New York City Forced To Welcome The U.N. General Assembly While A Terror Alert Is Issued
As New York welcomes back diplomats and world leaders to the U.N. General Assembly, this yearly photo opportunity bonanza with typically little tangible results, the Department of Homeland Security issued an elevated terror alert for mass transit systems around the country. The weapon is feared to be backpack bombs similar to those used in subway bombings overseas.
Take a look at the map and you will get an idea of the scope of the problem trying to safeguard something of this size.
These diplomats and world leaders, led by President Obama today, who are converging on New York don't have to worry about using mass transit (although some such as Gadhafi may have trouble finding a place to stay). In this yearly pilgrimage which causes an enormous amount of upheaval to the daily lives of New Yorkers, "dignitaries" are safely and comfortably ensconced in limousines, driving down empty streets closed by the police for
their own security.
This while the citizens of the City, operating under a new terror alert aimed at mass transit systems, are forced to take this very form of transportation as getting around the streets by bus or cab becomes a nightmare. As tens of thousands of people are forced underground, Ahmadinejad and Gadhafi will be driving overhead.
How ironic that New York, considered by some to be the signature city of the Country, is put into the position to welcome some of the very leaders and nations who would like to destroy it.
As they say it is an enigma, wrapped in a riddle, housed in the U.N.
The very U.N. that New York would gladly see move elsewhere, funded in a majority way by the U.S., and which does extremely little to further any of our major issues.
(
AP)"... Publicly, law enforcement officials have repeatedly said they are unaware of a specific time or target for any attacks. Privately, officials speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case said investigators have worried most about the possible use of backpack bombs on New York City trains, similar to attacks carried out in London in 2005 and Madrid in 2004.
Backpack bombs ripped apart four commuter trains and killed 191 people in Madrid on March 11, 2004. On July 7 the next year, bombing attacks in London killed 52 subway and bus commuters.
In a bulletin issued Friday, the FBI and Homeland Security Department warned that improvised explosive devices are the most common tactic to blow up railroads and other mass transit systems overseas. And they noted incidents in which bombs were made with peroxide.
In the bulletin, obtained by The Associated Press, officials recommended that transit systems conduct random sweeps at terminals and stations and that law enforcement make random patrols and board some trains and buses.
The effects of the warning were not immediately clear Monday. New York's transit agency said it was in touch with an FBI-NYPD task force but wouldn't comment further.
The task force feared Zazi may have been involved in a potential plot involving hydrogen peroxide-based explosives, according to two law enforcement officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the investigation..."
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