By Benjamin H. Friedman
“Al-Qaeda bombmaker represents CIA’s worst fears.” That’s the headline of a Washington Post story on Yemeni terrorists’ attempt to down a U.S. bound flight by placing a bomb on the body of an operative that turned out to be a CIA and Saudi agent. By straining to alarm readers about the bomb-maker, Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, [...]
Washington Post Defines Worst Fears Down is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
Yesterday, U.S. national security officials announced that the CIA and other U.S. agencies, working with foreign intelligence services, had uncovered and disrupted an al-Qaeda plot to bomb civilian aircraft. The terrorist operation, hatched by the Yemen-based al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), which has launched several high-profile attacks in the past, involved an improved version of the “underwear bomb” that was built without metal parts to make it more difficult to detect. The sophisticated bomb is believed to have been built by Ibrahim al-Asiri, an accomplished AQAP bomb maker responsible … More
By Malou Innocent
The killing of Osama bin Laden marked a significant achievement in America’s long war against al Qaeda. Yet, following last year’s Navy SEAL raid in Abbottabad, Pakistan, it became clear that disrupting, dismantling, and defeating al Qaeda did not require the occupation of distant lands. Indeed, even in the absence of the terrorist leader’s death, the [...]
Bin Laden’s Death, One Year On is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By John Mueller
The first anniversary of the murderous raid on Osama bin Laden’s hideaway presents an opportunity to evaluate the threat al Qaeda now poses. For its part, the Obama administration/reelection campaign seems more interested in using the event to score political points against Mitt Romney. But terrorism alarmists are more focused on al Qaeda itself and [...]
Why al Qaeda May Never Die is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has ruled Yemen since 1978, stepped down from power on Monday under strong domestic and international pressure. He became the fourth Arab leader ousted since the dawn of the so-called Arab Spring last year. Saleh was succeeded by his longtime crony Abed Rabu Mansour Hadi, an army field marshal who served as his vice president. Hadi, who represents continuity much more than genuine change, now faces enormous challenges in stabilizing Yemen, one of the poorest and most turbulent Arab countries. The new government is confronted … More
