CNN is reporting that sources tell them it has now been confirmed that the “tip” about a terror threat to New York subways was a hoax:
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Information that led to heightened security for the New York City transit system was a hoax, government sources said Tuesday.
The sources said an informant in Iraq who provided the tip had told investigators there was a terrorist plot involving New York’s subway system. That informant admitted he gave false information, the sources said.
On Monday, New York police said they would reduce the increased security measures put in place last week on the city’s subways.
Law enforcement sources said last week the person who passed along the New York tip also gave information that prompted a military operation in Iraq, which led to the arrests of three al Qaeda suspects in Musayyib, about 45 miles south of Baghdad.
Government sources said the three men arrested in Iraq with suspected links to the possible plot had been interviewed and underwent lie detector tests showing they knew nothing about such a plan.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned Thursday that the city had received information from the FBI about a “specific threat,” prompting the heightened subway security.
The threat mentioned Friday and Sunday as possible days that an attack might occur, according to one official with knowledge of the investigation…..
….After Bloomberg’s warning, some intelligence officials played down the New York information, saying it was not credible.
Such “tips” pose a dilemma for state, local and federal officials. They can ignore it and discreetly increase policing but if something happens they’ll be lambasted (not to say the loss of life). OR they can respond to it which will not just entail inconvience, but a ton of money in resource allocation.
And then there is the fact that each time a terror alert turns out to be bogus the public distrusts or ignores the next one. That’s dangerous because terrorists look for that moment when a society’s guard is down — and use that moment.
Also: several books on terrorism note that one way terrorists can function is to spread false info that creates a climate of panic. There are no easy answers in any of these dilemmas…because the stakes are too high.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.