November 23, 2015

"The US has issued a rare global travel alert for its citizens in response to 'increased terrorist threats.'"

"The state department said 'current information' suggested the Islamic State group, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others continued 'to plan terrorist attacks in multiple regions.' The alert, it said, will remain in place until 24 February 2016."

3 months!

ADDED: It's so long and generic that it's really no different from no warning at all except to the extent that they want to be able say: Well, we warned you!

63 comments:

David said...

When President Barack Obama said ISIS, or ISIL, was contained, he "was responding very specifically to the geographic expansion of ISIL in Iraq and Syria."
— Ben Rhodes on Sunday, November 15th, 2015 in comments on ABC's "This Week"


Actually Obama was referring to Planet Earth. We have them contained to this planet. And we have a space station. So we are winning.

David said...

And others?

David said...

CYA move by Obama and Kerry.

YoungHegelian said...

Is this another one of those "Captain Obvious" traveling commercials?

AlbertAnonymous said...

That's interesting, I was just reading about how the White House was telling CENTCOM to downplay the ISIS threat, how the government will heavily vet all potential refugees, and how anyone who has questions or concerns about letting refugees into the country is an intolerant islamaphobe hating on people out of fear.

Why do I keep picturing Kerry and Obama as the Kevin Bacon character in Animal House....

"Remain Calm! All is well!"

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Frickin' George Bush always manipulating the terror level, inflaming the yokels, making the news cycle all about security threats so his poll numbers go up.

If we give in to vague threats and change our lives because of some unspecified fear the terrorists win.

exhelodrvr1 said...

At least they're contained to this planet.

Levi Starks said...

Murderers with really good social media....

Fernandinande said...

Be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid large crowds or crowed places.

One of the dogs hates crows and will alert me about any crowed places.

Original Mike said...

"They are also advised to "be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid large crowds or crowded places"."

Still plan on going to a rugby game in Sydney.

Laslo Spatula said...

"It's so long and generic that it's really no different from no warning at all except to the extent that they want to be able say: Well, we warned you!"

This, sadly, is all it is.

I am Laslo.

holdfast said...

All those vague accusations about how the Bush Admin (led by Dem appointee George Tenet) "cooked the books" on the pre-Iraq invasion intelligence. It really is just projection all the way down, huh? The Dems accusing the Bush Admin of nefarious things, based, it seems, on what they would do (and in fact do) if/when in power.

Fernandinande said...

Original Mike said...
"They are also advised to "be aware of immediate surroundings and avoid large crowds or crowded places"."

Still plan on going to a rugby game in Sydney.


Don't worry, the BBC misquoted the State Dept., which didn't say anything about crowded places.

Jason said...

How do you say "CONTAINED" in Austrian?

Michael K said...

"If we give in to vague threats and change our lives because of some unspecified fear the terrorists win."

No, if they kill us they win.

Come on, you aren't that stupid.

I was in Brussels in September and know exactly where those warnings and restrictions are. We rode the underground because the idiot taxi drivers were on strike protesting Uber. If anybody goes to Brussels make sure you have Uber on your iPhone. I could not download it there.

MadisonMan said...

What's special about 2/24/16, I wonder.

Etienne said...

Translated: Israel is about to invade the West Bank again. They should be done by Spring.

Bob Boyd said...

I don't think there's a mastermind on our side either.

Original Mike said...

"What's special about 2/24/16, I wonder."

Nothing. It's just three months from now.

Lewis Wetzel said...

One of the annoying things about the 'ISIS is trying to get us to over-react!' theory is that, if true, it means that ISIS will escalate the violence until they get us to overreact. Or at least act.
Personally, I believe that terrorists commit attacks for internal reasons as much as for the hope of any hoped for reaction from the victims.
Maybe a vicious attack will help them with recruiting or fund raising. Or test some new technique.

retired said...

Caveat emptor

exhelodrvr1 said...

Isn't that what ISIS wants us to do?

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Obama is using false terror alerts for his personal political purposes.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Maybe a vicious attack will help them with recruiting or fund raising. Or test some new technique.

One thing it does, is it makes them look like they're on offense, not defense. And they could help with recruiting or at least help avoid their soldiers' from a rout.

mccullough said...

If Europe wants the U.S. tourist dollars to keep flowing, they should consider allowing concealed carry

Oso Negro said...

I will be in the road plenty in that time period. Sadly overseas I cannot bring my guns or tomahawk. This prevents me from responding to acts of terror according to my traditions.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Could there be some legal reasons involving refunding money from flight cancellations, or travel insurance?

CWJ said...

ISIS is contained until it's not. In this case less than half a day after it was contained. Al Qaida is contained until it's not. Again less than a day after it was contained. Oh hell, just tell everyone to be careful. Your tax dollars at work!

And in response, the press focuses like a laser on Trump.

garage mahal said...

Obama has kept us safe!

Humperdink said...

