Remember all that talk from President Obama during last year’s campaign about al Qaeda being decimated?
Apparently not, for on ABC’s This Week Sunday, Congressman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said, “Al Qaeda is in many ways stronger than it was before 9/11 because it's mutated and it spread and it can come at us from different directions” (video follows with transcript and commentary):
MARTHA RADDATZ, SUBSTITUTE HOST: Congressman King, this is also spread domestically. We're on a higher alert here in the country or at least beefed up security. I think Americans don't really understand why this keeps growing in the last few days. First it was the embassy closing, now domestically. Why the higher alert here in America?
CONGRESSMAN PETER KING (R-NEW YORK): Well, quite frankly, Martha, because this threat was so specific as to how enormous it was going to be and also there's certain dates given, but it didn't specify where it's going to be. And, you know, the assumption is that it's probably most likely to happen in the Middle East at or about one of the embassies, but there's no guarantee of that at all. It could basically be in Europe, it could be in the United States, it could be a series of combined attacks. It could be the same concept as the 2006 liquid explosive planned attacks where there were going to be a series of attacks carried out almost simultaneously.
So we have to be ready for everything, and that’s what this is about. And the administration I think has tried to first with the embassies, then with the global travel advisory, and also letting state and local governments know over the last several days of the nature of this threat so that we can be on guard.
And this is a wake-up call. Al Qaeda is in many ways stronger than it was before 9/11 because it's mutated and it spread and it can come at us from different directions. And al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is probably the most deadly of all the al Qaeda affiliates.
So much for the President's claims of al Qaeda being decimated.
I'm sure his devotees in the media will be quick to point this out...or maybe not.
