Al Qaeda Takes Credit for Murders of Israeli Policemen

DEBKAfile reports that al Qaeda has taken responsibility for the murders of two Israeli policemen Sunday in the Jordan Valley.

"The claim appeared Monday in a leaflet circulated in Jordan and the West Bank," DEBKAfile reports, "announcing that the shooting of the two Israeli policemen was al Qaeda's first operation 'on the West Bank' and there were more to come."

DEBKAfile also reports that an apparently extensive manhunt on both sides of the Israeli-Jordanian border failed to capture the gunmen.

I'm not sure what this means for the United States, but considering how much support the United States has given Israel in the last 60 years, my guess is that Americans could well be targets if the terrorists are planning an extensive terror campaign.

Given the economic problems in this country and the rest of the world, it isn't the most convenient time to mention this, but Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the administration's foreign intelligence officials need to keep more than just an eye on what's happening in the Middle East.

The Shifting Sands in the Middle East

DEBKAfile says its military sources are reporting that "some 20,000 troops of Pakistan's 14th Division are said to have been diverted from the Waziristan border region with Afghanistan to the Line of Control in Kashmir and the international border with India."

This poses a problem for the incoming Obama administration because, as DEBKAfile reports, it represents "a loss of one-fifth of the total Pakistani force fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda."

Someone is going to have to pick up the slack if the Taliban are to be kept from re-taking control of Afghanistan and making it the sanctuary for al Qaeda that it was before the 2001 terrorist attacks.

Once again, I urge Obama to re-deploy troops from Iraq to Afghanistan so the important work that has been done there in the last seven years will not be undone because of increasing tensions between Pakistan and India.

And I urge Hillary Clinton, as the incoming secretary of state, to get involved immediately to prevent hostilities between Pakistan and India. Such hostilities would almost certainly result in the use of nuclear weapons by one or even both.

And such an exchange is the last thing the world needs.

DEBKA Reports Holiday Threat Against Penn Station

Here's something to think about while the focus of the rest of the world is on the victims of today's al Qaeda attacks in India.

DEBKAfile, the Jerusalem-based intelligence website, says "Penn Station was crowded with NYPD Counter Terrorism Squad and Amtrak cops ... after the FBI received a 'plausible but unsubstantiated' report that in late September, al Qaeda discussed attacking the subway systems in and around New York City."

"Suicide bombers or explosives" was mentioned in the warning.

Yesterday, I referred to reports from DEBKAfile about a "Directive to All Fighters in Arabia" from al Qaeda's Yemen base earlier this month. This directive spoke about plans for a major operation in the United States. This operation, the notice said, was "very near."

The threat to Penn Station sounds more immediate.

"The warning comes as hundreds of thousands of tourists arrive in New York for the long holiday weekend," writes DEBKAfile. "If the explosion went off in Penn Station, it would affect transportation of Amtrak's northeast corridor between Boston and Washington, LIRR service and New York City subway service."

Early al Qaeda Attack in Obama Presidency 'Probable'

DEBKAfile, an Israeli news web site, has a gloomy warning for President-elect Barack Obama concerning a "probable early al Qaeda attack."

DEBKAfile elaborates, "Obama and his team have been advised that a new al Qaeda strike is highly probable in the United States or against a key U.S. target in Europe, North Africa or the Middle East."

On Nov. 14, "DEBKA-Net-Weekly ... disclosed that al Qaeda’s Yemen base, a reliable barometer for Osama bin Laden’s schemes, issued a Directive to All Fighters in Arabia on Nov. 9 presaging a major operation in the United States that will 'change the political and economic world' and be 'far bigger than 9/11.'"

The DEBKAfile also writes, "The day after the new president’s election, al Qaeda issued a little-noticed statement declaring Barack Obama a murtad, i.e. an apostate whose betrayal of Islam is judged the most heinous. Believers have the duty to execute a murtad unlike other non-believers whose death sentence is optional."

Based in Jerusalem, DEBKAfile has been in operation since 2000. It's worth pointing out that DEBKAfile has been criticized for pandering to conspiracy theorists in the past. Such criticism has been particularly stringent from those in Israeli intelligence, who contend that at least 90% of the site's reports are unreliable.

But, in all fairness, it should also be pointed out that DEBKAfile's operators have responded to that charge by reminding observers that they predicted the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, in 2000.

And Forbes.com has designated DEBKAfile as one of the best war intelligence sites on the web.

"DEBKAfile has been ahead of the pack often enough to suggest that the reporting is good," writes Forbes.com.