Yemen blowback after over- hyped Terror reaction by the US......
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/08/06/Militants-shoot-down-helicopter-in-Yemen--8-killed
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/08/06/Militants-shoot-down-helicopter-in-Yemen--8-killed
MILITANTS SHOOT DOWN ARMY HELICOPTER IN YEMEN; 8 KILLED
By AHMED AL-HAJ
Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen
A suspected U.S. drone killed four alleged al-Qaida members Tuesday in Yemen, as the U.S. and British embassies evacuated staff amid reports of a threatened attack by the terrorist group.
As Yemen bolstered security by sending tanks and troops into the streets of Sanaa, the capital of the impoverished country, militants shot down an army helicopter, killing all eight people aboard, the government said.
Yemeni authorities have suggested that there were al-Qaida threats in recent days to multiple potential targets in the country, which has been thrust back into the forefront of the international fight against the terrorist network. Among those sites were foreign installations and government offices in the capital of Sanaa as well as to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea in the southern Arabian Peninsula.
The State Department ordered nonessential personnel at the U.S. Embassy to leave the country. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks," adding that U.S. citizens should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level.
Britain's Foreign Office also said it has evacuated all staff from its embassy due to increased security concerns. The Foreign Office said the staff were "temporarily withdrawn to the U.K." on Tuesday.
Yemen's government criticized the evacuations in a statement from its embassy in Washington, saying the diplomatic withdrawal "serves the interests of the extremists and undermines the exceptional cooperation" between Yemen and the international community in the fight against terrorism. It insisted that its government has taken all precautions to ensure the security of foreign missions in Sanaa.
The U.S. has temporarily shut down 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa after the interception of a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and Nasser al-Wahishi, the leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, about plans for a major terror attack, according to a U.S. intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Jan Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, said in a separate statement early Tuesday that the department issued the order for Yemen because of concern about a "threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks against U.S. persons or facilities overseas, especially emanating from the Arabian Peninsula."
Meanwhile, there has been a spike in apparent U.S. drone strikes against al-Qaida leaders. The attack Tuesday was the fourth in two weeks.
Yemeni officials say the drone fired a missile at a car carrying four men in the al-Arqeen district of Marib province, setting it on fire and killing them. One of the dead was believed to be Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaida member.
In Sanaa, residents awoke to the sound of an aircraft overhead. Officials said it was American, and photos posted on Instagram appeared to show a P-3 Orion, a manned surveillance aircraft.
The rare overflight of the capital came shortly before the announcements of the evacuations.
Yemen increased security around the presidential palace and vital state institutions. Tanks and armored vehicles were seen near the palace, and authorities set up checkpoints across the capital, searching cars and individuals, especially at night. Top government officials, along with military and security commanders, were asked to remain vigilant and limit their movements.
According to a Yemeni government official, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi returned Sunday to Sanaa from the U.S., but only his son was there to meet him because of security concerns among top authorities who were told they might be targeted by al-Qaida.
The Yemeni military helicopter was shot down by a missile over the al-Qaida stronghold of Wadi Ubida in central Yemen, officials said. The helicopter was flying from Sanaa to the province of Marib, officials said. The eight who were killed, including a military commander, were part of a military force guarding oil installations in the province.
The Yemeni officials who provided the information on the suspected drone, the helicopter downing and the security in the capital all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
On Monday, Yemeni authorities released the names of 25 wanted al-Qaida suspects Monday, saying they were planning terrorist attacks in Sanaa and other cities.
The Interior Ministry said the suspects were going to target foreign offices and organizations, as well as government installations in the impoverished Arab country. It said security was increased around embassies, ports, airports, oil installations and power stations.
Officials say potential U.S. targets in Sanaa could include the embassy and other buildings used by the United States to house personnel, as well as a military facility a few kilometers (miles) outside used by U.S. aircraft.
The ministry statement said security forces will pay $23,000 to anyone who comes forward with information leading to the arrest of any of the wanted men. They included allegedly senior figures in al-Qaida's Yemen branch, including Saudi nationals Ibrahim Mohammed el-Rubaish and Ibrahim Hassan el-Assiri.
