Global Travel Alert Due to al Qaeda Threat

By Jeralyn, Section War on Terror
Posted on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 12:16:05 PM EST
Tags: al Qaida (all tags)

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Yesterday, the U.S. announced it would close its Embassies in the Middle East and North Africa. Today it issued a global travel alert to U.S. citizens, particularly in the Middle East and Africa.

“The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” read the bulletin, by the State Department’s Bureau of Consular Affairs. “Current information suggests that Al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August.”

Travelers are urged to register their plans with the State Department. [More...]

“U.S. citizens are reminded of the potential for terrorists to attack public transportation systems and other tourist infrastructure. Terrorists have targeted and attacked subway and rail systems, as well as aviation and maritime services.”

South Asia is also a concern. Here is the list of Embassies that will close Sunday.

Some reports link the threat to AQAP. Others link it to the spate of recent jail breaks. Apparently, the U.S. is gathering more than the "usual chatter" and has some "harder" intelligence of attack plans.

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Global Travel Alert Due to al Qaeda Threat | 21 comments (21 topical)

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What? (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by koshembos on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 03:36:57 PM EST

The practice of scaring the whole nation due who knows what smell bad. Personally, I don't believe a word they are saying. There were hundreds of scares with absolutely nothing happening.

It must be a hoax. (none / 0) (#8)
by Abdul Abulbul Amir on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 07:34:04 PM EST

Obama has assured us that Al Qaeda is on the run.

I'm sure (5.00 / 1) (#11)
by Mikado Cat on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 04:37:38 AM EST

you misunderstood. Its soon Al Qaeda will be running everything.


: That may be truer than you think. (none / 0) (#13)
by Mr Natural on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 07:17:30 AM EST

Anybody remember that old joke that had the parts of the body arguing over who was in charge - and which part won?

All their spying on you (5.00 / 3) (#14)
by Edger on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 08:15:40 AM EST

must have worked fine until you knew about it. But you're safe now.

According to reporting in (5.00 / 5) (#16)
by KeysDan on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 11:37:27 AM EST

the NYTimes (Qaeda Messages Prompt US Terror Warning, August 3) ...."Some Analysts and Congressional officials suggested Friday that emphasizing a terrorist threat now was a good way to divert attention from the uproar over the NSA's data-collection program, and if it showed the intercepts uncovered a possible plot, even better."

Yes, it is a good way to change the subject and uncovering a possible plot should curb, if not, squelch, all those NSA naysayers. After all, the extensive and invasive program has narrowed the threat not only to just one of the 12 months of the year, but also, to the globe.

Although, as one American official reported, in the cited article, "this was a lot more than the usual chatter" and, apparently with attached importance, it was gleaned from intercepted electronic communications among "senior operatives of al Qaeda."

So, also on the positive side, this intelligence indicates that we have, as a result of our many successful and costly efforts, eliminated al Qaeda's Number 2's, and are now dealing with their "seniors." And, of course, many seniors are not too adept at electronics and their eavesdropping capabilities, thereby enabling our laser-like focus on travel risks.

: So we should be concerned (none / 0) (#20)
by Mikado Cat on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 03:21:12 PM EST

about increasing amounts of chatter, not two major prison breakouts of 1000 and 500 Al Qaeda members?

Pavlov's dog (5.00 / 1) (#19)
by Edger on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 02:59:46 PM EST

is drooling.

Why (none / 0) (#1)
by Mikado Cat on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 01:43:42 PM EST

August 4th?

Shut up (5.00 / 1) (#10)
by AmericanPsycho on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 03:05:17 AM EST

and be scared.


Only thing I found is (5.00 / 1) (#12)
by Mikado Cat on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 04:46:10 AM EST

"al-Quds is Arabic for Jerusalem and its environs, the Holy Land. Yawm al-Quds or al-Quds Day is a day of solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians in their struggle against the Zionist-Apartheid system of Israel. Al-Quds Day also extends beyond Palestine to support all oppressed people in their struggles across the world. All over the world seminars, rallies and marches are held on this day, the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadhan in order to pledge solidarity with those seeking peace through justice."


Who the heck knows? (none / 0) (#2)
by Zorba on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 02:26:46 PM EST

The closest date that I could find for any previous attacks was August 5, 2003. The Marriott Hotel bombing in South Jakarta, Indonesia.
Link.
Other than that, it is during Ramadan. (July 9 through August 8 this year.)
Ramadan may be the reason. After all, the massive Abu Ghraib prison break did occur just a few days go.


