New York ends high alert for subway system

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2005-10-10T162016Z_01_N10389904_RTRIDST_0_SECURITY-NEWYORK.XML

NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday called off a high alert for the city's subway system after the attack date cited in a federal warning passed without incident.

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security had warned New York officials of a possible threat to New York's underground mass transit system on or about Oct. 9, based on an uncorroborated claim to Iraqi authorities.

Federal authorities had said the threat was of doubtful credibility but Bloomberg said it was serious enough to warn the public.

"Since the period of the threat now seems to be passing, I think over the immediate future we'll slowly be winding down the enhanced security," Bloomberg told a news conference.

...short blurb...

(borrowing from the SMW thread - a very appropriate 'toon)

Boy that sure was a close one. DHS has saved us again. Thank you Presidrunk Bush!

But lets not bray the plame game.

But I had to laugh at your blame game comment.

reminded me that today George Bush senior made the comment that the time to play the blame has passed.

'We must now focus on the people in the gulf coast.'

Had to chuckle at these folks go straight from too soon to play the blame game to time has passsed to play the blame game.


Edit: missed the play on words the first time around.

Never mind.

brought about by the administration, heads should roll and impeachment/firings should be the order of the day. How much are these "alarms" during critical periods for the * crew costing us? I'm beginning to believe he's even causing hurricanes and mud slides. }( Dang! Am I paranoid, or what?

I hear cash register kaching, kachings in my sleep.

Did he get the same info that the rest of us did- that a detainee in Iraq mumbled something about the NY subway? Is Bloomie going to run around and panic like this every time he hears a rumor from anywhere in the world?

Or, was he given to believe that there was a little more to this than we have seen?

The official story is that he was told the same as we have been told, that there was a specific threat from a not very reliable source.

Since it was for his city, he issued the alert.

The Feds were quick to point out it wasn't from a reliable source.

So was that a CYA move in reaction to the public's cynical reaction to terra alerts due to the abuse of them by * et al?

I don't know.

You can get anyone to confess to anything under torture.

and nothing more? They probably get "terra" warnings daily - it's just that they publicize them when it is politically convenient.

This makes me sick and I now despise Bloomberg even more than before for fucking with us on such a serious issue.

Bloomberg should be called before an independent Commission or Grand Jury to answer questions about his motives in this incident. If he indeed acted reasonably, that should be announced, and we should thank Bloomberg.

If, on the other hand, he acted without a reasonable basis or with political mixed-motives, then he should go to jail.

Terrorist alerts are too important to be left to politicians.

And it will be easier for them to carry out their nefarious plot, right? Maybe the planned date was a ruse. Maybe they'll act tomorrow now that the heightened alert has been lifted.

Or maybe it's all a crock of shit. How are you supposed to take their warnings seriously, They are the poster children for crying "wolf".

I think it might have had something to do with the Columbus Day Week-end. EIther the target would have been all the visitors or the significance would have been to strike back at a "Western Triumph". I tend to trust the NYPD on this. I think they've got a better support structure than Homeland Security.

I personally think Bloomberg chose to name Sunday as the attack date so that people wouldn't be blowing off work on Monday, or Tuesday for those who had a long weekend.

Business must run smoothly at all costs, you know. He thinks like a business man, not a human being.

That power should be altogther taken out of the hands of politicians and reserved to professionals. I am sick and tired of the partisan political use of terra.

There should be a Grand Jury convened and any elected official who is found to have improperly declared a threat out of political expedience should be indicted for making terrorist threats.

He didn't want to upset his base by appearing to court the minority vote, but he also didn't want to upset minorities by appearing to blow them off. The alert came him a "legitimate" reason for canceling. If he were serious about erring on the side of caution, he would have beefed up the police presence without sounding a general alarm.

:headbang:
rocknation

Doesn't sound like a date they'd use, probably pick something more catchy, something that rhymes with 9-11, (eg 3-11, 7-7).

The good people of Beaver Bend can thank me for that. Yep, I stopped the tourists singlehandedly. Well, Brownie helped, but mostly by staying out of the way in the van and chowing down on MREs.

This "boy who cried wolf" crap is putting everyone in danger. But it's serving the purposes of BushCo/al-Qaeda quite nicely: we're becoming a nation afraid of its own shadow.