El-Rubaish was released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay in 2006 and is believed to have played significant roles in al-Qaida's expanding offshoot in Yemen. He is a theological adviser to the group and his writings and sermons are prominent in the its literature.
Military officials said the threat may be related to the Bab al-Mandeb, pointing to a visit Sunday by the defense minister, Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, to Yemeni forces positioned at the Red Sea entrance about 276 kilometers (170 miles) south of Sanaa.
Officials said the visit came after they received intelligence that al-Qaida could be targeting foreign or Yemeni interests at the vital maritime corridor, a main thoroughfare for international shipping but also a crossing point for smuggled weapons and illegal immigrants between east Africa and Yemen.
Ahmed urged the forces to stay "on alert against any sabotage operations aiming at destabilizing the country," according to the officials. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Yemen has been the site of numerous anti-U.S. attacks dating back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors.
In 2008, al-Qaida attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, killing one American. Western embassies were locked up in 2010, days after the foiled plot on Christmas Day in which a passenger on a Detroit-bound plane tried to detonate explosives in his underwear. The Obama administration alleged the suspect was trained and armed by the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen.
The impoverished, decentralized and predominantly Muslim country is the ancestral homeland of the late al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden.
Washington considers the al-Qaida branch in Yemen to be among the terrorist network's most dangerous branches. The United States has also assisted Yemen in fighting the militants who, at one point during the country's recent political turmoil, had overrun large sections of the south. The group has also carried out bold attacks on Yemeni security forces, killing hundreds in the past two years.
Associated Press
SANAA, Yemen
A suspected U.S. drone killed four alleged al-Qaida members Tuesday in Yemen, as the U.S. and British embassies evacuated staff amid reports of a threatened attack by the terrorist group.
As Yemen bolstered security by sending tanks and troops into the streets of Sanaa, the capital of the impoverished country, militants shot down an army helicopter, killing all eight people aboard, the government said.
Yemeni authorities have suggested that there were al-Qaida threats in recent days to multiple potential targets in the country, which has been thrust back into the forefront of the international fight against the terrorist network. Among those sites were foreign installations and government offices in the capital of Sanaa as well as to the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea in the southern Arabian Peninsula.
The State Department ordered nonessential personnel at the U.S. Embassy to leave the country. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the departure of non-emergency U.S. government personnel "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks," adding that U.S. citizens should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level.
Britain's Foreign Office also said it has evacuated all staff from its embassy due to increased security concerns. The Foreign Office said the staff were "temporarily withdrawn to the U.K." on Tuesday.
Yemen's government criticized the evacuations in a statement from its embassy in Washington, saying the diplomatic withdrawal "serves the interests of the extremists and undermines the exceptional cooperation" between Yemen and the international community in the fight against terrorism. It insisted that its government has taken all precautions to ensure the security of foreign missions in Sanaa.
The U.S. has temporarily shut down 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa after the interception of a secret message between al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri and Nasser al-Wahishi, the leader of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, about plans for a major terror attack, according to a U.S. intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
Jan Psaki, spokeswoman for the State Department, said in a separate statement early Tuesday that the department issued the order for Yemen because of concern about a "threat stream indicating the potential for terrorist attacks against U.S. persons or facilities overseas, especially emanating from the Arabian Peninsula."
Meanwhile, there has been a spike in apparent U.S. drone strikes against al-Qaida leaders. The attack Tuesday was the fourth in two weeks.
Yemeni officials say the drone fired a missile at a car carrying four men in the al-Arqeen district of Marib province, setting it on fire and killing them. One of the dead was believed to be Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaida member.
In Sanaa, residents awoke to the sound of an aircraft overhead. Officials said it was American, and photos posted on Instagram appeared to show a P-3 Orion, a manned surveillance aircraft.
The rare overflight of the capital came shortly before the announcements of the evacuations.
Yemen increased security around the presidential palace and vital state institutions. Tanks and armored vehicles were seen near the palace, and authorities set up checkpoints across the capital, searching cars and individuals, especially at night. Top government officials, along with military and security commanders, were asked to remain vigilant and limit their movements.
According to a Yemeni government official, President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi returned Sunday to Sanaa from the U.S., but only his son was there to meet him because of security concerns among top authorities who were told they might be targeted by al-Qaida.
