Al Qaeda Threat: Officials Fear ‘Ingenious’ Liquid Explosive
Rhonda Schwartz, James Meek, ABC News, Aug 5 2013
There are growing concerns that an al Qaeda affiliate could use a new generation of liquid explosive, currently undetectable, in a potential attack, according to two senior US government officials briefed on the terror threat that has prompted the closing of nearly two dozen US embassies. Though the TSA has long been concerned about liquid explosives being used in potential devices, as it was during the failed Xmas Day bombing in 2009, the new tactic allows terrorists to dip ordinary clothing into the liquid to make the clothes themselves into explosives once dry (why didn’t the TSA call an alert, then? – RB). “It’s ingenious,” one of the officials said. Another senior official said that the tactic would not be detected by current security measures. The officials said the new technique is believed to have been developed by the Yemen-based AQAP, home to notorious alleged bomb maker Ibrahim al-Asiri. Al-Asiri is suspected of being the mastermind behind several devious explosive devices including the underwear bomb and surgically implanted body bombs. Al-Asiri was listed today among Yemen’s 25 top terrorists, who the Yemeni government said were planning to carry out operations in the capital, Sana’a. The Yemeni government is offering 5 million Yemeni rials, or $23k, for information leading to the capture of any of the terrorists. Last month TSA chief John Pistole revealed details about a new and improved version of the underwear bomb, also thought to be al-Asiri’s work, that he said would “possibly” have been discovered by TSA screening. That bomb was given to a double-agent last year, who gave it to western intelligence services. The TSA declined to comment specifically on the new liquid device, but an official there said:
As always, our security posture, which at all times includes a number of measures both seen and unseen, will continue to respond appropriately to protect the American people from an ever evolving threat picture. I am not in a position to discuss any intelligence around this current threat. But, as a general matter TSA screens both passengers and carry-on baggage for metallic and non-metallic prohibited items, including weapons and explosives. To do this, TSA uses the best available imaging technology to safely screen passengers for any concealed items.
Nearly two dozen US embassies throughout MENA were closed Sunday after the US intercepted communications between the leadership of AQAP and al Qaeda’s remaining leadership in Pakistan, which suggested a major operation was underway, senior US officials said. The diplomatic posts are expected to remain closed this week. In addition to the new liquid bomb, a US official said US spy agencies are concerned the attack could use what some call “Frankenbombers,” suicide bombers who could carry an improvised explosive device sewn into their body cavity. Along with the embassy closings, the US government is taking precautions by ramping up the use of federal air marshals on US-bound flights. Air cargo coming from Europe is under even more scrutiny by security services, one of the senior officials told ABC News, adding that intelligence analysts’ best guess at the moment is an attack being planned against US targets in Yemen or Pakistan. Both countries host US Special Operations, counter-terrorism and intelligence officers targeting AQ with drones and direct action. An FAA notice issued last week also warned about a “significant risk to civil flight operations in Yemen” from terrorists armed with man-portable surface-to-air missiles. Following the May 2011 death of Osama bin Laden, top US officials said that the core leadership of AQ appeared to be on the ropes and, to quote Obama, “on the path to defeat.” He said in a speech this May:
Their remaining operatives spend more time thinking about their own safety than plotting against us.
But Obama noted the “emergence of various al Qaeda affiliates,” including AQAP which was the “most active in plotting against our homeland.” Nada Bakos, a former CIA analyst who was part of the team that hunted Osama bin Laden for years, told ABC News:
Any suggestion that AQ as a whole was down and out and is now seeing a resurgence is wrong. Instead, the group has just been undergoing a metamorphosis. An ideology has tentacles. That’s why it’s hard to predict how or if it will grow. Each of these groups are funded and operate independently, but they all share the same ideological platform that AQ central has propagated since the 1990s.
Seth Jones of the RAND Corporation testified before Congress last month:
Despite the weakness” of AQ central, there has been a net expansion in the number and geographic scope of AQ affiliates and allies over the past decade, indicating that AQ and its brand are far from defeated.
Michael Scheuer, a former CIA officer who led the hunt for bin Laden before his retirement in 2004, went further, telling ABC News that he believed al Qaeda really hasn’t changed since bin Laden’s death. He said:
I think the guys on the ground, day-to-day tactical decisions were made there, where they always have been. Core AQ lays down the guidelines to keep everybody pointed at the enemy. I believe AQ is more dangerous under Ayman al-Zawahiri, than it was under bin Laden. Zawahiri may settle for smaller US-based operations that would have a much smaller body count than a 9/11-type operation that bin Laden aspired to repeat. Any idea that AQ is on the way out is completely politicking.
Niqnaq 