August 2007

Counterterrorism expert Juval Aviv met recently with reporters at Fox News and revealed information, which he believes is accurate, concerning an imminent Al Qaeda attack on five to seven American cities simultaneously.

"I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most,” said Mr. Aviv.

Mr. Aviv knows of that which he speaks.  He is a former Israeli Counterterrorism Intelligence Officer and has also served as a special consultant to the U.S. Congress on issues of terrorism and security.  He is best known as the source of the 1984 book, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, on which Steven Spielberg's film Munich was based.  He is also the author of The Complete Terrorism Survival Guide: How to Travel, Work and Live in Safety (2003); and Staying Safe: The Complete Guide to Protecting Yourself, Your Family, and Your Business (2004).

Currently, Aviv is the president of Interfor, Inc., a corporate investigations firm in New York City.

So it is clear that Aviv has the background and experience in global terror and its operating methods to warrant taking his current warnings seriously. It would be foolish to ignore or minimize this counterterrorism veteran’s expert prognosis. Mr. Aviv told Fox that, from what his sources have been relating, sleeper cells that already have been placed inside the continental United States are on the verge of carrying out major attacks.

“What they’re going to do," he explained, "is hit six, seven or eight cities simultaneously to show sophistication and really hit the public. This time, which is the message of the day, it will not only be big cities. They’re going to try to hit rural America. They want to send a message to rural America: "You’re not protected. If you figured out that if you just move out of New York and move to Montana or to Pittsburgh, you’re not immune. We’re going [to] get you wherever we can and it’s easier there than in New York."

While this prediction leaves most Americans feeling helpless, fearful and frustrated, Juval Aviv recommends that we at least do what we can. He suggests that for the next few months, if we are traveling by public transportation, we should equip ourselves with a bottle of water, a hand towel and a flashlight. He reminds us that many fatalities in the London tube and Madrid train attacks occurred from victims who breathed in the lethal fumes from bomb components and burning gasoline. Had these people had wet towels to cover their mouths and noses, they would have had a much better chance of survival.

Mr. Aviv is a very strong proponent of “If you See Something – Say Something” school of preparedness. He stated that a great number of potentially lethal terror attacks in Israel have been – and still are – thwarted by the intelligent actions on the part of alert, aware and watchful citizens.

Americans must do the same, he advises. The global war on terror is not “somewhere over there in the Middle East.”  It is here on our own soil. If ever there were a time to be especially vigilant, the time is now.

Let us hope and pray that these vicious enemies and their depraved plans against our citizens and our country, which come out of a wicked ideological brew, will be forestalled and prevented, and the perpetrators apprehended.  So far, our law enforcement, military, counter-terrorism and intelligence personnel have done a stellar job.  At the same time, and as we all know, we have to be lucky 100% of the time, and the terrorists have to be lucky only once.  

So stay alert…stay away from crowds…and if you see something, say something!  You could save hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.