Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials (936666) | |
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Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012 I'm sure this'll piss off our republican friends whose only concern is that America be damned until they can seize power again and continue the downward slide of this country, but here it is anyway. :)Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials (Reuters) - Al Qaeda's core organization is likely incapable of carrying out another mass-casualty attack on the scale of September 11, 2001, U.S. intelligence and counterterrorism officials said on Friday. U.S. government experts also believe that the likelihood of an attack using chemical, biological, atomic or radiological weapons over the next year was not high, said Robert Cardillo, deputy director of U.S. National Intelligence. Cardillo and other U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described these assessments on a conference call with journalists billed as an opportunity for government experts to voice their assessments of al Qaeda's potency a year after the killing of Osama bin Laden in a U.S. commando raid. Cardillo said the al Qaeda "core" organization that bin Laden created has suffered strategic setbacks due to the outbreak of "Arab Spring" protests and rebellions in Islamic countries, which have not spread great sympathy for al Qaeda's hardline and violent brand of Islam. More worrying to U.S. counterterrorism officials and their allies abroad is the possibility of home-grown extremists, or "lone wolves," who are radicalized over the Internet or in small cells, but who also now are being given encouragement by media outlets connected to al Qaeda and its affiliates. While they were unwilling to declare that al Qaeda was on the brink of "strategic defeat," the U.S. officials did say they believed the central organization founded by bin Laden simply was not capable today of marshalling the kind of resources and planning that went into the deadly suicide airplane hijackings of September 11, 2001. The officials said that the United States regards four al Qaeda spinoffs or affiliates as still posing threats of greater or lesser degree to U.S. interests. Most deadly, the officials said, was Yemen-based al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which U.S. officials believe was behind unsuccessful but imaginative attempts to attack continental U.S. targets over the last 18 months using airplane-borne bombs stashed in a passenger's underwear and in photocopier ink cartridges. Al Qaeda in Iraq, which arose in the wake of the 2003 U.S. invasion to oust Saddam Hussein, remains a potentially lethal presence in that country and may be expanding its activities into neighboring Syria, though officials did not indicate they believe it poses much of a threat to U.S. interests outside that region. U.S. officials said they regarded al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), an affiliate based in North Africa, as largely a criminal organization engaged in kidnapping Westerners for ransom. But they said they were concerned such tactics could evolve into more spectacular kidnappings intended to win publicity for militant causes. U.S. officials said that after a period in which their struggle became a magnet for disillusioned Islamic youths in both the United States and Europe, al Qaeda's Somali affiliate, al Shabaab, has seen a measurable falloff in Western recruiting and support. On balance, a counterterrorism official said, it was "clear we've made progress towards defeating al Qaeda the organization," though elements of both the ideology and the organization certainly remain, including "a number of active networks in the United Kingdom." (Editing by Eric Beech) --- And Osama Bin Hidin' is STILL dead. :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by AlM on Sat Apr 28 11:34:19 2012, in response to Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012. And the good news is that we can deal with places like Yemen using drones and not via a full-scale invasion.http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/middleeast/us-to-step-up-drone-strikes-inside-yemen.html |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 18:19:01 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by AlM on Sat Apr 28 11:34:19 2012. Actually ... that's BAD news ... ask the republicans (who I note are playing with their crickets) ... :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 18:24:59 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 18:19:01 2012. why do you think they engineered the Cole Bombing? |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 18:57:56 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 18:24:59 2012. You mean Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is a republican? :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by JayZeeBMT on Sat Apr 28 19:15:18 2012, in response to Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012. Big operations like 9/11, intended to be every bit as spectacular and horrifying as they are, also require lots of money, time, and training, things AQ no longer enjoys in sufficient quantities. A BIG part of this change was, as you correctly noted, the raid against OBL by President Obama last year.The original Planes Operation, as I taught it in the EMS Academy years ago, called for ten hijackings--five on the East Coast, five on the West Coast--in a massive attack that would have shut down the government (insofar as it would have taken the COG system to get up and running--two of the original intended targets were the WH AND Capitol). The plan was scaled down because it was too complex, and would have needed too many people spread out over too much real estate--but had they stuck with it, we'd STILL be picking pieces of bone out of too many places around the country. As it was, the 9/11 attacks took OBL and AQ a full eight years to plan, devise, train, finance, and ultimately carry out. Mind you, this is before dedicated agencies like DHS, plus the agencies that have always been hunting terrorists, like the FBI and the CIA. What I think people fail to understand is just how difficult big terrorist operations are to carry out. That's why you don't see them happening every week. Even the most recent attempts here in the US have all involved just one or two operatives, trying to blow up car bombs, or ignite their underwear on airplanes, or set off satchel charges in the subways. All hideously lethal--no question about it--but nothing on the scale of what we went through on 9/11. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 19:21:44 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 18:57:56 2012. He had affiliation with the global Right wing. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 19:43:49 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by JayZeeBMT on Sat Apr 28 19:15:18 2012. Precisely ... and even the small stuff is waning because AQ's made it a point to harm their own and folks over there are getting tired of it. Despite the "Arab Spring" being used as propaganda, that's probably put a bigger hole in their recruiting and sympathizers than anything else has. Again, because AQ is killing their own. From what I hear, the number of single operators is dwindling as well. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 19:44:40 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 19:21:44 2012. It's been amusing how many tie-ins there've been. Well ... not amusing but you get the idea. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Dave on Sun Apr 29 05:51:44 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 19:21:44 2012. Proff? |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 13:10:38 2012, in response to Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012. I'm sure this'll piss off our republican friends whose only concern is that America be damned until they can seize power again and continue the downward slide of this countryNo; those liberal establishment republicans would be quite fond of that. As do their democrat allies. It's that one-party state that is causing the downward slide of the country. Khrushchev's laughing from beyond the grave. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 13:11:50 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sat Apr 28 18:24:59 2012. LOL, you say stuff like this and have the nerve to call anyone else "crazy" or suchlike. |
