Monday, January 17, 2005

Exploding Limousines?

Speaking of terrorist Inaugural gambits....

Adding to the inventory of potential terror tools at inaugural events are vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices, according to a report in Time magazine.

These so-called VBIEDs may possibly be disguised as limousines, and the intel behind the latest fear is a document perhaps written by Issa al-Hindi, an al-Qaida operative captured in Britain last year.

"Rough Presentation for Gas Limo Project" describes using limousines to deliver bombs equipped with cylinders of a flammable gas.

The document specifically mentions that limos "blend in" and "can transport larger payloads than sedans ... and do not require special driving skills."

Furthermore, such vehicle could "access underground parking structures that do not accommodate trucks" and "have tinted windows that can hide an improvised explosive device from outside."

al-Qaida used exploding gas devices in the truck bomb that blew up the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam in 1998 and also in a 2002 attack on a Tunisian synagogue.

Hundreds of limos are expected to swarm over the capital this week, and authorities have warned limo rental agencies to be on the lookout.

You know what they say: forewarned is forearmed. The problem is that it's the one angle you don't anticipate that always turns out to be the one that gets you.

But then, anticipation is aided immeasurably by intelligence, which comes from interrogation of terrorist captives, which libs are hell-bent on preventing.

I wonder if they'd feel the same way if it was John Kerry getting sworn in a few days from now.