Conveniently timed to make us all stop arguing about the NSA...
Al Qaeda "chatter" about coming terrorist operations, mainly against 22 U.S. embassies and consulates, and threats to attack or bomb officials in the Middle East and elsewhere was widely reported in classified intelligence reports over several months. The report said an attack was planned for Sunday, although no attack was carried out.
The intelligence was based on electronic surveillance of al Qaeda communications indicating some type of spectacular bombing or other attacks was being planned and would in fact be carried out very soon.
Acting on 'single source' intelligence reporting now are we ?
The timing of the administration's announced closure of numerous U.S. embassies in the Middle East has raised concerns among some U.S. officials that the Obama administration is politicizing intelligence to distract attention from the Benghazi and other scandals.
"Why is this coming out now?" asked one official with access to terrorist threat data. "Is the administration trying to suck up news coverage with the embassy threats to distract attention from what the CIA was doing in Benghazi?"
Press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at the White House Monday that "we take the threat very seriously and have taken action because of that."
"I'm not in a position to discuss specific intelligence, but we believe that this threat is significant, and we are taking it seriously for that reason and have taken the actions that the State Department announced out of an abundance of caution and will continue to monitor this and take action as necessary," Carney said.
Not in a position to discuss.... but it came from NSA.
Carney said the threat was "emanating from and maybe directed towards the Arabian Peninsula."
"The extension of those closures does not reflect a new stream of threat information but is more a reflection of taking necessary precautions," he said.
An admission which supports the title of this article.
The threat followed three reported U.S. drone strikes in Yemen that killed several al Qaeda terrorists who were traveling in vehicles. Missile attacks from U.S. armed drones were carried out July 27, July 30, and Aug. 1 in al Qaeda strongholds in Yemen.
A U.S. official said the terrorist threat does not appear to be part of any retaliation for the drone attacks because terrorist planning for a major bombing or other attacks usually takes weeks or months.
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra said he is concerned that the administration may be politicizing intelligence because "they have politicized everything."
"If there is any hint at all that this [latest terror threat] was politicized, it would be absolutely outrageous," Hoekstra said in an interview.
Not only outrageous, but shocking as well as outrageous.
"In an era of 'phony' scandals, let's hope no one is playing politics with national security and threat alerts," Hoekstra told the Washington Free Beacon, referring to President Obama's recent dismissal of Benghazi and other administration scandals as "phony."
A former White House intelligence official said suggestions the terror alert was hyped deserve the attention of the House and Senate intelligence oversight committees.
The former official said national security policymakers traditionally weigh what to do in response to indications and warning intelligence through careful internal discussion.
"There usually comes a time when you have to decide whether the intelligence is something you act on, and that can always be a tough call, even without politicization," the former official said.
For the Obama administration, the type of politicization of intelligence that has taken place under the president has created a situation where the average person has little confidence in claims that terrorists are planning major attacks.
"They have debased the coinage of the realm: trust," the former official said.
The former official said the administration's response to the Benghazi attack of Sept. 11 is a case in point.
"If you would lie about Benghazi and make up the story about the cause being a YouTube video, what else wouldn't you do?" he asked.
Well, nearly everything. Why do you ask ?
Great harm has been done to the credibility of U.S. intelligence agencies by politicizing intelligence and one effect is that when terrorist alerts are issued, people question the government's motives, the former official said.
"In that context, I think we've reached the point where the two congressional intelligence oversight committee should take a look into this, just to put the public's mind at rest," the former official said.
Susan Phalen, a spokeswoman for House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, declined to comment when asked if the chairman Mike Rogers (R., Mich.) had any concerns about the latest threat intelligence being politicized.
Brian Weiss, a spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (R., Calif.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Feinstein has not commented on the recent terror alert.
White House National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden said: "This assertion is ludicrous and insulting."
So you shouldn't mind if we have a look see, no ?
Other U.S. officials pointed to the bipartisan expressions of concerns about the terror threat.
Also known as the programmed exploitation of useful idiots.
Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), a member of the intelligence committee, said the terrorist threat was "so specific" as to the method of the attack but did not specify where, other than in the Middle East or Europe and against a U.S. embassy or against a target in the United States.
A Global threat.... as in 'Global War on Terror'.
"It could be a series of combined attacks," King said on ABC's "This Week."
Brilliant Pete. Quite presidential.
Disclosure of the terrorist threat followed new reports that the CIA had begun giving polygraph or lie-detector tests to CIA contractors and officials involved in the covert action program in Benghazi to gather weapons circulating after the revolution that toppled Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.
A CIA annex was attacked by the terrorists who carried out the Sept. 11, 2012, attack that killed four Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, and two CIA contractors and former Navy SEALs. The CIA was involved in shipping arms from Libya to Turkey and to Syrian rebels, according to U.S. officials.
"Sen. Lindsey Graham (R., S.C.) said on CNN's "State of the Union," that he met recently with Vice President Joseph Biden on the terrorist threat.A meeting the Joe establishes credibility ?
It is scary," Graham said. "Al Qaeda's on the rise in this part of the world. The [National Security Agency monitoring] program is proving its worth yet again."
No, it is YOU who are scary.
Graham praised the administration for announcing the terror threat that he said was different than its response to Benghazi.
The response of a useful idiot.
"Benghazi was a complete failure," Graham said. "The threats were real there. The reporting was real and we basically dropped the ball. We've learned from Benghazi, thank God, and the administration is doing it right."
We, We, we dropped the ball ?