30 years between all of the illegals and the minority "white" U.S. population, west nile, triple E, and anything else I forgot to mention. Sleep well.

Jazz, your last comment was ludicrous on so many levels....

Be specific, Adam...make a point...

BUSH trying to get his and cheney's poll numbers up...scare scare scare...let's do a background check on the next person who may become our leader to see if he or she is a nut before election time...please please please...no more cheneyees or bushies

I don't understand the significance of the 'chatter.' My understanding of how an al Queda cell works is that they are totally independent and can plan and executive pretty much at will, with minimum input from headquarters. So, who would be chattering to whom? And about what? I thought each cell was isolated and no one knew the details of 9/11, except top echelon. Presumably if another attack is in the works, very few al Queda would know.

I don't buy it Jazz. The market is bound to crash when this imminent terror attack hits. You would be a fool to hold stocks in this extremely dangerous environment. Your retirement money would disappear in an instant.

It's a sad thing when you don't trust your own president. Unfortunately such is the case and skeptism about this type of "leak" about an imminent attack means little to nothing to anyone anymore.

If we do get attacked, it would be the creme de la creme failure of this administration with all their over spending, bloated government, spying and wars of choice, all of which was done to 'keep us safe' and none of which would have worked??? Then we truly have threwn out the baby with the bath water in when we allowed him to make this 'democracy' which was more like pseudo facism at bush's height of scare tactics.

I hope we are as brave and chin-up about terrorism as the English. They are brave sort. I was impressed how they handled their near miss.

Jenny, were you born after 9/11/01? Questioning whether WE are as brave as the Brits? Did you not see the reaction of the American people, pulling together and getting their game face on. Going back to work, especially in New York City? You are a true nutroot to compare Bush to a fascist. Your ignorance of events is stunning. I bet you think 9/11 was an "inside job" and that we never walked on the moon, right?

Jarhead, well said. I'm I'm English to boot!

when it happens, and it will, the republicans will blame former president Clinton bet on it

Everyone of you needs to get a grip! HELLO?! When will we get it together? The events of today were foretold 2000 years ago, but nobody seems to believe all the things spoke of by the prophets. We are living in the "times of the end" - Want to be prepared? better catch up on your reading!!!

Bash Jenny all you want, the point still stands. If a similar attack happens what good has all this done. I'll admit that several attacks have been thwarted in no small part because of the increased security, but if the attacks persist then obviously we aren't dealing with the root of the problem. I'm not saying we should lay down our arms and capitulate but this is not a black and white issue, there is a lot of grey area.

Hey jujubean...Are you serious? Bush declaring Marshall Law and cancelling the 2008 presidential election??? HAHA That's the funniest thing I've heard in a while. What will it accomplish? Bush sending us to another ruthless war? I can hear it now...‘Let’s attack Antarctica…’ HA
You should be shipped to the south pole. No offence BTW :)

"Marshall Law" ??

Maybe you are confusing the Marshall Plan (which involves rebuilding after an attack -- see "Post-WWII Europe") with martial law (see "Peri-WWII Germany")?

It's only a matter of when but who cares anymore. The people in charge who need to make leadership type judgements just aren't there. Just live.

Clark is no fan of Bush and I trust what he puts out there. Starting to consider this more seriously. Then again, I've figured we would have another one any way so it's hardly surprising.

Mike,

That kind of thinking is extremely weak minded. By that logic we should have just sat around reading the Bible during all past conflicts. If that was the case, we'd all be speaking German right now.

I must admit, because it is Richard Clarke, I am sitting up and taking notice. Doesn't mean I am going to change my daily activities. It means I will be alert not alarmed. Joe Public are the Security Services eyes and ears. If you see anything suspicious even if you don't think it is important REPORT IT let the professionals decide if it important or not.

Don't sit there moaning about if and why empower yourself, our security services can't be everywhere at once.

Several plots in the UK were stopped because the Public thought 'hang on that doesn't appear right' and reported it. If they are here someone knows where, even if they don't realise it.

