AND IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 10:16 A.M. ET:  I have no independent corroboration of this, but I think it's worth passing on.  From The Jerusalem Post:

Al-Qaida and associated groups were believed to be planning an attack on the German parliament's seat - the Reichstag in Berlin, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

Ah yes, we remember the Reichstag well, from a previous bit of bother.

According to the report, the groups planned to take hostages and "perpetrate a bloodbath" using firearms. The cell planning the attack was supposedly comprised of one German, a Turk, a man from North Africa and an unknown suspect.

The attack was planned to take place in February or March. Authorities said that intelligence about the plot was behind Wednesday's announcement by the German Interior Ministry of an imminent attack, Spiegel reported.

The warning came from a jihaidst who wanted to leave his terrorist group. The man contacted a German law enforcement agency several times last week, according to the report.

Another warning came to the Germans via the FBI in the United States. The FBI allegedly told the Germans that a Shi'ite group from India has entered into a pact with al-Qaida and has sent two men to carry out an attack in Germany, Spiegel reported.

The domestic intelligence services in both Germany and the US (the BKA and FBI, respectively) were said to be very concerned by the reports, but the foreign intelligence services of the two powers (the BND and CIA) were said to be skeptical, according to the report.

COMMENT:  The report sounds logical.  Even if this report doesn't pan out, attacks of that kind would make sense for any terrorist group. 

As readers probably know, a member of the U.S. cabinet, one who is in the line of succession to the presidency, is always away from Washington the night the president delivers his State of the Union message – to protect against a total destruction of the government if the Capitol is attacked.

Puerto Rican terrorists attacked the House of Representatives during the Truman administration. 

Expect more reports like this in the future.

November 20, 2010