By Dylan T. Lovan, The Associated Press
Louisville, Ken. (AP) -- A state department official speaking here Tuesday said terrorists are focusing on so-called “soft targets” since the U.S. crackdown on international terror after Sept. 11, 2001.
That brings the fight against terror into the United States and even into the heartland, said Francis X. Taylor, head of the State Department’s Bureau of Diplomatic Security.
“The al-Qaida we knew before 9-11 no longer exists,” said Taylor, speaking at a terrorism summit for law enforcement and emergency officials in Louisville. “The al-Qaida leadership is devoting much of its time to evading capture or certain death.”
Taylor said soft targets, like the commuter train in Madrid, Spain, that was bombed on March 11, have strong economic or symbolic value, and are “guaranteed to bring great numbers of fatalities.” The bombing killed 191 people and wounded more than 2,000. It has been blamed on Islamic militants with possible links to al-Qaida.
“These attacks are conducted to intimidate the population and elicit a fear reaction, and increasingly to influence politics,” Taylor said. The Spain bombings were seen as instrumental in the defeat of the ruling party led by Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.
Kentucky Lt. Gov. Steve Pence, who attended the conference Tuesday, said readiness is key to fighting the next attack, “which will come. We know that.
“If they did this in New York and Washington, they can probably do it anywhere,” said Pence, a former U.S. attorney for Kentucky’s western district. Pence oversees the state Justice Cabinet.
Taylor said al-Qaida is now “franchising” its ideas to other extremist groups.
“Now we are seeing al-Qaida employ loose affiliations with terrorist organizations to achieve their aims,” said Taylor, who visited Greece in March to help advise on securing this summer’s Olympic games. “This makes vigilance, on all of our parts, even more important.”
The three-day summit, which began with Taylor’s address on Tuesday, features seminars ranging from recognizing “dirty bombs” to forming local crisis response groups. Organizers said officials from 17 states are attending the event, called the American Community Preparedness conference.
Dick Bartlett, one of the conference organizers, said about 700 people are expected to attend.