TERROR UPDATE – AT 8:51 P.M. ET:  We've been searching for information today on the major terror alert that originated in the last few days.  Here is what we've found:

European intelligence agencies apparently discovered a plot for a "Mumbai"-style series of simultaneous attacks in Europe, and believed that the terrorists had already left Pakistan for their assignments on the European continent.  However, the attack was still in the planning stage, and no definite timetable had been worked out.

The plot has now been broken up, but European and British law enforcement do not know where some of the operators are.  There is a strong belief that they are in the UK. 

The United States, cognizant of the terror reports, has stepped up drone attacks in remote areas of Pakistan, from which the operators have come.  The hope is to kill as many as possible and send a powerful message that there will be consequences to terrorist actions.

Stories point out that a coordinated, continent-wide series of attacks would constitute a major escalation of terror strategy – the exact opposite of recent assurances from President Obama that Al Qaeda was actually a weak, broken organization.

Intelligence experts warned Wednesday that the massive terror plot involving simultaneous assault-style attacks in London, Paris, and Germany represents a serious escalation in al-Qaida's war with the West, and poses a clear and present danger to the United States.

European counterterrorism officials are describing the plan of attack as being modeled on the November 2008 assault in Mumbai, India. In that attack, several teams fanned out across the city and used explosives and automatic weapons to kill over 170 people.

Der Spiegel is reporting a 36-year-old Hamburg man who was arrested in Kabul in July provided authorities with intelligence about a series of attacks planned for Germany and neighboring European countries. He stated several teams of attackers bearing European passports had received training in remote Waziristan and Pakistan.

The plot is believed related to heightened security around the Eiffel Tower, which has been closed to tourists twice in the past week.

Mumbai-style attacks, directed at soft, open facilities like hotels, are remarkably easy to carry out.  A small group of terrorists, in business suits and with valid credit cards, and carrying ordinary luggage filled with weapons, could easily get into hotels, and stay a few delightful nights if necessaary before coordinating their actions and striking.

There is no indication, thus far, that the attacks were directed against the American homeland.  But the great police commissioner of New York, Ray Kelly, has assured citizens that the NYPD is taking nothing for granted.

We'll be following this.  The fact that Al Qaeda could be planning something this large is deeply disturbing.  Sooner or later, the odds will be with them.

September 29, 2010