Pentagon warns of Africa terror threat

[wx247]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency has received specific information of a possible imminent terrorist threat to U.S. interests in Kenya, intelligence sources told CNN Friday.

The DIA Thursday issued a "defense terrorism warning report" to government agencies and officials in the region, notifying them of the threat and detailing the intelligence information that prompted the warning, sources said. That information is classified.

In response to the threat, the State Department closed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi and a spokesman said it would probably remain closed through Tuesday.

Kenya and the Horn of Africa region have long been a center of al Qaeda terrorist activity. U.S. authorities blame al Qaeda for the August 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi. That attack, and an almost simultaneous bombing at the U.S. embassy in Tanzania killed 224 people.

"East Africa has been an area of terrorist threats and indeed terrorist attacks in the past," said State Department spokesman Philip Reeker. "Those threats are still out there."

In May, British Airways and Israel's El Al suspended flights into Kenya because of terrorist threats. Intelligence sources told CNN that Thursday's warning was not an extension of those earlier threats but was based on fresh information.

Last month, the State Department issued a travel warning urging Americans to defer all non-essential travel to Kenya. Non-essential U.S. personnel in the country were also urged to leave.

[bfez1]

Dont take this wrong but personally I am tired of all of the imminent attack warnings. We go from orange to red to yellow----etc. I hope it doesn't happen but if it does there is nothing we can do about it. Deal with it when and if I have to. JMO

[GulfBreezer]

I agree, this has become "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" story line. I think the Govt. has made a huge mistake issuing all of the warnings. I realize that they are probably only doing what they think is best but when something really does happen, well, it is indeed going to be a mess. We have seen the same scenario with tropical warnings and the complacency it has birthed in many peoples minds.

[southerngale]

If they know of a possible or imminent attack, they have to warn us. If they didn't, they'd get ripped up one side and down the other for not warning us when something did happen.

What if a bomb goes off in our Embassy and everyone inside is either killed or injured and our intelligence knew about the planned attack but didn't say anything because they didn't want to cause complacency?

I think they should warn us when they have credible information and I applaud them for doing so. They get a ton of threats every day and we never hear about the majority of them. When they have credible information, they should warn us. If my loved one was in that Embassy, I certainly wouldn't want them to keep quiet because they've given warnings before and nothing happened. I personally think giving the warnings has kept a lot FROM happening. Take this warning for instance...if an attack is planned, do you think they will carry through with it now they we've evacuated the Embassy? We could have saved a lot of lives simply by issuing the warning.

[ColdFront77]

I agree with you, Kelly. Not giving a warning when intelligence knows of a possible attack doesn't make any sense.

This is sort of like not putting a watch out for possible tornadoes (or severe thunderstorms) or not actually issuing a warning when Doppler radar indicates rotation in a storm; even more so in areas that tornadoes rarely form, such as the Worcester, Massachusetts area (Holden, MA Tornado) in early June, 1953.

[bfez1]

I'm not saying we shouldn't be warned, it's just that after 2 1/2 yrs of warnings since 9-11 we (the general public) tend to take it a little less serious. Sorta like what gulfbreezer said, "the boy who cried wolf." All we can do is beware of our surroundings and hope for the best.

[Lindaloo]

Before 9-11 I did not take anything serious! Now after 9-11 I take everything serious. I agree with Kelly on this one. Had we had this sytem in place maybe we could have saved many lives that horrible morning of Sept. 11th.

[wx247]

I think that the warnings like the one concerning Kenya that the article refers to are necessary. I do think some changes need to be made to the color code system here at home, but it is better than nothing.

I think that the weather analogy is very pertinent. How many times a year we are put under a watch and even warnings when nothing happens here are huge... but when the "one" comes it does save lives -- complacency or no complacency it can lower the number of potential casualties.