Retaliation feared if U.S. strikes Afghanistan

U.S. intelligence officials have told members of Congress there is a high probability that terrorists associated with Osama bin Laden will try to launch another major attack on American targets here or abroad in the near future. BASED ON what officials described as credible new information, the FBI and the CIA have assessed the chances of a second attempt to attack the United States as very high, sources said Thursday. At a briefing Tuesday, in response to a senator’s question about the gravity of the threat, one intelligence official said there is a “100 percent” chance of an attack should the United States strike Afghanistan, according to sources familiar with the briefing.The new information is worrisome enough that officials at the White House, the Justice Department and the State Department have huddled in recent days to figure out the best way to communicate their concern to the public, a source with knowledge of those discussions said. The concern about another attack is based on intelligence from sources in England, Germany, Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to a source familiar with what congressional intelligence committees have been told. Egyptian, Somali and Pakistani elements of bin Laden’s network are thought to be involved.