Analysts see smoking SUV, think 'dry run'

[Confederate Kahanist]

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=151089




The attempted Times Square car bombing just a week ago may have been a dry run to determine reaction to such an event in preparation for a future attack – or attacks, security experts say in a report from Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.

U.S. authorities have arrested Faisal Shahzad, a Pakistani-born U.S. citizen, as he tried to leave New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on a flight en route to Dubai. He was charged with terrorism in attempting to blow up a sports utility vehicle in Times Square that, if successful, would have killed many people during a busy time of day and done extensive damage.

Security experts suggest, however, the bigger problem is mounting evidence that future attacks are being planned, not only because of the continued U.S. presence in Afghanistan in pursing the Taliban but also for sending in unmanned drones to hunt down the Taliban in Pakistan.

There also is another reason given for the promise by a Taliban affiliate of future attacks in the U.S. It has to do with the alleged U.S. treatment of Dr. Afia Siddiqui, a name unknown to most Americans but a woman who has become something of a folk hero in Pakistan.

An American-educated scientist with alleged ties to al-Qaida, Siddiqui was wanted by the FBI and arrested in Pakistan in 2008. She was tried and convicted in 2010 in attempting to kill U.S. law enforcement officials who were questioning her after she had been captured in Afghanistan.

News accounts, largely unsubstantiated, in Pakistan say she allegedly was tortured and sexually abused while in U.S. custody, including a claim of having been stripped naked and forced to step on the Quran.

Security experts also have seen a pattern of behavior of terrorists who plan attacks and see how they carry them out. The Time Square episode may be indicative of such a pattern in probing a potential target, such as leaving a package outside an embassy, only to watch how security officials will deal with it.

[cjd]

Yes, I am inclined to agree with the "dry run idea". While they would not have been upset if the bomb did some real damage even at best it might have killed a few people close I don't think it was the goal. I think they were trying to see just how tightly monitored the city really is.