Not really Afghanistan, but still like Afghanistan
... Or is more akin to an October Surprise ?
Bloomberg
Nicole Gaouette & David Lerman
Aug 3, 2013
Al-Qaeda Threat Cited by U.S. in Issuing Global Travel Alert
Quote:
The U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert warning citizens of potential
terror attacks in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia by al-Qaeda or its affiliates.
The U.S. will close 21 embassies and consulates in those regions this weekend as a precaution.
Quote:
“Current information suggests that al-Qaeda and affiliated organizations
continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that
they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between
now and the end of August,” the department said yesterday.
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<snip>
The significance of Aug. 4 as a day to close embassies wasn’t spelled out
by the State Department, leaving room for speculation about possibilities.
Tomorrow is Obama’s birthday, and it’s also a holy day on the Muslim calendar
because it falls in the final 10 days of Ramadan, the month of fasting.
<snip>
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But then, not everyone is taking this quite as urgently...
Quote:
The warning surfaced as President Barack Obama’s administration argues
that National Security Agency surveillance programs are essential to fight terrorist threats.
<snip>
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), US Airways Group Inc. and AMR Corp.’s American Airlines
are monitoring the travel situation and haven’t issued waivers
letting passengers rebook flights without paying fees, spokesmen said.
United Airlines, a unit of United Continental Holdings Inc., declined to comment.
<snip>
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This part sounds more pausible to me...
Quote:
The State Department warning came days after al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri
urged his followers in a speech posted on jihadist websites to attack U.S. sites
as a response to American drone strikes in Pakistan and Yemen,
according to the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terror groups.<snip>
In all, the U.S. has conducted almost 50 such strikes in Yemen since the beginning of 2012,
killing some of the group’s leaders, including its deputy emir, Said al-Shihri,
whose death the group acknowledged in a video last month.
<snip>
Documents purportedly from al-Qaeda fighters in Mali and obtained by the Associated Press
outline a strategy of kidnapping “in exchange for the drone strategy.”
Kidnappings would “bring back the pressure of the American public opinion in a more active way”
against drone strikes, according to the papers, which the New York-based news service
translated from Arabic. The document is focused on Yemen.
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