Terrorists Target Ft. Huachuca

Here's a story from today's Washington Times that's getting nationwide attention.  Why haven't we read about this in the local papers?  Let me guess, it involves the Global War On Terror and the Porous boarder with Mexico.  Looks like fodder for page  A 18 to me. 

Islamic terrorists target Army base -- in Arizona
By Sara A. Carter
November 26, 2007
Fort Huachuca, the nation's largest intelligence-training center, changed security measures in May after being warned that Islamist terrorists, with the aid of Mexican drug cartels, were planning an attack on the facility.

Fort officials changed security measures after sources warned that possibly 60 Afghan and Iraqi terrorists were to be smuggled into the U.S. through underground tunnels with high-powered weapons to attack the Arizona Army base, according to multiple confidential law enforcement documents obtained by The Washington Times.

"A portion of the operatives were in the United States, with the remainder not yet in the United States," according to one of the documents, an FBI advisory that was distributed to the Defense Intelligence Agency, the CIA, Customs and Border Protection and the Justice Department, among several other law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. "The Afghanis and Iraqis shaved their beards so as not to appear to be Middle Easterners."

According to the FBI advisory, each Middle Easterner paid Mexican drug lords $20,000 "or the equivalent in weapons" for the cartel's assistance in smuggling them and their weapons through tunnels along the border into the U.S. The weapons would be sent through tunnels that supposedly ended in Arizona and New Mexico, but the Islamist terrorists would be smuggled through Laredo, Texas, and reclaim the weapons later.

A number of the Afghans and Iraqis are already in a safe house in Texas, the FBI advisory said.

Fort Huachuca, which lies about 20 miles from the Mexican border, has members of all four service branches training in intelligence and secret operations. About 12,000 persons work at the fort and many have their families on base.

Lt. Col. Matthew Garner, spokesman for Fort Huachuca, said details about the current phase of the investigation or security changes on the post "will not be disclosed."

"We are always taking precautions to ensure that soldiers, family members and civilians that work and live on Fort Huachuca are safe," Col. Garner said. "With this specific threat, we did change some aspects of our security that we did have in place."

According to the FBI report, some of the weapons associated with the plot have been smuggled through a tunnel from Mexico to the U.S.

The FBI report is based on Drug Enforcement Administration sources, including Mexican nationals with access to "sub-sources" in the drug cartels. The report's assessment is that the DEA's Mexican contacts have proven reliable in the past but the "sub-source" is of uncertain reliability.

According to the source who spoke with DEA intelligence agents, the weapons included two Milan anti-tank missiles, Soviet-made surface-to-air missiles, grenade launchers, long guns and handguns

"FBI Comment: The surface-to-air missiles may in fact be RPGs," the advisory stated, adding that the weapons stash in Mexico could include two or three more Milan missiles.

The Milan, a French-German portable anti-tank weapon, was developed in the 1970s and widely sold to militaries around the world, including Saddam Hussein's Iraq. Insurgents in Iraq reportedly have used a Milan missile in an attack on a British tank. Iraqi guerrillas also have shot down U.S. helicopters using RPGs, or rocket-propelled grenades.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson would not elaborate on the current investigation regarding the threat, but said that many times the initial reports are based on "raw, uncorroborated information that has not been completely vetted." He added that this report shows the extent to which all law enforcement and intelligence agencies cooperate in terror investigations.

"If nothing else, it provides a good look at the inner working of the law-enforcement and intelligence community and how they work together on a daily basis to share and deal with threat information," Mr. Bresson said. "It also demonstrates the cross-pollination that frequently exists between criminal and terrorist groups.

The connections between criminal enterprises, such as powerful drug cartels, and terrorist organizations have become a serious concern for intelligence agencies monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border.

"Based upon the information provided by the DEA handling agent, the DEA has classified the source as credible," stated a Department of Homeland Security document, regarding the possibility of an attack on Fort Huachuca. "The identity of the sub-source has been established; however, none of the information provided by the sub-source in the past has been corroborated."

The FBI advisory stated the "sub-source" for the information "is a member of the Zetas," the military arm of one of Mexico's most dangerous drug-trafficking organizations, the Gulf Cartel. The Gulf Cartel controls the movement of narcotics from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, into the U.S. along the Laredo corridor.

However, the sub-source "for this information is of unknown reliability," the FBI advisory stated.

According to the DEA, the sub-source identified Mexico's Sinaloa cartel as the drug lords who would assist the terrorists in their plot.

This led the DEA to caution the FBI that its information may be a Gulf Cartel plant to bring the U.S. military in against its main rival. The Sinaloa and Gulf cartels have fought bloody battles along the border for control of shipping routes into the U.S.

