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Obama's inaguration was threatened by terrorist attack, reveals NYT
by Camilla Abad - January 5, 2010 - comments
Barack Obama taking oath as the president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2009
New York, January 5 -- Security officials scrambled to protect President Obama as reports of Somali terrorists attacking his inauguration ceremony arose few days before the event, the New York Times revealed.
According to the report, three days before President Obama took oath on Jan. 20, 2009, threats of terrorists attack at the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. arose, making the National Security and other intelligence units sit up and figure out if it was real or not.
Increasing terrorist threats
The U.S. embassy received reports that the Somali militant group called al-Shabab were planning on crossing the U.S.-Canadian border to set off a bomb as Obama swore to become the next president of the country. This threat "seemed to be growing in credibility and relevance" as the inauguration day came nearer, John Brennan, the counterterrorism advisor for President Obama, stated.
Juan Carlos Zarate, deputy national security adviser for former president George W. Bush, also revealed that, "All the data points suggested there was a real threat evolving quickly that had an overseas component."
The New York Times also reported that even President Obama was already feeling the pressure of a security threat and even cancelled a practice of his inaugural address.
Back-up plan was framed in worst case scenario
The threat was growing and it could not be interpreted if it was real or not. To counter that, a contingency plan was formed. This involved placing Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a possible successor, in a secret location in case the worst happened and the terrorists succeeded with their plan.
The threat was later revealed to be just a rumor created by a rival extremist organization of the Somali group. It was merely a hoax which attempted to frame rivals to national authorities.