WASHINGTON (AP) – The top intelligence official at the Homeland Security Department, worried about an increased risk of attack in coming months, says al-Qaida wants to strike on U.S. soil with something other than a conventional explosive – perhaps with a chemical or biological weapon.
Hughes is able to see the big picture”” and that is why he worries.
Hughes ticks off a list of terrorist attacks that began in the 1990s – Khobar Towers, the African embassy bombings, the USS Cole, bombings in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and 9/11 – and worries that terrorists are able to show much patience.
“If the past is indeed prologue, then we are going to screw up, or they are going to get lucky,” Hughes said. “I can’t sleep.”