U.S. pulls diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan, amid terror threat

[Vikrant]

...

Washington (CNN) -- The State Department has evacuated most of its diplomats from Lahore, Pakistan in response to a terrorist threat against the U.S. consulate, senior State Department and other senior U.S. officials told CNN.

"We have picked up what we regard as a threat worthy of taking this action," one senior U.S. official told CNN.

The State Department issued an "orderged departure" for all of its diplomats in Lahore Thursday, except for a handful of emergency personnel. The diplomats were moved to Islamabad, the nation's capital, officials said.

A travel warning issued by the State Department said the department "ordered this drawdown due to specific threats concerning the U.S. Consulate in Lahore" and warned U.S. citizens against travel to Pakistan.

...

FIRST ON CNN: U.S. pulls diplomats from Lahore amid terror threat - CNN.com

 

[waltky]

Obama's indecisiveness comes off as weakness to terrorists...

Experts: Dithering U.S. No Longer Seen As Leader In Middle East Terror Fight
September 19, 2013 – The credibility of the United States in addressing international terrorism threats is diminishing due to inaction and the lack of leadership in the nation’s domestic affairs, according to a panel of experts who testified at a House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism and Intelligence hearing chaired by Rep. Peter KIng (R-NY) Wednesday.

Panelists also agreed that the American public is being misled to believe that Al-Qaeda is less of a threat now than it was during the past decade. “What we do here at home as we address issues like our budget and problems here at home, or if we don't, the perception of deadlock, the perception that we can’t get anything done on those things that matter most to our own citizens here at home, it has an impact on our power, on our ability to actually shape those countries in the Middle East that we want to say we're a leader,” Brian Katulis, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said during the hearing, which focused on the ongoing threat of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

“It sends a very negative message,” Katulis continued, "and here again, I'm not assigning blame to anyone. Here, it's just this sense that there has been this rancor, and it spills over overseas. It has this impact on our soft power, if you will. If 10 or 15 years ago there was great admiration for our democracy and our ability to get things done and our economic system, when I go to Egypt, when I go to Yemen, when I go to these places, people have tuned out because they see a lot of division and they see the United States not leading anymore. "And yes, it comes back to our commander-in-chief and our president and how he talks about it, in part, but it's also a broader point about our system and the special role that we all play in trying to foster a dialogue that I think keeps America engaged in these problems in the world.” “What I worry about . . . is less of a bipartisan focus on how we can educate the American public about these threats,” he added, “There’s no substitute for presidential leadership on this.”

Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute, emphasized that the “the threat presented by AQAP, the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda affiliate that has inspired many home-grown radicals in recent years, “has metastasized – it comes in various shapes, sizes, flavors, and form, ranging from Al Qaeda senior leadership... to its many affiliates.” The message that must be conveyed to the American public is that Al-Qaeda members are “the ones who declared war – it’s not the other way around,” he added. “One thing I think we also need to acknowledge and recognize is U.S. credibility in the world, once we start coming up with red lines and the like.” Agreeing with King’s statement that “the Al-Qaeda network is stronger today than it was before” the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, Cilluffo added, “Yes, [Osama bin Laden] may be dead, but the witch lives on.”

He also noted that Al-Qaeda’s recruitment of jihadists poses a particular concern for U.S. homeland security because “you’ve got thousands of Western foreign fighters” active in Syria. “What happens when they go home?” he asked. Katherine Zimmerman, senior analyst at the American Enterprise Institute, said that the strength of the Al-Qaeda network “lies in interwoven connections between regional Al-Qaeda groups” rather than a centralized core. “This is no longer George Bush’s Al-Qaeda, “ she said. “The enemy has transformed, and if we want to win, our strategy must transform with it.” Zimmerman recommended strategies to address governance and human rights issues, since “Al Qaeda groups thrive in areas of low or poor governance and are able to take advantage of grievances against the government” to recruit new members. Katulis concurred, noting that “Syria’s civil war has provided a magnet for both jihadists’ funding and recruitment.”

- See more at: Experts: Dithering U.S. No Longer Seen As Leader In Middle East Terror Fight | CNS News

 

[Mr. H.]

Lahore?

Is that a French prostitute?

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Let us all understand this fully, the US carries terror attacks out against Pakastini civilians with drone attacks there.

And now, Pakistanis threaten terror attacks in Pakistan against the US, against officials at the US Consulate.

 

[SherriMunnerlyn]

Let us all understand this fully, the US carries terror attacks out against Pakastini civilians with drone attacks there.

And now, Pakistanis threaten terror attacks in Pakistan against the US, against officials at the US Consulate.

Obama has*authorized*193 drone strikes in Pakistan – four times the amount authorized by George W. Bush. According to*Global Research, over the past four years, Obama has authorized attacks in Pakistan which have killed more than 800 innocent civilians and just 22 Al-Qaeda officers.

