Synthaholic
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- Jul 21, 2010
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Broad U.S. terror alert mystifies experts; Its crazy pants, one says
WASHINGTON U.S. officials insisted Tuesday that extraordinary security measures for nearly two dozen diplomatic post were to thwart an immediate, specific threat, a claim questioned by counterterrorism experts, who note that the alert covers an incongruous set of nations from the Middle East to an island off the southern coast of Africa.
Analysts dont dispute the Obama administrations narrative that its gleaned intelligence on a plot involving al Qaidas most active affiliate, the Yemen-based Arabian Peninsula branch. That would explain why most U.S. posts in the Persian Gulf are on lockdown, including the U.S. embassy in Yemen, which on Tuesday airlifted most of its personnel to Germany in an ordered departure, the governments euphemism for an evacuation.
But how, then, does it make sense for the State Department to close embassies as far afield as Mauritius or Madagascar, where theres been no visible jihadist activity? And why is it that countries that weathered numerous terrorist attacks Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, for example were excluded or allowed to reopen quickly?
At Tuesdays State Department briefing, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there were plans to keep 19 posts closed to the public through Saturday. But she had no answers when a reporter asked: How did the countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean get into this?
We make decisions post by post, Psaki said. Thats something that is constantly evaluated at a high level through the interagency process.
If ordinary Americans are confused, theyre in good company. Analysts whove devoted their careers to studying al Qaida and U.S. counterterrorism strategy cant really make sense of it, either. Theres general agreement that the diffuse list of potential targets has to do with either specific connections authorities are tracking, or places that might lack the defenses to ward off an attack. Beyond that, however, even the experts are stumped.
Take this sampling of reactions from prominent al Qaida observers:
Its crazy pants you can quote me, said Will McCants, a former State Department adviser on government extremism who this month joins the Brookings Saban Center as the director of its project on U.S. relations with the Islamic world.
*snip*
Click and read the rest.
WASHINGTON U.S. officials insisted Tuesday that extraordinary security measures for nearly two dozen diplomatic post were to thwart an immediate, specific threat, a claim questioned by counterterrorism experts, who note that the alert covers an incongruous set of nations from the Middle East to an island off the southern coast of Africa.
Analysts dont dispute the Obama administrations narrative that its gleaned intelligence on a plot involving al Qaidas most active affiliate, the Yemen-based Arabian Peninsula branch. That would explain why most U.S. posts in the Persian Gulf are on lockdown, including the U.S. embassy in Yemen, which on Tuesday airlifted most of its personnel to Germany in an ordered departure, the governments euphemism for an evacuation.
But how, then, does it make sense for the State Department to close embassies as far afield as Mauritius or Madagascar, where theres been no visible jihadist activity? And why is it that countries that weathered numerous terrorist attacks Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq, for example were excluded or allowed to reopen quickly?
At Tuesdays State Department briefing, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said there were plans to keep 19 posts closed to the public through Saturday. But she had no answers when a reporter asked: How did the countries in sub-Saharan Africa and the Indian Ocean get into this?
We make decisions post by post, Psaki said. Thats something that is constantly evaluated at a high level through the interagency process.
If ordinary Americans are confused, theyre in good company. Analysts whove devoted their careers to studying al Qaida and U.S. counterterrorism strategy cant really make sense of it, either. Theres general agreement that the diffuse list of potential targets has to do with either specific connections authorities are tracking, or places that might lack the defenses to ward off an attack. Beyond that, however, even the experts are stumped.
Take this sampling of reactions from prominent al Qaida observers:
Its crazy pants you can quote me, said Will McCants, a former State Department adviser on government extremism who this month joins the Brookings Saban Center as the director of its project on U.S. relations with the Islamic world.
*snip*
Click and read the rest.
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