From :
FBI: Terrorists may try to arrive by sea
The FBI has received reports that al Qaeda terrorists may be making their way toward Southern California aboard a merchant ship, but has no evidence to back up those reports, the bureau said Wednesday.
The reports indicate that as many as 40 al Qaeda members may have boarded a merchant vessel in the past month and were headed for the United States, FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said. The bureau has placed a “very high priority” on determining their accuracy, he said.
He stressed that the FBI has not gathered any evidence thus far to support the claims and said no terror alert has been issued.
McLaughlin declined to provide details of the reports, but said Catalina Island — about 23 miles off the California coast near Los Angeles — was mentioned as a possible destination.
I find this more than a little personally relevant, given that I can see Catalina out my window.
SoCal warbloggers, unite! I say we meet ’em on the beaches and bore them to death with our overblown rhetoric… (invite Kaus too; get him to bring one of his welfare reform pieces and that’ll really do them in…)
PS – On a more serious note, I can’t think of a more bizarre spot for al Qaeda to pick to deliver 40 (presumably Middle Eastern) men and expect them to go unnoticed. Catalina is a tiny place, with just a few (one?) towns that are entirely tourist traps and tons of really really expensive homes. And the only way between it and the mainland are regular ferries. (Picture forty men of Middle Eastern appearance buying tickets for the ferry from Catlina when nobody at the dock remembers seeing them come to Catlina). If these guys had a boat of their own, I suppose they could sail from Catalina to LA, but then what’s the point of stopping in Catalina in the first place?