Some, probably most, of us think that the Summer break is a great time to go on vacation to another city, place, or even another country, to see something of the world, to walk on paths you did not yet walk on, to enjoy life to the fullest. Others have different plans:
A secret U.S. law enforcement report, prepared for the Department of Homeland Security, warns that al Qaeda is planning a terror “spectacular” this summer, according to a senior official with access to the document.
“This is reminiscent of the warnings and intelligence we were getting in the summer of 2001,” the official told ABCNews.com.
U.S. officials have kept the information secret, and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today on ABC News’ “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” that the United States did not have “have any specific credible evidence that there’s an attack focused on the United States at this point.”
As ABCNews.com reported, U.S. law enforcement officials received intelligence reports two weeks ago warning of terror attacks in Glasgow and Prague, the Czech Republic, against “airport infrastructure and aircraft.”
German officials have taken a different approach to the terror threat: whereas American officials try to keep the public calm and confident, their German counterparts have informed the German people that there is a major risk of 9/11-ish terrorist attacks this Summer.
Jules Crittenden remarks that he find it “hard to know what to make of this.”
Al-Qaeda undoubtedly has had a lot of “spectacular†plans. Execution not always feasible. Meanwhile, what intelligence agent/agency in the post-9/11 Commission era is going to downplay any suggestion of al-Qaeda’s desire to do us harm?
All true, of course, but if I look at the three failed terrorist attacks in Great Britain these last couple of days, I think it is safe to assume that Al Qaeda does indeed have big plans for the summer. The good news is obviously that American authorities know about Al Qaeda’s plans (well, not in detail, but that they are up to something). All we can hope now is that those authorities have learned from 9/11 – and by all accounts they have. 9/11 was only possible because many mistakes were made. If those mistakes are not made this time around, Al Qaeda might be stopped.
And what’d ya know:
A car bomb exploded at the site of an ancient temple in Yemen’s northeast province of Mareb on Monday, killing eight people and wounding at least seven, police said.
Police in Mareb said six of the people killed were tourists, believed to be mostly from Spain. The other two were Yemenis, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Authorities in the province said the blast was caused by a car bomb, and witnesses reported seeing a car enter a gate at the temple’s site before exploding.
Will we see worldwide terrorist attacks this summer?
Cross posted at my own blog.
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