Talk isn’t cheap June 6, 2007
Posted by Scarecrow in 06/05/07 Chicago Tribune.trackback
Talk isn’t cheap
Published June 5, 2007
The four terror suspects didn’t lack for vision. They planned to attack John F. Kennedy International Airport, blow up terminal buildings, fuel tanks and the fuel pipeline that runs beneath the airport complex, authorities said. The leader — a retired 63-year-old airport cargo worker named Russell Defreitas — allegedly compared the plot to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, in a conversation recorded by an FBI informant. “Even the Twin Towers can’t touch it,” he said, according to the feds. He added that “this can destroy the economy of America for some time.”
Chilling words. Luckily, this alleged plot was thwarted with the recent arrests of suspects, long before they could set it in motion. U.S. Atty. Roslynn Mauskopf noted in a news release that “the public was never at risk.”
So was it all just talk, as some anonymous law enforcement officials suggest? One played down the terrorist skills of the alleged leader, calling him “a sad sack,” and “not a Grade A terrorist.” Another said of him: “Capability low, intent very high.”
There’s an instinct — a misguided one — to dismiss these kinds of alleged conspiracies, just because the co-conspirators seem, to some, hapless or ill-equipped at the moment.
But talk like this isn’t cheap. Plotters who seem clueless can get help, as Defreitas & Co. allegedly were seeking from a Trinidadian terrorist group that had launched a deadly attack on Trinidad’s parliament during a failed coup attempt in 1990.
A plan can go from the talking stage to the action stage in a very short time, as this country learned from Timothy McVeigh’s bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City. Watchful waiting by authorities while homegrown terror cells gather the expertise and equipment to carry out attacks can be risky.
Prosecutors say the suspects conducted video and photo surveillance of JFK airport on four occasions in January; identified targets and escape routes and assessed airport security; obtained satellite photographs of JFK airport and its facilities from the Internet, and traveled frequently to Guyana and Trinidad to discuss their plans and solicit financial and technical assistance from radical groups.
From here, this case looks to be another illustration of a wise policy: The best time to take plotters seriously is well before they earn their stripes as Grade A terrorists.
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
