Intelligence gained from the investigation into the recent UK attacks is troubling:
E-mail addresses for American individuals were found on the same password-protected e-mail chains used by the United Kingdom plotters to communicate with Qaeda handlers in Europe, a counterterrorism official told The New York Sun yesterday. The American and German intelligence community now believe the secure e-mail chains used in the United Kingdom plot have provided a window into an operational Qaeda network in several countries.
“Because of the London and Glasgow plot, we now know communications have been made from Al Qaeda to operatives in the United States,” the counterterrorism official said on condition of anonymity. “This plot helps to connect a lot of stuff. We have seen money moving a lot through hawala networks and other illicit finance as well.” But this source was careful to say that at this point no specific information, such as names, targets or a timeline, was known about any particular plot on American soil. The e-mail addresses that are linked to Americans were pseudonyms
That folks tied to al Qaeda are operating in the United States isn’t really news. Most of them are probably functioning at the support level and not directly carrying out operations themselves. Otherwise, things would be a lot more violent around here. All we can do is hope the security folks get the breaks they need, find them, and roll them up.
