"ABC Hold Terror Warning Tape"

[ATX]

Has anyone else seen this?

http://www.drudgereport.com/abct.htm

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED OCT 27, 2004 12:42:01 ET XXXXX

ABCNEWS HOLDS TERROR WARNING TAPE

**Exclusive**

In the last week before the election, ABCNEWS is holding a videotaped message from a purported al Qaeda terrorist warning of a new attack on America, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The terrorist claims on tape the next attack will dwarf 9/11. "The streets will run with blood," and "America will mourn in silence" because they will be unable to count the number of the dead. Further claims: America has brought this on itself for electing George Bush who has made war on Islam by destroying the Taliban and making war on Al Qaeda.

ABCNEWS strongly denies holding the tape back from broadcast over political concerns during the last days of the election.

The CIA is analyzing the tape, a top federal source tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

ABCNEWS obtained the tape from a source in Waziristan, Pakistan over the weekend, sources tells DRUDGE.

"We have been working 24 hours a day trying to authenticate [the tape]," a senior ABCNEWS source said Wednesday morning, dismissing a claim that ABC was planning to air portions of the video during Monday's WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.

The terrorist's face is concealed by a headdress, and he speaks in an American accent, making it difficult to identify the individual.

US intelligence officials believe the man on tape may be Adam Gadhan - aka Adam Pearlman, a California native who was highlighted by the FBI in May as an individual most likely to be involved in or have knowledge of the next al Qaeda attacks.

According to the FBI, Gadahn, 25, attended al-Qaida training camps and served as an al-Qaida translator.

The disturbing tape runs an hour -- the man simply identifies himself as 'Assam the American.'

[Bigsky770]

. . .From that which I understand, he is one of "Seven" who on May 26, 2004,
Ashcroft and Mueller referred to as "Armed and dangerous, clear and present danger(s)", Operatives of Al~Qaeda. Cannot find out anymore @ this time with a search, apparently, only this info is coming from "The Drudge Report" and I cannot establish any other info that correlates this. If true, there could be something really terrible in the works. Let's hope not!

Joe (Bigsky770) :vbroll:

[Bigsky770]

CIA analyzes video of attack threat
Thu 28 October, 2004 02:10


By Steve Gorman
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - ABC News has asked U.S. security officials to examine a videotape it obtained in Pakistan of an English-speaking man threatening a massive attack on the United States, the network says.
Sources familiar with the tape -- the authenticity of which U.S. intelligence officials have not been unable to verify -- said the man, who claims to be a U.S. native and al Qaeda supporter, warns that the "streets will run with blood."
The video appears to have been made as recently as late summer because the speaker discusses the Darfur conflict in Sudan, makes a reference to the Massachusetts same-sex marriage legislation and mentions the September 11 Commission, one U.S. intelligence official told Reuters on Wednesday.
ABC News vice president Jeffrey Schneider said the network has not shown the video because its authenticity has not been verified by either independent analysts or government experts.
"We have worked with the CIA and the FBI, neither of whom have authenticated the tape," he told Reuters. "Obviously, it would be beyond irresponsible to broadcast this tape without first authenticating it."
The first disclosure of the tape by Internet columnist Matt Drudge prompted ABC to publicly acknowledge the video's existence before knowing whether it was real or fake.
Schneider said the tape was obtained from a source in Pakistan over the weekend and arrived in New York on Monday, where it was first viewed by network officials.
Asked about the tape at a campaign stop with President George W. Bush in Ohio, White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters, "The intelligence community is analyzing it, working to verify its authenticity."
A source familiar with the tape told Reuters the hourlong video features a man, whose face is concealed by a headdress, warning that a coming attack on the United States would dwarf the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.
According to the source, the man says, "The streets will run with blood" and says the United States has brought this on itself for electing a president who has declared war on Islam by attacking the former Taliban rulers in Afghanistan and waging war against al Qaeda.
The source said linguistic experts believe the man, who identifies himself as "Assam the American," learned English at a young age but is not a native English speaker.
A U.S. intelligence official said the man claims to be originally from America and speaks fluent English with a slight accent. "We don't have a positive ID of the speaker, who was shrouded and wearing dark glasses," the official said. "The intelligence community does not have information linking the video to a specific threat."
The official said the tape was "classic al Qaeda propaganda," but seems to have been "sliced and diced." The speaker refers to al Qaeda leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahri as "our leaders" and praises the September 11 attacks.
Sharing information like this with the government carries risks for a news organization, said media analyst Andrew Tyndall.
"If...as a result of sending this tape to the government, the CIA tipped off the Pakistani internal intelligence service, and they rounded this guy up, (ABC's) news-gathering ability would be compromised because you'd be perceived by the people on the streets of Karachi as being a front organization for the
CIA."
Schneider said ABC had been consulting with experts of its own as well as with U.S. officials. "We went to a number of sources in an attempt to authenticate (the tape) and in this case, those sources include government sources," he said.

