TA-ANALYSIS: Surveillance on Terror Threat Buildings Believed to be Inside Job

The terror threat against financial institutions revealed on Sunday is believed to be based in part on surveillance conducted by "moles" at Citigroup and the Prudential buildings. The ongoing investigation will concentrate on former employees who had access to these buildings, citing details such as security systems and escape routes which are not readily accessible to the general public.



While officials are not 100% certain that the data was gathered from the inside and fed to al-Qaeda operatives, there is a strong belief that this may be the case. Some of the details on the siezed computer documents prompted the Director of Newark's Office of Homeland Security, Rocco M. Malanga, to say, "In essence, what we were allowed to view was generated by operatives."

Related ATSNN Stories:
Credible Intel on Al Qaeda Plots to Bomb New York City
US Financial Sector & DC Alert Level Raised to Orange
Seized al-Qaeda Documents Reportedly Years Old


[edit on 3-8-2004 by Banshee]

[edit on 8-3-2004 by Valhall]

[edit on 8-4-2004 by Valhall]

An inside job!!! that's pretty scary.
FOX was just reporting that the buildings currently on alert aren't the only ones targetted in the latest threat, they mentioned the UN, Federal Reserve and other financial institutions...so maybe one or two could possibly be inside jobs, but with all the those targets, i think it's unlikely that there would be insiders in all those high profile buildings.

The UN is one of those threatened? That's rich.
Wonder what France, Germany, and Russia would
say if the UN got hit hard. Probably blame America.
Perhaps that would be what would get the UN
out of America. Let some other country foot the
bill.

FOX just said other targets include the ones mentioned above, UN, Federal Reserve, Nasdaq, a few other NY financial institutions and the TransAmerican building in San Francisco. This is the first mention of a west coast target that i have heard of.

I hope they don�t forget to check up on all of the messengers, delivery persons, cab drivers, contractors, housekeeping and other service employees that have worked in of have visited the building over the past few years.

Also, let�s not forget any persons that were given tours of the buildings with all of the security features helpfully pointed out to them by the building management. Why would they do this, you ask? Simple, all they would need to do would be to form a cover company (let�s call it XYZ imports), and approach a real estate firm about renting space in the building.

Were the moles foreign, domestic or naturalized?

Can you get more inside than the CIA, or the FEDS?

[edit on 3-8-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Originally posted by flycatch
Were the moles foreign, domestic or naturalized?

Star Nosed!

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
Can you get more inside than the CIA, or the FEDS?

[edit on 3-8-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Getting a bit paranoid there, huh, SpittinCobra?

Everyone that works for the CIA or the Federal Government is evil, right?


[edit on 3-8-2004 by HowardRoark]

So now the "homeland security" department wants to get into every employees personal information to find the moles? Anyone could just about get blueprints to a building in new york. How do they plan on stopping a carbomb? over 5 million live in new york. I think the "inside" saying is just to make some kind of evidence for the gulible people of this country. The governments inside sources? Who how and where? Havent heard anything about that yet. Who knows if there are already planned attacks set? The government cant read minds (i hope). (Anarchist cookbook recipies anyone?)

If they find any inside source that provided info and they are American they should be tried for treason. Blueprints are not that hard to get from the website, but the news said al qada also knew the type of metals the building were made of and they were trying to find out what temperature metal melts at. Another news agency said al qada also had the emergency routes to the area, now these things you cannot get form the internet there may very well be a mole.

Originally posted by WestPoint23
but the news said al qada also knew the type of metals the building were made of and they were trying to find out what temperature metal melts at.

Whew, that makes me feel a lot better. If that is true, then at least we now know that �al qada� has some idiots in it also

Originally posted by WestPoint23
Another news agency said al qada also had the emergency routes to the area, now these things you cannot get form the internet there may very well be a mole.

I wonder if the emergency routes have anything to do with something called a �streetmap?�

Maybe �al qada� intends to run the routes?

actually, the news report said that the information obtained indicated that the terrorists were trying to determine what materials would burn at a high enough temperature to melt steel.

I think anyone with half a brain could figure out the emergency routes to a given building. You simply determine where the emergency vehicles would be coming from, then find the fastest route. I don't think you would need a "mole" to determine that.


Security layouts and escape routes are not that hard to find, if you know how and where to look. I think it's safe to assume that Al Qaeda is rife with hopeless imbeciles, but dangerous to assume they are all idiots.

Originally posted by The Axeman
I think it's safe to assume that Al Qaeda is rife with hopeless imbeciles, but dangerous to assume they are all idiots.

I would never assume that. My comment was a subtle jab (too subtle perhaps?) at those who keep insisting that jet fuel was unable to melt the steel of the WTC towers.
(It did not, nor did it need to, but let�s not get into that discussion again, please).

Originally posted by HowardRoark

Originally posted by The Axeman
I think it's safe to assume that Al Qaeda is rife with hopeless imbeciles, but dangerous to assume they are all idiots.

I would never assume that. My comment was a subtle jab (too subtle perhaps?) at those who keep insisting that jet fuel was unable to melt the steel of the WTC towers.
(It did not, nor did it need to, but let�s not get into that discussion again, please).

I didn't mean to imply that you would assume such a thing, but alot of people think that we are dealing with a bunch of suicide-bombing crazy Muslim fanatics, nothing more. That is dangerous.