http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/08/07/al-qaeda-conference-call-intercepted-by-u-s-officials-sparked-alerts.html

It wasn’t just any terrorist message that triggered U.S. terror alerts and embassy closures—but a conference call of more than 20 far-flung al Qaeda operatives, Eli Lake and Josh Rogin report.

The crucial intercept that prompted the U.S. government to close embassies in 22 countries was a conference call between al Qaeda’s senior leaders and representatives of several of the group’s affiliates throughout the region.

130806-ayman-al-zawahri-lake-tease

This file image from video the AP obtained Feb. 12, 2012, from the SITE Intel Group, an American private terrorist threat analysis company, shows al-Qaeda's leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in a web posting by al-Qaeda's media arm, as-Sahab.

The intercept provided the U.S. intelligence community with a rare glimpse into how al Qaeda’s leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, manages a global organization that includes affiliates in Africa, the Middle East, and southwest and southeast Asia.

Several news outlets reported Monday on an intercepted communication last week between Zawahiri and Nasser al-Wuhayshi, the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate based in Yemen. But The Daily Beast has learned that the discussion between the two al Qaeda leaders happened in a conference call that included the leaders or representatives of the top leadership of al Qaeda and its affiliates calling in from different locations, according to three U.S. officials familiar with the intelligence. All told, said one U.S. intelligence official, more than 20 al Qaeda operatives were on the call.

To be sure, the CIA had been tracking the threat posed by Wuhayshi for months. An earlier communication between Zawahiri and Wuhayshi delivered through a courier was picked up last month, according to three U.S. intelligence officials. But the conference call provided a new sense of urgency for the U.S. government, the sources said.

Al Qaeda members included representatives or leaders from Nigeria’s Boko Haram, the Pakistani Taliban, al Qaeda in Iraq, al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and more obscure al Qaeda affiliates such as the Uzbekistan branch. Also on the call were representatives of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates such as al Qaeda in the Sinai Peninsula, according to a U.S. intelligence official. The presence of aspiring al Qaeda affiliates operating in the Sinai was one reason the State Department closed the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, according to one U.S. intelligence official. “These guys already proved they could hit Eilat. It’s not out of the range of possibilities that they could hit us in Tel Aviv,” the official said.

Al Qaeda leaders had assumed the conference calls, which give Zawahiri the ability to manage his organization from a remote location, were secure. But leaks about the original intercepts have likely exposed the operation that allowed the U.S. intelligence community to listen in on the al Qaeda board meetings.

On Tuesday's "Tonight Show," President Obama addressed the al Qaeda terrorist threat, saying it is "significant enough that we're taking every precaution."

“This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom.”

“This was like a meeting of the Legion of Doom,” one U.S. intelligence officer told The Daily Beast, referring to the coalition of villains featured in the Saturday morning cartoon Super Friends. The official said Zawahiri announced to the broader organization during the meeting that Wuhayshi had been promoted to “Ma’sul al-Amm,” an Arabic term that roughly translates as “general manager.” The promotion effectively gave the leader of al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen operational control of al Qaeda’s many affiliates throughout the Muslim world, the official said, a key factor that led the State Department to close embassies, missions, and consulates throughout the region. “All you need to do is look at that list of places we shut down to get a sense of who was on the phone call,” the official said.

Also during the meeting, the various al Qaeda leaders discussed in vague terms plans for a pending attack and mentioned that a team or teams were already in place for such an attack. For some leading members of Congress, the revelation that al Qaeda’s leadership in Pakistan is actively managing and directing the operations of several affiliates directly refutes the Obama administration’s repeated assertion that the leadership of the core of the group has been decimated by American drone strikes and special operations forces while the affiliate groups have been strengthened.

“This may punch a sizable hole in the theory that al Qaeda is on the run,” Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) told The Daily Beast on Tuesday.

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Obama often said that his administration’s actions put al Qaeda “on its heels,” although he later amended that claim to specify that he was referring to al Qaeda’s core leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The administration continued to make that argument Monday.

“We’ve been clear that we have made a great deal of success against al Qaeda core in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that we have taken a number of steps to really decimate that group’s leadership, including, of course, most importantly, Osama bin Laden,” said State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf on Monday. “But at the same time, we’ve all made clear, from the president on down, that we remain very concerned about the affiliates, al Qaeda affiliates throughout the world. And in that—first on that list is always AQAP.”

McCain said not only are the affiliates gaining strength but also that the core al Qaeda leadership in Pakistan is showing resilience, as evidenced by this latest news.

“The core seems to be able to able to reconstitute itself. The core also seems to be able to coordinate and manage the affiliates,” he said. “There was a gross underestimation by this administration of al Qaeda’s overall ability to replenish itself.”

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23802234)

Conference Leader: Hold on guys. I think we have another caller. Who just joined?

Umar: Hey Guys. Sorry, but Yosef can't be here right now. This is Umar. So, I will be filling in for him. (In other words, Umar knows nothing about what is going on or how to respond.)

Other call: JFC! Don't use your real name.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23802324)

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23803513)

*BEEP*

Operator: "<Silence>" "has joined the conference"

al-Zalwahiri: So I...

*BEEP*

Operator: "al-Wuhayshi" "has joined the conference"

al-Wuhayshi: Sorry I'm late guys

al-Wuhayshi: We had a child suicide-vest fitting run over. You know how that goes.

Mostafa: Heh heh, oh yea, that's for sure.

Gadahn: Ha, definitely.

al-Zalwahiri: Ok, so...

