Is al-Qaeda Planning Ricin Attack?

Yemen: Barack Obama Warned That al-Qaeda Planning Ricin Attack -- The Telegraph

Counter-terrorism officials are said to have warned President Barack Obama that an al-Qaeda affiliate in Yemen is trying to produce the deadly nerve agent ricin for use in bomb attacks on the US.



The New York Times, citing classified intelligence documents and unnamed officials, reports that terrorist operatives have been making efforts to buy large quantities of castor beans – which contain the toxic ricin protein – and shift them to a remote tribal area controlled by insurgents for processing.



Ricin is so poisonous that inhalation of a few minute grains is enough to kill an adult. It was used in deadly incidents including the 1978 assassination in London of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov and, in 2002, was the subject of a bioterrorism scare in the UK capital following a police raid on a facility said to be plotting its manufacture.



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More News On Al Qaeda Plotting A Chemical Attack

Qaeda Trying to Harness Toxin for Bombs, U.S. Officials Fear -- New York Times

US concern grows over Qaeda poison threat-NY Times -- Reuters

Al Qaeda trying to produce lethal poison ricin: Report -- DNA

Al-Qaeda tries to produce lethal poison ricin -- AFP

'US concern grows over Qaeda poison threat' -- Hindustan Times/Reuters

US Sees Yemeni Bean Purchases as al-Qaeda Plot -- Antiwar.com



My Comment: The 10 year anniversary of 9/11 is only a month away.

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Report: Hundreds Of Al-Qaeda Fighters In Egypt's Sinai

Officials: Egypt To Target Al Qaeda Cells Said To Be Training In Sinai -- CNN

(CNN) -- Egyptian military and intelligence officials say they are preparing to launch an operation against al Qaeda cells that have recently been established in the restive Sinai peninsula.



While Egypt has seen a number of homegrown militant Islamist groups emerge and dissipate over the past 20 years, none has had clear organizational links with al Qaeda.



But senior officials told CNN that al Qaeda cells have now surfaced in northern Sinai, which has seen acts of sabotage and clashes between rival Salafist groups this year. Among the incidents, a gas pipeline to Israel was blown up several times.



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More News On Al Qaeda Cells In The Sinai

Egypt Deploys Troops Against Al Qaeda-Inspired Militants -- FOX News/AP

Army, police deployed in North Sinai -- The Daily News Egypt

Special forces deployed to Sinai to restore security -- Almasry Alyoum

Egypt: Sinai governor, Salafists deny armed militants presence -- Bikyamasr

Egypt's military deployed to Sinai to defend from potential terror attacks -- Almasry Alyoum

What is happening in Sinai? -- Ahram Online

What Scares the Sinai Bedouin: the Rise of the Radical Islamists -- Abigail Hauslohner, Time

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With Bin Laden Dead Are We Living In A False Sense Of National Security?

A False Sense Of National Security -- Max Boot, L.A. Times

A premature triumphalism may put the nation at risk. A weakened Al Qaeda can still attack, and so can a slew of other terrorist groups.

The raid to kill Osama bin Laden is barely three months old, but already it is one of the proudest chapters in the history of the U.S. Special Operations Command — and of the Obama administration. Officials of both organizations have been taking one well-deserved victory lap after another, even going so far as to cooperate (apparently) with a journalist from the New Yorker who has just produced a riveting account of Operation Neptune's Spear. No doubt more books, articles and movies are in the offing. I wouldn't be surprised to see some Navy SEALs writing memoirs or licensing their stories.

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My Comment: Foreign Policy came out with a similar article this weekend .... and yes .... Al Qaeda and its allies are still very active and they are out there whether we choose to ignore them or not.

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Al Qaeda Is Not Dead

Mission Not Accomplished -- Foreign Policy

Reports of al Qaeda's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's statement last month that al Qaeda's defeat is "within reach" should be cause for celebration. But given the decentralization of the jihadi movement over the past decade, that victory may be meaningless. Although U.S. counterterrorism efforts have indeed substantially weakened the organization, Panetta's comments miss the bigger point about the terrorist threat facing the United States. Over the past decade, that threat has morphed from one led by a hierarchical al Qaeda organization into something much more diffuse, with a greater presence online, that no longer depends on orders from senior leaders in Pakistan.