I also second Jarhead's comments, running around chasing plotters does not solve the root cause.

I agree Jujubee. I think if we have another attack, the election could be postponed, not cancelled. The main problem will be if the attack is against a government facility or a "soft" target. Our country can handle an attack as we saw on Sept. 11 but we are not remotely prepared if the terrorists go after soft targets.

If there is another al Qaeda terrorist attack, it will largely be a result of Bush ignoring al Qaeda...AGAIN. Bush allowed bin Laden to escape at Tora Bora into Pakistan. From there, bin Laden, Zawahiri et al have been allowed to regain strength. They're now posing a threat to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Europe and the US--AGAIN.

Why is Osama still running around loose? How can Bush tell the American people that he's not important anymore? How can Bush claim that Iraqi insurgents are to blame for 9/11, when they had nothing to do with it. Iraqi insurgents didn't even exist prior to 9/11, nor did al Qaeda in Iraq.

Before anyone tells me that I must've been born before 9/11...I live in NYC and I was here on 9/11. My family knew people who died, and I know people who barely escaped with their lives. New York City remains the #1 al Qaeda target. But the Bush administration keeps sending counter-terrorism funding to Kentucky and Nebraska.

If I sound angry, you're DAMNED RIGHT!

1. A suspension of our democratic process is the most counterproductive suggestion on this page. Including the bible study idea. Every intelligence agency under the sun tauts AQ as a very adaptive group, and Jujubee suggests we not only stop the very slow adaptive process of administration change but ignore the the laws our enemy seeks to destroy?

2. BTW a "soft target" is you and me Cindi, civilians. There are endless plans to deal with the loss of government officals, including the loss of entire branches of government.

3. Richard Clarke just happens to have been the chief counter-terrorism adviser on the U.S. National Security Council during the Clinton administration, (Pre 911) back when they tried to kill Osama bin Laden twice with missile strikes. He knew a threat when he saw it then and when he warns us we should think twice before dismissing it.

Bush has the right to postpone or even cancel the 2008 election?? I'm sorry, but one man should not have the power to interrupt an American institution and usurp ultimate power for an undisclosed period of time! It's un-American! IF an attack happens, we WILL go on. Our country will then realize the past eight years under this administration began AND ended with horrible acts against our nation.

The right to elect our officials, regardless of the situation of the world, is on what this nation was founded. It should stay that way.

Jazz says he would support martial law and suspended elections if we were attacked again... Wake up, this administration has upset the world, our enemies, our allies, everyone. If these attacks do happen, we're brought them on ourselves through the ignorance, stupidity and lack of vision of the Bush administration. They can't see past the first Iraqi oil field let along have a vision for America's future.

Too bad we are wasting time in Iraq, instead of pursuing bin laden.

TO MY AMERICAN FRIENDS:
Please stop with the "President Bush is the root of all evil" ideaology. It makes you sound stupid when you keep repeating it over and over and use it as a response for everything from terrorism to a hangnail. It also means you are uninformed and know very little about the government you so blatantly disrespect. Preserving the security of our freedom and opportunity in this country is at stake. Please come out from the left and the right and realize that we need to be a united as a people who will not let our great nation wind up opressed because we were too tolerant.

NSPD 51 and HSPD 20. That is all you need to know. It's already in place and he may use it if there is another "attack."

Jazz, who do you work for, really? The Constitution is the the Law of the Land.

What this means is be alert and vigilant in your surroundings. Just hope that people who are responsible for security will just shut up, follow the leads, do their job and do whatever is necessary.

my game prediction..terrorists are going to launch rpgs simultaneously at lax and downtown la...then the cia is going to hire southern calif. gangs to take out radical islamists and several mosques in the gruesome manner...via "Greenlight" process...anyone caught will be sent to the nut house and or 4 years in jail with a big payoff when the get out....