"It doesn't mean that there isn't truth to some of what this source delivered to U.S. agents," said one law-enforcement intelligence agent, on the condition of anonymity. "The cartels have no loyalty to any nation or person. It isn't surprising that for the right price they would assist terrorists, knowingly or unknowingly."

Comments

[BobH]

That's amazing -- I just checked the Republic and Star websites and there's not a word about it (the Star does feature a story titled "Suit seeks to protect Mexican garter snake" -- so they're not ignoring the really big issues).

Really, this is a great example of how bias shows up not always in how something is reported, but whether it is reported at all. The report may well turn out to be a false alarm, but there's still no question it's important news -- particularly in Arizona.

[ron]

Greg,

You are surprised this isn't in the local birdcage liner?

Several years ago, the Federal head of Homeland Security said that Phoenix was next to the top of the list of potential terrorist targets. That didn't make the local either.

(BTW, the reason that Phoenix is near the top of the list (in the top 3) isn't because of Palo Verde - but because we have two 90 ton tanker cars of chlorine parked on a daily basis around 43rd Ave and Indian School Rd). This is one of the reasons I attended a 'table top' exercise put on by the Local Emergency Planning Committee which outlined what response would be given if one of those tankers was to have a hole put into it by a terrorists. It was not a comforting thing to know the lack of knowledge of what do with a plume of chlorine and lack of effective evacuation plans among our local emergency responders. The good thing, I guess, is that the table top exercise was done and we know our weaknesses and are working on correcting our lack of preparation or at least some people are supposed to be working on it.)

[SonoranSam]

In fact, this was reported - by KOLD-TV, the CBS affiliate in Tucson. The story ran into a lot of criticism as being thinly sourced.

I have no idea whether there's much credibility behind this report. The official sources in the Wash. Times story seem dubious about the validity of the information.

Greg loves to jump all over the MSM for the slightest transgression, but apparently he's OK with running something that may be factually shaky. Maybe that's why the other media outlets ignored it.

Oh, I forgot. They only refused to run it because they're a bunch of left-wing Bush haters. Yeah, it must be that.

[Nick S]

SS made some sense --

"They only refused to run it because they're a bunch of left-wing Bush haters. Yeah, it must be that."

This is just one more example of the Republic's (lack of) coverage on important issues.

The Republic's declining circulation reflects the attitude the consumers have towards its quality.

[Tim]

Whether or not the story is credible, I doubt such an action could be carried out. If I was head of the Gulf Cartel, I'd take the terrorists' money and weapons, lead them to a tunnel into the states, and alert the DEA about what's coming out the other side. Drug cartels have been able to play both sides in many conflicts in order to further their goals.

[BobH]

Sam:

There's nothing wrong with running a thinly-sourced story where it's made clear that the sources are open to question. I believe that where Greg has criticized the media in the past, it has generally been because they have tried to pass off such a story as more solid than it is.

This story is clear about the questions and doubts and is presented as exactly what it is -- a report that such a thing has caused sufficient concern at Fort Huachuca to cause a revision of security procedures. On that basis it is still a valid story (though the headline promises more than the story delivers).

By the way, whether or not the threat was real, it is hardly "thinly sourced" that it was sufficient to cause concern at Huachuca according to the Colonel quoted in the story, "With this specific threat, we did change some aspects of our security that we did have in place."

[azace]

Check out the comments on the Arizona Eighth post last week.

[azace]

Check out the comments on the Arizona Eighth post last week.

[Tom]

I find the timing of the release of this information vis a vis the Congressional and local debates on immigration to be striking. Who knew of this and why was it held for six months?

[The Klute]

This sounds like it has much credibility as the plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge by cutting the suspension cables with an acetylene torch or the Election 2004 "they're going to kill you at the polling place!" warning.

Too bad the Bush Admin released volume after volume of non-specific threat after threat, with nothing coming to fruition (thankfully) and no one being arrested (unfortunately).

[Matt]

I'd like to refer you to today's Sierra Vista Herald (svherald.com) they have a decent article discussing the WaPo article and official response to it.

I read the WaPo article when it came out and it immediately made me suspect that it had been written hastily with no fact checking and was released because of a slow news day or some-such. Supposedely the information had been leaked back in May or prior and not written about until now? No credibility just because of that. The details of how the terrorists would carry things out are so pie-in-the-sky as to be laughable.

I live in S.V., we would of noticed the extra security measures put in place because of a credible, pending, threat.

[Michael Marizco]

"I'd like to refer you to today's Sierra Vista Herald (svherald.com) they have a decent article discussing the WaPo article and official response to it."

Hang on their Klute; this isn't a Washington Post story. This is the Moony-owned Washington Times' reporting.