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>> AMITA: U.S. intelligence officials said they haven't seen this level of chatter since
the 9/11 attacks. Joining me to explain the everevolving threat
from AlQaeda and the response is San Diego State University terrorism expert, Ric Epps.
Welcome. >>> Thank you.
>> AMITA: What do we know about the type of threats?
>> We know that there has been chatter from the peninsula going forward Yemen since last
Friday that state agencies and others within our international infrastructure have picked
up that there are potential credible threats to U.S. targets.
The question is what targets are they speaking of and that's the question of the day.
The response has been to close the embassies because when you talk about outside of the
nation itself, our physical nation, the most dangerous and vulnerable areas are the consolates
and the agencies. >> AMITA: Is there any sense that the United
States itself might be a target? >> Not as far as we know.
The latest Intel that we know for public access does not say that there is a credible threat
inside the country, but it doesn't mean that we don't have to respond like there is and
that's what I think the White House and the date support are trying to do right now which
is to make sure they protect including Homeland Security by the way are trying to protect
the infrastructure here and abroad. This is a precautionary tale, probably more
than they would have taken before Benghazi but it warrants our due diligence.
>> AMITA: Why now? Because we're nearing the September�11th
attack anniversary and Ramadan? >> You could say that there is an action that
they want to take during holidays or specific points in time, but on the other hand, I would
say that just� we had a drone strike and killed four AlQaeda operatives just today
and that's a potential issue that has increased the chatter.
AlQaeda wants reprisal for that and this escalates the risk which is why we see more chatter
coming from the AlQaeda operatives into the Arab peninsula.
>> AMITA: President Obama said AlQaeda was on the path to defeat.
Do these threats indicate otherwise? >> It's interesting.
What President Obama said was fairly accurate. No one realized if you cut off the head of
the snake, meaning Osama, that that would not unravel the means that AlQaeda uses to
support itself. People maybe took a step too far and thought
they were dead in the water. AlQaeda� there are many affiliates and subsidiaries
of AlQaeda and some are more radical than others and we have no recognize that now that
it's so decentralized we have to deal with the threats as they come in and it doesn't
mean they don't have access to weapons. >> AMITA: There are specific tactics, seems
to be a new generation, clothing dipped into fluid that could be used as explosives, surgically
implanted bombs. How technologically capable is the U.S. of
detecting these tactics? >> Sometimes it's reactionary.
Hopefully we get the to the� to the ability of perceiving the technological innovations,
even those with terrorist threats. Our response is timely, and we recognize the
danger in those individuals. Whether they are able to take out� for example,
if you implanted some sort of a bomb in your body how much damage could you do because
it's inside of you, you may be able to do a small scale A. Damage but whether you could
do a tremendous amount, that various. One of the things that people don't remember
about terrorism, which is important, is there is religious terrorism and secular terrorism,
but the differences in secular it's a psychological and religious notion that there is no bargaining
chip because it's not about trying to gain something back from a political or economic
stance, it's a religious idea. So there is no rational basis for being able
to have a bargain. The danger in terrorism, the biggest danger
is the installation of father. It's not the physical act it's the installation
of fear and the economic repercussions, what it's going to cost us is millions of dollars
and that's a stab already. >> AMITA: Thank you are, professor Epps.
>>> Thank you.