In the Washington Times, this morning:
Senior al Qaeda leaders have diverted operatives from Iraq across the globe and are increasing preparations to strike the United States, senior intelligence officials told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence yesterday. They said the terrorists had plans to attack the White House as recently as 2006. “Al Qaeda is improving the last key aspect of its ability to attack the U.S. — the identification, training and positioning of operatives for an attack in the homeland,” said Michael McConnell, director of national intelligence, which oversees all 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.
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The officials added that al Qaeda is recruiting Westerners to terror camps in Pakistan. “While increased security measures at home and abroad have caused al Qaeda to view the West, especially the U.S., as a harder target, we have seen an influx of new Western recruits into the tribal areas since mid-2006, ” Mr. McConnell said.
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Mr. McConnell added that although al Qaeda absorbed vast resources in “the ongoing conflict in Iraq,” the terrorist organization has leveraged broad “external networks” as far as Europe to support their goals.
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