New Bomb Plots Prove Terrorists Probing U.S. Vulnerbilities
NEW YORK (CBS 2) – Like the steady drumbeats of a battering ram at the castle gates, terrorists have tried and tried and tried again to take American lives.
As the events like the failed cargo package bomb plots prove, terrorists haven't given up on trying to attack the U.S., CBS 2's Don Dahler reports.
"It's really unfortunate, but they are not going away," said Annemarie McAvoy, a former federal prosecutor and expert on terrorist funding.
Because getting financing is more difficult for them, al-Qaeda has scaled down its goals from another 9/11-sized catastrophe to something smaller, but no less terrifying, she said.
"We have the anniversary of 9/11 coming up—the tenth anniversary, and the word is that they would like very much to get an attack in that's a successful attack before that anniversary because it would have such a huge impact," McAvoy said.
Terrorism expert Robert Strang said al-Qaeda is constantly probing U.S. vulnerabilities.
"Clearly, this type of cargo shipment is vulnerable. Are we checking all these bags that go into cargo planes? We're not," Strang said.
Some have suggested this was just a trial run to see if such packages get flagged. With the trial, the terrorists have succeeded in gaining publicity and putting a strain on the global economy with yet more security inevitably raising the cost of doing business.
"In addition to even trying to see if they can get something through, they have a huge impact that they can get out of just doing this," McAvoy said.
The consensus in the intelligence community is that the terrorists will not stop and will not be content just trying one tactic or another. In this war, they will use every weapon they can conceive of.
Because of concerns that al-Qaeda is intent on having a successful attack on the U.S. this year, experts remind everyone that if you see something suspicious, report it.
