The Irate Nation Est. 2001

Rush of terror alerts on three continents plus Middle East

clipped from www2.debka.com

In the last three days, the governments of eleven countries have scrambled to elevate their preparedness levels for Islamist terror, or enforced extraordinarily stringent security measures. Another six governments have pursued these steps without fanfare.

Friday and Saturday, Jan. 22-23, India placed its airlines and airports and those of all of South East Asia -Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - on alert for a possible airplane hijacking by al Qaeda or Lashkar-e-Taibem. The UK elevated its terror threat level from "substantial" to "severe" - one below top and suspended direct British airline flights to and from Yemen.

Saturday, US airport authorities were warned that at least two female suicide bombers of "non-Arab appearance" and bearing Western passports may have been sent to America by al Qaeda-Yemen - either to blow up US-bound flights or commit suicide attacks inside the country.

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Juan Zarate on Counterterrorism and National Security

Juan Zarate talked about counterterrorism and national security.
By:CSPAN

Systemic Failures of the Obama Administration

From national security, to the handling of our economy, and to several foreign policy missteps, we have witnessed this administration and the Democrats in Congress fail to protect our national interests and instead usher in a new era of more taxes, more spending, more government and less freedom.

On Christmas Day, terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab slipped through the cracks of our nation’s security and attempted to bomb Northwest Flight 253 on its way to Detroit. Because of the bravery and quick actions of the passengers on the Northwest flight, a major tragedy was averted.

President Obama and his administration were slow to react. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in the first few hours after the attempted bombing, claimed “the system worked.” This sounded a lot like former President Bush in the days after Hurricane Katrina struck and destroyed much of New Orleans when he said, “Brownie, you’re doing a heckuva job.” No one believed President Bush then much as no one believes Secretary Napolitano now.

And while President Obama was on vacation in Hawaii and didn’t have a lot to say in the first few days after the event, he recently called the lapses and breakdowns of the federal government and intelligence agencies a “systemic failure.” But as we look back on the first year of the Obama administration, much of what President Obama has attempted and achieved has been a “systemic failure.” MORE

www.humanevents.com

Expanded use of UAV’s

clipped from www.foxnews.com

A high-ranking Al Qaeda figure reportedly was killed Thursday in a U.S. drone aircraft attack in north Pakistan.

The attack, first reported by NBC News, was officially denied by Pakistani officials, though sources told Fox News that neither Usama bin Laden or Ayman al-Zawahiri were among those killed.

Pakistani media report six militants were killed in the attack, including four foreign fighters, a classification in the tribal areas that typically refers to Al Qaeda. blog it

Pakistan beating down the Taliban

clipped from www.timesonline.co.uk

Jihadi literature and guerrilla training manuals, mostly in Arabic, lay scattered in a corner, along with DVDs of Osama bin Laden’s sermons and a cache of weapons hurriedly abandoned as insurgents fled from the Pakistani
Army.

There were DVDs and cassettes carrying bin Laden’s messages. Several pamphlets also quoted from the al-Qaeda leader and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. “I swear by God that Americans and their allies will not get peace until we
drive them out of Afghanistan and other holy places of Islam,” read an extract from one of bin Laden’s sermons. “This literature was used tomotivate the young militants,” an army official said.