molson_golden2002 Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/200...ohn-mccain.html Given that history, what can we expect in the next month; will al Qaeda try to influence the 2008 U.S. presidential election? Some analysts saw the opening salvos of an al Qaeda campaign in the two attacks on American targets that came within three days of each other two weeks ago. First, al Qaeda mounted a large and sophisticated assault on the American embassy in Yemen. Many analysts are surprised that the attack failed and that the local guard force fought back courageously and well. Al Qaeda's plan seemed to be to penetrate the embassy wall, gather up Americans, and then kill them in a series of terrorist suicides with explosive belts. Second, al Qaeda attacked the Marriott hotel in Islamabad with a large truck bomb. This attack seems to have been aimed at the Pakistani president, prime minister, and cabinet who were supposed to be dining there at the time but were not because of a last-minute decision to change the venue to a more secure location. Two U.S. military personnel who were dining there died in the attack. Those who see the two attacks as the opening round of a pre-election campaign note that they were the first two major al Qaeda-related attacks on American facilities in a very long time, the first serious al Qaeda attack on an American embassy in a decade. Others believe that the timing of the two attacks was coincidence and that they were both dictated by internal dynamics in the countries where the attacks took place and not by the U.S. election campaign. Nonetheless, U.S. intelligence and security officials are worried. They admit that there is nothing concrete that suggests another attack, but they fear that al Qaeda may try something, maybe even in the United States. The last National Intelligence Estimate on al Qaeda concluded that the group had reconstituted, was stronger than it had been in many years, was capable of staging attacks again, including probably in the United States. General Hayden has talked publicly about "European looking" al Qaeda terrorists who have been trained recently in Pakistan and sent back out into the world, presumably to stage attacks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Adams Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 Quid will definitely influence the election. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 But isn't their guy already winning? I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out for the "European looking" al Qaeda. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 But isn't their guy already winning? I guess we'll just have to keep an eye out for the "European looking" al Qaeda. You mean Bosniacks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantelliotoffen Posted October 6, 2008 Share Posted October 6, 2008 You mean Bosniacks? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosniaks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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