The Yemeni military helicopter was shot down by a missile over the al-Qaida stronghold of Wadi Ubida in central Yemen, officials said. The helicopter was flying from Sanaa to the province of Marib, officials said. The eight who were killed, including a military commander, were part of a military force guarding oil installations in the province.
The Yemeni officials who provided the information on the suspected drone, the helicopter downing and the security in the capital all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
On Monday, Yemeni authorities released the names of 25 wanted al-Qaida suspects Monday, saying they were planning terrorist attacks in Sanaa and other cities.
The Interior Ministry said the suspects were going to target foreign offices and organizations, as well as government installations in the impoverished Arab country. It said security was increased around embassies, ports, airports, oil installations and power stations.
Officials say potential U.S. targets in Sanaa could include the embassy and other buildings used by the United States to house personnel, as well as a military facility a few kilometers (miles) outside used by U.S. aircraft.
The ministry statement said security forces will pay $23,000 to anyone who comes forward with information leading to the arrest of any of the wanted men. They included allegedly senior figures in al-Qaida's Yemen branch, including Saudi nationals Ibrahim Mohammed el-Rubaish and Ibrahim Hassan el-Assiri.
El-Rubaish was released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay in 2006 and is believed to have played significant roles in al-Qaida's expanding offshoot in Yemen. He is a theological adviser to the group and his writings and sermons are prominent in the its literature.
Military officials said the threat may be related to the Bab al-Mandeb, pointing to a visit Sunday by the defense minister, Gen. Mohammed Nasser Ahmed, to Yemeni forces positioned at the Red Sea entrance about 276 kilometers (170 miles) south of Sanaa.
Officials said the visit came after they received intelligence that al-Qaida could be targeting foreign or Yemeni interests at the vital maritime corridor, a main thoroughfare for international shipping but also a crossing point for smuggled weapons and illegal immigrants between east Africa and Yemen.
Ahmed urged the forces to stay "on alert against any sabotage operations aiming at destabilizing the country," according to the officials. They also spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
Yemen has been the site of numerous anti-U.S. attacks dating back to the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Aden harbor, which killed 17 American sailors.
In 2008, al-Qaida attacked the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, killing one American. Western embassies were locked up in 2010, days after the foiled plot on Christmas Day in which a passenger on a Detroit-bound plane tried to detonate explosives in his underwear. The Obama administration alleged the suspect was trained and armed by the al-Qaida affiliate in Yemen.
The impoverished, decentralized and predominantly Muslim country is the ancestral homeland of the late al-Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden.
Washington considers the al-Qaida branch in Yemen to be among the terrorist network's most dangerous branches. The United States has also assisted Yemen in fighting the militants who, at one point during the country's recent political turmoil, had overrun large sections of the south. The group has also carried out bold attacks on Yemeni security forces, killing hundreds in the past two years.
Bezos Post lamblasts White House........
http://hotair.com/archives/2013/08/06/wapo-obamas-wishful-thinking-wont-win-war-on-terror/
WaPo: Obama’s wishful thinking won’t win war on terror
POSTED AT 1:21 PM ON AUGUST 6, 2013 BY ED MORRISSEY
The Washington Post’s editorial on the embassy closings and the worldwide terror alert is worth noting for a couple of reasons. First, the Post’s editors call out Barack Obama for his naïveté in dealing with terrorism, especially on the issues of captured terrorists and the administration’s utter lack of preparation of dealing with that issue in the future:
THE STATE Department has shuttered 19 embassies for a week, fearing terrorist attacks. Hundreds of prisoners, including senior al-Qaeda operatives, have busted loose in prison breaks in Iraq, Libya and Pakistan. At Bagram air base in Afghanistan, The Post’s Kevin Sieff reports, U.S. forces are holding 67 non-Afghan prisoners, many of whom can’t be tried in court but are too dangerous to release.Meanwhile President Obama says he wants to “refine and ultimately repeal” the mandate Congress has given him to fight the war on terror. What’s going on here?
