Senate warned of another Al Qaeda strike within next six months

On Tuesday, the American Senate was warned by top intelligence officials that a large-scale terror attack on the American soil was high on priority of Al Qaeda and its associates.

On Tuesday, Democrat of California and Senate Intelligence Committee’s chairwoman Senator Dianne Feinstein asked director of national intelligence, Dennis C Blair to review the chances of a terror attack in the U.S. in the coming three to six months.

Considering the latest wave of attempted terror strikes, like the unsuccessful attempt to blow up as airplane near Detroit on Christmas, it was apparent that the Al Qaeda had revamped its tactics to be able to strike at American targets more efficiently, the intelligence officials told a group of Senators.

CIA director, Leon E Panetta said, “The biggest threat is not so much that we face an attack like 9/11. It is that Al Qaeda is adapting its methods in ways that oftentimes make it difficult to detect.”

Al Qaeda’s new sophisticated tactics disturbing
The CIA said Al Qaeda’s groups in countries like Yemen and Somalia were gaining more importance even as the U.S. continued its offensive Drone attacks against the terrorist group in Pakistan.

In his annual threat testimony before the Congress, Blair said that the impending danger of an attack on telecommunications or other computer networks was increasing.

“Malicious cyber activity is occurring on an unprecedented scale with extraordinary sophistication,” he told the committee.

Blair’s testimony voices the concerns that have been worrying many intelligence officials in America--devastating outcome of a coordinated attack on its technological network, also known as a “cyber-Pearl Harbor.”

Referring to a surge in cyber attacks, including the recent theft of important details from Google’s server from China, Blair said, “Sensitive information is stolen daily from both government and private-sector networks, undermining confidence in our information systems, and in the very information these systems were intended to convey.”

Nuclear proliferation
Intelligence officials also raised concerns about the issue of nuclear proliferation with a special focus on Iran and North Korea.

Mr Blair said suspicion about Iran’s intentions to make a nuclear bomb was reconfirmed by the unearthing of a secret enrichment plant that was found near Qum. “Iran has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity to eventually produce nuclear weapons,” he said.

He added that Iran followed a “cost-benefit approach” as far as its nuclear decision-making was concerned.