Anyone that believes our government is just trying to scare us is living in a closet. You cant deny that something is building. It has been very quiet for quite sometime except for the Europe incident. It has been 6 years since we were hit. We all know that Al Qaeda is patient. This is the time that you need to start paying very close attention to the warning signs. You have intelligence saying that the threats are increasing and more information is pointing to sonething happening this summer. Look at our economy. The jobless rate has gone down and the Stock market hit a record today. This country is booming econmically. There can be no denying the fact that the possibility of an attack is growing every day !

If another major terrorist attack happens on Bush's watch, the administration is FINISHED! There will be no martial law. There will be overwhelming calls for impeachment and new leadership. We all pray that an attack does not happen, and the conservatives better pray even harder. Their very political life depends on it.

Terrorism is a fact of life. What good is there in raising a "security level"? All of the things enacted post 9-11 should have been done pre, when it was equally clear that the threat was there. So let's simply follow other successful examples like Israel and be as secure as we can while going on with our lives. Temporary shows of force do little.

Maybe all of you should catch up on your politics and this administration. A Presidential Directive has already been issued (in May) that gives George Bush (the man who thinks the Constitution is just a GD piece of paper) the authority as the SOLE care taker of the Constitution to do whatever he deems necessary in the event of another terrorist attack.

Canceling the election and declaring Marshall Law is included. And, I might add, the least of our worries.

I saw an evil looking middle-eastern type this morning at the overpriced gas station. Being vigilant, I called the local Air National Guard base to see if we could get an air strike. They laughed at me! Can you imagine that??

Hunt them down and shut up. Publicity after you clean the mess up.

If we get attacked by Al Qaeda or any other terrorist organization, should we consider using our nuclear arsenal along the Pakistan-Afghan border to eliminate the tribal and spiritual leaders within the Taliban and the leaders within Al Qaeda?

Since we armed and provided intelligence to Osama Bin Laden during the Afghan-Russia war in the 1980's should we consider partnering with Russia and seek revenge against Osama Bin Laden who effectively broke up the Russian empire?

Any thoughts?

Yeah, a thought...UBL did not "effectively break up the Russian Empire"...

Should we not utilize the Russians in our search to destroy the Chechens rebels, the Taliban and Al Qaeda?

If the Chechens rebels are supplying Al Qaeda with nuclear weapons and technology, why not utilize our nuclear technology and eliminate the tribal and spiritual leaders along the mountains in Pakistan-Afghanistan?

We need the president to send a message to Zawahari, in the event the US or any of its allies are attacked on the commands of Al Qaeda leadership, we will use all means available to eliminate the threat which is facing the world!

SINCE 93 WE SHOULD NOT HAVE PUT OUR GUARD DOWN AFTER 911 THIS COUNTRYS SAFTEY WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN,WE MUST ACT AS IF THEY WILL ATTACK US EVERYDAY OF OUR LIVES,AND NO MATTER HOW PROTECTED OUR COUNTRY IS THEY WILL ALWAYS FIND A WAY,OUR LIVES NOW ARE LIKE RUSSIAN ROULETTE.

We could have stopped the attacks of 9/11 in many ways, just listening to what was being said but we are always willing to take the road that leads to "peace" rather than security. It is our history and nature to trust, to care about getting those young Muslims their flight status rather than bust them and send them home....we're in a little better place now but as the flying Imams have shown...not much.

I'm surprised that ABC News would hire Clarke. As counterterrorism czar, we suffered more attacks after Clarke was appointed than before he was appointed. The man failed to stop the bombings of our embassies in Africa despite prior warnings. He failed to prevent the attack on the USS Cole despite a prior warning. And he failed to prevent 9/11. Clarke is a failure, yet ABC News hires him as a counterterrorism expert. Incredible.

You know... ALL you Bush hater psychos would be the FIRST people screaming "WHY DIDN'T THEY TELL US? WHY DIDN'T THEY PROTECT US?" "WHY? WHY? WHY?" if terrorists attacked and the Govt. had said nothing. They warn you and you say it's just "scare and fear mongering". Well, which would you rather have?" A warning or silence?