Good question. The forces of AQ have just exploded over the last three-plus weeks, thanks to the eleven jailbreaks that seem to have been coordinated in correlation, at least, to the current threat. What will the US do with them if we capture those escapees in order to end the threat? Er … no one really knows:
From the beginning of his tenure, the president has been reluctant to build a legal framework that would assume that the fight against al-Qaeda and like-minded groups might go on for a long time. He not only proposed closing the prison at Guantanamo, rightly given its poisonous effect on the United States’ image, but he also opposed options to hold prisoners taken in future operations. That may be one reason so many alleged terrorists have been killed during his time in office and so few captured.
This President has been reluctant to even use the terminology of war, preferring anodyne euphemisms like “overseas contingency operations,” “kinetic military operations” (applied to Libyan intervention), and my favorite, “man-caused disasters.” All of those replacements intended to downplay the threat of terrorism and the actions needed to address it. That’s either explicitly dishonest or a case of wishful thinking, although I’d bet that it’s the latter more than the former.
The Post then gives a confused account of Obama’s strategy in the Middle East:
The president also has sought to minimize U.S. involvement in dangerous countries as much and as quickly as possible. He failed to negotiate a follow-on force in Iraq, where violence is again spiraling out of control. He has resisted engagement in Syria, where vicious brigades associated with al-Qaeda are establishing beachheads. He has provided little assistance to Tunisia or Libya, where emerging democracies are struggling to contain Islamist militias. He surged troops to Afghanistan but simultaneously announced a timetable for their withdrawal, which is underway.
It’s true that Obama has resisted engagement in Syria — but the Post seems to have missed the fact that Obama wants to engage on the same side as those al-Qaeda brigades and their beachheads. Obama isn’t talking about intervening on the side of Bashar al-Assad, after all, and neither is John McCain. The fact that we haven’t intervened so far (to our best knowledge) might be among the wiser war-on-terror choices Obama has made, or more accurately, has had forced upon him. On Libya, Obama’s entire strategy was to avoid putting resources on the ground after forcing Qaddafi’s fall, which is what created that failed state and led to the invasion of Mali by AQ and the prison break last month. Obama’s record on these points is so incoherent that even the Post can’t keep up.
Finally, the editors express amazement that Obama is talking about ending the war as AQ is obviously expanding it. John Kerry made a commitment to end drone strikes in Pakistan “very, very soon,” based on a “very real timeline” from Obama himself, who said in May that “This war, like all wars, must end.” A refusal to fight a war is not the same as ending it, the Post reminds the President:
But like all wars, this one will end only if one party is defeated or both agree to lay down their weapons. Neither appears likely any time soon, and the president’s eagerness to disengage, while understandable and in sync with U.S. public opinion, may in the end lengthen the conflict. His hope of fighting the bad guys as antiseptically as possible, with drone strikes and a minimal presence, may prove as forlorn as President Clinton’s similar effort in the 1990s, when the equivalent weapon at his disposal was cruise missiles.
That’s exactly correct. The question will be whether this week’s events will change the calculus in the White House. If ever there was a wake-up call on the danger of al-Qaeda that doesn’t involve a successful terrorist attack, this should be it.
US evacuates government personnel from Yemen
POSTED AT 8:01 AM ON AUGUST 6, 2013 BY ED MORRISSEY
The US government issues a travel alert that warned all Americans to leave Yemen immediately, as part of a heightened security status that has 19 embassies in the region closed. As a follow-up, the Air Force evacuated US government personnel from the country— shortly after a drone strike killed four suspected members of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula:
U.S. government personnel were flown out of Yemen on an Air Force plane Tuesday as the State Department urged all Americans in the country to leave “immediately” because of an “extremely high” threat of a terrorist attack.The warning came just hours after a drone strike killed at least four suspected al Qaeda members in the country.A total of 19 U.S. embassies remained closed Tuesday after intelligence agencies intercepted an electronic communication between two of al Qaeda’s top leaders in which they agreed they “wanted to do something big” this past Sunday, according to sources. …In a statement Tuesday, the State Department said there was a “high security threat level in Yemen due to terrorist activities and civil unrest.”“The department urges U.S. citizens to defer travel to Yemen and those U.S. citizens currently living in Yemen to depart immediately,” it said.
