Bin Laden May Try to Swing Election to McCain: LAPD Chief Bratton

Current Los Angeles Police Chief and former NYPD Chief William J. Bratton writes that Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden may carry out a terror attack or some other action in an attempt to influence the November 4 U.S. presidential election.

Writing in the New York Daily News, Bratton and former R.P. Eddy, a former director of counterterrorism at the National Security Council write that "[w]ith so much at stake in these elections, Bin Laden will probably attempt to make his opinion count.... If history is any guide, we should expect to see more terror in the coming weeks."

U.S. intelligence is worried. The 2007 National Intelligence Estimate said that Al Qaeda has reconstituted and may again be capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. U.S. intelligence agencies have also recently warned of Al Qaeda using "European-looking" operatives. Though trained in places like Pakistan, they may well have European passports and clean records - meaning they can enter the U.S. without a visa andwon't be on any customs or police watch lists.

The Los Angeles Times reports on Bratton and Eddy's suggestion that Bin Laden is pushing for a McCain victory:

Bratton and Eddy speculated that Bin Laden is looking to sway the election in favor of Republican Party candidate John McCain, since McCain "is more likely to engender Muslim anger and resentment than would his opponent.

"Put simply: Bin Laden probably realizes it could become markedly more difficult to paint the United States as the 'Great Satan' with a new president who is admired internationally," they wrote. "The remaining 14 days before the elections should be seen as a time of high threat, and state and local police should be on high alert."***
(Emphasis added)

Related post: Al Qaeda-related Groups Support McCain for President, Suggests Terror Attack Would Assist His Presidential Bid

(Photo: Chief William Bratton (via Wikipedia).)