Notice: Sources often remove their news links after a period of time. Some of them move older stories to a subscription-only section. Even if the story is no longer on line, our summary will still be available on this page.
Dec. 30, 2003 - The Department of Homeland Security says that high-density areas for New Year's Eve and New Year's Day celebrations will be off-limits to certain aircraft and will be patrolled by warplanes as part of a heightened watch for terror attacks. These areas include the Strip in Las Vegas, New York City's Times Square, downtown Chicago, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
The restrictions will apply to chartered flights and smaller leisure aircraft, but not to commercial and military flights.
Dec. 26, 2003 - Three Air France flights from Paris to Los Angeles were cancelled because of a terrorism warning from the U.S. that passengers might have intended to hijack a flight and crash it near Los Angeles or Las Vegas. Thirteen people were questioned after they had checked in, but all of them were released. Authorities still want to question others who did not show up for the flight. One of them is a pilot.
U.S. security is also tight in other places across the nation.
As on other occasions when terrorist fears are heightened, U.S. officials said their main concern is that al Qaeda might use a chemical or biological weapon, or a radiological "dirty" bomb.
Dec. 24, 2003 - Los Angeles and the Los Angeles airport are considered prime targets for terrorists during this holiday season. Homeland security alert remains at "orange" for high threat. Officials say that terrorists are eager to strike again -- possibly using weapons of mass destruction.
The higher security alert imposed this week was prompted by intelligence information indicating a "credible" threat of terrorist attack. The biggest worry was the possibility that al Qaeda could hijack a plane from another country and use it as a weapon, similar to the 9/11 attacks.
Dec. 22, 2003 - The Terror Alert level has been raised to orange again, based on intelligence that indicates a higher risk of terrorist attacks during the holidays. Since there is no specific information about the possible target of such attacks, people are urged to go about their business as usual, but with added caution. Most Americans are taking the information casually.
Nevertheless, the alert prompted heavier security at buildings ranging from nuclear plants to shopping malls. Checkpoints for trucks were heightened at bridges including the Golden Gate Bridge and spans into New York City.
Nov. 22, 2003 - Recent bombings worldwide, and fresh intelligence has led the Homeland Security Department and FBI to issue public warning that Al Qaeda plans attacks against Americans at home and abroad. The attacks could use hijacked airliners, and/or non-conventional weapons, in an effort to cause another massive strike. These terrorist activities could correspond with the end of the Muslim observance of their holy month of Ramadan, which ends early next week.
Of particular concern is "Al Qaeda's continued interest in aviation, including using cargo jets" to attack infrastructure such as bridges or dams "as well as targeting liquid natural gas, chemical and other hazardous materials facilities," the department said in a statement.
The Homeland Security level remains at its current "yellow," or elevated, position.
Nov. 21, 2003 - Various groups are taking credit for the terrorist attacks in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Chechnya and Iraq. Many of them are not officially tied to al Qaeda, but their leadership was trained in the al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan.
A senior FBI official said . Approximately 20,000 people from 47 countries passed through the camps from the mid-1990s until the U.S-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001.
Nov. 15, 2003 - Two synagogues in Istanbul, Turkey, have been bombed, leaving at least 17 people dead, and more than 200 injured. The blasts occured during Sabbath prayers.
The Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, said he believed suicide bombers were behind the blasts. "It is clear that this is a terrorist event with international links," he said.
Nov. 12, 2003 - Syria has continued to sponsor terrorism and resist efforts by the U.S. to stabilize Iraq. They may also have the missing weapons from Saddam Hussein. Both houses of Congress have passed bills giving the President power to deal with this problem.
The Senate yesterday voted 89-4 to approve the Syria Accountability Act, which gives President Bush the authority to impose tough sanctions against Syrian President Bashar Assad's government, so long as Syria supports terrorists and continues to develop weapons of mass destruction.
Nov. 8, 2003 - A huge explosion devastated a residential compound of Arab foreigners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was a suicide attack, and is being blamed on al Qaeda. Between 20 and 30 people were killed, and about 100 were injured.
Oct. 5, 2003 - A previously unknown group, called "Islamic Bayan Movement," has posted a warning on the Internet urging Muslims to leave key U.S. cities because of planned strikes against Americans.