The drone strike is part of a recent offensive in Yemen by the US, in apparent cooperation with the government in Sana’a. Four drone strikes in ten days have taken aim at AQAP, but the results are perhaps not as extensive as hoped:
Security sources told CNN about the strikes but didn’t offer additional details. A Yemeni official said four drone strikes have been carried out in the past 10 days.None of those killed on Tuesday were among the 25 names on the country’s most-wanted list, security officials said.It is unclear whether the strikes were related to the added security alert in the country after U.S. officials intercepted a message from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to operatives in Yemen telling them to “do something.” The message was sent to Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the terror group’s Yemeni affiliate. U.S. intelligence believes al-Wuhayshi has recently been appointed the overall terror organization’s No. 2 leader.
Why the rush to hightail it out of Yemen now? A massive prison break a week ago in Pakistan and another a week earlier in Iraq may have something to do with it, CNN reported last night. In fact, there have been eleven jail breaks in 25 days, and now more than a thousand suspected AQ terrorists have gone missing:
First the attackers blew up bombs outside a Pakistani prison. Then they scared off people in the area and used loudspeakers to call out specific inmates they were trying to release. Shiite prisoners left inside were killed.“It was a well-planned assault,” noted CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen, who provided details Monday of the July 30 prison break in northwest Pakistan.Other similar operations in the past two weeks in Iraq and Libya successfully freed hundreds of convicted or suspected Islamic terrorists, a known strategy of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.Bergen and other analysts cited the prison breaks as one of several reasons the United States has dramatically heightened its security stance by issuing a worldwide travel alert and closing almost two dozen embassies and consulates on Sunday, with 19 of them remaining shut for the rest of the week.
Note well that “hundreds” of the missing terrorists got sprung from a prison in … Benghazi. Before we decapitated the Qaddafi regime, AQ couldn’t access those prisoners. Now we can’t access Benghazi, and we’re closing embassies all over the region thanks to the threat unleashed in the vacuum of control in eastern Libya. This must be what’s known as smart power.
Terror Threat Intelligence Not New
Agencies knew of threat to embassies, officials for months
A confidential letter was found from terror leader Abdelmalek Droukdel spelling out the terror network's blueprint / AP
BY:
Intelligence regarding al Qaeda plans to attack U.S. embassies, officials, and interests last Sunday was known for months by U.S. intelligence agencies but was used only recently to trigger the closure of embassies and issuance of public warnings of impending attacks.
Al Qaeda “chatter” about coming terrorist operations, mainly against 22 U.S. embassies and consulates, and threats to attack or bomb officials in the Middle East and elsewhere was widely reported in classified intelligence reports over several months. The report said an attack was planned for Sunday, although no attack was carried out.
The intelligence was based on electronic surveillance of al Qaeda communications indicating some type of spectacular bombing or other attacks was being planned and would in fact be carried out very soon.
The timing of the administration’s announced closure of numerous U.S. embassies in the Middle East has raised concerns among some U.S. officials that the Obama administration is politicizing intelligence to distract attention from the Benghazi and other scandals.
“Why is this coming out now?” asked one official with access to terrorist threat data. “Is the administration trying to suck up news coverage with the embassy threats to distract attention from what the CIA was doing in Benghazi?”
Press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at the White House Monday that “we take the threat very seriously and have taken action because of that.”
“I’m not in a position to discuss specific intelligence, but we believe that this threat is significant, and we are taking it seriously for that reason and have taken the actions that the State Department announced out of an abundance of caution and will continue to monitor this and take action as necessary,” Carney said.
Carney said the threat was “emanating from and maybe directed towards the Arabian Peninsula.”
“The extension of those closures does not reflect a new stream of threat information but is more a reflection of taking necessary precautions,” he said.
The threat followed three reported U.S. drone strikes in Yemen that killed several al Qaeda terrorists who were traveling in vehicles. Missile attacks from U.S. armed drones were carried out July 27, July 30, and Aug. 1 in al Qaeda strongholds in Yemen.
A U.S. official said the terrorist threat does not appear to be part of any retaliation for the drone attacks because terrorist planning for a major bombing or other attacks usually takes weeks or months.
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra said he is concerned that the administration may be politicizing intelligence because “they have politicized everything.”
“If there is any hint at all that this [latest terror threat] was politicized, it would be absolutely outrageous,” Hoekstra said in an interview.
