The plan was to unleash mayhem across an entire city and "bring Amman to its knees," in the words of one security official. It would start with suicide bombings at two shopping malls, then build momentum as teams of terrorists blew up cars and raked cafes with machine-gun fire.In the midst of the chaos that would ensue, the attackers would turn their attention to the U.S. Embassy, the primary target and a long-sought prize for the organization that investigators say provided critical support for the scheme: al-Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq. Using the terrorist group's expertise and weapons from Syria's civil war, the plotters planned to rain mortar shells on the American compound and homes nearby.
Sort of Benghazi-like.
Jordanian authorities foiled the plot last month, arresting 11 men said to be the ringleaders. Although the suspects are Jordanians, the investigation has affirmed the key role played by al-Qaeda's Iraqi branch, commonly known as AQI, which analysts say is rebounding after being all but destroyed by U.S. troops in the past decade.
No! Destroyed by the Lightbringer, who took time off from golf to watch his plan unfold, resulting in the decapitation (!) of al Qaeda.
New evidence shared by security authorities here, including intercepted e-mails, shows that the terrorist cell received guidance from AQI. The instructions included recipes for powerful explosives intended to blow up shops, restaurants and embassies, according to Western and Middle Eastern officials briefed on the investigation.
What, the message came from AQI.net?
The same kinds of explosives also are turning up in Syria, intelligence officials and terrorism experts say, underscoring AQI's expanding role in that country's 20-month-old civil war.
Well, that's too bad, because The One has declared a peace dividend, and there'll be no money for the military after we go over the fiscal cliff.
"What we're now seeing is al-Qaeda in Iraq's revival, not only as a movement in that country but as a regional movement," said Bruce Riedel, a former CIA counterterrorism expert who is with the Brookings Institution. From its base in the Sunni provinces west of Baghdad, AQI appears to be attempting to rebuild old networks into Syria and Jordan "at an alarming rate," Riedel said.
That's one opinion; what does Ambassador Rice think?
Equally worrisome, analysts say, is Syria's emergence as a training ground for Islamist fighters from outside the country, including some who are linked to AQI. A Western intelligence official familiar with the Amman plot said most of the suspects had fought in Syria before returning to Jordan with new skills and a changed perspective toward their native country.
The reemergence of AQI comes at a time when U.S. officials and analysts are expressing growing concern about other al-Qaeda affiliates, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which operates in Yemen, and al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, which operates in North Africa. U.S. intelligence officials have said that some of the fighters involved in the Sept. 11 attack on the American diplomatic outpost in Benghazi, Libya, were associated with the North Africa branch.
What, that old thing? Next you'll be linking soon-to-be-Secretaty-of-State Susan Rice to the 1998 Tanzania and Kenya embassy bombings! Raaaaaacist!