08/06 could have rivalled 9/11: Chertoff

United States Homeland Security chief Michael Chertoff became the subject of late-night stand-up comics when, in July, he spoke of a 'gut feeling' that something terrible was going to happen in the country.

The likes of Jon Stewart, Jay Leno and David Letterman mocked Chertoff's intestinal rumblings at the time -- but his latest pronouncements are no joke.

Chertoff has just detailed a terror plot, timed for August 2006, that would have 'rivalled 9/11' for the extent of devastation.

In an exclusive interview to Pierre Thomas of ABC News, Chertoff said terrorists had planned to bring in liquid explosive on seven or eight aircraft, using sports drinks to smuggle the components of the bombs on board, then letting them off in mid-air to create unimaginable havoc.

The most notable aspect of the plot, Chertoff said, was that they relied on materials sourced from any drugstore or supermarket. It is not confirmed whether the terrorists had the skill to mix the materials into an explosive cocktail mid-air, but scientists at the Sandia National Laboratory, who tested the formula, told ABC News the device could work.

In its bare bones form, it involved a small amount of liquid in a container hit with a tiny burst of electrical current, to trigger an enormous explosion.

Officials who briefed ABC News said the terrorists had managed, in theory, to successfully exploit weaknesses in the airline security systems, and figured out how to smuggle on board all they needed, disguising the components as innocent everyday items that routinely pass muster at checkpoints.

"We have seen that in some areas of Pakistan, the enemy has been able to reconstitute itself and get a breathing space, so to speak, where they can plan and do some recruiting and some training," he said in the interview. The Homeland Security chief spoke of how, during his daily parsing of intelligence reports and other data, he remained continually struck by the nature of the enemy the United States confronted."

The plot was busted largely through the efforts of the British police, Chertoff told ABC News. The details were a closely guarded secret, known only to very few top officials within the United States including President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I got a call telling me that it looked as if the focus had turned on an attack on the United States, specifically an attack on airliners leaving from Britain, traveling to American cities," Chertoff told ABC News.

Airports in the United States and the United Kingdom were put on red alert, and liquids were banned from carry-on luggage while investigators worked to round up the 24 British-born Muslims and seven Pakistani nationals suspected of involvement in the plot.

Chertoff spoke in detail of the overnight effort to round up the suspects while maintaining a superficial air of normalcy.

Since the uncovering of the plot, Chertoff said, US airports have remained on high alert. In a parallel effort, government agencies worked to determine what quantity of liquid explosives could pose a risk if smuggled onboard flights, leading to the 3-ounce limit for carry-on bags.

"You know, we go about our business during the summer, other times of the year," he said in the interview.

"People are going to ballgames or watching their children graduate from high school, and it chills me sometimes to think there are people a half a world away who are spending the same period of time in a cave, trying to figure out how to kill us.