Subways to run directly under Bush at convention
Despite specific threats, NYPD says trains will operate as usual--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: July 28, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.comThe New York City subway system, which runs directly under the site of this year's Republican National Convention, will operate as usual during the event, even though threats posted on the Internet have been directed at subways, WorldNetDaily has learned.
A spokesperson for New York's Metro Transit Authority told WND that while certain railroad commuter trains that run under Madison Square Garden will be on an enhanced security schedule, the subway system itself will function normally during the convention, with additional security precautions to be determined by the NYPD.
Penn Station, attached to Madison Square Garden, is the largest commuter artery in New York City with about 600,000 daily passengers, and closing it during the convention - Aug. 28 through Sept. 2 - could paralyze the city, the MTA spokesperson said.
The NYPD refused to comment on the record, but an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that while he can't divulge the exact security plans for subways during the convention, the NYPD is taking a series of steps to upgrade security. Those steps include patrols of subway cars by uniformed and plain-clothed officers, use of K-9 bomb sniffing units, and the deployment of NYPD Hercules teams - elite, heavily armed, Special Forces-type police units - at Penn Station and nearby subway stops.
The NYPD said it has sent officers to Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Miami, sites of previous political conventions, and to Boston, which currently is hosting the Democratic convention, to collect intelligence.
There are no plans to put subway commuters through metal detectors, the official said.
He also said "as of now" the subways will run as normal under Madison Square Garden while President Bush is present at the convention site.
"But that could obviously change last-minute, if we have intelligence indicating some kind of attack," said the official.
Homeland Security has warned that al-Qaida is planning to attack American interests within the year, and might seek to disrupt U.S. elections.
Experts say al-Qaida learned they can influence democratic elections after Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar was defeated in March just days after al-Qaida bombs ripped through four commuter trains, killing almost 200 people.
Spain was among the few Western nations to fight alongside the United States against Iraq's Saddam Hussein - a stand many believe earned Aznar the wrath of bin Laden's network. Aznar's opponent had vowed to bring Spanish troops home and end the country's involvement in the Iraq war.
Al-Qaida would rather have John Kerry in office, says Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum.
That's because "he, and the Democratic party more broadly, have advocated a return to the pre 9-11 way of doing business that means abandoning the war model and going back to the police-action model," Pipes told WorldNetDaily. "The latter model failed terribly when it was employed in 1979-2001 and al-Qaida knows it would fail again."
But Pipes said an attack aimed at influencing US elections might have undesirable results for al-Qaida.
"If a Madrid-style terror attack takes place in the United States, I expect it would have the opposite effect that it had in Spain. Americans understand they are in a war and that to let terrorists win is unacceptable. They would therefore increase their support for the military efforts now underway," Pipes said.
But al-Qaida isn't the only threat to the subway system. Fringe anti-Bush elements are hoping to spark major disruptions at the convention by causing a series of false security alarms, including fooling bomb-sniffing dogs on trains bound for Penn Station, the New York Daily News reported.
Anarchy websites have urged readers to trick specially trained NYPD Labrador retrievers with gunpowder or ammonium nitrate-laced tablets in a plan to stop trains and cause the evacuation of Madison Square Garden during the convention.
One site instructs readers, "Go to a rifle, pistol or skeet shooting range, spend an hour shooting to saturate clothing with the smell of gunpowder, go directly to a New Jersey Transit, LIRR or MTA subway train headed for Penn Station.
"Also try to have at least two people on a train in different locations, sit or stand near the doors as the train approaches the station, try to get near police and dogs, loiter as long as possible around the dog, try to pet it if possible. If the dog alerts on your scent, do not leave or resist; the situation will cause a major disruption of the train schedule ... ."
"It is important that the police call in all possible resources to investigate the situation," the site says. " ... This will result in the maximum disruption. With any luck, Madison Square Garden will be evacuated."