I have 3 x 5 cards (remember those??) taped everywhere - fridge, car rear view mirror, desk at work. Each is marked with a Sharpee "if you see something, say something".

I am ready. Bring. It. On.

Thank you for taking care of us, Mr. President.

Birkel said...

"garage mahal" is more ridiculous than normal.
Perhaps if CENTCOM manipulates a bit more data reality will not intrude.

Luxx Press said...

nice blog..

www.tiongsonlaw.com
immigration, accident, divorce, hurt in las vegas, litigating malpractice, injured in vegas, hurt by a doctor, las vegas personal injury attorney, negotiating clark county Nevada cases, traumatic injuries, hotel accident, decades of experience, casino negligence, nevada dui, medical malpractice, devastating accident, client rights, protecting victims

Diogenes of Sinope said...

Amazingly, Obama's foreign policy has proven to be much worse than I thought it would be. I have to keep reminding myself, Obama is malicious, he getting the results he wants. Obama lusts to be the man who knocked down the USA.

Curious George said...

"garage mahal said...
Obama has kept us safe!"

Well, 46 people at Fort Hood, and 4 in Chatanooga, TN, would disagree.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Obama isn't very good at this 'being president' thing, is he?
There are times I believe that Biden would actually do a better job of it.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Well, at least Obama has been successful at keeping his people safe.
"His people" being Kenyans and Jayhawkers.

David said...

" mccullough said...
If Europe wants the U.S. tourist dollars to keep flowing, they should consider allowing concealed carry"

They already allow open carry. Of wine.

Big Mike said...

It's so long and generic that it's really no different from no warning at all except to the extent that they want to be able say: Well, we warned you!

Well, that's one rube out in Madison who has begun to get wise to the ways of Washington bureaucrats. If you lived here in the Washington, DC, area you might not be so slow to wake up to what large bureaucracies are all about. And that's what big government is -- it's a giant bureaucracy. One would think that's obvious, but somehow it never is until the bureaucracy bites you in the butt.

john said...

I felt much safer in the old days. Except I always got yellow and orange mixed up.

Lewis Wetzel said...

OMG! Wait 'til the libs find out about this! You know how much they hate 'cooked up' intelligence reports!
Those emails, among others, are now in the possession of the Pentagon inspector general. The IG’s probe is expanding into whether intelligence assessments were changed to give a more positive picture of the anti-ISIS campaign.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2015/11/23/emails-show-dod-analysts-told-to-cut-it-out-on-isis-warnings-ig-probe-expands.html

PB said...

Somehow, I don't think Democrats will learn anything from this Obama experience.

The Godfather said...

Great! I already have family members either living in or visiting foreign lands. What does BO say they should do? "Shelter in place"? "Get the Hell out of Dodge"? Learn the Koran real fast?

Wince said...

It's only right since all that air travel causes global warming, which in turn causes terrorism.

traditionalguy said...

There should be some great deals in Northern European Cruises this spring.

J. Farmer said...

The US is doing exactly with ISIS and Boko Haram what it did with al Qaeda. That is, it is vastly overstating the power and capability of a group by imagining it as some kind of global, interconnected network with a mastermind, deputies, lieutenants, foot soldiers, etc. It isn't. Al Qaeda was never this either. It was at most a couple of dozen individuals backed by a couple of very wealthy people, operating out of various countries. Now al Qaeda/Boko Haram/ISIS have become brands. Any revolutionary group in places like Nigeria, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and Pakistan can call themselves al Qaeda or ISIS but mostly what they are fighting for his local political control of territory. Because countries like the US and France have chosen to get in the middle of this conflict, we are targets now as well. The reality is that these are not very powerful or even very sophisticated groups. Firing automatic rifles into crowded theaters is not the tactic of a powerful group. It is evidence of their profound weakness. They have no conceivable ability to seriously threaten US power or domination. The safest, most reasonable thing for the US to do is get out o Syria and try as much as possible to prop up the Assad regime. US middle east policy is absolutely schizophrenic. Assad and the Iranians are our natural ally in the region against the sunni Arab and Gulf States whose oil wealth and influence paved the way for the exact conservative Salafism that this is the ideological underpinning of all of these groups.

Drago said...

garage mahal: "Obama has kept us safe!"

I knew garage had a soft spot for Hamas as his many pro-Hamas and anti-Israel comments demonstrated.

But this is the first time I've witnessed him channeling ISIS members.

Jimmy said...

Obama hasn't kept us safe...And like every appeaser before him, he is finding out that things get worse, not better. Drawing fake lines in the sand, blustering and trying to act tough. Or at least he does with Republicans, not so much with terrorists. But then we aren't supposed to call them terrorists, or Islamic terrorists or? His policies in the Middle East have made it a much more dangerous place. He has encouraged the thugs, not just the ISIS etc, but Russia as well. He made a pigs breakfast of Libya, Syria- and just walked away from Iraq.
He, and his administration, have made it much more likely for an attack in force to happen on American soil. It is shameful-almost as shameful as the thousands of reporters, news anchors, and academics who scamper after him, doing all they can to give him cover.
Gun free zones are open invites for people with bad intentions. I seriously doubt the terrorists would attack in an area known for concealed carry, and gun ownership.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I just heard Obama's weird words to the the press about how they should report on ISIL the way he wants to them to.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/22/remarks-president-obama-press-conference
He sounds retarded. Maybe he had a stroke? Isn't there some way he can be shooed out of the WH for the remainder of his term?

