Is this what the Yemen alert was all about?
Yemen has emerged as the focus of a feared attack that has led the U.S. to shut down temporarily 19 diplomatic posts in the Middle East and Africa. American and British workers from embassies in Yemen’s capital of Sanaa also have been evacuated.
Washington has been backing a campaign by Yemen’s military to uproot al-Qaida militants and their radical allies who had taken over a string of southern cities and towns. The militants have largely been driven into the mountains and countryside, and Yemeni intelligence officials say the current threat may be retaliation for that offensive.
A U.S. intelligence official and a Mideast diplomat told the AP that the closures were triggered by 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 attack.
Hard to believe al-Zawahri is still alive, but he is. Alive and kicking.
As is the “decimated” al Qaeda.
The Roman army had a policy of decimating formations that embarrassed themselves with timidity.
The formation had to stand at attention while every tenth man was selected for prompt execution. The specific trooper was picked, by an officer, on a quasi-random basis. Any position within the ten could be selected.
So: decimation = 10% casualties.
In the modern mind that ratio has been inverted to 10% survivors.
Such a calamity is not decimation — it’s devastation.
AQ has been only given a trimming….
What can you expect from Drone War?
Snipers can’t win a war on their own.
I’m betting the closures are the Obama administration’s version of bombing Albania or Bosnia or whatever it’s called now,which Clinton was said to have orchestrated to distract everyone from his errant shot in the oval Office.
Wag the Dog- the sequel- “see I told you the NSA is a great bunch of guys!”
Give it 8 months before the story breaks, and Bagdad Bob Carney will have another whopper to tell.
Eli Lake has an “exclusive” today in the Daily Beast, in which he reveals it was a conference call that was tapped that led to the wide closings of embassies. Re the importance of Yemen:
Nah, they had this planned as another consequence of sequestration , but the NSA scandal broke and this worked out even better.
Seriously,does anyone think an attack can’t be rescheduled when everyone returns? It seems a little silly to me the Al Qeada generals were tied up the rest of the year with more pressing dastardly deeds.
“Terrorists though we are, we have commitments to keep, and we shall one day have our revenge,, god be willing, but the clever dog Obama has outwitted us this time”.
The Obama administration’s scandals, i.e. high crimes and misdemeanors are already at a low boil. The last thing Obama wants is for embassies to start being attacked and blown-up. Even the liberal sheep start to notice when things get bad enough and even the MSM has to report terrorist attacks upon US embassies.
I’m sure that staying closed a week will throw those cretins off their game. Another brilliant strategy from the international puppet master. The audacity and boldness of the man is spectacular to watch, as he toys with the enemy, like a child tormenting a colony of ants.
Just wondering…
Did all those embassy employees flee their respective countries to safety, or are they hanging out in their homes waiting for the bad guys to give up before their week off is over?
The threat may be real. But what if it isn’t? What if Obama and company have been punked? Third and fourth generation warfare depends on fooling your enemy, spending little in the way of men and money, and tricking your foe into exhausting their resources chasing shadows.
My question is this: If Zawahiri and company know about the NSA program, why would they use phone communications to signal a big attack? Does it not seem a bit curious?
The second question that arises: If you think something big is coming in the ME, why tell the world about it? Make preparations, close embassies, do what seems necessary, but don’t advertise it to the world. Isn’t all this “transparency” a bit over the top for a secretive administration?
Another question: On 9/11 Bush was criticised for not returning to Washington immediately. Now we have another possible big attack signaled and where is our C-in-C? Why he’s hitting the campaign trail! He’s going on Jay Leno’s show and talking with his Hollywood fund raising buddy Jeffrey Katzenberg
This whole thing just looks “off.” Maybe I’m just too dumb to get the nuances of it.
The Left was using America’s own patriots, duty, and sense of responsibility against us, by using psychological warfare to make the people of the US doubt their war leader. When soldiers doubt their own leader, morale can be easily shattered by enemy attacks. That was the point. No morale, no war funding; no war funding, no war.
It doesn’t work against the Left, because the rules of duty and patriotism aren’t rules the Left accepts. Whether Obama pays attention to American deaths, the Left gives 0 damn about. Whether Bush pays attention to American deaths, the Left gave 0 damn about. But they knew American patriots gave a damn. They knew how to crush an enemy by making them follow their own rules, to their death.
J.J. — all good reasons to call bullshit. As if we needed more, we seem to forget that Obama is a royal screw-up with almost everything, but especially foreign policy. The one thing he’s good at and he’s perfected from an early age is making excuses, lying, and changing the subject to things he’s comfortable talking about.
This whole thing is for show. He was so concerned about the safety of our embassies he decided to discuss it on the Tonight Show, rather than at a press conference, or with his joint chiefs of staff. Gimme a break.
Here’s another one to think about — they have a deadly serious confirmed threat, which is either too vague to nail down to within a 2000 mile radius, or else so broad in scope and devastating it covers the entire ME. Really? What kind of intel is that? They can’t find a bomber under their own noses, thwart a guy from boarding an international flight without a passport, but now they’ve suddenly uncovered a widespread plot… and broadcasted it to the entire world, divulging what they had so that it would be impossible to actually catch the guys who are supposed to have been intercepted.
Yup. Makes perfect sense to me. But only because it’s S.O.P. for Obama and his administration. And Americans to believe it. And it might be believable if Captain Super-Sleuth and his NSA wizards actually manage to arrest the Benghazi terrorist leader who’s been parading around in public, doing interviews with the media, and laying out at the beach with his buddies.
Hah, guess what the jihadis are saying on the Internet? From the New York Times:
“WASHINGTON – The gloating among jihadists and their sympathizers began last week, right after the United States shut down almost two dozen diplomatic posts across the Middle East in response to a terrorist threat. “God is great! America is in a condition of terror and fear from Al Qaeda,” wrote one jihadist in an online forum. Another one rejoiced: “The mobilization and security precautions are costing them billions of dollars. We hope to hear more of such psychological warfare, even if there are no actual jihadi operations on the ground.'”
They seem to think it was a head fake that scared the Obama admin. I hope it’s that harmless.