the LINK:
http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=610615&section=news

Alleged Terror Tape Gives ABC Pause
News Division Delays Airing Video as FBI, CIA Evaluate

By Howard KurtzWashington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 28, 2004; Page C01

It has all the makings of an incendiary story: a chilling pre-election videotape featuring a supposed member of al Qaeda, declaring in English that "blood will run red in the streets of America."
The problem, say ABC News executives, is that they can't determine whether the tape, obtained by a producer, involves a real threat -- or even the identity of the figure on it, a man wearing an ammunition belt and a headdress that obscures his face. The network enlisted the aid of the FBI and CIA but still can't authenticate the 75-minute videotape.

"We're not quite there to broadcast something that would be quite frightening," investigative reporter Brian Ross said yesterday. "I'd love to have the exclusive, but first we'd like to get it right."
ABC was put in the awkward position of defending its insistence on fully checking out the story after the Drudge Report posted a huge online headline: "ABC News Holds Terror Warning Tape."
A network producer obtained the tape over the weekend from an intermediary in Pakistan -- who charged a $500 transportation fee -- and ABC's New York headquarters got a feed of the video Monday, network executives said. They said they sent copies to the FBI and CIA, which have been unable to identify the speaker -- who says he is an American and is brandishing automatic weapons -- after comparing his voice to those of known terrorists. ABC hired two linguists who concluded that English was not the speaker's native tongue. For example, he cited the country of Yemen as "the Yemen."
"The dilemma is that we have an individual identified only as 'Assam the American' -- we have no idea who that is," said Christopher Isham, ABC's chief of investigative projects. The unidentified man addresses his threats to "my fellow countrymen."
In weighing the evidence, ABC staffers are mindful of the problem at CBS News, which has apologized for rushing on the air with disputed documents about President Bush's National Guard service.
Ross and other ABC staffers say they believe that a Bush administration official leaked the story to Internet gossip Matt Drudge as a way of pressuring the network into airing the tape, which would heighten concerns about terrorism in the final week of the president's reelection campaign. They note that whoever gave the information to Drudge had a transcript of the tape.
One counterterrorism official said the tape shows the man "just ranting and raving." Another federal official with knowledge of the matter said that government agencies are pleased that ABC shared the tape and relieved that the network is not airing it while the video is still being evaluated. The CIA is examining the tape virtually day and night, this person said.
The officials, who declined to be identified because the administration is not commenting on the matter, say investigators do not believe the man on the tape is Adam Gadahn, a California-born Muslim convert identified by the FBI in May as an al Qaeda member wanted for questioning.
A U.S. intelligence official said it is possible the tape was produced by an al Qaeda unit called Sahab Production Committee because the video bears the committee's recognizable logo and has been edited and spliced. The official called it "classic al Qaeda propaganda" and said the man on the tape even brings up the issue of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts.
The debate may not be over. The officials say a source with access to the tape, apparently impatient with ABC, has offered it to another broadcast news organization, which has called the government for guidance.
Drudge said yesterday that a political motivation behind the leak was "possible," but put the onus on ABC. "They haven't authenticated previous al Qaeda tapes before airing them," he said. "Why are they waiting to authenticate this? It's election week."
But Isham noted that previous videotapes featured Osama bin Laden or other al Qaeda leaders who could be verified by sight.
"It's either a well-done hoax or a tremendous news story," Ross said. "We're not going to get stampeded."

The LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3742-2004Oct27.html


- - -Submitted by Joe (Bigsky770) :vbroll:

[mickydoolittle]

When have these fuq'n assholes not claimed that blood would fill the streets and that AMERICAn's would be killed in great numbers? It's oft repeated--to the point of monotony. They can't stand our freedom--freedom to practice anything we want; even idiocy for those who choose such. Hatred is all these whackos understand.

This appears to be more hot-air bluster from another group of religious whackjob fundamentalists.

[Bigsky770]

. . .WHAT made me sit-up-and-take notice here is that whilst scouring the 'web', "DrudgeReport.com" UNCOVERED the story FIRST. Now, being as biased as they are, I found LATER that more (ahem) "respectable" news groups were following suit AFTER. WHY? Usually in cases such as this, it don't happen quite that way, the stories are more apt to filter from the top down. For a long time, I could find NOTHING. I only found-out from the Washington post and Reuters LATER, (and I did check BEFORE!) Did they decide that they had no choice BUT to print 'cause the story had been blown? Gotta make yah wonder. . . .

Joe (Bigsky770) :vbroll: