August 29, 2014

New Al Qaeda Magazine Hints an Attack on US Is Imminent

Leah Barkoukis

8/28/2014 7:27:00 PM - Leah Barkoukis

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula’s media branch is out with a new English language magazine, Palestine-Betrayal of the Guilty Conscience Al-Malahem. The new publication, a spin-off of Inspire, is calling on fellow Muslims to wage acts of terror in the United States and Britain.
Fox News reports:

A new English-language Al Qaeda magazine features a how-to article on making car bombs and suggests terror targets in the United States, including casinos in Las Vegas, oil tankers and military colleges, and implies that an attack is imminent. […] “The timeline concludes with the date 201?’ and blank spaces and question marks for the photo and information of the next attack -- implying that it is coming soon,” said MEMRI Executive Director Steve Stalinsky.
There is a suggested list of targets for lone-wolf, or individually executed, terror attacks, including New York's Times Square, casinos and night clubs in Las Vegas, oil tankers and trains, the Georgia Military College, the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, and General Atomics defense contractor in San Diego.
“This recipe gives you the ability to make a car bomb even in countries with tight security and surveillance,” one article reads, before providing a “shopping list” of supplies needed to make such a bomb, including cooking gas, oxygen gas, a barometer, decoration lamps and matches.
There is also a list of targets in Britain including a military academy and the Marks and Spencers chain of department stores. The magazine calls for the stores to be hit on Friday during prayers so that Muslims won’t be affected. […]
In a nine-page spread entitled, “How to make a bomb in the kitchen of your mom,” the magazine details a do-it-yourself, illustrated guide on assembling a pressure-cooker bomb similar to the ones used in the Boston Marathon bombings.
“My Muslim brother, before you start reading the instructions, remember that this type of operation if prepared well and an appropriate target is chosen and Allah decrees success for you, history will never forget it. It will be recorded as a crushing defeat on the enemies of Islam,” the article says.

So what are the chances of an attack on the homeland? U.S. intelligence officials are currently investigating the increased likelihood, Fox reports, but ISIS has already issued several threats against America, including taunting tweets that show they’re already here.
An attack on the U.S. and other Western countries “will come probably sooner rather than later,” retired Gen. Michael Hayden said on CNN Sunday morning.