Qaeda Plot Leak Has Undermined U.S. Intelligence

[gholtron]

Source: NYT

As the nation’s spy agencies assess the fallout from disclosures about their surveillance programs, some government analysts and senior officials have made a startling finding: the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda in August has caused more immediate damage to American counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor.

Since news reports in early August revealed that the United States intercepted messages between Ayman al-Zawahri, who succeeded Osama bin Laden as the head of Al Qaeda, and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, discussing an imminent terrorist attack, analysts have detected a sharp drop in the terrorists’ use of a major communications channel that the authorities were monitoring. Since August, senior American officials have been scrambling to find new ways to surveil the electronic messages and conversations of Al Qaeda’s leaders and operatives.“The switches weren’t turned off, but there has been a real decrease in quality” of communications, said one United States official, who like others quoted spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss intelligence programs.The drop in message traffic after the communication intercepts contrasts with what analysts describe as a far more muted impact on counterterrorism efforts from the disclosures by Mr. Snowden of the broad capabilities of N.S.A. surveillance programs. Instead of terrorists moving away from electronic communications after those disclosures, analysts have detected terrorists mainly talking about the information that Mr. Snowden has disclosed.




Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/us/qaeda-plot-leak-has-undermined-us-intelligence.html?pagewanted=all&

---

Thank you Edward Snowden and Glen Greenwald.

[leftyohiolib]

1. yea sure , woulda had 'em to if it werent for the meddling kids

[ForgoTheConsequence]

2. The boogymen are back.

I'm so scared. Glad the boogyman scare pieces are back in the news.

[Historic NY]

6. Well the boogyman took over a military installation in Yemen..

At least 21 government soldiers were killed on Friday in what appeared to be coordinated attacks by people suspected of being Qaeda militants on two military targets in the south of Yemen, government officials said. Earlier in the day, witnesses and local security officials gave a higher death toll, saying at least 33 soldiers were killed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/world/middleeast/militants-in-yemen-attack-military-targets.html?_r=0




http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24335568

[ForgoTheConsequence]

11. Someone hold me, I'm scared.

Sorry if I'm more frightened by the terrorists holding the government hostage and my nutcase neighbors with arsenals in their basements.

I'm more afraid of middle aged white Christian males than I am Al Qaeda, they've done more damage to this country and me personally than Islamists could ever dream of.



Let me know if you have any extra duct tape leftover after following Ashcroft's instructions.

[questionseverything]

3. umm the article says

An official who’d been briefed on the matter in Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, told McClatchy that the embassy closings and travel advisory were the result of an intercepted communication between Nasir al-Wuhayshi, the head of the Yemen-based Al Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, and al Qaida leader Ayman al Zawahiri in which Zawahiri gave “clear orders” to al-Wuhaysi, who was recently named al Qaida’s general manager, to carry out an attack.

The official, however, said he could not divulge details of the plot. AQAP’s last major attack in Sanaa took place in May 2012 when a suicide bomber killed more than 100 military cadets at a rehearsal for a military parade.

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/04/198521/embassy-closings-travel-warning.html#.UkoSK4aThSI#storylink=cpy


this was an official leak which has caused way more harm than snowdens info

[Link Speed]

7. Just more Federal-level dumb-assery

Back in The Day, we would throw parties if anyone we knew became a Federal fugitive. That usually meant that you would never get caught.

[deurbano]

4. In case some read this too quickly... Snowden was NOT the leaker of the Al Qaeda plot.

<<...the impact of a leaked terrorist plot by Al Qaeda in August has caused more immediate damage to American counterterrorism efforts than the thousands of classified documents disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor....

...The drop in message traffic after the communication intercepts contrasts with what analysts describe as a far more muted impact on counterterrorism efforts from the disclosures by Mr. Snowden of the broad capabilities of N.S.A. surveillance programs. Instead of terrorists moving away from electronic communications after those disclosures, analysts have detected terrorists mainly talking about the information that Mr. Snowden has disclosed. >>

[truebluegreen]

5. One anonymous official--

any bets he's from the NSA?

[geek tragedy]

8. It was a Yemeni official, Obama admin asked McClatchy to not publish nt

[GliderGuider]

9. So if Snowden was a traitor...

What does that make the guy who leaked the existence of this intercept?

[cosmicone]

12. Let's drone those fuckers out of existence. n/t

[Turborama]

14. Which ones? n/t

[cosmicone]

15. Al Q'aeda people of course. n/t

[Nihil]

16. NSA + CIA

Suddenly, the world gets a lot more peaceful.

[Crowman1979]

13. This is what happens when you make 300 million people into suspects..

...instead or going after the several hundred who are actually committing the so-called acts of terror.

[L0oniX]

17. Well ...there's always the carrier pigeon option.

2nd suggestion: 2 cans and a string.

Hey ....I wonder just how many ways they can communicate effectively? Is there a limit?

How about this ...if they know they are being listened to doesn't that inhibit or greatly slow them down?

Mean while back at the ranch ...the US continues to give aid and comfort to Syrian rebels and Al Qaeda associates.

[The Stranger]

18. "They say that they will rescue us from dreadful dangers that we cannot see and do not understand."

"A powerful and sinister network, with sleeper cells in countries across the world. A threat that needs to be fought by a war on terror."