Maybe (none / 0) (#3)
by jbindc on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 02:33:09 PM EST

Because Sunday (August 4) is the beginning of the work week in Muslim countries (even though US Embassy personnel, for example, don't work on Sundays) - any possible terrorist plot that is undertaken really wouldn't have the same impact on a weekend, when fewer people are around.


Maybe (none / 0) (#4)
by Zorba on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 02:51:27 PM EST

We'll probably never know.


It's for the next month (none / 0) (#5)
by jbindc on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 03:04:46 PM EST

"The Department of State alerts U.S. citizens to the continued potential for terrorist attacks, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula," its statement said.
"Current information suggests that al Qaeda and affiliated organizations continue to plan terrorist attacks both in the region and beyond, and that they may focus efforts to conduct attacks in the period between now and the end of August," it added, saying the travel alert would expire on Aug. 31.
Among the most prominent of al Qaeda's affiliates is Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, a Yemen-based group whose attempted attacks included the Christmas Day 2009 attempt to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit.

: Interesting (none / 0) (#7)
by Zorba on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 03:49:21 PM EST

And I wonder why the end of the month?
If I were those guys, I would be looking at all these alerts, and maybe lay low until after the end of the month.
But then, I'm not a fanatic, so what the heck do I know?

More (none / 0) (#17)
by jbindc on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 02:01:14 PM EST

On Friday the U.S. State Department issued a worldwide travel alert because of an unspecified al Qaeda threat. The location of that threat, the department said in a bulletin, is "particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, and possibly occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula." As a result, an unprecedented 21 embassies and consulates in 17 countries in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia will close on Sunday.
Sunday is also the 27th day of Ramadan and a particularly holy day for the world's Muslims as it is the "Night of Power," when the first verses of the Koran were revealed to the Prophet Mohammed.
It is also seen by al Qaeda's would-be martyrs as a particularly auspicious day to die.
On the Night of Power in 2000, which that year fell on January 3, al Qaeda militants attempted to launch a suicide attack against the American warship USS The Sullivans off the coast of Yemen with a bomb-filled boat.
That attack failed, but the same group of militants then attacked the USS Cole 10 months later, again using the tactic of a bomb-laden boat, which exploded, killing 17 American sailors.
It was the day after the Night of Power in December 2001 that Osama bin Laden signed his will as he feared death from American bombs falling during the battle of Tora Bora in eastern Afghanistan.
Al Qaeda and aligned organizations have a long history of attacking U.S. embassies and consulates, beginning in 1998 with the bombings of the embassies in Tanzania and Kenya, which killed more than 200, and including, most recently, the storming of the U.S. government facility in Benghazi, Libya, on the 11th anniversary of 9/11 last year.

They don't have to warn me twice. (none / 0) (#9)
by Char Char Binks on Fri Aug 02, 2013 at 11:15:16 PM EST

Seriously, I would never go to those regions. When has it ever been safe, or worth it to go?

: Oh, I don't know about that (5.00 / 2) (#18)
by Zorba on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 02:49:53 PM EST

Years ago, well before the current ructions and the Arab Spring and all that, Daughter Zorba and her best friend went to Egypt and took a lengthy, planned boat trip/tour up the Nile River, stopping at all the ancient historical sites along the way.
She wouldn't have missed it for the world.
Would she go on such a tour today? No, of course not. But it was not enormously more dangerous back then than walking in the streets or taking public transportation in our major American cities.

It may be a good thing (none / 0) (#15)
by Politalkix on Sat Aug 03, 2013 at 08:34:40 AM EST

that the US Consulate in Afghanistan was closed. A number of people died from a failed attack at the Indian Consulate in Afghansitan. link

A video from Al-Jawahari has also surfaced.

The big question is (none / 0) (#21)
by NYShooter on Sun Aug 04, 2013 at 11:42:20 PM EST

if, and when, a terrorist group obtains a nuclear bomb.
Statistically, it's a question of, "when," more than, "if."

If you combine these factors: The fall of the Soviet Union, the breakdown of security, and the concurrent rise of corruption in that country. Add to that a growing number of belligerent, scientifically sophisticated States such as Pakistan, Iran, and North Korea. And, finally, an increasing number of highly educated, politically motivated individuals capable of constructing a nuclear device.

Other than a 180 degree change in our definition of what our worldwide "vital interests" are, I don't see how we avoid The Big One in our not-too-distant future.