http://blog.american.com/?p=29022
As Libya Burns, Al Qaeda Plans By Marc Thiessen <http://www.aei.org/scholar/100066> March 28, 2011, 5:07 pm While the world focuses on the military conflict in Libya, al Qaeda is moving forward with plans for new attacks on the American homeland. In a little noticed story this weekend, The Washington Post reported <http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/intelligence-shows-al-qaeda-branch-in-y emen-planning-strike/2011/03/25/AFRoT4YB_story.html> : U.S. spy agencies have gathered new intelligence indicating that al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen may be close to launching a terrorist strike, according to U.S. officials who said the development has added new urgency to concerns about the turmoil in the Middle East. The officials said the agencies have assembled only fragmentary information on the plot and do not have enough detail to issue a public warning or to take specific measures to counter the threat. The new information goes beyond the routine level of terrorism chatter monitored by U.S. spy agencies tracking al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), as the Yemen-based offshoot is known. A U.S. official described the recent intelligence as pointing to "a current and concerning threat." "We're always at a very high level of alert and have been for some time with AQAP," said the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss an intelligence matter. But the new information points to "more than that they are bent on attacking the West and continuing to plot." In an example of preemptive CYA <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cover_your_ass> , the administration is pointing to the turmoil in Yemen and other Middle Eastern countries and telling reporters this is why it is having trouble uncovering and disrupting the plot. The threat comes at a time when counterterrorism operations in Yemen have been disrupted by mass protests that threaten the 32-year rule of President Ali Abdullah Saleh. A prominent concern, officials said, is that efforts to unravel the plot could be complicated by the political upheaval sweeping much of the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's attention has also been diverted from counterterrorism efforts. The monarchy recently dispatched forces to help subdue a popular uprising in the neighboring Sunni-dominated country of Bahrain. No doubt the current turmoil complicates matters, and our intelligence partners in the region are indeed distracted. But long before the Arab Spring-when Saleh was firmly in control and our intelligence partners were focused like a laser beam on the terrorist threat-the administration admitted that it had little intelligence on AQAP, the location of its leaders, or its plans for new attacks. Last November, the Washington Post reported <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/06/AR201011060 4516.html> that: The United States has deployed Predator drones to hunt for al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen for the first time in years but has not fired missiles from the unmanned aircraft because it lacks solid intelligence on the insurgents' whereabouts, senior U.S. officials said . The officials said senior members of AQAP, including the U.S.-born cleric Anwar al-Aulaqi, have taken advantage of Yemen's rugged terrain and their ties to its tribal networks to all but disappear from view . Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the drones' surveillance prowess is often overstated and will be of limited use in identifying al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen without the aid of signal intercepts or human sources on the ground. "All Land Rovers look pretty much alike," said a former high-ranking U.S. intelligence official familiar with operations in Yemen. "You have to have something that tells you this is the one to follow." So let the record show that the administration was blind as to the plans or whereabouts of AQAP leaders long before the current unrest. As I have pointed out <http://blog.american.com/?p=22328> in this space, the reason for that blindness is that we are not capturing or questioning senior al Qaeda leaders who could help us decipher the location, intent, and capabilities or emerging threats like AQAP. But if an attack on the homeland does happen, expect the Obama administration to lay the blame on the Arab Spring. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/soldiersmediacenter/521452126/sizes/m/in/photo stream/> Image by U.S. Army. <http://blog.american.com/?p=29022> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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