They're damned if they do and damned if they don't. Typical, left wing insanity.

Clarke is a failure yet ABC hired him? You think that's incredible? What's incredible is that Bush is a total failure yet the voters hired him to a second term. Now THAT'S INCREDIBLE.

Benibiker says: "Wake up, this administration has upset the world, our enemies, our allies, everyone. If these attacks do happen, we're brought them on ourselves through the ignorance, stupidity and lack of vision of the Bush administration."

Um, no. Islamic terrorism has been around since the 1970's, These people never had power until the Carter Administration helped dispose the Shah of Iran and let the Ayatollahs take over.

They didn't need George Bush or any American President to piss them off. Have you ever heard these guys site historical basis for their attacks? Bin Laden has on several occasions. Islam has had a grudge against Western civilization since The Crusades.

Have you not forgotten the terror attacks against Americans in 1979, '83, 1993 and the late 90's? They happened during Democrat and Republican administrations. You don't get it. They don't care who the President is. They hate US and everything we stand for because we are NOT Muslim.

Convert or die. Oh yeah, we Americans are the bad people.

The american people and the politicians either are uninformed or have their head in the sand. They should know the facts of why we are there and why we are in that reagion. We and our allies need the oil for our economy to work and of course it would tank without the unimpeded flow of oil. we are competing with china and india for these resourses. AQ says we are stealing their resourses, support isreal and are non muslims that are on their soil. Americans must understand we are going to be there for as long as the oil is plentiful, when it's gone so are we. It was never about weapons fo mass distruction...These politicians that say we should leave must be on another planet, what are we going to stop supporting israel, stop driving our big suv's and leave the region. I don't think so. So yes we are in for a war that will last for the lenght of time that the oil is plentiful or until we change the way we live.

Seamark said it well. Western powers agreed after WWII that oil was the #1 strategic/economic resource, and would need to be controlled and burned until it was gone. And the Arabs who are getting rich year after year are fine with that situation... Likewise, US energy policy and American habits will not change quickly. That's a fact.

The problem is that the US has ceased to be an honest broker of peace between Israel and Palestine, and we're making a bright future difficult to imagine for many children in the Arab world.

Don't get me wrong, radical fundamentalist killers should be destroyed, but our mobilization against this enemy needs to include solving that conflict. Not saying I know how (Hamas isn't exactly a partner for peace), but progress since 2001 has been zero on that front. That's pathetic and scary.

Seems to me that anytime the words, "terror strikes in America" are uttered, half the country starts peeing in their pants. Just the desired effect. However, if Bush had a brain, the opposite would be true. We should have formed deadly counter-terrorist units that spread around the globe and worked hand in hand with other country's national police, etc., with the sole purpose of wiping these nut case extremists off the face of the earth. THEY should have been the ones living in terror the past 6 YEARS. Instead, we've spent billions of $$ and thousands of lives trying to secure oil fields that don't belong to us. If we need the oil so badly, why not go after it the old-fashioned way - buy it!

How can anyone trust Richard Clarke, a hold over from that dastardly Clinton Administration, the husband of that infamous Valerie Plame, No Yellow Cake form Africa, Daaaah. All the preparation for 911 took place under his watch. Why does ABC hire such a criminal to try and make anything credible. Richard Clarke as well as Valerie Plame should be serving life prison terms for treason. These people are not citizens of the U.S. they are citizens unto themselves.

Sure we will be hit again. When and how big, I have no idea. There is a difference between a nation that is alert and prepared, and a nation full of freightened wimps.

Go max out your credit cards or the terrorists win.

OK so after 6 years of war on terror, the enemy is as strong as ever and bin laden is free, how can anyone feel that Bush's policies have been less than a total failure? If he worked in the private sector he would be cleaning toilets.

Let's be serious...who was the President of the United States when Osama bin Laden declared war on the United States of America in August 1996?

