al-Qaida Seen Eyeing Less Complex Attacks On US

Ever since al-Qaida attacked the United States in 2001, U.S. authorities have worked to detect and prevent the next big terrorist strike.

But officials and counter-terrorism experts say the Christmas airline plot and last November's shooting at Fort Hood, Texas, may have shown al-Qaida that smaller-scale attacks also can prove unsettling, without the complexity and risk of bigger attempts.

The Christmas Day attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound flight — allegedly by a young Nigerian man with explosives in his underwear — was not successful. The attempt, however, shook the government, set agencies against each other and led to months of political second-guessing.

Short of mass casualties, the attack produced the kind of reaction that al-Qaida desires.

Now it appears that the group, which has prided itself on its ideological purism, seems to be eyeing a more pragmatic and perhaps more dangerous shift in tactics. The emerging message appears to be that big successes are great, but sometimes simply trying can be just as good.

It's not clear what Osama bin Laden and his senior leaders are thinking and plotting. But U.S.-born al-Qaida spokesman Adam Gadahn made a public pitch for such smaller, single acts of jihad in a recent Internet video.

“Even apparently unsuccessful attacks on Western mass transportation systems can bring major cities to a halt, cost the enemy billions and send his corporations into bankruptcy,” Gadahn said in the video.

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Internet Aids Terrorist Recruiting, Radicalization, Pentagon says

Militant and terrorist groups are using the Internet to streamline their terrorist recruiting, radicalization, and training. The man who allegedly attempted to blow up an American airliner on Christmas Day was contacted, recruited, and trained in just six weeks, officials say.

Militant groups can radicalize individuals and train them to carry out terrorist acts much more quickly today, in part thanks to the Internet, according to military and counter terrorism experts testifying on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

Militant groups and some individuals have “maximized” the use of technologies such as the Internet. Government officials say the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who allegedly attempted to blow up an American airliner in Detroit on Christmas Day, points to just how fast groups can radicalize an individual. Mr. Abdulmutallab was identified, contacted, recruited, and trained all within six weeks, according to a Pentagon counterterrorism official. That’s much faster than the two and a half years it took for Osama bin Laden to hatch the plan to attack the US nine years ago. While the two plans vary widely in scope, the faster time frame indicates how adaptive radicalized groups and individuals have become, say experts.

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No-Fly List Has Doubled in Size and Will Get Bigger

U.S. enforcement and intelligence officials said Wednesday that the no-fly list barring passengers with suspected terror ties from boarding planes has already increased in size since the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253, and was likely to get much larger.

Security procedures have been stepped up since the attempted bombing of Delta Flight 253 on Dec. 25, 2009.

U.S. enforcement and intelligence officials said Wednesday that the no-fly list barring passengers with suspected terror ties from boarding planes has already increased in size since the attempted Christmas Day bombing of Northwest Flight 253.

“It’s getting bigger and it will get much bigger,” said Russell Travers, deputy director of the National Counterterrorism Center, testifying at a hearing of the Senate Homeland Security Committee.

After the hearing, government officials confirmed to ABC News an earlier press report that the no-fly list had nearly doubled in size since December 25, from 3,400 names to over 6,000 individuals.

“The figure reported today generally reflects that expansion, although the number of individuals on the no-fly list varies daily,” said an official from the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Center (TSC).

via Source.

TSA To Begin Random Explosive Screening With New Equipment

Screening for explosives at several US airports is about to change. Airport screener’s will navigate carts with specialized bomb-detection machines around airport gates and checkpoint lines to randomly check passengers hands and carry-on bags for explosive residue using chemical swabs.

The program, already tested at five airports after the attempted Christmas Day bomb plot on a U.S.-bound airliner, begins nationwide in a few weeks, TSA spokeswoman Sterling Payne said.

Metal detectors now used at checkpoints can’t spot materials such as the powdered explosives that bombing suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab allegedly hid in his underwear to get through a checkpoint in Amsterdam’s airport.

“Had Abdulmutallab been subjected to a (chemical) inspection, there’s a high probability it would have picked up the explosives,” RAND Corp. security analyst Brian Jenkins said. “The machines are extraordinarily sensitive.”

Shortly after the Dec. 25 incident, the TSA ran a 17-day test at the five airports to see whether bomb-sensing equipment could be rolled on carts to check random passengers.

