Is the Worldwide Terrorist Warning a Serious Obama Error in Judgment

Unnamed Yemeni security officials have confirmed a drone strike, suspected to have been launched by the US, at about 2 a.m. local time Tuesday. The strike killed four al-Qaida members riding in a car in the eastern province of Mareb where al-Qaida operates. Fox News has reported that a second drone hit a militant hideout, which, according Fox sources, makes six drone strikes in Yemen in the past six days. Yemeni sources believe one of the dead is Saleh Jouti, a senior al-Qaida member. Early on Tuesday before the drone strike, the State Department ordered the evacuation of most embassy personnel and urged all US citizens to leave Yemen because of the al-Qaida threat that triggered the shutdown of 19 American diplomatic posts this week. The US Air Force already has flown more than 80 State Department personnel out of Yemen to Ramstead Air Base in Germany. "The US Department of Defense continues to have personnel on the ground in Yemen to support the US State Department and monitor the security situation," Pentagon spokesman George Little noted. The Obama administration has offered few specific facts about the nature of the threat, but repeatedly has said it appears to originate in - and possibly be directed toward - the Arabian Peninsula, where Yemen is located and which is home to al-Qaida's most active affiliate. The department said in a travel warning that it had ordered the staff departures "due to the continued potential for terrorist attacks" and added that all Americans in Yemen should leave immediately because of an "extremely high" security threat level. Two hours later, the British government said it had "temporarily withdrawn" all staff from its embassy in Yemen due to the terror threat. In an official statement, the Yemeni government said it was taking "all necessary precautions to secure diplomatic facilities, vital installations and strategic assets." The AP has reported that Yemeni officials were also focusing on the strategic Bab al-Mandeb straits at the entrance to the Red Sea international shipping route as a possible attack target. Fox News has confirmed that a Yemeni intelligence official was fatally shot Sunday just south of Saana. The official's death is believed to be related to the latest terror scare - a negative result predicted by former US intelligence officials. On Monday, a US intelligence source told Fox News that the terror threat that led to the closure of many US embassies resulted from intercepted communications between Ayman al-Zawahiri - who is Osama bin Laden's successor - and Nasir al-Wuhayshi, head of al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula. Al-Zawahiri allegedly told al-Wuhayshi to "do something." Officials with the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence would not confirm the details of any such intercepted communications. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said only that the threat potentially goes "beyond" the Arabian Peninsula. Some analysts pointed to the lack of specificity in questioning whether the threat was being blown out of proportion. ~~~~~ Dear readers, the world has been absorbed in this terrorist threat warning issued by the United States for five days. Like all of us, I was concerned and waiting for the Americans to stop yet another terrorist strike. But as the days pass, I have had time to consider these events and I have some questions. (1). If there was a plot underway, wouldn't the worldwide broadcast of its existence have caused al-Qaidi to stop. And doesn't this very US broadcast make drastic embassy closings and evacuations unnecessary. (2). Why would a message as innocuous as "do something" strike such fear into the US government. (3). Why would al-Zawahiri use a cell phone to give such an important order, knowing that the US is closely monitoring such communications. (4). What good does it do to close certain embassies if, as the US says, it does not know the location of the strike - but if the latest information suggesting a Yemen or Arabian Peninsula target is reliable, then why keep so many other embassies closed all week. ~~~~~ Dear readers, does al-Qaida now know how to produce maximun disorder with a minimum investment of its resources. And has President Obama over-reacted in order to prevent "a second Benghazi" on 9.11.2013. He is still not absolved in the Benghazi security disaster. Has he simply frozen al-Qaida in the best way possible, by going public worldwide based on routine inconsequential intelligence information. And, most importantly, is the collateral damage of the President's over-reaction the entry of al-Qaida into the Yemeni capital in force - as is being reported by CNN. Talk about snatching defeat from the jaws of victory! Perhaps President Obama will feel obliged to answer some of these questions now circulating. He owes us an explanation.