Let's be serious, who was the president who supported then abandoned Bin Laden in Afghanistan against the Soviets?

I'll give you a hint there wasn't just one.

Stop playing this game like Clinton caused all of this. No one on either side of the aisle is innocent, but I'd have to go as far as to say that we're seeing some major backlash from Reagan/Bush 41 policies. No?

This WH never had their eye on AQ,it was Iraq all along. Despite the failures in the the previous admin regarding AQ.
Cheney & co. finally had one meeting on AQ on Sept. 4, 2001 only because of Clarke's numerous warnings.
Who was it again that ignored the Bin Laden Determined To Stike in US brief in Aug. 2001?
That would be the sitting president.

If we get another major attack it will be arranged by the Bush/Cheney crime family in order to declare martial law. Bush just signed a presidential order giving himself absolute power over every branch of government. They do not plan to step down. Those of you who believe that Bush/Cheney were not involved in 911 are foolishly naive. Those buildings were taken down with well placed explosives and cutting charges. There is evidence. Traces of thermate have been found on samples of the core columns.
In the last few months several Republicans have stated that we need another attack to bring the people around. They are hoping and praying this will happen. Cheney has no choice. If they lose the White House all of their crimes will be exposed and they could end up in serious trouble. They did it once they will let it happen again.

Did anyone read former FBI consultant's book, "The Al Queda Connection." It talks about how AQ is believed to have nuclear suitcase bombs in this country and want to destroy 7 to 10 major cities simultaneously. Bin Laden has said he wants an "American Hiroshima."
He said he wants at least 4 million americans dead and wants 2 million of them to be children. Paul Williams has also said that small cities and towns in this country are not safe. He said that they are not safe because the MS13 street gang which has many militant islamists in it are laying dormant until the major cities are laid to waste and then they will proceed to murder people in their homes and take over entire towns. As far as police go, Paul Williams says that a few ambushes on police stations would eliminate police and then the MS13 will be able to wreak havoc on America like never seen. Raping wives and daughters and then killing them, going into schools and holding children hostage and killing them much like what the world saw in Chechnea. I believe and so does FBI consultant Paul Williams that the knockout blow to America is coming.
The ground in America will be so soaked with blood and so many people will be brutally murdered and tortured.
The enemy knows that once they eliminate us that the world cannot survive. Paul Williams also mentioned that certain portions of this country could come under foreign control.

Well, here is something to think about: In the first half of the 20th century, America was the greatest Nation on the face of the earth. We had thriving industry, people with work ethics and did not take any crap from anyone. We had politicians that actually had spines. Imagine if we could bring back FDR, Truman, Eisenhower and Patton. We would not have one fourth of the troubles we are having now, because, we would have pounded the middle east until a terrorists own mother or wife would have turned him over to us or killed him themselves. The whole thing would be over in a month or two.

Heck, we are so worried about what the rest of the world thinks, we are scared to death to use any real force.

I think, with the exception of our true allies, we should tell the rest of the world to go screw themselves and sever relationships with all. If they don't like us then to hell with the whole lot of them. Leave them with only this "If so much as one American is harmed by a terrorist then we start wiping muslim cities off the face of the planet"

Keep our people, our resources,our goods, our technology and our money at home where it belongs. Quit importing so much of this cheap foriegn crap and put the AMERICAN workers back in the AMERICAN work force and deport ALL non US citicens immediately!!!! And use our own damned oil!!!!!!

Clinton spent 8 years in the white house when he should have been going after Alqaeda after '93. I distinctly remember that event and remember thinking "why aren't they doing anything about this?". I guess the sign on Clintons door that day must have read "If this office is rockin, don't come knock'in".

America is in a religious war and will be for many years to come, so get use to attacking and being attacked. After 9-11, the world changed and it may take a couple of generations before reason sets in again between the religious fundamentalists of the world, including some religious fanatics in our own country. I am not a Bush supporter and personally think he should be impeached, but blaming Bush or even Clinton for this irrational war is an uneducated and short sighted view. We won't win this war in Iraq, but by being united and having a strong economy with little debt. Two things we are presently not...

