Al-Qaeda Throws U.S. National Security into a Tizzy

by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright August 4, 2013
All Rights Reserved.                                      

             Approaching the 12-year anniversary of Sept. 11, the U.S. finds itself still threatened by the late Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda terror organization.  Once an ally of the U.S. when hired to fight the Soviets in Afghanistan [1980-1989], Bin Laden went on a rampage against the U.S. until his end May 1, 2011.  When Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood devotee Ayman al Zawahri took over, he promised to keep up the mayhem on U.S. targets.  Last year’s al-Qaeda-affiliated attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya cost the life of 52-year Amb. Chris Stevens and three other Americans, prompting real concerns about the latest terrorists threats picked up as increased “chatter” over U.S. spy channels.  Picking up that something is “going to be big” and “strategically significant,” said an unnamed U.S. intelligence source with growing concerns about U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

             While 30-year-old National Security Agency leader Edward Snowden finds sanctuary in Russia, his spy activities involved scouring terrorist threats against U.S. interests.  “The part that is alarming is the coincidence they showed while communicating and the air of certainty,” said the anonymous NSA official, attributing the chatter to Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.  When President Barack Obama ordered a predator drone attack against Yemen’s al-Qaeda leader U.S.-born renegade Anwar al-Awlaki Sept. 30, 2011, it was less than a year before al-Qaeda attacked in Benghazi.  After getting hit hard by U.S. predator drone attacks in Yemen and Pakistan, al-Zawahri looks to score big at the U.S.  When the military murder trial begins Monday, Aug. 5 of 43-year-old former Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, his link to al-Awalki will be known to all.

             For months after Hasan’s Nov. 5, 2009 rampage in which he killed 13 U.S. soldiers and injured 30, White House officials denied any connection to terrorism.  It finally leaked out that a review of Hasan’s computer indicated a close relationship with al-Awlaki, carefully planning the attack for years.  More investigation uncoverend that al-Awlaki while serving as the imam in Church, Virginia, presided over the funeral of Hasan’s mother.  Since Sept. 11, White House officials have downplayed terrorist incidents having any link to the perpetrators of World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks.  “We do not know whether they mean an embassy, an airbase, an aircraft, trains,” said the unnamed U.S. official, admitting security agencies are scrambling to batten-down-the- hatches before a potential terrorist storm.  Hoping to catch the U.S. flatfooted, al-Zawahri continues his mischief.

             It’s no accident that the “chatter” comes before Hasan’s trial that promise to be a real media spectacle.  Now that the terrorist link to al-Awlaki is clear, al-Zawahri wants to grab the headlines for al-Qaeda.  Getting al-Zawahri should be a top priority for the Obama administration.  While hitting various targets can’t hurt, al-Zawhri has every bit the operational capacity as Bin Laden—maybe more.  Keeping the U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies guessing is precisely the aim of terrorists.  “We received information that a high-level people from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula are talking about a major attack,” said Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (D-Md.), ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee.  Seeking to avenge the death of Bin Laden and al-Awalki, al-Zawahri will stop at nothing until inflicting maximum casualties on U.S. targets in or out of the country.

             When al-Qaeda blindsided the U.S. mission in Benghazi last year, all fingers pointed toward former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  GOP members of Congress, especially Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), accused the White House of a criminal cover-up over regarding former U.N. Amb. Susan Rice’s statements to the media omitting any reference to “al-Qaeda” or “terrorist attack.”  If al-Zawahri succeeds in hitting a major U.S. target, will the same voices blame newly minted Secretary of State John Kerry?  Terrorism has been a fact of life to every airline passenger since Sept. 11.  Transportation Security’s one-size-fits-all screening does little to stop terrorism, especially with al-Zawahri still on the loose.  “This is the most serious threat that I’ve seen in the last several years,” said Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), ranking member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

             Given last year’s debacle in Benghazi, and more recently at the Boston Marathon, Homeland Security officials need to redouble efforts to pursue al-Qaeda’s roving command-and control center, especially al-Zawahri.  Torturing more airline passengers with more screenings and longer delays won’t stop the next terrorist attack against U.S. targets.  Al-Qaeda would like nothing more that to lash out during the high publicity of Hasan’s military murder trial.  Avenging the losses of Bin Laden and al-Awlaki would prove al-Qaeda’s continued relevance, despite Obama’s continue onslaught of predator drone attacks.  Keeping the U.S. guessing is precisely the aim of al-Qaeda that’s succeeded in compromising the American way of life.  Whether another al-Qaeda-sponsored attacks occurs tomorrow of somewhere down the road, U.S. officials need to relentlessly pursue al-Zawahri.

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com.and author of Dodging the Bullet and Operation Charisma.