"Our Muslim brothers in America, we ask you to immediately leave the following cities: Washington, D.C., New York, and Los Angeles," reads the communiqué, which frequently quotes the Quran.
So far, the Pentagon has not changed its terror alert status.
Oct. 31, 2003 - Seven wildfires are still burning in four California counties, and have consumed more than 2,600 homes and 730,000 acres. The good news is that there are now cool temperatures and even some rain helping firefighters to gain control of the fires. Outgoing governor, Gray Davis has said this may be the worst and costliest disaster California has ever faced.
The state is spending an estimated $9 million a day fighting the wildfires, a near doubling of the estimate just two days ago. The total cost of fighting the fires could reach $200 million, and the toll on the California economy has been put at $2 billion.
Oct. 27, 2003 - While wildfires ravage Southern California, and authorities look for arsonists who have started some of them, the possibility arises that terrorists are involved.
A June 25 FBI [FBI] memo to United States law enforcement agencies revealed a senior al-Qaida detainee claimed to have developed a plan to start midsummer forest fires in the U.S.
The Arizona Republic newspaper reported that an unidentified detainee revealed he hoped to create several large, catastrophic wildfires at once, because U.S. citizens would react to the losses by putting pressure on the government to change its policies.
Oct. 10, 2003 - Syria is a haven for terrorist training camps, and possibly the place where Saddam Hussein's prohibited weapons were taken before the Iraq war.
"Syria permitted volunteers to pass in to Iraq to attack and kill our service members during the war, and is still doing so," said U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton.
Congress is considering The Syria Accountability Act, and if they approve it, the President would have the the authority to impose various economic and diplomatic sanctions on Syria.
Sept. 29, 2003 - During the past two years Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network has purchased at least 15 ships through a Greek shipping agent. The ships, which have been traced by the CIA to parts of the Indian or Pacific oceans, fly the flags of Yemen and Somalia.
The ships... are capable of carrying cargoes of lethal chemicals, a "dirty bomb" or even a nuclear weapon, according to G2 Bulletin's sources. British and U.S. officials worry that one or more of these ships could hit civilian ports on a suicide mission.
Source:WorldNetDaily - from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin
September 19, 2003 - Analyzing the latest tape showing Osama bin Laden, experts think bin Laden is ailing and his top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahri, is probably preparing to take over the al-Qaida helm.
Sept. 8, 2003 - Al-Arabiyya TV broadcast a new tape from the al-Qaida network claiming that they have doubled in size, and threatening that devastating new attacks against America are imminent.
"We announce there will be new attacks inside and outside [the US] which would make America forget the attacks of September 11," said an al-Qaida spokesman who identified himself as Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Najdi. The television showed a still photograph of a bearded militant.
Sept. 5, 2003 - Paul H. Gilbert of the National Research Council told a congressional panel that a deliberate attack on the nation's power grid would be much more severe than the Aug. 14th outage that lasted up to three days in the country's Northwest, and left 50 million people without power. He said,
With power out beyond a day or two, both food and water supplies would soon fail. Transportation systems would be at a standstill ... natural gas pressure would decline and some would lose gas altogether ... Communications would be spotty or non-existent.
A terrorist attack could take weeks or months to repair. Gilbert based his remarks on work done by a high-level brains trust within the National Academies. Nearly 200 scientists, experts and officials worked for six months on the project.
Aug. 28, 2003 - Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and author of Militant Islam Reaches America, says that Islamic radicals are still very strong, and there is still too much apathy in the free world, especially by those who have not yet suffered great losses.
Surveying the war effort as a whole, there has been a rousing from the deep sleep of pre- 9/11. But with notable exceptions, there is not a state of full awakening and the forces of militant Islam remain no less of a threat than they were two years ago.
Sept. 2, 2003 - Disturbing and complicated relationships between the U.S. and the ruling Saudi family are explored as possible reasons for ignoring the role of Saudi Arabia in encouraging terrorism.
Aug. 28, 2003 - Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum and author of Militant Islam Reaches America, says that Islamic radicals are still very strong, and there is still too much apathy in the free world, especially by those who have not yet suffered great losses.