“In an era of ‘phony’ scandals, let’s hope no one is playing politics with national security and threat alerts,” Hoekstra told the Washington Free Beacon, referring to President Obama’s recent dismissal of Benghazi and other administration scandals as “phony.”
A former White House intelligence official said suggestions the terror alert was hyped deserve the attention of the House and Senate intelligence oversight committees.
The former official said national security policymakers traditionally weigh what to do in response to indications and warning intelligence through careful internal discussion.
“There usually comes a time when you have to decide whether the intelligence is something you act on, and that can always be a tough call, even without politicization,” the former official said.
For the Obama administration, the type of politicization of intelligence that has taken place under the president has created a situation where the average person has little confidence in claims that terrorists are planning major attacks.
“They have debased the coinage of the realm: trust,” the former official said.
The former official said the administration’s response to the Benghazi attack of Sept. 11 is a case in point.
“If you would lie about Benghazi and make up the story about the cause being a YouTube video, what else wouldn’t you do?” he asked.
Great harm has been done to the credibility of U.S. intelligence agencies by politicizing intelligence and one effect is that when terrorist alerts are issued, people question the government’s motives, the former official said.
“In that context, I think we’ve reached the point where the two congressional intelligence oversight committee should take a look into this, just to put the public’s mind at rest,” the former official said.
Susan Phalen, a spokeswoman for House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, declined to comment when asked if the chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) had any concerns about the latest threat intelligence being politicized.
Brian Weiss, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Feinstein has not commented on the recent terror alert.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: “This assertion is ludicrous and insulting.”
Other U.S. officials pointed to the bipartisan expressions of concerns about the terror threat.
Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), a member of the intelligence committee, said the terrorist threat was “so specific” as to the method of the attack but did not specify where, other than in the Middle East or Europe and against a U.S. embassy or against a target in the United States.
“It could be a series of combined attacks,” King said on ABC’s “This Week.”
Disclosure of the terrorist threat followed new reports that the CIA had begun giving polygraph or lie-detector tests to CIA contractors and officials involved in the covert action program in Benghazi to gather weapons circulating after the revolution that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
A CIA annex was attacked by the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, and two CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs.
The CIA was involved in shipping arms from Libya to Turkey and to Syrian rebels, according to U.S. officials.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” that he met recently with Vice President Joseph Biden on the terrorist threat.
“It is scary,” Graham said. “Al Qaeda’s on the rise in this part of the world. The [National Security Agency monitoring] program is proving its worth yet again.”
Graham praised the administration for announcing the terror threat that he said was different than its response to Benghazi.
“Benghazi was a complete failure,” Graham said. “The threats were real there. The reporting was real and we basically dropped the ball. We’ve learned from Benghazi, thank God, and the administration is doing it right.”
However, one U.S. official compared the recent terrorism alert to the Clinton administration’s cruise missile strike on Afghanistan Aug. 20, 1998.
That attack came three days after then-President Bill Clinton testified before a federal grand jury about his sexual relationship with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The cruise missile strike missed killing al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and was widely viewed by pundits as a “wag the dog” political attempt by the president to divert public attention from his sex scandal.
Clinton administration officials at the time and years later defended the missile attack as a legitimate attempt to kill the al Qaeda leader.
Katherine Zimmerman, who specializes in al Qaeda at the American Enterprise Institute, said that while the attack did not take place as expected on Sunday, a more likely date would be Wednesday.
The State Department issued a worldwide caution on Aug. 2 warning of the increased danger of a terrorist attack in the Middle East and North Africa. The closure of embassies and consulates came after credible threats of an attack to be carried out Sunday.
“It is possible that [Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula] intentionally tipped-off the American intelligence community (IC) to test America’s security posture abroad,” she wrote on AEI’s “Critical Threats” blog. “If this is the case, it is unlikely that AQAP planned to conduct the attack on Aug. 4.”
Zimmerman said the attack could take place Aug. 7 since that is the last day of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan and it is also the 15-year anniversary of the al Qaeda bombings of U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Aug. 2 marked the 23-year anniversary of the 1991 Persian Gulf war that led to the stationing of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia – something denounced by bin Laden as an affront to Islam, whose holy sites are located in the kingdom.
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