al-qaeda declares war on christmas

(CBS) LOS ANGELES - The FBI has issued an "intelligence information report" warning of possible terrorist threats against shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago over the holiday season, it was reported Thursday.

According to reports, the warning states that: "As of August 2007 Al-Qa'ida planned to strike U.S. shopping malls in Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California, during the 2007 Christmas season. Al-Qa'ida hoped to disrupt the U.S. economy and had been planning the attack for the past two years."

But I thought we were fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here in the department store checkout lines. But, wait...

The FBI and Los Angeles police today downplayed the significance of an unsubstantiated counter-terrorism warning that Al Qaeda may target shopping malls in Los Angeles and Chicago this holiday season.

The warning became public shortly after a declassified version of an intelligence report was distributed to thousands of law enforcement agencies around the country. Counter-terrorism officials quickly cautioned that it was based on an uncorroborated report from a foreign intelligence source and had been known to U.S. authorities for weeks.

Doh! We didn't mean to leak that to the press (shh, of course we did).

Be afraid - but continue shopping or else the terrorists win.