Achilles said...

Muslims are peaceful and they have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism.

West Texas Intermediate Crude said...

I am contained.

Brando said...

This sounds like ass-covering rather than a useful warning. Not much different than "there may or may not be an attack somewhere in the U.S., or overseas, in the next several years." What are we even supposed to do with that information?

Narrow it down!

In other news, holiday travel is going to be fun.

MaxedOutMama said...

Well, there will be a jury, right? I suspect this 15 minutes of fame isn't going to wind up netting 15 mil.

Given all the rather appalling news, this seems funny as in comical.

donald said...

Ya know, every time somebody mentions how bad Obama sucks, but man, that Biden moron would be worse, I wonder how?

Rusty said...

J.Farmer@11:01

Oh. Shut the fuck up.

Tank said...

I celebrated the warning by flying on two planes yesterday.

We did not blow up.

Winning !!!!

PS I did get felt up. Yep, it's us white, 60+ Jewish guys who are always blowing up the planes. Who knows what was in my tiny Colgate tube?

PPS The guy actually said to me, "are you sensitive about being touched?" LOL. Damn near said something that would have shitcanned me all the way down. It's a good job for a pervert though.

Grackle said...

J. Farmer, when your child dies in the next theater shooting, shall we remind you that the threat is vastly over-stated?

False Grackle

damikesc said...

I guess these are the dividends of improving global opinion of the US we were promised under Obama.

Seems overrated.

damikesc said...

This sounds like ass-covering rather than a useful warning. Not much different than "there may or may not be an attack somewhere in the U.S., or overseas, in the next several years." What are we even supposed to do with that information?

Mind you, according to the Progressives, Bush was supposed to stop 9/11 with even less info than this.

J. Farmer said...

@Rusty:

J.Farmer@11:01

Oh. Shut the fuck up.


King of snappy comebacks strikes again!

@Grackle:

J. Farmer, when your child dies in the next theater shooting, shall we remind you that the threat is vastly over-stated?

Now that sounds like the exact kind of appeal to emotions that gun restrictionist make after one of any of the several random mass shootings we experience in the US every year. I think the gun restrictionists are wrong to do that. How about you?

Rusty said...

. Farmer said...
@Rusty:


I told you this would be the result and now you are, in your cowardly way, trying to tell us there's nothing to see here.

Somewhere you're the smartest guy in the room, but not here.





J. Farmer said...

@Rusty:

"I told you this would be the result and now you are, in your cowardly way, trying to tell us there's nothing to see here."

First, you did not tell me anything. It does not exactly take a Nostradamus to predict that there will be an act of terrorism somewhere in the world in the future. Maybe it will be in Madrid? Maybe it will be in Marakesh? Or Bali? Or Bangkok? Or London? Or New York? Or Paris? In fact, random acts of mass killing can happen in any number of places for any number of reasons. Dozens if not hundreds of people die every year in mass killings by disturbed people who for whatever reason blow a gasket.

There is a difference between saying that a threat is overblown and saying that it is nonexistence. I am not saying that there is no threat; I am saying that it is blown out of proportion to its relative risk. The true lessons from 9/11 were stricter immigration enforcement, higher scrutiny, beefed up domestic security, and some small limited special operations actions in places like Afghanistan and Pakistan. Launching some fruitless, quixiotic "war on terror" and smashing up states in the middle east as some kind of supposed defense against terrorism is absurd.

rhhardin said...

On the bike route home, listening to the usual mental-space occupying morse code, I encountered PZ5W under a pile-up, a sign of a rare country.

Consulting my handy portable prefix book in the bike basket, PZ5 is Suriname.

Where the hell is Suriname? It must be South America or the Caribbean, because he was pretty loud and no Europe was turning up on the band.

I get home, yes, South America.

Probably there's a travel advisory in effect for it, though from not having heard of it it must be a country Obama hasn't screwed up yet.

Rusty said...


There is a difference between saying that a threat is overblown and saying that it is nonexistence. I am not saying that there is no threat; I am saying that it is blown out of proportion to its relative risk.

Vis a vis Europe. You're stand was that it was unlikely that anything serious would happen, because ISIS is just a regional threat.
They way Europe handles its security has changed the how Europe acts for a long time into the future because of a minor regional threat.


"Blown out of proportion to its relative risk"

What?
The body count wasn't high enough?



Just because the gun isn't aimed at your head at the moment doesn't mean you can assume the gun is unloaded.