Surveying the war effort as a whole, there has been a rousing from the deep sleep of pre- 9/11. But with notable exceptions, there is not a state of full awakening and the forces of militant Islam remain no less of a threat than they were two years ago.
Aug. 25, 2003 - Terrorists are pouring into Iraq to try to maintain their existence as a world force by pushing back the U.S. troops.
"From the point of view of the al Qaeda types, this is a pretty important battlefield for them," said L. Paul Bremer, U.S. civilian administrator for Iraq.
Analysts say it is actually to America's advantage to fight terrorism there instead of on our own soil, or in many different nations, but military strategists warn that the stakes are very high, and this is a war we simply must win!
Aug. 15, 2003 - The CIA and Thai forces arrested al-Qaeda's top operational mastermind in Southeast Asia.
Hambali, 37, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, was arrested in central Thailand two days ago in a joint CIA-Thai operation that also netted several minor al-Qaeda operatives, U.S. officials announced.
Aug. 14, 2003 - Following the largest electrical blackout in U.S. history, which left 50 million people in the dark on the East Coast, President Bush told the nation that terrorism was not a factor in the failure. The blackout came as a surprise since the problem of cascading power grid failures was supposedly repaired by changes to the system decades ago. Some of the cities affected are New York City, Cleveland, Detroit, Toronto and Ottawa.
Aug. 12, 2003 - A representative of Jane's Defense Weekly told an Edinburgh audience that terrorists, such as al-Qaeda, are more likely to detonate a nuclear "dirty bomb" than than the old Soviet Union ever was of launching a missile strike. James Hutchinson of Janes said:
Building nuclear weapons is no longer the closely-guarded secret it once was. The nuclear genie is out of the bottle and can’t be recorked. International disarmament is an illusion.
July 22, 2003 - In a blunt statement to reporters, following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, President Bush accused Syria and Iran of supporting terrorism.
"Today, Syria and Iran continue to harbor and assist terrorists. This behavior is completely unacceptable and states that support terror will be held accountable."
He also said that those countries are not helping the cause of the Palestinians because, "Terrorism is the greatest obstacle to the emergence of a Palestinian state."
June 25, 2003 - Greek authorities seized a ship carrying an "atomic bomb" sized quantity of explosives (680 tons of dynamite) destined for a non-existent company in Sudan. Osama bin Laden was based in Sudan until 1996.
Elite troops stormed the Comoros-flagged Baltic Sky while it sailed in west Greek waters late on Sunday, after receiving a tip-off from international intelligence agencies that it was carrying suspicious cargo in its hold.
The discovery is significant in the wake of bombings in Saudi Arabia and Morocco, and a terror warning in Kenya.
May 20, 2003 - For the fourth time since the inception of the terror alert system, the U.S. moved to Orange (High) Alert, indicating a high risk of a terror attack throughout the nation.
One law enforcement official told Fox News that Tuesday's FBI message went out because the intelligence community is hearing "chatter" that indicates there is a concern of an Al Qaeda attack within the U.S.
Al Qaeda is suspected in last week's terror attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco.
May 19, 2003 - See the article in the Mideast War section. Terrorism is still strong amidst efforts to implement a new peace plan between Israel and the Palestinians.
May 19, 2003 - On Sunday, Saudi Arabia arrested four men suspected of having al-Qaida ties. This is the country's biggest breakthrough in the truck bombs that killed 25 bystanders, eight of them Americans, on May 12.
May 17, 2003 - A series of suicide bombing attacks in Casablanca, Morocco's largest city, targeted a Jewish community centre, a Spanish restaurant and social club, a hotel and the Belgian consulate. At least 41 people were killed in the attacks that appear to be led by international terrorists.
The BBC's Heba Saleh says the bombings appear designed to undermine a pro-Western Arab government, even at the cost of killing fellow Arabs and Muslims.
Mar. 26, 2003 - U.S. Marines have discovered a mural in the Iraqi military headquarters in Nasiriya depicting a plane crashing into a high-rise building, reminiscent of the 9-11 attack in New York.
for Treasury of Scripture,