The microwave-oven-size detectors are usually stationary and are a common sight at airport checkpoints, where screeners swipe a small swab along a bag or a passenger’s hand. The swab is then run through a reader that can detect minute amounts of explosives.

The machines are so sensitive that alarms can sound for passengers who have recently taken heart pills containing nitroglycerin, or if they have recently fired guns, Jenkins said. The machines also are used on checked luggage.

via Source – USATODAY.com – Read Full Article.

al Qaeda Recruiting English Speakers and Women

al Qaeda in Yemen is actively recruiting English-speaking individuals according to intelligence officials in this Fox News report., Investigators say they are looking for people who are more like Americans, having been born in the United States or Canada. “Anyone who can fit in and not attract suspicion” is desirable to the terror network right now, said one official.

An investigative source also said that among those attracting attention by the intelligence community are women recruits. The next wave of terrorists may include Western women, possibly Canadian, with forged documents. The use of women would be seen an evolution in Al Qaeda's strategy from the failed Christmas Day attack by accused “underpants bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

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English-speaking Bombers Subject of Global Manhunt

The Washington Times reports that U.S. and allied counter-terrorism authorities have launched a global manhunt for English-speaking terrorists trained in Yemen who are planning terror attacks on the United States. The manhunt is based on intelligence provided by the suspect in the attempted Christmas Day bombing, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab.

U.S. officials told The Washington Times that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, facing charges as a would-be suicide bomber,revealed during recent cooperation with the FBI that he met with other English speakers at a terrorist training camp in Yemen. Three U.S. intelligence officials, including one senior official, disclosed on the condition of anonymity some details of the additional bomb plots.

Said one official: “It's safe to say that Abdulmutallab is not the only bullet in the chamber for al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula,” the Islamist terrorist group based in Yemen.

“Farouk took a month to get operational. Once he left [training in Yemen], it did not take very long,” the official said.

via U.S. hunts for English-speaking bombers – Washington Times.

Clinton – al Qaeda Is Greater Threat Than Iran, N. Korea

Clinton told CNN’s State of the Union that there is a continuing threat from Al-Qaeda on the American people and US officials were only able to contain so far since “over the last six months, we have seen attacks foiled, people arrested and charged, so that you have to be constantly vigilant. And that is what everybody working in this government at all levels attempts to do”.

She noted that there is “nothing new” about Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s tape claiming responsibility for the airline bombing attempt over Detroit last Christmas adding that “it is really important for people to just go along with their daily lives. you cannot be deterred or discouraged or fearful about what is happening and we just have to do everything we can to keep America safe”.

Clinton said it is “very difficult to make that kind of assessment” about Al-Qaeda threat alert on the American soil since last year describing Al-Qaeda members as “a very committed, clever, diabolical group of terrorists who are always looking for weaknesses and openings”.

“I do not see them as stronger, I see they are more creative, more flexible, more agile. They evolve”, she added while saying “the biggest nightmare that any of us have is that one of these terrorist member organizations within this syndicate of terror will get their hands on a weapon of mass destruction”.

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Interagency Teams Can Now Question Terror Suspects

Interagency interrogation teams have started to question key terrorism suspects under a classified charter approved last week, but authorities have been slower to resolve pressing issues that emerged since Christmas — including how to draw the line between gathering intelligence and building a legal case, according to federal officials and experts following the process.

The High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, announced to fanfare by White House officials last summer, was not formally authorized until Jan. 28, under a previously unreported 14-page memo signed by the president's national security adviser, Gen. James L. Jones. The delay became a matter of political debate last month after members of Congress asked why the group had been not deployed to interrogate Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who is accused of trying to detonate an explosive Dec. 25 on an airliner about to land in Detroit.

via Interagency teams can now question terror suspects – washingtonpost.com.

NORAD Trains for Terrorist Attack Over Northwest Ohio

The 180th Air National Guard at Toledo Express Airport trained for a terrorist attack Thursday. They were part of a NORAD exercise where two armed F-16’s took flight to intercept a passenger jet possibly hijacked by terrorists.

Michael Cornell, Director of Owens Community Colleg’s Center for Preparedness, says “It’s just another example of how well the country is working to prepare for what many feel is an inevitable attack.”

Cornell believes a terrorist attack is imminent, citing the failed Christmas Day bomber in Detroit.