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My Comment: I agree. Al Qaeda/radical Islam is an idea and philosophy, and not a group of individuals. To kill an idea will take much longer than just killing a few of its top leaders.

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Al Qaeda's Power And Influence Overrated?

The Truth About al Qaeda -- Foreign Affairs

Bin Laden's Files Revealed the Terrorists in Dramatic Decline.

Summary:

New information discovered in Osama bin Laden's hideout in Pakistan suggests that the United States has been vastly overstating al Qaeda's power for a full decade. The group appears to have spent more time dodging drone strikes and complaining about money than trying to get an atomic bomb.

The chief lesson of 9/11 should have been that small bands of terrorists, using simple methods, can exploit loopholes in existing security systems. But instead, many preferred to engage in massive extrapolation: If 19 men could hijack four airplanes simultaneously, the thinking went, then surely al Qaeda would soon make an atomic bomb.

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My Comment: With hindsight .... a reexamination of our "war against terror" will one day be done. This Foreign Affairs article is a start.

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Longest Serving Navy SEAL Talks About Al Qaeda

Al-Qaeda 'Nearing Its End' Says US Special Operations Commander -- The Telegraph

Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida is bloodied and "nearing its end," the commander of US special operations forces said, but warned the next generation of militants could keep special operations fighting for a decade to come.

Navy SEAL Adm Eric T. Olson described the killing of bin Laden by a special operations raid on May 2 as a near-mortal blow for what he called "al-Qaida 1.0".

Adm Olson said the group had already lost steam because of the revolts of the Arab Spring, which proved the Muslim world did not need al-Qaida to bring down governments, from Tunisia to Egypt.

"I think the death of bin Laden was an uppercut to the jaw," Adm Olson told a packed crowd, opening the Aspen Security Forum. "It just knocked them on their heels."

Olson echoed other administration officials who are predicting al-Qaeda's demise if a few more key leaders can be eliminated.

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More News On US Navy SEAL Admiral Eric T Olsen And Al Qaeda

Special ops chief warns of al Qaeda 2.0...days after reports that bin Laden-led al Qaeda is on brink of collapse -- Daily Mail
U.S. special ops chief warns of al Qaeda 2.0 -- CBS/AP
Special ops chief says bin Laden raid was routine -- Aspen Daily News
U.S. Special Ops Chief Warns of 'Al Qaeda 2.0' -- CBN
More terror groups waiting in the wings -- CBS News
Al-Qaeda at death’s door, but home-grown terror has taken its place -- Peter Goodspeed, National post
Is al Qaeda collapsing? -- The Week
Al-Qaeda on the Brink? -- Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, NRO

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Is al-Qaeda On The Brink Of Collapse?

Osama bin Laden, left, sits with his adviser and purported successor Ayman al-Zawahri, an Egyptian linked to the al Qaeda network, on November 10, 2001. REUTERS

U.S. Officials Believe al-Qaeda On Brink Of Collapse -- Washington Post

U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al­Qaeda to the brink of collapse.

The assessment reflects a widespread view at the CIA and other agencies that a relatively small number of additional blows could effectively extinguish the Pakistan-based organization that carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — an outcome that was seen as a distant prospect for much of the past decade.

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More News On Al Qaeda

Al-Qaeda on verge of being destroyed, paper says -- Globe And Mail
Al Qaeda On Brink Of Collapse, U.S. Officials Say -- Huffington post
Al Qaeda ‘weakened,’ says Obama nominee -- Boston.com/AP

Al-Qaeda eyes strikes in several regions: US warning -- AFP
US attack still significant al Qaeda goal-official -- Reuters

Yemen Al-Qaeda pledges allegianceto Zawahiri -- Daily Star
Al Qaeda Leader in Yemen Pledges Allegiance to Zawahiri -- ABC
AQAP leader pledges oath of allegiance to Ayman al Zawahiri -- Long War Journal
Al-Qaeda Leader in Arabian Peninsula Vows Loyalty to Zawahiri -- Bloomberg

US Repeats Warning: Bin Laden Killing May Increase Terror Threat to Americans -- ABC News
Rand Calls for Changes in U.S. Antiterror Efforts -- Wall Street Journal
US : Al-Qaeda a present danger -- News24
Al-Qaeda in Iraq looks for fundraising ideas -- The Telegraph

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