This string is a joke. Everyone who has half a brain, realizes that Bush is the main problem with just about everything in this country. He is in bed with the enemy so he can line his pockets. He has to scare us about the possibility of these 'imminent' attacks, so we can watch in awe while he works his magic and busts a few small time cells. When the real magic is happening behind the scenes and billions of dollars are being transferred in off-shore accounts, so he will be ready to ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. Then he can laugh at this country and all that we let him get away with. It really is the perfect crime! Watch and See!

In the summer of 2001, we had numerous, high quality intelligence reports that indicated something was going to happen. We did not know where, when, how or specifically who.

The CIA knew of a huge al Qaeda attack inside of the US that would kill thousands of Americans from about April 2001, they knew the names of three of the al Qaeda terrorists who were to carry out this attack, Khalid al-Mihdhar, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Salem al-Hazmi, when the CIA had them photographed at an al Qaeda planning meeting in Kuala Lumpur to plan the Cole bombing but kept their names secret from the FBI for 21 months prior to 9/11. The CIA knew Hazmi had entered the US on January 15, 2000 and on August 23, 2001 knew both Hazmi and Mihdhar were in the US. In spite of the fact the CIA knew they were going to take part in this huge attack, they never give this connection to the FBI. Maybe Clarke can explain that!

We did not issue a public alert because we had no "actionable intelligence"; we did not have any specific advice for the public.

The information given to Ashcroft on July 17, 2001 by Tenet and Black was so specific he immediately quit flying on commercial aircraft inside of the US for the remainder of his term. Maybe they could have given the same advice to the American public, or at least told them watch out for terrorists on their flight.

Reading this tonight is like watching a soap on TV in the afternoon. I know of a lot of former soldiers that will stand and take there place if our country ever needs us again. I have served once and will gladly serve again if I am need to help protect our country within. Second the idiots on the right are still talking about Monica and the idiot on the left want to raise the surrender flag. Can anyone find the middle ground while I am not crazy about Bush and the neocon's on the right but I wonder what it will take for some here to join the camp in the middle and see there is still danger without over reacting to it.

Our own squabbling will do more to undermine our security than the nut cases extremist in the middle east. 3RD lets wait to see what happens and then decide what to do, terrorist are not going to tell us what they are up to but if we put our ear to the wall then maybe we can stop it and if not we will need to be a nation of ONE not a nation of us and them others left or right. 4th and last lets hope no president ever needs to enact such an act as to suspend the constitution or we are in more trouble than we think.

It's about time for the silent pragmatic middle of this country to be heard from. Right wing nuts and neocons are certainly dangerous, but so are left wing pacifists. The problem with Bush and his administration is that they are completely incompetent and have repeatedly lied to the American people. Obviously, Clinton also did his share of lying. When will "We the People" demand that we are represented by strong and capable leaders and not special interests? And Jazz, Martial Law is an extremely dangerous response and will only further erode the rights of law abiding Americans. The 2008 election should never be canceled by anyone. We managed to continue to have elections during the Civil War, World War II as well as other wars. Be very careful regarding how much power you decide to give to others to protect you. Or you may very well need protection from them.

As with most of the posts I've read - we have some real nut jobs out there. Martial Law - suspension of elections - we blew up the Trade centers - get a grip people. We are so wrapped up in pointing fingers in all directions we blinders on. If we have credible intel it should be acted on - there is nothing wrong with having a vigilant public - I would much rather have a million extra eyes watching than everyone having their heads in the sand. If there is an attack - we will deal with it, but to blame anyone at this point is stupid. We have become so polarized - left and right - we can't see what is going on around us. We have an enemy who is not going to stop - no matter what.