A List Of Children Killed By Drone Strikes In Pakistan and Yemen

A List Of Children Killed By Drone Strikes In Pakistan and Yemen

 

[Politico]

Good. We shouldn't be in any of those place I never heard of before.

 

[waltky]

Extremist group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar claimed responsibility and said it specifically targeted Christians...

State Dept. Hesitates to Confirm Terrorists Who Claimed to Target Christians, Targeted Christians
March 28, 2016 | – State Department spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday that he did not have “the fidelity of information to confirm overtly” that the massive suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday was specifically targeting Christians celebrating Easter.

Ahsanullah Ahsan, a spokesman for Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, the breakaway Taliban faction claiming responsibility for the attacks, told the Associated Press on Sunday that the suicide bomber “deliberately targeted the Christian community celebrating Easter.” He also said the attack was meant to protest Pakistan's military operation in the tribal regions.

At the State Department today, referencing the condemnatory statement made by the Department but which contained no reference of the targeting of Christians, AP reporter Matt Lee asked, “There’s been some commentary about why you guys didn’t mention either the Easter connection or the Christian connection in your condemnatory statements over the weekend and again today. Do you believe the claim of responsibility that Christians were targeted and are targets?” “We have no indications that their claims of responsibility are false, though I can’t sit here and confirm it a hundred percent,” Kirby said. “Therefore I have no indications that their, the motivation that they claim was the reason is also false, but this is all going to be investigated by Pakistanis.”

People carry the coffin containing the body of 11-year-old Sahil Pervez who was killed in the Mar. 27 terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan.​

Kirby also said that his failure to mention that the attack was specifically targeted against Christians on Easter Sunday in the State Department’s condemnatory statement “was as much a fact, or as much an indication of the fact that it had just happened and we didn’t know that much about the attack at the outset.” “Is that your understanding now, though?” said Lee. “Do you believe that it was?”

Kirby replied, “We have no reason to doubt the veracity of their claims that this was aimed at Christians on Easter Sunday. But again I’m not also in a position, I just, we don’t have the fidelity of information to actually, you know, confirm overtly that that was in fact the case.” “Clearly, that certainly appears to have been the case and we have no reason to doubt their claims,” said Kirby.

State Dept. Hesitates to Confirm Terrorists Who Claimed to Target Christians Targeted Christians

See also:

As Pakistan mourns, prime minister vows to defeat militants
Mar 28,`16 -- In an emotional televised address, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed Monday to hunt down and defeat the militants who have been carrying out attacks like the Easter bombing that targeted Christians and killed 72 people.

"We will not allow them to play with the lives of the people of Pakistan," Sharif said. "This is our resolve. This is the resolve of the 200 million people of Pakistan." As the country began three days of mourning after Sunday' suicide bombing in the eastern city of Lahore in a park crowded with families, Sharif said the army would forge ahead with a military operation on extremist hideouts and police will go after what he called the "cowards" who carried out the attack. Jamaat-ul-Ahrar, a breakaway Taliban faction that supports the Islamic State group, claimed responsibility and said it specifically targeted Christians.

But most of those killed were Muslims who also had been in the popular park for the holiday. Many women and children were among the victims, and dozens of families held tearful funerals Monday for their slain relatives. At least 300 people were wounded. Sharif, who canceled a visit to the United States to attend a nuclear summit, also warned extremists against using Islam to justify their violence in the overwhelmingly Muslim nation. Pakistan has suffered a series of attacks in recent months, and Sharif said militants are hitting "soft targets" like playgrounds and schools because military and police operations are putting pressure on their operations.

Women try to comfort a mother who lost her son in bomb attack in Lahore, Pakistan, Monday, March 28, 2016. The death toll from a massive suicide bombing targeting Christians gathered on Easter in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore rose on Monday as the country started observing a three-day mourning period following the attack​

Sharif met with security officials earlier in the day, and raids and dozens of arrests were carried out in eastern Punjab province, where several militant organizations are headquartered. The prime minister also visited hospitals in Lahore where many of the injured were being treated. Sharif was born in the city, which is also the capital of Punjab province, his power base. "It strengthened my resolve when I met the wounded people," he said in his address. "God willing, I will not sit idle until I bring smiles back on their faces." The attack underscored both the militants' ability to stage large-scale attacks despite a government offensive and the precarious position of Pakistan's minority Christians.

At the Vatican, Pope Francis decried what he called the vile and abominable bombing against Christians and urged Pakistani authorities to "make every effort to restore security and serenity" in the country, particularly for religious minorities. In Pakistan's capital of Islamabad, Islamic extremists protested for a second day outside Parliament and other key buildings, demanding that authorities impose Sharia law. The army deployed paramilitary Rangers as well as about 800 additional soldiers from neighboring Rawalpindi to Islamabad, to protect the center, which houses main government buildings and diplomatic missions.

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