Weird signs add up to: Not Good

 
From what I've seen, Debkafile has had a somewhat spotty track record for accuracy. So I ignored its article and some related blog postings pointing to a new threat of dirty bombs in several U.S. cities:

...The al Qaeda communications [on Jihadist websites] accuse the Americans of the grave error of failing to take seriously the videotape released by the American al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gaddahn last week. "They will soon realize their mistake when American cities are hit by quality operations," said one message... Another said the attacks would be carried out “by means of trucks loaded with radio-active material against America’s biggest city and financial nerve center.” A third message mentioned New York, Los Angeles and Miami as targets. It drew the answer: "The attack, with Allah’s help, will cause an economic meltdown, many dead, and a financial crisis on a scale that compels the United States to pull its military forces out of many parts of the world, including Iraq, for lack of any other way of cutting down costs..."

Then I see a report on LGF (via Bill Roggio) that gave me pause. Word has it that Al Qaeda training camps in the area of Waziristan have suddenly been vacated:

The Fourth Rail interviewed a senior military intelligence official and a military officer... [who] wish to remain anonymous... Both sources are particularly concerned about the implications of the emptying of the camps. ...The emptying of the camps is a cause for great concern in the military and intelligence communities. "We don’t know where they went to or who was in the camps," the military officer told The Fourth Rail.. "They are well trained, these aren’t your entry level jihadis. They are dangerous... This is one of the reasons that we are worried about a major CONUS [Continental United States] attack...” [he also noted] the recent influx of news of terror cells attempting to penetrate the US. "If they evacuated their bases, they almost certainly did so out of fear of more than just the Pakistani army."

Then Reuters (yes, slightly less reliable than Debka) reports that New York police are battening down the hatches:

New York city police increased security throughout Manhattan on Friday and at bridges and tunnels in response to what they called an "unverified radiological threat." ...The New York Police Department said in a statement it had increased the deployment of radiological sensors on vehicles, boats and helicopters and had set up vehicle checkpoints in lower Manhattan and at bridges and tunnels... Police confirmed the increased security was in response to receiving information that a dirty bomb may go off around 34th street in Manhattan on Friday evening. New York police played down the increased security... "It is stressed that these deployments are strictly precautionary and not the result of any verified threat," NYPD Deputy Commissioner Paul Browne said in a statement...

Sales of John Edwards' bumpers stickers have slowed considerably in the Manhattan area.

Photo credit: New York Post