What an idiot... Joe Wilson is married to Valerie Plame Wilson, not Richard Clarke. Richard Clarke may have been the counterterrorism "czar" but had no real authority for decisionmaking -- that responsibility lies directly on the President. Clinton may have missed bin Laden but Bush has been spending, apparently, $12 BILLION monthly and hasn't been able to get him either. If the GWOT is that ineffective, it should be constructively reevaluated rather than energy spent on name-calling and president-bashing.

We did not issue a public alert because we had no "actionable intelligence"; we did not have any specific advice for the public.

The information given to Ashcroft on July 17, 2001 by Tenet and Black was so specific he immediately quit flying on commercial aircraft inside of the US for the remainder of his term. Maybe they could have given the same advice to the American public....

The question not asked before is why let thousands of Americans die for no apparent reason?

If people like Richard Clarke are concerned we might want to take notice. Remember that Richard Clarke was the gentleman who wanted all of the credit for forewarning the bush administration regarding the 9/11 attacks. So i would have to think that if he saw the chance to 'redeem" himself so to speak, he would be adamantly speaking out when he saw a similar scenario approaching. Whether he is right or wrong only the future holds the answer.
But there are several events that could culminate in the chance of such and attack. First, we have no control in Northern Pakistan home of the Islamic bomb. It becomes more plausible everyday Pakistan's president could collapse in a radical muslim coup readily availing Bin Laden of his most desired possession, a bomb. Secondily, We are coming up to an election year much like in the pre 9/11 scenario of the Millenium plot. We tend to forget that that was the original 9/11 but was never played out for the 2000 election year. Thirdly, the islamisists devour our media. They know the poll numbers for the President and Congress, they see the opposition, they see an un-united America. They see us a s weak, vulnerable, and ripe. Why do you think that Putin is acting the way he is ? He sees the same thing. Lastly, they see our economic conditions. The downfall in the housing market, and over inflated Dow, lack of consumer confidence, and record American indebtedness. Could we be more ready for the perfect storm?

A new terror attack. If history is any guide we are all screwed. In the attack on 9/11 everyone in the administration and the CIA knew about a huge al Qaeda attack inside of the US that would kill thousands of Americans, in the summer of 2001, the CIA even knew the names of two of the terrorists who would take part in this attack, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi and knew they were inside of the US preparing for this attack and they all said nothing to the FBI to alert them to this connection between these two al Qaeada terrorists and this imminent al Qaeda attack in order to stop this attack. They even deliberatltely hid the connection between these two terrorists and the planning of the Cole bombing, a connection that would have allowed the FBI Cole investigators to search for Mihdhar and prevent the attacks on 9/11. What is to say if they knew the same information today about another horrific attack inside of the US today they would not do exactly the same thing!

the real question is: who is the real enemy? it's not a matter of republicans versus democrats, but the american people versus the political class, who have sold out to the financier class to keep political donations flowing and for their own personal enrichment. the war in iraq is not a patriotic war, though many/most of the americans fighting might be patriots. it is war for profit - profit for manipulators who direct the public players from behind the scenes.
in the here and now, manipulation of the market has developed from an occasional event to an ongoing process. taxpayer money and official knowledge are channelled to firms like goldman sachs and jp morgan, who benefit directly and also by being able to take advantage of their foreknowledge of market moves - to the detriment of ordinary investors. have you noticed how goldman sachs heavy-hitters stroll back and forth between goldman and the white house (under both parties)?

the much-anticipated but long-delayed attack on iran may well be imminent, since it asked the other day for japan to pay for oil in yen rather than US dollars, and announced that it would let UN nuclear inspectors back into iran at the end of july. remember that iraq's fate was sealed once 1) it dropped the US dollar for oil sales and 2) UN nuclear inspectors were withdrawn from iraq. on this analysis, the attack on iran would have to take place before the end of july. the current terrorist warnings at home would be part of the process of conditioning the public for another terrorist attack that would provide the excuse.

I'd rather be an educated, common sense nut job, than an ignorant jarhead fool with no idea of what Newtons Law is.