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Re: Al Qaeda noT capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 29 13:55:56 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 13:11:50 2012. Son of a crack WHORE, The worldwide RIGHT is the enemy of all mankind. For example, Europe's problems are with evil anti-Keynesian economic thoeries which are as STUPID as Stalinism. since Oil funds the monolithic global Fascist front, alternative sources of energy need to be developed and the current oil based energy stakeholders need to be excluded from ANY participation in the new world of energy. Remember, Reagan (Goofy) worked hand-in-glove with al Qaeda and Ayatollah Khomeini. If the US minded its own business and let Russia claim its Afghan province, those planes would have flown into the Kremlin, not the Pentagon and WTC. Also it is ESTABLISHED HISTORICAL FACT that the GOP coluded with the government of Iran to "manage" the Hostage Crisis. Certainly, all those involved are guilty of TREASON. YOU GUYS and ALL your corrupt ideas , not US Liberals, are a disease on ALL MANKIND. |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 14:11:08 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda noT capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 29 13:55:56 2012. LOL, you hate Jews and freedom. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by bingbong on Sun Apr 29 14:30:39 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 13:10:38 2012. The one party state of 2001-2007 is where the damage was done. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Apr 29 14:36:23 2012, in response to Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012. Why would this piss me off? Thank you George W Bush. |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by bingbong on Sun Apr 29 15:00:16 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Apr 29 14:36:23 2012. Fact is, bush allowed alquda to persist. Now that Binladen's gone, they are no longer able to access the money that kept them going, as a result they've dissolved. He was the glue that kept it all together.Thank you President Obama! |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 29 15:01:15 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Olog-hai on Sun Apr 29 14:11:08 2012. LOL@YUO, ASSHOLE!!! |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:28:06 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Apr 29 14:36:23 2012. lol. Bin Laden thanked him too. |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:28:58 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Rockparkman on Sun Apr 29 15:01:15 2012. OMG! You're an antisemite too? Welcome to the club! :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by Fred G on Sun Apr 29 18:43:05 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sun Apr 29 14:36:23 2012. Thanks for nothing, George W Bush. You lost 2 skyscrapers, 4000 people and stopped looking for the guy who engineered it.your pal, Fred |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:44:24 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by Fred G on Sun Apr 29 18:43:05 2012. 2 skyscrapers plus a huge portion of the Pentagon, and a fourth jetliner in Pennsylvania, to boot! |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:45:24 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:44:24 2012. Yeah, but we got a really neat color-coordinated color scheme out of the deal as campaign posters. :( |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:46:55 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:45:24 2012. Which failed to include "puke-yellow" to denote disgusting levels of bullshit from Homeland Insecurity... |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by cortelyounext on Sun Apr 29 18:49:30 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:28:58 2012. The Honorable Delmon Young of the Detroit Tigers LLC was an anti-Semite but then he issued a quote statement of apology unquote so he is no longer an anti-Semite per se. You can use my statement below if you want. All you need to do is copy and paste it into your post. Then nobody can accuse you of being an anti-Semite anymore it's just that easy.Here |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:51:05 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:46:55 2012. Originally, the plan was to include it but it made the Pantone people crazy ...But I suppose the real problem is that the lobbying for that color went a little bit overboard, and just a bit TOO "gay" ... |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by cortelyounext on Sun Apr 29 18:51:06 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by cortelyounext on Sun Apr 29 18:49:30 2012. Of course, if you choose to use my apology, you'll need to personalize it since you are not from Detroit.l |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:56:50 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:51:05 2012. "Lavender Level"High probability of Defense Of Marriage Act repeal. Expect the fall of Western civilization, deorbiting of the Moon, and random fluctuations in the space/time continuum. |
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Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:58:17 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda capable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by cortelyounext on Sun Apr 29 18:51:06 2012. Damn! And it looked SO good on paper. Yeah, I'm still running on a Papyrus 6800 CPU here. :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Sun Apr 29 18:59:56 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by JayZeeBMT on Sun Apr 29 18:56:50 2012. Hoo boy ... now you've gone and done it. I'd watch the rear wall and listen for helicopters ... :) |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SMAZ on Mon Apr 30 02:39:28 2012, in response to Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SelkirkTMO on Sat Apr 28 07:24:40 2012. God Bless Barack Obama |
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Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials |
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Posted by SelkirkTMO on Mon Apr 30 02:48:31 2012, in response to Re: Al Qaeda now incapable of 9/11-scale attack: U.S. officials, posted by SMAZ on Mon Apr 30 02:39:28 2012. One by one, each thing that republicans thought mattered is slipping out of their fingers. And the things they continue to hold are growing natty things. :) |
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