Afghanistan

[piercehawkeye45]

It was more than two guys on a telephone apparently:

The continued closure of embassies and the travel alerts across the Middle East was apparently prompted not by a simple conversation between two top al-Qaeda leaders, but by an intercepted conference call between top leadership and affiliates across the region. That's been followed by a noticeable uptick in drone strikes over the past few days.

The U.S. and Britain evacuated their embassies in Yemen yesterday and urged nationals to leave the country as soon as possible over their fears of an imminent al-Qaeda attack. It had previously been reported that U.S. intelligence picked up a conversation between al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, his top counterpart in Yemen, discussing Zawahiri's wish to see a terrorist attack launched from the region.

But apparently the intelligence that was intercepted was much more than that. "This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom," an intelligence source told The Daily Beast's Josh Rogin and Eli Lake. U.S. intelligence intercepted a major conference call between up to 20 al-Qaeda affiliates across the Middle East during which Zawahiri promoted Wuhayushi to a "general manager" position, giving him control over most of the group's smaller operations in the region. The top al-Qaeda leaders said teams were already in place for an attack, though they were vague when discussing the target, which prompted the swift and wide-ranging response from the U.S.

In the wake of the attacks, the drone operation in Yemen has also been taken up a notch. There have been five drone strikes over the last five days targeting suspected al-Qaeda operatives, breaking a seven week stretch of drone silence in the area. The BBC also reports that Yemeni officials claim to have broken up an al-Qaeda plot to take over the country's oil pipelines. Whether or not that was the attack U.S. officials have been planning against is unclear.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/natio...ce-call/68065/

[piercehawkeye45]

Also, I imagine the main reason for the large amount of embassy closures is a forced overreaction due to Benghazi. Why would Obama risk it?

With regards to the NSA, it cannot be viewed as black and white. Yes, the NSA surveillance will stop some terrorist attacks. No, that does not automatically justify the extent of the program.



Edit: Also, Obama didn't mention if this was NSA doings or not.

He didn't specify which countries posed the greatest threat. He also wouldn't say whether the U.S. learned of the threat through National Security Agency Surveillance programs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...?utm_hp_ref=tw

[Lamplighter]

OK, it's Yemen, not NSA, reporting and using "foiled" instead of "thwarted"
Still it's a WIN

CNN
Mohammed Jamjoom, Hakim Almasmari and Laura Smith-Spark,
August 7, 2013
Yemen foiled plot to attack ports, oil and gas facilities, official says

[Lamplighter]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Sunday, I'm in sympathy with your thinking.
Two guys talk on the telephone, and Osama Bin Laden gets what he wanted all along...
<snip>

Closing all those embassies is looking more and more like LOSE/LOSE for U.S.


NY Times
ROBERT F. WORTH and ERIC SCHMITT
August 7, 2013

Caustic Light on White House’s Reaction to a Terrorist Threat

<snip>“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.”

The jihadists are not the only ones who see the new terrorist alert in a caustic light. <snip>

Yemen’s government has worked closely with the United States on counterterrorism measures,
and American officials, who had a troubled relationship with Yemen’s former longtime president,
Ali Abdullah Saleh, have voiced confidence in Mr. Hadi and increased aid to the country.

“When you do evacuations, you signal that all the effort to build up trust in
the Yemeni security establishment amounts to nothing,” said one Yemeni official,
who spoke on condition of anonymity. “And all the development projects by U.S.A.I.D.
and its counterparts in Britain, Germany and elsewhere — everything stops.”

[xoxoxoBruce]

“And all the development projects by U.S.A.I.D.
and its counterparts in Britain, Germany and elsewhere — everything stops.”

Those projects cost us money, and are not for our benefit. If they can't keep their wackos under control, fuck 'em, they deserve to lose the aid.

[Lamplighter]

The government tells the world it had significant information that
warranted the closing of 19+ embassies over the past weekend.

Some reporter needs to ask what significant information they have
today that warranted the opening of 18 of those embassies ?
(The 19th is staying closed due to yet another threat.)

The end of Ramadan was cited as one part of their evaluations.
Was just the end of Ramadan sufficient to believe that the terrorists
would have to cancel their intentions on 18 of these embassies ?

Methinks "Snowden October Surprise" better describes the situation,
or was it a "Tail Wagging the Dog"


USA Today
Melanie Eversley
8/9/13

Eighteen of 19 U.S. embassies, consulates closed recently will reopen.

Eighteen of 19 of U.S. embassies and consulates across
the Middle East, Asia and Africa closed recently will reopen on Sunday,
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki announced in a statement released Friday evening.

The U.S. embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, will remain closed, Psaki added,
because of continuing concerns about a threat for potential terrorist attacks by al Qaeda.

The U.S. consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, which shut down yesterday
do [sic] to a separate threat also will remain closed, Psaki announced in the statement.
<snip>

[xoxoxoBruce]

Who the fuck cares why they close or open embassies, except conspiracy theorists. The world keeps spinning around and there's a shitload of more important things to worry about.

[Lamplighter]

such as ?

[regular.joe]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

Who the fuck cares why they close or open embassies, except conspiracy theorists. The world keeps spinning around and there's a shitload of more important things to worry about.

Because Embassies are an instrument of our national power and influence overseas. Wether we want to admit it or not we are an international player and how we conduct business, how we are perceived, what we do or don't do and why we do what we do are important. We can't be an isolated entity, even if we want to be.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

such as ?

NSA

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by regular.joe

Because Embassies are an instrument of our national power and influence overseas. Wether we want to admit it or not we are an international player and how we conduct business, how we are perceived, what we do or don't do and why we do what we do are important. We can't be an isolated entity, even if we want to be.

That horseshit went out with sword fighting and knickers. Just because an embassy opens, or closes, doesn't mean it affects diplomatic communication with that country, for christ's sake. Yo, there's stuff in the sky that talks to places on the ground without pigeons.

Walmart opens and closes stores all the time.
Toyota opens and closes dealerships all the time.

[Griff]

Did you see where we cancelled Obama's one-to-one talks with Putin so we're having talks with Russia instead?

We do need to turn down our overseas operations. Our government is fully corrupted and we have to figure out how to reclaim it. Our fascist foreign policy is a big part of the problem, but Mussolini's influence goes far beyond that... If you are what you eat of late we've eaten fascists, communists, religious nutters, drug cartels, terrorists... We're all those things and more.

[Lamplighter]

Geesh Griff, I don't think things are quite that bad !!

[sexobon]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

... Yo, there's stuff in the sky that talks to places on the ground without pigeons. ...

Originally Posted by Griff

Did you see where we cancelled Obama's one-to-one talks with Putin so we're having talks with Russia instead? ...

Pigeon diplomacy.

[Griff]

Originally Posted by Lamplighter

Geesh Griff, I don't think things are quite that bad !!

I need to stop reading the news.