Today terrorist plots against two New York City tunnels were revealed. I question the timing. Not because of anything to do with the election but because of the New York Times revelation of secret efforts to track terrorist finances.

One plot involved bombing the Holland Tunnel, perhaps in the hope of flooding the Wall Street district. The laws of physics would have prevented that outcome but a successful bombing of the tunnel would have been devastating.

The second plot involved a plan to mark the anniversary of 9/11 with a massive attack on the New York subway.

Arrests have been made in both plots. Both in Lebanon.

At least one of these plots, the subway plot, is not a new discovery.

Officials say the plot was uncovered more than a year ago by U.S. and Canadian intelligence agents watching a jihadist internet chat room.

Officials say the suspects communicated freely, thinking that no one could track them.

No doubt having identified the actors in the plans, investigators were watching them. Tracking their movements. Tracking their communications. Tracking their finances. All in an effort to help them track down terrorists leaders.

But they cannot do that now. Thanks to our friends at the Times the terrorists know that we are listening to their phone calls. They know that we are tracking their money and how we are doing it.

In the time since the Swift story was published investigators likely observed changing patterns in the plotters behaviors that lead them to decide to end these plots now because the value ion trying to track the terrorists activity was lost.

What we will never know, is who is the one that got away.

Technorati Tags: New York Times, Terrorism

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 04:18 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment