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According to the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released July 17, the U.S. intelligence community believes that al Qaeda is still looking to attack targets that would have a significant economic, political and psychological impact on the United States. Furthermore, the report indicates that the U.S. intelligence community believes al Qaeda is capable of devising innovative ways to strike these targets.

The report reflects al Qaeda prime’s targeting criteria. Rather than choosing targets based on military utility, al Qaeda generally chooses targets for their potential symbolic value in order to elicit the greatest political or psychological impact, which then translates into economic impact. For example, the U.S. State Department estimated that over the course of one year, the Sept. 11 attacks caused $120 billion in damage. That is the kind of economic damage al Qaeda wants to repeat. The Sept. 11 operation is estimated to have cost al Qaeda between $400,000 and $500,000.

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November 20, 2008 | 1849 GMT

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