31/01/2010
Abdulmutallab’s Friends
Al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula claimed responsibility for the failed bombing of Flight 253. There is no reason to doubt this claim. Their video included his photograph, and Abdulmutallab’s time in Yemen is well documented.
One week ago, Osama bin Laden released an audio tape in which he also claimed responsiblity. A State Department spokesman said that the tape was “to continue to appear relevant.” Daveed Garenstein-Ross interpreted bin Laden’s claim as one of collective responsibility. B. Raman thought otherwise. However, I do not consider the claims by AQAP and bin Laden to be mutually exclusive.
On Thursday, Malaysian authorities arrested a diverse array of terror suspects, including 4 Syrians, 2 Nigerians, 1 Jordanian, 1 Yemeni, and a Malay. (Which makes nine, I know, but that’s what appears in the reports.) The trigger for this action was a tip-off from American intelligence. A Malaysian official told the New Straits Times that trigger for this action was a tip-off from American intelligence, and that the 10 arrested (out of an original 50) were linked to Abdulmutallab.
If true, that is, if intelligence agencies aren’t playing the 4-degrees-of-separation game, it would show that Abdulmutallab’s attempt was not organic to AQAP. In Thursday’s post, I stated, “I believe that AQCL leaves the local actions in the hands of its affiliates, but that “international targets,” that is, strikes against the West, are subject to control by AQCL.” I then immediately watered down my language with a wishy-washy, “Perhaps “control” is too strong a word, maybe more like “advice and guidance.” In future, I will avoid this kind of ass-covering qualifier. For now, I will look for signs that al Qaeda carries out terrorist strikes with more centralized control rather than less.
Pscrutineer 
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