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US tries to ID hundreds of al Qaeda contacts thanks to Yemen raid
[CNN] Several US officials told CNN Thursday that the US is now taking action to locate and monitor hundreds of people or "contacts" found as part the intelligence retrieved during the deadly raid last month in Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of. Except for a tiny handfull of Jews everthing there is very Islamic...
targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula
...the latest incarnation of various Qaeda and Qaeda-allied groups, including the now-defunct Aden-Abyan Islamic Army that boomed the USS Cole in 2000...
.Some of these people are believed to be in the West, but not in the United States.
Oh? Very interesting, indeed,
The government is taking action to find and monitor these AQAP-linked individuals because of the threat they may pose to Europe, the officials added.
Is it yet illegal under the laws of various European nations to belong to Al Qaeda, which thus far completely lacks political wings?
The fact that officials said they are actively pursuing leads uncovered from the raid indicates that the intelligence was indeed actionable despite some media reports to the contrary.

The terabyte's worth of intelligence
...that is a lot of information to sort through...
gathered from computers and cell phones is now being reviewed at the National Media Exploitation Center outside Washington, which analyzes documents, electronic media, cell phones, video and audio tapes seized on overseas missions.

Defense officials have told CNN that information pertaining to the location of safe havens, explosives manufacturing, training and targets was acquired in the January ground operation.

But the raid has faced questions from politicians about its utility and execution, with several Trump critics questioning the value of the intelligence, whether the right calculation about the raid's risks was made and whether the result was worth the costs. The father of Chief Petty Officer William "Ryan" Owens, who was killed in the firefight, has called for an investigation.

A number of civilians were also killed in the battle, something the Pentagon has acknowledged and is investigating.

Gen. Joseph Votel, who oversees US troops in the region, called the mission "successful" from the military's point of view.

"The object was to go in and collect intelligence. We accomplished that, so from that perspective it was successful. I certainly understand how the family would look at this in a different light," Votel told CBS News.

President Donald Trump
...New York real estate developer, described by Dems as illiterate, racist, misogynistic, and what ever other unpleasant descriptions they can think of, elected by the rest of us as 45th President of the United States...
 defended the January raid in his Tuesday address to Congress. As Trump spoke, Owens' widow, Carryn, looked up at the ceiling, seemingly to her late husband, as she sat crying.

"Ryan was a part of a highly successful raid that generated large amounts of vital intelligence that will lead to many more victories in the future against our enemies,' " Trump said.
Posted by: Fred 2017-03-04
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=482607