The next 9-11

I’m going to make a prediction.

It’s not a prophecy based on clairvoyance or extra-sensory perception.

Instead, it’s an educated guess based on the best intelligence available to me and my sources at Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin – information available to others in government and law enforcement but, I suspect, being widely ignored or overlooked at this moment.

I predict the next big terrorist attack against Western targets by Islamists will not come from the air, a la Sept. 11, but rather from the sea.

I draw this conclusion from continuing reports al-Qaida has established its own terrorist armada of some 15 ships.

I draw this conclusion from reports terrorists have been recently resorting to high-seas piracy – not for booty, but in an effort to learn how to sail ships.

I draw this conclusion based on information that these terrorist pirates have gone so far as to kidnap experienced sailors for the sole purpose of acquiring expertise on maritime vulnerabilities.

I draw this conclusion based on other information that terrorists have for a number of years demonstrated increasing interest in diving.

I draw this conclusion based on intelligence that a number of tugboats have been stolen, possibly with the idea of towing a hijacked tanker into a major port.

I draw this conclusion based on underreported and underanalyzed warnings from the U.S. State Department about the increasing threat of maritime terrorism.

I draw this conclusion based on a recent Rand Corp. study warning terrorists might use container ships in attacks meant to cause massive casualties – possibly including the use of weapons of mass destruction.

Of course, there’s really nothing new about maritime terror. In October 2000, the USS Cole, a heavily armed ship protected with the latest radar defenses, was hit by an al-Qaida suicide crew. Seventeen American soldiers died. Two years later, following the attacks on the Twin Towers, a similar attack was carried out against a French supertanker off the coast of Yemen. Another French ship was reportedly the victim of a torpedo attack.

“The global war on terrorism is like watching water running downhill,” explained U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Walter F. Doran. “Water always goes to the place of least resistance.”

Why quotes like that and information like the above is not finding its way onto the front pages of every newspaper in the United States is somewhat mystifying – which is why I feel compelled to make this prediction.

I don’t believe for a moment the U.S. and its allies in the war on terrorism are really prepared to prevent the next big attack – especially if it comes from the sea rather than the air.

That recent Rand Corp. report said the international community has not become sufficiently aware of al-Qaida’s threat at sea, with most counter-insurgency efforts being focused on stopping an attack from the air.

And that’s why I’m blowing the whistle on this threat. I truly hope I’m wrong. I truly hope there are no more dramatic terrorist attacks on the U.S. or Western targets. I truly hope I’m being unduly alarmist.

But it’s better to be safe than sorry. Too many people – especially those behind the scenes in intelligence and law-enforcement circles – were attempting to prevent the Sept. 11 attacks and were simply ignored.

We cannot let that happen again.

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Joseph Farah

Joseph Farah is founder, editor and chief executive officer of WND. He is the author or co-author of 13 books that have sold more than 5 million copies, including his latest, "The Gospel in Every Book of the Old Testament." Before launching WND as the first independent online news outlet in 1997, he served as editor in chief of major market dailies including the legendary Sacramento Union. Read more of Joseph Farah's articles here.