Since the attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001, the White House has, on a yearly basis, extended the 9/11 National Emergency act. As each September rolled around the announcement was expected almost like clockwork. With out fail, last Thursday, President Obama notified congress of the extension:
NOTICE
- – - – - – -
CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT
TO CERTAIN TERRORIST ATTACKS
Consistent with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1622(d), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, in Proclamation 7463, with respect to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the continuing and immediate threat of further attacks on the United States.
Because the terrorist threat continues, the national emergency declared on September 14, 2001, and the powers and authorities adopted to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond September 14, 2009. Therefore, I am continuing in effect for an additional year the national emergency the former President declared on September 14, 2001, with respect to the terrorist threat.
This notice shall be published in the Federal Register and transmitted to the Congress.
The event has become so common place, the press does not even report on the extension any longer. However, this year people need to take notice… almost like the next bit of news. On Monday, 09/14/09, Osama bin Laden’s semi-annual audio warning was released on an Islamist website:
“A statement to the American people”
“The time has come for you to liberate yourselves from fear and the ideological terrorism of neo-conservatives and the Israeli lobby,”
“The reason for our dispute with you is your support for your ally Israel, occupying our land in Palestine.”
“If you think about your situation well, you will know that the White House is occupied by pressure groups,” Bin Laden said.
“Rather than fighting to liberate Iraq — as Bush claimed — it (the White House) should have been liberated.”
“If you stop the war, then fine. Otherwise we will have no choice but to continue our war of attrition on every front… If you choose safety and stopping wars, as opinion polls show you do, then we are ready to respond to this.”
“You have only changed the faces in the White House,” he said, referring to Obama who took office this year. “Obama is a weakened man. He will not be able to stop the war.”
Also on Monday, 09/14/09, news leaked that U.S. Special Forces may have killed a wanted al Qaeda terrorist who was seeking safe harbor in Somalia:
Special Forces used a helicopter to fire on a car in southern Somalia, killing several people, including one the U.S. military believes was Saleh ali Saleh Nabhan, a senior al Qaeda operative. Nabhan has been tied to several attacks in East Africa, including the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, according to the sources.
However, the final and potentially worrying event, on 9/14/2009 was a joint operation by the FBI and the NYPD task force on terrorism raided three residences in New York City. The believed target was a person with connections to al-Qaida.
No arrests were announced Monday but the investigation was still under way.
Authorities have not found any weapons ready for use — such as a bomb — that would indicate an attack was imminent, they said. Nevertheless, one of the officials called the threat very real and emphasized the urgency of the threat.
Obviously, the world is large and at any time a wide rage of events may be taking place. Often times the events are unrelated and are purely coincidental; however, when a pattern appears in a very short period of time I tend to take notice.
That said I’m not naive enough to think law enforcement isn’t constantly working behind the scenes. I have no doubt arrests, raids, and actions take place all the time with little or no fanfare. I simply find all of the events taking place within such a short period of time a bit coincidental.
So what does this all mean? Frankly, I have no clue. I’m simply noticing a pattern that seems to have popped up.
Was this raid due to President Obama’s stop over in New Work? Don’t know. If I look at events taking place over the next several weeks, I would be more concerned with the G20 summit heading to Pittsburgh on 9/24 and 9/25.
The G20 Summit represents 19 major world economies, as well as the European Union, that meets on a semi-annual basis to discuss macro-economic trends and how member nations should operate to keep the global economy stable.
Who represents the G20 members, you ask – the Presidents, Chancellors, Prime Ministers and Kings of the representative countries. What better target exists at this very moment for someone who wants to make a statement?
With the above events in mind, I can see why roughly 2,000 Pennsylvania National Guard will be assisting Pittsburgh police in keeping the peace during the conference. It will be interesting to see if more events take place between now and the start of the summit.
UPDATE 9/15/2009
After posting the above article, more information became available.
Hundreds of FBI agents are on the ground in Colorado, conducting round-the-clock surveillance on five suspects – including a man who recently visited Queens, sources told The News.
New York authorities searched three Flushing apartments and detained several men – later released – after getting a warrant to look for bomb-making components, explosive powders and fuses.
“The FBI is seriously spooked about these guys planning another 9/11,” a former senior counterterrorism official told the News. “This is not some … FBI informant-driven case. This is the real thing.”
Again, too many things going on all at the same time. Someone in law enforcement is really worried.