http://www.cq.com/public/20050603B_homeland.html

By Eileen Sullivan, CQ Staff

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., knew the United States was a terrorist target before the Sept. 11 attacks because of a secret source — “Ali” — but the CIA refused to listen, the congressman writes in a new book.

In “Countdown to Terror: The Top-Secret Information That Could Prevent the Next Terrorist Attack on America . . . and How the CIA Has Ignored It,” Weldon details intelligence secrets “Ali” has provided and warns that Iran, not al Qaeda, is the United States’ biggest enemy, according to the book’s description on Amazon.com. The 256-page book, published by Regnery Publishing, will be released June 13.

In the book, Weldon exposes warnings from his source that Iran will attack America next; that Iran, not al Qaeda, is actually the nexus of Islamic terrorism; and that Iran has an advanced nuclear program.

Weldon is vice chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee and chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Tactical Air and Land Forces. He has been outspoken about the federal government’s lack of attention to terrorism before the Sept. 11 attacks.

“Countdown” is his first book. A company in his Pennsylvania district, DIANE Publishing Co., has repackaged some of Weldon’s congressional testimony for sale, for which his staff said he did not receive any remuneration.