Nebraska Rail Scare Still Unsolved
By Joe Jordan on May 9, 2011

As federal officials try to piece together an Al-Qaeda plot against America’s rail system, Nebraska Watchdog has learned that circumstances surrounding a bomb-like device found near Union Pacific (UP) tracks in Cozad, Nebraska last fall apparently remain a mystery to investigators including the FBI.

Late last week the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) alerted the country’s railroads that according to information pulled from Osama bin Laden’s hide-out in Pakistan, terrorists were concocting attacks against American trains.

According to a statement from DHS Al-Qaeda’s planning began in February of 2010; seven months before the Cozad incident.

Several published reports note that the terror group discussed derailing U.S. trains on September 11, 2011, the 10th anniversary of 9-11, by placing obstructions on the tracks. There is no indication that any specific city or rail system has been targeted.

Nebraska Lt. Governor Rick Sheehy, the man in charge of the state’s homeland security, tells Nebraska Watchdog that although the railroads can usually fix damaged tracks quickly “interrupting a major rail line (in Nebraska) would hurt the economy.â€