Mostafa: We had one of those yesterday. He was a bit of a chubby kid, so we had to call the Vest Support Solutions Group to try to find something bigger than the original unit, and you know how speedy those guys are.

al-Wuhayshi: Heh, heh. You don't need to tell me.

Gadahn: Ha, yea, definitely.

[Pause]

al-Umari: Hey guys, I have a conflict at 3, so I'm going to have to drop off in about 30.

al-Zalwahiri: I'm sorry, who is that?

*BEEP*

Operator: "Rashad?" has joined the conference"

al-Umari: Oh, yea, this is Husayn, sorry. We have an armed conflict scheduled with another local tribe over a contested opium field at 3, so I'm going to have to drop off in 30.

al-Zalwahiri: I'm sorry, I'm embarrassed. Drawing a blank right now, been a long day. What did you say your name was?

al-Umari: Yes I'm sorry, this is Husayn Mohammed al-Umari, I'm sitting in for Ramadan Abdullah Mohammed Shallah. I believe he sent an email...

al-Zalwahiri: Oh yes, sorry about that. Well that's no problem. I don't think we're going to need the full hour anyway, I just wanted to do a quick touchbase on a few things.

Unknown: [loudly speaking to someone across the room in Arabic]

al-Zalwahiri: I'm getting some feedback over here, can you mute your line unless you're speaking to the group?

[Pause]

Unknown: [accidentally mashes some numbers on his satellite phone's touchpad]

*BEEP*

Operator: "Rashad?" has left the conference"

al-Zalwahiri: Ok, thanks, so let's go ahead and get started.

al-Zalwahiri: So as you guys know, since the post-Usama re-org, we've been having the problem of "too many goat herders and not enough goats" in our functional group. So we brought in a former ISI consultant to do that SWOT analysis. He's finally going to be presenting the results next Wednesday I believe.

Faouzi: Is that next Wednesday? I thought the email said it was next Friday.

al-Zalwahiri: Oh yes, thank you. Yea I'm looking at the Outlook invite now... and it looks like you pretty much all accepted, so that's good.

al-Munawar: Yea, I'm looking forward to that. We've really needed someone to "think outside the cave", to really "pull back the burka" if you will, and look to see where we can insert some synergies around here.

Faouzi: Totally agree. It's overdue. I'm going to sound like a broken "Call to Prayer" record here, but I feel like a lot of people have been throwing one another under the bus. We need to come together, figure out what our core-competencies are, and move from there.

al-Wuhayshi: Heh. In fact, it's time we start blowing UP some buses.

[Laughter across the group]

al-Zalwahiri: That's actually one of the main recommendations of the analysis. I've already read a draft copy. It's good stuff.

[Remnant, quieting laughter]

al-Zalwahiri: Yea, so the next thing I wanted...

Gadahn: Yea, definitely, I just feel like we need someone to think outside the cave on this.

Faouzi: Hopefully this consultant is going to be more on the ball than the last one we brought in.

[Awkward silence]

al-Munawar: Oh merciful Mohammed, let's not go there.

Gadahn: LOL, ha, yea, definitely....okay...

Mukmar: Didn't we have to behead him?

[Pause]

al-Zalwahiri: Right, so that brings me to the embassy initiative. Assad, do you have an update on that?

*Silence*

al-Zalwahiri: ... Assad, are you on the line?

[Pause]

Assad: Oh...

[Pause]

Assad: Woops.

Assad: Sorry I was on mute...

al-Zalwahiri: That's OK, go ahead...

Assad: Sure, so we're still trying to get operational with that project. A few road blocks have come up that we weren't expecting. So we're exploring some work-arounds.

al-Zalwahiri: Is your crew having some visa issues or something?

Assad: No, we're dealing with some literal roadblocks. They added some new ones in front of the embassy, some additional checkpoints too.

Assad: So we're exploring some work-arounds.

al-Zalwahiri: So are we not confident on the original "go-dead" date?

Assad: Let's table that conversation for now. I'm having a meeting with the local project manager later this evening, and I think that will be dependent on what he says.

al-Zalwahiri: Can you forward me the dial-in information for that call?

Assad: Sure. I'll go ahead and do that... right.. now.

[Pause]

Assad: OK, you should have it.

al-Zalwahiri: Great, thanks.

[An alarm begins blaring in the background]

al-Zalwahiri: Wait, hold on guys...

[Pause]

al-Zalwahiri: Brothers, I'm going to have to cut this short. They're doing a drone attack drill right now in our building.

Gadahn: Oh, man that sucks.

al-Munawar: Ahh, I hate those things. I really wish they would give some kind of notice.

al-Zalwahiri: Yea, sorry guys. Lets circle back on these items next week.

Faouzi: Just a heads up guys, I'm going to be on PTO next week, so I won't be able to make it.

al-Munawar: Yea I have a conflict also, our IED vendor is coming into town, and we're going to be in meetings all day.

al-Zalwahiri: Ok guys, well we'll make due. Thanks a lot everyone.

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Mostafa: You too.

Operator: "Faouzi" has left the conference"

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Assad: As-salamu alaykum...

*BEEP*

Operator: "...eft the conference"

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

Operator: "-eft"

*BEEP*

Operator: "-ference."

*BEEP*

Romney: Congratulations!

*BEEP*

*BEEP*

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23802743)

180

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23803082)

lolololol

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23807027)

1-fucking-80 work here

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#24652705)

Talented, 180 work.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#28232958)

Romney: Congratulations!

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#28233357)

*BEEP*

"NSA MOTHAFUCKAAAAAS"

"NO DUDE WTF"

"It was on mute bro chill out"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=2331593&forum_id=2#23803236)