Yemen Didn't Really Foil a Terror Plot Yesterday--Did Terrorism Analysts Overthink?

[KoKo]

In the wake of American warnings about al-Qaeda terrorists in Yemen, officials in the Arabian country claimed on Wednesday to have thwarted a major terrorist plot on their oil facilities. Now it turns out that wasn't exactly true. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Mohammed Salem Basindwa said earlier in the day that a large group of al-Qaeda militants were planning to seize and possibly blow up a large oil terminal in the province of Hadramout, and also use the attack to seize the southern cities of Mukalla and Bawzeer. The claim was reported by everyone from Al Jazeera to The New York Times, but it didn't take long for some experts to question whether the dubious reports about the attack were actually true.

Even the spokesperson for Yemen's embassy in Washington undercut the story by tweeting that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula "doesn't have the man power nor the capabilities to capture a city the size of Mukkala." U.S. officials also said that claim of thwarting a large attack may have been premature, even if Hadramout is a base of operations for Yemen and small attacks on oil facilities are quite common (even among non-al-Qaeda tribesman.) The U.S. also stressed that it didn't change their assessment of the larger threat that prompted them to close the Sanaa embassy and withdraw all non-essential personnel.

In the end, the official state media outlet, SABA, finally reported that there was no specific threat against the oil terminal, effectively undermining what was being touted as a major intelligence victory for Yemen's embattled government. There was also some push back on the idea of the al-Qaeda "Legion of Doom" conference call that supposedly tipped off the Americans to the larger threat. That may just be terrorism analysts over-thinking the situation, but some of the details just seemed too implausible (and too difficult to check.)

More with embedded links cited in this piece at:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2013/08/yemen-didnt-really-foil-terror-plot-yesterday/68111/

[geek tragedy]

1. If you can't believe press releases from Yemen's government, who can you believe? nt

[Jackpine Radical]

2. Snowden & GG have Doooooomed us Allllll!

We NEEEEEED more intelligence--I mean surveillance--to perteck us fum da eevildoowers.

[cali]

3. Thanks for posting this KoKo. There can't be too many

pieces analyzing what's going re the U.S. and Yemen.

It's another cluster fuck that serves no one but the military industrial complex. Last year the moratorium on military aid to Yemen was lifted and we all know what that means for arms manufacturers here.

k&r

[KoKo]

5. Well..just yesterday..

"Sabrina I" and myself had a fun back and forth scoffing about the "Legion of Doom" conference as it was reported in US media. So, it was interesting to read this today.

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. Wait...is that saying the US emptied the embassy based on false info?

"There was also some push back on the idea of the al-Qaeda "Legion of Doom" conference call that supposedly tipped off the Americans to the larger threat. "

[KoKo]

7. I checked out the embedded link at the site. It seems there's some pushback

by other journalists on that "Legion of Doom" Board Meeting.... If you think about it...who titled it "Legion of Doom?" Who would say they have "regular conferences" that NSA has been monitoring and that the "chatter" was just picked up about this one because it gave a time and place. Sounds to me soooo 2003,04,05,06. Like some smart ass at NSA thought "Legion of Doom" was a cool name and that putting out that Al Qaeda Terrorist have a "Board of Directors" with regular Conferences that the NSA checks out...as if they were spying on a Corporation. You can imagine how ridiculous it sounds...plus that Al Qaeda "Board of Legion of Doom" wouldn't have figured out that they would be being listened to by NSA.

Hey...I'm just saying the whole thing was so ridiculous that I'm glad to see that some journalists didn't buy it.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Yep....I hear ya, clearly.

Yeah, teh conference call was a bit of a giveaway.
Sadly, the gov. has lied and distored info about the "terrorsits" plus called wolf so many times I no longer take them seriously.

[pnwmom]

15. In the NYTimes article about this claim yesterday, it stated that the embassy closure

was not related to this.

[treestar]

6. So they were supposed to do nothing?

Instead? You simply don't want it to be true and have made a conclusion when the issue is still highly in question. Plus they don't need to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt in order to take precautions.

[pnwmom]

16. The NYTimes yesterday said the embassy closure was NOT related to this. n/t

[KoKo]

9. Still good read...

[backscatter712]

10. Let me get this straight...

We've got a couple of Beavis-and-Butthead morons trying to make explosives out of toilet bowl cleaner, so they can stuff bombs in their underwear, and for that reason, we must all give up basic privacy and liberty to the surveillance state, and bend over for the American Stasi?

Me thinks the threat's exaggerated. By several orders of magnitude. You're more likely to be killed by your kitchen appliances.

[Skip Intro]

11. The whole thing sounded like bs from the start.

The whole thing stinks maybe because it was fabricated and used as a suddenly needed distraction - CNN had just reported that there were 35 CIA operatives on the ground as the attack on the Embassy at Benghazi occurred. Running arms. But that's not all. How could the admin claim they thought the attack was due to some Youtube video, as they did for weeks, when the CIA was there on the ground the whole time. Surely those operatives knew that it was a "terrorist" attack, and not part of some protest over a video. And if they knew, surely the admin knew.

Where am I wrong?

I can understand why they'd want to bury the CNN piece, and what better way to bury a story on US Embassies than a closing of several US Embassies due to a terror threat. News of the day for many people, "something about Embassies, Obama fighting terrorists."

Maybe I'm way off, or maybe we feel like we've been here before because we have.

[KoKo]

12. That's what was so bizarre...It was a bit of dejavu...and so close to NSA Revelations

that it caused "thinking minds" who'd been around awhile...to wonder. Yet, one doesn't want to discount what they say...because given what we've been up to with the Drone Killings and other stuff in the ME...it would make sense there would be PUSH BACK. So one is always caught between "Patriotism & Skepticism." It's hard to know...but, I came down on side of Skepticism..and this article kind of pointed out that maybe that was not so far off from the truth of it.

You Say:

"Maybe I'm way off, or maybe we feel like we've been here before because we have. "

[usGovOwesUs3Trillion]

13. And people are surprised people don't believe the BS

and it's not like the first time it has happened.

And if you are paying attention, even just a little, it is easy to see through OBVIOUS hype.

Will the folks who were calling people names, and comparing them to reTHUGs apologize.

doubt it, thats not how they roll.

[DirkGently]

14. No one announces they've learned of a "secret plan" that's still in progress.

It was a silly premise under Bush, and it's a silly premise now. Chatter or no chatter, the point was to wave the Bogeyman flag and chase away dissent.

Wow, we're stupid.