However, Cornell believes the U.S. has come a long way, but says there’s always room for growth and preparedness training. “I don’t think we’re where we need to be, but (we’re) a lot better off than we were five to ten years ago.”

via NORAD trains for terrorist attack over northwest Ohio – WTOL.com, Toledo’s News Leader, News 11 |.

Britain – Terrorists Plan Attack With Bombs Inside Their Bodies

From Mail Online – Security services believe the move has been prompted by the recent introduction at airports of body scanners, which are designed to catch terrorists before they board flights.

It is understood MI5 became aware of the threat after observing increasingly vocal internet ‘chatter’ on Arab websites this year.

The warning comes in the wake of the failed attempt by London-educated Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to blow up an airliner approaching Detroit on Christmas Day.

One security source said: ‘If the terrorists are talking about this, we need to be ready and do all we can to counter the threat.’

A leading source added that male bombers would have the explosive secreted near their appendix or in their buttocks, while females would have the material placed inside their breasts in the same way as figure-enhancing implants.

Experts said the explosive PETN (Pentaerythritol Tetranitrate) would be placed in a plastic sachet inside the bomber’s body before the wound was stitched up like a normal operation incision and allowed to heal.

via Terrorists ‘plan attack on Britain with bombs INSIDE their bodies’ to foil new airport scanners | Mail Online.

Terror Suspects Possibly Linked To Underwear Bomber In Custody

KUALA LUMPUR – Police last week acted quickly to forestall a serious threat to national security when they nabbed 10 terror suspects with links to international terrorist organizations. The nine foreigners and a Malaysian were also believed to be linked to a Nigerian student who attempted to blow up a US-bound flight on Christmas Day. Among the foreigners nabbed here were several Nigerians but the authorities are tight-lipped over the details.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said the nine foreigners had only just arrived here when they were nabbed. “They would not have had time to do much and establish themselves here,” Hishammuddin said. “They posed a serious security threat to the country and have been detained under the ISA (Internal Security Act).”

He, however, refused to reveal the nationalities of the foreign suspects and organisation they were affiliated to. He said police were tipped off by international anti-terrorism agencies and swung into action.

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Intelligence Officials Concerned Operatives At Large

Government intercepts and intelligence suggest that Al Qaeda operatives trained in Yemen are at large, and could be planning more attacks on the U.S., using even more novel techniques to smuggle explosives on airplanes.

“Our concerns are elevated,” one intelligence official said today. “Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, there is reason to believe they are plotting still.”

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Viable Terror Threats Extend Beyond Aviation

If you thought recent terror incidents might be an anomaly think again. Now is not time to let down your guard. Information gained since the attempted airplane bombing on Christmas Day has U.S. officials concerned that al Qaeda in Yemen has “trained and equipped…viable operatives” to strike U.S. targets, including targets unrelated to aviation, according to a CNN report.

“I have not seen people this ramped up on the terror front like this for probably two years,” the source said. “The palpable level of angst is incredible.”

Federal officials said there was no imminent threat, but the source said the investigation into the electronic communications associated with Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab, the 23-year-old Nigerian charged in the botched attempt to bomb an airplane, initially took officials in different directions.

Now, the source said, “the spider web” is starting to come together. Officials believe there are viable operatives — described by this source as “people who are trained, equipped, resourced, with instructions — maybe not with a 'go order' but all of the pieces are in place.”

via Source: Terror threat by ‘viable operatives’ extends beyond aviation – CNN.com.

Credible Threat From al Qaeda In Yemen

CNN reports the United States is closely monitoring a “credible threat” from al Qaeda in Yemen against the U.S. homeland.

At the same time, one official Wednesday cautioned that the threat is fairly general in nature and does not have too much specificity — and the second said this is not a case of “we connected the dots to something imminent.”

The first official did say, though, that the U.S. had gleaned that al Qaeda is already “adapting” to new U.S. security measures and that, in part, has raised the concerns.

A third source said that in following up on accused Christmas Day airplane bomber Omar Farouk AbdulMutallab, officials came across some information relevant to aviation. A fourth source confirmed the information has to do with aviation and al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The level of concern is “measurable” this source said, adding “There is more prickling of the neck hair.”

The U.S. has some information about time frame, this source continued, saying, “It is more definitive than it usually is.”

via ‘Credible threat’ from al Qaeda in Yemen – CNN.com.

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