HOMELAND INSECURITY: Christmas in America could be a literal blast

URL:  http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=241737

HOMELAND INSECURITY: Ex-chief worried naughty terrorists won't be nice to New York, Washington



WorldNetDaily



There is a "real possibility" foreign Islamic terrorists already infiltrated the U.S. though the country's "sufficiently porous" borders, warned former CIA Director James Woolsey.



Commenting on a federal law-enforcement terror-bulletin warning of possible terrorist plots for this holiday season, Woolsey stated symbolic locales in New York and Washington are likely most at risk for any possible attacks.



"I think the thing to be perhaps most worried about is single-person attacks at symbolically important places," stated Woolsey. "And that would put, I think, New York and Washington particularly perhaps maybe more on notice than other places."



Woolsey was speaking in an interview with WND's senior reporter Aaron Klein on the latter's investigative radio program on New York's WABC Radio.



Woolsey said he believes al-Qaida is most motivated to carry out terrorist acts in the U.S. against "symbols of economic prosperity and dominance."



Responding to a question about U.S. border security, Woolsey told Klein that "our borders are sufficiently porous that it is at least possible that Hezbollah or other terrorists have come across in some of the ways that people come here just who want to work."



"And we shouldn't forget the Canadian border," he added. "There are real possibilities of people having come in both ways."



Woolsey warned of the increased terrorist threat emanating from Latin American countries, where Iranian-backed militants are reported to have gained a foothold.



Stated Woolsey: "It doesn't have to just be al-Qaida. A lot of people are under the impression that because the Iranians are Shiites and Hezbollah works for Iran they would never cooperate with a Sunni group like Al -Qaida. That's nonsense."



"Iran has been supplying a lot of the improvised explosive devices and the technology for them to Sunnis in the Taliban and so forth in Afghanistan to kill Americans. And Hezbollah has a major presence in the tri-border region of South America, down by the Iguassu Falls down in southern Brazil, Argentina, etc."



Just last week, classified diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks outlined U.S. government concerns that Iran and the Hezbollah terrorist organization are gaining a foothold in Latin America.



Among the concerns is that Iranian-backed militants may attempt to infiltrate the U.S. or use Latin America as a staging ground for anti-American attacks, the documents relate.



Also, the U.S. caught Iran shipping explosives and attempting to ship unmanned aerial vehicles to Venezuela, the cables revealed.



Meanwhile, a Department of Homeland Security bulletin sent last week to law-enforcement agencies nationwide revealed authorities are worried terrorists will try carry out attacks this holiday season.



The bulletin lists possible threats including car bombs, trucks ramming crowds and Mumbai-style small-arms attack – meaning attacks against soft targets, such as hotels or shopping centers.



The bulletin did not cite any specific plot for Christmas or New Year's. It made clear the warning was based on persistent terrorist threats.



Still, the bulletin followed reports that Iraqi government interrogations of captured gunmen revealed the possibility of an increased terrorist threat to both the U.S. and Europe during the holidays.

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